.^^,^S OF PRf;^^^^
V, 10
THE
ANALYZED BIBLE
BY THE K6V.
G. CAMPBELL MORGAN, D.D.
THE GOSPEL
ACCORDING TO MATTHEW
A
New York Chicago Toronto
Fleming H. Revell Company
London and Edinburgh
Copyright, igii, by
FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY
New York: 158 Fifth Avenue
Chicago: 125 N. Wabash Ave.
Toronto: 25 Richmond St., W.
London: 21 Paternoster Square
Edinburgh: 100 Princes Street
PREFACE
rpHE Preface to this Volume is found in
^ the Chapter on Matthew, in Volume III.
of " The Analyzed Bible."
Herein we proceed at once to the more de-
tailed analysis of what is set forth in bare
outline therein.
Familiarity with that outline is necessary
to the study of this book.
G. Campbell Morgan.
CONTENTS
HIS PERSON
PAGE
HIS RELATION TO EARTH
. 15
The Genealogy . . . .
. 16
The Title
. 16
The Tables
. 16
The Summary . . . .
. 19
The Birth ....
. 21
The Discovery of the Mystery
. 21
The Coincident Events .
. 23
The Herald ....
. 29
The Hebrew Ministry
. 29
The Christian Ministry .
. 32
HIS RELATION TO HEAVEN
. 37
Assumption of Responsibility
. 37
Anointing for Office .
. 40
Attestation by God .
7
. 41
8
Contents
HIS RELATION TO HELL
The preliminary Facts
The Testing .
The ultimate Facts .
Parenthesis .
HIS PROPAGANDA
HIS ENUNCIATION OF LAWS
A Nucleus gathered .
The Manifesto .
The Fundamental Principles
The Laws ....
Earthly Relationships .
Heavenly Relationships .
The final Applications
The Effect produced .
HIS EXHIBITION OF ABILITY
First Movement .
The Manifestations
The Results
Second Movement
The Manifestations
The Results
Third Movement .
The Manifestations
The Results
Contents 9
PAGE
HIS ENFORCEMENT OF CLAIMS . 123
His Helpers 123
The Cause 123
The Commission .... 124
The Charge . . . . . 125
His Difficulties 131
The Perplexity of the Loyal. The
Baptist 131
The Unreasonableness of Men. The
Generation 132
The Impenitence of the Cities. Cho-
razin, Bethsaida. Capernaum . 134
The Attitude of Christ in the midst
of Difaculties 134
His Conflict 137
First Attacks 137
Concerning the Sabbath . .137
Concerning His Power . . . 141
Concerning a Sign .... 145
An Interval of Teaching . . . 149
Increasing Opposition . . . 159
An Interval of beneficent Activity . 1G3
Renewed Attack .... 169
An Interval of beneficent Activity . 175
Allied Hostility 181
10
Contents
His Victory 187
The Challenge and Confession . . 187
The Confession and Charge . . 189
HIS PASSION
HIS CROSS AND HIS SUBJECTS
The Cross and the Glory
Instruction
Illustration
The Cross and the Grace
Instruction
Illustration
The Cross and the Kingdom
Instruction
Illustration
. 193
. 194
. 194
. 196
. 201
. 201
. 209
. 215
. 215
. 223
HIS REJECTION OF THE HEBREW
NATION 227
The Coming of the King
The Preparation
The King's Entry
The executive Cleansing
. 227
. 228
. 228
. 229
Contents 11
PAGE
The Arraignment of the Kulers . 233
The parabolic Act . . . .233
The King and the Rulers . . .235
The King's first Question. Con-
cerning the Herald . . . 235
The Finding of the Verdict . . 236
The public Unmasking of the
Rulers 241
The King's final Question. Con-
cerning the Messiah . . . 243
The Doom and Sentence . . . 247
Introductory Words to Multitudes
and Disciples 248
The final Woes 249
The Sentence 252
HIS PREDICTIONS TO HIS OWN . 255
The Disciples' Inquiry . . . 256
The King's Answer
The Warning .
The Predictions .
As to Israel .
As to the Church
As to the Nations
257
257
258
258
265
271
12 Contents
PAGE
HIS TRAVAIL AND TRIUMPH .
. 275
Preliminary Matters .
. 275
The Approach . . . .
. 275
Parenthesis
. 276
The Passover . . . .
. 278
The Travail ....
. 283
Gethsemane
. 283
The Trial ....
. 289
The Cross. Outside the Camp
. 297
The Triumph
. 303
The King resting
. 303
The King risen .
. 304
The King reigning .
. 306
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW
A. HIS PERSON. i.-Iv. 16
HIS RELATION TO EARTH.
L — iii. 12
i. The Genealogy.
L 1-17
a. THE TITLE.
I
b. THE TABLES.
2-l6
I. Abraham to David.
2-6a
2. David to Captivity.
6&-11
3. Captivity to Christ.
I2-l6
c. THE SUMMARY.
17
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MATTHEW
A. HIS PERSON
rr^HE Gospel according to Matthew pre-
-^ sents Jesus of Nazareth as the Hebrew
Messiah, but not according to the narrow in-
terpretation of Messiahship which character-
ized the age of Hebrew failure. He is pre-
sented as the King of the chosen people, and
the Saviour of the World.
The first division of the Gospel is char-
acterized by the carefulness with which Mat-
thew presents the Person of the King in the
essential matters of His relationship to earth,
to heaven, and to hell. There is an absence of
detail in the story of the first thirty years in
the life of Jesus, those matters only being con-
sidered which deal with these relationships.
I. HIS RELATION TO EARTH
His relation to earth is revealed by the
genealogy, the story of His birth, and the ac-
count of the work of the herald.
15
16 The Gospd According to Matthew
i. The Genealogy
The section containing the genealogy con-
sists of the title, the tables, and the summary.
a. THE TITLE
The form in which the title is written graph-
ically sets before the mind the relation of the
Person of the King to the history of the an-
cient people of God, as it declares Him to be
of the royal line, son of David; and of the
chosen seed, son of Abraham.
5. THE TABLES
The first table traces the relation of David
to Abraham. Beginning with the founder
and father of the nation, it moves forward
along the line of elect succession toward the
Person of the King in Whom the Divine ideal
was most perfectly exemplified in the history
of the nation. The principle of election is re-
vealed in the declaration that Isaac begat
Jacob, there being no reference to Esau; and
that while the other sons of Jacob are re-
ferred to, Judah being the father of the tribe
predestined to royalty, is particularly named.
The irregularities of this first table are in
themselves instructive. They consist of the
reference to the fact that Judah begat Zerah
His Person 17
of Tamar; that Boaz was a descendant of
Rahab ; and that the mother of Obed was Ruth.
None of these things are really necessary to
genealogical accuracy, but their inclusion re-
veals the fact that the principle of election
was that of the operation of grace in answer
to faith, as the incidents suggested by the
names will demonstrate.
The second table traces the relation of David
to Jechoniah, the king of the royal line who
occupied the throne at the time of the carrying
away to Babylon.
Again the irregularities are suggestive, con-
sisting of the reference, though not by name,
to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon; the
omission of the names of Ahaziah, Joash, and
Amaziah between Joram and Uzziah; and the
omission of the name of Jehoiakim between
those of Josiah and Jechoniah. In this case
the principle of election is again recognized.
In the reference to Bathsheba it is seen tri-
umphing over sin, and yet revealing how the
sinful act resulted in the harvest of failure.
The omission of the names between Joram
and Uzziah is significant in that they are the
names of the immediate descendants of the
daughter of Ahab and Jezebel. The omission
of Jehoiakim is not easy to account for. It
may have been the mistake of a copyist, but
18 The Gospel According to Matthew
if he were included, then fifteen generations
would be accounted for ; unless the term, " the
time of the carrying away to Babylon," re-
ferred to the fact that Jehoiakim became
tributary to Babylon.
The third table traces the relation of
Jechoniah the king who was actually reigning
when Judah was carried into captivity, to
Joseph the husband of Mary, the mother of the
Christ.
The first irregularity in this table consists
of the fact, that in order to the completion
of the fourteen, Jechoniah must be counted,
which he ought not to be, if he is counted in
the former table. This adds weight to the
view that the name of Jehoiakim ought to oc-
cur in the previous one, and that its omission
is probably the mistake of a copyist. The final
irregularity is that this whole movement of
direct succession culminates in Joseph, and
Matthew is careful to name him only as the
husband of Mary, and not as the father of
Jesus. Thus in this particular line of suc-
cession, Jesus is only included as the result
of the fact that His mother, Mary, was the
wife of Joseph. There is practically no ques-
tion that Mary was of the same royal line, and
related by blood to the man whom she mar-
ried, possibly as cousin.
His Person 19
C. THE SUMMARY
The summary speaks of the three tables as
each recording fourteen generations. Its
wording must be carefully noted. With re-
gard to the first table the statement is per-
fectly distinct that " All the generations from
Abraham unto David are fourteen." With re-
gard to the second and the third the statement
is merely, " From David unto the carrying
away to Babylon fourteen generations; and
from the carrying away to Babylon unto the
Christ fourteen generations." Not, it will be
observed, " all the generations " ; but simply
the indication of the fact that fourteen have
been named in each of these two tables. Thus
the grouping into fourteens is poetic and sym-
bolical, rather than arithmetical and actual.
The thought is that of the Kingdom, and the
outstanding events are made the crises; first,
Abraham, the beginning of the movement ; then
David, the realization of national life under
a king ; then the captivity, the decadence of the
nation, and its failure; and then Jesus, the
Messiah, the true King and Restorer of the
Divine Order.
The Birth. >• '*-*'•
a. the discovery of the mystery, i. 18-25
1. The Trouble of Joseph. »8, 19
2. The Angel Instruction. 20-23
o. The Fact declared. 20
p. The Name given. 21
y. The Prophecy. 22, 23
3. The Obedience of Joseph. ^4. 25
a. Marriage. 24
p. Holy Protection. 250
y. The Name given. 25b
b. THE COINCIDENT EVENTS. ii. i-iii.
1. The Coming of the wise Men. '-12
a. Their Coming to Jerusalem, i, 2
p. The Fear of Herod. 3-8
■y. Their Coming to Bethlehem. 9-1 1
6. Their Departure. 12
2. The Slaughter of the Innocents. 13-23
o. The Departure to Egypt. 13-1S
The Warning.
The Flight.
p. The Desolation in Bethlehem. 16-18
The Action of Herod.
The Lamentation.
y. The Return from Egypt. 19-23
The Instruction.
The Coming to Nazareth.
His Person 21
ii. The Birth
The birth of the King is dealt with by an
account of the discovery of the mystery, and
the chronicle of certain events happening in
connection therewith.
a. THE DISCOVERY OF THE MYSTERY
With reverent reticence the story of the
first consciousness of the awe-inspiring mys-
tery concerning the being of Jesus is recorded.
By first consciousness we refer to a conscious-
ness resulting from observation unilluminated
by revelation. Of course to Mary the pro-
found secret had been revealed by angel an-
nunciation, but of this Matthew gives no ac-
count. To Joseph, her betrothed husband, the
consciousness came almost as an assault upon
his confidence in Mary. The fine nature of
the man is however manifested in the declara-
tion that he was " a righteous man," and did
not desire to make her a public example, but
" was minded to put her away privily."
This startling consciousness was now ex-
plained to him by direct revelation, an angel
appearing to him in a dream, and telling him
also the profound and awe-inspiring secret
which had been revealed to Mary, that the
Child begotten in her, was of the Holy Ghost.
22 The Gospel According to Matthew
The instruction of the angel called Joseph
into co-operation, as it told him that he should
call the name of the Son Jesus, and declared
to him the true meaning of His coming in
simplest and sublimest language, in the words,
"it is He that shall save His people from
their sins."
The angelic messenger proceeded to
strengthen his faith and comfort his heart by
declaring that all this was in fulfilment of
the ancient, mystic prophecy of Isaiah, with
which he was undoubtedly familiar.
This interpretation of the prophecy of Isaiah
by the angelic messenger stands at the com-
mencement of this Gospel of Matthew as dis-
tinct and definite a revelation of the absolute
Deity of Jesus as does the mystic prologue of
the Gospel according to John.
Again the fine character of Joseph is re-
vealed in the account of his obedience to the
angelic revelation. While the story is a brief
one, it needs careful reading and close at-
tention, in order that we may appreciate its
value. He at once took Mary to be his wife,
thus giving her the protection of his love in
the period which it is impossible to think of
without realizing that it was one of suffering
and trial, in view of the fact that neighbours
and friends were in entire darkness as to the
His Person 23
profound work of God which was proceeding in
their midst.
His attitude moreover was that of a rever-
ent recognition of the awful sacredness of the
life of the woman whom all generations should
call blessed.
When at last the Son was born, in obedience
to the heavenly vision, and so in co-operation
with the will of God, he immediately called
His name Jesus.
h. THE COINCIDENT EVENTS
In this section we have the record of two
remarkable events closely connected with the
birth of Jesus, those namely of the coming of
the wise men; and the slaughter of the
children.
1. The Coming of the wise Men
The Kingdom was not ready for the King.
Therefore there was no organized reception
on the part of those who should have been
waiting for Him. That which is pre-
eminently remarkable about the coming of
these wise men from the East is the fact that
they were guided by a star which they had
seen. There has been much written concern-
ing these men and this appearance; but it is
24 The Gospel According to Matthew
impossible to write with any detailed deflnite-
ness. One of the most interesting and prob-
able suggestions is that they were Persian
Magi, familiar with the ancient prophecy of
Balaam, that a star should come out of Jacob,
and with the visions and prophecies of Daniel ;
and that to these men, waiting in hope amid
prevalent darkness, there was granted this
definite sign from heaven, guiding them to the
place of the new-born King. Their inquiry
was marked by great definiteness, as arriving
in Jerusalem they said, " Where is He that is
born King of the Jews? for we saw His star
in the east, and are come to worship Him."
Such an inquiry inevitably produced a
startling effect upon Herod, the Idumsean
usurper of the throne, who immediately gath-
ered together a special council of the religious
officials and teachers. The demand he made
upon them was a very definite one, that they
should tell him where the Messiah should be
born. Their familiarity with their own proph-
ecies is evidenced by the fact that they im-
mediately replied. In Bethlehem ; and in proof
of their declaration, quoted from the prophecy
of Micah. Thus informed by the council,
Herod held further private conference with
the Magi, giving them the information he had
obtained, and charging them that when they
His Person 25
found Him, they should report to him. That
his intention was sinister there can be no
doubt, but he veiled that intention by the sug-
gestion that he also desired to worship.
Thus instructed, they went forward, and
immediately to their great gladness the star
again appeared, and led them to the very spot
where the young child lay.
It is a great picture, that of these loyal
souls of another nation than the chosen; as,
unstaggered by the poverty of His earthly sur-
roundings, they offered Him their choice gifts
of gold and frankincense and myrrh. Being
warned of God, they did not return to Herod,
but departed to their own country.
2. The Slaughter of the Innocents
While special heavenly guidance was thus
given to the men of another nation, the under-
world of evil was moved to its centre by the
advent of the Messiah ; and found vent through
the false king Herod in his slaughter of the
innocents. Finding that he had been foiled
in his evil purposes, he adopted the inhuman
and drastic method of slaying all the male
children in Bethlehem and its borders under
two years of age; and the whole region was
plunged in desolation and sorrow. Heaven
26 The Gospel According to Matthew
and hell were thus moved at His coming, and
those on earth nearest to each, in some way
recognized the fact. The great multitudes re-
mained in ignorance.
At the death of Herod, which Josephus tells
us took place in the thirty-seventh year of his
reign, and the seventieth of his age, an angel
again appeared to Joseph, commanding him to
take the Child back into the land of Israel.
That the sojourn in Egypt was of no lengthy
duration is evident from the fact that the angel
still referred to Jesus as " the young child."
On the return journey, being further warned
of God, Joseph returned to Nazareth in Gali-
lee, which for many years was to be the home
of Jesus. Matthew's reference to this as ful-
filling that which was spoken by the prophets,
is interesting. It should be carefully ob-
served that his reference is not to any partic-
ular prophecy, but to the general teaching of
the prophets. The teaching referred to un-
doubtedly was that which the nation had never
really apprehended, that of His lowliness, and
of His relation to despicable situations and
peoples. There is no connection between this
word Nazarene and Nazarite.
iii. The Herald.
iii. 1-12
a. THE HEBREW MINISTRY.
1-9
I. Its Burden.
If 2
2. Its Fulfilment of Prophecy.
3
3. Its Instrument.
4
4. Its Effects.
S.6
b. THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY.
7-12
I. The Occasion.
7a
2. The Message.
7b-l2
a. Denunciation.
7b
p. Warning.
8,9
y. Proclamation.
10-12
The imminent Judgment.
10
The coming One.
II, la
His Pre-eminence.
His Mission.
Regenerative.
Restorative.
His Person 29
iii. The Herald
The next matter of importance in dealing
with the relation of the King to earth is that
He should be introduced in His full man-
hood; and for this appearance we are pre-
pared by the story of the ministry of John
the Baptist, His herald. The account of this
ministry is a brief one, but its twofold nature
is evident. It was distinctly Hebrew, and
definitely Christian; and constituted the link
between the two in the economy of God.
a. THE HEBREW MINISTRY
The phrase with which the section opens,
" And in those days," has caused some diffi-
culty, and that principally by the attempt to
relate it to that which has gone before. As a
matter of fact between the return to Nazareth
and the appearance of Jesus in connection
with the ministry of John, nearly thirty years
must have elapsed. It is far more likely there-
fore that the phrase is one peculiarly that of
Matthew, as writing long years afterwards, his
mind fixed upon the whole ministry and work
of his Lord, and about to recount the story of
how it began, he wrote, " In those days."
The early ministry of John was evidently a
30 The Gospel According to Matthew
most remarkable one, and in the simple and
true sense of the word, a popular one. The
particular symbol which he associated with his
preaching was that of baptism. Hence he is
called John the Baptist, or more accurately,
John the Baptizer ; and in this way he was de-
scribed by Josephus.
The burden of his message is first recorded
in the words, " Repent ye ; for the Kingdom
of heaven is at hand." This is the first occa-
sion of the occurrence of the phrase, the King-
dom of heaven, which from this point is con-
stantly repeated in the course of the narrative.
To the ears of the men who heard it as John
used it, it was perfectly familiar, and conveyed
the central religious idea of their history.
However far they had wandered from a cor-
rect interpretation of its meaning, they still
looked upon themselves as being the peculiar
people of God, the theocracy, the Kingdom of
heaven. The implication of the message of
John was that of their failure to realize the
ideal, and the burden of his cry was that they
should repent toward that Kingdom; that is,
that they should reconsider, and consequently
readjust their lives toward that master prin-
ciple. There was, however, a special sig-
nificance in his declaration that the Kingdom
of heaven was " at hand,"^suggesting as it did,
His Person 31
some approaching event, the nearness of which
added urgency to his demand for repentance.
Matthew interprets that burden by his care-
ful declaration that John was the one who ful-
filled the prophecy of Isaiah, in which he had
declared that before the advent of Messiah, a
voice should be heard proclaiming in the
wilderness the advent of Messiah, and calling
men to prepare for it.
In one brief paragraph the record gives us
a picture of the instrument of this message
as he appeared. His manner of life was that
of the stern ascetic, withdrawn from the habits
and customs of his age; and appearing only
in order to interpret the need of that age, to
proclaim the advent of Another, and to call
men into the right attitude in which to receive
Him.
The effect produced is then declared, and
it is evident that it was a most remarkable
one ; for vast multitudes of the people crowded
out into the wilderness region, and listening
to him, yielded to his symbolic rite of baptism,
confessing their sins. For a while, at any
rate, the whole region was under the spell of
his preaching, and men acknowledged the
truth of his words of condemnation, and
obeyed his call to repentance.
82 The Gospel According to Matthew
h. THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY
In the course of the narrative the word
" But " is used significantly, " But when he
saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees
coming to his baptism." These were the lead-
ers of the people, representing two schools of
degenerate religious thinking. The Pharisees
had allowed a passion for the maintenance of
the separation of the Hebrew people from con-
tamination with other nations, to degenerate
into elaborate ritualism, in which, by the mul-
tiplication of forms and ceremonies, they
sought to secure the end they aimed at. The
Sadducees were in direct opposition to the
Pharisees, in that they were rationalists, deny-
ing all the supernatural, and contenting them-
selves with a purely material and negative
form of morality.
These leaders were themselves at last con-
strained to attend the preaching of this man,
drawn undoubtedly by the influence he had
produced upon the multitudes. Their coming
was the occasion for the delivery by John of
a message which definitely declared the near
advent of the King Himself.
That message first took the form of the
severest denunciation of these men, as he de-
scribed them as an offspring of vipers, and in
His Person 83
evident satire inquired, " Who warned you to
flee from the wrath to come? "
Seeing, however, that they had come, he
uttered to them also the same call to repent-
ance, and at the same time warned them
against any false confidence in their relation
to Abraham.
In immediate connection with these words
addressed to the religious leaders, he uttered
his great proclamation concerning the coming
One. The first note of this proclamation was
an announcement of judgment as he said,
" Even now is the axe laid unto the root of the
trees." The picture suggested is not that of
an axe being wielded, but that of the woodman
preparing himself for his work, while the axe
which he is to use lies at the root of the trees
among which he is presently to move in dis-
crimination and judgment. It was the
declaration that an hour of crisis had ar-
rived, and that all fruitless things would be
hewn down and cast into the fire for destruc-
tion.
Then leaving the realm of indefinite illustra-
tion, he proclaimed the imminent advent of
Messiah, first announcing His pre-eminence by
declaring that by comparison, his own min-
istry and he himself were as nothing, in the
presence of the majesty of the One Who was
34) The Gospel According to Matthew
to be revealed, and of the prevailing power of
the ministry which He would exercise.
He described that ministry as being regen-
erative, in that He would baptize with the
Holy Ghost and fire; and restorative, in that
He would winnow the threshing-floor with His
fan, gathering all precious things into his
garner, and destroying the worthless with un-
quenchable fire.
II. HIS RELATION TO HEAVEN. iii. 13-17
i. Assumption of Responsibility. i3-is
a. THE COMING TO JOHN.
b. THE PROTEST OF JOHN.
c. THE ARGUMENT OF JESUS.
d. THE BAPTISM OF JESUS.
ii. Anointing for Office. »6
a. THE OPENED HEAVENS.
b. THE DESCENDING SPIRIT.
iii. Attestation by God. 17
a. IDENTIFICATION OF PERSON.
b. APPROVAL OF PURPOSE.
His Person 37
II. HIS RELATION TO HEAVEN
This is a very brief paragraph, but its im-
portance cannot be over-estimated, affording
as it does a key to the whole method of the
King in that ministry which is afterwards de-
scribed in detail in the course of the Gospel.
Here at last the King emerged from the seclu-
sion of the life at Nazareth, and the matter of
supreme importance is the revelation which
this picture affords of His relation to heaven.
There are three aspects of the story which de-
mand our attention, those namely of His as-
sumption of responsibility; His anointing for
office; and His attestation by God.
i. Assumption of Responsibility
The coming of Jesus to John is full of in-
terest in two ways; first that it was from
Galilee, and secondly that it was for the ex-
press purpose of being baptized by John. It
was from Galilee, that is, from Nazareth,
where He had been living during all the years,
from the hour in which, as a young child. He
had been taken there by Joseph and Mary.
We have no detailed record of the doing of
those years, and that fact in itself gives the
greater importance to what took place in con-
38 The Gospel According to Matthew
nection with His baptism, as we shall see pres-
ently. It is to be carefully observed that His
coming was not that of curiosity, neither was
it that of general interest in the ministry of
John, but rather that of the set purpose of
submitting Himself to the baptism of the great
prophet of repentance, and thus of identifying
Himself with the people to whom that mes-
sage had been delivered.
The recognition of this second fact enables
us to understand the protest of John, who, it
is perfectly evident, was familiar with Him.
He was conscious that this One Who came
among the multitudes, and to all appearance
was so much one of them that they did not dis-
tinguish Him or recognize that He was any
other than one of themselves, was in very deed
the King Himself, the mighty One Whose shoe-
latchet he was not worthy to unloose. His
protest, however, was supremely a recognition
of the purity and power of the Messiah.
John had been preaching the necessity for
repentance, and had been baptizing thereunto ;
but here was One able to baptize into cleans-
ing and life by the Holy Ghost and fire, and
John knew his need of that baptism.
To the protest of John, Jesus replied in
words full of the profoundest significance. He
did not deny what John had said as to his
His Person 39
own need of the baptism in tlie Spirit ; but ap-
pealed to him in words which indicated His
consciousness of purpose and determination to
fulfil it ; " Suffer it now : for thus it becometh
us to fulfil all righteousness." In the light
of the holiness of His character, and the re-
demptive purpose of His mission, it is evident
that to Him the baptism in water by John was
the solemn act by which He assumed a re-
sponsibility which by nature He did not share.
The multitudes whom John had baptized, had
confessed their sins. Jesus had no sins of
His own to confess, but by that act He con-
fessed their sins as His own; and was num-
bered with transgressors, foreshadowing an-
other baptism through which He would pass,
in order to the accomplishment of His saving-
purpose. The King therefore is seen facing a
kingdom in ruin, and consenting to the only
method by which it could be redeemed. That
was the meaning of His word " Thus it becom-
eth us to fulfil all righteousness."
Matthew in four words tells the wonderful
story, " Then he suffered Him," and one can
only imagine the aw^e that must have filled the
soul of John, himself a sinning man, as he was
the instrument for giving expression to that
tremendous assumption of responsibility for
human sin on the part of the King.
40 The Gospel According to Matthew
ii. Anointing for Office
The symbolic rite by which He had assumed
responsibility being fulfilled, there was im-
mediately granted to Him the specific equip-
ment necessary for the fulfilment of His
mission.
He was no stranger to the Spirit of God,
even in the fact of His human nature. In
the mystery of that nature He had been be-
gotten by the Spirit, and throughout the years
had lived the life truly Spirit-filled. But now
as He moved to the high and holy vocation of
His Messianic office, the heavens were opened
above Him, and He saw the Spirit coming to
Him in a form in which that Spirit had never
been seen before, and in which He comes upon
none other. The form of the dove was pre-
eminently the symbol of sacrifice. In that He-
brew religious system created by Divine rev-
elation, the dove was the sacrificial offering of
the lowest and the humblest ; and in a great un-
veiling of the necessity of holiness, and the
compassion of God, the Holy Spirit in that
form anointed the King for the fulfilment of
that redeeming responsibility which He had
now publicly assumed.
His Person 41
iii. Attestation by God
Immediately succeeding that specific anoint-
ing a voice out of the heavens attested the
Person and the purpose of the King. The at-
testation of the Person is found in the words,
" This is My beloved Son," a great declaration
casting its light back upon the story of the
birth, and claiming the One Who stood un-
known in the midst of the multitudes, as the
definite and actual Son of God in every sense
of the term. There He stood, identified with
humanity in nature, and so closely in appear-
ance that none distinguished a difference as
between themselves and Him; and yet sep-
arated from them in the very nature of His
being, and in the actualities of His character.
The second part of the attestation consisted
of the declaration of the Divine approval of
His purpose, " in Whom I am well pleased."
This word answers all questions with regard
to the hidden years at Nazareth, and reveals
the fact that in the ordinary life of the home,
and the place of daily toil, He had realized
the Divine ideal and satisfied the heart of His
Father. And yet this word of approval car-
ries a profounder significance as it is realized
that it expressed the Divine approbation of
that action wherein He had identified Himself
42 The Gospel According to Matthew
with sinning men, in order to fulfil all
righteousness. As the Spirit rested upon Him
in sacrificial symbol, so the voice of the Father
declared the Person of the King to be without
blemish, and His purpose to be in accord with
the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of
God.
IH. HIS RELATION TO HELL. iv.i-n
i. The preliminary Facts. *. *
a. THE SPIRITUAL. i
1. The Person. The Spirit.
2. The Place. The Wilderness.
3. The Purpose. The Temptation.
b. THE PHYSICAL. t
1. The Experience. Fasting.
2. The Time. Forty Days.
3. The Issue. Hunger.
ii. The Testing. «•>«>
a. THE FIRST MOVEMENT. PHYSICAL. 3. 4
1. The Assault. i
2. The Repulse. 4
b. THE SECOND MOVEMENT. SPIRITUAL. s-7
1. The Assault. 5.6
2. The Repulse. 7
c. THE THIRD MOVEMENT. VOCATIONAL. 8-10
1. The Assault. 8,9
2. The Repulse. "
iii. The ultimate Facts. "
a. THE DEVIL. LEAVETH HIM.
b. ANGELS. MINISTERED TO HIM.
c. JESUS. VICTORIOUS.
(Parenthesis. iv. 12-16
To account for the King's Presence in Galilee, where
His more public Ministry began.
The Synoptics give no account of the first Work in
Jerusalem. This is found in the Gospel according
to John.)
His Person 45
III. HIS RELATION TO HELL
The opening word of this paragraph links
it to that immediately preceding. " Then,"
after the opened heavens, hell was opened.
The King must not only be in perfect harmony
with the order and beauty and intention of the
heavens. He must face all the disorder and
ugliness and intention of the abyss. Good-
ness at its highest He knows, and is. Evil at
its lowest He must face, and overcome. And
so in the wilderness He is seen standing as
humanity's representative between the two, re-
sponding to the one and refusing the other.
The paragraph falls into three parts, the first
stating the preliminary facts; the second giv-
ing an account of the testing ; and the third re-
cording the ultimate facts.
i. The preliminary Facts
The spiritual fact is first declared with great
conciseness, but also with great clearness.
The Person initiating the movement was the
Spirit Who had descended upon Him in the
form of a dove, anointing the King for the
specific work that lay before Him. The state-
ment is at once arresting and remarkable that
Jesus was " led up of the Spirit." The place
46 The Gospel According to Matthew
is revealed in the statement that He " was led
up . . . into the wilderness," and the form
of the statement would suggest that He was
taken from the valley of the Jordan where He
had been baptized, to one of the desolate and
barren mountain regions of the wilderness.
He was thus cut off from other men, and from
the means of sustenance. The most arresting
value of this statement is that w^hich declares
the purpose. He was led there, not for the
purpose of fellowship with God, nor for that
of personal meditation, but " to be tempted of
the devil."
The physical condition of the King in the
hour of temptation is revealed as the second of
the preliminary facts. His experience was
that of fasting, and the time of His fasting
was forty days, with the issue that He was con-
scious of hunger.
ii. The Testing
The first movement in the process of tempta-
tion was in the realm of the physical. The
tempter suggested that if as the Divine voice
had declared. He was the Son of God, He
should exercise that power in order to provide
for His material sustenance.
The assault was immediately repulsed as the
His Person 47
King, recognizing that He had been led into
the wilderness by the Spirit of God, and that
therefore the lack of sustenance was within the
Divine purpose, declared His acceptation of
the inspired teaching that the life of man could
not be sustained by the sustenance of the phys-
ical, but by complete loyalty to the will of
God, that is, by obedience to every word that
proceeded out of the mouth of God.
The second movement in the process of
temptation was in the realm of the spiritual.
Being foiled in his attempt to overcome Jesus
by appeal to His physical necessity, the enemy
took Him to the holy city. The method of the
statement makes it impossible to think of this
as merely an imaginative going to the temple.
Dr. Vincent points out that the word " taketh "
used of the action of the enemy, is exactly the
same word used by each of the synoptists in
describing the action of the Lord when He
took the disciples to the mount of transfigura-
tion. This entirely excludes the idea of many
of the early writers that he carried Him
through the air. It is evident that between
the first and second temptation there was at
least time for the journey to Jerusalem. Of
course, it must be remembered that at this
time Jesus was not known to the crowds, and
there is no reason to believe that Satan was
48 The Gospel According to Matthew
— ~— ———»»— ^^^-^——^—»»». — ..^^^^— ^^^— ^— ^^-^»— »— <
visible to other eyes than those of the Lord
Himself. There on the dizzy height, he sug-
gested to Him again that if what God had said
was true, that He was His Son, He should ex-
periment in the realm of that relationship, and
demonstrate His trust by the apparently heroic
action of casting Himself down, in order to
see whether the written word would be ful-
filled in His experience, and no harm come to
Him.
The assault was immediately repulsed as the
Lord replied that " Thou shalt not tempt the
Lord thy God " was the true law of trust,
thus indicating that all such experiments
would demonstrate doubt rather than con-
fidence.
The third movement in the process of
temptation was vocational. Again the enemy
changed the scene as he conducted Him to
" an exceeding high mountain," and there
amid the suggestive splendour of the altitude,
he made the kingdoms of the world and the
glory of them pass in panoramic view before
the vision of Jesus ; and offered to place Him
in possession of them in return for homage
rendered to himself.
The assault was again immediately repulsed
as the Lord declared that the law which bound
Him was that which declared that such
His Person 49
homage and service must only be rendered to
God.
Thus the King gloriously won in the conflict.
The attack was made against every vulnerable
point ; hunger, trust, and responsibility. When
these are held, there remains no other avenue
through which the foe can assault the citadel
of the human will. The need of material
sustenance, the confidence of the spirit in God,
and the carrying out of a Divine commission
in a Divine way; every gate was held by the
King against the assault of the foe.
iii. The ultimate Facts
Full of suggestive beauty is the conclud-
ing declaration of the paragraph. Repulsed
at every point the devil left Him, and immedi-
ately angels ministered unto Him. The de-
parture of the devil was that of a vanquished
enemy, the head and front of the offending
under-world of evil, who had absolutely failed
to find anything in the Man of God's right
hand upon which he could fasten. We are
not told the form or fashion of the angel min-
istry, but there can be no doubt that as at the
commencement of the temptation the King was
hungry, at the close He was conscious of phys-
ical weariness, and that angelic ministry
50 The Gospel According to Matthew
would constitute a Divine seal upon the choices
He had made in the process of temptation.
He had refused to place Himself outside the
Divine will by providing bread ; and as in the
case of the prophet of old, though for a very
different reason, there can be little doubt that
they fed Him with material bread. He had
refused to make experiment upon His trust in
God, in the hope that angels might protect Him
from harm, and now they came, and their
coming was the evidence of His Father's con-
stant care. He had refused to take the king-
doms of the world by homage to Satan; and
now those angels whom He will finally send
out to administer the affairs of the Kingdom,
came and served Him. Thus He is seen the
victorious One over all the under-world of
evil.
Parenthesis
This brief paragraph serves as an introduc-
tion to that which is immediately to follow.
John alone gives us any account of that in-
dividual ministry in Jerusalem and Judsea,
which followed immediately upon the baptism
of Jesus in Jordan, John giving no account of
the temptation. During that period, however,
He had called to Himself Andrew, and in all
His Person 51
probability John, Simon, Philip, and Nathan-
ael; and was exercising this particular min-
istry while John the Baptist was still con-
tinuing to preach.
When the hour of John's arrest came, Jesus
withdrew into Galilee, took up His abode in
Capernaum, and from that time began His
more definite and public propaganda.
B. HIS PROPAGANDA. iv. I7-xvi.20
I. HIS ENUNCIATION OF LAWS. iv. 17-vii.
i. A Nucleus gathered. iv. 17— v. 2
a. THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE PROPAGANDA.
1. The Time.
2. The Burden.
b. THE CALLING OF HIS SUBJECTS. iv. 18-22
1. Simon and Andrew. 18-20
2. James and John. 21, 22
c. THE CAMPAIGN IN GALILEE iv. 23-25
1. The Methods. 23
a. Teaching.
p. Preaching.
y. Healing.
2. The Results. 24. 25
a. Report through Syria.
p. Great healing Ministry.
y. Multitudes.
d. THE CRISIS OF REVELATION. v. i, 2
1. The Occasion. "Seeing the Multitudes."
2. The Method. "His Disciples."
3. The Nature. "He taught them."
His Propaganda 53
^— ^— ~'~~-^^^^"~'~ ■^^^^— -.^— — ^^— ^^.^— ^
B. HIS PROPAGANDA
We now commence the central division of
the Gospel which tells the story of the King's
propaganda. He made Capernaum by the sea
in the borders of Zebulun and Naphtali His
base of operations, in all probability because it
was a despised area, and held in contempt by
Jerusalem- and Judaea. That view is cor-
roborated by the parenthesis immediately pre-
ceding this section, in which Matthew declared
that His coming to Capernaum was in fulfil-
ment of the prophecy of Isaiah, that light
would spring up to those who dwelt in the
region and shadow of death. The record of
the propaganda falls into three sections, the
first of which deals with His enunciation of
laws; the second with His exhibition of abil-
ity; and the third with His enforcement of
claims.
I. HIS ENUNCIATION OP LAWS
The section giving the account of the King's
enunciation of laws first tells the story of the
gathering of a nucleus, and a preparatory min-
istry; then records the great Manifesto; and
finally chronicles the immediate effect pro-
duced.
54 The Gospel According to Matthew
i. A Nucleus gathered
This section opens with a definite declara-
tion of the commencement of the propaganda
of the King as to its time and its burden. The
time was that which had already been referred
to; the imprisonment of John and His own
settlement in Capernaum. The burden of the
propaganda in phrasing was exactly that of
the herald, " Repent ye ; for the Kingdom of
heaven is at hand." The implication is ex-
actly the same, that men were in rebellion
against God, and failing to realize the King-
dom of heaven on earth. The call was
identical, that they should repent, reconsider
the ideal, and re-adjust their lives to the Di-
vine government. The declaration was the
same that the Kingdom of heaven was at hand.
Immediately, however, we shall see that the
King went further than John. John could
only make the announcement and declare the
imminence of Another. Christ was able to
follow His own announcement with the definite
words, " Follow Me," thus claiming for Him-
self the position of King.
Next in order we have the account of the
calling of four of His subjects, and it must
be carefully noticed that two of these, Simon
and Andrew, had certainly already heard His
His Propaganda 55
call to disciplesliip. In all probability also
John had heard the call, as it is more than
probable that he was " the other " who accom-
panied Andrew, when, under the influence of
the preaching of John the Baptist, they fol-
lowed the Christ. It may be that James now
heard this call for the first time. In any case
it is important that we notice that He now
called these men, not to discipleship merely,
but to fellowship with Himself in order to
service. From this time they abandoned their
daily avocation, and became His loyal sub-
jects, associated with Him in His propaganda.
Having thus called these men into this closer
fellowship, there followed a remarkable cam-
paign in Galilee, which Matthew briefly but
clearly described as to its methods and results.
The first method referred to was that of
teaching in the synagogues, which was that
of the interpretation of their Scriptures. The
second was that of preaching good tidings,
which was almost certainly, so far as men were
able to receive it, an interpretation of His own
mission ; a declaration of the fact that He had
come for the establishment of that Kingdom
for which men had long waited, but which they
had been unable to realize. The third method
was that of healing all manner of disease and
all manner of sickness; a ministry expressing
56 The Gospel According to Matthew
at once His compassion for human suffering,
and revealing His ability to deal with it.
The results of this campaign were most re-
markable. The report of Him went far be-
yond Galilee, spreading as the record declares
"into all Syria," that is through the whole
Roman province bearing that name, stretching
to the north and east of Galilee. The result of
this was that from all that region they brought
to Him " all that were sick, holden with divers
diseases and torments, possessed with devils,
and epileptic, and palsied," and He exercised a
great ministry of healing. The further result
was that great multitudes began to follow Him
wherever He went, and these were gathered,
not from the immediate neighbourhood of Gali-
lee only, but from Decapolis and from Jeru-
salem and from Judsea and from beyond Jor-
dan. It is quite evident that in these early
stages of His work, the material benefits of
His kingly rule attracted men, rather than the
spiritual principles He revealed.
It was these gathering multitudes which
created the crisis of revelation in His teach-
ing, and called forth His systematic enuncia-
tion of laws. That crisis is carefully de-
scribed, in order to introduce the record of the
manifesto itself.
The occasion is indicated by the words, " see-
His Propaganda 57
ing the multitudes." These were made up in
the way described in the preceding paragraph.
It was a great mixed crowd of people attracted,
as we have said, by His power to cure disease,
but in entire ignorance of the foundation prin-
ciples of the Divine Kingdom. His vision of
the multitudes caused Him to utter His mani-
festo. In a later section of our Gospel we
shall find Matthew's account of how He saw
the multitudes, and the effect the vision pro-
duced upon Him. He knew the Divine order,
and as He looked upon these people, He saw
how they were failing, and how they were suf-
fering in consequence of failure; and in view
of this His heart was moved with compassion
for them.
The method He adopted for the enunciation
of His laws is revealed in the declaration that
He " went up into the mountain : and when He
had sat down, His disciples came unto Him:
and He opened His mouth and taught them."
The sequel will show that multitudes gath-
ered about the Lord and the inner circle of
disciples, and heard the manifesto; but it is
of the utmost importance that we recognize
that He was speaking to the disciples. There
can be no question that His ultimate purpose
was the establishing of the Kingdom of God
among the crowds; but He could only enun-
58 The Gospel According to Matthew
ciate the laws of the Kingdom to souls who
were loyal to the King; and this is the ex-
planation of His going, of set purpose, to a
mountain, and gathering about Him His own
disciples.
The nature of the manifesto is revealed in
the word " He taught them." Men every-
where were conscious of the need of the estab-
lishment of the Kingdom of God, and many
were living in expectation of the coming of the
King. But the ideal of the Kingdom held by
such was a degraded ideal, being material and
exclusive; and in all likelihood this was true
even of those who were following Him as
disciples. It was necessary, therefore, that
they should be taught the truth concerning
these matters, and in order to this He uttered
His manifesto, the fundamental revelations of
which were that character is necessary in
order to conduct, and right relation to the
spiritual in order to the true realization of the
material.
The Manifesto. v. 3— vii. ^j
a. THE FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES. v. 3-20
1. Revelation of Pattern. The Beatitudes. 3-12
a. The Seven. Of Character. 3-9
" The Poor in Spirit."
True Subjects. Free Men.
" They that mourn."
True Penitents. Strong Men.
" The Meek."
True Servants. Wealthy Men.
" They that hunger and thirst after Righteousness."
True Aspirants. Satisfied Men.
" The Merciful."
True Benefactors. Blessed Men.
" The Pure in Heart."
True Saints. Seeing Men.
" The Peacemakers."
True Soldiers. Divine Men.
p. The Two. Of ConMct. 10-12
Restrospective.
Persecuted Men. Free Men.
Immediate.
Suffering Men. Glad Men.
2. Indication of Purpose. J3-16
o. Aseptic Influence. 13
The Fact. Salt.
The Responsibility. Savour.
|3. Illuminative Influence. 14-16
The Fact. Light.
Broad Expanses. A City.
Private Places. A Lamp.
The Responsibility. Shining.
3. Proclamation of Principle. v. 17-20
o. The Relation of the King to Law. 17, 18
Personal Affirmation. 17
" Not to destroy, but to fulfil."
Official Declaration. 18
"Till Heaven and Earth ..."
j3. The Relation of His Subjects to Law 19,20
Official Responsibility. 19
" To break and teach." Least.
" To do and teach." Great.
Personal Responsibility. 20
Righteousness that exceeds.
His Propaganda 61
ii. The Manifesto
For purposes of systematic examination
we may divide the manifesto into three parts,
in the first of which the King laid down the
fundamental principles of His Kingdom; in
the second enunciated the laws thereof ; and in
the third uttered His words of final appli-
cation.
a. THE FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES
The statement of principles consists of a
revelation of pattern; an indication of pur-
pose ; and a proclamation of principle.
1. Revelation of Pattern. The Beatitudes
In these opening declarations the King re-
vealed the essential nature of His Kingdom,
both as to His ultimate purpose, and as to the
secret of realization. The word blessed, with
which each separate declaration commences,
is in itself a revelation of purpose, as it marks
the Divine will for man. A study of the con-
ditions which are declared blessed will reveal
the fact that in the Kingdom of heaven the
matter of supreme moment is character. The
beatitudes fall into two groups, the first deal-
62 The Gospel According to Matthew
ing with character; and the second with con-
duct.
or. The Seven. Of Character
This sevenfold beatitude may be dealt with
in many ways. The seven words indicate a
growth, in which character proceeds from
poverty of spirit to the activity which makes
for peace.
They also constitute a unity, for any reward
may be placed after any beatitude without
violating the truth, thus showing that the
King gave an analysis of character, rather
than described different characteristics.
It is equally true that they suggest a se-
quence, for experimentally no man can enter
into any of the conditions save upon the reali-
zation of the one immediately preceding, the
first of all being poverty of spirit.
Kecognizing that these words constitute an
analysis of character, we shall briefly glance at
each in order. Before doing so it is well that
we should observe that the characteristics
dealt with are those necessary in the present
period of service and of conflict. In the ul-
timate establishment of the Kingdom of God,
some of these qualities will find no place, be-
cause the occasion for them will have passed
away. In that Kingdom there will be no
His Propaganda 63
mourning, no hunger and thirst after
righteousness, no necessity for the exercise of
mercy, or the activity which produces peace.
Poverty of spirit, meekness of will, purity of
heart will abide for ever.
Those who are " poor in spirit " are the true
subjects of the King, and consequently they
are His free men. Theirs is the Kingdom.
They have the freedom of the city of God.
They that mourn are the true penitents, such
as are conscious of their own past failure,
which they consistently and increasingly de-
plore. Such are strong men, for they are com-
forted, and the word has all the values asso-
ciated with the true meaning of the Spirit's
great title of Paraclete.
The meek are the true servants, for meek-
ness is abounding strength held in restraint,
and expressed in service. They are the
wealthy men, for in such submissive service is
the secret of possessing all things.
They that hunger and thirst after righteous-
ness are the true aspirants. Having seen the
glory of the Divine ideal, they are profoundly
discontented in the midst of all that comes
short of that ideal. These are satisfied men
in the assurance of the ultimate victory, and
in the immediate experience of the values of
that victory.
64 The Gospel According to Matthew
The merciful are the true benefactors, for
they are inspired by the compassion of the
King in all their attitudes towards their fel-
low men. They are blessed men, for upon
them rests the mercy of God, and they are
conscious of the blessedness which ever comes
to those who bless.
The pure in heart are the true saints, such
as are undivided in their affection, and con-
sequently single in their aim. These are see-
ing men, and their vision is the vision of God
in all the affairs of life, both now and for ever.
The peacemakers are the true soldiers, whose
conflict is with everything that produces con-
flict as they observe the Divine order, first
pure, and then peaceable. These are the Di-
vine men, partakers of the Divine nature,
called sons of God.
(i. The Two. Of Conflict
Men of such character in the midst of an
age characterized by all that is opposite
thereto, must inevitably suffer; and recog-
nizing this, the final beatitudes of the King
were uttered in order to the strengthening of
those who would be called upon to endure such
a fight of affliction.
For their encouragement He first uttered a
His Propaganda 65
word of retrospective blessing as He declared
that those who had been persecuted for
righteousness sake were blessed, in that they
had become the free men of the Kingdom, hav-
ing entered by this very pathway of per-
secution.
He then uttered His word of blessing upon
those in the midst of the process of suffering,
bidding them rejoice and be exceeding glad,
first because their reward in heaven would be
great; and secondly because in such suffering
they were in fellowship with those who had
gone before.
2. Indication of Purpose
Having thus revealed the pattern of the
Kingdom in the character of its subjects, the
King proceeded to indicate the immediate
purpose. Such character will inevitably re-
sult in influence, and that is the Divine inten-
tion. The nature of this influence is revealed
by the use of two figures.
The first is that of salt which is aseptic,
that is, preventing the spread of corruption,
and so preserving the possibility of goodness.
It is necessary that all these figures should be
carefully observed, and not carried beyond
the bound of their natural suggestion. Salt
66 The Gospel According to Matthew
has no power to change the nature of that
which is corrupt. The responsibility of the
subjects of the Kingdom is that of maintain-
ing the savour which constitutes the true
value of salt ; and this can only be done as the
character already described is realized.
The second figure is that of light, which
is illuminative, and the King made a twofold
application of that figure. The first was that
of a city set on a hill which cannot be hid,
which suggests the illumination of broad ex-
panses, the testimony of the fellowship of
those within the Kingdom to the nature of
that Kingdom. The second was that of the
lamp in the house, suggesting the irradiation
of all private places ; and emphasizes the value
of the individual testimony to the will of God
in its effect upon the details of individual
life. The responsibility connected with this
aspect of infiuence is that of so shining be-
fore men that they may glorify the Father.
3. Proclamation of Principle
Finally, before proceeding to the actual an-
nouncement of His own ethical code, the King
made a definite proclamation concerning law,
setting the seal of His authority upon law,
and upon that partial expression of it which
His Propaganda 67
men had received in the Mosaic economy, by
declaring His own relation to law, and the
relation of His subjects thereto.
His own relation to law He clearly declared
by the personal affirmation that He had not
come to destroy, but to fulfil; and the official
declaration that not one jot or tittle should
pass from the law till all things should be ac-
complished.
The consequent relation of His subjects to
law was that first of their official responsi-
bility thereto. The man who would break
one of the least of the commandments and
teach others to do so, would be called least
in the Kingdom of heaven; but the man who
would do and teach them, would be called
great in that Kingdom. He indicated in a
sentence of searching power and profound sig-
nificance, the personal responsibility of His
subjects as He declared that their righteous-
ness must exceed that of the scribes and
Pharisees, or else they could in no wise enter
into the Kingdom of heaven.
b. THE LAWS. v. 21— vi.
I, Earthly Relationships. v. 21-48
a. The Foundations of Society. 21-32
Individual. The Sacredness of Life. 21-26
The old Law. 21
The new Interpretation. 22-26
No Anger.
No Contempt,
No Insult.
The Rules.
Be reconciled to thy Brother.
Agree with thine Adversary.
Social. The Sacredness of Marriage. 27-32
The old Law. 27
The new Interpretation. 28-30
No Desire.
The Rules.
The right Eye plucked out.
The right Hand cut off.
The old Provision. 31
The new Interpretation. 32
The only Reason.
fi. The Pillars of Society. 33-42
Truth. 33-37
The old Law. 33
The new Interpretation. 2i-37
The Consciousness of God.
Simple Statement.
Justice. 38-42
The old Law. 38
The new Interpretation. 39-42
Resist not.
Give.
Y. The Constitution of Society. 43-48
The old Law. 43
The new Interpretation. 44-48
Love as Sons of God.
Perfect as the Father is Perfect.
^
His Propaganda 69
6. THE LAWS
The King now enunciated His moral code,
and this falls into two parts, the first dealing
with the laws of earthly relationships; and
the second with those of heavenly relation-
ships.
1. Earthly^ Relationships
In setting forth His laws of earthly rela-
tionships the King referred to certain words
of the Mosaic economy, and thereby revealed
the abiding force of all the great principles of
human conduct contained in the law and the
prophets. The righteousness which He came
to make possible does not destroy the old, but
fulfils it, that is, fills it to the full. The re-
quirements of the new law will not be less ex-
acting than the regulations of the old; they
will go far beyond, and exceed them, dealing
not merely with the details of externality, but
with the attitudes and activities of the hid-
den life. These laws may be divided into
three groups; those showing the foundations
of society; those indicating the pillars of so-
ciety; and that revealing the constitution of
society.
70 The Gospel According to Matthew
a. The Foundations of Society
The first foundation of human society is
the individual word which reveals the sacred-
ness of life. The old law said " Thou shalt
not kill." The King's interpretation of that
law penalized, not merely the act of killing,
but the attitudes of mind which make killing
possible. Under the old economy the man
who killed was declared to be in danger of the
judgment; and the word judgment in that con-
nection must be interpreted by the law which
declared that the penalty of murder was
death. That same word was used by the King
as describing the danger of the man who is
angry with his brother. He further declared
that he who uses the word Raca, a term of con-
tempt, to his brother, is in danger of the
discipline of the highest court; and he who
calls his brother a fool, a term of insult, is in
danger of Gehenna. Thus no room is left for
murder. The provision of the Kingdom does
not begin by arresting a criminal with blood-
red hands. It arrests the man in whom the
murder spirit is born. Finally the King in-
dictated rules of procedure, observing which,
His subjects would be delivered from the
dangers indicated. No man must offer his
gift on the altar of God, if his brother has
His Propaganda 71
aught against liim, until he has sought recon-
ciliation with him. There must be immediate
agreement with the adversary, that is, the per-
son wronged, who has just cause of complaint.
It is most interesting to note that while this
ethic of Jesus forbids those attitudes of the
mind which, unchecked, are likely to issue in
murder; when He uttered these rules of pro-
cedure He had in mind, not the man likely to
be angry because he was wronged, but the
man whose wrong-doing had created the
anger. This indeed is justice on the highest
of all levels. No man must be angry with
his brother, but his brother also must see to
it that he gives him no cause for anger.
The second foundation of society is the so-
cial word which reveals the sacredness of mar-
riage. The old law said " Thou shalt not
commit adultery." The new interpretation
penalizes the desire which may issue in the
act. These are the most searching words con-
cerning impurity that were ever uttered, and
in view of them the marriage relationship is
lifted into a region full of awe. Here also the
King gave rules observing which, all such
unholy desire would be immediately corrected.
His words are almost violent in their revela-
tion of His thought on this matter. If the
right eye cause a man to stumble, he is to
72 The Gospel According to Matthew
pluck it out; or if the right hand offend, he is
to cut it off. Of the perils of impurity of
thought we do not often speak, and it is better
so. Yet let the heart remember that the King
has spoken, and no human words are neces-
sary after the burning speech of the infinite
Purity.
In this connection He quoted the word of
the old economy which permitted a writing of
divorcement; and gave the new interpretation
of that matter as He declared that the only
reason for divorce is the sin of fornication.
/?. The Pillars of Society
Human society according to the ethic of
the King is to be supported upon the pillars
of truth and justice.
With regard to truth he quoted the word
from the old economy which safeguarded
oaths. In His Kingdom oaths are forbidden.
The danger is recognized of taking the name
of God in vain by using it in an oath, in sup-
port of falsehood. In the new Kingdom, char-
acter will make the oath unnecessary, and
therefore simple affirmation or negation will
be sufficient. This is ensured by the con-
sciousness of God. When men remember that
heaven is His throne, that earth is His foot-
His Propaganda 73
stool, that Jerusalem is His city, that the
hairs of the head are white or black by His
will; in that consciousness of the connection
of everything with Him, their speech will be
that of simple statement, and absolute truth.
With regard to justice the old law provided
for retribution in kind, or what we now often
speak of as poetic justice. " An eye for an
eye, and a tooth for a tooth." That is always
a righteous law for the governance of barbaric
peoples. This the King actually changed as
He commanded His subjects that they resist
not evil, and that their action toward men
is to be that of undeserved generosity. The
old law reckoned with self, and attempted its
conditioning. The new considers self as hav-
ing lost its assertiveness in the will of the
King. To the loyal soul whose greatest am-
bition is the coming of the Kingdom, there
will always be a delight in accompanying the
King on those excursions of undeserved gen-
erosity, which best reveal His heart. The
other cheek, thy cloke also, the second mile,
the constant gift, are the methods of revenge
in the Kingdom ; and it is no wonder that men
are astonished and unbelieving until they
have known the King.
74 The Gospel According to Matthew
y. The Constitution of Society
The final word concerning earthly relation-
ships is one which reveals the temper in which
society will be cohesive and strong. The old
law recognized division in its command,
"Thou Shalt love thy neighbour, and hate
thine enemy." The new recognizes relation-
ship to God, and commands a temper which
is the natural outcome thereof. The subjects
of the King are to love as the sons of God.
That love, moreover, is not of that kind which
" alters when it alteration finds." Its
strength is to be in itself, rather than in the
object. Enemies are to be loved, and the
power for such loving is found in the fact of
relationship to God. The final word of the
King is at once tender and severe. " Ye
therefore shall be perfect, as your heavenly
Father is perfect." There must be no attempt
to minimize the strictness of that great word.
Let there rather be the determination to know
and obey the laws of the Kingdom, and so to
realize its ideal by approximation to the char-
acter of God. It is only so that love will be
stronger than circumstances, triumph over
wrong, and prove itself mightier than death.
2. Heavenly Relationships. '^'- '-34
a. The general Principle. i
The Warning. Wrong Motive.
The Implication. Right Motive.
p. Spiritual Applications. 2-i8
Outward. Alms. 2-4
The false Method.
The true Method.
Heavenward. Prayer. S^'S
The false Method. 5
The true Method. 6-iS
The Place. 6
The Practice. 7,8
The Pattern. 9-13
The Rights of the King. 9, 10
The Needs of the Subjects. 11-13
A Word of Exposition. 14. iS
Inward. Fasting. 16-18
The false Method. 16
The true Method. 17. 1 8
y. Material Applications. 19-34
Concerning Wealth. Without Covetousness. 19-24
The false Method. 19
The true Method. 20-24
The Activity. 20
The Secrets. 21-24
Emotion. The Heart.
Intellect. The Eye.
Volition. The Service.
Concerning Necessities. Without Care. 25-34
The false Method. 25
The true Method. 26-34
Illustrations. Food. The Birds.
Raiment. The Flowers.
Instructions.
" Be not anxious . . . for."
" Seek ye first ... all these."
" Be not anxious . . . for,"
His Propaganda 77
2. Heavenly Relationships
In setting forth the laws of heavenly rela-
tionships the King referred to prevalent habits
of life, rather than to laws of the old economy.
He first laid down a general principle; and
then made applications of it in the spiritual
and material realms.
a. The general Principle
In this statement the revisers substituted
the word righteousness for alms, a reading
which is approved of almost unanimously by
the great editors and scholars. The change
harmonizes too with the general movement.
As immediately before the actual enunciation
of laws the King had laid down a principle,
that the righteousness of His subjects must
exceed that of scribes and Pharisees, He now
in the midst of that enunciation reveals the
difference betw^een the righteousness to which
He calls men, and that of the scribes and
Pharisees. Moreover He deals with the sub-
ject of alms immediately afterwards, that be-
ing only a part of a greater whole, with which
the King was about to deal, in the matter of
the laws of spiritual life.
This enunciation of a general principle
78 The Gospel According to Matthew
takes the form of a warning, in the implica-
tion of which we find the positive principle to
be remembered. It is a statement of a new
motive for conduct, and is a most searching
word, going to the inner source of all action.
A thought, a reason, a purpose precedes all
deeds, and this word of the King probes the
region of that reason. The warning is
against the cultivation of a righteousness in
order that it may be seen of men ; and the im-
plication is that the motive for righteousness
is that of being well pleasing to the Father.
To do righteousness to be seen of men robs it
of its value, and those who do so have no re-
ward of God. To do righteousness for its
own sake, and because it is in harmony with
the will of God is the only way which makes
righteousness of any value. To be honest be-
cause honesty is the best policy, is to have
no credit for honesty in the ledgers of heaven.
To do right only because men are looking, is
to be unrewarded of God; for the probability
is that if men were not looking, the exact op-
posite might be done. It is with that choice
of the heart that the ethic of the Kingdom
deals.
His Propaganda 79
/?. Spiritual Applications
This principle is now applied in the activ-
ities of the spiritual life, of which there are
three; alms, prayer, and fasting.
Outward. Alms
The giving of alms is an outward, spiritual
activity. 0n the level of strict justice and
equity there is no need for any such action.
When men give alms it is in response to some
spiritual impulse which may be either bad or
good. The false method is described as that
of the giving of alms with ostentatious pub-
licity, in order that the one, bestowing the
gifts, may have glory of men. Of such giv-
ing the King declared that the men indulging
therein have received their reward. If a man
gives alms to be seen of men, and is seen of
men, he gains what he desires, but there is no
value in the action beyond.
The law of the King is that the giving of
alms is to be in secret ; and the King declared
that such giving is seen of the Father, and is
recompensed by Him. A subject of the King,
no longer desirous of the applause of his fel-
low men, quietly and secretly helps the needy,
and the deed is recognized by God, and by Him
80 The Gospel According to Matthew-
is recompensed. Sir Moses Montefiore, a de-
vout Hebrew, held it as a sacred principle of
giving, that announced and acknowledged gen-
erosity had its only reward therein, and did
not count in the reckoning of Jehovah; and
that is exactly what the King taught in this
manifesto.
Heavenward. Prayer
In the next paragraph we find the applica-
tion of the same principle to the exercise of
prayer. Again the false method is indicated,
that of the hypocrites, who love to stand and
pray in order to be seen of men. It is not
wrong to pray at the street corners. It is
wrong to pray there to be seen of men; and
again, of those who pray in this way, the King
said " they have received their reward."
To His subjects He then revealed the true
method of prayer; first as to its place. The
true place of prayer is the inner chamber with
the door closed. There prayer is to be offered
to the Father Who is in secret, and Who seeth
in secret, and He will recompense. More-
over in the practice of true prayer there is to
be no need for vain repetitions. God has not
to be persuaded into giving by our much
speaking. Before we ask Him He knows the
His Propaganda 81
things we have need of. Our asking, there-
fore, may be in all confidence, and in all sim-
ple directness.
It was at this time that the King gave to
His subjects the great pattern prayer, every
sentence of which is full of meaning, and the
comprehensiveness of which leaves nothing
outside its scope. It may be broadly divided
into two parts. In the first of these the sub-
ject prays for the rights of the King, and in
the second for the needs of the subjects of the
Kingdom. It is of great importance that in
the study of this prayer we should observe the
fact that our Lord emphasized one of its peti-
tions by a word of exposition and exhortation ;
for it is singular that this particular petition
is the one which has been most often modified
in the form in which the prayer has been used.
It is that which asks " Forgive us our debts, as
we also have forgiven our debtors." Concern-
ing that, the King declared that if His sub-
jects forgive men their trespasses, their
Father will forgive them; and with equal
clearness that if they do not forgive men, their
Father will not forgive them. Of course it
must be recognized that these words are words
spoken to those within the Kingdom.
82 The Gospel According to Matthew
Inward. Fasting
Again the false method is indicated which
is that of drawing attention to the fact of
fasting by the sadness of countenance, and the
disfigurement of the face. Once again the
word of the King is heard concerning those
who follow this method. " They have re-
ceived their reward."
The true reason of fasting is to be found in
the opportunity it affords for a clearer vision
of God, and that must ever manifest itself in
new gladness of face. Sadness of face reveals
the fact that the person fasting is more oc-
cupied with the act than with the ultimate in-
tention. That fasting which consists of the
giving up of anything perfectly legitimate in
itself, in order that we may increase our power
in communion with God, will ever issue in the
increase of joy and its manifestation, as,
facing life, we reveal the peace and the delight
of knowing God.
y. Material Applications
The King proceeded to the enunciation of
those laws which apply the heavenly relation-
ships to material nuatters.
Concerning wealth His subjects are to be
without covetousness. The false attitude
His Propaganda 83
toward wealth is that which lays it up
selfishly, and, moreover, foolishly, upon the
earth where it is liable to depreciation and
destruction.
He then revealed the true attitude toward
earthly wealth. He did not say that it was
wrong to possess earthly treasure. He did
say that it was wrong to lay it up for self. It
is to be held as by stewards. At best, earthly
treasure is valueless, by comparison with true
riches. His estimate of it is seen in the words
" moth and rust consume," " thieves break
through and steal." What gentle irony is
found in these descriptions, and what quiet
contempt they reveal for the things which men
hold dear. These things harbour their own
instruments of destruction, moth and rust;
and allure the thieves who take with them the
moth and rust also, so that their gain of in-
iquity is doomed. All this is poor, and hardly
worth the labour of laying up at all. The
true treasure is that which is laid up beyond
the reach of moth and rust and thief. How
treasure is to be laid up in that safe place the
King revealed, as dealing with the whole man
He declared that where the treasure is the
heart is, that if the eye be single, the whole
body is full of light. No man can serve two
masters. If the emotional life be centred in
84 The Gospel According to Matthew
spiritual and heavenly things, then treasure
will be laid up in that realm. If the intel-
lectual life be unified as the eye is single, see-
ing only the glory of God, all wealth will be
consecrated to Him. If the volitional life be
under the dominion of God rather than mam-
mon, then in the interest of the Kingdom of
God, men will use the mammon of un-
righteousness.
A further material application of heavenly
relationships was that concerning the neces-
sities of life; and here the subjects of the
Kingdom are to be without care. The false
method is that of anxiety for personal life, as
to the things which are wholly material. The
falsity of this method the King exposed by
His question, " Is not the life more than the
food, and the body than the raiment? "
He then proceeded to reveal the true atti-
tude of the subjects of the Kingdom toward
all these necessary things of life. He did this
first by illustrations. He declared that the
birds of the heaven which neither sow nor
reap nor gather, are fed by the Father ; and in-
quired, " Are not ye of much more value than
they? " In the question two truths are in-
volved, first that if God care for the birds
He will certainly care for His children; but
secondly that the children are endowed with
His Propaganda 85
higher capacities than the birds, which fact
is in itself an argument for the greater care
of God. The birds do not know how to sow,
or reap, or gather, but His children do; and
this capacity is part of His Divine beneficence.
Why, then, should they be anxious? So also
as to raiment. The lilies of the field grow,
though they cannot toil, nor are they able to
spin ; and their raiment is more glorious even
than that of Solomon. And again by the
question He asked, the Lord made the same
appeal to His subjects to abandon anxiety.
Finally He turned from illustration to
definite instruction as He charged them first,
that they should not be anxious about material
things, because their Father knew their need;
secondly, that they should seek His Kingdom,
resting assured that all the things they needed
would be added to them ; and finally, that they
should not be anxious for the morrow, because
the evil of a day is enough for a man to face
within the compass of the day.
c. THE FINAL APPLICATIONS. vii. 1-27
1. The Dynamic. '-'^
o. The Attitude. 1-6
Without Censoriousness. i-S
The Warning. " Judge not."
The Principle. Judgment in kind.
The Difficulties. The Beam.
The Preparation. Cast out the Beam.
With Caution. 6
The Warning. " Give not . . . cast not."
The Peril. " Lest haply."
p. The Provision. 7-1 r
The Declaration. 7, 8
A Command. Ask. Seek. Knock.
A Statement. " Every one ..."
The Argument. 9-1 1
A human Father and Son.
The Divine Father and His Children.
•y. The Activity. 12
The Relation. Therefore — Because you may ask —
The Duty. The Righteousness of Love.
2. The threefold Responsibility. 13-23
o. The Way. The narrow Gate. 13, 14
Because J Broad the Way to Death.
( Narrow the Way to Life.
/3. The Truth. Beware of false Prophets. 15-20
The Test of Fruit, j Inevitable.
( Invariable.
Y- The Life. 21-23
Not Profession.
But Loyalty.
The Warning.
3. The anal Words. 24-27
o. Permanent Building. 24, 25
The Condition. To hear and to do.
The Test. The Storm.
The Issue. Stability.
p. Perishing Building. 26, 27
The Condition. To hear, and not to do.
The Test. The Storm.
The Issue. Destruction.
His Propaganda 87
C. THE FINAL APPLICATIONS
Having thus enunciated the actual laws of
His Kingdom, the King uttered His words of
final application. These deal with the dy-
namic which creates the possibility of obedi-
ence; the threefold responsibility which con-
fronts the subjects of the King; and the last
and supreme claim which He made concerning
His teaching.
1. The Dynamic
The central teaching of this paragraph con-
cerns the provision which is made in the Di-
vine economy for the direct dealing of man
with God. In preparation for that, the at-
titude of the subjects of the King toward
others is carefully described ; and finally their
activity toward others is defined.
a. The Attitude
Their attitude is to be characterized by the
absence of censoriousness. No man is to con-
stitute himself the judge of his brother.
Against such judgment the King definitely
warned His subjects. The first argument in
enforcement of the warning consists of the
88 The Gospel According to Matthew
statement of the principle that human judg-
ment will be responded to by human judg-
ment in kind. Moreover the difficulty in the
way of forming a correct judgment is that of
the imperfection of every man. While he
may pass judgment on the mote in the eye of
his brother, his ability to see that clearly, is
hindered by the beam in his own eye. If it
be necessary that the mote be removed from
the eye of a man, the one attempting to re-
move it must first see to it that the beam is
removed from his own eye.
The attitude of the subjects of the King-
dom toward those who are essentially and per-
sistently evil must be that of caution. It is
necessary that there should be discrimination
in dealing with holy and precious things, for
dogs and swine have no understanding of their
value. Within the Kingdom all judgment
rests with the King, but there must be a clear
understanding of the line of separation that
exists between loyalty and rebellion; and
while brethren may not judge brethren, all the
subjects of the King are to pass this judg-
ment on such as are notoriously persistent in
evil courses, that they are incapable of receiv-
ing the things which pertain to the Kingdom,
and therefore the holy and precious things
must not be offered to them.
His Propaganda 89
/?. The Provision
Perhaps in the whole course of the mani-
festo nothing is more calculated to reveal the
altitude of the ideal of the King, or the im-
possibility of obedience thereto, so clearly as
■ this description of attitude which we have con-
sidered. It is, therefore, an arresting fact
that at this point, as the bewildered soul is
almost in despair, the King uttered the glori-
ous words which reveal the secret of power
available, in order to fulfilment. The declara-
tion consists of a command and a statement.
The command is threefold, and consists of the
repetition of the same idea in different words,
all intended to emphasize and simplify the
teaching; ask, seek, knock; and side by side
with each form of command there is a definite
promise, " it shall be given ... ye shall find
... it shall be opened." The statement is
absolute and unequivocal that " every one that
asketh receiveth ; and he that seeketh findeth ;
and to him that knocketh it shall be opened."
Then in great grace, and in order to help
those who heard Him to place their confidence
in His declaration, the King appealed to them
by the argument of their own natural affec-
tion, as He suggested by His questions that
in the case of any one of them, if a son should
90 The Gospel According to Matthew
ask for a loaf he would not give him a stone,
or for a fish he would not give him a serpent.
Applying the illustration, He emphasized it
by indicating the infinite distance between
themselves and their Father in heaven, as He
reminded them that they were evil, and yet
would know how to give good gifts to their
children; and again in the form of a ques-
tion declared that the Father in heaven, Him-
self essentially good, would certainly give good
things to them that ask Him.
y. The Activity
In view of that provision made for the sup-
ply of human need by God, in answer to human
application, the King summarized the whole
of His ethical teaching so far as man's rela-
tionship to man is concerned, in what to-day
we describe as the golden rule. In our study
of that great saying of the Lord we must never
forget to lay emphasis upon the word " there-
fore," because we may ask, and have; seek,
and find; knock, and know the door opened;
and our activity toward our fellow men is to
be that of the righteousness which is the out-
come of love.
His Propaganda 91
2. The threefold Responsibility
Having thus revealed the dynamic in the
power of which men may fulfil the ethic, the
King proceeded to reveal a threefold responsi-
bility, that namely of entrance upon the way,
of guidance in obedience, and of the realiza-
tion of the issue; or inclusively, responsibility
concerning the way, the truth, and the life.
oc. The Way
The King first indicated the necessity for
entering by the narrow gate. He thus passed
back to the first things He had said, and re-
minded those who listened to Him that the
gracious beatitudes which He had uttered at
the commencement, were nevertheless revela-
tions of a severe requirement. In order to
the appropriation of the benefits of the King-
dom there must be conformity to the stand-
ard of character. Moreover by this word He
reminded them again of the sternest things
He had said concerning the necessity for the
mutilation of the physical life, if necessary, in
the interest of the purity of the soul. All the
severity of His requirement as revealed in the
course of His teaching, is for ever calculated
to halt such as are crowding after Him. In
92 The Gospel According to Matthew
order to urge them to follow at all costs, He
called men to enter by the strait gate, and
graciously revealed the reason of its narrow-
ness as He declared that the gate is wide and
the way broad which leads to destruction;
while the gate is narrow and the way strait-
ened that leads to life. The true value of this
statement is only discovered as we observe
that the broad way narrows to destruction;
while the straitened way broadens into ful-
ness of life. Human responsibility is that of
consenting to the stripping and denial which
are necessary in order to entrance upon that
way.
yS. The Truth
Having entered upon the way, a new re-
sponsibility is created, which concerns the
truth. The prophet is the interpreter of the
will of God, and the King knew a peril would
confront those who yielded to Him, through
false prophets, who would present themselves
in the garb of truth, but whose nature would
be that of ravening wolves. The responsibil-
ity of His subjects is that of not being de-
ceived. Therefore He gave them the test by
which all prophets may be known. It is that
of fruit. He twice repeated the declaration,
His Propaganda 93
" By their fruits ye shall know them," and
emphasized the statement by declaring the
test to be inevitable, that a good tree must
bring forth good fruit, and a corrupt tree
must bring forth evil fruit, this being an in-
evitable law. The test is not an immediate
one. There must be time; and consequently
the true attitude of the subjects of the King
must be that of a careful reserve of judgment
in the case of any interpretation which has
not been vindicated by the fruitfulness of
those advancing it.
y. The Life
As the first word of responsibility had to
do with the beginning, and the second with the
progressive experience, the last is a responsi-
bility created in view of the final issues. The
life within the Kingdom is not that of pro-
fession merely. Calling the King Lord is not
enough. There must be the actual doing of
the will of the Father. This teaching is
rendered emphatic by the illustration the
King used as He referred to the day of the
final establishment of the Kingdom of Heaven ;
and warned men that not because they proph-
esied by His name, or by His name had cast
out demons, or by His name done mighty
94 The Gospel According to Matthew
works would they find entrance. If in spite
of these things they were disobedient to the
teaching, and rebellious against the will of
God, they would be rejected. A profession of
loyalty which is not sincere, is profanation,
and service rendered which is not purely mo-
tived, is sacrilege.
3. The final Words
The last words of the manifesto are supreme
in the claim which the King made for His
own teaching. This claim was made pictori-
ally as He used the figure of the builders'
craft, with which He was familiar in the ex-
perience of His human life in Nazareth; and
described the difference between permanent
and perishing building.
a. Permanent Building
The condition of building character so that
it may abide is that of hearing and doing His
sayings. The test of such building will come
in the day of stress and storm, when the rain
descends, and the floods come, and the winds
blow and beat upon the house. When that
house is built upon a rock, no storms can de-
stroy it. When a life is fashioned according
to His teaching in this manifesto, no de-
His Propaganda 95
structive force is equal to its undoing, for it
is founded upon a rock, and stands.
/?. Perishing Building
The condition of building character which
will not abide is that of hearing His sayings,
and not doing them. It is important that we
should observe that there is no application
of this word of Jesus to those who have never
heard His words, or known His Gospel. It
can only be applied in the case of those who
are familiar with His teaching. Here again
the test is the same. It is that of the sweep-
ing hurricane. When the house is built upon
the sand, it crumbles before the force of the
tempest. When a life is fashioned in dis-
obedience to His ideals, it is an easy prey to
the forces which destroy, for it is built upon
the sand, and falls.
iii. The Effect produced. vii. 28, 29
i. THE MULTITUDE'S ASTONISHMENT,
ii. THE KING'S AUTHORITY.
His Propaganda 97
iii. The Effect produced
It is evident as we suggested at the be-
ginning, that while the words of the mani-
festo were addressed primarily to the .group
of disciples, the multitudes had followed the
King and His subjects to the mountain height,
and had listened to His teaching, for Matthew
has recorded the effect produced, and the rea-
son thereof. The effect was that of a great
astonishment, and the reason of the astonish-
ment was the authority of His teaching.
At first it might seem as though something
in the manner of Jesus had impressed the
crowds with His authority. Now while ad-
mitting that there must inevitably have been
a dignity and authority in the very way in
which He spoke; there can be no doubt that
this very manner was created by the things
which He said. This is borne out by the state-
ment that " He taught as having authority,
and not as their scribes," which statement is
the more remarkable when we remember that
the scribes were the authoritative teachers.
Consequently the astonishment was created
by a contrast of authorities. The authority
of the scribe was that of official and dogmatic
interpretation. The authority of the King
was that of the self-evident truth of His teach-
98 The Gospel According to Matthew
ing; and an unbiassed study of the manifesto
to-day must produce the same effect. The
only criticism which is at all warranted on the
part of man is that the ideal is too high for
his obedience. As to the splendour of that
ideal there can be no question.
Thus in the process of His propaganda the
King has now formally enunciated His laws,
and therein revealed the order of the Kingdom
of heaven which He has come to establish upon
the earth.
II. HIS EXHIBITION OF ABILITY. viii.-ix. 34
i. First Movement. viii. 1-23
a. THE MANIFESTATIONS. 1-17
I. Leprosy. A Leper. ^-4
0. The Approach of the Leper,
1.2
Reverence.
Confidence in Power.
/5. The Answer of the King.
3>4
The Touch.
The Word.
2.
Palsy. A Roman.
5-13
0. The Approach of the Soldier.
5-9
Vicarious.
5-7
Confidence in Authority.
8,9
^. The Answer of the King.
10-13
Warning to Israel.
10-12
The Word.
13
3.
Fever. A Woman.
14. IS
a. The Approach of the King.
14, ISO
The Look.
14
The Touch.
isa
fi. The Answer of the Woman.
IS&
Activity.
Service.
4-
Demons and Disease. Mixed Multitudes.
. 16, 17
a. The Bringing of the Needy.
1 6a
p. The Answer of the King.
16b, 17
The Word.
The Secret.
b. THE RESULTS. 18-22
1. Gathering Multitudes and the King's
Withdrawal. 18
2. Two Illustrations. 19-22
o. The Scribe. 19,20
Impulsive Confession. 19
The Test. ao
p. A Disciple. 21, 22
Filial Reserve. 21
The Command. zz
His Propaganda 101
II. HIS EXHIBITION OP ABILITY
The next stage in the propaganda of the
King was that of the resumption of the activ-
ity of His power, following upon the enuncia-
tion of His ethic. The multitudes had
listened to the wondrous words which He had
spoken to His disciples, and had been aston-
ished at the authority of His teaching. It
was necessary now that in the light of that
teaching His power should be further re-
vealed. He had already exercised a great
ministry of healing. In the comparatively
brief section now devoted to the account of
His exhibition of ability, we have three dis-
tinct movements.
i. First Movement
In this movement we have the account of
four manifestations of power, and of the re-
sults following thereupon.
a. THE MANIFESTATIONS
In this section the power of the King was
manifested in dealing with leprosy, palsy,
fever, and demons and disease.
102 The Gospel According to IMatthew
1. Leprosy. A Leper
It is an arresting fact that immediately fol-
lowing upon the enunciation of His ethic,
the King was met in the valley by a leper. In
imagination one can see the multitudes ac-
companying Him, shrinking back to make way
for the leper, in order that they might fulfil
the requirement of the ancient law, and escape
contamination. Apparently unheeding the
crowd, the leper came into the presence of the
King in the attitude of reverence, and in the
words he addressed to Him, expressed con-
fidence in His power; and uncertainty as to
His willingness.
The answer of the King was immediate, and
to the multitudes surrounding it must have
been startling. He stretched forth His hand
and touched him, and aflflrming His willing-
ness, demonstrated His ability to deal with
leprosy. Our familiarity with the power of
the Lord may interfere with our ability to
realize how striking a demonstration of power
this was to the people who witnessed it. In
the economy of Moses there was no hope for
the leper, and the moral requirements of that
economy were most strict as to the absolute
necessity for the segregation of leprosy, so
that men not affected thereby, should not in
His Propaganda 103
^■^— ^^■""""~'"^^^""~ __^__^_,^^____^^^^_^^
any way come into contact witli it. Yet here
was the One Whose moral code had demanded
a spiritual purity which seemed wellnigh im-
possible of achievement, touching the leprous
man, and communicating to him a purity that
cleansed him.
2. Palsy. A Roman
The next manifestation of power is equally
impressive as to those in whose interest it
was made. In this case a Roman soldier ap-
proached the King on behalf of his personal
servant. It was the coming of one outside
the covenant of Hebraism on behalf of another
outside that covenant. The manner of his
coming was that of a remarkable recognition
of the method of the King's authority. Il-
lustrating from his own position, that of a
man being under authority, and, therefore, ex-
ercising authority over others, he besought
the Lord to speak the word, and affirmed his
conviction that if He would do so, his servant
would be healed. It was the approach of one
confident of the King's authority.
The King had interrupted the centurion's
application in that before he had asked for a
benefit, and had only told the story of the
boy, He had said, " I will come and heal him."
104 The Gospel According to Matthew
When the centurion had confessed his own un-
worthiness, and his confidence in the power
of the King to act without taking the jour-
ney, Jesus made his confession the occasion
of a solemn word of warning to the multitudes
that were about Him. He was about to confer
a benefit on a man outside the covenant, and
He declared that was a type of what would
happen in larger degree. He then uttered the
word of power, and the servant was healed.
3. Fever. 'A Woman
The third manifestation of power was ex-
ercised on behalf of a woman, and this time
unasked. Entering into the house of Peter,
He saw a woman lying sick of a fever, and
immediately touched her hand, and she was
healed.
The demonstration of the completeness of
the healing was immediate as she arose and
expressed her gratitude in service rendered to
Him.
4. Demons and Disease. Mixed Multitudes
The last manifestation of power in this first
group of incidents took place on an eventful
evening. The story is very briefly told, but
suggests a picture full of beauty. The King
His Piu^^anda 105
is seen surrounded by multitudes who are
bringing to Him those possessed with demons,
and those who were sick; and His power is
revealed in that without any apparent diffi-
culty, but merely by the uttering of His word,
He cast out the demons and healed all that
were sick. In this connection, however, Mat-
thew reveals the secret of that wonderful
activity which at the time he certainly did
not know. All that which appeared to be the
activity of absolute and abounding power was
the outcome of a profounder activity of suffer-
ing and of sacrifice, which had been foretold
by the prophet Isaiah in the great declaration,
" Himself took our infirmities, and bare our
diseases."
In these things there had been a marvellous
revelation of His power; leprosy, palsy, fever,
demons and disease ; all had obeyed His touch
or His word; and His activity had been
marked by a gracious disregard of human lim-
itations as He had bestowed benefits upon a
leper, a Roman, a woman ; all the despised of
the Hebrew mind. By these gifts He ex-
pressed His willingness to include those on
whom they were bestowed, in His Kingdom.
On that wonderful evening, when the crowds
gathered, and the King in a mystery which no
human mind could understand, took their in-
106 The Gospel ^^ccording to Matthew
firmities and bare their diseases, He gave a
radiant revelation not only of His power, but
also of His love.
6. THE RESULTS
The first result of this activity of the King
was that of the gathering to Him of yet
greater multitudes, and in view of this He
gave commandment to depart unto the other
side. While the multitudes were attracted
principally by the benefits He conferred, there
were those amongst them who were conscious
of a desire to follow Him, and two illustra-
tions are given.
The first is that of a scribe who in response
to a splendid impulse said to Him, " I will fol-
low Thee whithersoever Thou goest." To such
an outcry the King made instantaneous reply,
not intended to discourage, but to reveal that
such following must inevitably mean fellow-
ship in the experience of want and of home-
lessness. The illustration is left at that
point. We have no right to say that this man
did not follow.
The second illustration is that of a disciple
who, moved by a similar desire, was yet di-
vided between immediate loyalty to the King
and his duty to his father; for it must be
His Propaganda 107
remembered that the phrase " suffer me first
to go and bury my father " does not suggest
that His father was dead, but that he desired
to remain with him until he should die. To
that suggestion the King replied, " Follow
Me; and leave the dead to bury their own
dead," thus showing that no merely human
tie must be allowed to interfere between His
subjects and Himself.
ii. Second Movement. viii. 23— ix. 17
«. THE MANIFESTATIONS. viii. 23— ix. 10
1. The Storm. The Disciples. viii. 23-27
o. The Tempest. *3-2S
The imperilled Boat.
The King asleep.
p. The Calm. x6, 27
The Disciples' Cry.
The King. Rebuked the Disciples.
Rebuked the Sea.
The Disciples' Wonder.
2. The Demoniacs. The City. viii, 28— ix. 1
a. The Approach of the Demoniacs. 28-31
The Confession.
The Request.
/3. The Action of the King. 32
Authority.
Power.
y. The Action of the City. 33, 34
The News.
The Request.
5. The Answer of the King. ix. i
Departure.
3. The Forgiveness of Sins. A Man. «• 2-7
a. The Bringing of the Man. za
/3. The Answer of the King. ab
To their Faith.
The Word of Forgiveness.
y. The Opposition. 3
S. The Argument of the King. 4-8
Inquiry. A Problem.
Answer by Demonstration.
Effect on Crowds.
4. The Will. Matthew. 9, 10
a. The Action of the King. 9a
His Look.
The Call.
jS. The Response. gb, 10
Obedience.
A Feast.
fc. THE RESULTS. ix. 11-17
1. The Pharisees. Criticism. ii-i3
o. The Difficulty. Eating with Sinners,
p. The Answer. Explanation.
2. The Disciples of John. Perplexity. i4-i7
o. The Difficulty. The Joy of His Disciples.
/3. The Answer. The Reason.
The Reasonableness.
His Propaganda 109
ii. Second Movement
In this second movement we have again the
account of four manifestations of power, and
of the results following.
a. THE MANIFESTATIONS
The exhibition of the King's ability was now
given in ^ the material, the mental, and the
moral realms ; as He stilled the storm, healed
the demoniacs, forgave sins, and captured the
will.
1. The Storm. The Disciples
A manifestation of power over the elements
was granted to His disciples only. Acting
under His direction they had followed Him
into a boat in order to cross to the other side.
In the course of their crossing a great tempest
arose, and the few words of Matthew present
a striking picture. The boat was imperilled
by waves which covered it, but in the midst of
the storm the King was asleep. In their
despair they awoke Him. His response was
strange and Kingly. It consisted of a two-
fold rebuke, first of them for lack of faith,
and then of the sea, producing the very calm
they desired. That revelation of power filled
the disciples with wonder, and drove them to
110 The Gospel According to Matthew
the consciousness that they had not yet per-
fectly understood their Master. This is re-
vealed in their question, " What manner of
man is this, that even the winds and the sea
obey Him? "
2. The Demoniacs. The City
The arrival on the other shore was sig-
nalized by the approach of two demoniacs of
so fierce a nature as to be a constant menace
to the peace and safety of the country-side.
If the disciples were uncertain as to Who the
Lord was, these evil spirits had no such un-
certainty. They recognized, and immediately
confessed Him as the Son of God. They also
were conscious of His purpose in the world,
and expected that they would be cast out, for
they requested that if this were done, they
might be permitted to enter into a herd of
swine. In this request there is further dem-
onstration of their understanding of the mis-
sion of the King. They knew Him as He-
brew Messiah, and understood that the traffic
in swine was forbidden to the people among
whom at that time He was exercising His
ministry.
To their request He immediately replied in
the word of authority, which sent them forth
His Propaganda 111
from the man, and so delivered him from his
affliction, and the neighbourhood from his evil
influence, while at the same time it destroyed
the forbidden traffic.
The account of the wonder wrought speed-
ily reached the city, with the result that their
commercial catastrophe made them insensible
of the benefit which had been conferred upon
them by the healing of the man, and they came
out and besought Jesus that He would depart
from their borders.
This manifestation of the King's power was
accompanied by a revelation of the limitation
of His power. If the city will not have Him,
He will not force His entrance; and turning
round. He re-entered the boat, and crossed
back to the other side.
3. The Forgiveness of Sins. A Man
The King now exercised His authority in a
new way. There was brought to Him a man
sick of the palsy, and He immediately an-
swered the faith of those who brought him,
but not in the way which they expected. He
pronounced pardon upon a sinner, and
straightway opposition was aroused. Certain
of the scribes who were present thought within
themselves that it was a word of blasphemy,
112 The Gospel According to Matthew
^»^— — ^^— — — ^— — ^
for they rightly believed that none could for-
give sins other than God. In answer to their
thought the King suggested a problem as to
whether it was easier to forgive sins, or to
heal disease. As they heard His question, it
suggested a contrast. As a matter of fact it
indicated a connection, and in order that they
might know that He had authority to forgive
sins. He immediately healed the man sick of
the palsy. If they heard the question as sug-
gesting two exercises of power, then it was
for them to decide which was easier, for He
had claimed both, and one claim w^as vindi-
cated by the actuality of the healed man. Or
if they now were able to see the connection be-
tween the two, they would understand His
teaching that all His healing miracles were
based upon His ability to deal with the sin
which lay at the root of human suffering.
Whatever effect was produced upon the men
who were in difficulty, the multitudes were
filled with fear, and glorified God who had
given such power to men.
4. The Will. Matthew
There immediately followed a further il-
lustration of His power, that of His constraint
of the human will. As He moved away, un-
His Propaganda 113
acknowledged as King by the vast masses of
men, and, therefore, misunderstood and criti-
cised, He saw Matthew, a publican, despised
of his countrymen by reason of his calling;
and looking on him, He said, " Follow Me."
The response was immediate and remark-
able. He arose and followed Him, and al-
though here in his Gospel he does not himself
chronicle the fact, it was he who spread the
feast in his own house at which Jesus sat down
with publicans and sinners, as well as His own
disciples.
h. THE RESULTS
In some senses the results of these mani-
festations of power are to be found in the
course of the stories themselves. The
disciples wondered and were compelled to in-
quire as to who and what manner of Man
He was. The Gadarenes were made so con-
scious of the effect which His presence would
produce in the interests of righteousness that
they were constrained to send Him away. The
multitudes glorified God as they saw the man
sick of the palsy healed ; and the despised pub-
lican found the King, and yielding to Him
was prepared for the high ofl&ce of writing the
Gospel which should reveal Him as King.
114 The Gospel According to Matthew
Here, however, two illustrations are given
of the results which His methods produced.
The first is that of the Pharisees who w^ere
perplexed by His willingness to sit down and
eat with publicans and sinners. He answered
their perplexity by explaining His own ac-
tion, and declaring that His mission was that
of healing, in all the full sense of the word;
affirming that He had not come to call the
righteous, but sinners.
The second illustration is that of the
disciples of John who were perplexed by the
joy of the disciples of Jesus. Their own re-
ligious outlook, in common with that of the
Pharisees, necessitated the practice of fast-
ing; but the disciples of Jesus did not fast.
In reply to this inquiry He declared the rea-
son to be that of His own presence amongst
them, declaring that the days would come
when they would fast; and further He af-
firmed the reasonableness of the methods
which these men could not understand, by the
figure of the wine and the wine-skins; which
taught the truth that the new campaign neces-
sitated new modes of expression.
iii. Third Movement. ix. 18-34
a. THE MANIFESTATIONS. 18-330
1. Death. The Child of Jairus. 18-26
a. The Approach of Jairus. 18
Reverence.
Faith.
(5. The Answer of the King. 19-26
Immediate Response.
•Illustration by the Way.
The Touch of Life.
2. Disease. *A Woman. 20-22
a. The Approach of the Woman. 20, 21
The Touch of Weakness.
The Inspiration of Faith.
fi. The Answer of the King. 22
The Word of Comfort.
The Deed of Power.
3. Darkness. Two blind Men. 27-31
a. The Approach of the Men. 27, 28a
The Cry of Need.
The Persistence of Faith.
fi. The Answer of the King. 28&-31
The Call to Faith.
The Touch.
Their Disobedience,
4. Demon. A dumb Man. 32, 330
o. The Man brought.
j8. The Deed accomplished.
b. THE RESULTS. 33b, 34
1. The Multitudes. Marvelled.
2. The Pharisees. Criticised.
His Propaganda 117
iii. Third Movement
Once again we have four manifestations of
power, followed by a brief declaration of the
results following.
a. THE MANIFESTATIONS
In this paragraph we see the power of the
King over death, disease, darkness, and
demons. ^
1. Death. The Child of Jairus
While the King was yet replying to the
inquiry of the disciples of John, a ruler ap-
proached Him with a story of overwhelming
sorrow. He came in reverence, and in faith,
declaring that all hope of help through
ordinary methods had gone as he said, " My
daughter is even now dead"; but affirming
his conviction that the touch of Jesus would
restore her.
The answer of the King was immediate.
He arose and followed Jairus. On the way,
in the healing of the woman. He gave Jairus
an illustration of His power, which must have
confirmed his faith and strengthened his hope.
Arriving at the house of Jairus, with dig-
nity and authority, He sent the tumultuous
mourning crowd about their business, and then
118 The Gospel According to Matthew
did exactly what Jairus had suggested. He
laid His hand upon the child, and immediately
she responded to the touch. This was the first
time in which the King had manifested His
power in the awful realm of death. It is not
to be wondered at that the fame of Him went
forth into all the land.
2. Disease. A Woman
On the way to the house of Jairus, in the
illustration of power to which we have re-
ferred, there was one of the most beautiful of
all the revelations of that power. The King
was surrounded by His disciples, and the mul-
titude that followed. It must have been diffi-
cult for any one to get very near to Him. The
woman had been for twelve years the victim
of a form of disease which subjected her to
every kind of disadvantage and disability.
She was excommunicate from the assemblies
in the synagogue, divorced from her husband,
and ostracised from society. Nevertheless
she found her way to the King, and touched
the border of His garment. It was an activ-
ity inspired by faith as her thought, after-
wards declared, undoubtedly reveals, " If I
do but touch His garment, I shall be made
whole."
His Propaganda 119
The answer of the King is full of beauty.
It was a word of comfort, and a deed of
power. He understood all that she had suf-
fered, and turning round and looking into her
eyes. He called her Daughter, and bade her be
of good cheer. From that hour she was made
whole.
3. Darkness. Tivo hlind Men
After the raising of Jairus' child, and as
the King passed on His way, He was followed
by two blind men who cried out, " Have mercy
on us, Thou Son of David." The form of ad-
dress was remarkable. It was really a recog-
nition of Messiahship. It may not have been
wholly intelligent. Probably it was an ex-
pression of hope, and of venture based upon it,
as the result of what they had heard of His
power in the case of the child raised from the
dead. He does not seem to have made any im-
mediate reply, for it was not until He had en-
tered the house, and the men had followed
Him, that He spoke to them. He then chal-
lenged their faith, asking them if they believed
that He was able to do what they asked. They
immediately replied " Yea, Lord," thus af-
firming their faith, and addressing Him in the
language of reverent respect. The King im-
120 The Gospel According to Matthew
mediately responded to their faith, and their
eyes were opened.
Here we have one of the occasions when the
Lord strictly charged them not to tell the
story of how they had received their sight.
They, in all probability with the best inten-
tion, disobeyed His command, and going forth,
spread abroad His fame.
4. Demons. A dumb Man
The last manifestation of power recorded
in this group is that of the casting out of a
demon, and the loosing of a dumb tongue. It
is interesting to note that Matthew gives no
details. The power of the King was being ex-
ercised so perpetually that he simply declares
that a man was brought to Him in this condi-
tion, and proceeds to the story of results pro-
duced by saying, " When the demon was cast
out, the dumb man spake : and ."
5. THE RESULTS
This last manifestation of power culminat-
ing a series, produced a twofold result. The
multitudes marvelled and aflflrmed their con-
viction that such wonders had never been seen
in Israel. In this connection the opposition
of His foes manifested itself more definitely,
His Propaganda 121
and the long conflict with the forces of false
religion began. The Pharisees, madly jealous
of His power, attributed it to Satan. One
wonders more and more at the grace which
bore so patiently with these men. It does not
seem that at the time the King vouchsafed any
answer to their awful suggestion; and yet
how it must have pained His sacred heart,
this wilful misinterpretation of His deeds of
grace. The evil of it lay in the fact that it
was intended to divert the crowds from their
wonder and admiration, and stir up their fear
and animosity; and this action was taken by
the men who should have been the shepherds
of the people. It is well that we remember
this, as it has its bearing on the section im-
mediately to follow.
III. HIS ENFORCEMENT OF CLAIMS, i^. 3S-xvi. 20
i. His Helpers. '^- -35— x.
o. THE CAUSE. ix. 35. 36
1. The King's Mission. 35
All the Cities and Villages.
Teaching. Preaching. Healing.
2. The King's Vision. 36a
The Multitudes. Distressed.
Scattered.
Not having a Shepherd.
3. The King's Compassion. 36b
b. THE COMMISSION. ix. 37— x. 50
1. The Vision of Harvest. 37
2. The Call to Prayer. 38
3. The Equipment for Service. x. i
4. The Names of the Twelve. •2-4
5. The Appointment. S"
c. THE CHARGE. x. 5&-43
1. The First Work. Until the Cross. x. S&-15
a. The limited Sphere. 5b, 6
/5. The Nature of the Work. 7, 8
7. The Method of the Work. g-15
No Provision for Need.
Hospitality of the Worthy.
An Alternative of Peace or Judgment.
2. The second Period of Service. " Till the
Son of Man be come." x. 16-23
o. The Time of Peril. i6j
/5. The necessary Qualifications. i6b
y. Warnings and Instructions. ^7-2 3
Beware of Men.
Be not anxious. . . . The Spirit.
The Time of Division.
From City to City.
3. The third Period. To the End of the
Age. X. 24-42
a. Identification in Misunderstanding. 24, 25
fi. Identification in Testimony. 26-33
The Proclamation of His Word. 26, 27
The Protection of the Father. 28-31
The Reward of Confession. 32, 33
7. Identification in Suffering. 34-39
The coming Divisions. 34-36
The Responsibility of Fellowship. 37-39
S. Identification in Victory. 40-42
Their Reception His Reception. 40
Ministry to them Ministry to Him. 41, 42
His Propaganda 123
III. HIS ENFORCEMENT OF CLAIMS
We now come to the final section of the
division of the Gospel dealing with the prop-
aganda of the King. It is chiefly character-
ized by the hostility manifested toward Him,
and consequently by His enforcement of
claims. There are four movements in the
section, dealing respectively with His helpers,
His difficulties, His conflict, and His victory.
i. His Helpers
We have now reached a crisis at which the
King called His chosen twelve into associa-
tion with Himself in actual service; and in
this first movement we have the account of
that appointment, as to its cause. His com-
missioning of the twelve, and the charge He
delivered to them.
a. THE CAUSE
Matthew now referred to the general mis-
sion of the King through all the cities and vil-
lages. It had been a ministry of teaching,
preaching, and healing.
His reference to this was in order to a
declaration concerning the King's vision of
the people. The description of that is pre-
124 The Gospel According to Matthew
eminently in the terms of Kingship according
to Biblical interpretation. It was Homer
who said " All kings are shepherds of the peo-
ple," and it is certainly true that the Divine
conception of Kingship as revealed in the
Bible is ever that of the shepherd. It was
thus that the King looked upon the multi-
tudes, and He saw them distressed and scat-
tered. The words are full of suggestiveness,
and reveal the people as sheep, harried by
wolves, fleeced, wounded, fainting by the way ;
and to the eyes of the King they were in this
condition because they had no shepherd.
The central declaration of the paragraph is
that in consequence of His vision, the King
was moved with compassion. That com-
passion was the reason of His action in com-
missioning the twelve, and sending them
forth.
J). THE COMMISSION
In calling these men to new service, He
first gave them a vision of the conditions from
the standpoint of His need of their aid as He
said, " The harvest truly is plenteous, but the
labourers are few." The people who appeared
to Him as distressed and scattered from the
standpoint of their need, appeared as a har-
His Propaganda 125
vest, waiting to be gathered, in view of His
ability, and of His need of helpers. Having
made this declaration to the disciples He
called them to prayer, not for the people, but
that the Lord of the harvest should send forth
labourers. Having thus instructed them to
pray. He called the twelve to Him in a new
sense, and equipped them for the work they
were immediately to do, by giving them
authority over demons, and to heal disease
and sickness. The names of the twelve are
chronicled with certain suggestive descrip-
tions in the case of some of them, and the
fact of their appointment is recorded.
C. THE CHARGE
Before their departure, the King gave them
a solemn charge in view of their work. A
careful study of this will make it evident that
while He was referring to work which lay
immediately before these men. His mind trav-
elled on to work which they would have to do
at a later period; and even beyond, to the
work of all His disciples to the end of the
age which His commission initiated. The
charge therefore had to do with three periods
of work; the first work until the Cross; the
second period of service till the Son of man
126 The Gospel According to Matthew
be come; and the third period to the end of
the age.
1. The First Work. Until the Cross
A study of this paragraph will at once re-
veal the fact of difference between the first
work of the apostles and that to which they
were ultimately appointed. Here we are first
impressed by the limitation of the sphere of
their operations. They were forbidden to go
to the Gentiles or to the Samaritans, and were
sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
The nature of their work was first that of de-
claring the Kingdom of heaven to be at hand,
and secondly that of the power of their Lord
by wonders and signs.
The method of their work was to be that
of making no provision for their material
need; that of seeking the hospitality of such
as were worthy in the cities to which they
went; and that of offering the alternative of
peace or judgment to houses and cities, ac-
cording to whether they were received or not.
While there are underlying principles which
abide even to-day, the order of Christian
service is now entirely changed, both as to its
sphere, its nature, and its method.
His Propaganda 127
2. The second Period of Service. " Till the
Son of Man he come'^
Looking ahead, the King foresaw a day
when these men would go forth into the
midst of perils which He likened to that of
being as sheep in the midst of wolves. That
day of peril did not come for the disciples
until after the Cross. It is singularly notice-
able that all hostility centred upon the King
Himself while He was still with them, but
after His departure the whole force of it
broke upon these men. In view of that time
of peril, He declared to them in a brief and
suggestive word that the necessary qualifica-
tions would be that they should be wise as
serpents and harmless as doves. This declara-
tion He followed by warnings and instruc-
tions, bidding them first to beware of men,
and foretelling their sufferings. He charged
them, however, not to be anxious, because in
that day the Spirit of the Father would speak
in them, an evident reference to the time of
ministry following Pentecost. Moreover, it
would be a time of division in households, and
of persecution for them, during which they
were to pass from city to city; and He de-
clared that they would not have gone over the
cities of Israel until He came, this being an
128 The Gospel According to Matthew
evident reference to His coming in judgment,
which was fulfilled in the fall of Jerusalem.
3. The third Period. To the End of the
Age
Looking still forward, the King described
a new period of service, in which the supreme
note would be that of their identification with
Himself. Throughout all that remained of
the charge. He spoke of those who would serve
Him as disciples, thus recognizing that the
hour would come when the apostolic work
of the twelve would be carried on by a suc-
cession of disciples. He spoke first of their
identification with Him in misunderstanding.
As the Master of the house had been called
Beelzebub, so also would the servants.
He then urged them to identification with
Him in testimony. He would still speak to
them in the darkness, but they were to make
proclamation of what He said in the light.
In such testimony they were to have no fear
of those who would kill the body, but to have
perfect confidence in the protection of their
Father; and He declared that those who
would thus confess Him before men, He would
confess before His Father.
He then spoke of their identification with
His Propaganda 129
Him in suffering. His coming would in-
evitably issue in a process not of peace but
a sword, in which a man's foes would be they
of his own household. In that period they
would be called into identification with Him
in the bearing of the cross, and would enter
into His experience of losing life in order to
find it.
Finally He spoke of their identification <
with Him in His victory. Their reception by
men would be His reception ; and ministry to
them in the midst of their service, he would
count as ministry to Himself.
I
■3
4
-6
4.
S
6
7-
IS
7-90
96-11
12-
15
16-
19
16,
17
ii. His Difficulties. xi, 1.30
a. THE PERPLEXITY OF THE LOYAL. THE BAPTIST.
xi. 1-15
1. The Inquiry.
2. The Answer.
a. The Work being done.
p. The Warning.
3. Consequent Teaching.
a. The Challenge concerning John.
/3. The Declaration concerning John.
y. The DiiJiculty revealed.
b. THE UNREASONABLENESS OF MEN. THE
GENERATION.
1. The Illustration.
Dissatisfied Children.
2. The Application. 18, 19a
John. Refused to dance.
Jesus. Refused to mourn.
3. The Affirmation. ^9b
c. THE IMPENITENCE OF THE CITIES.
CHORAZIN. BETHSAIDA. CAPERNAUM. 20-24
1. The Cause of Complaint. 20
2. The Denunciations. 21-24
a. The Woes on Chorazin and Bethsaida. 21,22
The Opportunities. Mighty Works.
The Contrast. Tyre and Sidon.
The Doom.
/3. The Doom of Capernaum. 23, 24
The Declaration. 23a
The Reason. Contrast Sodom. 23&
The Doom. 24
d. THE ATTITUDE OF CHRIST IN THE MIDST OF
DIFFICULTIES. 25-30
1. Adoration. Rest in God. 25, 26
2. Proclamation. Authority from God. 27
3. Invitation. The Call to God. 28-30
His Propaganda 131
ii. His Difficulties
Having made an end of commanding His
twelve disciples, the King Himself departed
to preach and teach in their cities, that is,
in the cities of these disciples; and Matthew
has recorded a series of events which oc-
curred in that period when He was exercising
this ministry during their absence. These
stories reveal in a peculiarly graphic way the
difficulties which He encountered. In the
paragraph we have revealed ; the difficulty and
the perplexity of the loyal-hearted; that of
the unreasonableness of the generation; that
of the impenitence of the cities; and the at-
titude of Christ in the midst of these diffi-
culties.
a. THE PERPLEXITY OF THE LOYAL. THE
BAPTIST
Evidently perplexed by the method which
Jesus was adopting, as the question of His
disciples on a former occasion indicated, by
the absence of fasting, and of those ascetic
practices which had been the habit of the fore-
runner, John sent to ask whether Jesus was
indeed the Messiah.
The King's answer was twofold. He first
bade the messengers of John recount to him
132 The Gospel According to Matthew
the things which they had seen, the work that
was actually being done; and uttered the word
of gentle rebuke, " Blessed is he that shall not
be offended in Me."
Having thus answered the messengers. He
turned to the multitudes, and challenged them
concerning John, as to what had been the rea-
son of their going forth to hear him; declar-
ing that he was more than a prophet, and that
no greater than he had been born of women.
He then proceeded to reveal the dif&culty in
the mind of John as He declared that "The
Kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and
men of violence take it by force," by which He
recognized the fact that the methods He was
adopting were so contrary to all preconceived
notions as to the way of a King, that men
would only enter His Kingdom as they did
violence to their prejudices, and submitted
themselves to Him ; or as He had said to John,
were not offended in Him. The incident is
an illustration of a diflflculty confronting the
King even in the case of devout souls.
h. THE UNREASONABLENESS OF MEN. THE
GENERATION
Continuing His discourse, the King com-
plained of the unreasonableness of the gen-
His Propaganda 133
eration, and in His complaint revealed an-
other difficulty. He used the illustration of
children playing in the market-places, dis-
satisfied because their fellows would neither
dance to their music, nor mourn to their
wailing.
He then immediately applied His own il-
lustration as He declared that they had been
dissatisfied with the method of John, and were
dissatisfied with His own method. The
method of John had been that of the ascetic.
He came neither eating nor drinking, that
is, he declined to take any part in their mer-
riment, to dance to their piping. Of him they
had said, " He hath a demon." The method
of the Son of man was that of comradeship
with men. He came eating and drinking,
that is. He refused any sympathy with the
things which were grieving them. He would
not mourn to their wailing, and they said of
Him that He was " a gluttonous man, and a
winebibber."
His answer to the unreasonableness of His
generation was declared in His statement that
" Wisdom is justified by her works." There
was a wisdom in the asceticism of John, in
that he refused to dance, because their music
was out of harmony with the Divine joy.
There was a wisdom in the method of the Son
134 The Gospel According to Matthew
of man in that He refused to mourn, because
their wailing was in the presence of super-
ficial things, and they lacked sorrow for the
deepest.
C. THE IMPENITENCE OF THE CITIES. CHORA-
ZIN. BETHSAIDA. CAPERNAUM
The next difficulty is revealed in the King's
upbraiding of the cities in the midst of which
He had exercised His ministry. His cause of
complaint was that they repented not. Woes
were pronounced upon Chorazin and Beth-
saida, in view of the fact that they had had
the opportunities of seeing His mighty works ;
and He declared that had Tyre and Sidon had
such opportunities, they would have repented ;
and foretold their doom.
In sternest words He declared that Caper-
naum should go down to Hades, for her wick-
edness was greater than that of Sodom, in
that her opportunity had been greater. Hence
her doom was sealed.
d. THE ATTITUDE OP CHRIST IN THE MIDST OP
DIFFICULTIES
In a wonderful paragraph we have a revela-
tion of the calm strength and restfulness of
the King in the midst of the difficulties which
have been revealed. That is first manifest in
His Propaganda 135
His adoration, revealing as it does His per-
fect rest in God; and in the fact that while
the things of His Kingdom are hidden from
the wise and understanding, they are yet re-
vealed to babes. This adoration was His as-
sent to that very principle which had caused
perplexity to John.
The word of adoration was immediately fol-
lowed by that of proclamation, in which He
declared that His authority had been received
from His Father, and that while men did not
understand Him, His Father did, and that
while men did not know the Father, He knew
Him.
That word of proclamation merged immedi-
ately into the gracious invitation, in which
the King called those whom He had seen dis-
tressed and scattered, such as laboured and
were heavy laden, to Himself, the one true
King and Shepherd ; in order that they might
be restored to God and find rest.
That final word of invitation is most per-
fectly understood when we interpret it in the
light of this whole section. The perplexed
yet loyal-hearted soul in prison, the foolish
and unreasonable age, the unrepentant cities
in spite of His mighty works; all might find
the rest they needed, if they would come to
Him, take His yoke, and learn of Him.
iii. His Conflict. xii.— xvi. 12
a. FIRST ATTACKS. xii. 1-4S
I. Concerning the Sabbath. 1-21
o. In the Corn-fields. 1-8
The Action of the Disciples. 1
The Criticism of the Pharisees. 2
The Defence of the Disciples. 3-8
Two Illustrations. 3-5
David.
The Priests.
His Claim. 6-8
Greater than the Temple.
Desiring Mercy.
Lord of the Sabbath.
j8. In the Synagogue. 9-21
The Man with withered Hand. 9, loa
The Pharisees' Question. lob
The Answer of the King. 11-13
The personal Question. 11
The direct Answer. 12
The active Answer. 13
The Plotting of the Pharisees. 14
The Action of the King. 15-21
Withdrawal and Healing. 15
The fulfilled Prophecy. 16-21
His Propaganda 137
iii. His Conflict
We now come to Matthew's particular ac-
count of the King's enforcement of His claims
in conflict with His adversaries. The section
reveals a growth of opposition in four stages,
separated from each other by accounts of the
continuation of His beneficent ministry.
a. FIRST ATTACKS
We have first the account of three definite
attacks upon the King; the first, concerning
the Sabbath; the second, concerning His
power; and the third, concerning a sign.
1. Concerning the Sallath
Apparently in the same day two attacks
were made upon the King concerning His at-
titude toward the Sabbath; the first in the
corn-fields, as He passed through tliem with
His disciples; and the second in the syna-
gogue, in the hour of assembly.
a. In the Corn-fields
Passing through the corn-fields the dis-
ciples who were hungry, satisfied their hunger
by plucking the ears of corn and eating; and
were immediately criticised for so doing by
138 The Gospel According to Matthew
the Pharisees. To the criticism the King re-
plied in defence of His disciples, first by the
use of two illustrations, those of David and
the priests, in which He proved that under
certain circumstances the technical law of the
Sabbath had been set aside in the interests of
human need, without any violation of the prin-
ciple involved in the Sabbath. His final de-
fence of His disciples, however, was that of
the claim which He uttered; that He was
greater than the temple, that He desired
mercy, and that He was Lord of the Sabbath.
§. In the Synagogue
Upon His arrival in the synagogue, the
Pharisees, with the subject of the Sabbath still
in their minds, and immediately associating
the King with a man who was present, having
a withered hand, challenged Him as to whether
it was lawful to heal on the Sabbath day.
He first suggested to them a personal ques-
tion as to whether if their property were in
danger on the Sabbath, they would rescue it.
He then emphatically declared that because
a man was of more value than a sheep, it is
lawful to do good on the Sabbath day; and
finally He gave them the active answer of re-
storing the man.
His Propaganda 139
This issued in the plotting of the Pharisees
for His death, which Jesus perceiving, He
withdrew, but was followed by multitudes
whom in grace He healed.
Matthew draws attention to the fact that
by this action He fulfilled the prophecy of
Isaiah, which declared that the Messiah would
neither strive nor cry ; that He would take no
action of judgment against such as were op-
posing Him until He should send forth judg-
ment unto victory.
2. Concerning His Power. xii. 22-37
a. The Occasion. 22, 23
The Healing of the Demoniac.
The Inquiry of the Multitude.
p. The Declaration of the Pharisees. 24
y. The Answer of the Kins. 25-37
The Exposure of their Folly. aSi 26
Division means Desolation.
The Witness of their Sons. 27
The Alternative to their Suggestion. 28-30
By the Spirit of God. 28
By binding the strong Man. 29
They are the Instruments of Satan. 30
The solemn Warning. 31-33
The Sin that has no Forgiveness.
The Appeal for Consistency. 33
The Impossibility in their Case. 34
The final Finding. 35-37
Speech is from the Heart. 35
The Judgment of Words. 36
Words to justify or condemn. 37
His Propaganda 141
2. Concerning His Power
The next attack upon the King concerned
His power. Its occasion was that of His heal-
ing of a demoniac; and the consequent in-
quiry of the multitude, " Is this the Son of
David? " which of course meant, Is this the
Messiah?
It was in answer to that inquiry that the
Pharisees now boldly affirmed that the power
by which He wrought these wonders over
demons was that of Beelzebub, the prince of
demons. It was a grave and awful charge,
and the answer of the King was characterized
by great solemnity.
He first exposed the folly of their sug-
gestion as He declared that division within a
kingdom means desolation. He then ap-
pealed to the witness of their own sons who
had cast out demons, and proceeded to declare
the alternative to their suggestion. That
alternative was that He cast out demons by
the Spirit of God, that He cast out demons
by having bound the strong man, that is, hav-
ing gained the victory over Satan. It was
in that connection that He uttered the famil-
iar words, " He that is not with Me is against
Me; and he that gathereth not with Me scat-
tereth," which being considered in its rela-
142 The Gospel According to Matthew
tion to this action, will be seen in its first
application to them, meant that not He, but
the men who were opposing Him, were doing
the work of Beelzebub.
He then proceeded to utter perhaps the
most solemn warning that ever fell from His
lips concerning the sin that has no forgive-
ness. These men had not committed it, for
their words were words of blasphemy against
the Son of man, which He said should be for-
given. But they were in grave peril of such
sin, for He knew that the special ministry
which the Spirit would fulfil would be one
concerning Himself; and whereas men might
refuse His voice, to refuse Him when finally
presented to them by the Spirit would be to
sin the sin that can have no forgiveness. After
the warning He appealed to them for con-
sistency. They had declared that His benefi-
cent work was the result of complicity with
Satan. This was impossible. Let them be
consistent, and consent that the good fruit
had come from a good tree ; or that the things
He had done were evil things, because they
had come from a corrupt tree.
Having made this appeal. He exposed the
impossibility of such honesty on their part as
He said, " Ye offspring of vipers, how can ye,
being evil, speak good things? " and then pro-
His Propaganda 143
ceeded solemnly to warn them against speech
unconsidered or dishonest. Speech, He de-
clared, is from the heart, and if men speak
idle words, of these they shall give account,
for the words of men will justify or condemn
them.
3- Concerning a Sign. ^^^- 38-45
a. The Request. 38
p. The King's Answer. 39-45
His Estimate of the Age. 39a
The only Sign. sgb, 40
The Sign of Jonah.
The Sign of the Son of Man.
His Condemnation of the Age. 4ii 42
Condemned by the Men of Nineveh.
Condemned by the Queen of the South.
His Prophecy of the Age. 43-45
The Illustration.
The restless Spirit of Evil.
The tenantless House swept and garnished.
The Return of the Spirit with seven others.
The Application. " So shall it be."
His Propaganda 145
3. Concerning a Sign
Willing perhaps to be away from the sug-
gestion which they had made in view of the
solemnity and sternness of His reply, certain
of the scribes and Pharisees asked Him for a
sign.
The answer of the King to the request was
characterized by the same severity and solem-
nity, which had been evident in His previ-
ous dealing with them. Speaking of these
men as representing their age, He described
it as evil and adulterous, and declared that
no sign should be given, save the sign of
Jonah, and that sign fulfilled in Himself. It
w^as a word which did not constitute an im-
mediate sign to these men, for how could they
comprehend it? In effect He declared that
the only sign that would be granted would be
that of His death and resurrection.
He then proceeded to utter words in con-
demnation of the generation, declaring that
it would be condemned by the men of Nine-
veh who had been obedient to the sign of
Jonah; while the age in which He stood was
unrepentant in the presence of a Greater than
Jonah. He declared that the queen of the
South would condemn the age, for she had
travelled far to hear the wisdom of Solomon;
146 The Gospel According to Matthew
whereas His age was opposing Him, rather
than listening to His teaching, notwithstand-
ing the fact that He was greater than
Solomon.
Finally He uttered a prophecy concerning
the age, of singular solemnity. This He in-
troduced by an illustration, that of the rest-
less spirit of evil ejected from his tenement,
seeking rest and finding none, presently re-
turning to the tenantless house and finding it
swept and garnished, taking with him seven
other spirits more evil than himself.
The impact of His application must have
been terrific. " Even so shall it be also unto
this evil generation." He thus described the
generation as swept and garnished, but ten-
antless. It was a peculiarly searching criti-
cism of the effect of the traditionalism of the
Pharisees, which while maintaining a certain
correctness of external morality, was devoid
of that possession by Jehovah which alone
could deliver the age from the ravages of
evil. His declaration was that as the last
state of the demon-possessed man was worse
than the first, so the last state of the genera-
tion would be worse than the first. The subse-
quent history of the national refusal of Christ
when proclaimed by the Sj^irit through His
disciples, fulfilled the solemn prophecy to the
letter.
(a) AN INTERVAL OF TEACHING.
I. Concerning Kinship.
o. The Coming of His Kinsfolk.
p. The Teaching of the King.
His Inquiry.
His Answer.
His Declaration.
xii. 46 — xiii. 52
xii. 46-50
46,47
48-50
48
49
SO
Concerning the Kingdom. ^^
a. By the Sea Side.
The first Parable. Of the Sower.
The Reason of the parabolic Method.
The Disciples' Inquiry.
The King's Answer.
The Blindness of the People.
In Fulfilment of Prophecy.
The Blessedness of the Disciples.
The Explanation of the Parable of the Sower,
The second Parable. Of the Darnel.
The third Parable. Of the Mustard Seed.
The fourth Parable. Of the Leaven.
The Reason of the Parables.
p. In the House.
The fifth Parable.
The sixth Parable.
The seventh Parable.
The eighth Parable.
Of the Treasure.
Of the Pearl.
Of the Drag-net.
Of the Householder.
The King's Challenge.
The Disciples' Answer.
The Charge.
44
45.46
47-50
51. 52
510
sife
52
His Propaganda 149
(a) AN INTERVAL OF TEACHING
There now followed an interval in the midst
of this period characterized by conflict, and
it was an interval of teaching in which the
King gave utterance to remarkable words con-
cerning kinship with Himself; and gave de-
tailed teaching concerning the processes of
His Kingdom.
1. Concerning Kinship
It was while He was uttering the solemn
words to the multitudes which we considered
in our last chapter that His mother and His
brethren came, desiring to speak to Him.
Matthew does not explain the reason of their
coming, but we maj gain some light upon it
from Mark's account, from which we learn
that they had come as the result of a convic-
tion that He was beside Himself.
The King made their coming the occasion
of declaring the law of true kinship with Him-
self. He Who demands that we shall make
Him first in our affection, dearer than father
or mother or wife or child, declares that those
who do so are more to Him than those united
by the bonds of earthly relationship, save as
they also do the will of God. It has been
150 The Gospel According to Matthew
wrongly Imagined by some that the language
of the King indicated some reflection upon
His mother, as though she had grieved Him;
but this is surely to miss the deepest truth in
the statement, which is not that He loved her
less, but those more than earthly kin, who
were related to Him by the closer spiritual
bond of devotion to the will of God.
2. Concerning the Kingdom
To have followed the King through the
processes of His ministry until this point will
be to understand more perfectly the teaching
which He now gave concerning His Kingdom.
The whole mission had been beneficent in its
intention, but surrounded by difficulty, and
characterized by conflict. As we have seen
more than once. His methods were not those
of human policy, or such as could be appre-
hended by those unfamiliar with His own
secret. The Kingdom He had come to estab-
lish must have spiritual foundation, and it is
evident by all that has gone before, that the
victory will only be realized through processes
of conflict and of contradiction, in which evil
must work itself out to complete manifesta-
tion ere it can be finally cast out. In the
teaching concerning the Kingdom the King
His Propaganda 151
set these facts forth in parabolic form. The
teaching may be divided into two parts; that
given in the presence of the multitude by the
sea side; and secondly that given to the dis-
ciples only in the house.
OL. By the Sea Side
Making a boat His seat of authority, while
the multitudes stood round Him on the beach,
He uttered first the parable of the sower,
which reveals the first method of the King-
dom, that of the enunciation of truth, and its
incarnation in the lives of those who hear it,
in order to the bringing forth of the har-
vest.
Having uttered this first parable His
disciples asked Him why He spoke to the
people in parabolic form, and He answered
them by declaring that He adopted the form
because of the blindness of the people, and
consequently in fulfilment of prophecy; end-
ing the answer by declaring the blessedness
of the disciples in that they both saw and
heard what others did not perceive. A care-
ful reading of this explanation will correct a
generally accepted misapprehension that
Christ spoke in parables, in order that these
people might not understand. The reverse is
152 The Gospel According to Matthew
true. Not for mystification, but for sim-
plicity and illustration did He so teach. The
word " lest " is a quotation from Isaiah, and
refers to the degradation which caused blind-
ness, not to the parables as causing blindness.
They closed their eyes lest they should see.
Therefore His parabolic teaching was a gra-
cious attempt to reach them by arousing their
curiosity.
Having answered the inquiry of His dis-
ciples. He then gave an explanation of the
parable of the sower which reveals the fact
that the parable has a double application.
In the last analysis the seed of the Kingdom
is the Word of God, which sown in the in-
dividual life and there becoming fruitful, that
life in itself is a seed, planted in the age,
bringing forth fruit toward the realization of
the Kingdom. Both in the case of the im-
planting of the Word in the individual, and
in that of the planting of the individual in the
age, the quantity of the harvest depends upon
the quality of the soil. That which is su-
preme in the parable is the revelation of the
fact that the effect of this sowing is not the
transformation of all men everywhere and in
all ages, to the pattern of the Kingdom. The
result is always dependent upon the one who
hears, and how he hears.
His Propaganda 153
He then uttered His second parable, that
which revealed the fact that an enemy sows
darnel in the same field with the wheat, darnel
being characterized by its likeness to wheat in
the earlier stages of its growth. That sowing
He declared to be the work of an enemy, and
that it must go forward until harvest; when
the reapers of the true Master of the field
would gather both wheat and darnel, separat-
ing in the gathering, the darnel for destruc-
tion, and the wheat for the barn.
The third parable was that of the mustard
seed, which being less than all seeds, yet in
process of time became a great tree, so that
the birds of the heaven lodged in the branches
of it. Nothing is said in the parable as to
the nature of the tree, but it is to be observed
that the growth described is abnormal, and
contrary to Nature.
The fourth parable was that of leaven hid-
den in three measures of meal so that the
whole became leavened. All the quantities
are needed for an understanding of the par-
able ; not leaven alone, but leaven in meal, and
the effect it produces.
This was the last parable spoken in public,
and at the close it is again stated that Jesus
spoke in parables to the multitudes, and with-
out a parable said nothing to them, in fulfil-
154 The Gospel According to Matthew
ment of the word of Isaiah. The word here
quoted is a twofold declaration, first the de-
termination to speak in parables; and sec-
ondly, the determination by that means to
utter things hidden.
/?. In the House
Having retired to the house with His dis-
ciples, the King in answer to their request
explained to them the parable of the darnel.
There is another sowing going on in the
world's broad fields, side by side with that of
the Son of man. It is the sowing of the devil.
The hour of triumph thereover, the final mas-
tery of evil, does not occur during the period
of sowing, but in the time of harvest, which
the King distinctly stated will be at the con-
summation of the age. The character of the
age is thus clearly revealed as one of mixture.
Separation and the final casting out of evil is
the work of a dispensation yet to come. A
slight distinction, yet of importance, occurs
in the opening part of the parable. " A man
sowed good seed " ; the mischief was done
" while men slept." The man is the Son of
man according to the King's interpretation.
The sleeping men are His servants. The
sleep of the servants of Christ is the oppor-
His Propaganda 155
tunity of the enemy. Darnel is not to be up-
rooted till harvest, but sleepless devotion in
the field will prevent much showing thereof
by the enemy.
The fifth parable spoken to the disciples
only, likened the Kingdom of heaven to a
treasure hidden in a field, in order to possess
which the man who found it, sold all he
possessed in order to buy the field.
The sixth parable likened the Kingdom of
heaven to a merchant seeking goodly pearls,
who again, this seeking one having found one
pearl of great price, sold all that he had to
buy it.
The seventh parable likened the Kingdom
of heaven to the drag-net in which fishes of all
kinds are taken ; the process of separation tak-
ing place after that of fishing. Of this the
King gave partial explanation as He declared
that this process of separation would take
place at the consummation of the age, when
angels would sever the wicked from the
righteous, and cast them to the burnings.
The eighth parable was a brief one, and did
not deal so much with Kingdom processes, as
with the responsibility of His disciples with
regard thereto. Challenging them as to
whether they had understood Him, and having
their affirmative reply, He declared that every
156 The Gospel According to Matthew
scribe so instructed to the Kingdom of heaven,
was like a householder, responsible for bring-
ing out of his treasure things new and old/
1 In this chapter I have made no attempt at interpretation
of the parables beyond the explanations given by our Lord
Himself. There are many interpretations, and no voice is
without significance. Those interested in my own views are
referred to my book on " The Parables of the Kingdom."
b. INCREASING OPPOSITION. xiii. 53— xiv. 13
1. The Men of Nazareth. xiii. 53-58
o. The King in Nazareth. 53. 5 4^
/3. The Attitude of the People. 54&-57a
Astonishment. S4&
Criticism, 54C-s6
Offence. 57o
y. The Effect on the King. 57b, 58
His Complaint. 57&
His Limitation. 58
2. Herod. ^^^- 1-'3
a. The Terror of Herod. i, 2
/3. The Reason of it. 3-12
The Imprisonment of John. 3-5
The Reason for Imprisonment.
The Fear of the Multitudes.
The Murder of John. 6-12
The drunken Oath. 6, 7
The base Demand. 8
The unholy Deed. 9-12
7. The Action of the King. 13
The News of Herod's Terror.
Withdrawal to the Desert.
His Propaganda 159
h. INCREASING OPPOSITION
After this interval of teacliing the King is
seen again facing opposition, and two illustra-
tions are given, that of the men of Nazareth,
and that of Herod.
1. The Men of Nazareth
Returning to His own country, and evi-
dently to JEis own city of Nazareth, the King
entered into the synagogue and taught.
The effect produced upon the men of
Nazareth was first that of astonishment.
This astonishment was the outcome of the
wisdom of His teaching, and the might of
the works which He wrought. That which
perplexed them was the fact that they
imagined they knew everything about Him.
They spoke of Him as the carpenter's son,
and referred to His mother Mary, to His
brethren whom they named, James, and Jo-
seph, and Simon, and Judas; and to His sis-
ters, inquiring, "Are they not all with us?
Whence, then, hath this man all these
things? " The effect of their criticism was il-
logical, but human. " They were offended in
Him."
The effect their attitude produced on the
King is revealed in His complaint, " A prophet
160 The Gospel According to Matthew
is not without honour, save in his own coun-
try, and in his own house"; and in the
declaration of Matthew that " He did not
many mighty works there because of their un-
belief."
2. Eerod
A new danger threatened in the person of
Herod. The fame of Jesus reached the pal-
ace of the tetrarch, and filled him with terror.
His declaration to his servants is a revela-
tion of that terror. He imagined that John
the Baptist was risen from the dead.
In this connection Matthew tells the story
of Herod's relation to John, in explanation
of the terror which filled him when the report
concerning Jesus reached him. He had im-
prisoned John, because John had protested
against his incestuous affection for the wife
of his brother. This action on the part of
Herod is seen to have been the more dastardly
in view of a fact which Matthew does not re-
cord, but which is found in the Gospel of
Mark, that Herod knew that he was a
righteous man and a holy, and that in the past
he had heard him, and that gladly. Evidently
at some period he had passed under the in-
fluence of John's preaching, and had been af-
His Propaganda 161
fected toward good thereby. In spite of these
things he had imprisoned him, but at first
dare not slay him, because he feared the mul-
titude.
There had come a day, however, when in
the midst of debauch he had taken an oath
to give to the child of his paramour anything
that she asked; and when the base demand
was made for the head of the prophet, he had
been guiltj of the unholy deed of his murder.
Now when news reached him of the w^on-
ders wrought by Jesus, his guilty soul was
filled with terror, as the very superstition of
his nature suggested to him that the man
whom he had murdered, had come back.
When the King knew that the report of
Him had reached Herod, and that Herod was
filled with terror, He withdrew to the desert;
for in the case of such a man as Herod, craven
fear would be the inspiration of a dastardly
courage which would stop at nothing, in order
to accomplish its ends.
It is very interesting to note how con-
stantly the Lord acted on the basis of a true
caution in the presence of threatened peril,
notwithstanding the fact that in other connec-
tions He constantly declared that men could
have no power over Him until His hour was
come.
(b) AN INTERVAL OF BENEFICENT ACTIVITY, xiv. 14-36
1. The Feeding of the Multitudes. 14-21
o. The Occasion. 14, 15
The King's Vision of the Multitude. 14a
The King's Compassion and Healing. 14&
The Plea of the Disciples. 15
/3. The Activity. 16-19
The King's Command. 16
The Disciples' Resource. 17
The King's Action. 18, 19a
The Disciples' Distribution. 196
y. The Issue. 20, 21
The satisfied Multitude. 20a
The multiplied Resource. 206
The Numbers. 21
2. The Stilling of the Storm. 22-33
a. The Occasion. 23, 23
The Disciples sent away. 22
The Multitudes sent away. 23a
The King to Prayer. 23b
p. The Storm. 24
The tempestuous Waves.
The contrary Wind.
■y. The Coming of the King. 35-33
The Approach. 25
The Fear of the Disciples. 26
The Voice. 27
The Venture of Peter. 28-31
The Issue. 32, 33
3. The Ministry of Healing. 34-36
a. The Gathering of the Sick.
/3. The Healing by Touch.
His Propaganda 163
(h) AN INTERVAL OF BENEFICENT ACTIVITY
Having thus withdrawn to the desert, multi-
tudes followed Him on foot from the cities;
and far removed from those who were hostile
to Him, there followed another interval in
which He exerted His power in beneficent
ministry. There are three stxDries of the ex-
ercise of that ministry; those of the feeding
of the multitudes; the stilling of the storm;
and a great ministry of healing.
1. The Feeding of the Multitudes
Coming forth from His seclusion, He saw
the crowds that had followed Him, and the
vision of them again moved His heart with
compassion, which He expressed by healing
their sick.
As the shadows of the evening fell, the
disciples besought Him to send the people
away, in order that they might provide them-
selves with food.
The answer of the King was an exercise of
His Kingly authority and power in feeding
the multitudes. First declaring that there
was no need that they should go away, He
commanded His disciples to feed them.
Naturally they immediately thought of their
164 The Gospel According to Matthew
resources, and emphasized their insufflciency.
Taking the little they had, the King multi-
plied, while the disciples distributed to the
crowds. Thus in the desert He exercised His
power in healing the sick, and feeding with
five loaves and two fishes, five thousand men,
besides women and children. We are aston-
ished that men did not believe on Him when
they saw such wondrous works wrought by
His hands. Yet is not the unbelief of to-day
more astonishing, for on every hand He is ac-
complishing the greater works of spiritual
feeding and healing, and yet men do not
believe.
2. The stilling of the Storm
Having satisfied His own heart by satisfy-
ing the need of the crowd, the King sent His
disciples before Him to the other side of the
sea; and then dismissing the crowds, retired
to a mountain for loneliness and prayer. It
is of great interest to see that even He felt
the need of escaping at times from the multi-
tudes. The only way in which it is possible
to keep near to the crowds in all highest and
tenderest senses, is to get away from them at
times into loneliness with God. Such hours
of communion with the Eternal Love are the
His Propaganda 165
hours tliat keep us compassionate in the pres-
ence of human need. Familiarity with the
crowd produces hardening. Familiarity with
God issues in a perpetual re-sensitizing of the
heart, which prevents hardening.
While the King was thus in the quiet rest-
fulness of communion with God, the disciples
were beset by dififlculty. A storm had arisen,
lashing the waves into fury, and the wind was
contrary. ^
The Master in His place of quiet retirement
had not forgotten these men; and in the mo-
ment of their gravest peril He came to them
over the sea and through the wind, strong
to deliver, and mighty to save. Their fear of
the storm was forgotten in their terror at
w^hat appeared to them to be a phantom, mov-
ing across the troubled waters toward them,
until they heard the well-known voice, " Be of
good cheer; it is I; be not afraid." It was
in that moment of revelation that Peter made
his great venture of faith, and successfully
walked upon the waters, until consciousness
of the circumstances, making him for a mo-
ment forgetful of the power of his Lord, he
began to sink. The grace of the Master was
immediately revealed in the fact that when
the cry of the sinking man was heard. He
stretched forth His hand to succour him, re-
166 The Gospel According to Matthew
buking not the venture of his faith, but the
doubt which had made it fail.
The issue of these manifestations of the
power of the King was that the disciples in
the boat worshipped Him, and declared that
in truth He was the Son of God.
3. The Ministry of Healing
The last of these three stories is briefly told,
and yet it is full of revelation. When the men
of Gennesaret knew Him, they gathered from
the whole region those that were sick, and
asked that they might be allowed only to touch
the border of His garment. It is evident that
the King granted them their request, for Mat-
thew briefly declares " As many as touched
were made whole."
RENEWED ATTACK. xv. 1-20
I. The Jerusalem Deputation.
a. Of Rulers.
p. Concerning Tradition.
I, 2
The King's Answer.
3-9
0. The Evil of Tradition.
3-6
It transgresses the Commandment.
3
Illustration.
4-6a
The Command.
4
The Tradition.
S. 6a
It makes Void the Law
of God.
6b
j3. Denunciation.
7-9
Hypocrites.
7a
The Word of Prophecy.
7b-9
The King's Explanation.
10-20
a. To the Multitude.
10-11
/3. To the Disciples.
12-20
Their Fear.
12
His Answer.
13. 14
Peter's Request.
15
His Answer.
l6-20
His Propaganda 169
C. RENEWED ATTACK
The interval of quietness was broken in
upon by a renewed attack, the story of which
is mainly occupied with the remarkable and
searching answer of the King. We have in
this story the account of the coming of the
deputation; of the King's answer to them;
and of His explanation of that answer to the
multitude,^ and then to His disciples.
1. Tlie Jerusalem Deputation
A company of Pharisees and scribes from
Jerusalem now came to the King with a
definite complaint, which they uttered in the
form of a question. The question they raised
was not one of cleanliness, but one of ritual.
The washing of hands for the removal of
imaginary evil was a part of the tradition of
the elders. To read the inquiry to-day is to
be impressed with its triviality, and yet that
very triviality reveals the straits in which
these men found themselves, in order to
formulate any charge against the King.
2. The King's Answer
That the question involved more than ap-
pears to us is evident from the passionate
170 The Gospel According to Matthew
protest uttered by the King in answer to the
inquiry. It was a protest against the evil of
tradition. He declared first that tradition
transgressed the commandment of God. Of
this He gave these men an immediate and per-
tinent illustration. He first quoted a com-
mandment, " Honour thy father and thy
mother," and a commentary upon that from
the Mosaic code, " He that speaketh evil of
father or mother, let him die the death." He
then quoted one of their own traditions which
permitted the neglect of father and mother in
the supposed interest of religion. That il-
lustration revealed the fact that tradition
makes void the law of God.
He then uttered a severe word of denuncia-
tion as He called them hypocrites, and de-
clared that Isaiah's prophecy was fulfilled in
them, that they were the people who honoured
God with the lips, while their heart was far
from Him; in that their worship of Him was
vain because they taught the precepts of men.
3. The King's Explanation
His estimate of the seriousness of the ques-
tion which had been asked is further demon-
strated by the fact that having thus replied
to the deputation. He called the multitude to
His Propaganda 171
Him, and explained His protest against tradi-
tion in the words, " Not that which entereth
into the mouth defileth the man; but that
which proceedeth out of the mouth, this de-
fileth the man." This was a word having
bearing on the actual question they had asked
about the neglect of washing of the hands in
the eating of bread. Nothing that a man
takes into his physical being by such action
can defile the man. Those things which pro-
ceed out of the mouth, such things as the
Pharisees themselves had uttered, are the
things that defile. Not that they defile in the
act of being uttered; but that they, in their
utterance, demonstrate a condition of de-
filement.
The disciples then approached Him, having
evidently seen that His answer had angered
the Pharisees, inquiring, " Knowest Thou that
the Pharisees were offended, when they heard
this saying? " and His answer revealed the
fact that what He had said was of supreme
importance, whether the Pharisees were of-
fended or not. The tendency of human na-
ture has ever been to make a religion of out-
ward observances ; what a man eats or drinks,
or whether he does this, or neglects to do that.
These are supposed to be the criteria of his
acceptance with God. Such views the King
172 The Gospel According to Matthew
ruthlessly swept on one side as He reaffirmed
the teaching of the mount, that character is
supreme. The law of God is only perfect as
it stands alone. The addition of human tradi-
tion imposes unwarranted burdens, and when
men try to carry these, they do so at the cost
of laying down the true burden of the Divine
Will. Tradition is a plant of human plant-
ing. Let it then be rooted up, no matter how
venerable it is, or how men may be offended
by the process. Moreover, He declared that
they need have no care about these Pharisees,
and charged them to let them alone, for they
were blind guides.
Evidently not having grasped the full mean-
ing of the Master's teaching, Peter asked an
explanation of what the King had said to the
multitudes. Gently rebuking him, the King
gave a detailed explanation of His meaning,
as He declared that the things that come forth
from the heart are evil thoughts, murders,
adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness,
railings; affirming that by such things men
are defiled, and not by eating with unwashen
hands.
(c) AN INTERVAL OF BENEFICENT ACTIVITY, xv. 21-39
n
le Canaanitish Woman.
21-28
a.
The Woman's Appeal.
21-230
The Place.
21
The Request.
22
The King's Silence.
23a
p.
The Disciples' Plea.
23^-24
Send her away.
2ib
The King's Answer.
24
y-
The Woman's Persistence.
25-28
The Cry.
25
The King's Answer.
26
The Woman's Agreement.
27
The King's Answer.
28
Of Word.
Of Power,
2. The Ministry of Healing. 29-31
o. The Gathering of the Impotent.
p. The Healing,
y. The Issue.
The Feeding of the Multitudes.
32-39
a. The Occasion.
32
The King's Compassion.
The King's Desire.
/3. The Activity.
33-36
The Disciples' Resource.
33.34
The King's Action.
35, 36a
The Disciples' Distribution.
36b
y. The Issue.
37-39
The satisfied Multitudes.
370
The multiplied Resource.
37b
The Numbers.
38
The King's Departure.
39
His Propaganda 175
(c) AN INTERVAL OF BENEFICENT ACTIVITY
Again the King moved on His way, coming
this time to the very confines of Hebrew ter-
ritory, into the parts of Tyre and Sidon, and
presently on to a mountain in the neighbour-
hood of the sea of Galilee ; and again we have
three activities of power; first in the case of
the Canaanitish woman; secondly in a min-
istry of healing ; and thirdly in a second feed-
ing of the multitudes.
1. The Canaanitish Woman
The story of the Canaanitish woman is in
some sense one of the most beautiful of them
all. She came, a woman outside the covenant,
but bearing on her heart the sorrow of her
daughter's afiliction, and she came bringing it
with unswerving faith, to the One Who had
created the love of mother. Hearing her cry
of distress. He apparently paid no attention
to it, giving her no answer.
Then the disciples interfered, beseeching
Him to send her away, by which they did not
mean to suggest that He should dismiss her
without granting her request, but that He
should give her what she asked, and so be rid
of her. This is evident from the King's an-
176 The Gospel According to Matthew
swer, in which He declared that He was not
sent except to the lost sheep of the house of
Israel.
It was then that the woman's persistence
was most wonderfully manifested. Pressing
nearer to Him, she fell in reverence before
Him, and cried out of the depth of her heart,
" Lord, help me " ; and in answer the King
said what at first appears to be one of the
most unusual things that ever fell from His
lips. " It is not meet to take the children's
bread and cast it to the dogs." To this ap-
parent rebuff the woman replied, by agree-
ing, and yet urging that there was a privilege
which even dogs might enjoy, that of the
crumbs which fall from the master's table. To
that appeal the King immediately answered
in a word of high commendation, and in a
deed of healing power.
How strange at first this story is in the
matter of the silence of the King, and then
of His rebuff. The reason of His attitude
is revealed in the result which followed. He
knew how strong that woman's faith was, and
His method was one which resulted in the
manifestation of that faith in all its beauty.
How perpetually the very best of character is
hidden, until for its forthshining the King
hides His face. It is in the darker dispensa-
His Propaganda 177
tions of His dealings with us that we learn
the meaning of His method, and so discover
Him most perfectly. It is through such cir-
cumstances, moreover, that we are changed
into His likeness, and our best and highest
possibilities are realized. When He seems
least kind, let us rest assured that His loving-
kindness is most perfectly at work, and let us
then most patiently wait for Him.
2. The Ministry of Healing
In this story of the gathering of the multi-
tudes to Him on the mountain in Galilee,
bringing with them their impotent folk, and
of His healing of them, we have another mani-
festation of the unlimited resources, unmeas-
ured power, and ungrudging grace of the
King. These people were many of them in all
probability outside the covenant, as they had
travelled through the region of Decapolis.
That is the significance of the declaration of
Matthew that when they saw their impo-
tent folk healed, they glorified the God of
Israel.
Within the Divine economy He had largely
confined His healing influence and ministry to
the chosen people to whom He had been sent,
but as in the case of the Canaanitish woman,
178 The Gospel According to Matthew
so now again, true to the Divine intention
concerning the chosen people, when strangers
and aliens came to Him in faith. He gave them
blessing without stint.
3. The Feeding of the Multitudes
Again we have the account of the feeding
of multitudes, but it is now the feeding of
these very multitudes which had followed
Him, and who by reason of His works, had
learned to glorify the God of Israel. Toward
them the King's heart went out in compassion,
and He declared to His disciples that He de-
sired that they should not be sent away fast-
ing, lest they should faint by the way.
What a marvellous exhibition we have of
the slowness of faith in the case of these dis-
ciples, who notwithstanding what they had
seen the Master do with five loaves and two
fishes among five thousand men, yet now ques-
tioned Him as to how they should feed a
smaller crowd of four thousand men, with
more supplies; seven loaves and a few
fishes.
Yet without rebuking their lack of faith,
again He took their resources, and multiplied
them to meet the necessity of the crowds.
Again we have the picture of the satisfied
His Propaganda 179
multitudes and the multiplied resources of
the disciples; and again the King satisfied
in His own heart in the satisfaction of the
multitudes, sent them away, and then Him-
self departed.
d. ALLIED HOSTILITY. xvi. 1-12
1. The Demand for a Sign. i
o. The Coalition. Pharisees and Sadducees.
^. The Purpose. Tempting Him.
2. The Answer of the King. 2-4
o. Rebuke. 2, 3
Their Weather Wisdom.
Their spiritual Folly.
p. Refusal. 4
The Reason.
The only Sign.
3. The Explanation to His Disciples. s-"
a. The Warning. 5, 6
(An Incident. S)
Against \ Traditionalism. 6
1 Naturalism.
p. The Misunderstanding. 7
Their Difficulty. They reasoned.
Their Decision. No Bread.
y. The Explanation. 8-11
Rebuke. 8
Reminder. 9. 10
Repetition. u
8. The Understanding. 12
His Propaganda 181
d. ALLIED HOSTILITY
The final movement in this section spe-
cially dealing with the conflict of the King,
tells the story of a formal request for a sign
preferred by a coalition of Pharisees and Sad-
ducees. We have the account of the demand
for a sign; the answer of the King; and His
explanation of His answer to His own
disciples.
1. The Demand for a Sign
That which is remarkable in this attack
upon Christ was the fact that the deputation
was composed of representatives of the two
religious parties most utterly opposed. It,
was a coalition of men holding entirely di-
vergent views, for the express purpose 'of
leading Him into some attempt which would
in their opinion have revealed His incom-
petence. The form of their request would
seem to suggest that for the moment they ad-
mitted that He had wrought signs on the
earth, but they now asked for one from
heaven; that is, something patently super-
natural and spectacular.
2. The Answer of the King
The King's response consisted of rebuke
and refusal. He first rebuked them for the
182 The Gospel According to Matthew
fact that they were wise in the matter of
the weather, but entirely lacking wisdom in
the spiritual signs of the times.
He then definitely refused to give the sign
they asked, giving as His reason that the sign
was asked in the name of an evil and adulter-
ous generation; and briefly repeating what
He had said with greater definiteness on a
previous occasion, that the only sign that
would be granted to them would be that of
Jonah. There is nothing more interesting in
the story of this propaganda of the King than
His suppression of the marvellous powers
which He possessed. How easily He might
have given these men a sign which would have
startled and overwhelmed them. But He
never used His power save in the realm of the
Divine wisdom and love. Any mere exhibi-
tion of ability would have been wasted so far
as the purpose of His life and ministry, that
of the establishment of the Kingdom of
heaven, was concerned. There is no waste in
the economy of Jesus. His pearls are never
cast before swine.
3. The Explanation to His Disciples
As the direct outcome of this request for
a sign, and His refusal. He uttered words of
His Propaganda 183
solemn warning to His disciples. Matthew
introduces liis record of this warning by
briefly noticing the fact that His disciples
had forgotten to take bread, thus preparing
us for a misunderstanding on their part, to
be almost immediately described. The King's
warning consisted of the command to beware
of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees,
by which, as a subsequent declaration reveals.
He warned them against the teaching of these
men. Traditionalism and naturalism are cor-
rupting influences in religion.
The disciples did not understand Him.
Their sense of difficulty is revealed in the
statement that they reasoned among them-
selves, and the result of the reasoning was
that they decided that He referred to the
fact that they had not brought bread. It is
an amazing revelation of the blindness of
these men. It really appears as though the
two miracles of feeding had impressed them
with the importance of taking loaves, rather
than that of being with Christ. Thus are men
constantly in danger of putting the emphasis
in the wrong place.
Knowing their difficulty, and their false de-
cision, the Lord gave them an explanation of
His meaning, as He first rebuked them for
their lack of faith, and, reminding them of
184 The Gospel According to Matthew
the miracles, declared that He had not spoken
concerning bread. He then repeated His
word of warning, leaving them to come to a
right understanding of His intention, seeing
that He had now eliminated the fact of their
concern about loaves. Matthew declares that
they then understood that He spoke not of the
leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the
Pharisees and Sadducees.
iv. His Victory. xvi. 13-20
a. THE CHALLENGE AND CONFESSION. 13-16
I. The first Movement.
13. 14
0. The Inquiry.
13
p. The Answer.
14
2. The second Movement.
15. 16
a. The Inquiry.
15
p. The Answer.
16
b. THE CONFESSION AND CHARGE.
17-20
I. The Beatitude.
17
2. The Secret revealed.
18, 19
0. The Man.
18a
p. The Church.
18&, 19
Its Foundation.
Its Builder.
Its Aggression.
Its Authority.
3. The Warning.
His Propaganda 187
iv. His Victory
This is the last movement in the section
dealing with the King's enforcement of claims,
and brief though the paragraph be, it is of
the greatest importance, for it tells the story
of that victory which prepared the way for the
final movement in His mission.
By the persistent and clearly manifested ac-
tion of the rulers the King had now been re-
jected, and consequently the establishment of
the Kingdom was postponed. Here we have
the first hint of a new departure. Matthew
records the challenge of the King, and the
confession of the disciples ; and the confession
of the King, and His charge to His disciples.
a. THE CHALLENGE AND CONFESSION
Having arrived in the parts of Csesarea
Philippi He challenged them as to who men
said that He was. They replied in such a
way as to reveal the singular effect which His
ministry had produced, telling Him only of
the highest and best things they had heard.
Their testimony revealed the fact that in His
ministry, men had detected the true prophetic
note, and that in varied emphases ; as they had
188 The Gospel According to Matthew
spoken of Him as John the Baptist, Elijah,
Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.
Having heard this statement the King im-
mediately narrowed and intensified His in-
quiry as He appealed to them " But who say
ye that I am? " It was in answer to that
inquiry that Simon Peter made his great con-
fession, a confession of conviction that his
Master was indeed the Christ, the Son of the
living God, or in other words, that He was
the long looked for Messiah, the King for
Whom the nation had been waiting. There
is no reason to doubt that on this occasion, as
was so constantly the case, Peter was the
spokesman for the rest of the disciples. This,
then, was the supreme hour up to this point,
of the victory in the ministry of the Lord. In
order that He might proceed to the comple-
tion of His work in the world, it was neces-
sary that there should be those who were more
than loyal to Him as a great Teacher, sym-
pathetic with Him as a great Idealist, or im-
pressed by Him as a mighty Worker. They
must at least realize His separation from all
other teachers, and that He was the supreme
One in that economy of God, in which they
had been born. This victory was achieved,
Peter's confession being the evidence thereof.
His Propaganda 189
h. THE CONFESSION AND CHARGE
The King immediately responded to the
confession of Peter as He uttered the word of
blessing upon him, declaring that what he
had now confessed had not been revealed to
him by flesh and blood, but by His Father.
The revelation had come to the man through
Christ Himself, not merely through the per-
fection ^nd power of His human influence, but
because the Father had been able through the
Son to express the fulfilment of His purpose
in Him.
Having thus uttered His beatitude. He
made His great confession, and revealed the
secret of the method by which He would pro-
ceed to the ultimate establishment of His
Kingdom.
The first word of that secret had to do
w4th the man who had made the confession.
When He first met him. He had said to him,
"Thou Shalt be called Cephas (which is by
interpretation, Peter)." He now declared
" Thou art Peter." It is noticeable that in
uttering the beatitude He did not use this
name, but spoke of him as he was by nature,
Simon Bar-Jonah. Through the revelation of
God through Christ this man had reached the
190 The Gospel According to Matthew
moment of illumination ; he had become rock,
because he had passed into the closest fellow-
ship possible with the Divine nature.
He then for the first time spoke of His
ecclesia, declaring that it should be founded
upon this rock of fellowship in the nature of
God. He, moreover, with singular dignity,
affirmed that He Himself would build His
Church, and proceeded to declare that in its
aggressive mission it would conquer all ene-
mies, even the gates of Hades not being able to
prevail against it ; and finally announced that
it should be His instrument of authority in
the moral realm amid the affairs of men.
Thus while the Hebrew nation had rejected
the King, and the establishment of the King-
dom was postponed, all the principles and
privileges of the Kingdom were to be em-
bodied in a new society among men, of which
He spoke as His Church. The creation of
that new society was the outcome of the re-
fusal of men to accept the King.
His final word was one of warning, in
which He charged the disciples that they
should tell no man that He was the Christ,
the meaning of which is made plain when
we remember the beatitude He had uttered
to Simon, in that He had said " Flesh and
His Propaganda 191
blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but My
Father." So they were ever to remember
that they could not reveal to men the deepest
fact concerning Himself. That must ever be
a revelation of God through Himself.
C. HIS PASSION.
xvi. 21— xxviii.
I. HIS CROSS AND HIS SUBJECTS. xvi. 21-xx.
i. The Cross and the Glory. xvi. 21— xvii. 20
a. INSTRUCTION. xvi. 21-28
I. The Cross.
21-26
a. The first Unveiling.
21
p. The first Refusal.
22
y. The Explanation.
23-26
The Rebuke.
23
The Proclamation.
24
The Reason.
25
The Appeal.
26
2. The Glory.
27, 28
a. The Proclamation.
27
The Fact.
The Activity.
/3. The Promise.
28
LLUSTRATION.
xvii. I -2 1
I. Manifestation.
1-13
a. The Glory.
I, 2
/3. The Cross.
3
y. The Sequel.
413
The Blunder of Peter.
4
The Rebuke from Heaven.
5
The Disciples' Fear.
6
The Touch of the King.
7
The final Vision,
8
The Charge.
9-13
2. Application.
14-20
a. The Appeal to the King.
14-16
The Father and the Boy.
The helpless Disciples.
/3. The Answer of the King.
17, 18
Rebuke.
Power.
y. The Sequel.
19, xo
The Disciples' Inquiry.
19
The King's Answer.
His Passion 193
C. HIS PASSION
We now come to the final division of the
Gospel, the one at once most full of majesty
and mystery. It was a period during which
His own disciples were unable to understand
Him fully. They were filled with amazement
and dread, and walked after Him rather than
with Him. All the way He was patiently
dealing with them, persistently leading them
into the neighbourhood of the Cross, and pre-
paring them both for the darkness of the final
hour, and for the dawning of a new day of
illumination, in which they would understand
as they could not at the moment, the things
He did and said. For the most part His min-
istry was exercised on their behalf from
Caesarea Philippi to Calvary. Not that He
entirely abandoned the multitudes, for again
and again He turned to them, and to the end
manifested His compassion toward them.
There are four sections in the division dealing;
with His Cross and His subjects; His rejec-
tion of the Hebrew nation; His prediction to
His subjects; and His travail and triumph.
I. HIS CROSS AND HIS SUBJECTS
After Caesarea Philippi the King devoted
Himself in a very special way to the instruc-
194 The Gospel According to Matthew
tion of His subjects concerning the Cross; and
a careful consideration of the whole section
will reveal three movements dealing with
three aspects of the Cross. The first was con-
cerned with the Cross and the glory; the sec-
ond with the Cross and the grace; the third
with the Cross and the Kingdom. In each of
these we shall find first definite instruction,
and then some form of illustration, in the do-
ing and teaching of the King.
i. The Cross and the Glory
a. INSTRUCTION
Immediately following the confession of
Peter, and the King's answering confession
concerning His Church, He began to speak
of His Cross. Whereas there are evidences
of His own consciousness of that Cross in the
earlier stages of His ministry, and figurative
allusions to it. He had never definitely re-
ferred to it until this period. The first un-
veiling was characterized by an almost awful
directness of statement, as He told them that
He must go to Jerusalem, suffer many things
of the rulers, be killed, and the third day be
raised up. Let it at once be observed that His
statement concerning the Cross included the
declaration of resurrection.
His Passion 195
From this unveiling of the Cross His dis-
ciples instinctively shrank. They were as yet
only subjects of the King, interpreting King-
ship according to their own ideals. The wis-
dom and the love of God were beyond their
comprehension, and therefore they trembled,
and Peter became the spokesman of their pro-
test. That protest was passionate and angry.
There can be no question that it was born of
his affection for his Lord, and his conviction
that what He proposed, was the utterest folly
in the interest of the establishment of the
Kingdom.
The King immediately explained His mean-
ing in the most startling and arresting way.
He sternly rebuked the attitude of Peter as
He addressed him as Satan, and declared that
his mental attitude was out of harmony with,
the Divine purpose, and accorded with the
materialized outlook of men.
He then clearly declared that those who
would follow Him henceforth must in the
necessity of the case do so by the way of the
Cross, and that the only preparation for such
following would be the denial of self, and
fellowship in the Cross; appealing to them in
the words which have become solemnly
familiar, " What shall a man be profited, if
he shall gain the whole world, and forfeit his
196 The Gospel According to Matthew
life? or what shall a man give in exchange for
his life? "
Closely connected with this first unveiling
of the Cross the King made proclamation of
the coming glory, as He declared that He
would come in glory, and that in such com-
ing would render to men according to their
works. The last word was that of a promise
that some of those who listened should yet see
Him coming in His Kingdom, an unquestion-
able reference to the vision granted them on
the holy mount.
h. ILLUSTRATION
This teaching concerning the Cross and the
glory was immediately followed by the il-
lustration of the holy mount, and that which
followed. On the mount they had a mani-
festation of the relation between the glory and
the Cross ; and in the valley an application of
the truth.
1. Manifestation
"After six days," and it is interesting to
observe that we have no record of what
transpired in those days. In all probability
they were days of silence. The strange
His Passion 197
declaration of the King concerning the Cross
had crushed the hearts of these men.
Now, to tJiree of their number, as special
training for special service, was granted a
wondrous vision of His glory. In the high
mountain apart they saw Him in all the re-
splendent beauty of His perfected humanity,
'His face shining as the sun. His very garments
becoming white as the light. There, in that
unsullied splendour, they beheld Him, and
heard Him talking with Moses and Elijah.
Whereas Matthew does not record the fact,
we know from the other evangelists that the
subject of converse was the very one which
they had shunned.
The true force and meaning of this they
did not comprehend until the Spirit came,
and this was evidenced by Peter's blunder,
when he said, " Lord, it is good for us to
be here," and proposed the erection of taber-
nacles, one for the Master, one for Moses, and
one for Elijah. If his word, " Lord, it is good
for us to be here " be put into contrast with
the last thing he is recorded to have said prior
to that, " God have mercy on Thee, Lord : this
shall never be unto Thee," we shall under-
stand his meaning. The Cross was a scan-
dal. The glory was to be desired.
This attitude of Peter was immediately re-
198 The Gospel According to Matthew
buked by the voice out of the cloud, and the
disciples were filled anew with fear. The
grace of the King was immediately manifested
as He touched them, and bade them " Arise,
and be not afraid." The final vision was that
of Jesus only.
On the way down from the mountain He
charged them that what they had there seen
was not to be proclaimed to men until after
His resurrection, and answered their inquiry
concerning Elijah.
2. Application
Having thus been brought back face to face
w^ith the relation between the glory and the
Cross in the mount of vision, they passed to
the valley ; and the relation is revealed in the
incident which occurred. We are naturally
arrested by the contrast between the mountain
and the valley. There the King in converse
with glorified saints; here in contact with
demon-possessed men. On the mountain the
King in all the glory of His Person; in the
valley His representatives baffled and beaten.
The appeal to the King was made by a
father on behalf of his boy, and in the appeal
He declared the helplessness of the disciples
to whom he had brought the boy.
His Passion 199
The answer of the King was first that of
rebuke of the generation, and then that of
the word of power whereby the demon was
sent forth, and the boy was cured.
The disciples immediately asked w^hy they
had failed, and were answered that their fail-
ure was due to their lack of faith. It was a
striking answer. They had failed for lack
of that faith which yields the whole life to His
control. When the father brought the boy to
them, there was in their heart a questioning
of Him concerning the last word He had
spoken to them, as to the necessity for the
Cross ; and the presence of that unbelief para-
lyzed their power. They had cast out demons
before, but now because of failure of faith
they had failed. Hence they were reminded
that in this new economy the glory of victory
must come by the way of the acceptation of
the Cross.
ii. The Cross and the Grace.
XVll. 22 ^XIX. 22
a. INSTRUCTION.
I. Direct.
o. The King's Declaration.
/3. The Subjects' Sorrow.
XVll. 22 — XVlll.
23
xvii. 24 — xviii.
2. Indirect.
a. The Cross and the Commonplace.
The Half-Shekel demanded.
The Cross.
The Freedom of the Sons.
The Consent to Bondage.
p. The Cross and Greatness.
The Inquiry.
The Answer.
The Object-Lesson. The Child,
The Cross.
To be like the Child.
To serve the Child.
The Possibility.
The Peril.
The Power.
To save the Child.
The Divine Interest.
The Divine Activity.
The Divine Purpose.
y. The Cross and Forgiveness.
The King's Teaching.
The Supposition.
The Way of the Cross.
The Gaining of the Brother.
By individual Approach.
By united Appeal.
By Church Action.
The Possibility.
Authority. Given.
The Law. Prayer.
The Secret. The Presence of the King.
Peter's Inquiry.
The King's Answer.
Direct.
Parabolic Illustration.
The Way of the King.
Compassion.
The Way of the forgiven Servant,
Lack of Compassion.
The Way of the King.
Punishment,
Direct.
XVll. 24-27
24, 2sa
256-27
25b, 26
27
xviii. I- 14
I
2-14
2
3-14
3,4
5-9
5
6,7
8,9
10-14
10
12, 13
14
xviii. IS-3S
xviii. 15-20
15a
IS&-17
18-20
23-34
23-27
28-31
32-34
His Passion 201
ii. The Cross and the Grace
a. INSTRUCTION
In this section the dominant note is that
of the grace which results from the accepta-
tion of the principle of the Cross. We have
first the direct teaching of the King, and
secondly His indirect revelation of this grace.
1. Direct ~
For a time after the experience of the
mount, they remained in Galilee, and there
the Lord repeated the declaration which He
had made at Csesarea Philippi concerning His
Cross and His resurrection. That they had
learned something in the interval is evident
from the fact that there was no protest; but
that they were still under the shadow is re-
vealed in the statement that they were exceed-
ing sorry.
2. Indirect
In the incidents and the teaching immedi-
ately following we have the revelation of the
grace which results from the Cross. There
are three matters to be considered ; the Cross
and the commonplace; the Cross and great-
ness ; the Cross and forgiveness.
202 The Gospel According to Matthew
^— ^ •^^—— '
a. The Cross and the Commonplace
In Capernaum those who received the half-
shekel asked Peter whether their Master paid
it. It is evident that they were collecting it,
from the fact that subsequently it was paid,
as the story reveals. The negative form of
their question is suggestive of a critical at-
titude, as though they did not think that He
did pay it. Peter replied that He did.
The reply, while perfectly natural and in-
tended in defence of his Lord, was incidentally
a revelation of the fact that he did not under-
stand Who his Lord was; and his answer af-
forded the opportunity for an action on the
part of the King, which was a revelation of
His grace.
His conversation with Simon suggestively
reminded him of His relation to God, which
had been proclaimed upon the mountain, and
which Peter had confessed at Caesarea Phil-
ippi. Because He was the Son of the King,
He was not liable to the paying of tribute.
Then immediately His action was a revelation
of His grace. In order that these men might
not be caused to stumble. He Who was free
as Son, consented to bondage, in that He paid
the half-shekel. His grace was, moreover,
His Passion 203
manifested in the fact that He paid it in fel-
lowship with Peter.
/S. The Cross and Greatness
The disciples came to Jesus asking, " Who
then is greatest in the Kingdom of heaven? "
and the inquiry was a revelation of their in-
ability to understand His teaching concerning
the Cross,~or to accept it as a principle of life.
The King's answer consisted of an action,
and teaching growing out of that action. He
first took a child, and set him in the midst,
and then keeping their attention fixed upon
that child throughout; He brought them face
to face with the necessity for the Cross.
They had asked Him as to greatness within
the Kingdom. He declared that in order to
enter the Kingdom they must become as chil-
dren, and in order to greatness they must
humble themselves as that child. In order to
be like the child, they must consent to the
principle of the Cross.
Then, His eye still upon the child. He went
further, and showed that in order to serve the
child, they must consent to the same prin-
ciple. The possibility of service was first de-
clared, and dignified, as He declared that the
reception of the child was the reception of
204 The Gospel According to Matthew
Himself. The peril of failure was revealed in
His solemn words concerning- the possibility
of making a child stumble; and finally the
power by which that peril should be avoided,
and that possibility of service realized was
declared in the most solemn terms ; and again
they were the terms that insisted upon the
necessity for consent to the Cross, even to the
point of cutting off of the hand or foot, or
the plucking out of the eye.
With the child still as the centre of ob-
servation, He further revealed that the way by
which the little child might be saved was that
of the Cross. He afi&rmed the Divine interest
in the child as He declared that their angels
behold the face of the Father in heaven; and
then in brief words, adopting the figure of the
shepherd, revealed the Divine activity, finally
affirming that the Divine purpose was that not
one little one should perish. In order, there-
fore, to the saving of the child, there must
be the method of the Cross in the journey to
the mountains to seek that which goeth astray.
y. The Cross and Forgiveness
The grace resulting from the Cross is re-
vealed in the teaching which has to do with
forgiveness, and here we have the King's
His Passion 205
teaching; the inquiry of Peter; and the King's
answer thereto.
The King's Teaching
The teaching of the King on this subject
commenced with a supposition, " If thy
brother sin against thee," and proceeded to
reveal the gracious activity of the Cross in
such a case.
The motive of everything inculcated is that
of the gaining of the brother who has sinned.
This is to be attempted by individual ap-
proach, and it will at once be recognized that
in such approach there is need for the denial
of self. If the individual approach fails, then
the same purpose is to be aimed at by united
appeal. If this should also fail, then the
Church is to take action, and it must be re-
membered that the end sought is still that of
the gaining of the sinning brother. This is
true, moreover, even when the Church, because
of his rebellion, is compelled to separate him
from its fellowship. He is then to be looked
upon as a Gentile and a publican, that is, as a
man for whom Christ died, on behalf of whom
the Church is to exercise a ministry intended
to restore him.
If these instructions are carefully consid-
206 The Gospel According to Matthew
ered, the difficulty of them will at once be
recognized; and that difficulty the King evi-
dently recognized, for it was in this connec-
tion that He uttered the remarkable words,
setting forth the authority of the Church, re*
vealing the law of prayer by which it is able
to exercise that authority, and unveiling the
central secret both of prayer and of authority,
that of His own presence in the midst. In
the light of the whole of this movement it will
be seen that the King in the midst is the One,
Who according to His own teaching, was to
be crowned by the way of the Cross ; and con-
.sequently the authority of the Church grow-
ing out of fellowship with God through Him,
is the authority which she gains in fellow-
ship with His Cross.
Peter's Inquiry
It is evident that the duty of forgiveness
was impressed upon the disciples by the fact
that Peter asked Him " How oft? " The ques-
tion, moreover, seems to suggest Peter's sense
of the difficulty of obedience.
The King's Answer
The answer of the King to Peter was first
a direct word. Peter had suggested forgiv-
His Passion 207
ing seven times, and perhaps imagined that
in that suggestion he had reached the ulti-
mate height of virtue. The suggestion of
seven was swept away by the King's seventy
times seven.
Then He illustrated His teaching by the
parable of the king reckoning with his
servants. In that parable there is a revela-
tion of the fact that the way of the king was
that of compassion, which expressed itself in
forgiveness. The way of the forgiven servant
was that of lack of compassion, which ex-
pressed itself in exacting the utmost. There-
fore the way of the king was that of punish-
ing the servant for lack of compassion.
Again the response to Peter was direct as
the Master definitely declared that if His dis-
ciples did not forgive every one his brother
from the heart, neither would God forgive
them.
b. ILLUSTRATION. xix. 1-22
1. Physical. Healing. i, 2
The Principle of the Cross.
Greatness in Service.
Forgiveness in Compassion.
2. Ethical. Divorce. 3-12
o. The -first Question. 3
/5. The King's Answer. 4-6
The Cross in Marriage.
Union by Separation.
y. The second Question. 7
6. The King's Answer. 8, 9
The Cross in Divorce.
Separation for Purity.
e. The Disciples' Difficulty. 10
f. The King's Answer. 11, 12
The Cross in exceptional Cases.
For the Kingdom of Heaven's Sake.
Social. Children.
13-15
a. The Bringing of the Children.
130
p. The Disciples' Blunder.
13&
y. The King's Action.
14, 15
The Cross in Anger.
The Cross in Blessing.
Spiritual. The young Ruler.
1 6-22
a. The Ruler's Quest.
16
p. The King's Response.
17
The arresting Challenge.
17a
The Answer.
17b
y. The Ruler's Question.
180
S. The King's Answer.
I8&, 19
The Laws of human Relation.
e. The Ruler's Claim.
20
i- The King's Revelation.
ai
The Cross.
jj. The Ruler's Sorrow.
22
His Passion 209
h. ILLUSTRATION
The grace resulting from the Cross is now
illustrated in the series of events recorded,
and that in four realms; the physical, the
ethical, the social, and the spiritual.
1. The Physical
Immediately after the definite teaching of
His disciples in Galilee the King came into
Judaea, and Matthew briefly records the fact
that multitudes followed Him, and He healed
them there. In an earlier part of his record
Matthew, having come to an understanding
of this healing ministry before he wrote his
Gospel, declared that it was exercised in the
power of the Cross, and here that is to be
borne in mind. He was again in Judaea, ap-
proaching Jerusalem, going thither as He had
said, submitting to the Cross, and that ex-
plains Matthew's word, " He healed them
there" He was expressing His greatness in
service, and exercising forgiveness in com-
passion.
2. Ethical
Again the Pharisees came to Him, and this
time asked Him most evidently with the de-
210 The Gospel According to Matthew
sire to involve Him in conflict, " Is it lawful
for a man to put away his wife for every
cause? "
That inquiry called forth a very remark-
able word from the Master. He first re-
minded them that in the Divine economy from
the beginning a man entered the marriage re-
lationship by the way of the principle of the
Cross. Marriage must consist of union, by
separation from father and mother, and con-
sequently it becomes a union indissoluble.
This called forth their second question as to
why, if that were so, Moses had provided for
divorcement.
The King answered that the provision was
made to meet the necessity of their failure,
and then enunciated His own great law of
divorcement, in which He insisted upon the
principle of the Cross as He declared that
there must be no separation save in the in-
terest of purity, and then it must be complete
and abiding.
The disciples' comment reveals their
estimate of the severity of the word of the
King; and the King's answer to them is a
recognition of that severity. They suggested
that it was not expedient to marry; and He
in effect said to them that if this were so,
then by the celibate life in exceptional cases
His Passion 211
there would be a fulfilment of the principle
of the Cross for the sake of the Kingdom of
heaven.
3. Social. Children
It is surely more than a coincidence, that
immediately following this high teaching, chil-
dren were brought to Him that He might bless
them.
Again the disciples blundered as they re-
buked those who brought the children, evi-
dently because they felt that attention to
them was beneath the dignity of the King.
The action of the King in response was
the action of the grace w^hich results from
the Cross. This expressed itself in anger
with the men who would have driven the chil-
dren away; for while in this case again, Mat-
thew does not chronicle the fact, Mark tells
us that He spoke, moved with indignation.
It then expressed itself as He laid His hands
on the children in blessing.
4. Spiritual. The young Ruler
As the King passed upon His way, there
came one to Him in quest of eternal life.
To him, the King responded by an arresting
challenge as to why he had come to Him con-
212 The Gospel According to Matthew
cerning goodness, and the declaration that
the way into life was the way of law.
The ruler immediately asked to which com-
mandment He made reference, and the King
replied by reciting briefly to him the laws of
human inter-relationship as they had been
enunciated in the old economy.
The young man immediately claimed that
he had been obedient to these laws, and asked,
" What lack I yet? "
The King then revealed to him the fact that
his surrender to authority was not complete,
in that he had never yielded his all; and
showed that in order to do so he must follow
by the way of the Cross, giving up all that
upon which he had depended, and submitting
himself entirely to control.
As the disciples were filled with sorrow
when the Lord spoke of His Cross, so this
young man went away sorrowful because he
had great possessions.
iii. The Cross and the Kingdom.
a. INSTRUCTION.
I. Entrance to the Kingdom.
a. The Difficulty.
The Cross at the Entrance.
/3, The Possibility.
The Disciples' Astonishment.
The King's Answer.
With Men impossible.
With God possible.
Peter's Inquiry.
The King's Answer.
The Crown after the Cross.
y. The Warning.
2. Service in the Kingdom.
a. The Parable.
The Labourers.
XIX. 23 XX.
xix. 23 — XX. 28
xix. 23-30
23,24
25-29
25
26
27
28, 29
30
XX. 1-16
The Early.
The third Hour.
The sixth Hour.
The ninth Hour.
The eleventh Hour.
The Payment. The Householder's Penny. 8-10
The Complaint. 11,12
The Answer. The Householder's Right. 13-15
1-15
I, 2
3.4
5
5
6,7
j8. The Application.
" So." The Cross. Self-denied.
3. Positions in the Kingdom.
a. The Mind of God.
The Way of the Cross.
The Way to the Crown.
^. The Mind of Man.
The Request for Power.
The Challenge of the Cross.
The Anger of the Ten.
The Answer of the King.
The Greatness of Service.
The Example of the King,
16
XX. 17-28
17-19
17-190
19&
20-28
20, 21
22, 23
24
25-28
25-27
28
His Passion 215
iii. The Cross and the Kingdom
a. INSTRUCTION
Matthew now records a series of instruc-
tions which the King gave to His disciples,
in which the relation between the Cross and
the Kingdom is revealed. They have to do
with entrance to the Kingdom; service in the
Kingdom ; and positions in the Kingdom.
1. Entrance to the Kingdom
The teaching of Jesus on this subject was
the result of His dealing with the young
man who had gone away sorrowful, for the
moment at least refusing to accept the prin-
ciple of the Cross, and thus declining to en-
ter the Kingdom. The diflftculty of entrance
in such a case as his was due to the fact that
only by the way of the Cross is entrance
possible.
While the difficulty was recognized, the
possibility was declared. The astonishment
of the disciples is a clear revelation of how
entirely opposed the mind of man is to this
doctrine of the denial of self, and the taking
up of the Cross. They could not understand
why it should be difficult for a rich man to
enter the Kingdom of God. In common with
216 The Gospel According to Matthew
all men, they had taken it for granted that
wealth was a passport to all privilege.
The King's answer to their inquiry, " Who
then can be saved? " did not minimize the dif-
ficulty but rather emphasized it as He said,
" With men this is impossible." But, then, in
this matter of the Kingdom, men were not
dealing with men alone. They had to do with
God, and with Him all things are possible,
even submission to the Cross in order to enter
His Kingdom.
In view of this teaching Peter declared
that the disciples had left all to follow
Christ, and asked what personal gain would
come to them as the result of this action;
and it is to be specially noticed that Christ
did not rebuke him for asking this question,
but definitely declared that the twelve men
who had followed Him under difficult circum-
stances, should ultimately sit upon twelve
thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
He immediately added, however, that that
crown would come to them as the result of
their acceptation of the Cross, as they had
left the ties of kindred, and the advantages of
worldly possession for His name's sake.
His last word was one of warning as He
declared that "Many shall be last that are
first; and first that are last."
His Passion 217
2. Service in the Kingdom
In immediate connection with His declara-
tion concerning entrance to the Kingdom, the
King uttered His parable of the labourers in
the vineyard, which c6ncludes with the words,
" So the last shall be first, and the first last " ;
showing its relation to the subject in hand.
It deals, however, not so much with the mat-
ter of entrance to the Kingdom, as of service
T\"ithin it; but in its revelation of the true
principle of service it explains the necessity
for submission to the Cross on the part of
those who enter. The parable is, as to its
narrative, perfectly simple. Some of the men
were called into the vineyard in the early
morning; others at the third hour; others
at the sixth; others at the ninth; while some
did not receive the call until the eleventh
hour. At the close of the day's work the
householder paid them, the first according to
agreement, and the rest a similar amount, ac-
cording to his own will. Against this pay-
ment those who had entered first, complained ;
and the answer of the householder consisted
of a protest against their dissatisfaction, see-
ing that he had fulfilled his engagement with
them ; and secondly of a claim that he had the
right to do what he would with his own.
218 The Gospel According to Matthew
The King's application of the parable, as
we have seen, is found in the words, " So the
last shall be first, and the first last," and
thus the main value is its revelation of the
fact that those who serve the King must be
satisfied with His decisions, or in other words,
the denial of self is the condition of service
acceptable to the King.
Whereas in His application our Lord did
not deal with the fact, it is quite certain that
in this parable there is a revelation of the true
principle of rewards which will obtain for
service. They will be given, not according to
length or amount of service, but according to
fidelity to opportunity. The men at the elev-
enth hour had had no previous invitation to
work. Notice their words, " No man hath
hired us." In this regard it would be unfair
to the parable and the purpose of the Master
to make any wider application. It is not that
every worker eventually will have a like re-
ward, but that fidelity, whether in matters
that seem to us to be great or small, will be
equally ' rewarded. There are thousands of
men to-day standing idle in the afternoon,
who were called into the vineyard in the morn-
ing, but they did not respond. Moreover, the
saddest fact of all is that too often it is these
indolent idlers who are loudest in their criti-
His Passion 219
cism of the workers. To such, the reward
will not be equal to that of men who have
borne the burden and heat of the day.
3. Positions in the Kingdom
The King was taking His last journey to
Jerusalem, fully conscious of its deep sig-
nificance in His mission. He was going, as
we have seen, of deliberate and set purpose
to the Cross. Beyond that Cross He saw the
glory of resurrection. On the way He again
called His disciples to Him, and in His words
to them, and their response to Him, we are
brought face to face again with a striking
contrast between the mind of God and the
mind of men; and are thus reminded of His
words of rebuke to Peter at Csesarea Philippi,
^' Thou mindest not the things of God, but
the things of men." He revealed the mind of
God in His deliberate and detailed declara-
tion of what He knew would be the issue of
His journey to Jerusalem. He was going by
the way of the Cross, and that was the way
to the crown.
Here as in every case during the last sad
days, His account of His own coming suffer-
ing was broken in upon by a question of
precedence among the disciples. The mother
220 The Gospel According to Matthew
of James and John asked that her sons might
occupy the positions of power in His coming
Kingdom. When we read this story we are
tempted to be angry. He was not. He re-
plied by uttering the challenge of the Cross
as He spoke of His own coming cup of sorrow,
and asked if they were able to drink it. Little
understanding the deep meaning of His ques-
tion they declared that they were; and He
immediately accepted the intention of their
willingness, and declared that they should in-
deed drink that cup.
This request for the two resulted in the
anger of the ten ; and the King gently rebuked
this anger by declaring to them again that in
His Kingdom greatness would result from
service, and quoted His own ministry as the
supreme example.
b. ILLUSTRATION. xx. 29-34
1. The Cry of the Blind. 29. 30
2. The Action of the Multitude. 3i«
3. The Persistence of the Blind. 3i&
4. The Action of the King. 32-34
o. The Cross. Compassion.
p. The Kingdom. The Halt of Jesus.
The Touch of Power.
His Passion 223
h. ILLUSTRATION
As they moved on their way, in the neigh-
bourhood of Jericho the King gave an illustra-
tion of the power which He exercised as the
result of His separation to the Cross. He
was on His way to the ratification, by actual
word and deed, of that which had already
taken place in the counsel of the nation; His
own rejection as King. On the way two
needy men sought a favour from Him as the
Son of David, a manner of address that sig-
nified their acknowledgment of His messiah-
ship. The multitude rebuked them, but they
were the more persistent in their cry.
Straightway the compassion of the King
expressed itself in the exercise of power which
answered their prayer, and gave them their
sight. To what strange scenes their eyes
were opened. One wonders whether during
all the tragic and av/ful events of the succeed-
ing days they continued to follow Him. If
so, how inexplicable and mysterious it must
have seemed to them, that One Who was able
by a touch to open their eyes, should yet be
unable to deliver Himself from His foes. This
was the supreme mystery to all those who were
closely associated with Him, both foes and
224 The Gospel According to Matthew
friends. To-day we know that the power
which thrilled through His touch, and com-
municated vision to sightless eyes, was that
which bound Him to the Cross. It was the
power of His love.
II. HIS REJECTION OF THE HEBREW NATION.
xxi. — xxiii.
i. The Coming of the King. ^^i- i-i7
a. THE PREPARATION. 1-7
1. The Command of the King. '-5
a. The Locality. la
jS. The Instructions. ib-3
The Securing of the Colt.
The Authority of the King.
y. The Fulfilment of Prophecy. 4, s
2. The Obedience of the Disciples. 6, 7
b. THE KING'S ENTRY. 8-1 1
1. The Procession. 8, 9
o. The Way. 8
/3. The Acclamations. 9
2. The Effect on the City. 10,11
o. The Inquiry. " Who is this? "
/3. The Answer,
c. THE EXECUTIVE CLEANSING. 12-17
1. The Act, 12
2. The Word. 13
3. The Results. 14-16
a. r/ie Healing.
p. The Priests' and Scribes' Objection.
y. The King's Answer,
4. The King's Departure to Bethany. 17
His Passion 227
II HIS REJECTION OP THE HEBREW
NATION
/ ""t is very necessary that the whole of this
section should be taken into account, as we
consider its parts. To move through the
story, observing separated incidents only,
wo 1 be entirely to miss the supreme value
of ) sec4;ion, which presents the picture, not
of a victim mastered by circumstances, but of
a Victor, moving with authority and power
through adverse circumstances, which He
compelled to the carrying out of His own pur-
pose. We have more than once drawn atten-
tion to the fact that He was already rejected
by the Hebrew nation. This section gives the
account of His official rejection of that nation
from its place in the economy of God. There
are three movements which we shall consider ;
the coming of the King; the arraignment of
the rulers ; and the doom and sentence.
i. The Coming of the King
In the account of the coming of the King
to Jerusalem we have the story of prepara-
tion, of entry, and of the executive cleansing
of the temple.
228 The Gospel According to Matthew
a. THE PREPARATION
On their journey toward the city they had
arrived at Bethphage, which was situated on
the mount of Olives, which was on the east of
Jerusalem, and rose to a greater height than
mount Zion. From that elevation the King
chose to descend to the city. Into the village
He sent disciples to bring to Him a colt,
that in fulfilment of prophecy He might ride
into the city, thus definitely drawing atten-
tion to Himself, and calling forth a demon-
stration.
h. THE king's entry
No picture in the life of the King is more
full of sadness than this one which we so
often describe as the triumphal entry. There
can be no question that in the high economy
of God it was a triumphal entry, but it was
surely a part of the way of sadness for the
King. He rode into the city over the gar-
ments and the branches of trees which the
multitudes spread on His path, and amid ac-
clamations which proclaimed Him Messiah.
That the entry was a remarkable one is
demonstrated by the fact that all the city was
stirred thereby, and as the dwellers within
His Passion 229
the city gathered together, they inquired
" Who is this? " and received the answer from
the multitudes, " This is the prophet, Jesus,
from Nazareth of Galilee."
C. THE EXECUTIVE CLEANSING
Passing through the city, the King came
directly to the temple, and cast out from
thence those who were occupied in selling and
buying, overthrowing the tables of the money-
changers, and the seats of the sellers of doves ;
as He did so uttering His denunciation of
their desecration of the holy place. This was
the second time that He had cleansed the
temple, and by His action He revealed His
conception of the secret of civic righteous-
ness and strength. He had entered the city
as the King, and in doing so He did not find
His way to the governing authority, but to the
temple. This temple He cleansed, and re-
stx)red it to its true use, as the blind and the
lame gathered to Him there, and He healed
them, to the accompaniment of the songs of the
children. These songs stirred the suspicion
and anger of the rulers, and they asked Him,
" nearest Thou what these are saying? " In
this question they drew attention to the fact
that the children were proclaiming Him as
230 The Gospel According to Matthew
Messiah, and the intention of their inquiry
was as to whether He was prepared to ac-
cept such honour. The King's answer was
direct and unequivocal as He described the
song of the children as the perfecting of
praise.
At the moment His enemies took no action,
and the King left the temple; and passing
out of the city He went to Bethany, where He
stayed the night.
ii. The Arraignment of the Rulers. xxi. i8— xxii.
a. THE PARABOLIC ACT. 18-22
1. The Destruction of the Fig Tree. J8> ^9
2. The Disciples' Inquiry. 20
3. The King's Answer. 21,22
The Power of Faith.
The Power of Prayer.
b. THE KING AND THE RULERS. xxi. 23— xxii.
1. The King's first Question. Concerning the
Herald. xxi. 23-27
a. The Challenge of the Rulers, 23
p. The Answer of Christ. 24-27
Question about John. 24, 25a
Their Dilemma. 2ih-2ya
The King's Refusal. 27&
2. The Finding of the Verdict. ''^i. 28— xxii. 14
a. As to Methods. 28-32
The King's Parable. (The two Sons.) 28-30
The King's Question. 31a
Their Answer. 3i&
The King's Deduction. 31c, 32
^. As to Motives. 33-46
The King's Parable. (The Husbandmen.) 33-39
The King's Question. 40
Their Answer. 41
The King's Deduction. 42-44
Their Perception and Fear. 45, 46
y. As to their Rejection of the Kingdom. xxii. 1-14
The King's Parable, (The Marriage Feast.) 1-13
The first Call. 1-3
The second Call. 4-6
Judgment. 7
The new Invitation. 8-10
The unworthy Guest. 11, 12
Judgment. 13
The King's Application. 14
His Passion 233
ii. The Arraignment of the Rulers
On the following day the King returned to
the city, and there followed His final con-
flict with the rulers, ending with His official
sentence and doom. Matthew's account of
these things deals first with a parabolic act
of judgment on the way to Jerusalem; and
secondly with the King's dealing with the
rulers.
a. THE parabolic act
On His way to the city, the King performed
the only miracle of judgment which He ever
wrought, as He by a word of command de-
stroyed the fig tree, whereon He found
nothing but leaves.
This action impressed His disciples, and
they inquired " How did the fig tree immedi-
ately wither away? " It is interesting to no-
tice that they did not ask why He destroyed
the tree, but how He did it. There is nothing
in the story to suggest either that they under-
stood His meaning, or that they did not. I
think that it is most probable that they thor-
oughly understood, but they were perplexed
as to the swiftness of the judgment, for we
notice that the word immediately is twice
234 The Gospel According to Matthew
used, once in Matthew's description of what
happened, and once in the inquiry of the
disciples.
Moreover, He did not give them any ex-
planation of the meaning, but answered the
question as they asked it, affirming the power
of faith, and the power of prayer, as at their
disposal for doing even more wonderful things
than they had seen done.
There can, however, be no doubt that the
value of the miracle was parabolic. There
has been a good deal of discussion as to this
act of the Lord, as though in itself it were
out of harmony with strict justice, especially
in view of Mark's declaration that "it was
not the season of figs." That declaration
was evidently literally true, for these things
happened in March, and the first fig crop
is not gathered until June. On the other
hand, the early fruit buds appear on the fig
tree in February, and its leaves unfold in
March. On this fig tree the Lord found
nothing but leaves only. It is evident that
there would be no fruit on this tree because
its vitality had run to leaf. In that it was
a perfect picture of the Jewish nation, and
His judgment on the tree was an equally per-
fect symbol of the judgment to fall on the
Jewish nation, as to its reason.
His Passion 235
6. THE KING AND THE RULERS
On arrival at the temple there commenced
those events in which the King uttered His
judgments concerning rulers and nation; and
there are four very distinct movements in the
story; those of the King's first question con-
cerning the herald; the finding of the verdict
against the rulers; the public unmasking of
the rulers; and the King's final question con-
cerning the Messiah.
1. The King's first Question. Concerning the
Herald
As Jesus was teaching in the temple, the
chief priests and elders came to Him, and
openly challenged His authority. He met
them by asking them concerning His herald,
whether His baptism was from heaven or
from men. They would not say from heaven,
for they were hypocrites, and knew that He
would charge them with inconsistency in that
they did not receive him. They dare not say
from men, because they were cowards, and
knew that the multitude held John as a
prophet. Therefore, with a calm dignity,
conscious of the fact that He had already an-
swered them, He refused to reply in any other
236 The Gospel According to Matthew
form to their question concerning His
authority.
2. The Finding of the Verdict
There is hardly any picture in the entire
Gospel more full of dignity, and of the un-
erring wisdom of the King than that which
is now presented. He revealed the failure of
the rulers in a series of three parables, in the
first two of which He compelled them to find
a verdict against themselves, and in the third
revealed the truth concerning their rejection
of the Kingdom as He had presented it. By
the use of these parables He found a verdict
against them as to methods, as to motives, and
as to their rejection of the Kingdom.
a. As to Methods
The first parable was that of the two sons ;
the one professing disobedience, but ultimately
acting in obedience; the second professing
obedience, but failing therein. Having ut-
tered His parable, He asked them which of
the twain did the will of His Father, and they
immediately replied, " The first," and so ut-
tered the word of their own condemnation.
He thus brought against them a charge that
they had been professing to do the will of God,
His Passion 237
while their deeds contradicted their pro-
fession. Publicans and harlots who had
openly rebelled but who repented, passed into
the Kingdom of God from which these rulers
were excluded. Moreover, the sin of these
self-satisfied religionists had been added to by
the fact that when they saw the publicans and
harlots believing, and changing their lives,
they still refused to repent.
§. As to Motives
The next parable was that of the husband-
men who failed to yield to the owner of the
vineyard the fruits which were his due, ill-
treating his servants and finally slaying the
son, that they might obtain the inheritance
for themselves. Having uttered the parable,
the King asked them what the lord of the
vineyard would do in such a case as that ; and
again they immediately answered that he
would miserably destroy such men, and let
his vineyard to other husbandmen, who would
render him the fruit. Thus they not only
found a verdict against themselves, but passed
sentence ; which the King immediately applied
so directly that " they perceived that He spake
of them." This parable constituted the most
terrific indictment of the nation which these
238 The Gospel According to Matthew
men represented. They had received the high
privilege of great responsibility, and had pros-
tituted their opportunity to the serving of
their own selfish ends, and were at the mo-
ment within a few days of the culmination of
their iniquity in the casting out and murder
of the Son. Solemnly, therefore, and with
such emphasis that they could not mistake His
meaning. He pronounced upon them the sen-
tence that the Kingdom of God was taken
from them, and given to a nation bringing
forth the fruits thereof.
y. As to their Rejection of the Kingdom
The two previous parables had contained
the history of the Hebrew nation up to the
slaying of the Son. The one which the King
now uttered was prophetic, and presented the
sin of these people in the light of the day of
grace which would dawn as the result of
His work on the Cross. The king first sent
his messengers to call them that were bidden.
That first call described the activity of His
own ministry. They refused to come.
Then a second appeal would be made, and
that second call was descriptive of the mis-
sion of the Holy Spirit through the apostles.
Of this they would make light. Each would
His Passion 239
go to the material interest of the moment, his
farm, his merchandise; and the only attention
they would pay to the messengers would be
that of persecuting and killing them. Then
the King's armies would come, and the city be
destroyed. Within forty years of the cruci-
fixion of Jesus this was literally fulfilled.
Beyond that, a new invitation would be is-
sued. The King's messengers would be sent
to the partings of the highways to call the
hitherto unbidden ones, and so the table would
be furnished with guests. The Jewish nation
as a nation, not only rejected Jesus, they also
refused the ministry of the Holy Spirit
through the apostles.
The illustration of the man without a wed-
ding-garment abides as a solemn warning to
all those accepting the invitation to the feast,
that they can only remain as they conform
to the requirements of the King.
3-
The public Unmasking
of the Rulers.
xxii. 15-40
a. Pharisees and Herodians. Political.
15-22
Their Problem.
15-17
The King's Answer.
18-21
Denunciation,
18
Illustration.
19-210
The Principle.
2ih
Their Departure.
22
/5. Sadducees. Doctrinal.
23-33
Their Problem.
22-28
The King's Answer.
29-32
Denunciation.
29
Illustration.
30
The Principle.
31.32
The Effect on the Multitudes.
33
y. Pharisees. Moral.
34-40
Their Problem.
34-36
The King's Answer.
37-40
The first Commandment.
37,38
The second Commandment.
39
The Principle.
40
The King's final Question. Concerning the Messiah. 41-46
o. The King's preparatory Inquiry. 41, 42a
p. Their accurate Reply. 42^
y. The King's Problem, 43-45
i. Their Discomfiture. 46
His Passion 241
3. The public Unmasking of the Rulers
Tlie enemies of tlie King now adopted a
new method of attack which He made the
occasion of their unmasking. They en-
deavoured to entangle Him in His talk, and
three such attempts were made, first by a
coalition of Pharisees and Herodians; sec-
ondly by the Sadducees; and thirdly by the
Pharisees. The attack was maliciously clever
and subtle, beyond anything which they had
attempted before; but the unutterable folly
of it was revealed, as in each case He answered
in words of such wisdom as to finally silence
them,
a. Pharisees and Herodians. Political
A coalition of Pharisees and Herodians who
were entirely opposed in their political con-
victions, suggested a seeming political
question.
The answer of the King was first that of
stern denunciation as He called them hypo-
crites. He then called upon them to produce
a coin, which He made an illustration of prin-
ciple. That principle was twofold. Men
who share the privileges of government must
contribute to the support of government. Re-
242 The Gospel According to Matthew
lation to earthly government must be condi-
tioned by responsibility to God. Thus He un-
masked their wickedness and hypocrisy, and
revealed the unutterable folly of their
question.
>S. Sadducees. Doctrinal
The Sadducees submitted to Him a problem
involving their disbelief in the immortality of
the spirit of man. Ostensibly it was a ques-
tion as to relationships in resurrection, but it
was asked by men who said there is no resur-
rection. It was on the face of it a flippant
question, intended to ridicule the idea of a life
beyond.
Again the King's answer was first a word of
denunciation, in which He declared that these
men were ignorant of their own Scriptures,
and of the power of God. This He illustrated
by reference to the Scriptures, in which God
is recorded as having declared Himself to be
the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and
the God of Jacob. He referred to the declara-
tion made to Moses, which was made long
after these men were dead; and He then de-
clared that God is not the God of the dead,
but of the living. This answer revealed the
fact that the conditions of the spiritual world
His Passion 243
cannot be measured by material conditions;
while at the same time it affirmed the immor-
tality of man.
The effect produced upon the multitudes
was that they were astonished at His teaching.
y, Pharisees. Moral
The problem suggested by the lawyer on
behalf of the Pharisees was one touching
morality, and the relative values of the words
of the law. The question was framed with
the intention of compelling Christ to magnify
some one requirement of the law, and so to
minimize some of the other parts thereof. To
this inquiry He replied without any word of
denunciation, and His reply teaches that the
greatest words of the law are those which in-
clude all the rest.
4. The King's final Question. Concerning
the Messiah
Having thus silenced all His questioners,
addressing Himself to the Pharisees, the King
asked them what view they held concerning
the Sonship of Messiah. Their reply was im-
mediate and accurate, that He would be the
Son of David.
244 The Gospel According to Matthew
He then suggested a problem to them. How
did they account for it that David, in speak-
ing of Messiah, should call Him Lord; how
could He be at once David's Lord, and David's
Son? They were entirely discomfited, and
unable to reply to Him. Thus He revealed
their ignorance of the mysteries of their own
writings, and history; and at the same time
brought them face to face with a problem in
the solution of which is found also the key to
the mystery of His own being.
iii. The Doom and Sentence. xxiii.
a. INTRODUCTORY WORDS TO MULTITUDES AND
DISCIPLES. I-I2
1. False Authority. Scribes and Pharisees. 1-7
o. Their Responsbility. 1-30
p. Their Failure. zh-7
Personal. 3&
Relative. 4
Motive. 5-7
2. True Authority. The new Scribes. 8-12
a. Their Responsibility. 8-10
/3. Their Law. 11,12
Greatness by Service.
Exaltation by Humility.
h. THE FINAL WOES. 13-36
1. The first Three. Relation to the Kingdom, 13-22
o. Opposition. The Door shut. , 13
Against Men.
p. Imitation. The new Zeal. 15
The awful Result.
y. Perversion. The Gold rather than the Temple. 16-22
The Gift rather than the Altar.
2. The second Three. Personal. 23-28
o. Ceremonial. Attention to the Trivial. 23, 24
Neglect of the Essential.
/3. Moral. External Cleanness. 25, 26
Internal Corruption.
y. Spiritual. Outward Appearance. 27, 28
Inward Death.
3. The final One. Relation to the King. 29-36
The Children of the Slayers of His Messengers.
The Heirs of their Wickedness.
The evil Nature.
The coming Sins.
c. THE SENTENCE. 37-39
1. The Heart of the King. 370
2. The Sin of the City. 37b
3. The Doom. 38, 39
a. The Fact. Desolate.
/3. The Reason. The Going of the King.
His Passion 247
iii. The Doom and Sentence
This chapter is one of the most solemn and
awful in the whole of the inspired volume. It
records the last words of Jesus to the crowds.
He summed up, He found His verdict, He pro-
nounced sentence. It is awe-inspiring in its
majesty, and terrible in its resistless force.
With unwavering persistence and unfailing
accuracy He revealed the true condition of
the leaders of the people, their occupation
with externalities and pettiness, and their
neglect of inward facts and weightier matters.
Here indeed, if ever, we have thoughts that
breathe and words that burn. One can al-
most feel the withering force of His strong
and mighty indignation ; indignation directed,
not against the people, but against their false
guides; and yet through all there is the con-
sciousness of His wounded heart, for every
woe is a wail, and the ultimate sentence be-
comes the cry of a mother over her lost child.
The chapter falls into three parts; the
King's introductory words to the multitudes
and to the disciples ; the uttering of the final
woes; and the pronouncing of tJie final
sentence.
248 The Gospel According to Matthew
a. INTRODUCTORY WORDS TO MULTITUDES AND
DISCIPLES
In these brief and yet remarkable sentences
the King contrasted false and true authority.
1. False Authoritp. Scribes and Pharisees
Directly referring to the scribes and the
Pharisees He recognized the responsibility of
their position as He declared that they sat on
Moses' seat, and in so far as they occupied that
position, He charged the multitudes that they
were to obey them.
Then He revealed the failure of these men
as He further charged the multitudes not to
imitate them. Their failure had been per-
sonal, in that they had not lived according to
the Mosaic teaching of which they had been
the messengers. Their failure was relative,
in that they had bound heavy burdens, and
laid them on men's shoulders, an undoubted
reference to the superimposition of tradition
upon law, while yet they had entirely refused
to help men to carry them. Finally He de-
nounced the failure of their motive, as with
fine and biting sarcasm He described them as
acting to be seen of men, as loving the chief
places at feasts and in synagogues, and salu-
tations in the market-places.
His Passion 249
2. True Authority. The new Scribes
Addressing Himself now evidently to His
own disciples who were to be the new scribes,
that is, the new interpreters of the moral
order, He revealed to them what their re-
sponsibility would be. They were not to be
called teachers, they were to recognize no
human authority, neither were they to at-
tempt to exercise authority in their own
rights. They must recognize their relation-
ship to their brethren, in their relationship
to their Father, under the mastery of the
Christ.
The law of their service was to be that of
greatness through service, and exaltation
through humility.
h, THE FINAL WOES
Then turning back again to the false rulers,
the scribes and the Pharisees, He uttered His
seven woes, and no words more searching,
more terrible ever fell from His lips. They
fall into three groups; the first consisting of
three woes revealing the failure of these men
in relation to the Kingdom; the second con-
sisting of three woes revealing their failure
in personal life ; and the last consisting of one
250 The Gospel According to Matthew
final woe revealing their failure in relation
to the King.
1. The first Three. Relation to the Kingdom
The first woe was pronounced upon the
rulers for their opposition to the Kingdom.
Through their action the door was shut
against men. They would not enter in them-
selves, neither suffer others so to do.
The second woe was against their imitation
of the Kingdom. Their action had been char-
acterized by zeal, but it was zeal to proselytize
to their own conceptions, and the result was
that in the cases of those with whom they
succeeded, they became doubly evil.
The third woe was against their perversion
of the true order in that they had lost their
true sense of values, and made the gold of the
temple more important than the temple it-
self; and the gift of greater sanctity than the
altar.
2. The second Three. Personal
The fourth woe condemned their personal
failure in ceremonial matters. They had con-
centrated attention upon the trifling, to the
neglect of the essential.
His Passion 251
The fifth woe condemned their personal
moral failure. They had been punctilious
about external cleanness, while they were in-
wardly corrupt.
The sixth woe denounced their spiritual
failure. They had maintained an outward
appearance of beauty, while they were dead
and unclean.
3. The final One. Relation to the King
The seventh woe was the most terrible of
all as it denounced these men for their failure
to realize the authority of the King and their
persistent opposition thereto. He first re-
minded them that they were the children of
the slayers of His messengers, notwithstand-
ing the fact that they had built sepulchres to
the prophets, and garnished the tombs of the
righteous, and declared that they would have
had no part in the sins of their fathers.
In the sentence full of appalling revelation
of their continuity in iniquity. He declared
them to be the heirs of their fathers' wicked-
ness as He said, " Fill ye up then the measure
of your fathers." Then, in the most terrible
words. He described their evil nature, and
asked how they could escape the judgment
252 The Gospel According to Matthew
of Gehenna. The last part of the woe was
prophetic as He declared that He would send
prophets and wise men and scribes; and that
they would kill and crucify and scourge and
persecute them ; and that in the doing of this,
the long-continued wickedness of the persecu-
tion of the messengers of God from the slay-
ing of Abel to the blood of Zachariah, would
find culmination. All these things He finally
announced would come upon that generation.
How terribly this was fulfilled, the history
of the generation following His crucifixion,
and culminating in the destruction of Jeru-
salem, testifies.
C. THE SENTENCE
Having thus uttered the terrible woes
against the false people, the King pronounced
the doom of the city. The first impression
which the words create is of the heart and
compassion of the King.
He introduced the final sentence by the
declaration of the fact that the persistent sin
of the city had been in spite of His own desire
to gather her children together, and cover
them under the shelter of His wings.
Because of that persistence, the doom was
His Passion 253
inevitable, and in one brief and awful word
He declared it, " Behold your house is left
unto you desolate " ; and proceeded to reveal
the fact that the desolation would be caused
by His withdrawal.
Ill, HIS PREDICTIONS TO HIS OWN. xxiv.,xxv.
i. The Disciples' Inquiry. xxiv. 1-2
a. THE OCCASION. 1,2
1. Leaving the Temple.
2. The King's Prediction.
b. THE QUESTIONS. 3
1. When shall these Things be?
2. What shall he the Sign of Thy Coming?
3. And of the End of the Age?
ii. The King's Answer. xxiv. 4— xxv.
a. THE WARNING. xxiv. 4, 5
1. The Caution. Take Heed.
2. The Cause. False Christs.
b. THE PUEDICTIONS. xxiv.
6 — xxv.
I. As to Israel. ^^iv. 6-44
0. The Immediate.
6
Wars and Rumours of Wars.
Be not troubled.
The End is not yet.
/S. The End.
7-31
The Beginning of the End.
7-28
Initial Signs.
7,8
The Faithful.
9-14
Persecution.
9
Apostasy.
10-12
Fidelity.
13
Testimony.
14
Warnings.
iS-28
As to the Tribulation.
15-22
The Sign.
IS
The Attitudes.
16-20
The Terror.
21, 22
As to the Perils.
23-28
False Christs.
23-26
The true Christ.
27
The Symbol of Judgment.
28
The End itself.
29-31
The preliminary Signs.
29
The Son of Man.
30
The Administration.
31
y. The Teaching.
32-44
The Fig Tree.
32-36
The Figure.
32
The Application.
33-36
The Days of Noah.
37-42
The Figure.
37-39
The Application.
40-42
The final Words.
43,44
The Figure.
43
The Application.
44
His Passion 255
III. HIS PKEDICTIONS TO HIS OWN
Having thus uttered the solemn words de-
claring the rejection of the Hebrew people,
His mind evidently occupied with the
processes of the Divine economy, the Lord ut-
tered His predictions to His own.
These predictions are admittedly difficult
of interpretation. It is well that this should
be recognized, and that the student of them
should remember that in the consideration
of prophecy — using the word in its more re-
stricted sense of foretelling, — it is not always
easy to gain a true perspective of events. A
simple illustration may help us. Standing at
the end of one of our long straight streets il-
luminated by gas-lamps at night, those in the
far distance seem to be close together. It is
only as we come nearer that we see them fall
into their proper proportion of distance.
Herein is our dlflficulty in the study of all
predictive prophecy.
The King's predictions were uttered in an-
swer to the inquiry of His disciples, and the
broad division of this section, therefore, is that
of the disciples' inquiry, and the King's
answer.
256 The Gospel According to Matthew
i. The Disciples' Inquiry
As the King withdrew from the temple,
His disciples drew His attention to the build-
ings thereof. It was a strange thing to do,
for He had often been in the temple with
them, and certainly was familiar with the
buildings thereof. It can only be explained
by the fact of the words of His sentence, in
which He had said, " Behold, your house is
left unto you desolate." Morison quotes the
rabbis as having a saying, " He that never saw
the temple of Herod never saw a fine build-
ing"; and it must have seemed incredible to
the disciples that their Master could mean
that so glorious a structure should be de-
stroyed.
He immediately answered by the clearest
possible declaration that this was what He did
mean, as He said " There shall not be left
here one stone upon another, that shall not be
thrown down."
Having said this. He went to the mount of
Olives, and there His disciples came to Him
privately, for more specific teaching on the
great subjects suggested by His closing ad-
dress to the crowds, and His prophecy con-
cerning the temple. It is important that we
should carefully observe their inquiry. The
His Passion 257
form in which they preferred it reveals two
questions ; first, " When shall these things
be? " secondly, " What the sign of Thy coming,
and of the consummation of the age? " While
there are two questions, it is evident that to
their mind it was one inquiry; that is to say,
they supposed that all these things would
transpire at one time. Now as a matter of
fact, they asked three questions, although they
did not understand that they were doing so.
The method of the King's reply distinguishes
between them, and we may thus tabulate
them; first, "When shall these things be?"
second, " What shall be the sign of Thy com-
ing? " third, " What shall be the sign of the
end of the age? "
ii. The King's Answer
In reply to this involved inquiry, the King
uttered first a word of warning, and then de-
tailed predictions.
a. THE WARNING
The warning of the King is in itself a
recognition of the difficulty of the subject
about to be dealt with. The period of His ab-
sence would, in view of the fact that He had
so distinctly declared He would come again,
258 The Gospel According to Matthew
be the opportunity for men to come in His
name, declaring themselves to be the Christ;
and thus to lead many astray. Against that
danger He warned His disciples in the words,
" Take heed that no man lead you astray."
&. THE PREDICTIONS
In these predictions the subject is that of
the King's coming and the consummation of
the age. The subject is dealt with in a three-
fold application; first to Israel, secondly to
the Church, and thirdly to the Nations. From
the standpoint of a calendar merely, there is
repetition, as, for instance, when dealing with
the application to Israel, the King dealt with
matters in the immediate future, and those
which are not even yet fulfilled ; in application
to the Church He dealt with her attitudes in
the period between these two phases of ap-
plication to Israel; and in application to the
nations He dealt only with His coming in
glory, and that national judgment preceding
the establishment of the Kingdom on earth.
1. As to Israel
The King's prediction concerning Israel
fell into three parts. The first briefly dealt
His Passion 259
with that which was immediate; the second
had to do with the end; and the third con-
sisted of teaching.
a. The Immediate
In answering their first question the
King carefully distinguished between " these
things," that is, the things of desolation and
destruction, and " the end." The former He
declared must come to pass, but the latter " is
not yet." The wars and rumours of wars re-
ferred to those troubles culminating in the de-
struction of Jerusalem, but the declaration of
the King was perfectly clear that the end was
not yet.
/S. The End
The paragraph beginning here has often
been treated as applying to the destruction
of Jerusalem, and there are senses in which
such treatment may be justifiable. As we
said by way of introduction to our study of
this section, the question of perspective must
never be lost sight of, and the fact that there
are certain principles of the Divine activity,
which are constantly being fulfilled in partial
measure on the way to final fulfilment. Per-
260 The Gospel According to Matthew
haps we may be helped to understand this by
being reminded of the prophecy of Joel, in
which the day of the Lord was declared to be
present in the plague of locusts, imminent in
the advance of an army, and yet future for
ultimate fulfilment.
There can be no question, however, that
the main value of this particular section is
that of its future fulfilment, for whereas it
may be, and undoubtedly is true that in some
sense the Son of man came in the hour of
Jerusalem's downfall, it is equally true that
His coming was not the patent and definite
advent which is now described.
Looking forward to the end we have first
a description of the initial signs. These will
consist of strife among the nations and the
kingdoms of the world, and famines and earth-
quakes. That period of trouble will be one
of persecution, apostasy, fidelity, and the
proclamation of the good tidings of the King-
dom, as a testimony to the nations.
In view of that period the King uttered
words of solemn warnings. The sign would
be that of the fulfilment of the prophecy of
Daniel, of the manifestation in the holy place
of the abomination of desolation. It will be
a period of terror and of travail, which will be
shortened for the sake of the elect. During
His Passion * 261
that perioJ the supreme peril threatening the
men of faith will be that of the claims of false
Christs and false prophets. The safety of be-
lieving souls is guaranteed by the promise
that the coming of the Son of man will be such
as to leave no doubt or question possible. It
will be sudden and clear as the lightning's
flash, visible from east to west. Therefore
all attempts to prove He has already come
are not to be believed. So long as all do not
know He has come. He has not come.
The end itself will immediately follow the
days of tribulation, and will be accompanied
by signs in the material universe, followed
by the manifested glory of the Son of man,
and His gathering together to Himself of His
elect people, that is, of such as have been true
to the faith of Abraham during the period of
persecution.
y. The Teaching
In this application the King finally uttered
words of teaching, which w^hile of constant
importance as to the principles involved, will
be of special value in the days of tribulation
which have been described.
First by employing the figure of the fig
tree He insisted upon the swiftness of the
262 The Gospel According lew
Divine activity in the consur ;> The
word "generation" in this ct .»<.. v-^ can-
not have application to the one in wluch the
words were uttered, because it did imss away,
without the manifested advent r* 'i T u. It
may refer to Israel as a race, i ._ .: itute
a declaration that notwithstandino- uU thoi dif-
ficulties and tribulation throu, I the
ancient people of God must pass " ; ? i
be destroyed. It is more prob
phrase " this generation," is des( oi''^ ^^
particular generation in which t . ents will
take place, and is intended to re^ ^al the short-
ness of the days of final trouble, and the cer-
tainty of the accomplishment of the Divine
purpose. It was in this connection that
the King uttered His solemn declaration,
" Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My
words shall not pass away," thus indicating
the certainty of the fulfilment of the Divine
purpose; and also the words, "Of that day
and hour knoweth no one, not even the angels
of heaven, neither the Son, but the Father
only," indicating the fact that it is not in-
tended in the economy of God that there
should be any fixing of this date according to
human calendars.
Another aspect of the condition of affairs
is revealed by the illustration taken from the
His Passion 263
days of Noah. Men in persistent unbelief
will continue in all the exercises of material
life until theyi are suddenly disturbed by the
coming of the Son of man. That coming will
be in judgment. Those taken are taken away
in judgment, and those left are left for bless-
ing in the establishment of the Kingdom.
The final words of teaching are words of
"uing, in which under the figure of a mas-
of the house watching, men are charged
vatch and to be ready.
2. As to the Church. xxiv. 45— xxv. 30
a. Parable of Household.
45-Si
Communal Responsibility.
Fidelity.
45-47
Its Exercise.
45
Its Reward.
46,47
Infidelity.
48-51
Its Manifestations,
48,49
Its Punishment.
50, 51
fi. Parable of Virgins.
XXV. 1-13
Personal Responsibility.
The common Expectation.
I
The two Attitudes.
2-4
The common Slumber.
S
The Crisis.
6-12
The Bridegroom.
6
The Separation.
7-10
The Issue.
II, 12
The Warning.
13
y. Parable of Talents.
XXV. 14-30
Imperial Responsibility.
The Enterprise.
14, IS
The Deposit. His Goods.
The Measure. According to Ability.
The Use.
16-18
Fidelity.
16, 17
Infidelity.
18
The Issue.
19-30
The Return of the Lord.
19
The Reckoning.
20-30
With the Faithful.
20-23
With the Unfaithful.
24-30
His Passion 265
2. As to the Church
We now come to that portion of the pro-
phetic utterance in which the King made ap-
plication of the fact of His coming to His
Church. This He did by einplojing three
parables, each having a particular value. The
first is the parable of the household, reveal-
ing the communal responsibility of His peo-
ple during the period of His absence. The
second is the parable of the virgins, revealing
their personal responsibility during the same
period. The third is that of the parable of
the talents, revealing their imperial responsi-
bility, or their responsibility concerning His
Kingdom interests.
a. Parrible of Household
In the interval between the departure of
the King and His return, His household is
that of His Church, and the first responsibil-
ity of those who constitute the Church is
mutual. Upon those who will be found
faithful to the responsibility at His coming,
a blessing is pronounced. The inspiration of
faithfulness is the expectation of His return;
and consequently where that expectation is
weakened, and men say that the Lord tarrieth.
266 The Gospel According to Matthew
they fail to fulfil their responsibility to each
other. Such failure will be visited with
severe punishment in the hour of His advent.
§. Parable of Virgins
The initial word " Then " gives us the time
in which the Kingdom of heaven will be
likened unto ten virgins. That Kingdom
passes through many phases, but immediately
prior to the advent of the King this will be its
character. It is important that we carefully
notice that the ten virgins are required in
order to a correct apprehension of the King-
dom value of this parable. All are virgins,
and all are professedly waiting for the coming
of the bridegroom. Five are watching, and
unready, and therefore are excluded from the
marriage supper. We have no warrant for
speaking of the foolish virgins as lost. The
hour of crisis arrives with the advent of
the bridegroom, and those who have been un-
ready are left to the darkness. This phase of
the advent of the King is not His public mani-
festation when He shines as the lightning
from the east to the west; but that in which
He first gathers His own to be with Himself.
Those excluded from the marriage supper
will pass through the tribulation preceding
His Passion 267
His manifestation to Israel, and to the na-
tions. In view of this the warning word is
again uttered, " Watch therefore, for ye know
not the day nor the hour"; but now in ap-
plication to the Church.
y. Parable of Talents
Here again, in order to right interpreta-
tion of the parable, we must remember that
it concerns the servants of the King. He
has not committed His goods to rebels, but to
His own. To apply this parable to all men,
is to suppose that the absent Lord has com-
mitted His stewardship to rebels as well as to
subjects. No greater mistake could be made.
During the period of His absence there will be
those faithful to the trust, and those unfaith-
ful. Again the crisis will come with the re-
turn of the Lord, and His reckoning with His
servants. Those who have been faithful will
be appointed to share with Him in authority
over His Kingdom. Those who have been un-
faithful will be cast into the outer darkness.
The outer darkness refers to the darkness and
anguish of the period of tribulation, in which
there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth ;
that is, manifestations of grief and disap-
pointment. Here again we have no warrant
268 The Gospel According to Matthew
for applying these words in any other con-
nection than that in which our Lord employed
them. They are words characterized by awe-
inspiring solemnity for the servants during
the period of His absence. Neglect may issue
in terrible loss. We may only be saved so as
by fire.
3. As to the Nations. xxv. 31-46
o. The Centre of Order.
The enthroned Son of Man.
The attendant Angels.
/5. The first Exercise of Authority. 32, 33
The Gathering of the Nations.
The Separation of the Nations.
y. The Sentences and Verdicts. 34-46
As to the Righteous. 34-40
The Sentence. 34
The Verdict. 35, 36
The Protest of the Righteous. 37-39
The Answer of the King. 40
As to the Evil. 41-46
The Sentence. 41
The Verdict. 42, 43
The Protest of the Evil. 44
The Answer of the King. 45
The final Separation. 46
His Passion 271
3. As to the Nations
In this paragraph we have the King's out-
look upon His advent in its application to the
race. There are three matters of interest;
first, the centre of order; secondly, the first
exercise of authority ; and thirdly, the uttering
of sentences and verdicts,
oc. The Centre of Order
The centre of the new order will be the Son
of man, manifested in His glory, occupying
the throne, and surrounded by His angels. .
yS. The first Exercise of Authority
Being thus manifested, all nations will be
gathered before Him, and in their gathering,
separated into two camps; the sheep on His
right hand, and the goats on His left.
y. Sentences and Verdicts
The judgment now described is not that
of the saints, nor is it that of the race, con-
sidered as individuals. It is, as He so dis-
tinctly declared, that of the nations as such.
There are three classes, those on the right,
sheep ; those on the left, goats ; and, " these
272 The Gospel According to Matthew
My brethren." The separation between the
nations depends upon their attitude toward
His brethren. The basis of the King's deal-
ings with the nations will be that of their
treatment of the house of Israel, and that
with special reference to the period of tribula-
tion immediately preceding His manifesta-
tion. There are nations which will be admit-
ted to the inheritance of the Kingdom. They
are such as have received Him, as He has been
represented in His people Israel during the
period of their terrible suffering and their
proclamation of the Gospel of the Kingdom.
There are nations which will be excluded
from that inheritance, and banished to the
darkness and the age-abiding fire prepared for
the devil and his angels. They are such as
have not received Him during that same
period of Israel's suffering testimony.
This final application needs an accurate ap-
preciation of all the events which have been
taken into account in these predictions of the
King.
S TRAVAIL AND TRIUMPH. xxvi.-
-xxviu.
PrELIMINARY. xxvi. 1-30
a. APPROACH.
i-S
I. The King's Decision.
If 2
2. The Priests' Decision.
3-S
(Parenthesis.
6-16
FOUR DAYS EARLIER. Cf. John xii., Matt.
xxvi. 2
I. The Action of Mary.
6,7
2. The Criticism of the Disciples.
8,9
3. The Defence of Jesus.
10-13
4. The Effect on Judas.
14-16)
b. PASSOVER.
17-30
I. Perfecting and Passing of the Old.
17-25
a. The Preparation.
17-19
j3. The Observance. 20
Y- The Revelation. 21-25
The King's Statement. 21
The Disciples' Concern. 22
The Sign and Sentence. 23, 24
The Exclusion of Judas. 25
Beginning of the New. 26-29
a. The Bread. 26
p. The Cup. 27-29
The uniting Hymn. 30
{The great Hallel. Psalms cxiii.-cxviii.)
His Passion 275
IV. HIS TEA VAIL AND TRIUMPH
In this final section of the Gospel accord-
ing to Matthew we are brought into the pres-
ence of the most sacred and awe-inspiring
matters. We come to these final hours and
activities toward which everything has been
moving, and it is well that we should recog-
nize at once that the dignity and reticence of
the record is suited to the vastness of the
theme, and is an indication of the reverence
with which it should ever be approached.
The section has three movements, the first
dealing with preliminary matters; the second
introducing us to the actual hours of travail ;
and the third giving an account of the glorious
triumph.
i. Preliminary Matters
The preliminary matters were those of the
passover feast; and the record contains an
account of the approach thereto, and the ob-
servance thereof.
a. THE APPROACH
The King now reverted to the theme of His
coming suffering and with great definiteness,
both as to time, and as to the actual event
which was imminent. He reminded them
276 The Gospel According to Matthew
that after two days the passover was coming,
and declared that " The Son of man is deliv-
ered up to be crucified."
Meanwhile the priests and elders were as-
sembled in secret conclave, plotting how they
might secure Him, in order to silence His
voice, by putting Him to death. Thus in this
brief paragraph there is a remarkable illustra-
tion of the out-working of Divine purpose
through the wrath of man. Both the King
and His enemies were moving within the circle
of the Divine government; He, delighting in
the will of God, and they, all unknowingly,
and in spite of themselves, acting in order to
the accomplishment of that will. None can
escape the operation of the Divine govern-
ment. These men perhaps thought that they
were instruments accomplishing the purpose
of God, but how little did they understand
in what sense this was true. How dense is
the darkness into which men fall who turn the
light that is in them to darkness.
Parenthesis
The paragraph which follows is necessary
in order to prepare for the action of Judas.
It is not placed by Matthew in strict
chronological order. As we have seen, the
His Passion 277
King definitely declared, to His disciples the
hour of His crucifixion two days before the
passover. In the Gospel of John (xii. 1),
we are told that this anointing of Jesus by
Mary occurred six days before the passover.
Its placing here in immediate connection with
the story of Judas serves a twofold purpose.
The action of Mary in itself is a revelation of
perhaps the most wonderful and touching ex-
pression of love the Saviour ever received,
while the action of Judas was the most
dastardly to which He was ever subjected.
Mary's love is the brightest gleam, and Judas'
treachery the darkest shade in these final
hours. It is important, moreover, that they
should thus be closely connected, and that the
one should have led directly to the other.
Contact with Christ in the neighbourhood of
the Cross always brings the true character to
the light. The strong sympathetic love of
Mary, and the instinct of greed which cursed
Judas, are revealed at the same time.
The action of Mary according to the King's
interpretation of it, was a revelation of the
fact that she had in some measure appre-
hended the sorrows of His heart.
The criticism of the disciples was a revela-
tion of how far they were away from Him
in these days of His supreme sorrow.
278 The Gospel According to Matthew
His defence of Mary is full of beauty, and
constitutes the only occasion when He sug-
gested that a memorial should be granted to
any one in this world.
The effect of His defence of Mary on Judas
was that he immediately found his way to
the chief priests, and made his bargain with
them to deliver his Master to them for thirty
pieces of silver. It should be remembered
that this happened six days before the pass-
over.
6. THE PASSOVER
In preparation for the observing of the
feast the disciples sought to know the will of
the King, and having learned it, made all
necessary arrangements. We have no full de-
scription of the feast. Its observance is re-
ferred to in the words, " He was sitting at
meat with the twelve disciples," and this leads
at once to the chronicle of the solemn reveal-
ing He made to them concerning His betrayal.
That revelation being made, and the solemn
words having been uttered concerning the be-
trayal " Good were it for that man if he had
not been born," Judas directly challenged the
Lord as to whether He referred to him, and
was immediately answered in the affirmative.
His Passion 279
Differences of opinions exist as to whether
Judas remained to the institution of the new
ordinance. Personally I believe that he did
not, but that at this moment of revelation, he
withdrew from the company.
The King immediately instituted that
simplest and sublimest of all ordinances, as
He took bread and a cup, and gave them to
His disciples as symbols of His work for
them, and their fellowship with Him. Be-
yond this observance, they joined in a hymn.
There can be little question that it was the
great Hallel, constantly sung at the passover
feast, consisting of Psalms one hundred and
thirteen to one hundred and eighteen, in our
Psalter.
Thus in these hours the old economy ended,
and the new began. Jesus ate the passover
feast with His own loyal subjects and Judas.
Never in all the history of that great feast
had it been so sublimely kept. It w^as the
culmination of the old economy, and the at-
titude of its failure was revealed by the pres-
ence and the act of Judas. He was the true
representative at that board of the nation
which had rejected the Messiah. Before the
new feast, — grov/ing out of the old in the in-
finite grace of God, by that dark act of treach-
ery symbolic of the nation's failure — was in-
280 The Gospel According to Matthew
stituted; Judas had gone out. Only loyal
souls took that bread and wine of the new
covenant, revealing for ever the character of
those who should partake of the ordinance.
Strikingly impressive is the fact that as the
King took these symbols of His coming suf-
fering, and handed them to His loyal follow-
ers, He gave thanks, and declared that they
symbolized His ability to deal with sin.
E Travail. '^''vi. 31
I — xxvii. 56
lETHSEMANE.
xxvi. 31-56
I. The Vestibule. Preparing the Disciples.
31-35
0. The Word of the King.
31.32
The coming Night.
31
The sure Morning.
32
p. The Answer of the Disciples.
33-35
Peter.
33-3S<J
All the Disciples.
35fe
2. The Altar. Alone.
36-46
a. The first Exercise.
36-41
The Exclusion of Eight.
36
The Secret to Three.
37,38
The Dedication.
39
The Return to the Disciples.
40,41
p. The second Exercise.
42,43
The Separation.
42a
The Dedication.
42b
The Return to the Disciples.
43
y. The third Exercise.
44-46
The Separation.
44a
The Dedication.
44&
The Return to the Disciples.
45.46
The quiet Time.
45<J
The Call.
45 &, 46
3. The Emergence. Arrest.
47-56
a. The Action of Judas.
47-50
The Arrival.
47
The Sign.
48,49
The Rebuke of Jesus.
50a
The Arrest.
506
/S. The Interference of Peter.
51-54
The Sword.
51
The Rebuke of Jesus.
52-54
y. The Address to the Multitudes.
55, 56a
6. The Flight of the Disciples.
56&
His Passion 283
ii. The Travail
In the actual account of the travail of the
King we have first, the occurrences in Geth-
semane; secondly, the trial scenes; and
finally, the Cross itself.
a. GETHSEMANE
It is impossible to come to this story of
Gethsemane without realizing the necessity
for reverent recognition of our inability to
follow the King beyond a certain distance.
Here He passes into a darkness where we can-
not accompany Him, and we can only rever-
ently observe Him as He passes through the
vestibule to the altar of dedication, and emerg-
ing therefrom, to arrest by His enemies.
1. The Yestibule. Preparing the Disciples
The final hour was at hand, and the King
definitely declared that in that very night
they would be offended in Him. The smiting
of the Shepherd would issue in the scattering
of the sheep. This, however, was not His
final word. That had reference to the sure
morning which would follow the night, as He
284 The Gospel According to Matthew
declared that after He was raised, He would
go before them into Galilee.
In this connection again Peter protested
that he would never be offended in Him, and
that he was prepared to die for Him, the
declaration being made in spite of the King's
repetition of what, according to John, He had
declared in the midst of the paschal dis-
courses, that before the cock crew, he should
have denied Him thrice. Peter was not alone
in this attitude, for all the disciples joined
him in what he said.
2. The Altar. Alone
In this paragraph we see the King cul-
minating that constant devotion to the will
of God, which had been the master-principle
of all His service. It was the hour of solemn
dedication which expressed itself in three ex-
ercises of submission.
He first excluded eight of the disciples, and
then to three of them told the secret of His
sorrow. Having done so. He passed to the
lonely act of dedication, which expressed it-
self in a submission which magnificently tri-
umphed over His shrinking, as the unutter-
able woes of the Cross gathered about His
soul. From that act of dedication He re-
His Passion 285
turned to His disciples, to find them asleep.
With gentleness He chided Peter.
Again He left them, and expressed His
dedication in a new word of submission to the
will of His Father. Returning for the sec-
ond time, He found the disciples still sleep-
ing, and did not disturb them.
For the third and final time He moved to
the loneliness, and uttered the same words of
dedication. Returning to the disciples He
bade them first sleep on and take their rest.
Some have treated this almost as a word of
rebuke or irony. I do not so understand it.
How long the quiet time lasted I cannot tell,
but I think the lonely Sufferer watched while
they slept, as they could not watch while He
suffered.
Then, the very hour being at hand. He called
them. What a tragic and pathetic com-
mentary does this story contain on the weak-
ness and instability of the very best love and
loyalty which are merely human. Peter was
not the only one sure of himself. Every man
among them shared the confidence. Yet there
was not one of them equal to an hour's vigil
with the King. Loyalty is nothing to be proud
of. It is a gift, for " no man can say, Jesus
is Lord, but in the Holy Spirit." When we
are tempted to criticise these men, it is well
286 The Gospel According to Matthew
that we should remember that none of us
would have acted differently in these pre-
Pentecostal days.
3. The Emergence. Arrest
Having faced and conquered the most ter-
rible trial in loneliness, and having rebuked
in gentle tones of remonstrance the sleeping
three, the King turned to face His foes; and
there again He met a threefold pain; — the
kiss of the traitor, the blundering zeal of
Peter, and the approach of the fickle priest-
ridden crowd. Judas came, leading the foes
of his Lord, and giving them the sign of the
kiss. To him Jesus spoke words of the
gentlest tone as He said, " Companion, do
that for which thou art come." Yet surely
the words scorched as the very fire of hell.
In blundering zeal Peter drew his sword,
and was immediately rebuked by the King,
as He declared that He was not going to
death as the result of the triumph of His
enemies, for were not more than twelve legions
of angels at His disposal? He was going of
His own free will, and in order to fulfil the
scriptures. This He made more emphatic by
His gentle rebuke of the multitudes, and His
declaration that everything that was happen-
His Passion 287
ing was in fulfilment of the scriptures of the
prophets.
It was then, when His disciples saw Him
not arrested merely, but Himself consenting
thereto, that they all forsook Him and fled.
b. THE TRIAL.
xxvi. 57 — xxvii. 26
I. Rejected of Men. Chosen of God.
a. The Place.
To Caiaphas.
The Sanhedrin.
Peter,
2.
3-
4-
xxvi. 57-68
S7. S8
p. The Procedure.
59-68
The futile Search.
59, 600
The two false Witnesses.
60^-630
The King on His Oath.
63^, 64
The Verdict of the Sanhedrin.
65,66
The Indignities.
67,68
Denied by His Own. Saving them.
69-75
a. The first Experience.
69,70
Denial by Equivocation.
^. Tha second Experience.
71,72
Denial on Oath.
y. The third Experience.
73. 740
Denial with Curses.
fi. The final Experience.
74^ 75
The Cock Crow.
The remembered Words.
The emotional Return.
The Doom of the Traitor.
xxvii. I- ID
a. The Action of the Sanhedrin.
I, 2
p. The Protest of Judas.
3,40
y. The Doom.
4&,S
S. The Potter's Field.
6-10
The Appearance before Pilate.
11-26
0. The first Examination.
XI-14
His Answer to Pilate.
II
His Silence to the Priests.
ia-14
p. The Offer.
15-1S
y. The warning Message.
19
fi. The Choice.
ao-33
e. The Sentencf.
34-26
His Passion 289
5. The Trial
Neither in the annals of the historian nor
in the realm of fiction is anything to be found
that can equal the degradation and depravity
revealed in the trial of Jesus. Let us ex-
amine this section in four parts, in the first
of which we see Him rejected of men, chosen
of God ; in the second, denied by His own, yet
saving them; in the third we have the doom
of the traitor; and in the fourth, the appear-
ance of the King before Pilate.
1. Rejected of Men. Chosen of God
Arrested, the Lord was at once taken to
the house of the high priest. Other of the
evangelists show that there was first a halt
made at the house of Annas, but they im-
mecliately moved on to the house of Caiaphas,
where the Sanhedrin was assembled. Into the
court of that house Peter followed, and sat
with the ofiflcers to see the end.
The proceedings in the house of Caiaphas
were of the basest. First there was a futile
search for such false witness against Him as
should create the possibility of the death sen-
tence. At last two came who declared that
He had said, " I am able to destroy the temple
290 The Gospel According to Matthew
of God, and to build it in three days." A
baser misrepresentation of what He had actu-
ally said it is impossible to conceive. His
reference had been to His own body, and to
their destruction of it. While it is true that
they did not understand that, their witness
was entirely false, for what He had said
was, " Destroy this temple, and in three days
I will raise it up." Thus, even according to
their own understanding, He had not sug-
gested that He would destroy the temple, but
that if they did. He was able to rebuild. To
this false charge He made no answer; and
then the high priest, leaving it out of count,
put Him, in legal form, upon His oath as to
whether He were the Christ, the Son of God?
His reply was a direct and positive affirma-
tive, emphasized by the proclamation of His
second advent in power.
This was enough. He was charged with
blasphemy, and the Sanhedrin's verdict was
that He was worthy of death. The finding of
the verdict was followed by the heaping of
indignities upon Him.
2. Denied ty His Own. Saving them
Here Matthew inserts the story of Peter's
denial. It was a threefold experience. In
His Passion 291
answer to the challenge of a maid, he denied
by equivocation as he said, " I know not what
thou sayest." In answer to the declaration
of a second maid, he denied on oath; and in
answer to the challenge of others, he denied
with curses.
Immediately the third denial had passed
his lips the cock crew. Matthew does not re-
cord the coincident look of the Lord, but em-
phasizes the fact that he remembered his
Master's words ; and immediately there was an
emotional return, as going out into the dark-
ness of the night, he wept bitterly.
3. The Doom of the Traitor
The morning saw the technically legal, but
essentially iniquitous, carrying into effect of
the plot hatched in the night. The Sanhedrin
bound Him, and led Him away, and deliv-
ered Him to Pilate.
When Judas saw that He was condemned,
he was filled with the most terrible remorse,
and hurrying into the presence of the San-
hedrin, made his futile protest. The picture
of his agony is most terrible. The sorrows
of Satan are very real and very awful. A
glimpse of them is surely seen in this terror
of Judas, of whom Jesus had said, " One of
292 The Gospel According to Matthew
you is a devil." To imagine that the devil
gains any satisfaction from the awful work
of evil is to misunderstand the true nature
of evil. His is the consciousness of consum-
ing and unsatisfied desire, the perpetual and
awful agony of thwarted designs. Let such as
hope to gain advantage by the way of sin re-
member that Judas gained nothing, not even
the thirty pieces of silver, for these he re-
turned to the priests, and the clangor of them
on the sanctuary floor sounds across the cen-
turies as an awful warning against the un-
profitableness of ungodliness. Yet is it not
an interesting fact that with that blood money
they bought the field of the potter? The field
of the potter is the place of marred and spoiled
vessels, and it was bought by the blood money
of the Son of God.
4. The Appearance before Pilate
In the early morning Jesus stood before
the representative of Roman power, who im-
mediately challenged Him, "Art Thou the
King of the Jews? " and was as immediately
answered, " Thou sayest," a form of positive
affirmation. To the accusation of the priests
He made no reply, either directly, or through
Pilate.
His Passion 293
Pilate stands out on this page as a warn-
ing against the policy of expediency. He was
convinced of the innocence of Jesus; and his
conscience, perhaps more acute that day than
it had been for a long time, plainly revealed
to him that his duty lay in the direction of
releasing the prisoner. This was the reason
for offering them the choice between Barab-
bas and Christ.
It was while they had that offer before them
that the warning came to him from his wife.
This is but an incident, and yet it is impos-
sible to pass it over without being impressed
by the fact that the only voice raised on be-
half of Jesus during the process of the trav-
esty of justice, was that of Pilate's wife.
In response to the appeal of the governor,
and instructed by the priests, the multitudes
asked for Barabbas. In vain Pilate en-
deavoured now to save Him. He had at-
tempted to save his conscience and his posi-
tion ; but when the alternative was forced back
upon himself, he clung to position, and so
flung Christ and conscience away. It was a
vain and foolish thing, that washing of his
hands in water, and the declaration that he
was innocent. When a man does wrong un-
der protest, in order to secure himself, he
sacrifices himself. Thousands of men have
294 The Gospel According to Matthew
endeavoured to get rid of Christ without actu-
ally rejecting Him. It has never been done,
nor can it, when once the soul has stood face
to face with Him.
The most terrible of all human cries was
that of the Jewish multitude as they ac-
cepted the issue of their choice in the awful
words, " His blood be on us, and on our chil-
dren."
c. THE CROSS. OUTSIDE THE CAMP. xxvii. 27-56
1. "In the Hands of lawless Men." 27-44
a. The Mockery. 27-32
The Robe. The Crown. The Reed. 27-290
The Obeisance. 296, 30
The Disrobing. 31
The Procession to Golgotha. 32
ft Golgotha. 33-44
The Drink refused. 33, 34
The Crucifixion. 350
The lawless Men. 35b, 36
Parted His Garments.
Watched Him.
The Accusation. 37
The Companions. 38
The Raillery. 39-44
2. " By the determinate Counsel of God." 4S-s6
a. The Darkness. 45
Divine Tenderness.
ft The Cry of Humanity. 46-49
Human Misunderstanding.
y. The Cry of Victory. SO'S^
Divine Answer.
Human Illumination.
The Watchers.
His Passion 297
C. THE CROSS. OUTSIDE THE CAMP
The passage containing the actual story of
Calvary is one which in certain applications
must be read without note or comment. As
we consider Him, there is nothing for it but to
bow the head in worship, and to cry,
" Oh love of God, oh sin of man,
In this dread act your strength is tried ;
And victory remains with love.
For He, our Lord, is crucified."
As we come to the Cross it is necessary, how-
ever, that we should observe the twofold fact
revealed therein in Matthew's account. We
see Him first in the hands of lawless men ; and
secondly, we see Him crucified by the deter-
minate counsel of God.
1. "In the Hands of lawless Men"
Delivered to His enemies, He first passed
through the appalling preliminary mockery.
They robed Him in scarlet, crowned Him with
thorns, placed in His hand a reed, and then
offered Him the homage of their contempt.
Having done so, they disrobed Him, and
the procession proceeded to Golgotha; one
Simon of Cyrene being impressed to carry the
Cross.
298 The Gospel According to Matthew
At last Golgotha, the place of a skull ! In
some brutal sense of pity ere the actual cruci-
fixion, they offered Him drugged wine to
drink, which He refused. How beautiful it is
that Matthew does not tell the story of the
crucifixion. Between our verses thirty-four
and thirty-five, it happened. The next word
considers it as accomplished, and tells how
lawless men cast lots for His garments, and
watched Him ; how they set up over His head
the accusation intended to anger the Jews,
and yet proclaiming the Divine truth. His
companions were robbers, and there moved
backwards and forwards in front of the Cross,
men who mocked His claims, and laughed at
His impotence, knowing not that that im-
potence was the outcome of His all-conquering
might, which was operating in order to make
possible their forgiveness.
2. "By the determinate Counsel of God"
From that terrible revelation of the human
attitude to the Cross we turn to the more mys-
terious and yet wonderful revelation of the
Divine relation thereto. Surely in the dark-
ness that overspread the land there was more
than the manifestation of Divine disapproval
of human sin. Was it not also a revelation
His Passion 299
and an activity of Divine tenderness toward
the dying King?
Out of the midst of the darkness at last
there came the cry of humanity, " Eli, Eli,
lama sabachthani?" It is too profound for
human interpretation, and the very fact that
from the lips of the King it was a question,
should for evermore remind those who would
investigate, of the unfathomable wonder of
that supreme hour of sorrow.
At the time it was entirely misunderstood,
as the action of those who heard, reveals.
Again the voice from the Cross was uttered
in the very moment when the Spirit departed ;
and the Divine answer to that cry of victory,
and that yielding of the Spirit was the rend-
ing of the veil of the temple from the top to
the bottom, the immediate quaking of the
earth, and the tearing of the rocks, and the
opening of tombs, out of which three days
after, following His resurrection, those who
had been dead, arose and appeared in the holy
city.
That death resulted in immediate illumina-
tion to some around the Cross, for the cen-
turion in charge of the soldiers, and they that
were with him cried out, " Truly this was a
Son of God."
The scene is full of suggestiveness. The
300 The Gospel According to Matthew
persons gathered around the Cross arrest at-
tention. There were soldiers of Rome, for
the most part debased and brutalized men.
There were chief priests, scribes, and elders,
filled with malice and envy, mocking Him;
yet even in their mockery uttering, under the
constraint of God, abiding truths, " He saved
others; Himself He cannot save." Thieves
were the companions of His Cross and death,
and they were divided then and for ever by
their attitude toward Him. And yonder was
a group of women watching all in the distance.
That mixture was surely a prophecy. All
sorts and conditions of men have been at-
tracted by that Cross and have been influenced
by it, according to the manner of their ap-
proach. Some have watched, some have
mocked, some have been healed.
The Triumph. 3«vii. 57— xxvm.
c. THE KING RESTING.
xxvii. 57-66
I. The Ministry of Love.
5 7-6 1
0. Joseph of Aritnathiza.
S7-6o
/3. The Maries.
61
2. The Activity of Hate.
62-66
«u Its Fear.
62-64
p. Its Method.
6s, 66
b. THE KING RISEN.
xxviii. I-I5
I. The Reward of Love.
I-IO
0. The Commg of the Maries.
I
p. The Angel.
2-4
y. The Word to the Women.
5-8
S. The Appearing of Jesus.
9, 10
2. The Discomfiture of Hate.
ii-iS
0. The Report.
II
/3. The Counsel.
12
y. The Lie.
1 3-1 5
c. THE KING REIGNING.
xxviii. 1 6-20
I. The Meeting in Galilee.
16, 17
a. The Vision.
p. Its Effect.
2. The final Words.
18-20
0. The Claim of Authority,
18
p. The Commission.
19, 20a
20b
His Passion 803
ill. The Triumph
This is the last page in the Gospel of the
King, and it is radiant in glory. Three pic-
tures are presented to us; those of the King
resting; the King risen; and the King
reigning. ^
a. THE KING RESTING
In this brief paragraph we see the ministry
of love, and the activity of hate.
1. The Ministry of Love
The ministry of love is manifested in
Joseph of Arimathfea and the Maries. Man
in his enmity against God, had done his
worst when he lifted the King to the tree.
After that, no rebellious hand touched Him.
Joseph of Arimathsea, a rich man, and a dis-
ciple of Jesus, begged the body, and with
tender solicitude prepared it for burial, and
laid it in his own new tomb hewn in the rock.
It is a significant fact that not one of His
apostles helped in His burying. The two men
who attended to this sacred service were this
Joseph, and as John reveals in his Gospel,
Nicodemus. Both of these had been secret
disciples. How often it happens that timid
304 The Gospel According to Matthew
shrinking souls seem to be strongest in the
hours of greatest need. Two women watched
this laying to rest of the sacred body of the
King.
2. The Activity of Hate
The persistent opposition of the enemies
of the King was manifested in their fear after
that He was dead; and in the method which
they adopted to make impossible the realiza-
tion of that which they feared. They remem-
bered that He had said He would rise again,
and requested that the sepulchre should be
made sure until after the third day. If it
were not so inexpressibly sad as a revelation
of hard-hearted unbelief, it would be ludi-
crous, this folly of attempting to guard the
dead body of Jesus on the part of His enemies.
Was the irony of Pilate conscious, one won-
ders, when he said, " Make it as sure as ye
can"? They were afraid of the Nazarene,
even though He were dead. It is ever thus.
The men who most strenuously oppose have a
weird consciousness of Him that cannot be
shaken off. Surely He liveth.
h. THE KING RISEN
In this paragraph we have the story of the
sequel to that already considered, for herein
His Passion 305
we have the reward of love, and the discom-
fiture of hate.
1. The Reward of Love
When, as the first gleams of the dawn were
shining on ihe Eastern sky, the Maries came
to see the sepulchre, they found it empty,
and under the guardian care of an angel.
Matthew's brief story of the coming of the
angel, and the accompanying earthquake is
inserted at this point in order to account for
the presence of the angel. To them the angel
declared that the Lord was risen. " He is
not here ... He is risen." That surely was
the sweetest of all music. It was the declara-
tion not merely of His resurrection, but of
His coronation. His enemies had rejected
Him, and had jjroved their malice by handing
Him over to their common, their last, their
most terrible enemy, death. He proved His
Kingship by overcoming that enemy in His
dying; and now He was alive, and on His
way to Galilee to meet His disciples.
As they departed from the tomb He Him-
self appeared to them. All the suffering was
behind, and the conflict was won. The
heavens were about to receive Him for a sea-
son, but He tarried for a while to make the
306 The Gospel According to Matthew
fact of His resurrection very real in the ex-
perience of His followers; and thus He
greeted the women, received their worship,
and spoke to them of His coming meeting
with all the disciples in Galilee.
2. The Discomfiture of Eate
In the meanwhile the members of the guard
who had been for the moment rendered un-
conscious by the appearance of the angel,
found their way into the city, and reported
the things that had come to pass. There and
then in the council, the enemies of the King in-
vented the lie that His body had been stolen
by the disciples. This became current, and
as Matthew declared, continued until the time
of his writing.
C THE KING REIGNING
Before His departure the King gathered
about Him His band of apostles. When they
saw Him they worshipped, and yet some
doubted. The statement which immediately
follows this, that " Jesus came to them and
spake unto them '^ would lead us to under-
stand that their first vision of Him was from
a distance, and that He was in some special
way removed from them.
His Passion 307
In answer to that fear, He drew near, and
uttered His final words. These words con-
stituted His commission. It was urgent with
the urgency of His command that they should
go; wide as the world in its scope, for they
were to disciple the nations; strong as the
strength of Deity, for He based His right to
send them on the fact that all authority was
given to Him both in heaven and in earth ; and
as resourceful as He the risen One was in
Himself, for He promised to be always with
the messengers, even to the consummation of
the age.
So ends the Gospel of the King. He came
and declared the laws of the Kingdom, and
revealed its beauty in His life, and its be-
neficence in His deeds. His own, according to
the flesh, would have none of Him, and in un-
holy coalition with Gentile powers, uttered
the verdict, "We vail not have this Man to
reign over us."
Yet the final note is not that of man's re-
jection of the King, but of God's exaltation
of Him ; and we are gathered around the risen
One, and cry no longer as the expression of a
desire. Long live the King; but as the
proclamation of a certainty, For ever lives
the King.
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