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/xi.' 


THE   LIFE   OF   LIVES 


THE  LIFE  OF  L 


FURTHER  STUDI 
THE  LIFE  OF  CHRIST 


F.  W.FARRAR,  D.D.,  F.R.S. 

DEAN    OF    CANTERBURY    AND     DEPUTY 
CLERK  OF  THE  CLOSET  TO  THE  QUEEN 


"O  xterna  Veritas,  et  vera  Caritas,  et  cara  iEternitas,  tu  es  Deus  meus." — St.  Aug. 

"Yea  through  life,  death,  through  sorrow,  and  through  sinning, 
Christ  shall  suffice  me,  for  He  hath  sufficed; 
Christ  is  the  end,  for  Christ  was  the  beginning, 

Christ  the  beginning,  for  the  end  is  Christ.'  — F.  W.  H.  Myers. 

"The  longer  I  live  the  more  I  feel  that  Christianity  does  not  consist  in  any  particu- 
lar system  of  Church  Government,  or  in  any  credal  statement,  but  that  Christianity 
is  Christ." — Rt.  Hon.  W.  E.  Gladstone. 


NEW  YORK 

DODD,  MEAD  &  COMPANY 

I  900 


A 


Copyright  /goo  by 
DoDD,  Mead  &  Company. 


CONJUGI 

DILECTISSIM^    ET   FIDELISSIM^, 

LABORUM,     FELICITATIS,     DOLORUM. 

PER    XL   ANNOS   PARTICIPJ, 

HUNC  LIBRUM 

D.   D.   D. 

FREDERICUS  GULIELMUS   FARRAR 


IIJ  Non.   APr.   MDCCCC. 


PREFACE. 


TwENTY-SIX  years  ago  I  was  led  by  "  God's  unseen 
Providence,  which  men  nickname  '  Chance,'  "  to  write  and 
publish  a  "  Life  of  Christ."  It  was  based  on  long  study, 
primarily  of  the  Four  Gospels  and  the  Old  and  New  Testa- 
ments, and,  next,  of  all  the  sources  of  knowledge  open  to 
me,  from  the  most  ancient  to  the  most  modern.  Manifold 
as  were  the  imperfections  of  my  work — of  which  no  one  is 
more  conscious  than  I  am  myself — the  book  was  found 
useful,  and  has  not  only  been  read  in  all  parts  of  the  Eng- 
lish-speaking world,  but  has  also  been  translated  into  many 
languages — even  into  Japanese.  It  has  been  most  widely 
disseminated  in  two  translations  throughout  the  whole  of 
the  Russian  Empire,  and  has  brought  me  many  expres- 
sions of  gratitude  alike  from  English-speaking  readers  and 
from  foreigners  of  every  rank.  I  desire  to  record  my 
humble  thankfulness  to  God  for  permitting  me  to  render 
this  service — however  small — to  what  I  believe  from  my 
heart  to  be  the  cause  of  Righteousness  and  Truth. 

Since  my  "  Life  of  Christ  "  was  published,  much  criti- 
cism, alike  favourable  and  adverse,  has  been  written  upon  it. 
But  with  perfect  readiness  to  modify  any  statement  which 
can  be  disproved,  and  to  alter  any  error  which  can  be 
demonstrated,  I  have  seen  no  reason  to  correct  a  single 
conclusion  of  the  smallest  vital  importance.  It  is  there- 
fore needless  for  me,  and  it  would  be  superfluous,  to 
attempt  to  re-narrate  the  external  incidents  in  the  mortal' 
days  of  the  Saviour  of  Mankind.  In  some  pages,  however, 
the  subject  has  obliged  me  to  revert  to  considerations  on 
which  I  have  already  dwelt. 


viil  PREFACE. 

The  object  of  the  present  book  is  different.  It  deals 
with  questions  of  high  importance,  which  the  Gospels 
suggest,  and  aims  at  deepening  the  faith  and  brightening 
the  hope  in  Christ  of  all  who  read  it  honestly.  *'Sts  sus,  sis 
Dwus,  sum  Caltha,  et  non  tibi  spiro." 

And  so  I  send  it  forth  with  the  humble  petition,  offered 
"  with  bent  head  and  beseeching  hand,"  that  He  who 
deigned  to  bless  my  former  efforts  will  bless  this  effort 
also,  to  the  furtherance  of  His  Kingdom,  and  the  good  of 
His  Church. 

He  came  to  "holy  and  humble  men  of  heart";  and 
those  who  believe  in  Him,  and  would  fain  go  to  Him 
— and  to  Him  only — for  knowledge  and  for  wisdom,  will 
say  with  St.  Paul :  "  To  me  it  is  a  very  small  thing  to  be 
judged  by  man's  brief  day."  *  They  desire  no  approval, 
save  that  of  Him  whose  "//^"  and  "  Venite"  shall  settle 
all  questions  and  controversies  for  ever. 

*  I  Cor.  iv.  3.  'E/zot  6e  e'lq  kldxtOTdv  ioTiv  Iva  ii^'  vfiuv  avuKpiQa  i)  vnb  avBpit- 
irivtjq  ^fiipag. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE   DIVINE   BIRTH.  PAGE 

Belief  of  the  Best,  Wisest,  and  Greatest  of  Men  in  Divine  Provi- 
dence— Miracles  the  Outcome  of  a  Natural  Law — The  Birth 
of  Christ  and  the  Destinies  of  Mankind — Testimony  to  Him 
of  History,  of  Poetry,  of  Philosophy,  of  Art,  of  Science,  of 
Philanthropy — The  Witness  of  the  Human  Heart, 

CHAPTER  n. 

THE  UNIQUE  SUPREMACY  OF  JESUS. 

His  Sinlessness— His  Superiority  to  Sakya  Muni,  to  Confucius,  to 
Mohammed,  to  the  Best  and  Greatest  of  the  Greeks  and 
Romans i8 

CHAPTER  HI. 

THE  UNIQUE  SUPREMACY  OF  JESUS   {continued). 

His  Unapproachable  Superiority  to  the  Saints  and  Prophets  of 
the  Old  Dispensation  and  to  the  Best  of  the  Rabbis— His 
Infinite  Supremacy  compared  with  the  Saints  of  Christendom,        34 

CHAPTER  IV. 

THE  TESTIMONY  OF  SCEPTICS  AND   FREE  INQUIRERS. 

Utterances  of  Spinoza,  Lessing,  Rousseau,  Voltaire,  Kant, 
Schelling,  Strauss,  Goethe,  Channing,  Renan,  J.  S.  Mill, 
Keim,  Theodore  Parker,  Dr.  Congreve,  Dr.  Martineau, 
Matthew  Arnold,  and  the  author  of  Supernatural  Religion,        41 

CHAPTER  V. 

THE   GOSPELS. 

The  Substantial  Truth  of  the  Gospels  vindicated  by  Modern 
Criticism— The  Synoptists — The  Fourth  Gospel— Contrast 
between  the  Genuine  and  the  Apocryphal  Gospels,        .        .        46 


X  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER   VI. 

THE   CLAIMS   OF  JESUS   AND   THE   SPELL   HE   EXERCISED.  PAGE 

His  Sinlessness  not  a  Miraculous  but  an  Achieved  Sinlessness — 
The  Witnesses  to  it — His  Seven  "  I  Ams" — Other  Declara- 
tions Concerning  Himself — The  Validity  of  His  Words  and 
Promises  abundantly  justified, 54 

CHAPTER   Vn. 

THE   HUMAN   EDUCATION   OF  JESUS. 

The  Silence  of  Mary  as  to  His  Childhood — St.  Luke's  the  one 
reference  in  the  Gospels  to  His  Infancy — How  Jewish  Boys 
at  that  Day  were  Trained — The  Probability  that  Christ  spoke 
both  Aramaic  and  Greek — Teaching  Children  the  Mosaic  and 
Levitic  Law — Attendance  at  School  and  Synagogue — Sim- 
plicity of  the  Worship  of  the  Synagogue,         ....        70 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE    FIRST   ANECDOTE. 

Jesus  Goes  with  His  Parents  to  Jerusalem — The  Journey — The 
First  Sight  of  Jerusalem  and  of  the  Temple — What  He  must 
have  Seen  and  Heard — The  Temple— Eating  the  Paschal 
Meal — Lost,  and  Found  in  the  Temple — His  Docility  towards 
the  Rabbis — His  Submissiveness  towards  His  Parents,  .        bo 

CHAPTER   IX. 

LESSONS  OF  THE   UNRECORDED   YEARS. 

The  Reticence  of  the  Evangelists  as  to  His  Youth  and  Early 
Manhood  a  Proof  of  their  Truthfulness — Years  of  Prepara- 
tion, of  Poverty,  of  Obscurity,  of  Manual  Toil — The  Scenery 
around  Nazareth — Christ's  Loving  Observation  of  all  that 
went  on  around  Him, 92 

CHAPTER  X. 

THE   HOME   AT   NAZARETH. 

Poverty  and  Insignificance  of  Nazareth — A  Peasant's  Home 
Described — Mr.  Holman  Hunt's  Picture  of  a  Carpenter's 
Shop 107 


CONTENTS.  xi 

CHAPTER  XI. 

THE   FAMILY   AT   NAZARETH.  PAGE 

Joseph — Mary,  the  Wife  of  Cleopas — Probably  a  Sister  of  the 
Virgin — The  "  Brethren"  of  Jesus — St.  James — St.  Jude — The 
Descendants  of  St.  Jude — The  Virgin  Mary— Mariolatry 
Alien  from  the  Teaching  of  the  Gospel — Mary  at  the  Cross — 
The  Human  Aspect  of  Christ, no 

CHAPTER  XII. 

THE   CONDITION  OF   THE   WORLD. 

The  Gentiles — The  Jews  in  Palestine — The  Jews  of  the  Dis- 
persion— The  Samaritans— The  Galileans,       ....       126 

CHAPTER   XIII. 

THE    STATE   OF   RELIGION   IN    PALESTINE. 

The  Zealots — The  Essenes — The  Sadducees^the  Herodians — 
The  Pharisees — Pharisaism  the  Direct  Antithesis  of  the 
Teaching  of  the  Prophets, 144 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

THE  MESSIANIC   HOPE. 

An  Age  of  Expectancy — The  Older  and  the  Newer  Messianic 
Idea — Expectation  not  Confined  to  the  Jews — How  Christ 
reversed  the  Messianic  Conceptions  of  the  Age,      .        .        .       165 

CHAPTER  XV. 

JOHN     THE     BAPTIST. 

"  God  Called  forth  a  Maji  " — The  Essence  of  John's  Teaching — 
His  Aspect — Religious  Awakenment  the  Object  of  his 
Preaching — His  Protest  against  Shows  and  Shams — His 
Calls  to  Repentance — His  Belief  that  the  Deliverer  was  at 
Hand — His  Life  not  a  Failure, 171 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

THE   BAPTISM   OF   JESUS. 

Theories    as    to    the    Meaning    of    our    Lord's   Baptism — John 

Decreases— His  Failure  to  Enter  into  the  Kingdom,       .         .       180 


xii  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

THE   TEMPTATION.  PAGE 

Jesus  Goes  into  Solitude  to  Meditate  upon  His  Mission — The 
Temptation  Real,  and  yet  an  Illustration  of  HisSinlessness — 
The  First  Temptation  an  Appeal  to  the  Desire  of  the  Flesh — 
The  Second  to  the  Pride  of  Life — The  Third  a  Suggestion  to 
Make  Concession  to  Earthly  Prejudices,  .        .        .        .186 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

SCENES  OF  CHRIST'S  MINISTRY. 

"  The  Galilean  Spring  "—The  Plain  of  Genuesareth— The  Sites 
of  Chorazin,  Bethsaida,  and  Capernaum — Jesus  leaves  the 
Synagogue  and  Teaches  in  the  Open  Air — The  Four  Places 
where  it  is  Known  that  His  Feet  have  Stood,  .        .        .      200 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

Christ's  methods  of  evangelisation. 

The  Simple  Humanity  of  His  Procedure — His  Teaching  sug- 
gested by  Immediate  Circumstances — His  Insistence  upon 
Spirituality,  Simplicity,  and  Sincerity, 210 

CHAPTER  XX. 

the  form  of  Christ's  teaching. 

His  Teaching  as  Varied  and  as  Simple  in  Form  as  in  Method — 
His  Use  of  Aphorism  and  of  Paradox — His  Assonances  and 
Plays  on  Words— His  Spontaneous  Poetry — His  Use  of 
Parallelism, 215 

CHAPTER  XXI. 

the  form  of  Christ's  teaching  (continued). 

The  Parables — Not  a  Single  Parable  in  the  Apocryphal  Gos- 
pels— Why  our  Lord  Adopted  this  Form  of  Teaching — The 
Story  of  the  Prodigal  Son — The  Parables  Classified — How 
they  were  influenced  by  Circumstances,  ....      224 

CHAPTER  XXII. 

THE   substance  OF   CHRIST's  TEACHING. 

Christ's  Relation  to  the  Priests  and  the  Legalists — His  Severity 

towards  the  Pharisees — The  Laws  of  His  New  Kingdom,      .       235 


CONTENTS.  xiii 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 

THE   UNIQUENESS   OF   CHRIST's   TEACHING.  page 

Its  Insistence  upon  the  Love  of  God  and  the  Duty  of  Man — 
Christ's  Attitude  towards  the  Ancient  Scriptures — His  Proc- 
lamation of  the  Fatherhood  of  God — Man's  Duty  to  God 
Involved  in  the  Relation  of  God  to  Men — The  Beatitudes  a 
Reversal  of  the  Judgments  of  Men, 241 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 

THE   TITLES   OF   JESUS   AND   THE   BROTHERHOOD   OF   MAN, 

"The  Son  of  David,"  "  The  Son  of  God,"  "  The  Word,"  "  The 
Son  of  Man  " — What  the  Last  Title  Implies — Christ's  Atti- 
tude towards  the  Samaritans,  the  Gentiles,  the  Common 
People,  the  Publicans,  Women  and  Children,  .        .        .      251 

CHAPTER  XXV. 

Christ's  condemnation  of  Pharisaic  religionism. 

His  Antagonism  to  the  Pharisees — How  they  Magnified  the  Oral 
Law  —  His  Attitude  towards  Ceremonial  Purifications ; 
towards  the  Distinction  between  Clean  and  Unclean 
Meats ;  towards  Fasting  ;  towards  the  Rabbinic  Exegesis,  .      269 

CHAPTER  XXVI. 

CHRIST   AND   THE   SABBATH. 

Pharisaic  Rules  as  to  the  Day  of  Rest — Christ's  Principle:  "  It  is 
Lawful  to  do  Good  on  the  Sabbath,"  and  How  He  Exempli- 
fies it — Wherein  Pure  Religion  Consists,  ....      282 

CHAPTER"  XXVII. 

THE   MIRACLES   OF   CHRIST. 

"Powers,"  "Wonders,"  "Signs,"  "Works"— The  Miracles 
not  Intended  Primarily  as  Evidences  of  His  Divinity — A 
Classification:  Miracles  on  Nature,  on  Man,  on  the  Spirit- 
world — Why  they  had  not  a  more  Decisive  Effect,      .    .        .      293 

CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

THE   GLADNESS   AND   SORROW   OF   THE   CHRIST. 

The  Elements  of  Simple  Gladness  to  be  Seen  Throughout  His 
Ministry— Only  Recognises  Fasting  as  the  Natural  Expres- 
sion of  Natural  Grief — His  Afflictions  Caused  by  the  Wicked- 
ness of  Men — His  Pity,  His  Surprise,  His  Grief  and  Anger, 
His  Indignation,  His  Self-restraint — The  Expression^  of  His 
Emotion,      .,,.,,...,.     301 


xiv  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XXIX. 

THE    APOSTLES.  PAGE 

A  Division  into  Tetrads— The  Little  We  Know  of  the  Majority  of 

the  Apostles — Whence  they  Derived  their  Amazing  Influence,      314 

CHAPTER  XXX. 

ST.    PETER,   ST.    JOHN,    AND   JUDAS. 

St.  Peter's  Strength  and  Weakness — St.  John's  Faults  and  Dis- 
tinguishing Glory — The  Traitor — His  Remorse  the  Measure 
of  what  his  Better  Feelings  must  have  been,  .         .        .       323 

CHAPTER  XXXI. 

THE  APOSTOLIC  COMMISSION, 

The  Power  of  the  Keys— The  Power  to  Loose  and  Bind— The 
Power  to  Forgive  Sins  Conferred  upon  the  Disciples  Gen- 
erally— How  it  is  to  be  Interpreted, 332 

CHAPTER  XXXII. 

ORDER   OF   EVENTS   IN   OUR   LORD'S   LIFE. 

Date  of  our  Lord's  Birth — Length  of  His  Ministry— Its  Division 

into  Four  Periods, 337 

CHAPTER  XXXIII. 

THE  CLOSING  DAYS. 

Arrival  at  Bethany— Palm  Sunday — A  Day  of  Parables— The 
Day  of  Temptations — A  Day  of  Seclusion— Preparing  for  the 
Paschal  Feast, 355 

CHAPTER  XXXIV. 

THE   LAST   SUPPER. 

Washing  the  Disciples'  Feet— Partaking  of  the  Last  Supper — 
Christ's  Final  Revelations — Singing  a  Hymn — The  Great 
High-Priestly  Prayer, 360 

CHAPTER  XXXV. 

GETHSEMANE. 

The  Agony— The  Arrest— The  Final  Triumph  Won,     .        .        .      364 


CONTENTS.  XV 

CHAPTER  XXXVI. 

THE   TRIALS   BEFORE   THE   JEWS,  PAGE 

The  Illegality  of  the  Trials— Character  of  Annas— The  Trial 
before  Annas — The  Trial  before  Caiaphas — The  Trial  before 
the  Sanhedrin, 367 

CHAPTER  XXXVII. 

THE  TRIAL  BEFORE   PILATE. 

The  Three  Charges  Brought  against  Jesus — The  Remission  to 
Herod  Antipas — Again  before  Pilate — Pilate's  Attempt  to 
Save  Him — The  Scourging — "  We  have  no  king  but  Caesar!" 
Pilate's  Weakness, 376 

CHAPTER  XXXVIII. 

THE     SUFFERINGS     OF      JESUS. 

An  Enumeration  of  His  Sorrows  and  Distresses — The  Final  Cry 

from  the  Cross, 384 

CHAPTER   XXXIX. 

THE   RIGHT   VIEW   OF   CHRIST's   SUFFERINGS. 

The  Deification  of  Pain — Christ's  Agony  not  Self-sought — His 
Death  not  to  be  Separated  from  His  Life — His  Sufferings  a 
Revelation  of  Victorious  Majesty — The  Error  of  Dwelling 
too  Exclusively  upon  His  Anguish,  .....       390 

CHAPTER  XL. 

THE      ATONEMENT. 

False  Conceptions  of  the  Doctrine — Christ's  Death  a  Transcend- 
ent Fact  not  to  be  Strictly  Categorised — The  Atonement 
Apprehensible  only  in  its  Effects 396 

CHAPTER  XLI. 

THE      RESURRECTION. 

The  Resurrection  as  Important  in  the  Teaching  of  the  Apostles 
and  Evangelists  as  the  Crucifixion — The  Central  Event  in 
the  History  of  the  World — The  only  Pledge  of  Man's  Immor- 
tality— The  Evidence  for  it  Distinct,  Decisive,  and  Varied — 
Its  Cumulative  Effect 401 


xvi  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XLII. 

THE   ASCENSION.  PAGE 

The  True  Meaning  of  Christ's  "  Ascension  " — Only  a  bare  Refer- 
ence to  the  Manner  of  the  Ascension,  and  that  by  but  a  Single 
Evangelist — Transcendent  Importance  of  the  Fact  of  the 
Ascension,  412 

CHAPTER  XLHI. 

THE   FINAL   ISSUES. 

The  Crime  of  Calvary  the  Beginning  of  the  End  of  the  Old 
Dispensation — Christianity  a  Transfiguration  of  Life — What 
it  has  Done  for  the  World, 415 


THE  LIFE  OF  LIVES. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE   DIVINE   BIRTH. 

"  Who  .  .  .  emptied  Himself,  taking  the  form  of  a  slave,  being  made 
in  the  likeness  of  man." — Phil.  ii.  7. 

"  The  unfathomable  depths  of  the  divine  counsels  were  moved ;  the 
fountains  of  the  great  deep  were  broken  up ;  the  healing  of  the  nations 
was  issuing  forth ;  but  nothing  was  seen  on  the  surface  of  human 
society  but  this  slight  rippling  of  the  water." — ISAAC  WILLIAMS,  The 
Nativity. 

To  the  vast  majority  of  true  Christians  the  unalterable 
belief  that  Jesus  Christ  was  the  Son  of  God,  the  Saviour  of 
the  World,  comes  from  the  witness  of  the  Spirit  in  their 
hearts.  It  is  not  mainly  derived  from  any  one  process  of 
argument,  or  even  from  the  convergence  of  many  different 
lines  of  demonstration.  Confluent  streams  of  probability 
may  have  helped  to  swell  the  current  of  their  conviction, 
but  the  main  reason  why  their  faith  remains  unshaken  by 
any  doubt  is  because  they  know  Christ  and  are  known  of 
Him.  The  light  which  lighteth  every  man  that  is  born 
into  the  world  came  from  Him,  and  was  concentrated  upon 
Him  in  the  fulness  of  its  illuminating  splendour.  There 
are  many  whose  whole  life  is  lived  by  faith  in  the  Son  of 
God.  They  would  say  with  St.  Paul :  "  With  me  to  live  is 
Christ."     We  may  indeed  lose  this  blessed  certainty — 

"  For  when  we  in  our  viciousness  grow  hard, 
O  misery  on't,  the  wise  gods  seal  our  eyes, 
In  our  own  filth  drop  our  clear  judgments,  make  us 
Adore  our  errors,  laugh  at  us  while  we  strut 
To  our  confusion," 


2  THE    LIFE   OF    LIVES. 

But  "  Belief  lives  in  us  through  Conduct,"  *  and  while  an 
immoral  Deism  produces  men  like  Aretino  and  Marat,  the 
faith  in  Christ  has  produced  thousands  of  such  saints  as 
Francis  of  Assisi  and  Vincent  de  Paul.  To  all  whose  daily 
experience  is  that  Christ  is  with  them,  and  within  them, 
belief  has  become  part  of  their  inmost  being.  With  a 
power  which  transcends  all  earthly  knowledge,  the  Spirit 
beareth  witness  with  their  spirits  that  they  are  "  sons  of 
God,"  because  they  have  been  admitted  into  the  Brother- 
hood of  Him  who  was  the  Son  of  God.  To  them  He  is  not 
only  "  Verax  "  and  "  Verus,"  but  "  ipsa  Veritas." 

To  those  who  abound  in  this  beautitude  of  certainty — 
and  they  are,  thank  God,  "  a  great  multitude  whom  no  man 
can  number" — argument  has  become  needless.  We  may 
modify  the  words  of  the  Poet  and  say  that — 

"  In  such  high  hours 
Of  inspiration  from  the  hving  God, 
Thought  is  not,  in  devotion  it  expires." 

But  there  are  millions  who  have  never  attained  to  this 
experience.  To  us  it  seems  as  though  man  lived  in  the 
very  midst  of  miracles — miracles  stupendous,  innumerable, 
incessant.  To  us  "  the  starry  heavens  above,"  and  still 
more  "  the  moral  law  within,"  are  a  perpetual  miracle ;  nor 
would  the  supernaturalness  of  those  miracles  be  to  us 
diminished,  even  though  every  phenomenon  of  the  material, 
moral,  and  spiritual  Universe  could  be  directly  explained 
by  what  are  called  "  natural "  laws.  To  us  the  outer 
Universe  is  but  an  atom  in  God's  infinitude,  or,  as  the 
Rabbis  expressed  it,  "  God  (who  in  Talmudic  literature  is 
often  called  Maqom  or  '  Space ')  is  not  the  Universe  (Ha- 
Maqom),  but  all  the  Universe  is  in  God."  f  To  us  the 
natural  is  itself  a  supernatural  phenomenon.  Nature  is  but 
a  name  to  express  the  laws  which  God  has  impressed  upon 
His  Universe. 

*  Schleiermacher. 

f  See  Hershon,  Genesis  ace.  to  the  Talmud,  p.  170. 


THE    DIVINE    BIRTH.  3 

Those  who  hold  these  views — those  who  think  not  only 
that  God  is  but  that  He  "  worketh  hitherto  " ;  those  who 
believe  in  God's  perpetual  Providence,  and  do  not  reduce 
Him  to  the  Blind  Fate  of  the  Stoics,  or  the  Supernal 
Indifference  of  the  Epicureans ;  those  who  accept  the 
words  of  Scripture  that  "  He  careth  for  us,"  and  "  is  about 
our  path,  and  about  our  bed,  and  spieth  out  all  our 
ways" — constitute  the  immense  majority  of  mankind,  to 
whatever  religion  they  may  belong.  We  do  not  observe 
that  such  are,  in  any  respect,  less  wise,  less  learned,  or  less 
intellectually  clear-sighted,  nor  have  they  rendered  fewer 
services  to  mankind,  than  the  minority  who  take  upon 
them  to  set  aside  such  views  as  childish  and  obsolete 
superstitions.  In  this  majority  are  numbered  all  the  most 
supremely  great  of  those  who,  compared  with  their 
brethren,  have  been  "  among  the  molehills  as  mountains, 
and  among  the  thistles  as  forest  trees."  In  all  the  histories 
of  the  nations  you  can  scarcely  find  one  man  of  epoch- 
making  eminence  who  has  not  believed  in  the  God  who  is 
not  far  from  every  one  of  us,  since  in  Him  we  live,  and 
move,  and  have  our  being.  Are  we  not,  then,  entitled  to 
say  with  confidence,  as  all  the  best,  greatest,  and  wisest  of 
men  have  believed,  that  God  has  not  resigned  His  care  for 
the  creatures  of  His  hand  to  the  exclusive  working  of  what 
are  called  "  natural  laws"?     Securiis  judicat  orbis  terrarum. 

Again,  may  we  not  urge  a  second  argument  upon  those 
who,  because  of  the  supposed  invariableness  of  natural 
laws,  cannot  conceive  that  God  ever  works,  or  has  worked, 
in  the  affairs  of  man  except  in  exact  accordance  with  the 
observed  order?  May  we  not  ask  them  to  consider  that 
miracles  themselves  are  nothing  but  an  outcome  of  that 
Natural  Law  which,  after  all,  is  but  a  partial  synonym  for 
the  will  of  God?  If  it  be  perfectly  within  the  power  of 
man  to  make  a  machine  which  should,  in  unvarying 
sequence,  push  out,  one  by  one,  every  number,  from  a  unit 
to  (say)  ten  millions,  and  then — simply  by  the  pre-arranged 


4  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

construction  of  the  machine  itself — should  skip  a  number, 
and  go  from  ten  million  to  ten  million  and  tivo,  how  absurd 
is  it  to  suppose  that  even  the  apparent  violation,  or  super- 
session, of  laws  may  not  be  due  to  the  very  laws  them- 
selves— just,  for  instance,  as  a  balloon,  very  heavy  and 
laden  with  human  beings,  mounts  upwards  by  the  very  law 
of  gravitation  which  seems  to  draw  all  objects  downwards? 
To  start,  as  sceptics  have  often  done,  with  the  dogma 
that  "  Miracles  do  not " — or  even  that  "  miracles  cannot — 
happen"  is  surely  short-sighted  and  unphilosophical;  to 
say  nothing  of  the  fact  that  such  an  axiom  sets  aside 
masses  of  evidence — accumulated  in  age  after  age  and  still 
accumulating — that  miracles  (/.  e.,  events  which  apparently 
supersede  or  transcend  the  every-day  order)  have  happened, 
and  do  happen  continually.  "  Nature  "  is  but  a  name  for 
God's  normal  and  continuous  government;  and  "chance" 
is  but  a  nickname  for  His  unseen  Providence.  "  What  is 
disturbed  by  a  miracle,"  said  Professor  Mozley,  "  is  the 
mechanical  expectation  of  a  recurrence."  *  "  Law  I  know  ; 
but  what  is  this  necessity  but  an  empty  shadow  of  my  own 
mind's  throwing  ?  "  f 

Why,  then,  should  the  supernatural  birth  of  the  Saviour 
of  the  World  appear  to  sceptics  to  be  a  difBculty  so  stupen- 
dous, and  so  insuperable,  that  it  is  only  fit  to  be  contemptu- 
ously set  aside?:};  Is  it  wise  to  feel  such  confidence  in 
arguments  which,  after  all,  convince  very  few,  and  which 
have  not  shaken  the  belief  of  men  whose  transcendent 
intellectual  powers  could  be  questioned  by  none?  Are 
myriads  of  the  most  brilliant  men  of  action  and  men  of 
genius  whom  the  world  has  ever  seen,  such  utter  fools  that 
a  sceptic,  because  of  his  own  peculiar  idiosyncrasy,   may 

*  Mozley,  Bampton  Lects.,  p.  56.  f  Huxley,  Lay  Sermons,  p.  158, 

X  It  should  be  observed  that,  as  Weber  points  out,  the  story  of  a  Virgin-birth 

was  not  likely  to  have  been  invented  by  Jewish  Christians,  for  it  formed  no 

part  of    the  current   Messianic  expectation  {Die  Lehren  des    Talmuds,   339- 

342)  ;   and,  even  among  the  Jews,  Is.  vii.  14,  was  not  understood  in  this  sense. 


THE    DIVINE    BIRTH.  5 

sweep  away,  as  though  it  were  a  mere  contemptible  nullity, 
the  initial  fact  in  the  faith  of  Christians?  If  the  Virgin- 
birth  of  the  Saviour  of  Mankind  had  stood  alone — if  noth- 
ing had  led  up  to  it ;  if  nothing  had  sprung  from  it ;  if  the 
witnesses  to  it  were  untrustworthy  liars,  who  were  morally 
capable  of  having  palmed  off  upon  the  world  a  conscious 
fiction — then  doubt  would  have  been  natural.  But  when 
the  event  stands,  as  it  does, — quite  apart  from  religion, — as 
the  central  point  of  the  destinies  of  mankind  ;  when  we  see 
that  all  the  history  of  the  past  led  up  to  it,  and  that  all  the 
illimitable  future  was,  and  must  still  be,  dominated  by  it  ; 
when  we  see  how  it  fulfilled  the  prophecies  and  yearnings 
of  Humanity  among  the  heathen  as  well  as  among  the 
Jewish  race,  and  how  it  has  been  the  germ  of  all  that  was 
best  and  greatest  in  the  progress  of  the  ages  which  have 
followed — the  fact  ceases  to  stand  alone.  Had  "  the  man 
Christ  Jesus"  been  but  one  of  the  millions — if  He  had  been 
merely  distinguished  above  His  fellows  by  ordinary  human 
greatness — doubt  might  have  been  excusable.  But  when 
we  see  in  that  Babe  lying  in  the  cradle  One  of  whom  all  the 
Prophets  had  spoken,  and  One  to  whom  ever  since  that 
Nativity — amid  the  intensification  of  all  Light,  and  all 
Knowledge,  and  amid  the  undreamed-of  splendour  of 
immeasurable  Progress — alike  the  humblest  and  the 
greatest  of  human  intellects  have  looked ; — when  we  see 
that  (to  use  the  words  of  the  German  historian  whom  a 
study  of  history  converted  to  Christianity  from  unbelief) 
"  Christ  lifted  the  gate  of  the  centuries  off  its  hinges  with 
His  bleeding  hand  " — the  case  becomes  far  different.  The 
greatness  of  Jesus,  even  if  we  regard  Him  simply  as  a  man 
among  men,  not  only  transcends,  but  transcends  incon- 
ceivably and  immeasurably,  the  combination  of  all  the 
forms  and  varieties  of  human  greatness.  The  ages  which 
have  followed  have  all  looked  to 

"  Him  first,  Him  last,  Him  midst,  and  without  end." 


6  THE    LIFE    OF  LIVES. 

As  they  have  contemplated  Him,  in  the  Unity  of  the 
Father  and  the  Holy  Spirit,  they  have  exclaimed,  "Whom 
have  we  in  heaven  but  Thee  ?  "  and  as  they  have  felt  the 
penetrative,  all-absorbing  influence  of  His  human  person- 
ality, they  have  exclaimed,  "  There  is  none  upon  earth  that 
I  desire  beside  Thee."  * 

I.  History  has  borne  its  witness  to  Him.  The  Jews, 
who  in  their  decadence  no  longer  listened  to  Moses  and  the 
Prophets,  but  to  Sadducean  Priests  and  posing  Pharisees, 
fell  into  utter  and  immediate  ruin  in  accordance  with  His 
prophecy.  The  grandeur  of  the  Roman  Empire  was  hum- 
bled to  the  dust,  and  vanished  before  Him.  The  Northern 
nations,  abandoning  their  ignorance  and  savagery,  knelt 
humbly  before  "  The  White  Christ,"  and,  conquerors 
though  they  were,  accepted  the  religion  of  the  Christians 
whom  they  had  conquered.  "  In  all  my  study  of  the  an- 
cient times,"  wrote  the  German  historian  Johann  von 
Miiller,  "  I  have  always  felt  the  want  of  something,  and  it 
was  not  till  I  knew  our  Lord  that  all  was  clear  to  me ;  with 
Him  there  is  nothing  that  I  am  not  able  to  solve."    | 

The  great  rulers  have  claimed  their  authority  from  Him 
alone,  and  have  confessed  His  absolute  pre-eminence.  The 
first  Christian  Emperor  wove  upon  the  labarum  of  his 
armies  His  cross  of  shame;  and  it  is  set  in  jewels  on  the 
diadems  of  many  kings.  The  oldest  crown  of  Europe — the 
famous  iron  crown  of  Lombard y — was  venerated  most  be- 
cause it  was  believed  to  be  made  of  an  iron  nail  from  the 
cross  on  Golgotha.  "  Bow  thy  head,  Sicambrian,"  said  St. 
Remigius  to  Clovis  after  the  victory  of  Tolbiac ;  "burn 
what  thou  hast  adored,  adore  what  thou  hast  burned  !  " 
Godfrey  of  Bouillon,  when  crowned  King  of  Jerusalem, 
would  not  wear  a  crown  of  gold  where  his  Saviour  had  worn 
a  crown  of  thorns.  Rudolph  of  Hapsburg,  founder  of  the 
great  Empire  of  Germany,  when  no  sceptre  could  be  found 
amid  the  tumult  of  his  coronation,  grasped  a  crucifix  and 
swore  that  that  should  be  his  sceptre.     Napoleon,  the  last 

*  Ps.  Ixxiii.  25. 


THE    DIVINE    BIRTH.  7 

great  conqueror  of  modern  days,  said  in  his  exile,  "  I  know 
men,  and  Jesus  Christ  is  not  a  man.  Superficial  minds  see  a 
resemblance  between  Christ  and  the  founders  of  empires  and 
the  gods  of  other  religions.  That  resemblance  does  not 
exist.  There  is  between  Christ  and  all  other  religions 
whatsoever  the  distance  of  infinity :  from  the  first  day  to 
the  last  He  is  the  same — always  the  same,  majestic,  simple, 
infinitely  firm  and  infinitely  gentle.  Between  Him  and 
whoever  else  in  the  world  there  is  no  possible  term  of 
comparison."  * 

2.  Poetry  is  the  choicest  flower  of  all  human  thought ; 
and  just  as  the  greatest  poets  of  the  ancient  world  who 
knew  God — like  Isaiah,  and  Amos,  and  the  Psalmists — had 
sung  of  the  coming  Christ,  so,  since  He  was  born,  all  the 
supremest  poets  without  exception — Dante,  Shakespeare, 
Milton,  Goethe,  Wordsworth,  Browning,  Tennyson — have 
come  to  Him  with  their  singing  robes  about  them,  and  laid 
their  garlands  most  humbly  at  His  feet.     Truly 

"  Piety  hath  found 
Friends  in  the  friends  of  Science,  and  true  prayer 
Has  flowed  from  lips  wet  with  Castalian  dews." 

Nay,  even  in  the  ancient  heathen  world,  supreme  poets  have 
stretched  blind  hands  of  faith  and  prayer  to  the  Unknown 
Deliverer,  ^schylus,  sublimest  of  the  Athenian  tragedians, 
in  his  greatest  drama,  makes  Hermes  say  to  Prometheus : 
"  Expect  not  at  all  any  termination  of  this  thy  anguish  till 
some  one  of  the  gods  appear  as  a  successor  to  thy  toils,  and 
be  willing  to  go  down  into  the  unlighted  Hades,  and  around 
the  gloomy  depths  of  Tartarus."f  And  Virgil,  sweetest  of  all 
the  Roman  singers,  wrote  in  his  Fourth  Eclogue  a  prophecy 
of  the  Golden  Age  which  was  at  hand,  and  the  Child  whose 
manhood  would  inaugurate  a  reign  of  peace  in  a  world  of 

*  In  a  conversation  with  Genl.  Bertrand,  Comte  de  Montholon,  HScii  de  la 
Captiv.  de  V Emperetir  NapoUon, 
f  iEsch.  Prom.  v.  1026-1029. 


8  THE    LIFE   OF   LIVES. 

beauty  ;  and  this  he  wrote  in  such  strains  as  almost  elevated 
him  to  the  rank  of  an  inspired  Seer. 

3.  Philosophy  has  occupied  the  minds  of  some  of  the 
loftiest  of  the  human  race,  and  it  has  been  the  lifelong 
pursuit  of  many  a 

"  Grey  spirit,  yearning  in  desire 
To  follow  knowledge,  like  a  guiding  star, 
Beyond  the  utmost  bounds  of  human  thought." 

But  these  grave  and  earnest  students  of  the  problem  of  the 
world  have  often  either  sunk  into  despondency,  like  Zeno 
and  Marcus  Aurelius,  for  lack  of  the  hope  which  Christ  has 
inspired  into  the  hearts  of  men  ;  or,  like  Plato,  they  have 
looked  yearningly  forward  to  some  Unseen  Deliverer  whom 
as  yet  they  knew  not,  though  they  were  convinced  of  the 
awful  necessity  for  His  Advent.  Kant  used  indignantly  to 
repel  every  word  spoken  against  the  historic  Saviour,  and 
regarded  himself  as  a  mere  bungler,  interpreting  Him  as 
best  he  could.*  "  Philosophy,"  said  Pico  della  Mirandola, 
"  j^^>^.f  truth.    .   .    KeUgion possesses  it."  f 

4.  Art  reveals  to  us  the  Unseen.  It  teaches  us  to  see, 
and  what  to  see,  and  to  see  more  than  we  see  with  our 
bodily  eyes ;  and  since  Christ  was  born,  all  the  greatest  Art 
in  the  world,  without  exception,  has  been  consecrated  to 
His  glory.  To  Him  have  been  reared  those  "  Epic  poems 
in  stone,"  those  glorious  Churches  and  Cathedrals,  shadowy 
with  immortal  memories,  which  make  us  exclaim, 

"  They  dreamt  not  of  a  perishable  home 
Who  thus  could  build  "; 

and  under  whose  hallowed  shade  we  feel  that 

"  Bubbles  burst,  and  folly's  dancing  foam 
Melts  if  it  cross  the  threshold." 

To  His  glory  the  greatest  of  sculptors  set  free  the  impris- 
oned angels  which,  to  his  imagination,  seemed  to  be  strug- 

*  Vorowski,  Life  of  Kant,  p.  86.  f  Pic.  Mirand.,  0pp.  359. 


THE   DIVINE    BIRTH.  9 

gling  in  the  blocks  of  unhewn  marble;  to  His  glory  Giotto 
and  Leonardo,  Raphael  and  Luini,  Vittore  Pisano  and 
Lorenzo  di  Credi,  Giovanni  Bellini  and  Carpaccio,  Albrecht 
Diirer  and  Holbein — and  with  them  the  greatest  of  all  the 
painters,  down  to  our  own  Millais,  and  Burne-Jones,  and 
Holman  Hunt — have  devoted  the  strongest  and  purest  of 
their  powers.  For  love  of  Him,  and  with  no  thought 
of  gain,  Fra  Angelico  and  Sandro  Botticelli  painted  their 
soft  and  silent  pictures,  even  as,  long  centuries  earlier,  the 
poor  and  persecuted  Christians  of  the  Catacombs  had  made 
the  walls  of  those  dark  corpse-crowded  galleries  bright 
with  their  emblems  of  Orpheus,  the  Dove,  the  Fish,  the 
Vine,  and  the  Fair  Shepherd  with  the  lamb  or  kid  upon  His 
shoulder.  From  the  earliest  dawn  of  the  Gospel  down  to 
the  present  day,  no  pictures  have  been  comparable  in 
greatness  to  those  in  which  the  supremest  artists  have  con- 
secrated to  the  memory  of  Christ  the  glory  of  the  fair 
colours,  and  the  inspiration  of  hallowed  thoughts. 

5.  And  to  take  one  other  all-embracing  sphere  of  human 
intellect,  the  sphere  of  SCIENCE,  in  that  region,  too,  the 
most  eminent  human  souls — men  like  Copernicus,  Bacon, 
Leibnitz,  Descartes,  Haller,  Pascal,  Ray,  Franklin,  Her- 
schell,  Agassiz,  Faraday,  and  many  others — not  losing  sight 
of  the  Creator  in  the  multitudinous  marvels  of  His  crea- 
tures, have  looked  to  Christ  as  their  Lord  and  their  God. 
"  A  little  Philosophie,"  as  Bacon  said,  "  inclineth  a  man's 
mind  to  Atheism,  but  depth  in  Philosophie  bringeth  men's 
minds  about  to  religion."*  Among  the  Coryphaei  of 
Science  two  names  stand  supreme — Kepler  and  Newton. 
Kepler  wrote  of  Christ  with  the  profoundest  reverence,  and 
Newton — "  the  whitest  of  human  souls  "  as  well  as  one  of 
the  most  richly  endowed — raised  his  adoring  eyes  to  heaven 
in  uttermost  simplicity,  and  sincerely  believed  in  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  with  all  his  heart.  The  first  mortal  eyes 
which  ever  observed  the  transit  of  Venus  were  those  of 
*  Bacon,  £ssay  16.     Of  Atheisme, 


lo  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

Jeremiah  Horrocks,  then  a  humble  curate  at  Hoole.  He 
hurried  to  his  telescope  in  the  intervals  between  three 
Sunday  services,  and,  though  his  observation  was  of  such 
consummate  astronomical  importance,  he  recorded  in  his 
diary — and  the  sentence  is  carved  upon  the  tablet  placed  to 
his  memory  two  centuries  later  in  Westminster  Abbey — 
that  he  broke  off  his  work  to  go  to  the  humble  service  in 
the  little  village  church — '^  ad  major  a  avocatus  quae  ob  haec 
parerga  negligi  noji  decuit^ 

On  one  occasion  a  friend.  Sir  Henry  Acland,  found 
Michael  Faraday  in  tears  ;  with  his  head  bent  over  an  open 
Bible.  "  I  fear  you  are  feeling  worse,"  he  said.  "  No," 
answered  Faraday,  "  it  is  not  that ;  but  why,  oh,  why  will 
not  men  believe  the  blessed  truths  here  revealed  to  them  ?" 
A  humble  and  reverent  study  of  the  laws  which  God  has 
impressed  upon  the  Universe  has  made 

"  The  pale-featured  sage's  trembling  hand 
Strong  as  a  host  of  armed  deities, 
Such  as  the  blind  Ionian  fabled  erst : " 

and  yet  of  those  sages,  from  Copernicus  to  Faraday,  and 
down  to  the  most  eminent  of  our  living  students  of  Science, 
the  foremost  have  not  only  had  faith  in  God,  but  also  have 
believed  rightly  in  the  Incarnation  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ. 

6.  So,  then,  for  Earth's  loftiest  intellects — as  one  of  the 
foremost  and  most  learned  poets  of  our  own  generation 
has  sung — 

"  The  acknowledgment  of  God  in  Christ, 
Accepted  by  the  reason,  solves  for  thee 
All  pro)3lems  in  the  world,  and  out  of  it." 

And  the  same  is  true  of  those  who  have  evinced  a  yet 
diviner  greatness  by  scaling  the  loftiest  moral  heights  and 
showing  the  utmost  glories  of  self-sacrifice.  If  the  men  of 
loftiest  genms  in  the  world  have  acknowledged  Christ,  this 
was  if  possible  even  more  the  case  with  those  who  have 


THE    DIVINE    BIRTH.  ii 

conferred  on  the  Human  race  the  highest  and  most  deep- 
reaching  services  of  pity  and  goodness.  What  was  it  but 
the  Divine  trembling  pity  which  he  had  learned  from 
Christ,  and  the  commission  which  he  had  received  from 
Him,  that  sent  forth  St,  Paul  to  preach  the  Gospel  amid 
his  daily  death  of  hatreds,  miseries,  and  cruel  persecutions, 
till,  like  the  blaze  of  beacon  fires  kindled  from  hill  to  hill, 
its  glory  flashed  from  Jerusalem  to  Antioch,  to  Ephesus, 
and  to  Troas,  and  thence  leapt  over  the  sea  to  Athens,  to 
Corinth,  to  Imperial  Rome,  and  even  to  our  Britain,  the 
Ultima  TJiule  of  the  World  ?  What  made  the  Roman 
lady  Fabiola  spend  her  fortune  in  founding  hospitals  at 
Rome,  and  in  distant  lands?  Why  did  St.  Jerome  bury 
himself  in  the  Cave  of  the  Nativity  at  Bethlehem  to  trans- 
late the  Bible  from  the  Hebrew  into  Latin  ?  What  made 
the  boy  St.  Benedict  fly  from  the  allurements  of  Rome  to 
the  Rocks  of  Subiaco  and  found  the  order  to  which  learn- 
ing owes  so  deep  a  debt?  Why  did  St.  Bonaventura, 
when  asked  the  source  of  his  great  learning,  point  in 
silence  to  his  Crucifix?  Why  did  St.  Thomas  Aquinas, 
when  asked  by  Christ  in  vision.  Bene  scripsisti  de  me,  TJioma. 
Quain  mercedem  recipies?  reply  immediately  '■'■  Non  aliam 
nisi  Te,  Domine  ?  ''  Why  did  sweet  St.  Francis  of  Assisi 
strip  himself  of  everything,  and,  by  living  as  a  pauper  and 
a  beggar,  infuse  new  life  and  holiness  into  an  apostatising 
and  luxurious  world  ?  What  led  St.  Francis  Xavier  to  lay 
aside  his  rank  and  his  pleasures,  and  become  a  wandering 
missionary,  gaining  by  his  sacrifice  a  happiness  so  intense 
that  he  even  prayed  God  not  to  pour  upon  him  such  a 
flood-tide  of  rapturous  beatitude  ?  What  sent  the  Baptist 
cobbler,  William  Carey,  with  his  first  collection  of  ;^I3 
2s.  6d.,  to  evangelise  the  mighty  Continent  of  Hindostan  ? 
Every  one  of  these,  and  thousands  more  of  all  those  whose 
lives  have  been  a  blessing  to  the  world,  would  have 
answered  "CHRIST." 

What  but  the  love  of  Christ  constraining  him  led  John 


12  THE   LIFE   OF   LIVES. 

Howard  to  toil  among  plague-stricken  prisoners,  until  his 
death  at  Cherson,  on  the  Black  Sea,  "  clothed  a  nation  in 
spontaneous  mourning,"  and  "  he  went  down  to  his  grave 
amid  the  benedictions  of  the  poor "  ?  What  made 
Elizabeth  Fry  go  unaccompanied  among  the  wild,  de- 
graded, brutalised  women  of  Newgate,  and  take  them  by 
the  hand,  and  raise  them  from  the  depths  of  their  fallen 
humanity?  Why  did  men  like  Thomas  Clarkson,  Granville 
Sharpe,  Zachary  Macaulay,  and  William  Wilberforce,  with 
an  energy  which  nothing  could  daunt,  with  a  persistence 
nothing  could  interrupt,  use  their  time,  their  talents,  their 
fortunes,  and  every  energy  of  their  minds  and  bodies — and 
that  in  spite  of  ridicule,  hatred,  peril,  and  reproach — "  to 
save  England  from  the  guilt  of  using  the  arm  of  freedom 
to  forge  the  fetters  of  the  slave  "  ?  *  What  sent  Father 
Damien  to  wretched  and  squalor-stricken  Molokai,  to  live, 
and  catch  the  leprosy,  and  die  a  leper  among  the  lepers  in 
the  dismal  isle  ?  What  made  Lord  Shaftesbury  vow  him- 
self, while  yet  he  was  a  Harrow  boy,  to  works  of  mercy 
which  added  the  brightest  jewel  to  the  glory  of  Queen 
Victoria's  reign  ?  What  enabled  him — amid  the  venomous 
attacks  of  the  Press  and  the  world,  and  the  chill  aloofness 
of  the  clergy — to  toil  on  until  he  had  inaugurated  the 
Ragged  School  movement,  and  passed  the  Ten  Hours  and 
the  Factory  Bills  ?  Why  should  the  poor  Portsmouth 
cobbler,  John  Pounds,  have  troubled  himself,  day  after 
day,  to  gather  the  ragged  waifs  into  his  stall,  and  teach 
them  with  letters  torn  down  from  the  advertisements  upon 
the  walls,  and  so — poor  and  ignorant  as  he  was^ — to  give  an 
impulse  to  our  great  national  system  of  education?  What 
influenced  Robert  Raikes,  the  Gloucester  printer,  to  begin 
the  work  which  established  Sunday  Schools  throughout 
the  length  and  breadth  of  the  world  ?  "I  thought,  Can  I 
do  nothing  for  all  these  wandering  little  ones  ?  A  voice  said 
to  me  '  Try.'  I  did  try,  and  lo  !  What  hath  God  wrought  I " 
*  From  the  epitaph  on  Granville  Sharpe  in  Westminster  Abbey. 


THE    DIVINE    BIRTH.  13 

Or  take  the  best  and  most  widely  known  of  the  effective 
workers  of  to-day  amid  the  slums  of  unutterable  squalor 
and  degradation.  Ask  them  what  is  the  hidden  force 
which  sustains  them  in  the  long  and  thankless  self-sacrifice 
of  their  lives,  amid  the  scorn  of  worldlings  and  formalists, 
who  look  down  upon  them  from  the  lordly  altitudes  of 
their  own  utter  inferiority.  What  made  General  Sir  Henry 
Havelock  face  so  many  sneers  for  holding  Bible  classes 
among  his  soldiers,  and  winning  them  to  Total  Abstinence  ? 
What  made  General  Gordon  so  kind  to  the  poor,  ragged, 
homeless  boys  of  Greenwich  ? 

One  and  all,  they  would  give  the  same  answer,  "  The 
Love  of  Christ  constraineth  us."  They  would  be  ready  to 
say  with  St.  Ignatius,  "  Come  fire,  and  the  cross,  and 
crowds  of  wild  beasts ;  come  tearings,  breakings,  and 
crunching  of  my  bones;  come  the  mutilation  of  my  mem- 
bers, and  shatterings  of  my  whole  body,  and  all  the  dread- 
ful torments  of  the  Devil,  so  I  may  but  attain  to  Jesus 
Christ."*  He  felt  that  "  he  who  is  near  to  the  sword,  he 
who  is  among  the  wild  beasts,  is  near  to  God."  f 

We  are  trying,  they  would  say,  to  walk  in  the  footsteps, 
we  are  trying  to  continue  the  work,  of  Him  who  was  the 
Good  Physician,  of  Him  who  went  about  doing  good. 
We  would  fain  be  imitators  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus 
Christ — of  Him  who  taught  that  Love  is  the  fulfilling  of 
the  Law  ;  of  Him  who  summed  up  the  Law  of  God  in 
Love  to  Him  and  to  our  neighbour.  Has  any  unbeliever 
rendered  to  mankind  the  millionth  part  of  such  immortal 
services  ?  I  am  not  aware  of  a  single  supreme  effort  for 
the  amelioration  of  the  manifold  miseries  of  mankind  which 
has  not  been  due  to  the  inspiration  of  Christian  enthusiasm. 
"  There  is  nothing  fruitful  but  sacrifice  " — and  the  noblest 
and  most  continuous  self-sacrifice  which  the  world  has  seen 
has  sprung  simply  from  the  belief  in,  and  the  imitation  of, 
Jesus  Christ. 

*  Ignat.  E^.  ad  Rom,  v.  \  id.  ad  Smyrn.  iv. 


14  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

Christianity,  then,  is  the  highest,  the  most  divine,  the 
most  eternal  blessing  in  the  world.  It  has  been  so  in  all 
these  nineteen  centuries;  it  is  so  in  all  the  best  conditions 
of  our  existence,  and  not  to  believers  only,  but  even  to 
those  who  deny,  even  to  those  who  blaspheme  Christ.  But 
Christianity,  had  it  only  been  a  dead  creed,  or  a  purified 
ideal,  or  an  organised  society,  would  have  been  powerless. 
As  a  system  of  doctrine,  or  a  code  of  loftier  morals,  it 
would  have  achieved  but  little.  The  permanent  life,  the 
regenerative  force,  the  irresistible  inspiration  of  Christianity 
is  Christ. 

It  will  be  seen,  then,  that  the  reason  why  we  believe  in 
the  records  of  that  miraculous  birth,  of  those  angel 
melodies,  of  those  bending  Magi,  is  not  only  because  they 
stand  recorded  by  those  who  were  far  too  feeble  to  have 
invented  them,  and  of  whom  every  one  would  have  said, 
"  I  would  rather  die  than  lie  " — but  because,  being  so 
recorded,  they  have  received  the  attestation  of  God  Him- 
self, seeing  that  the  whole  subsequent  history  of  the  world 
seems  to  us  to  have  set  its  seal  to  the  belief  that  they  are 
true. 

To  us  the  records  of  Christ  in  the  Gospels  seem  the 
reverse  of  non-natural  or  needless.  If  any  man  can  really 
believe  that  Humanity  is  the  result  of  the  working  of 
mechanical  laws,  deaf,  and  dead,  and  dumb,  "  blind  as 
Fate,  inexorable  as  tyranny,  merciless  as  death — which 
have  no  ear  to  hear,  no  heart  to  pity,  and  no  arm  to 
save  " ;  if  any  man  can  really  persuade  himself,  not  that 
"  God  formed  man  out  of  the  dust  of  the  earth,  and 
breathed  into  his  nostrils  the  breath  of  life,"  but  that  man 
is]  only  the  accident  of  accidents — the  casual  outcome  of 
unconscious  material  forces — then  with  such  a  man  it  is 
simply  impossible  to  argue  at  all.  His  mental  peculiarities 
must  be  wholly  different  in  kind  from  those  of  the  human 
race  in  general.  And  deep  below  the  surface  of  an  avowed 
infidelity  there  often  lurks  an  instinctive  conviction  that, 


THE    DIVINE    BIRTH.  15 

after  all,  we  are  the  creatures  of  God's  hand.  Even  the 
reckless  and  depraved  conspirator,  who  made  an  arrogant 
boast  of  his  shallow  scepticism,  cried  out  on  the  scaffold, 
"  O  God,  if  there  be  a  God,  save  my  soul,  if  I  have  a  soul ! " 
But  if  we  believe  even  so  elementary  a  truth  as  that 
God  made  man,  then  if  God  created  the  first  Adam— if 
God  created  him  who,  whether  literally  or  in  an  allegory, 
fell  by  eating  that  forbidden  fruit 

"  Whose  moral  taste 
Brought  sin  into  the  world,  and  all  our  woe  " — 

we  cannot  see  the  least  difficulty  in  the  belief  that  God  also 
clothed  with  human  existence,  by  the  exercise  of  His 
supernatural  power,  His  own  Son,  the  second  Adam,  who 
came  to  redeem  and  save  the  fallen  race.  If  indeed,  God 
were  some  ruthless  Moloch,  to  be  appeased  by 

"  Blood 
Of  children's  sacrifice,  and  parents'  tears  "; 

if  He  were  like  the  Ahriman  of  the  Persians,  or  the  Typhon 
of  the  Egyptians,  or  the  Sheeva  of  the  Hindoos,  or  the 
Atua  of  the  New  Zealanders — we  might  suppose  that  He 
would  care  nothing  whether  men  perished  in  utter  misery 
and  corruption  or  not.  But  to  all  who  believe  that  God  is 
Love,  and  that,  in  spite  of  the  insoluble  problem  of  the 
existence  of  evil,  "  love  is  creation's  primal  law,"  to  them 
a  Divine  interposition  for  the  redemption  and  deliverance 
of  mankind  seems  even  more  in  accordance  with  Eternal 
Power  than  man's  original  creation.  The  instinct  of  mercy 
in  our  own  nature  forbids  us  to  accept  the  Epicurean  dream 
of  gods  who  lie  beside  their  nectar  and 

"  Smile  in  secret,  looking  over  wasted  lands, 

Blight  and  famine,  plague  and  earthquake,  stormy  deeps  and  fiery 

sands. 
Clanging  fights,  and  flaming  towns,  and  sinking  ships,  and  praying 

hands," 


i6  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

If  Creation  be  but  an  ordinary  exercise  of  the  Divine 
power,  why  should  T^^-crcation  be  less  so  ?  If  God  made 
man,  and  "  breathed  into  his  nostrils  the  breath  of  life 
and  man  became  a  living  soul,"  why  was  it  impossible  or 
unlikely  that  Christ  should  be  "born  of  a  pure  Virgin"? 
What  seems  impossible  to  man  is  always  possible  to  God. 
And  when  God  saw  His  children — and  "we  are  all  His  off- 
spring," as  even  the  heathen  recognised* — wandering  and 
lost  in  the  wilderness  of  shame  and  death — since  God  is 
God,  and  God  is  Love,  it  would  have  seemed  to  us  infinitely 
less  believable  that  He  would  leave  the  creatures  of  His 
hand  to  perish  in  their  wickedness,  than  that  His  mercy 
should  provide  for  them  a  way  of  salvation.  There  is  no 
other  name  under  heaven  whereby  we  can  be  saved,  except 
the  name  of  Christ ;  and  this  seems  to  us  a  sufificient  reason 
for,  a  sufiEicient  explanation  of,  the  truth  that  for  us  men 
and  for  our  salvation,  Christ  took  our  nature  upon  Him, 
and  was  made  in  the  likeness  of  sinful  flesh. 

And  the  more  we  study  and  learn  what  Christ  was,  and 
how  He  lived,  and  what  He  has  done,  the  deeper  will  be 
this  our  conviction  that  He  whom  we  worship.  He  whom 
we  acknowledge  as  the  Lord  of  Glory,  came  not  into  the 
world  by  the  ordinary  processes  of  human  birth,  but  that 
when  the  fulness  of  the  time  was  come,  "  God  sent  forth 
His  Son,  born  of  a  woman,  born  under  the  Law,  that  we 
might  receive  the  adoption  of  sons."  f 

But  after  all,  the  strongest  part  of  the  evidence  to  us  is 
that  we  have  "  the  witness  in  ourselves."  %  We  know  that 
God  is  He  "who  also  stamped  us  as  with  a  seal  for  Him- 
self, and  gave  us  the  earnest  " — the  arrhabo,  at  once  pledge 
and  part  payment — "  of  the  Spirit  in  our  hearts.'"  It  is 
^^  witli  the  heart  that  man  believeth  unto  righteousness."  § 
If  we   would  see  Christ,  we  must,  as  Origen  said,  leave  the 

*Acts  xvii.  28.     rot)  yap  koX  yivog  ka/xiv  (St.  Paul,  quoting  from  Aratus  and 
Cleanthes.     C/.  Virgil  Q(org.,  iv.  221-25). 
\  Gal.  iv.  4,  1 1  John  v.  10,  §  Rom.  x,  lo, 


THE    DIVINE    BIRTH.  17 

crowd  of  faithless  disciples  with  the  demoniac  whom  they 
cannot  cure,  and  must  ascend  the  mountain  top.*  Of 
every  true  Christian  it  may  be  said  that  "  His  seed  is  in 
him  !  "  f  and  if  '*  the  natura/  ma.n  receiveth  not  the  things  of 
the  Spirit  of  God  because  "  they  are  foolishness  unto  him,";}: 
yet  spiritual  things  are  spiritually  discerned.  They  who 
are  spiritually-minded  recognise  the  truth  not  only  by  the 
reason,  but  by  the  heart. §  "  Christian  faith  is  a  grand 
cathedral,  with  divinely-pictured  windows.  Standing  ivt^/i- 
out  you  see  no  glory,  nor  can  possibly  imagine  any; 
standing  ivithin,  each  ray  of  light  reveals  a  harmony  of 
unspeakable  splendour."  || 

This  is  a  demonstration  stronger  than  any  criticism  can 
take  away,  though  to  all  such  criticism,  even  on  its  own 
chosen  ground,  we  can  offer  what  to  us — as  to  the  vast 
majority  of  God's  most  gifted  as  well  as  of  His  humblest 
sons — seems  to  be  a  decisive  refutation. 

*  Orig.  c.  Cels.  vi.  77.  f  r  John  iii.  9.  :j:  i  Cor.  ii.  14. 

§  Pascal,  Pens^es,  iii.  208.  H  Nath.  Hawthorne,  Transformation,  p.  262. 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE   UNIQUE   SUPREMACY   OF  JESUS. 

"  To  whom  will  ye  liken  Me,  and  make  Me  equal,  and  compare  Me,  that 
we  may  be  like  ?" — Is.  xlvi.  5. 

AvTog  EvrivOp^irr/aEv,  Iva  ^fielg  QeoiroirjOufiEv. — AthaNASIUS,  De  Incarn.,  p. 

51- 

"  Dictmur  et  filii  Dei ;  sed  Ille  aliter  Filius  Dei." — Augustine,  in 
Ps.  ii. 

"  Try  all  the  ways  of  righteousness  you  can  think  of,  and  you  will  find 
no  way  brings  you  to  it  except  the  way  of  Jesus." — Matthew  Arnold. 

We  believe,  then,  in  the  Miraculous  Birth  of  our  Saviour 
Christ;  and  our  belief  is  confirmed  when  we  examine  the 
records  of  all  history  through  and  through,  and  find  that  the 
Babe,  at  whose  birth  the  heavens  burst  open  to  disclose 
their  radiant  minstrelsies,  stood  ALONE,  UNIQUE,  SUPREME 
among  all  the  million  millions  of  every  age  of  all  the  sons 
of  men.  It  would  be  more  amazing  that  such  an  one — 
"  holy,  harmless,  undefiled,  separate  from  sinners,"  and, 
even  in  His  human  humiliation,  but  "  a  little  lower  than 
the  angels  "  ; — that  One  who  has  thus  visibly  been  made 
"the  heir  of  all  things"; — that  One  who  was  foremost  in 
the  love  and  adoration  of  countless  brethren,  and  to  them 
a  motive  force  of  incomparable  and  inexhaustible  vitality, — 
should  have  been  born  not  otherwise  than  the  mass  of 
ordinary  men.  An  infinite  catastrophe  required  an  infinite 
interference.  God  had  created  men  sinless;  it  required  a 
new  man,  even  the  Lord  from  Heaven,  to  uplift  him  from 
that  gulf  of  sin  into  which  he  had  been  plunged  by  choos- 
ing the  evil,  and  refusing  the  good,  until  his  whole  nature 

18 


UNIQUE    SUPREMACY   OF   JESUS.     19 

had  become  perverted,  the  whole  head  sick,  and  the  whole 
heart  faint. 

And  here  is  a  point  which  may  be  tested.  The  records  of 
the  ages  are  open  to  us.  History  unfolds  to  our  eyes  her 
ample  page,  **  rich  with  the  spoils  of  time."  We  know 
enough  of  tens  of  thousands  of  human  beings  to  enable  us 
to  judge  of  them  ;  and  we  know  enough  at  least  of  all  the 
greatest  of  mankind  to  enable  us  to  compare  them  with 
Him  whom  we  worship  as  the  Son  of  God. 

The  unique  supremacy  of  Jesus  is  especially  illustrated 
by  His  sinlessness.  By  confession  of  all  Scripture,  and  of 
all  humanity,  from  the  beginning  until  now,  there  never 
has  been  any  other  man  who,  being  in  human  flesh,  was 
not  a  sinner.  There  is  no  man  that  sinneth  not,  no,  not 
one.*  Our  Lord  Himself  said  to  His  disciples,  "  When  ye 
have  done  all  that  is  commanded  you,  say.  We  are  unprof- 
itable servants."  f  A  thousand  years  earlier  the  Psalmist 
had  said,  Enter  not  into  judgment  with  Thy  servant,  O 
Lord,  for  in  Thy  sight  shall  no  man  living  be  justified."  | 
Seven  and  a  half  centuries  before  the  Incarnation,  Isaiah 
had  said,  "  We  are  all  as  an  unclean  thing,  and  [all  our 
righteousnesses  are  as  filthy  rags."  §  But  those  who  knew, 
and  day  by  day  had  lived  with  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  had 
watched  His  least-actions,  and  shared  His  inmost  thoughts, 
bear  witness  with  one  voice  that  "  He  did  no  sin."  ||  And 
He,  in  whose  mouth  there  was  no  guile,  and  who  was  "  meek 
and  lowly  of  heart,"  yet  spoke  of  Himself,  as  did  all  His 
Apostles,  as  of  one  who  could  not  sin,^  and  as  always  doing 
the  things  that  pleased  God.  ** 

Other  human  beings  have  become  the  founders  of  forms 

*  I  Kings  viii,  46  ;     Rom.  iii.  10.  \  Luke  xvii.  10. 

X  Ps.  cxliii.  2.  §  Is.  Ixiv.  6.     R.  V.  "  A  polluted  garment." 

\  I  John  iii.  5  ;     i  Pet.  ii.  22. 

1[  Heb.  vii.  26.    Comp.  iv.  15  ;  2  Cor.  v.  2i  ;  i  Pet.  i.  19,  ii.  22,  iii.  18  ;  Rev. 
iii.  7. 

**  John  viii.  29. 


20  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

of  religion  adopted  by  whole  peoples  and  generations,  and 
have  been  surrounded  by  legends  with  a  blaze  of  miracles. 
Yet  enough  has  been  recorded  of  their  lives  and  teaching 
to  enable  us  to  contrast  them  with  the  Saviour  of  the 
World,  and  to  show  that  they  lie  as  far  beneath  Him  as  the 
earth  is  beneath  the  highest  heaven. 

Let  us  take  three  such — the  founders  of  the  three  reli- 
gions to  which,  with  Christianity,  the  great  majority  of  the 
human  race  belong. 

I.  Buddhism  is  said  to  number  among  its  votaries  many 
millions  of  mankind,  or  nearly  one-third  of  the  human  race. 
"The  Buddha"  is  not  the  name,  but  the  title  of  the 
founder;  his  name  was  Gotama,  and  he  was  often  spoken 
of  as  Sakya  Muni,  or  "  Sakya  the  Sage."  He  was  born 
about  B.  c.  624.  Nearly  every  fact  and  detail  of  his  life  is 
lost  in  the  dim  mist  of  extravagant  traditions.  He  lived 
in  prehistoric  times,  and  the  sacred  book — the  Tripitaka,  or 
"  Three  Baskets  " — which  professes  to  record  his  doctrine, 
was  not  given  to  the  world  till  centuries  after  his  death. 
Of  Sakya  Muni  therefore  we  can  only  judge  by  the  religion 
which  he  taught — by  the  ideal  which  he  set  before  himself 
and  his  followers,  and  the  results  which  that  religion  has 
produced  in  the  world. 

Though  in  a  certain  sense  Sakya  Muni  may  be  called 
"The  Light  of  Asia,"  and  though  Buddhism  numbers  more 
adherents  than  any  other  religion  in  the  world,  yet,  tried 
by  any  standard  whatever,  Buddha  cannot  for  a  moment 
be  placed  in  the  most  distant  comparison  with  Christ. 

His  ideal  was  in  some  essential  particulars  radically  false, 
and  even  pernicious.  There  is  an  uncleanly  abjectness  in 
some  of  his  precepts,  a  narrow  selfishness  in  his  morality. 
His  religion  is  a  dreary  atheism  which  tends  to  merge  into 
idolatry  *  ;  his  heaven  an  extinction  of  individual  exist- 
ence ;   his   piety  a   perverted    bodily   service.     He   taught 

*  "  II  n*y  a  pas  trace  de  I'idee  de  Dieu  dans  le  Boudhisme  entier."  Barth. 
St.  Hilaire,  Le  Buddha,  p.  iv. 


UNIQUE   SUPREMACY   OF  JESUS.     21 

that  there  was  "  no  God,  no  creation,  no  Creator — nothing 
but  Mind  minding  itself."*  "  Insufficient  for  Time,  and  re- 
jecting Eternity,  the  triumph  of  his  religion  is  to  live  with- 
out fear,  and  to  die  without  hope."  f  Its  ideal  is  the  life  of 
its  Bhikshahs,  who,  besides  professing  faith  in  Buddha,  en- 
gaged to  lead  a  life  of  self-denial,  celibacy,  and  mendicancy, 
and  to  e7istrange  themselves  from  all  domestic  and  social 
obligations.  X 

Buddhism,  among  many  other  glaring  deficiencies  and 
errors,  involves  a  practical  denial  of  the  doctrine  of  man's 
immortality.  It  is  a  religion  of  despair,  for  it  only 
offers  a  possibility  of  weary  and  endless  metamorphoses,  to 
be  crowned  at  last  by  that  obliteration  of  personal  exist- 
ence— that  final  loss  of  individuality — to  which  he  gave 
the  name  of  Nirvana.  Barth^lemy  St.  Hilaire,  who  made 
a  special  study  of  the  subject,  says,  "  his  religion  is  a  spirit- 
ualism without  soul,  a  virtue  without  duty,  a  morality 
without  liberty,  a  world  without  nature  and  without 
God." 

And  what  have  been  the  religious  results  of  Buddhism  ? 
There  are  men  of  excellent  character  and  holy  life  among 
Buddhists  as  in  all  other  religious  communities,  for  God 
doth  not  leave  Himself  without  witness  among  those  whom 
He  has  made,  and  "  in  every  nation  he  that  feareth  God 
and  doeth  righteousness  is  accepted  of  Him."  §  But 
Buddhism  as  a  religion  leaves  the  multitude  with  little  but 
a  false  ideal  and  an  unilluminated  despair.  "Vice  had  no 
intrinsic  hideousness,  and  virtue  was  another  name  for  cal- 
culating prudence ;  love  was  little  more  than  animal  sym- 

*  Max  Miiller,  Chips,  p.  269. 

f  Sir  J,  Em.  Tennant,  Christianity  in  Ceylon,  p.  227. 

X  Prof.  Wilson  says:  "  Belief  in  a  supreme  God  is  unquestionably  a  modem 
graft  upon  the  unqualified  atheism  of  Sakya  Muni"  {Journal  of  Asiat.  Soc, 
xvi.  255).  Wilson,  Essay,  i.  360.  "Sin  is,  in  the  view  of  the  Buddhist,  a 
necessary  thing:  it  is  a  cosmical  and  not  a  personal  evil."  Hardwick,  Christ 
and  Other  Masters,  i.  226. 

§  Acts  X.  35. 


22  THE    LIFE   OF   LIVES. 

pathy ;  duty  was  devoid  of  moral  motive.  The  Buddhist's 
principle  of  action  was  '  I  nmst ' ;  he  could  not  say  *  I 
ought.'  "  * 

And  the  «^//<?«^/ outcome  of  Buddhism  is  utterly  unin- 
spiring. It  wholly  fails  to  create  great  nations  or  heroic 
deeds.  The  nations  which  profess  it  wither  into  unpro- 
gressive  uselessness,  adding  little  or  nothing  to  the  litera- 
ture, the  art,  the  science,  the  political  wisdom,  or  the 
moral  enthusiasm  of  the  human  race.f  "  Its  inherent 
principles  were  such  as  left  it  well-nigh  powerless  in  the 
training  of  society,  and  therefore  it  has  left  the  countries 
which  it  over-ran  the  prey  of  superstition  and  of  demon- 
worship,  of  political  misrule  and  spiritual  lethargy." 

2.  Take  another  religious  founder,  CONFUCIUS,  or  Kung- 
foo-tsze.  He  was  born  B.  c.  551,  a  few  years  after  the 
death  of  the  Buddha.  The  personal  life  of  Confucius  was 
highly  respectable  and  correct,  but  his  religion,  if  religion 
it  can  be  called,  does  not  furnish  us  with  a  single  inspiring 
element.  It  was  all  lived  on  the  dead  level  of  conventional 
commonplace.  It  was  an  ideal  of  cold  propriety  and  arti- 
ficial respectability.  It  laid  great  stress  on  etiquette.  He 
was  narrow,  cautious,  and  conservative.  In  Confucianism 
there  is  hardly  any  worship  except  the  worship  of  ances- 
tors, and  yet  it  is  very  doubtful  whether  Kung-foo-tsze 
even  believed  in  the  actual  continuance  of  life  after  death. 
When  closely  questioned  on  the  subject  he  only  gave  hesi- 
tating and  uncertain  answers.  All  that  he  could  say  was 
that  "  he  sacrificed  to  the  dead  as  if  they  were  present,"  if 
and  he  said  to  his  disciple  Ke  Lob,  "  While  you  do  not 
know  about  life,  how  can  you  know  about  death  ?  "  "  He 
threw  no  new  light,"  says  Dr.  Legge,  **  on  any  of  the  ques- 
tions that  have  a  world-wide  interest.  He  gave  no  impulse 
to  religion.     He  had  no  sympathy  with  progress."  §     "  The 

*  Hardwick,  i.  239.  f  Barthelemy  St.  Hilaire,  Le  Bouddha. 

\Li-ki,  p.  121  (Ed.  Gallery). 

§  Legge,  Life  and  Teaching  of  Confucius,  p.  115. 


UNIQUE    SUPREMACY   OF   JESUS.     23 

last  words  he  uttered  savour  not  of  hope  and  exultation, 
but  of  bitter  disappointment." 

The  religion  of  Confucius  can  hardly  be  called  a  religion 
at  all.  It  might  be  described  as  conventional  polytheism, 
merging  into  atheism.  *  He  deliberately  avoided  the  sub- 
jects of  God  and  Immortality.  It  is  true  that,  in  the  arid 
desert  of  his  writings,  one  may  find  here  and  there  a  tiny 
oasis.  Once,  when  his  disciple  Tsze  Kung  asked  him  to 
sum  up  all  religion  in  one  word,  he  answered,  "  Is  not  reci- 
procity such  a  word  ?  "  f ;  and  by  "  reciprocity  "  he  meant 
something  distantly  akin,  though  immeasurably  inferior  to 
"  altruism  " — a  faint  and  far  analogy  of  our  duty  to  our 
neighbour.  Again,  I  find  in  his  writings  the  sentence, 
"Heaven  means  principle."  I  am  informed  by  a  Chinese 
scholar  of  the  highest  authority  that  it  is  extremely  doubt- 
ful whether  this  translation  is  correct,  for  it  is  taken  from 
the  maxims  professedly  drawn  from  the  works  of  Kung-foo- 
tsze  by  the  Jesuit  R^gis,  the  genuineness  and  exactitude  of 
whose  Confucian  aphorisms  has  been  seriously  questioned. 
But  here  again  we  must,  in  any  case,  interpret  the  maxim 
by  the  illustration  of  it  in  the  sage's  life  ;  and,  put  to  this 
test,  it  shrivels  into  very  small  dimensions. 

And  what  result  has  Confucius  produced  in  the  empire 
in  which  his  teaching  prevails  ?  It  is  an  empire  of  stagnant 
decadence,  full  of  corruption  and  cruelty.  The  Chinese 
are  like  a  clever  boy,  who  has  grown  to  manhood,  but  whose 
mental  development  has  been  arrested  at  fifteen.  Their 
religion  has  ended  in  deplorable  morals,  contented  futility, 
and  unprogressive  stagnation.  Its  meagre  formalism  has 
never  attracted  the  least  respect  from  the  inquirers  of  the 
world. 

3.  We  know  much  more  of  Mohammed,  the  founder  of 
the  fourth  great  religion  of  the  world,  than  we  do  of  Sakya 
Muni  or  Kung-Foo-Tsze.     But  to  compare  him  with  the 

*  Neumann,  in  Ilgen  Zeitschr.,  vii.  ig. 
\  Doctrine  of  the  Mean ^  xx.     Analects,  xv. 


24  THE    LIFE   OF   LIVES. 

Lord  Christ  would  be  a  falsity  too  glaring  for  the  most 
fanatical  unbeliever.  In  his  own  Qu'ran  he  stands  con- 
demned. He  has  to  defend  his  sensual  irregularities  by  the 
fraud,  or  the  self-deception,  of  pretended  revelations.*  He 
knew  himself  too  well  to  make  any  claim  of  moral  perfec- 
tion. In  one  Sura  (48)  God  says  to  him,  "  We  have 
granted  thee  a  decisive  victory,  that  Allah  may  forgive  thee 
thy  sins,  both  past  and  future  "  ;  and  in  another  (40)  he  is 
bidden  to  pray  for  the  forgiveness  of  his  sins.  His  last 
broken  words  were  :  "  O  God,  pardon  my  sins — yes — I 
come." 

Looking  at  Islam  as  a  religion — its  fanatical  intolerance, 
its  savage  ruthlessness,  its  demoralising  polygamy,  its  ever- 
deepening  rottenness — who  would  dream  of  comparing  it 
even  for  a  moment  with  the  religion  of  Christ  ? 

And  what  has  been  the  destiny  of  Mohammedan  nations  ? 
Theoretically,  both  Mohammed  and  his  followers  recognised 
the  holiness  and  the  prophetic  mission  of  Jesus — whom 
they  nominally  venerate  as  the  prophet  Issa — though  in 
many  countries  they  spit  in  execration  when  a  Christian 
passes  them.  The  strength  of  Mohammedanism  in  Arabia, 
and  in  the  countries  which  were  conquered  by  its  votaries,  lay 
in  its  proclamation  of  one  great  forgotten  truth — the  Unity 
of  God.  All  that  is  of  eternal  validity  in  Islam  its  prophet 
learned  directly  from  Jews  and  from  Christians.  Beyond 
this,  it  contains  hardly  a  single  element  of  the  smallest 
value.  Mohammed  did  indeed  render  one  service  to  his 
adherents  by  the  rigorous  prohibition  of  strong  drink.  To 
this  is  due  the  fact  that  a  Turk  will,  in  a  fortnight,  recover 
from  wounds  which  would  send  an  ordinary  English  soldier 
to  a  certain  grave.  But  when  the  first  dan  of  splendid  fanat- 
icism ceased,  one  Mohammedan  nation  after  another  sank 
into  effete  corruption.  Nothing  can  be  lower,  more 
squalid,  more  wretched,  more  depraved  than  the  condition 

*  See  his  conduct  towards  Zeinab,  the  wife  of  his  faithful  servant  Zeyd. 
Qu'ran  xxxiii.  36.     His  ideal  of  Paradise  is  purely  sensual.     Id.  Ivi.  22. 


UNIQUE   SUPREMACY   OF  JESUS.     25 

of  entire  Mohammedan  populations  in  Asia  ;  and  in  Europe 
the  heart  of  humanity  is  sickened  by  the  debasement,  the 
brutality,  and  the  many  atrocities  of  "  the  unspeakable 
Turk." 

By  comparison,  then,  with  the  founders  of  the  main  reli- 
gions of  the  world,  Jesus  stands  not  only  supreme,  but 
absolutely  incomparable.  He  is  elevated  above  them  as 
high  as  the  heaven  is  above  the  earth.  He  is  separated 
from  their  human  imperfections  by  an  interspace  as  wide 
as  the  East  is  from  the  West. 

Perhaps,  however,  it  will  be  said  that  Sakya  Muni, 
Kung-foo-tsze,  and  Mohammed  were  Easterns  and  Asiatics  ; 
and  that  Europe  has  ever  been  the  continent  of  energy,  of 
progress,  of  the  supremacy  of  human  thought. 

Well,  the  annals  of  the  human  race  lie  open  before  us. 
We  know  intimately  all  that  can  be  known  of  "  the  glory 
that  was  Greece,  and  the  grandeur  that  was  Rome."  The 
Greeks  and  Romans  were  the  dominant  progressive  races 
of  the  ancient  world.  They  belonged  to  the  noblest  branch 
of  the  human  family,  and  spoke  languages  memorable  for 
strength,  beauty,  and  perfectness.  They  have  expressed 
their  thoughts  and  aspirations  in  literature  which  can  never 
die.  Surely,  if  anywhere  in  the  wide  world,  we  might  look 
among  these  great  and  glorious  nations  for  some  men — if 
such  have  ever  existed — who  can  be  put  in  comparison 
tvith  the  man  Christ  Jesus. 

Is  even  one  such  to  be  found  ? 

i.  The  Greeks — and  especially  the  Athenians — in  the 
culmination  of  their  national  development,  were  a  truly 
splendid  race.  Physically  they  could  boast  of  specimens  of 
beauty,  and  of  perfection  in  the  development  of  "  the 
human  form  divine,"  such  as  the  world  has  never  seen  sur- 
passed. Intellectually  they  produced,  in  the  course  of  little 
more  than  one  brief  century,  a  galaxy  of  brilliant  stars. 
Their  average  intellect  was  far  above  the  average  intellect 
of  Englishmen.     They  had  philosophers   like    Heraclitus, 


26  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

Thales,  Socrates,  Plato,  Zeno,  Epicurus,  and  Aristotle, 
"  the  master  of  those  who  know."  They  had  poets  like 
Pindar,  yEschylus,  Euripides,  Sophocles,  Aristophanes, 
and  many  more.  They  had  historians  like  Herodotus, 
Thucydides,  and  Xenophon  ;  orators  like  Demosthenes ; 
statesmen  like  Pericles;  men  of  science  like  Archimedes 
and  Euclid  ;  sculptors  like  Phidias  and  Praxiteles  ;  painters 
like  Zeuxis  and  Parrhasius;  soldiers  like  Miltiades,  Themis- 
tocles,  Alexander.  Did  a  race  so  gifted  produce  in  its 
zenith  one  man  who  can  for  a  moment  be  placed  in  com- 
parison with  Christ  ? 

The  name  of  SoCRATES  might  occur  to  some,  but  not  to 
any  who  have  most  deeply  studied  what  is  recorded  of  him. 
That  no  Greek  known  to  us  was  more  outwardly  blameless 
than  he,  may  at  once  be  conceded  ;  yet  both  of  his  revering 
disciples,  Xenophon  and  Plato,  represent  items  of  behaviour, 
and  describe  incidents  in  his  biography,  which,  had  they 
been  narrated  of  Christ,  would  instantly  shatter  every 
fragment  of  belief  that  He  was  "  God  manifest  in  the  flesh." 
The  family  life  of  Socrates,  his  views  about  ordinary  moral 
questions,  his  estimate  of  women,  who  constitute  one-half 
of  the  human  race,  rose  in  no  particular  above  the  ordinary 
Greek  ideal.  He  could  make  himself  intentionally  and 
intolerably  irritating.  His  attitude  towards  sin  was  danger- 
ously, even  ruinously,  tolerant  and  familiar.  Can  we 
conceive  of  the  humblest  of  Christ's  followers  talking  as 
Socrates  talked  with  Theodota*  or  with  Agathon,f  or  mak- 
ing the  coarse  remark  which  he  made  about  Critias  ?  or 
dismissing  his  wife  and  children  in  the  hour  of  death  with 
the  cold  remark,  "Let  some  one  lead  her  away  home.":|: 
Even  taking  the  word  "  sinless "  {^ocvajxaprrjro?.)  in  its 
lowest  and  most  externally  legal  aspect,  Xenophon  himself 
says  in  so  many  words,  "  I  see  no  single  human  being  con- 
tinuing in  a  sinless  course," — and  that,  be  it  remembered, 
though  sins  of  sensuality  were  regarded  by  most  Greeks — 
*Xen.  Mem.  ii.  ii.  f  Plat.  Sympos.  p.  4,  X  Plato.  Phaed.  9. 


UNIQUE    SUPREMACY   OF   JESUS.     27 

even  by  the  most  eminent  philosophers,  and  apparently  by 
Socrates  himself — as  hardly  sins  at  all,  but  as  adtacpopa, 
matters  of  indifference  either  way.  Cicero  was  a  deep 
student  of  philosophy,  and  he  tells  us  that  all  the  philoso- 
phers were  at  variance  as  to  what  should  be  the  ideal  of  a 
man  perfect  in  wisdom,  "  if  ever  he  might  be  expected  to 
exist."  Even  from  a  purely  pagan  standard  he  could  not 
have  regarded  the  life  of  Socrates  as  spotless,  for  he  says, 
speaking  merely  of  the  victory  over  pain,  "  Never  yet  have 
we  seen  any  man  of  perfect  wisdom."  *  Never  has  the 
whole  world  seen  any  man — save  Christ  alone — in  whom 
there  has  been  either  perfect  wisdom  or  perfect  holiness. 
He  at  once  created  and  fulfilled  that  divine  ideal. 

Plato — amid  the  exotic  perfumes  of  many  of  his 
dialogues,  and  the  dry  dialectics  of  others — has  indeed 
written  for  us  one  of  the  most  remarkable  of  "  the  uncon- 
scious prophecies  of  Heathendom."  He  has  even  been 
called  "  a  plank  from  the  wreck  of  Paradise,  cast  upon  the 
shores  of  idolatrous  Greece."  f  Yet  what  chance  would 
Christianity  have  had  if  its  Apostles  and  Evangelists  had 
written  in  the  tone  of  the  Phaedrus  or  the  Symposium, 
or  devised  such  a  Republic  as  Plato's,  with  its  tolerated  and 
worse  than  tolerated  crimes,  including  the  degradation  of 
the  multitude,  the  exposition  of  children,  and  the  com- 
munity of  women?  Well  might  Plato  yearn  for  the  Deliv- 
erer for  whose  coming  he,  like  many  of  the  wisest  of  the 
heathen,  felt  there  was  an  awful  necessity,  and  who  (as  he 
believed)  would  come  at  last. 

But,  as  far  as  ethics  are  concerned,  the  ideal  drawn  by 
Plato  is  the  purely  negative  one  of  outward  integrity,  with 
no  reference  to  the  inner  life  or  to  the  heart,  out  of  which 
proceed  evil  thoughts;  nor  does  he  furnish  any  hint  of  the 
means  whereby  alone  this  ideal  can  be  attained.  He  seems 
only  to  have  regarded  it  as  a  picture  hanging  in  the  air, 

*  Cic.  Tusc.  Disp,  ii.  22.    See  Ullmann,  The  Sinlessness  of  Jesus,  p.  97.  G.  T, 
j-  Coleridge. 


28  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

and  neither  says  that  it  has  been,  nor  expresses  the  belief 
that  it  ever  will  be,  realised  in  human  life.* 

ii.  When  we  turn  from  the  Greeks  to  THE  ROMANS,  we 
find  an  imperial  race  which,  strong  in  patriotism  and 
courage,  conquered  the  choicest  part  of  the  habitable 
world  in  its  purer  and  better  days.  But  its  philosophy  was 
in  great  measure  second-hand,  and  Roman  civilisation  grew 
corrupt  to  the  heart's  core  under  the  triple  curses  of 
imperialism,  slavery,  and  sensuality.  Conquered  Greece 
terribly  and  effectually  avenged  herself  on  her  conquerors 
by  infecting  them   through  and  through    with  her   worst 

vices,  till 

"  She  whom  mightiest  kingdoms  curtsied  to, 
Like  a  forlorn  and  desperate  castaway 
Did  shameful  execution  on  herself." 

Few  indeed  of  the  great  Roman  poets — neither  Catullus, 
nor  Virgil,  nor  Horace — are  free  from  the  deadly  taint  of 
the   worst    impurity.     "All    things,"   says    Seneca,    "are 
crammed  with  wickedness  and  vices   .    .    .    there  is  a  com- 
petition of  worthlessness.    .    .    Sins  are  no  longer  furtive — 
but  openly  parade  themselves  ;  and  so  publicly  has  worth- 
lessness prevailed  in  all  bosoms  that  innocence  is  not  only 
rare,  but  non-existent."  f     As  they  reprobated  God,   He 
had  given  them  over  to  a  reprobate  mind.     They  became 
fools  in  their   reasonings,  and    their   senseless   heart   was 
darkened.     Professing  themselves  wise,  they'were  befooled.;}: 
The  most  striking  comment  on  the  paraded    infamies  of 
the  decadent  empire  may  be  seen  in  the  hateful  sludge  of 
Sodom    and   Gomorrha   which   bestrewed    every  street  in 
Herculaneum  and  Pompeii.     And  as  a  consequence, 
"  On  that  hard  Roman  world,  disgust 
And  utter  loathing  fell. 
Deep  weariness  and  sated  lust 
Made  human  life  a  hell." 

*  See  Dem.  de  Cor.  p.  322. 

f  Sen.  De  Ira,  ii.  8.     Comp.  Juvenal  Sat.  xiii.  26-30 

\  See  Rom.  i.  22. 


UNIQUE   SUPREMACY   OF   JESUS.     29 

Not  a  few  of  the  Romans,  and  Cicero  among  them,  re- 
garded the  elder  Cato  as  an  ideal,  yet  Cato,  in  the  affairs 
of  private  life,  was  guilty  of  a  callousness  and  greed  which 
would  have  stamped  with  infamy  the  humblest  Christian. 
What  sort  of  ideal  is  presented  by  the  virtue  of  a  man  who, 
when  his  slaves  became  old  and  useless,  ruthlessly  turned 
them  out  to  starve?  or  of  a  man  who,  meeting  a  young 
nobleman  coming  out  of  a  haunt  of  vice,  congratulated 
him  on  his  virtue — Made  virtiite  esto !  because  he  chose 
only  such  channels  for  the  gratification  of  his  animal 
desires  ? 

There  are,  however,  two  men  in  later  Roman  history — 
the  one  a  great  and  brave  emperor,  the  other  "  poor  and  a 
slave,  and  lame,  yet  dear  to  the  immortals" — who  did 
attain  to  a  very  high  degree  of  virtue,  and  may  be  regarded 
as  "the  bright  consummate  flowers  of  pagan  morality." 

Epictetus, 

"  The  halting  slave  who  in  Nicopolis 
Taught  Arrian,  when  Vespasian's  brutal  son 
Cleared  Rome  of  what  most  shamed  him," 

wrote  in  Greek,  and  can  hardly  be  counted  as  a  Roman, 
though  he  was  a  subject  of  Rome  and  a  slave  in  Roman 
households.  It  must  be  remembered  that  when  he  and 
Marcus  Aurelius  wrote,  Christianity  had  long  been  in  the 
air.  Some  breath  of  its  divine  teachings  had  been  wafted 
into  the  miasma  which  was  ever  reeking  upwards  from  the 
pestilential  marshes  of  heathen  corruption.  Much  pure, 
though  imperfect,  morality  may  be  found  in  the  pages  of 
Epictetus.  Yet  his  lofty  Stoicism  is  a  flower  which  has  no 
root  on  which  to  live  and  thrive.  His  teachings  never 
have  been,  or  could  be,  a  guide  to  the  multitude,  or  a 
light  to  them  which  sit  in  darkness ;  and  as  for  moral  per- 
fection, he  frankly  declares  it  to  be  unattainable.  "  What 
then  ?  "  he  asks,  "  is  it  possible  here  and  now  to  be  fault- 
less ?  Impossible!  But  this  is  possible — to  have  ever 
been  straining  every  energy  towards  the  avoidance  of  sin."  * 

*  Epict.  iv.  12. 


30  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

I  look  on  the  "  little  golden  passional  "  of  the  Emperor 
Marcus  Aurelius  as  the  most  perfect  moral  book  which 
heathen  antiquity  produced.  It  is  Stoicism,  touched — 
however  unconsciously — with  something  of  the  Christian 
truth  which  the  Emperor  ignored,  though  by  it  he  had 
been  indirectly  influenced.  To  ordinary  ears  it  sounded 
like  the  despairing  cry  of  an  impossible  virtue,  and  it  was 
powerless  to  produce  any  effect  upon  the  world.  It  did 
not  for  a  moment  stem — it  was  not  even  meant  to  stem — 
the  awful  tide  of  putrescence  which  rushed  and  swelled 
around  him.  It  was  but  the  salt  of  his  own  inner  life  pre- 
served in  his  private  diary,  but  it  wholly  failed  to  have  any 
effect  on  his  wife,  or  his  son,  or  the  nearest  members  of 
his  own  family.  The  personal  morality  did  not  reach 
beyond  himself,  and  it  is  tinged  with  an  unspeakable  sad- 
ness. We  see  him  standing,  in  noble  despair,  upon  the 
bank  of  the  River  of  Life,  pure  as  crystal,  proceeding  out 
of  the  throne  of  God  and  the  Lamb ; 

"  Tendentemque  manus  ripae  ulterioris  amore." 

Of  other  pagans  it  is  hardly  worth  while  to  speak.  No 
one  would  hold  up  Seneca  as  offering  an  effective  moral 
example.  His  ideal  is  very  imperfect,  and  his  life  fell 
immeasurably  below  even  that  imperfect  ideal. 

Philostratus  drew  a  highly  coloured  picture  of  the  Cappa- 
docian  thaumaturge,  APOLLONIUS  OF  Tyana,  who  flour- 
ished in  the  reign  of  Nero.  It  was  probably  intended  to 
represent  him  as  a  loftier  being  than  Christ.  But  on  the 
showing  of  his  own  panegyrist — who  evidently  drew  very 
largely  on  his  imagination — Apollonius,  if  he  was  not  a 
gross  impostor,  was  not  a  man  who  commands  any  deep 
admiration.  He  was  guilty  of  glaring  faults,  and  the 
"  cloudy  romance  of  the  pagan  sophist "  who  pretended  to 
delineate  his  individuality  has  attracted  very  little  notice, 
and  has  not  exercised  the  very  faintest  influence  upon  the 
nioral  progress  of  the  world. 


UNIQUE   SUPREMACY   OF   JESUS.     31 

In  truth  the  pagan  philosophers  and  poets  disclaimed 
altogether  the  very  possibility  of  sinlessness.     Horace  says : 

"  Nam  vitiis  nemo  sine  nascitur  ;  optimus  ille  est 
Qui  minimis  urgetur  ; "  * 

and  centuries  before,  Simonides  had  said :  "  To  be  a  good 
man  is  impossible  and  not  human  ;  God  only  has  this  high 
prerogative."  "  We  have  never  yet  seen  any  born,"  says 
Cicero,  "  in  whom  there  has  been  perfect  wisdom."  f  And 
Plato  warns  us  that  it  is  futile  to  exonerate  ourselves  by 
casting  the  blame  on  fortune,  or  demons,  or  anything 
rather  than  ourselves.  :j: 

And  what  was  the  total  issue  of  Paganism  in  its  utmost 
splendour,  and  most  unquestioned  dominance  ?  Did  the 
teaching  of  any  of  the  great  Greek  philosophers  or  Roman 
moralists  produce  the  slightest  appreciable  effect  in  uplift- 
ing the  world  in  general  into  loftier  aspirations  or  a  purer 
atmosphere  ?  It  must  be  sadly  confessed  that,  among  the 
noble  and  heroic  figures  of  Greek  and  Roman  life,  we  can 
scarcely  select  one  who  distantly  approached  the  Christian 
standard  of  holiness,  or  even  of  pure  morality.  The  final 
culmination  of  Greek  and  Roman  development  in  the  days 
of  the  Empire  was  an  unspeakable  corruption.  Nothing 
can  be  darker  than  the  picture  presented  so  unblushingly 
by  Aristophanes  in  his  day,  and  by  the  writers  of  the 
Anthologia  in  theirs.  In  Juvenal,  and  Suetonius,  and 
Petronius  Arbiter,  and  Apuleius,  we  have  unbared  to  us 
the  very  depths  of  Satan. 

Other  writers  are  like  a  troubled  sea  foaming  out  their 
own  shame  with  filth  unspeakable.  Over  the  history  of 
Tacitus  there  seems  to  hang  an  atmosphere  of  the  deepest 
gloom.  In  page  after  page  he  reveals  the  horror  of  times 
which,  amid  all  their  external  gorgeousness,  bore  on  them 
a  truly  infernal  stamp.  But  it  required  the  inspired  elo- 
quence of  a  St.  Paul  effectually  to  brand  the  harlot  brow 

*  Hor.  Sat.  i.  3,  68.  f  Cic.  Tusc.  Disp.  \\.  22.  \  Plat.  Rep.  x,  i^. 


32  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

of  Paganism  with  the  stigma  of  her  abominations  ;  and  it 
is  well  that,  in  the  first  chapter  of  the  Epistle  to  the 
Romans,  he  should  have  torn  the  painted  mask  from  that 
leprous  forehead,  and  should  have  shown  what  a  heart  of 
agony — rank  with  hatred,  and  burnt  out  with  vilest  self- 
indulgence — lay  throbbing  under  the  purple  robe. 

I  ask,  in  passing,  whether  it  does  not  show  the  unique 
exaltation  of  Christ — whether  it  does  not  throw  a  reflected 
light  of  antecedent  probability  on  His  miraculous  birth — 
that  whereas,  in  all  the  Pagan  world,  alike  in  the  East  and 
in  the  West,  we  cannot  point  to  so  much  as  one  human 
being  to  whom  we  could  apply  the  epithet  "  holy  " — that, 
while,  in  all  Pagan  literature,  during  so  many  centuries,  the 
very  conception  of  "  holiness "  has  no  existence — 7iow, 
because  of  Christ's  teaching,  and  the  force  of  His  divine 
indwelling  life,  there  is  no  town,  no  village,  scarcely  even  a 
family,  in  which  we  cannot  find  holy  women  and  holy  men  ? 

"  Why  should  it  be  thought  a  thing  incredible  with  you," 
asked  St.  Paul  of  Festus  and  King  Agrippa,  "  that  God 
doth  raise  the  dead  ! "  *  Even  then  he  could  say  in  the 
presence  of  his  enemies  and  accusers  that  "  this  thing  was 
not  done  in  a  corner."  But  he  was  speaking  in  the  earliest 
dawn  of  Christianity,  before  the  facts  to  which  he  bore 
witness  had  been  tested  by  nineteen  centuries  of  human 
study  and  human  progress;  before  the  Gospel  had  proved 
itself  to  be  a  divine  regenerative  force  in  all  the  world  ; 
before  it  had  been  found  by  millions  of  every  race  and  age 
— from  philosophers  in  their  studies  to  cannibals  in  the 
Pacific,  and  Indians  in  their  wigwams  on  the  frozen  shores 
of  Hudson's  Bay — to  be  the  power  of  God  unto  salvation 
to  all  them  that  believe.  The  transcendence,  the  sinless- 
ness  of  the  Lord  of  Glory  have  been  searched  as  with 
candles  by  men  of  the  most  consummate  intellect  in  many 
epochs,  and  not  one  of  them  has  been  able  to  question  His 
unique  superiority  or  to  convince  Him  of  sin.  After  these 
nineteen  centuries  of  sanctification,  of  victory,  of  wisdom  and 

*  Acts  XX vi.  8,  26. 


UNIQUE   SUPREMACY   OF   JESUS.     37, 

enlightenment,  may  we  not  ask  with  tenfold  force  of  every 
sceptic,  "  Why  should  it  be  thought  a  thing  incredible 
with  you  that  God  should  have  granted  to  our  fallen  race 
the  most  priceless  of  all  blessing  by  sending  forth  His  Son 
into  the  world,  and  that  He  should  have  done  this,  not  to 
condemn  the  world,  but  that  the  world  through  Him  might 
be  saved  ?  " 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE   UNIQUE  SUPREMACY  OF  JESUS  {continued). 

"  Even  in  the  Prophets,  after  they  had  been  anointed  by  the  Holy 
Spirit,  was  there  found  mention  of  sin," — "  Unwritteji  Saying"  in  tJie 
Gospel  of  the  Hebrews. 

"  His  beauty  is  eternal,  his  Kingdom  shall  have  no  end." — Renan, 
Vie  de  Jesus,  p.  457. 

"  The  ideal  representation  and  guide  of  Humanity." — J.  S.  Mill. 

No  sceptic,  I  think,  will  be  able  to  dispute  that — in  the 
ancient  world  of  Heathendom,  and  through  all  the  aeons 
during  which  it  existed — neither  among  the  founders  of 
world-wide  religions,  nor  among  the  greatest  philosophers, 
the  brightest  poets,  and  the  best  men  whom  all  former 
history  records,  can  so  much  as  one  be  found  who  can  be 
offered  as  a  distant  parallel  to  Jesus  Christ.  The  best  and 
greatest  of  them  all  do  not  approach  Him  within  any 
measurable  distance,  either  in  holiness  of  life,  or  perfect- 
ness  of  teaching,  or  in  the  ever  advancing  grandeur  of  the 
permanent  results  effected  by  His  influence.  But  some 
might  expect  that,  as  THE  JEWS  were  the  recipients  of  a 
special  inspiration,  and  since  to  them  were  entrusted  "  the 
oracles  of  God,"  we  should  be  able  to  find  among  the 
twelve  Tribes  of  Israel  during  the  twenty  centuries  of  the 
Older  Dispensation,  at  least  one  or  two  Saints  or  Prophets 
whose  lives  and  teaching  might  place  them  on  the  same 
level  with  the  Son  of  Man.  Yet  it  needs  but  little  search 
to  prove  decisively  that  such  is  not  the  case. 

What  need  is  there  to  speak  of  NOAH  ?  Little  as  we  are 
told  of  that  preacher  of  righteousness,  we  think  of  that 
shameful  scene  when  he  lay  drunken  and  uncovered  in  his 
tent,  and  laid  his  curse  upon  his  son  and  grandson. 

34 


UNIQUE    SUPREMACY   OF   JESUS.     35 

Job,  if  he  were  a  real  person,  and  not  created  by  the 
poetic  imagination  of  the  Jewish  Haggadah,  was  in  a 
lower  sense  "  a  blameless  man  and  an  upright,  who  feared 
God  and  eschewed  evil."  Yet  he  incurred  the  rebuke  of 
the  young  Elihu  for  justifying  himself  rather  than  God,  and 
when  he  is  made  to  apprehend  God's  majesty,  he  can  only 
cry — 

"  Therefore  I  abhor  myself, 
And  repent  in  dust  and  ashes." 

Abraham  was  "  the  father  of  the  faithful "  and  "  the 
friend  of  God";  yet  Abraham  could  twice  be  guilty  of 
deception,  and  in  other  respects  also  shows  the  limitations 
of  the  nomad  Sheykh.  Other  Patriarchs  were  still  more 
imperfect.  Isaac  was  guilty  of  deceit ;  Jacob  of  fraud, 
meanness,  and  partiality. 

Moses,  the  mighty  law-giver  of  Sinai,  was  God's  chosen 
mediator  to  deliver  to  Israel  "the  Ten  words,"  in  which 
are  summed  up  our  duties  to  God  and  man  ;  yet  Moses 
claims  no  exemption  from  human  weakness,  and  records 
alike  how  he  murdered  the  Egyptian  and  hid  him  in  the 
sand,  and  how  an  outburst  of  unchastened  anger  forfeited 
for  him  the  entrance  into  the  Promised  Possession. 

Of  David  and  his  terrible  falls  and  manifold  failures, 
though  he  was  "  the  sweet  Psalmist  of  Israel,"  there  is  no 
need  to  speak,  for  he  does  not  conceal  his  own  terrible 
guilt,  and  cries,  "  Behold  I  was  shapen  in  wickedness,  and 
in  sin  did  my  mother  conceive  me." 

Elijah  shewed  the  imperfection  of  an  angry  temper,  and 
his  wrathful  spirit  was  far  different  from  the  spirit  of  Christ. 

Jeremiah,  though  some  have  fancied  that  his  character 
had  suggested  to  the  later  Isaiah  the  ideal  of  the  Sinless 
Sufferer,  yielded  to  passionate  despair,  and  cursed  the  day  of 
his  birth.  Not  one  of  these,  nor  any  of  the  Prophets  or 
deliverers  of  Israel,  made  the  slightest  claim  to  perfectness. 
The  plain  testimony  of  their  experience  invariably  is  that  all 


36  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

alike  have  gone  astray,  and  that  there  is  not  one  that 
sinneth  not.* 

The  Jews  themselves,  deep — almost  unbounded — as  was 
their  veneration  for  these  Patriarchs  and  Prophets  of  their 
race,  never  pretend  that  they  were  faultless.  In  one  of  the 
apologues  of  the  Talmud,  God  is  represented  as  demanding 
from  the  Jews  some  surety  for  their  future  obedience. 
They  offer  Abraham,  and  Isaac,  and  Moses.  God's  answer 
is,  "  No !  Abraham  has  sinned,  and  Isaac  has  sinned,  and 
even  Moses  has  sinned  ;  tJiey  cannot  be  your  sureties."  As 
they  can  find  no  sinless  man  in  all  their  annals,  they  offer  to 
God  their  innocent  little  ones.  And  God  accepted  these, 
saying,  "Yes,  your  little  ones  shall  be  your  sureties,"  even 
as  it  is  written,  "  Out  of  the  mouth  of  children  and  little 
ones  hast  Thou  built  a  bulwark,  that  Thou  miglitest  still 
the  enemy  and  the  avenger." 

As  for  later  Judaism,  its  ideals  shrank  and  shrivelled  into 
utter  pettiness. 

The  two  Rabbis  whom  the  Talmud  most  admires  and 
exalts  are  Hillel  and  Akiba. 

HiLLEL  had  sweet  and  noble  elements  in  his  character, 
but  they  were  accompanied  by  very  unpraiseworthy  defi- 
ciencies. His  highest  teaching  is  defective  from  its  one- 
sidedness  and  incompleteness.  Anything  more  ludicrously 
absurd  than  the  notion — maintained  by  some  Jewish  writers, 
like  Geiger  and  Gratz — that  HiLLEL  was  in  any  sense  what- 
ever "  the  master  of  Jesus,"  cannot  be  imagined  !  HiLLEL 
belonged,  in  all  essential  particulars,  to  the  Pharisees,  who 
of  all  others  were  most  repugnant  to  the  soul  of  Jesus,  His 
mind  and  life  were  occupied  in  the  elaborate  discussion  of 
infinitesimal  puerilities  of  ritual,  such  as  whether  one  might 
or  might  not  eat  an  Qgg  which  a  hen  had  laid  on  a  feast  day, 
if  the  feast  day  was  coincident  with  a  Sabbath,f  whether, 

*  See  1  Kings  viii.  46  ;  Prov,  xx.  g  ;  Eccl.  vii.  20  ;   I  John  i.  8-10. 
f  This  is  the  question  which   occupies  the  7th  section  of  the  second  Book  of 
the  Mishnah,  under  the  title  Bitsah — "  the  egg."     It  is  also  called  Yo7n  tob. 


/ 

UNIQUE    SUPREMACY   OF   JESUS,     i^ 

when  you  are  carrying  myrtles  and  perfumed  oil,  you  ought 
first  to  bless  the  myrtles  and  then  the  oil,  or  first  the  oil 
and  then  the  myrtles  ;  whether  you  ought  or  ought  not  to 
take  off  your  phylacteries  during  the  performance  of  certain 
natural  functions  ;  whether  you  ought  first  to  wash  your 
hands  and  then  fill  the  glass,  ox  vice  versa.  Can  we  imagine 
how  full  of  holy  scorn  Jesus  would  have  been  at  the  discus- 
sion of  these  nullities,  many  of  which  are  even  more  weari- 
somely repulsive  than  those  I  have  mentioned,  and  some 
of  which  are  absolutely  nauseous?  Again,  with  what  holy 
indignation  would  Jesus  have  regarded  the  application  of 
some  of  Hillel's  seven  viiddoth,  or  rules  of  exegesis,  which 
were  used  to  turn  Scripture  into  any  purpose  which  Rab- 
binism  might  demand  !  *  We  need  not  conjecture  with  what 
pity  and  anger  the  Son  of  God  would  have  treated  Hillel's 
decision  that  the  words  ^^  ervatJidabhar''  in  Deut.  xxiv.  i,  f 
imply  that  a  man  may  divorce  his  wife  "  even  if  she  cooked 
his  dinner  badly  ";  :j;  and  the  thoroughly  disingenuous  shuf- 
fling by  which  he  managed  to  set  free  his  countrymen  from 
the  onerous  Mosaic  ordinance  of  letting  property  revert  to 
its  original  owner  in  the  Sabbatic  year.  He  was  cramped  by 
the  stagnation,  the  prejudice,  the  rigidity  of  party  doctrine  ; 
he  lived  and  moved  and  had  his  being  in  the  confined, 
heavy,  turbid  air  of  the  Jewish  Schools.  § 

Of  Rabbi  Akiba  in  this  connection  it  is  not  worth  while 
to  speak.  He  too  was  not  only  a  Pharisee  of  the  straitest 
sect  of  later  Judaism,  but  his  methods  disgusted  the  more 
moderate    even    of    his    Pharisaic    contemporaries, ||      He 

*  See  my  paper  on  "  Rabbinic  Exegesis."  Expositor  v.  2,(it(\Zli).  Subse- 
quent Rabbis  expanded  these  rules,  first  to  13,  then  to  32,  then  to  49)  Ham- 
burger Talin.  Worterb.,  ii.  36).  R.  Tshmael  saXA  {Sanhedritt.  f.  34,  i)  that 
exegesis  is  like  the  hammer  which  breaketh  the  rock  into  pieces  (Jer.  xxiii.  29). 

f  A.  V.   "  matter  of  nakedness." 

:t:Gittin,  90. 

§  See  Lightfoot,  Hor.  Hebr.,  p.  256.  Geiger,  Pharis.  u.Sadd.,  36.  Jost. 
Gesch,,  iii.,  p.  iii.     TieWizscYi,  Jestis  und  Hillel,  1866. 

I  For  instance  R.  Jose  the  Galilean,  R.  Eliezer  Ben  Azarai,  R.  Tarphon,  and 


38  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

ostentatiously  glorified,  and  was  exclusively  absorbed  in, 
the  very  methods  and  minutiae  of  externalism  which 
Christ  most  emphatically  repudiated  and  denounced.  His 
ideal  of  righteousness  was  inconceivably  paltry  and 
shrunken.  The  Messiah  of  this  coryphseus  of  particularism 
in  its  latest  and  least  sensible  views  was  not  the  Son  of 
Man,  but  the  False  Messiah  to  whom  he  gave  the  name  of 
Bar  Cochba,  "  son  of  a  star,"  but  whom,  after  his  deadly 
failure,  the  Jews  characterised  as  Bar  Coziba,  the  "son  of 
a  lie." 

But  if  it  be  granted  that,  in  all  the  previous  centuries, 
moral  perfectness  was  an  unattained  and  even  unimagined 
ideal,  some  may  ask  whether  the  same  is  true  of  the  cen- 
turies which  followed  the  birth  of  Christ.  May  not  men 
have  lived  since  the  dawn  of  the  Christian  era,  who,  aided 
by  the  inspiration  of  the  Gospel,  not  only  surpassed  in 
holiness  the  men  of  all  previous  ages,  but  may  have  even 
attained  to  the  same  moral  perfectness  as  was  manifested 
by  their  Lord  ?  Again  the  answer  is  a  demonstrable  and 
emphatic  negative.  The  records  of  the  Apostles  and  Evan- 
gelists themselves  show  proofs  of  the  spiritual  failures 
which  they  humbly  acknowledge.  The  confession  of  St. 
Peter — "  Depart  from  me,  for  I  am  a  sinful  man,  O, 
Lord" — is  amply  confirmed  by  subsequent  records  of 
faithlessness,  of  misunderstanding,  of  cowardice,  of  dissimu- 
lation. St,  Paul,  after  his  conversion,  evidently  speaks 
in  his  own  person  when,  after  describing  the  struggles  of 
"  a  disintegrated  individuality,"  he  cries,  "  Wretched  man 
that  I  am,  who  shall  deliver  me  out  of  the  body  of  this 
death?";  and  he  says  with  frank  humility,  "Not  that  I 
have  already  attained,  or  am  already  perfected,  but  this  one 
thing  I  do,  forgetting  those  things  which  are  behind,  and 

others.  R.  Jose  Haglili  was  called  "the  horned  ram,"  because  he  rebutted  so 
often  the  reasonini^s  of  Akiba.  See  the  references  to  the  Lifras  and  Josephus 
in  which  these  passages  of  arms  occurred  in  Hamburger's  Talm.  Worterb.,  ii.  36. 


UNIQUE   SUPREMACY   OF   JESUS.     39 

reaching  forth  to  those  things  which  are  before,  I  press  on 
to  the  mark  of  the  prize  of  the  high  calling  of  God  in  Christ 
Jesus."  *  Yet,  in  spite  of  these  efforts,  he  not  only  calls 
himself  "  less  than  the  least  of  the  Apostles,  who  am  not 
meet  to  be  called  an  Apostle,"  f  but  even  characterises 
himself  as  "  the  chief  of  sinners." :{: 

The  faults  of  the  Sons  of  Thunder — St.  James  and  St. 
John,  the  disciples  whom  Jesus  loved — are  not  concealed 
in  the  Gospels  ;  and,  if  the  later  legends  of  St.  John  be  true, 
they  still  exhibit  traces  of  human  passion  and  impetuosity. 

Nor  is  there  one  of  all  the  later  saints  of  Christendom — 
whether  it  be  St.  Ambrose,  St.  Augustine,  St.  Jerome,  St. 
Chrysostom,  St.  Gregory  of  Nazianzus,  St.  Basil,  or  the 
saints  of  the  later  days,  sweet  St.  Francis  of  Assisi,  ardent 
St.  Bernard,  St.  Bonaventura  the  Seraphic,  St.  Thomas  of 
Aquino  the  Angelic  Doctor,  St.  Francis  Xavier,  or  St.  Vin- 
cent de  Paul — whose  ideals  were  not  more  or  less  one-sided 
or  mistaken.  Every  one  of  them  would,  with  indignant 
humility,  have  repudiated  the  faintest  attempt  to  represent 
him  as  perfect.  Every  saint  of  Christendom,  kneeling 
humbly,  on  his  knees,  would  have  said  to  the  Lord  of  his 

life,  that 

"  Every  virtue  we  possess. 
And  every  triumph  won, 
And  every  thought  of  holiness 
Are  thine  alone." 

"The  young  and  unspotted,  the  aged  and  most  mature, 
he  who  had  sinned  least,  he  who  had  repented  most,  the 
fresh  innocent  brow  and  the  hoary  head,  they  unite  in  this 
one  litany,  *  God,  be  merciful  to  me,  a  sinner !  '  So  was  it 
with  St.  Ignatius;  with  St.  Aloysius  ;  with  St.  Rose,  the 
youngest  of  the  saints;  with  St.  Philip  Neri,  one  of  the 
most  aged,  who,  when  some  one  praised  him,  cried  out, 
*  Begone  !     I  am  a  devil,  and  not  a  saint  ! '  "  § 

*Phil.  iii,  12-14.  f  Eph.  iii.  8  ;  i  Cor.  xv.  g.  J  i  Tim.  i.  15. 

§  Newman,  Sermon  on  T/ie  Religion  of  the  Pharisee. 


40  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

"What  are  the  saints,"  asked  Luther,  "compared  with 
Christ  ?  They  are  but  as  devvdrops  scattered  upon  the 
head  of  the  Bridegroom,  lost  in  the  glory  of  His  hair."  As 
regards  all  varieties  and  combinations  of  virtue  and  excel- 
lence— all  things  which  are  true,  pure,  honest,  lovely,  and 
of  good  report,  which  have  ever  been  manifested  in  the 
character  of  the  children  of  God — all  Christians  would  ex- 
press the  conviction  that 

"  They  are  but  broken  lights  of  Thee, 
And  Thou,  O  Lord,  art  more  than  they." 

So  far,  then,  we  have  seen  enough  to  leave  us  with  the 
secure  certainty  that  of  all  the  multitudes  of  mankind  with- 
out number,  under  every  condition,  and  in  every  age  and 
clime,  not  one  can  be  compared  to  Him  who  revealed  Him- 
self as  the  Son  of  Man  and  the  Son  of  God.  And  this 
demonstrable  uniqueness  and  unapproachable  superiority — 
even  if  it  stood  alone — would  not  only  go  far  to  remove 
every  shadow  of  difficulty  from  the  record  of  His  miracu- 
lous birth,  but  would  lead  us  to  suppose,  were  there  no  such 
testimony,  that  Jesus  must  have  come  into  the  world  by  the 
special  intervention  of  an  Omnipotent  Love.  The  infinite 
supremacy  of  Christ  Jesus  in  character  and  influence — the 
manner  in  which  He  is  separated  by  an  untraversable  dis- 
tance from  all  who  have  ever  lived  on  earth — would  nat- 
urally lead  us  to  believe  that  He  could  not  have  been  born 
as  other  men  are,  and  that  the  Son  of  Man,  the  Second 
Adam,  was,  in  a  far  deeper  sense  than  the  first  Adam,  the 
Son  of  God. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE   TESTIMONY   OF   SCEPTICS  AND   FREE   ENQUIRERS. 

"  Christ  stands  alone,  and  unapproached  in  the  world's  history." — 
Strauss. 

"  The  Incomparable  Man  to  whom  the  universal  conscience  has 
decreed  the  title  of  Son  of  God — and  that  with  justice,  since  He  has 
advanced  religion  as  none  other  has  done." — Renan. 

"He  stood  in  the  first  rank  of  the  grand  family  of  the  true  Sons  of 
God." — Ibid. 

"  The  Chosen  of  God,  His  image,  His  darling.  His  world-guide,  and 
world-shaper  in  the  history  of  mankind." — Keim. 

"  The  Well-spring  of  whatever  is  best  and  purest  in  human  life." — 
Lessing. 

Hitherto  we  have  been  led  to  the  conclusion  that  Christ 
is  "  the  vital  centre  of  Christianity,  the  pulsating  heart  from 
which  it  all  proceeds,  to  which  it  all  returns  " ; — that,  with- 
out the  force  of  His  inspiring  and  ever-present  Personality, 
Christianity  itself  would  sink  into  nothing  more  than  a 
system  of  morals  and  scheme  of  revelation.  We  have  seen 
also  that,  demonstrably  and  by  universal  admission,  Christ 
stands  a  Unique  Being  in  the  long  annals  of  the  world. 
There  have  been  sceptics  who  have  insinuated  a  faint  and 
timid  disapproval  of  some  of  His  actions,  and  many  have 
questioned  the  truth  of  the  Gospels,  and  denied  the  divinity 
of  Him  whom  they  set  before  us.  But  it  is  worth  while  to 
pause  and  show  that  even  over  the  most  unfettered  enquirers 
He  has  cast  a  spell  which  makes  them  hardly  venture  to 
hint  at  the  most  distant  disparagement  of  Him.  The 
beauty  of  His  holiness  compels  them,  almost  in  spite  of 
themselves,  to  fall  upon  their  knees,  and  to  admit  His  un- 

41 


42  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

approachable  supremacy  even  when  they  speak  of  Him  as 
nothing  more  than  Man. 

1.  Spinoza  (Ep.  23)  said:  "This  is  the  highest  thing 
which  Christ  said  of  Himself,  namely,  that  He  is  the  Tem- 
ple of  God,  since  God  chiefly  manifested  Himself  in  Christ; 
which  St.  John,  that  he  might  express  it  more  efficaciously, 
clothed  in  the  expression  that  '  the  Word  was  made  flesh.'  " 

2.  Lessing  called  Christ  "  the  first  trustworthy  and  prac- 
tical Teacher  of  the  Immortality  of  the  Soul." 

3.  Rousseau  concludes  a  famous  passage  with  the  words, 
"  If  the  life  and  death  of  Socrates  are  those  of  a  sage,  the 
life  and  death  of  Jesus  are  those  of  a  God." 

4.  The  awful  transcendency  of  the  life  of  Jesus  over- 
awed even  the  flippant  soul  of  VOLTAIRE,  as  we  see  in  the 
account  of  his  remarkable  vision.* 

5.  Kant  was  indignant  when  a  critic  compared  his  teach- 
ing with  that  of  Jesus.  "  One  of  those  names,"  he  said, 
"  before  which  the  heavens  bow,  is  sacred  ;  the  other  is  only 
that  of  a  poor  scholar,  endeavouring  to  explain  to  the  best 
of  his  abilities  the  teachings  of  his  Master." 

6.  SCHELLING  spoke  of  Christ  as  "  the  turning-point  of 
the  world's  history." 

7.  Strauss  was  the  foremost  champion  of  modern  scep- 
ticism respecting  Him,  yet  Strauss  wrote  that  Jesus  "  stands 
foremost  among  those  who  have  given  a  higher  ideal  to 
humanity  ' ;  and  that  "  it  is  impossible  to  refrain  from 
admiring  and  loving  Him."  "  Never  at  any  time  will  it  be 
possible  to  rise  above  Him,  nor  to  imagine  any  one  who 
shall  be  even  equal  with  Him."  "  He  is  the  highest 
object  we  can  possibly  imagine  in  respect  of  religion  :  the 
Being  without  whose  presence  in  the  mind  perfect  piety  is 
impossible."  f 

8.  GOETIIE  calls  Him  "the  Divine  Man,  the  Holy  One, 
the  type  and  model  of  all  men." 

*  See  Diet.  Philosophiqtie,  s.v.  *^  Religion." 
\  Strauss,  Vergdngl.  u.  Bleibende,  p.  132. 


TESTIMONY   OF   SCEPTICS.  43 

9.  Channing  was  a  Unitarian,  yet  he  wrote :  "  I  believe 
Jesus  Christ  to  be  more  than  a  human  being.  The  combi- 
nation of  the  spirit  of  Humanity  in  its  loveliest  and  tender- 
est  form  with  the  consciousness  of  unrivalled  and  Divine 
glories,  is  the  most  wonderful  distinction  of  this  wonderful 
character." 

10.  Renan  says:  "Between  Thee  and  God  there  is  no 
longer  any  distinction,"  "  His  beauty  is  eternal.  His  King- 
dom shall  have  no  end."  "This  Christ  of  the  Gospels  is 
the  most  beautiful  incarnation  of  God  in  the  most  beautiful 
of  forms."  * 

11.  J.  S.  Mill  wrote  that  "there  is  no  better  rule  than 
so  to  live  that  Christ  would  approve  our  life." 

12.  The  views  of  Keim  diverge  very  widely  from  those 
of  Churchmen  in  many  points,  yet  he  ends  his  yesu  von 
Nazara  by  saying  that  "  Christianity  is  the  crown  of  all  the 
creations  of  God,  and  Jesus  is  the  chosen  of  God,  God's 
image,  and  best-beloved,  and  master-workman,  and  world- 
shaper  in  the  history  of  mankind.  He  and  no  other  is  and 
remains  the  appointed  standard-bearer  of  the  world's  prog- 
ress, who  shall  triumph  over  the  quagmires  and  the  spirits 
of  darkness  of  the  nether  Kosmos." 

13.  Theodore  Parker  testifies  that  "Christ  unites  in 
Himself  the  sublimest  precepts  and  divinest  practices.  He 
pours  out  a  doctrine  beautiful  as  the  light,  sublime  as 
heaven,  and  true  as  God." 

14.  Dr.  Congreve,  the  head  of  the  English  Positivists, 
wrote :  "  The  more  truly  you  serve  Christ,  the  more  thor- 
oughly you  mould  yourself  into  His  image,  the  more  keen 
will  be  your  sympathy  and  admiration." 

15.  Dr.  Martineau  was  a  Unitarian,  yet  he  speaks  of 
Christ  as  "  the  commissioned  Prophet,  the  merciful  Re- 
deemer, the  inspired  Teacher,  the  perfect  Model,  the 
heavenly  Guide." 

16.  Matthew  Arnold  differed  widely  from  views  re- 

*  Renan,  Et.  d'Hist.  Rel.-,  pp.  175,  213. 


44  THE    LIFE    OF   LIVES. 

garded  as  orthodox,  yet,  after  describing  the  True  God  as 
"  the  Eternal  who  makes  for  righteousness,"  he  adds, 
"  from  whom  Jesus  came  forth,  and  whose  Spirit  governs 
the  course  of  humanity." 

17.  I  will  only  add  the  testimony  of  the  anonymous 
author  of  Supernatural  Religion.  He — surely  an  unpreju- 
diced witness — spoke  of  Christ  as  "surpassing  in  His 
sublime  simplicity  the  moral  grandeur  of  Sak)^a  Mouni, 
and  putting  to  the  blush  the  teaching  of  Socrates  and 
Plato,  and  presenting  the  rare  spectacle  of  a  life,  so  far  as 
we  can  estimate  it,  uniformly  noble  and  consistent  with  His 
own  lofty  principles." 

From  the  first,  Jesus  was  "  set  for  a  sign  which  should 
be  spoken  against."  ^'  His  cross  was  "  to  the  Jews  a  stum- 
bling-block, to  the  Gentiles  foolishness."  f  His  earliest 
Apostles  were  denounced  as  "  pestilent  fellows  and  ring- 
leaders of  sedition.":):  His  Gospel  was  stigmatised  by  the 
haughty  Roman  historians  as  a  deadly  and  contemptible 
folly,  to  be  classed  with  all  monstrous  and  shameful 
things  ;§  and  Christians  as  "creatures  of  a  deplorable,  ille- 
gal, and  desperate  faction,"  devoted  to  "  a  depraved  and 
measureless  superstition."  ||  His  followers  were  every- 
where spoken  against^  as  hated  for  their  enormities,  as 
"characterised  by  their  hatred  for  the  human  race  "  ;  '^*  as 
"  atheists  " — so  that  the  cry  against  one  of  the  poor  Martjrs, 
St.  Polycarp,  as  against  Christians  in  general,  was  "  Away 
with  the  godless  one!"ff  Is  it  no  proof  of  the  Divine 
blessing  and  approval  that,  in  spite  of  all  this  hatred  and 
execration,  which  united  all  pagan  society,  philosophy,  and 

*  Luke  ii.  34.  f  i  Cor.  i.  23.  :}:  Acts  xxiv.  5. 

§  Tacitus  ^««.  XV.  44.     Suetonius  ^<?r.  16;  Clatid.  25. 

II  Caecilius  in  Min.  Fel.  Oct.  viii.  Comp.  Dion  Cassius  Ixvii.  14,  and  my 
Witness  of  History  to  Christ,  p.  7;  Lightfoot,  Apostolic  Fathers  II.  i.  p.  260. 

1[  Acts  xxviii.  22. 

**  Tacitus  I.e.  Hist.  v.  5.  See  Ep.  Sviyrn.  ap.  Euseb.  //.  E.  iv.  15. 
Mart.  Polyc.  9. 

ff  Ep.  Smyrn.  ix. ;  Lucian,  Alex.  Pseud,  xxxviii. 


TESTIMONY   OF   SCEPTICS.  45 

literature  in  a  conspiracy  of  common  detestation,  the  faith 
of  Christ  "  in  the  unresistible  might  of  weakness  shook  the 
world,"  over  which,  in  spite  of  its  being  in  flagrant  disaccord 
with  all  that  men  naturally  admire,  it  has  since  then  main- 
tained the  unquestioned  dominance  ?  Many  who  more 
or  less  reject  Christ's  divinity — such  as  Hase,  Weisse, 
Schenkel,and  others— still  describe  Christ  as  "  ein  Uniaim" 
"  ein  Mysteriinn!'  Thus  sceptics  (as  Mr.  Browning  so 
admirably  points  out) 


They  say 


"  Bid  us,  when  we  least  expect  it, 
Take  back  our  faith." 


"  Go  home,  and  venerate  the  myth 
I  thus  have  experimented  with  ; 
This  Man,  continue  to  adore  Him 
Rather  than  all  who  went  before  Him, 
And  all  who  ever  followed  after." 

Surely  for  this  I  praise  you,  my  brother! 
Will  you  take  praise  in  tears  or  laughter?  "* 

*  Browning,  Christinas  Eve  and  Easter  Day, 


CHAPTER   V. 

THE  GOSPELS. 

"Quousque  mens  tua  hunii  defixa  erit  ?  Sacrilegii  enim  vel  maxinii 
instar  est,  humi  quaerere  quod  in  sublimi  debeas  invenire." — CiCERO, 
Somn.  Sctp.  Ad  init. 

In  the  desire  to  disprove  the  Divinity  of  Christ,  every 
possible  ground  of  objection  has  been  urged ;  and  it  may 
now  perhaps  be  said,  "  Your  argument  depends  ultimately 
on  the  genuineness  and  authenticity  of  the  Gospels,  and 
against  the  Gospels  the  spirit  of  hostile  criticism  has  con- 
centrated its  most  powerful  light." 

Yes  ;  but  I  say  unhesitatingly  that  the  result  of  that 
close  and  hostile  criticism  has  not  only  left  the  substantial 
truth  and  accuracy  of  the  Gospels  untouched,  but  has,  by 
its  very  failure  and  weakness,  shown  them  to  be  of  unas- 
sailable veracity.  The  Gospels  exhibit  on  every  page  the 
simplex  veri  sigillum.  They  have  no  magnificent  elo- 
quence, no  thundering  denunciations,  no  high-wrought  arti- 
ficiality, no  excited  eulogies.  They  bear  on  the  face  of 
them  the  stamp  of  being  unadorned  and  artless  narratives 
of  simple  faith. 

We  may  compare  the  Gospels  with  the  greatest  books  of 
other  religions,  and  they  stand  out  in  magnificent  superior- 
ity, though  the  Evangelists  may  have  been  far  inferior  in 
earthly  gifts  and  philosophic  genius  to  the  great  sages  of 
the  East.  "  I  confess,"  says  a  most  competent  witness, 
Professor  Max  Miiller,  "  it  has  been  many  years  a  problem 
to  me,  how  the  great  books  of  the  East  should,  by  the  side 
of  so  much  that  is  fresh,  natural,  simple,  beautiful,  and  true, 
contain  so  much  that  is  not  only  unmeaning,  artificial,  and 
silly,  but  even  hideous  and  repellant.     This  is  a  fact,  and 

46 


THE    GOSPELS.  47 

it  must  be  accounted  for  in  some  way  or  other."  But  no 
one  could  say  this  of  our  Christian  Gospels  ;  they  do  not 
contain  one  silly  or  one  repellent  word  ;  and  what  can 
account  for  their  absolute  supremacy,  except  that  their 
writers  bore  witness  to  the  simple  truth  ? 

The  Evangelists  simply  coitld  not  have  invented  the  his- 
tory which  they  record.  Standing  as  they  do  immeasur- 
ably below  the  grandeur  of  their  Master,  we  feel  almost 
inclined  to  say  that  their  invention  of  His  teaching  and 
character  would  have  constituted  a  less  believable  miracle 
than  any  which  they  narrate.  As  Rousseau  said,  "  L'inven- 
teur  en  seroit  plus  etonnant  que  le  h6ros."  These  Galile- 
ans could  never  have  subjectively  elaborated  ideals  so 
inimitable,  or  morality  so  divine.  They — even  the  greatest 
of  the  Apostles,  even  a  Peter  and  a  John — possessed  no 
particle  of  what  was  regarded  as  learning  in  their  own  day. 
Their  words  are,  as  Origen  described  them,  iSigotikoi  Xoyoi. 
When  they  stood  before  the  Sanhedrin,  the  High  Priests — 
the  Kamhits,  and  Phabis,  and  Boethusim  and  Annanites, 
and  the  Rabbis — -the  Shammaites,  the  Hillelites,  the  Gama- 
liels, who  were  regarded  with  such  reverence — looked  down 
on  these  Galileans  as  aypafxfxaroi  xai  i6i(2>Tai — mere  com- 
monplace nobodies,  who  had  never  had  a  learned  educa- 
tion.* They  spoke  a  coarse  provincial  dialect  ;  they 
possessed  none  of  the  exegetic  lore  of  the  Scribes ;  they 
knew  nothing  of  the  Middoth  or  the  Erubhin,  nothing  of 
Halacha  or  the  HaggadaJi ;  they  belonged  to  the  common 
amharatsim — the  multitude  who  ''  knew  not  the  law  and 
were  accursed."  f  Such  men  could  not  even  be  pious,  and 
a  Pharisee  felt  polluted  (so  Hillel  declared)  if  he  so  much 
as  touched  them  with  the  hem  of  his  garment.  In  the 
Gospels  themselves  the  Evangelists  constantly  record  inci- 
dents which  show  that  they  were  "  dull  and  slow  of  heart 

*  Acts  iv.  13. 

f  John  vii.  49,  miKarapaTOi.  The  name  dmai,  from  ^7|«of,  was  also  givea 
to  these  "  Men  of  the  People."    See  Hamburger,  s,  v.  Amhaaretz. 


48  THE    LIFE    OF   LIVES. 

to  believe  " ;  that  they  ignorantly  misunderstood  Christ's 
allusions  ;  that  without  the  aid  of  His  tender  condescension, 
they  could  not  grasp  the  significance  of  His  parables ;  that 
they  were  entirely  unprepared  for  His  line  of  action  in 
many  cases ;  that  they  would  fain  have  hindered  His 
divine  purposes;  that  His  plainest  prophecies  failed  to 
impress  their  understandings ;  that  they  were  liable  to 
petty  jealousies  and  ambitions  among  themselves ;  and 
that,  even  after  His  resurrection.  He  had  to  upbraid  them 
for  their  unbelief  and  hardness  of  heart.*  Inferiority  is  far 
too  weak  a  word  to  express  the  depth  at  which  they  stood 
below  their  Master.  How  could  these  Galilean  peasants 
and  fishermen,  "  fresh  from  their  nets,  and  with  their  clothes 
wringing  wet  " — how  could  tax  gatherers  and  zealots,  and 
men  of  individuality  so  unmarked  that  their  fellows  had 
little  or  nothing  special  to  record  about  them,  except  their 
imperfections — how  could  they  have  invented  a  story,  and 
imagined  z.  character,  which  transcended  them  as  infinitely 
as  the  heaven  is  higher  than  the  earth,  and  which,  when  it 
was  shining  before  them  in  heaven's  own  light,  they  could 
but  very  dimly  understand  ?  Who  will  believe  that  St. 
Paul,  the  learned  Pharisee,  who  began  with  the  most  furi- 
ous  rage  against  Christianity,  was  so  credulous  that — in 
defiance  of  all  his  predilections,  and  all  his  past  training — 
he  suddenly  accepted  as  true  a  mass  of  myths,  freshly  in- 
vented by  unknown  Galileans  ?  Is  there  any  one  whose 
capacity  for  appreciating  evidence  is  so  paralysed  as  to 
believe  "that  the  Holiest  of  Men  was  a  deceiver.  His  disci- 
ples either  deluded  or  liars,  and  that  deceivers  would  have 
preached  a  holy  religion  of  which  self-denial  is  the  chief 
duty  ?  "  t  Whatever  else  the  early  Apostles,  Disciples,  and 
EvangeHsts  may  have  been,  they  were  undeniably  holy 
men ; — would  they  have  invented  falsities,  and  then,  in 
preaching  them,  have  poured  out  their  lives  like  water,  and 
sacrificed  everything  which  life  holds  most  dear? 

*  Mark  xvi.  14.  f  Niebuhr,  Lebensnachr.,  i.  470 


THE    GOSPELS.  49 

The  presence  and  the  work  of  Jesus  in  Palestine  in  the 
days  of  the  Herods  are  matters  of  ordinary  history,  as 
certain  as  any  recorded  in  Tacitus  or  Dion  Cassius.  It 
would  be  the  wildest  of  hypotheses  that  the  poor  Evangel- 
ists could  have  evolved  out  of  their  own  consciousness  a 
story  so  entrancing  that,  nineteen  centuries  later,  it  should 
be  read  with  awe  and  ecstasy  alike  by  emperors  in  their 
palaces  and  peasants  in  their  hovels.  Maories  and  Fijians, 
Kaffirs  and  Negroes,  Esquimaux  and  Tahitians,  can  delight 
in  the  Gospels  with  no  less  intensity  than  men  of  the  finest 
genius  and  the  most  consummate  learning. 

The  Synoptists  exhibit  no  special  skill,  or  power,  or 
insight.  Their  main  function  is  simply  to  narrate. 
They  do  not  enter  into  theological  disquisitions.  The 
technical  scholasticism  of  theologians  leaves  no  trace 
on  their  pages.  There  is  no  learning  in  their  allusions,  no 
brilliance  or  profundity  in  their  style.  Their  records  are 
fragmentary  and  unchronological.  St.  Matthew,  accus- 
tomed to  the  use  of  the  stylus  from  his  trade  as  a  despised 
toll-collector,  was  probably  the  first  to  commit  to  writing 
a  collection  of  Christ's  "  sayings  "  {Logia)  ;  and  he  and 
the  others,  though  guided  by  divine  inspiration,  yet  in 
other  respects  followed  the  bent  of  their  own  individuality, 
and  wrote  as  St.  Augustine  said,  "  ut  qiiisqiie  meviinerat,  vel 
ut  cuiqiie  cordieraty  It  must  also  be  borne  in  mind  that  they 
do  not  profess  to  offer  complete  or  exhaustive  records.  Our 
Lord  uttered  His  prophetic  woe  on  Chorazin  and  Bethsaida 
as  cities  which  had  witnessed  His  mighty  works  ;  yet  we  do 
not  know  of  a  single  miracle  performed  at  Chorazin,  and 
only  one  is  recorded  to  have  been  performed  at  Bethsaida.* 

St.  Matthew  belonged  to  the  social  class  which  was, 
of  all  others,  regarded  with  the  greatest  contempt,  and 
beyond  this  we  know  scarcely  a  single  fact  about  him. 
He  wrote  mainly  for  the  converts  from  Judaism.f     It  used 

*  Mark  viii.  22. 

f  Hence  in  St.  Matthew  there  are  eleven  quotations  made  by  the  Evangelist 


50  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

to  be  thought  that  his  original  work  was  in  Hebrew,*  but 
modern  scholars  now  regard  his  Gospel  as  a  composite  one, 
formed  partly  from  a  Greek  Gospel  resembling  that  of  St, 
Mark,  and  partly  from  a  collection  of  our  Lord's  sayings  in 
Greek,  used  also  by  St.  Luke;  the  two  documents  having 
been  welded  together  by  a  third  redactor. 

St.  Luke,  as  "  a  physician,"  had  probably  belonged  at 
one  time  to  the  body  of  slaves  in  some  wealthy  house  in 
Asia  Minor. 

St.  Mark  recorded  in  his  Greek  Gospel,  for  Roman 
readers,f  some  of  the  vivid  reminiscences  of  St.  Peter,  the 
Galilean  fisherman.  Not  one  of  the  three  was  in  any  other 
respect  specially  remarkable,  and  though  all  three  wrote  in 
Greek,  their  records  are  tinged  with  the  Aramaic  phrases 
of   the  earliest  oral  teaching.     It  is  a  gross  absurdity  to 

himself  from  the  Old  Testament,  not  counting  those  made  by  our  Lord.  In 
St.  Mark,  who  wrote  for  Roman  readers,  there  is  only  one  (or,  perhaps,  two). 
In  St.  Luke,  who  wrote  mainly  for  Greeks,  three.  In  St.  John,  who  wrote  for 
the  whole  Christian  world,  there  are  nine.  Each  synoptist  has  his  own  special- 
ties. The  subject  of  Prophecy  is  prominent  in  St.  Matthew  ;  of  Prayer  in  St. 
Luke,  who  also  dwells  much  on  the  ministry  of  angels,  and  uses  the  Pauline 
word  evayje'Xi^EaBai  more  than  twenty  times,  and  aurr/pia  four  times.  He  uses 
the  title  6  Kupcog  for  Christ  much  more  frequently  than  the  other  Evangelists. 

*  Euseb.  //.  E.  iii.  39  ;  Iren.  Haer.  iii.  i  ;  Jer.  Pref.  in  Matt.  St.  Matthew 
alone  uses  the  Hebrew  term  "  the  Kingdom  of  the  heavens  "  thirty-two  times  ; ' 
the  other  N.  T.  writers  always  call  it  "  the  Kingdom  of  God." 

f  It  is  no  part  of  my  immediate  object  to  enter  into  the  proI)lem  of  the  origin 
of  the  Synoptic  Gospels — a  problem  complicated  by  their  close  resemblances 
yet  marked  divergences.  Even  the  verbal  differences  show  that  they  did  not 
slavishly  follow  each  other.  Thus  St.  Mark  expresses  "  through  the  eye  of  a 
needle"  by  <5m  t (ivaakiaq  pa(j)l6og  (Mark  x.  25)  ;  St.  Matthew  by  6th  TpvKr/fiarog 
pacpUhg ;  St.  Luke,  in  the  best  reading,  by  6ia  Tp^uarog  Pelovijg.  To  my  own 
mind  the  tlieory  of  a  common  original  fund  of  oral  teaching  best  meets  the 
peculiarities  of  the  case.  Many  special  touches  in  St.  Luke  seem  to  come 
from  eye  witnesses.  The  agreements  are  mostly  in  the  story  of  the  beginning 
2l\-\<S.  end  of  the  life  of  Jesus.  "Of  some  eighty-three  paragraphs  which  the 
Synoptists  liave  in  common,  only  about  thirty-four  come  in  the  same  order  in 
all  three  narratives — that  is  to  say,  in  some  forty-nine  instances  the  Synoptists 
do  not  agree  in  the  order  of  their  narratives."  (Gilbert,  The  Student's  Life  of 
festts,  p.  36.) 


THE    GOSPELS.  51 

suppose  that  they,  and  others  like  them,  could  have  con- 
soired  to  deceive  men  by  an  imaginary  character  and  a 
false  narrative  which,  ever  since,  has  altered  the  destinies 
and  stimulated  the  noblest  efforts  of  the  world  !  *  "  Their 
divinity,"  it  has  been  said,  "  is  in  what  they  report,  not  in 
the  tvay  they  report." 

There  are  in  the  Fourth  Gospel  more  marks  of  profound 
and  spiritual  genius.  It  concentrates  on  the  person  of  the 
Saviour  all  the  manifold  sources  of  witness  borne  to  Him 
by  the  Father  and  the  Spirit;  and  by  John  the  Baptist; 
and  alike  by  men  who  believed  and  disbelieved  in  His  divine 
authority.  Far  more  deeply  than  the  Synoptic  Gospels  it 
reveals  the  inmost  nature  of  Eternal  Life.  Its  "  emphatic 
monotony,"  its  mixture  of  extreme  simplicity  of  language 
and  grammar  with  unequalled  majesty  of  thought,  exercise 
over  the  mind  a  mysterious  spiritual  fascination.  After 
the  brows  of  the  Apostles  had  been  mitred  with  Pentecostal 
flame,  when  the  Fall  of  Jerusalem  came  as  the  consumma- 
tion of  the  older  aeon,  and  when  the  progress  of  years  had 
shown  that  the  "  Dayspring  from  on  high  "  was  destined 
to  broaden  into  the  boundless  noon,  the  insight  of  Chris- 
tians became  more  intense.  The  Gospel  of  St.  John  is 
crowded  with  internal  evidences  which  prove  the  external 
attestation  that  it  was  the  work  of  the  Apostle  whom  Jesus 
loved.  The  "  most  spiritual  Gospel  "  is  also  "  the  most 
concrete."  In  some  respects  it  presents  Christ  under  a 
more  purely  spiritual  light  than  the  Synoptic  Gospels. 
Yet  it  is  in  closest  agreement  with  the  simpler  and  earlier 
narratives  which  it  was  written  to  supplement — and  per- 
haps, in  one  or  two  less  important  particulars,  to  correct — 
but  mainly  (in  the  New  Testament  sense)  to  "fulfil,"  /.  e., 
to  fill  with  a  diviner  plenitude  of  meaning.  It  dwells 
chiefly  on  the  Judaean  rather  than  on  the  Galilean  ministry, 

*  St.  Mark  adopted  a  Latin  surname  (Marcus),  and  he  lias  in  liis  Gospel  ten 
Latin  words  transliterated  into  Greek — centtirio,  speculator,  grabatus,  quadrans, 
Hagellum ,  sex  fa  rites,  Prtrtoriiirn,  denarius,  legio,  census. 


52  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

because  tliere  is  reason  to  believe  that  St.  John  was  more 
familiar  with  Jerusalem  than  were  the  other  Evangelists : 
but  in  no  instance  does  St.  John  contradict  the  main 
particulars  recorded  by  his  predecessors.  He  distinctly 
recognises  the  ministry  both  in  Galilee  and  Pera^a,  which 
after  the  labours  of  the  other  Evangelists,  it  was  needless 
fully  to  record.  In  every  chapter  he  confirms  the  teaching 
which  they  preserve,  and  sets  forth  in  all  its  majesty,  but 
with  more  penetrating  power,  the  same  character  which  the 
Synoptists  present.  Without  the  Christ  whom  they  had 
known,  and  heard,  and  loved,  the  Evangelists  in  themselves 
would  have  been  nothing  and  less  than  nothing.  It  is  as 
absurd  to  say  that  the  Christ  of  these  Gospels  is  a  fiction 
as  it  would  be  to  say  that  one  who  described  the  glories  of 
the  mountains  had  evolved  out  of  his  own  imagination  the 
everlasting  hills,  or  that  astronomers  have  invented  the 
starry  heavens. 

Fortunately  we  have  direct  proof  of  the  incapacity  of 
fiction  to  touch  the  life  of  Jesus  without  instantly  betray- 
ing itself  to  be  fiction.  The  Apocryphal  Gospels  were 
works  of  imagination,  written  by  unwise  and  ill-instructed 
Christians  who  professed  to  adore  Jesus  and  to  believe  in 
His  Godhead.  They  were  popularly  attributed  to  great 
names,  such  as  Nicodemus,  St.  Joseph,  St.  Peter,  and  St. 
Thomas.  Yet  in  the  desire  and  endeavour  to  exalt  Him 
they  unconsciously  drag  Him  down  to  the  level  of  those 
who  wrote  them.  In  the  attempt  to  represent  Him  as 
sinless  and  divine,  they  pervert  his  ideal  by  their  own 
marked  imperfections.  The  four  Gospels,  because  they 
tell  the  simple  facts,  do  not  record  one  saying  or  one  inci- 
dent which  we  should  wish  to  be  obliterated,  as  weakening 
our  faith  or  diminishing  our  reverence  :  the  Apocryphal 
Gospels,  because  they  indulge  in  fiction,  scarcely  tell  us  a 
single  incident  which  we  do  not  instinctively  reject  as  false. 
From  the  first  they  deceived  no  one.  They  were  recognised 
and  denounced  as  apocryphal,  and  never  won  a  particle  oj 


THE    GOSPELS.  53 

confidence.  They  depict  Christ  only  to  degrade  Him,  and 
thereby  prove  how  impossible  it  was  to  set  Him  forth  as 
divine  except  by  the  unadorned  and  simple  truth.  And 
we  may  estimate  the  force  of  contemporary  evidence  from 
the  fact  that  it  revolutionised  the  whole  life  and  ideal  of 
"  a  Pharisee  of  the  Pharisees,"  the  pupil  of  Gamaliel, 
incomparably  the  ablest  Pharisee  of  his  day — the  Apostle 
St.  Paul.  Against  the  struggles  of  his  own  will,  this  great 
contemporary  was  driven  into  irresistible  conviction, 
through  doubt  and  denial.  His  knowledge  of  Jesus,  which 
began  in  the  vision  on  the  road  to  Damascus,  was  "  not  the 
fruit  of  a  blind  acceptance  of  unexamined  Christian  tradi- 
tion, but,  as  the  case  of  his  enquiry  into  the  evidences  of 
the  Resurrection  shows,*  was  arrived  at  by  means  of  a 
lucid,  keen,  searching,  sceptical  observation,  comparison, 
collection,  and  collation  of  such  materials  as  were  accessible 
to  him."  f 

Surely,  then,  we  may  say  of  the  Gospels  with  the  utmost 
confidence,  that  "  we  did  not  follow  on  the  false  track  of 
myths,  artificially  elaborated,"  but  that  we  accept  the 
simple  truth  at  the  hands  of  those  who  neither  "  trafficked 
with,"  nor  "adulterated,"  nor  "mutilated,"  nor  "  misrepre- 
sented "  the  Word  of  God.;}: 

*  I  Cor.  XV.  3-8.  f  Keim,  i.  521,  E.  T. 

X  2  Pet.  i.  16  ;  2  Cor.  ii.  17,  iv.  2. 


CHAPTER   VI. 

THE    CLAIMS   OF    JESUS,    AND    THE    SPELL    HE    EXERCISED 

Iva  fiEivij  rd  /ly  caTievofieva. — Heb.  xii.  27. 

"  Nemo  pen  se  satis  valet  utemergat ;  oportet  manum  aliquis  porrigat, 
aliquis  educat." — Sen,  E/>.  52. 

We  may,  then,  be  assured  of  the  genuineness  of  the  Gospel 
narratives,  and  they  prove  that  Jesus  was  a  Perfect  Man. 
All  subsequent  experience,  and  the  survey  of  nineteen 
centuries  of  history,  suffice  (as  we  have  seen)  to  show  that, 
as  a  Perfect  Man,  He  stands  alone  in  the  annals  of  the 
world — unapproachable,  unparalleled. 

From  heathen  sources — from  Tacitus,*  Suetonius,f  and 
Pliny:]: — though  they  all  refer  to  Jesus,  nothing  is  to  be 
learnt.  In  Jewish  sources — Josephus  and  the  Talmudists 
— we  find  deliberate  silence  or  frantic  calumny.  "  The 
True  Word  "  of  the  Platonist  Celsus  (a.  d.  176)  was  suffi- 
ciently refuted  by  Origen.  Some  of  these  writers  merely 
mention  His  name  as  the  founder  of  a  religion,  and  the 
Talmudists  have  a  few  wild  and  monstrous  fictions  about 
Him,  but  none  of  them  charge  Him  with  sin  or  crime. 
The  silence  of  Josephus — for  the  famous  allusion  to  Jesus 
in  his  Antiquities  (xviii.  3,  3)  is  either  an  interpolation,  or 
has  been  tampered  with  by  Christian  writers — was  obvi- 
ously intentional.  That  it  was  not  the  silence  of  ignorance, 
but  of  embarrassment,  is  certain,  for  he  knew  all  about 
John  the  Baptist, §  and  regarded  him  with  high  respect; 
and  in  speaking  of  the  martyrdom  of  James,  the  Lord's 
brother,  if  that  passage  be  genuine,  he  actually  attributes 

*  Tac.  Ann.  xv.  44.  f  Suet.  Nero  16  ;  Claud.  16. 

t  Plin.  Ep.  X.  97,  98.  %Anti.  xviii.  5,  2. 

54 


THE   CLAIMS   OF  JESUS.  55 

the  final  destruction  of  Jerusalem  to  the  Nemesis  due  to 
that  crime.  The  allusions  in  the  writings  of  later  Judaism 
— which  will  not  name  Jesus,  but  speak  of  Him  as  "  the 
fellow,"  "  the  fool,"  or  "  he  who  ought  not  to  be  named  " 
— are  beneath  contempt.  The  "  infamous,  multiform, 
mediaeval  lampoon  "  against  Jesus,  known  as  the  "  Toldoth 
Jes/m"  gives  expression  to  the  screams  and  curses  of  a 
hatred  only  excusable  because  it  was  partly,  alas!  due  to 
the  savage  ruthlessness  of  Christian  persecution. 

But  in  what  way  do  the  fourfold  records  of  the  Evangel- 
ists demonstrate  this  unique  sinlessness  and  perfectness  of 
the  Saviour  of  Mankind  ?  They  do  so,  because  in  all  they 
narrate  they  show  us  One  who  lived  His  life  amid  the 
ordinary  surroundings  of  men,  yet  wholly  without  a  trace 
of  evil,  or  of  incompleteness  in  His  moral  supremacy. 

Jesus  lived  in  the  full  blaze  of  publicity,  (i.)  Many  fol- 
lowers had  been  under  His  constant  teaching.  (ii.) 
Myriads  had  heard  His  words  and  seen  His  works  in  Gali- 
lee, (iii.)  He  had  thousands  of  enemies,  who  hated  Him 
with  a  singular  intensity  of  that  unscrupulous  hatred  which 
always  exhibits  itself  in  its  vilest  and  most  ruthless  forms 
among  religious  disputants. 

His  followers,  who  had  seen  Him  in  the  most  private 
and  confidential  intercourse  of  common  life,  narrated  from 
intimate  knowledge  the  incidents  of  His  ministry.  In  all 
that  they  narrate  we  see  the  glory  of  Godhead  veiled  in 
human  form,  and  we  cannot  find  the  least  trace  of  that  evil 
impulse  (the  Yetzer  ha-raJi)  which,  the  Jewish  Rabbis  said, 
divided  with  the  good  impulse  (the  Yetzer  ha-tob)  the  whole 
domain  of  human  existence."* 

We  see  that  the  sinlessness  of  Jesus  was  not  a  miraculous, 

*  See  Hershon,  Rabbinic  CoiJimentary  on  Genesis,  p.  21.  Treasures  of  the 
Talmud,  p.  161.  In  Gen.  ii.  7,  the  word  for  "  He  formed  "  has  two  lods, 
which  the  Rabbis  explained  of  the  trvo  impulses.  On  Gen.  viii.  21,  they  re- 
marked that  the  Yetzer  ha-rah  is  implanted  in  men,  whereas  the  Yetzer  ha-tob 
is  only  a  guest.     See,  too,  Sanhedrin,  f.  64,  i. 


56  THE    LIFE   OF   LIVES. 

but  an  achieved  sinlessness.  He  was  perfectly  man,  as  well 
as  truly  God.  He  was  tempted  in  all  points  like  as  we  are, 
yet  without  sin.  He  was  "  tempted  of  the  Devil,"  not  only 
in  the  wilderness,  but  to  the  end  ;  and  the  temptations 
would  have  been  no  temptations  if  it  had  been  antecedently 
impossible  for  Him  to  have  succumbed  to  them.  After  the 
great  Temptation  in  the  wilderness  the  Devil  left  Him,  but 
it  was  only  "  for  a  season."  He  had  to  face  those  two-fold 
and  opposite  influences  to  swerve  from  the  path  of  perfect- 
ness,  which  arise  on  the  one  hand  from  the  allurements  of 
ease,  and  on  the  other  from  the  agonies  of  suffering.  His 
temptations  appealed  to  His  human  nature,  His  human 
imagination.  His  human  sensitiveness  to  anguish  ;  they  en- 
deavoured to  sway  at  once  the  desires  of  the  mind  and 
the  weakness  of  the  flesh.  Jesus  was  not  humanly  endowed 
with  an  impossibility  of  sinning — a  iioii  posse  peccare  ;  but 
with  the  power  to  achieve  the  complete  and  final  victory 
over  every  impulse  to  sin — a  posse  nan  peccare.  This  victory, 
even  more  than  His  miracles,  was  sufficient  to  convince  His 
followers  of  His  Divine  Nature,  so  that  from  the  earliest 
days  of  Christianity,  as  we  learn  from  Pliny  the  younger, 
they  sang  hymns  to  Him  as  God.* 

Be  it  observed  that  the  superhuman  grandeur  which 
seemed  to  invest  Him  as  with  a  garment  was  something 
wholly  apart  from  all  earthly  pomp  of  circumstance,  or 
splendour  of  endowments.  In  position  He  was  nothing 
more  than  a  Galilean  peasant,  the  lowliest  of  the  lowly, 
"the  carpenter"  of  despised  and  proverbial  Nazareth. 
The  Prophet  whom  the  multitudes  saw  before  them  was  a 
nameless  youth,  seated  on  a  mountain,  or  speaking  to  them 
from  a  boat.  When  the  world,  even  the  hostile  and 
sceptical  world,  involuntarily  bows  before  Him,  it  is  not 
because  of  any  of  the  gifts  or  qualities  which  ordinarily 
dazzle  mankind.  Jesus  was  no  Poet,  entrancing  the  souls 
of  men  with  passionate  melodies.  He  was  no  mighty 
Leader  like  Moses,  emancipating  nations  from  servitude, 
*  Pliny,  Ep.  x.  97. 


THE   CLAIMS   OF   JESUS.  57 

or,  with  i'Uuminated  countenance,  promulgating  to  them  a 
code  of  systematic  morality.  He  was  no  rapt  Orator,  now 
stirring  them  to  tumultuous  emotion,  now  holding  them 
hushed  as  an  infant  at  the  mother's  breast.  He  was  no 
Warrior,  smiting  down  his  foes  in  triumphant  victory,  and 
breaking  from  the  necks  of  the  oppressed  the  yoke  of 
foreign  bondage.  Yet  turning  away  from  the  choir  of  im- 
mortal Poets  ;  from  all  "  famous  men  and  the  fathers  who 
begat  us " ;  from  mighty  Orators  who  have  played  on 
the  emotions  of  men  as  on  an  instrument,  and  swept  them 
into  stormy  passion,  or  moved  them  to  sobs  of  pity,  as  the 
wind  sweeps  into  wild  music  or  into  soft  murmurings  the 
strings  of  an  .^olian  harp ;  from  all  magnificent  Con- 
querors ;  from  the  Pharaohs  in  their  chariots  whirled  into 
battle  amid  the  serried  ranks  of  their  archers ;  from  Assyr- 
ian monarchs  leading  their  captivity  captive,  and  hunting 
the  lion  amid  their  lords  ;  from  Babylonian  Emperors  with 
the  crumbs  gathered  beneath  their  tables  by  vassal  kings ; 
from  deified  Caesars  in  their  dizzy  exaltation;  from  Aurung- 
zebe  or  Haroun,  flaming  in  their  jewelled  robes  and  sur- 
rounded by  kotowing  courtiers — the  world,  abandoning  all 
its  own  predilections,  has  felt  constrained  to  drop  its 
weapons,  to  tear  the  garlands  from  its  hair,  to  kneel  lowly 
on  its  knees  before  the  Son  of  Man  in  His  meek  humilia- 
tion— in  the  faded  purple  of  His  mockery,  in  His  crown  of 
torturing  thorns  ! 

And  His  sinlessness  is  confirmed  from  every  source. 

(i.)  His  OWN  Family  witness  to  it.  His  mother  and 
His  brethren  had  lived  with  Him  from  infancy  in  the  same 
poor  hut  at  Nazareth  ;  they  had  eaten  and  drunk  and  slept 
with  Him  ;  had  been  with  Him  by  night,  by  day,  in  the 
most  solemn  intercourse,  at  the  most  unguarded  moments, 
during  the  bright  gaiety  of  boyhood  and  the  passionate  fire 
of  youth,  with  an  intimacy  which  would  have  rendered  con- 
cealment impossible,  if,  even  in  His  thoughts.  He  had  been 
unfaithful  to  God  His  Father.     His  ways  were  not  as  their 


58  THE    LIFE   OF   LIVES. 

ways,  nor  His  thoughts  as  their  thoughts.  He  set  aside 
their  advice ;  He  checked  their  occasional  intrusiveness.* 
He  did  not  adopt  their  ideals  of  patriotism  ;  He  bitterly 
disappointed  the  earthly  form  of  their  Messianic  hopes — 
yet  they  were  so  convinced  of  His  sinlessness,  that,  after 
His  resurrection,  these  Dcsposynia^s  they  were  called — these 
members  of  our  Lord's  human  family — became,  like  James 
the  Bishop  of  Jerusalem  and  Judo  the  author  of  the  Epis- 
tle, pre-eminent  and  pronounced  believers  in  His  divine 
supremacy. 

(ii.)  St.  John  the  Baptist  was  united  to  Him  by 
earthly  kinship,  and  had  probably  seen  something  of  Him 
in  His  earlier  years.  This  prophet  of  the  wilderness  was 
one  of  the  sternest  of  mankind — an  uncompromising  foe  to 
all  insincerity  ;  a  man  who  did  not  for  a  moment  hesitate  to 
rebuke  cruel  autocrats,  and,  with  rude  impetuosity,  to  strip 
the  mask  from  the  hypocritic  face  of  painted  Pharisees  ;  a 
man  who,  so  far  from  feeling  flattered  when  he  won  con- 
verts among  the  pompous  religionists  of  his  day,  bluntly 
denounced  them  as  "  the  offsprings  of  vipers."  At  the 
presence  of  Jesus,  though  as  yet  He  was  but  the  unknown 
carpenter  of  Nazaretli,  the  voice  which  terrified  multitudes 
and  made  kings  tremble  is  hushed  into  accents  of  humility, 
and  the  strong  personality  which  over-awed  a  proud  and 
passionate  nation  becomes  like  that  of  a  timid  boy.  He 
who  baptised  all  others,  shrank  from  baptising  the  Son  of 
Man.  Before  the  ministry  of  Jesus  had  begun,  or  a  single 
miracle  had  been  wrought,  John  pointed  Him  out  to  His 
disciples  as  "  the  Lamb  of  God  which  taketh  away  the  sins 
of  the  world,"  and  as  One  whose  shoe's  latchet  he  is  not 
worthy  to  stoop  down  and  unloose. 

(iii.)  The  Apostles  lived  and  moved  about  with  Him 
under  all  varieties  of  outward  condition,  alike  in  the  sun- 
light of  His  early  ministry,  and  amid  the  deadly  hatred 
and  bitter  persecution  which  drove  Him  forth  as  a  Avan- 
*See  Matt.  xiii.  46  ;  Mk.  iii.  31  ;  Luke  viii.  19  ;  John  vii.  5,  10. 


THE   CLAIMS   OF  JESUS.  59 

derer  and  a  fugitive  who  had  not  where  to  lay  His  head  ; 
and  though  their  worldly  Messianic  hopes  were  so  utterly 
blighted,  though  they  had  to  bear  for  His  sake  the  loss  of 
all  which  men  most  desire — yet,  with  one  voice,  they  speak 
of  Him  as  the  Holy  One  of  God  ;  as  One  who  did  no  sin, 
neither  was  guile  found  in  His  mouth  ;  as  One  who  alone 
had  the  words  of  eternal  life ;  as  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  the 
Living  God  ;  as  holy,  harmless,  undefiled,  separate  from 
sinners,  and  made  higher  than  the  heavens ;  as  the  sinless 
High  Priest,  who  is  faithful  and  just  to  forgive  us  our  sins, 
and  to  cleanse  us  from  all  unrighteousness.* 

(iv.)  The  Pharisees,  THE  Sadducees,  the  Herodians, 
all  hated  Christ  with  that  deadliness  of  malignity  which 
has  been  invariably  exhibited  against  all  the  best  and 
holiest  men ;  alike  by  Priests,  Jesuits,  and  Inquisitors, 
against  all  who  oppose  their  own  falsities,  and  by  worldings 
who  resent  all  unswerving  sincerity  and  stainless  authority. 
These  enemies  laid  traps  for  Jesus;  tried  to  entangle  Him 
in  His  talk;  combined  in  shameless  and  clever  machinations 
to  entrap  and  to  destroy  Him ;  did  their  utmost  to  embroil 
Him  with  the  rulers,  and  to  disillusion  the  Galilean  multi- 
tude of  their  devotion  for  Him.  They  supported  their  own 
false  judgments  by  frantic  lies.  Yet  the  only  charges 
which  they  could  bring  against  Him  were  that  He  "  broke 
the  tradition  of  the  elders" — which  He  did  designedly, 
because  the  so-called  "  tradition "  had  become  a  paltry 
rubbish-heap  of  quantitative  goodness — and  that  "  He  had 
a  demon,  and  cast  out  demons  by  Beelzebul,  the  prince  of 
demons,"  which  was  a  mere  scream  of  insane  hatred,  and 
involved  the  absurdity  of  supposing  that  the  prince  of  the 
demons  was  going  about  as  an  angel  of  holiness. 

(v.)  One  of  His  Apostles,  Judas  Iscariot,  giving  himself 
up  to  the  temptation  of  greed,  and  probably  maddened 
with  sullen  wrath  at  the  frustration  and  disappointment  of 

*  Acts  iii.  14,  viii.  35,  xxii.  14  ;  i  Pet.  ii.  21,  iii.  iS  ;  i  John  ii.  I,  29,  iii.  5, 
7  ;  2  Cor.  V.  21  ;  I  Tim.  iii.  16. 


6o  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

all  his  worldly  hopes,  became  a  traitor.  Perhaps  he  laid  to 
his  soul  the  flattering  unction  that  there  could  be  no  great 
sin  in  doing  that  which  High  Priests,  and  Scribes,  and 
Pharisees  urged  him  to  do,  and  paid  him  for  doing.  Yet 
even  after  that  humiliating  condemnation,  which  he  might 
have  been  tempted  to  regard  as  the  final  disproof  of  His 
Master's  Messianic  claims,  he  was  so  haunted  by  the  pangs 
of  intolerable  remorse  that  he  flung  down  unspent  upon  the 
Temple  floor  the  thirty  pieces  of  silver  for  which  he  had 
sold  his  soul,  and  rushed  forth  to  his  hideous  suicide  with 
the  confession  that  he  had  been  guilty  in  that  he  "  had 
betrayed  INNOCENT  BLOOD." 

(vi.)  The  Saniiedrists,  violating  the  traditional  com- 
passionateness  of  Jewish  tribunals,  and  goaded  on  by 
priestly  hypocrites,  sought  false  witness  against  Him,  and 
could  find  none.  There  was  not  a  single  fault  or  crime 
which  they  could  establish  against  Him,  and  their  eager 
false  witnesses  utterly  broke  down.  They  condemned  Him 
on  His  true  claim — extorted  from  Him  by  the  illegal 
adjuration  of  the  High  Priest,  and  proved  by  the  subse- 
quent history  of  the  whole  Jewish  and  Gentile  world — His 
claim  to  be  the  Christ. 

(vii.)  The  Roman  Lady,  Claudia  Procula,  the  wife  of 
Pilate,  was  so  haunted  by  the  thought  of  Jesus  that,  terri- 
fied by  dreams,  she  bade  her  husband  take  no  part  in  con- 
demning "  that  Just  Person." 

(viii.)  Before  PiLATE  the  Jewish  priests,  with  base  and 
shifty  malice,  brought  against  Him  four  charges  :  (i)  that 
He  was  a  deceiver ;  (2)  that  He  stirred  up  the  people  ;  (3) 
that  He  forbade  to  pay  tribute  to  Caesar  ;  (4)  that  He  called 
Himself  a  King.  All  four  charges,  in  the  sense  in  which 
they  were  urged,  were  absolute  lies  ;  and  Pilate — bad,  cruel, 
blood-stained,  wilful  as  he  was — saw  them  to  be  lies,  born 
of  the  deadliest  hatred.  Awed  by  the  Prisoner's  meek 
grandeur,  unoffended  even  byHis  majestic  silence,  trembling 
before  the  mysterious  spell  which  He  exercised  while  He 


THE    CLAIMS    OF   JESUS.  6i 

stood  before  him  with  the  agony  of  pain  and  the  marks  of 
shame  and  spitting  upon  His  brow,  the  haughty  Roman 
Procurator  was  constrained  to  utter  again  and  again  the 
emphatic  testimony,   "  I  find  in  him  no  fault  at  all." 

(ix.)  The  Crucified  Malefactor  who  witnessed  the 
ultimate  humiliation  of  Jesus  ;  who  shared  in  the  unspeak- 
able infamy  of  His  last  agonies;  who  had,  at  first,  joined 
in  the  taunts  of  the  other  malefactor  against  Him  ;  who 
had  challenged  Him — if  He  were  not  the  mesith  whom  the 
priests  and  religious  world  of  the  day  declared  Him  to  be 
— to  come  down  from  the  cross,  and  save  Himself  and  His 
companions  in  misery ; — that  crucified  robber,  who  saw 
Him  only  in  the  hour  and  power  of  darkness,  with  the 
Roman  soldiers  mocking,  and  the  crowds  yelling  against 
Him,  and  the  Hierarchs  and  Elders  passing  by  and  wagging 
their  heads  at  Him — even  that  poor  robber,  overawed  to 
conviction  by  the  triumph  of  His  patient  majesty,  testified 
"  This  man  hath  done  nothing  amiss,"  and  called  Him 
"  Lord,"  and  prayed  that  He  would  admit  him  into  His 
kingdom. 

(x.)  The  Roman  Centurion,  who  had  seen  Him  so 
grievously  insulted  by  the  leaders  and  religious  teachers 
and  mobs  of  His  own  countrymen  ;  who  had  watched  the 
whole  scene  until  the  tortures  ceased  in  death  ;  who  had 
been  in  command  of  the  rude  quaternions  of  soldiers — felt 
the  witness  wrung  from  him,  "  Truly  this  was  a  righteous 
man." 

(xi.)  The  very  mobs  which  had  so  frantically  yelled 
against  Him  seem  to  have  been  hushed  into  awe  and  silence 
by  the  sight  of  a  majesty  which  no  ignominy  could  humili- 
ate, and  after  His  crucifixion  returned  to  Jerusalem  smiting 
their  breasts  with  remorseful  misgiving. 

Thus,  alike  the  friends  and  the  enemies  of  Jesus  became 
voluntary  or  unwilling  witnesses  to  His  stainless  innocence. 
His  friends  not  only  testified  to  His  perfectness  through 
all  the  remainder  of  their  days,  but  demonstrated  it  by  the 


62  THE    LIFE    OF   LIVES. 

simplicity  of  their  truthful  records,  and  the  power  of  their 
renovated  lives.  His  opponents,  with  all  the  will  in  the 
world  to  blacken  His  name  and  depreciate  His  character, 
were  either  constrained  to  confess  His  immaculate  purity 
of  conduct,  or  in  the  charges  which  they  brought  against 
Him  were  self-convicted  of  malice,  ignorance,  and  falsehood. 

Yet  all  these  testimonies,  and  even  the  stupendous 
results  of  His  life  and  death,  would  not  necessarily  prove 
His  sinless  humanity,  or  His  divine  prerogatives,  had  they 
not  been  corroborated  by  His  own  repeated  and  unvarying 
testimony,* 

He  asked  His  most  raging  opponents,  "  Which  of  you 
convinceth  Me  of  sin  ?  And  if  1  say  the  truth,  why  do  ye 
not  believe  Me  ?  "  f 

The  keynote  of  Christ's  inner  life  was  heavenliness. 

"  How  sour  sweet  music  is 
When  time  is  broke,  and  no  proportion  kept ; 
So  is  it  with  the  music  of  men's  Uves," 

If  the  keynote  of  a  man's  life  be  selfishness,  earthliness, 
greed,  self-indulgence,  his  whole  life  will  be  full  of  "  harsh 
chromatic  jars,"  If  we  imitate  Christ,  we  shall  be  enabled 
to  join  in  the  perfect  diapason,  and  keep  in  tune  with  heaven. 
For  us,  as  for  our  Saviour,  "the  path  to  heaven  will  then 
lie  through  heaven,  and  all  the  way  to  heaven  be  heaven." 
And  this  heavenliness  of  Christ  was  achieved  and  exhibited 
in  the  common  round,  the  trivial  task.  He  never  was  what 
Romanists  call  "a  religious."  His  life  bore  no  resem- 
blance to  those  of  hermits,  monks,  or  ascetics.  His  reli- 
gion was  to  finish  His  Father's  work  amid  the  common 
every-day  life  of  men.  In  that  common  every-day  life.  He 
shifted  the  centre  of  gravity  of  man's  existence  from  earth 
to  heaven.  He  made  it  not  geocentric,  but  heleoccntric. 
For  all  who  walk  in  His  steps,  life  is  not  only  ennobled  ;  it 

*  John  iv.  34  ;  v.  30  ;  viii.  29  ;  x.  30  ;  xiv.  9,  31  ;  xv.  6.  27  ;  xvi.  33  ;  xvii, 
4,  19  ;  Matt.  xi.  28. 

f  John  viii  46.     Stier,  ReJoi  Jesii,  Part   IV.,  p.  428. 


THE    CLAIMS    OF   JESUS.  63 

is  glorified,  it  is  transfigured.  "  Thou  shalt  show  me  the 
path  of  Hfe  ;  in  Thy  presence  is  fuhiess  of  joy,  and  at  Thy 
right  hand  there  are  pleasures  for  evermore." 

Bearing  in  mind  what  He  was,  only  consider  the  weight 
of  such  utterances  as  these  which  follow,  and  consider  how 
— if  they  had  not  been  so  amply  justified,  both  by  the  short 
years  of  His  life,  and  by  the  nineteen  centuries  which  that 
life  has  influenced,  and  by  the  ages  which  it  will  still  influ- 
ence till  Time  shall  be  no  more — the  fact  of  uttering  them, 
had  they  not  been  the  perfect  truth,  would  have  lowered 
Jesus  below  the  level  of  all  other  religious  teachers  ;  would 
have  branded  Him  with  the  weakness  of  self-deception  and 
the  stain  of  falsehood. 

Consider  His  seven  "  I  am's." 

I.  "  Jesus  said  unto  them,  I  am  the  Bread  of  Life.''  * 

This  He  said  when  the  multitude,  impressed  with 
His  words  and  works,  yet  asked  of  Him  a  sign  to  authen- 
ticate His  claim  that  the  Father  had  sent  Him  to  bestow 
eternal  life  by  the  food  which  He  could  give.  They  chal- 
lenged Him  to  fulfil  the  tradition  that  the  Messiah  should, 
like  Moses,  give  them  manna  from  Heaven,  f  They  had 
not  realised,  as  even  Philo  had  done,  \  that  "  the  heavenly 
food  which  feeds  the  soiiV  is  the  true  bread  from  heaven. 
And  when  they  asked  for  the  bread  of  God  which  cometh 
down  from  heaven.  He  told  them  that  He  Himself  was  the 
Bread  of  Life  ;  in  other  words,  that  they  who  accepted 
Him,  by  faith  lived  in  Him,  would  never  hunger  nor  thirst, 
but  would  have  everlasting  life.  The  Apostles  showed  that 
they  had  rightly  apprehended  His  revelation  when  Simon 
Peter  said,  in  the  name  of  them  all,  "  Lord,  to  whom  shall  we 
go  ?  Thou  hast  words  of  eternal  life  ;  and  we  have  believed 
and  have  come  to  know  that  Thou  art  the  Holy  On«  of  God."§ 

*  John  vi.  35.  f  See  Lightfoot,  Hor .  Hebr.  ad  loc. 

I  Philo,  lie  Profugis,  §  25,  quoted  by  Bp.  Westcott  ad  loc. 
§  Christ  also  spoke  of  Himself  as  the  source  of  the  Living  Water  (John  iv.  14. 
vii.  37.  38). 


64  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

2.  "  1  am  the  Light  of  the  World"  * 

This  utterance  was  another  revelation  of  His  divinity, 
for  God  is  Light.  Christ  was  "  the  Sun  of  Righteousness  " 
of  whom  Malachi  had  prophesied  that  He  should  rise  with 
healing  in  His  wings.  Just  as  the  Pillar  of  Fire  had  illumi- 
nated the  darkness  of  night  in  the  wilderness,  so  would 
Christ  illuminate  the  darkness  of  the  world,  and  His  true 
disciples  should  reflect  His  light. 

3.  "  /  am  the  Door  of  the  Fold."  f 

In  Eastern  lands  separate  flocks  are  often  led  at  night 
for  safety  into  one  large  fold.  The  porter  remains  to 
watch  over  the  various  flocks,  and  in  the  morning  the 
shepherds  come  and  call  out  their  own  sheep.  The  fold  is 
the  universal  Church — "the  blessed  company  of  all  faithful 
people,"  and  none  can  enter  into  that  safe  and  holy  fold 
except  through  Christ. 

4.  ''  I  am  the  Fair  Shepherd!'  \ 

Christ  is  the  genuine  Shepherd  of  the  sheep,  and  not  only 
the  "good,"  but  the  "fair"  Shepherd — altogether  lovely 
as  well  as  tender — who  knows  His  sheep,  defends  them  from 
all  danger,  and  lays  down  His  life  for  them.  He  has  many 
"folds"  in  His  one  Flock,  but  all  the  sheep  shall  be 
gathered  at  last  into  the  one  eternal  fold,  and  become  one 
fold  under  their  one  Shepherd.  This  beautiful  image  more 
than  any  other  haunted  the  minds  of  the  early  Christians, 
as  we  see  from  the  constant  representations  of  the  "  Fair 
Shepherd  "  on  the  walls  of  the  Catacombs. 

5.  "  /  am  the  Resurrection  a)id  the  Life."^ 

Christ  is  the  Eternal  Life  shared  equally  by  all  who  live 
"  in  Him."  Whether  they  be  now  living  on  earth,  or  living 
in  the  new  form  of  life  beyond  the  phase  of  earthly  death, 
death  cannot  touch  them  that  have  life  in  Him. 

*Johnviii.  12.  The  words  were  immediately  suggested  by  the  lighting  of 
the  great  Golden  Candelabra  in  the  Court  of  the  Women  at  the  Feast  of 
Tabernacles. 

f  John  X.  7,  9.  :{:  John  x.  11,  14.  §  Joli"  xi.  25. 


THE    CLAIMS   OF   JESUS.  65 

6.  "  I  am  the  true  Vine."  * 

As  all  the  branches  of  a  vine  derive  their  life  from  union 
with  the  stem  and  root,  so  all  believers  in  Christ  share  His 
life.  As  long  as  they  bear  the  fruit  of  such  union,  they 
need  indeed  to  be  pruned — as  men  are  by  suffering — but 
only  that  they  may  become  more  fruitful.  It  is  only  the 
absolutely  and  hopelessly  barren  and  withered  branches 
that  are  taken  away  and  burned. 

7.  "  I  am  the  Way,  the  Truth,  and  the  Life"  f 

Christ  is  the  sole  Way  whereby  we  can  pass  from  death 
to  life,  and  from  our  evil  and  perverted  self  to  the  Father. 
He  is  the  Eternal  Verity  in  which  all  semblances  are  lost. 
He  is  the  Life  because  He  is  one  with  the  Living  Father, 
apart  from  whom  life  is  but  a  living  death. 

By  all  these  metaphors — of  the  Manna,  and  the  living 
Bread,  and  the  Light,  and  the  Door,  and  the  Shepherd, 
and  the  Vine,  and  the  Way — did  Jesus  indicate  "  the 
irrevocable  saving  significance  "  which  He  knew  that  His 
life  and  death  possessed  for  mankind. 

No  human  lips  have  ever  uttered  claims  so  immense  and 
fundamental  as  these.  The  fact  that  Jesus  made  them 
would  brand  Him  with  condemnation  had  not  age  after 
age  demonstrated  their  simple  and  eternal  truth. 

Again,  consider  such  invitations  as  these : 

**  Come  unto  Me  all  ye  that  labour  and  are  heavy-laden, 
and  I  will  give  you  rest.  Take  My  yoke  upon  you,  and 
learn  of  Me,  for  I  am  meek  and  lowly  of  heart,  and  ye  shall 
find  rest  unto  your  souls."  :j: 

Or  sayings  so  awful  as  : 

"  He  that  hath  seen  Me  hath  seen  the  Father.  How 
sayest  thou,  Show  us  the  Father?  "  § 

Or, 

"All  things  have  been  delivered  unto  Me  of  My  Father; 
and  no  one  knoweth  who  the  Son  is  save  the  Father;  and 

*  John  XV.  I.  f  John  xiv.  6. 

I  Matt.  xi.  28,  2g,  §  John  xiv,  9, 


66  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

who  the  Father  is  save  the  Son,  and  he  to  whomsoever  the 
Son  willeth  to  reveal  Him."* 

These  utterances  are  not  accidental  outcomes  of  the 
thought  of  Jesus.  Expressed  in  every  variety  of  form 
they  are  a  fundamental  part  of  all  His  teaching.  He 
accepted  worship  ;  He  called  Himself  the  Son  of  God.f 
In  the  lowest  abyss  of  the  shame,  agony,  and  failure  out- 
poured upon  His  short  earthly  life — and  be  it  ever  remem- 
bered that  the  man  Christ  Jesus  was  a  young  man  even 
when  He  died — He  could  yet  tell  the  maddened,  sneering 
Sanhedrin,  with  death  for  blasphemy  staring  Him  in  the 
face  as  the  certain  and  immediate  consequence,  that  He 
was  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  the  Living  God,  and  that  here- 
after they  should  see  the  Son  of  Man  seated  at  the  right 
hand  of  God,  and  coming  in  the  clouds  of  heaven. 

On  the  cross  itself,  nailed  there  in  the  uttermost  humilia- 
tion of  helpless  torture  and  nakedness,  with  scarcely  one 
friend  to  care  for  Him  among  the  millions  whom  He  came 
to  save.  He  yet,  of  His  own  authority,  flung  wide  open  the 
gates  of  Paradise  to  the  robber  who,  in  punishment  for  his 
crimes,  was  dying  by  His  side. 

And  all  these  claims — so  vast,  of  such  eternal  import — 
were  unhesitatingly  repeated  and  proclaimed,  even  at  the 
peril  of  life,  by  those  who  had  seen  and  known,  and  whose 
hands  had  handled  the  Word  of  Life.;}: 

Now,  if  such  claims,  promises,  and  testimonies  were  the 
result  of  monstrous  arrogance,  or  the  delusions  of  pitiful 
hallucination,  they  would  degrade  Jesus  into  the  position 
of  a  self-worshipping  fanatic,  or  an  insanely  arrogant 
deceiver.  Every  line  which  is  written  of  Him,  every  day 
of  the  long  centuries  which  have  passed  since  the  day  of 

*  Luke  X.  22.     Comp.  Luke  xix.  lo  ;  John  iii.  35,  36,  vi.  37,  vii.  37,  etc. 

f  John  ix,  35-38  ;  Matt.  viii.  2,  ix.  18,  xiv.  33,  etc.;  Mark  xv.  19  ;  Luke 
xxiv.  52. 

X  Rom.  vi.  23  ;  Gal,  iii.  13,  22  ;  i  Tim.  i.  15  ;  Col.  i.  14  ;  i  Pet.  ii.  24  ; 
John  iii.  35,  36,  x.  9,  xvii.  3  ;  Acts  xvi.  31,  xiii.  38,  39,  etc. 


THE    CLAIMS   OF   JESUS.  67 

His  baptism,  stamp  either  alternative  as  too  outrageous 
even  for  blasphemy  to  utter.  As  He  said  to  the  hostile 
Jews,  His  works  bore  witness  for  Him.  They  were  the 
seal  of  attestation  affixed  to  His  utterances  by  His  heavenly 
Father,  whom  they  knew  not.  Though  He  bore  witness  to 
Himself,  yet  was  His  witness  true,  for  He  sought  not  His 
own  glory.*  It  was  His  Father  who  glorified  Him,  and 
consecrated  Him,  and  bore  witness  to  Him,  and  He  did  the 
works  of  His  Father.f  The  whole  ideal  and  outline  of  His 
character,  as  shewn  in  all  that  He  said  and  did,  stamps  His 
own  witness  concerning  Himself  with  an  unanswerable 
force.  Liars  and  deceivers  rank  among  the  wickedest  of 
mankind  ;  self-exalting  madmen,  who  claim  to  be  divine, 
are  among  the  most  abject  of  human  creatures.  It  might 
seem  as  if  the  earth  would  yawn  beneath  the  feet  of  any 
one  who — by  rejecting  this  repeated  and  most  awfully 
solemn  testimony,  and  in  defiance  of  all  truth  and  reverence 
— dared  to  relegate  the  Son  of  Man  to  either  class.  For 
has  not  every  claim  He  uttered  been  superabundantly 
justified  by  the  witness  of  God  in  the  renovation  of  the 
world  wrought  through  faith  in  His  name  ? 

The  validity  of  the  words  and  promises  of  Christ  has 
been  abundantly  justified  in  matters  open  to  the  most 
ordinary  tests.  He  never  commissioned  His  Apostles  to 
write,  yet,  in  the  midst  of  what  might  have  seemed  to  be 
utter  and  shameful  defeat,  He  calmly  said  to  His  little  ob- 
scure handful  of  Galilean  disciples  that  heaven  and  earth 
would  pass  away,  but  His  words  would  not  pass  away ;  and 
so  it  has  been.ij:  And  when  He  well  knew  how  near  was 
His  death  of  shame,  at  a  feast  in  the  petty  Judaean  village 
of  Bethany,  He  promised  to  Mary's  act  of  fidelity  an  im- 
mortal memory  over  the  whole  habitable  earth  ;  and  to 
this  day,  in  every  region  of  the  habitable  earth,  that  deed 
is  still  proclaimed.§ 

*  John  viii.  50-54-  f  John  xii.  28,  xiv.  13,  xvii.  4,  etc. 

:}:  Matt.  xxiv.  35.  §  Matt.  xxvi.  13. 


68  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

There  are,  as  Kant  wrote,  tivo  things  which  move  and 
uplift  and  overawe  the  soul,  more  than  all  else  of  which,  by 
our  senses  and  intellect,  we  can  become  cognisant — "  the 
starry  heavens  above,  and  the  moral  law  within."  But  to 
these  two  things,  it  has  been  rightly  said,  we  must  add  a 
third,  yet  more  sublime,  namely,  the  realisation,  the  fulfil- 
ment, the  perfect  exhibition  of  that  "  moral  law  within  "  in 
the  life  of  One  who  was  exalted  far  above  all  heavens,  yet 
lived  in  a  tent  like  ours,  and  of  the  same  material — the  man 
Christ  Jesus.  "Sin  is  a  failure,  and  perversity  an  apostasy. 
He  alone  conquered  sin.  In  Him  alone  there  was  no 
sin." 

Yes !  God  the  Father,  the  Almighty,  the  Maker  of 
Heaven  and  Earth,  has,  in  all  the  consequences  achieved  by 
Christ  in  all  the  world,  stamped  His  seal  of  Divine  attesta- 
tion to  the  mission  of  His  Son  Jesus.  God  has  "  in  mani- 
fold figures  indicated  the  unique,  irrevocable,  saving  signifi- 
cance which  He  knew  His  preaching  to  have  for  men."* 
The  comment  upon  that  saving  significance  is  written 
broad  and  large  over  all  the  subsequent  destinies  of  man- 
kind. Jesus  taught  but  for  one  or  two  short  years,  moving 
about  among  the  humble  peasants  of  despised  Galilee  ;  yet 
He  "  became  the  creator  of  a  new  and  higher  Kosmos,  the 
duration  of  which  is  to  be  reckoned  by  millenniums  and  the 
extent  of  which  is  to  be  conterminous  with  the  whole  sur- 
face of  the  earth. "f  "The  proof  of  the  grace  poured  out 
in  His  life,":}:  says  Origen,  "  is  this — that,  after  a  brief  space 
of  time,  the  whole  world  has  been  filled  with  His  teaching 
and  the  faith  of  His  filial  love."  In  vain  were  Philo  and 
Josephus  silent  respecting  Him  ;  in  vain  did  Tacitus  dismiss 
Christianity  as  an  ^'  cxitiabilis  supcrstitio^  to  be  classed 
with  all  things  "  atrocia  aut  piidenda  "/§  in  vain  did  Pliny 
characterise  it  as  "  superstitio prava  et  imtnodica  ;  "  \\  in  vain 

*  Wendt,  The  Teaching  of  Jesus,  ii.  289.  f  Keim. 

|Orig.  De  Princ.  iv.  5.  §Tac.  Ann.  xv.  14. 

\  Plin.  Epp.  10,  97,  98. 


THE   CLAIMS   OF   JESUS.  69 

did  Celsus  accumulate  his  lying  slanders ;  *  in  vain  did 
Suetonius  describe  Christians  as  people  of  a  new  and  ma- 
lefic superstition ;  f  in  vain  did  Talmudic  and  mediaeval 
Judaism  heap  upon  Jesus  and  those  who  believed  on  Him 
their  inextinguishable  hatred  and  monstrous  calumnies ;:]: 
in  vain  did  the  Middle  Ages  produce  the  book  De  Tribus 
Impostoribiis  ;  in  vain  did  Paulus,  and  Strauss,  and  Renan, 
and  many  more  in  modern  days  strive  to  undermine  our 
faith  with  their  naturalistic  explanations,  and  mythic 
theories,  and  historic  or  philosophic  reconstructions — in 
spite  of  all  these,  CJiristus  vijicit,  CJiristiis  regnat,  Christiis 
imperat ;  and  we  still  pray  with  perfect  faith,  "  Christus  ab 
onini  inalo  plebem  siiam  defendat  !  " 

*See  Orig.  c.  Cels.  i,  28,  a.\\6.  passim.     Comp.  Justin.  Dial.  10,  17,  28. 
f  See  Eisemenger  Entd.  Judenth.  Schottgen.     Hor.  Hebr.  ii.  693.    Wagen- 
seil,  Tela  ignea  Satanae. 
:j:Suet.  Nero.  16. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

THE   HUMAN   EDUCATION   OF  JESUS. 

"  Hearken  unto  me,  ye  holy  children,  and  bud  forth  as  a  rose  growing 
by  the  brook  of  the  field  ;  and  give  ye  a  sweet  savour  as  frankincense, 
and  flourish  as  a  lily,  and  send  forth  a  smell,  and  sing  a  song  of  praise." 
— Ecclus.  xxxix.  13,  14. 

TO  6i  naidiov  ?jh^ave,  "  The  Little  Child  grew." — Luke  ii.  40. 

There  is  in  the  Evangelists  a  deep  and  holy  reserve. 
What  they  did  not  know  they  would  not  relate.  St.  Mat- 
thew had  only  become  a  disciple  when  Christ  called  him 
from  the  place  of  toll  beside  the  Lake  of  Galilee  in  Caper- 
naum. St.  Mark  was  probably  still  a  youth  at  the  time  of 
the  Crucifixion.  He  had  not  been  a  personal  witness  of 
the  scenes  of  the  ministry,  and  though  he  derived  his 
information  from  St.  Peter,  yet  St.  Peter  first  met  Jesus  at 
the  Baptism  of  John.  St.  Luke  may  not  have  been  con- 
verted till  after  the  death  of  Christ ;  and  he  frankly  tells  us 
that,  though  he  classed  himself  among  those  who  "from 
the  beginning  were  the  eye-witnesses  and  ministers  of  the 
word,"  he  based  his  Gospel  on  what  he  had  ascertained 
from  "  having  traced  the  course  of  all  things  accurately 
from  the  first."  St.  John  did  not  mean  his  Gospel  for  a 
complete  record  ;  he  disavows  the  intention  of  recording 
"  many  other  things  which  Jesus  did."  His  obvious  pur- 
pose was  to  complete  the  narratives  of  his  predecessors,  to 
supplement  what  they  had  left  unrecorded  of  the  Judaean 
ministry,  and  to  present  the  life  and  teaching  of  the  Lord 
Jesus  under  that  more  immediately  spiritual  aspect,  which, 
until  years  of  eventful  issue  had  passed  by,  could  not  have 
been  adequately  understood. 

70 


HUMAN    EDUCATION    OF   JESUS.      71 

The  only  persons  who  could  fully  have  narrated  the  early 
years  of  Jesus  were  His  mother,  Mary,  and  Joseph,  and 
those  who  are  called  "  His  brethren."  But  Mary  chose  to 
remain  silent.*  Conscious  of  overwhelming  revelations, 
she  "  kept  all  these  things  and  pondered  them  in  her  heart." 
Joseph,  her  husband,  seems  to  have  died  while  Jesus  was 
yet  a  boy.  The  "  brethren  " — whatever  may  have  been  the 
exact  relation  in  which  they  stood  to  Jesus — were  not  at 
first  among  the  number  of  his  avowed  disciples,  and  only 
became  so  after  His  resurrection.  Further,  we  may  observe 
that  the  importance  attached  to  childhood  and  youth  in 
many  modern  records  was  a  thing  unknown  to  antiquity, 
and  that  stories  of  early  years  are  very  rarely,  or  never, 
mentioned  in  ancient  biographies. 

SL  Matthciv  narrates  the  circumstances  of  the  Virgin- 
birth  of  Christ.  He  tells  us  of  the  visit  of  the  Magi ;  the 
massacre  of  the  innocents  at  Bethlehem  ;  the  flight  into 
Egypt ;  and  the  reason  why  Joseph — abandoning  all 
thoughts  of  settling  in  Judaea  under  the  suspicious  and 
sanguinary  rule  of  Archelaus — retired  to  Nazareth,  in  Gali- 
lee. Then,  passing  over  some  thirty  years  of  the  Saviour's 
life,  he  proceeds  at  once  to  describe  the  preaching  of  John 
the  Baptist. 

St.  Mark,  in  his  brief  and  vivid  Gospel,  written  for 
Roman  readers, f  plunges  at  once  " in  medias  res"  and  only 
professes  to  give  an  account  of  the  ministry,  which  was 
inaugurated  by  the  vision  and  descent  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
upon  Jesus  when  John  was  baptising.  All  the  light  which 
he  throws  on  the  childhood,  youth,  and  early  manhood  of 
Jesus,  is  seen  (as  well  as  pointed  out  later)  in  the  flash  of  a 
single  casual  but  revealing  word. 

*I  have  not,  in  this  book,  entered  into  questions  of  date.  Our  era  Anno 
Domini  (a.  u.  c.  754)  was  fixed  by  the  Abbot  Dionysius  Exiguus  in  A.  D.  525, 
An  older  tradition  fixed  the  Birth  of  Christ  A.  u.  c.  750,  four  years  earlier.  The 
question  is  unsettled,  and  will  probably  remain  so. 

f  See  such  notices  as  those  in  Mark  x.  12,  xii.  42,  xv.  i. 


72  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

St.  John,  writing  at  the  close  of  the  first  century,  when 
the  Synoptic  Gospels,  and  others  less  sacred,  were  already 
in  the  hands  of  Christians,  takes  the  same  starting-point  as 
the  three  Synoptists.  He  does  not  lift  the  curtain  for  us, 
though  he  probably  knew  more  about  the  early  years  of 
Jesus  than  the  other  Evangelists,  for  he  was,  by  birth,  a 
nephew  of  the  Virgin,  and  had  been  as  a  son  to  her,  and 
— by  the  tender  care  of  Jesus  for  His  mother — had  taken 
her  in  her  hour  of  anguish  to  his  own  home.* 

In  the  silence  of  the  New  Testament  on  the  earlier  years 
of  Jesus,  we  see  the  over-ruling  restraint  of  a  Divine  Provi- 
dence, It  was  not  intended  that  the  Gospels  should 
gratify  a  biographical  curiosity  ;  they  had  a  far  diviner  pur- 
pose. Had  all  been  detailed,  St.  John  says,  "  I  suppose 
that  even  the  world  itself  would  not  contain  the  books 
that  should  be  written."  As  it  is,  the  Gospels  have  been 
the  parents  of  a  literature  ever  increasing  in  extent,  and 
already  immeasurably  vast.  There  are  cases  in  which 
silence  becomes  the  most  powerful  eloquence,  and  some- 
thing of  the  significance  of  that  silence  we  may  see  when 
we  come  to  speak  of  Christ's  unrecorded  years. 

St.  Luke,  a  Greek-speaking  convert  of  Asiatic  origin,  was 
undoubtedly  familiar  with  Ephesus,  which  he  had  visited 
among  the  companions  of  St.  Paul  ;  and  if  the  tradition  be 
true  that  the  Virgin  died  at  Ephesus,  f  he  may  have  known 

*  It  does  not  fall  within  my  scope,  in  this  book,  to  enter  for  the  ten  thou- 
sandth time  into  the  question  of  the  genuineness  and  authenticity  of  the  Fourth 
Gospel.  We  know  at  any  rate  that  as  early  as  the  day  of  Tatian  {circ.  A.  D.  170) 
it  had  taken  its  place  as  one  of  the  Four  Gospels  received  by  the  whole  Church; 
and  that  (in  Orat.  ad  Graecos  13)  Tatian  (a  pupil  of  Justin  Martyr)  quotes  John 
i.  5  as  sacred  Scripture.  For  the  rest  I  must  content  myself  with  referring  to 
the  many  decisive  proofs  which  have  of  late  years  been  accumulated  by  the 
learned;  and  especially  to  the  decisive  arguments  of  Bishop  Westcott  in  the 
Speaker's  Commentary. 

\  Epiph.  Haer.  78.  Her  tomb  was  shown  at  Ephesus  (see  Cone.  Eph.  Labbe 
iii.  574a.)  Another  tradition  is  that  slie  died  at  Jerusalem,  and  that  her 
latter  years  were  mainly  spent  in  the  Cu;naculum,  the  upper  chamber  of  the 
Last  Supper. 


HUMAN    EDUCATION    OF   JESUS.      73 

her  there,  and  have  learnt  from  her  lips  the  few  details 
about  the  infancy  of  Christ,  which,  in  their  ineffable  sweet- 
ness, seem  stamped  with  the  tender  grace  of  a  mother's 
reminiscences. 

But  among  the  minor  differences  between  the  Gospels, 
they  do  not  differ  in  the  least  in  the  picture  and  impression 
of  Jesus  which  they  leave  upon  our  minds.  The  method 
of  St.  John,  and  the  details  which  he  furnishes,  diverge  in 
many  particulars  from  the  method  and  details  of  the 
Synoptists,  but  we  see  on  every  page  alike  one  and 
the  same  Divine  Lord. 

It  is  from  St.  Luke  that  we  learn  in  a  single  sentence  all 
that  we  know  of  the  Divine  Infancy.  It  is  that  "  the  Child 
grew  and  waxed  strong,  becoming  full  of  wisdom,  and  the 
grace  of  God  was  upon  Him."* 

It  is  but  a  single  sentence,  but  it  is  inestimably  precious. 
It  illustrates  the  truth  of  the  perfect  humanity  of  Jesus. 
It  shows  us  that  Christ  was  not  only  "  truly  God  "  (as  was 
finally  declared  by  the  decision  of  the  Council  of  Nice),  but 
that  also  He  was  (as  the  Council  of  Constantinople  decided) 
''perfectly  {rsXiooi)  man."  It  is  a  bulwark  against  the 
ApoUinarianism  which  denies  the  full  humanity  of  Christ, 
a  heresy  more  common  in  these  days,  and  quite  as  danger- 
ous as  the  Arianism  which  denies  His  divinity.  It  shows 
us  the  reality  of  that  kenosis,  that  "  emptying  Himself"  of 
His  glory,  and  of  the  divine  attributes  of  Omnipotence  and 
Omniscience,  of  which  St.  Paul  speaks,  f  It  shows  us  that 
Jesus  grew  up  simply  as  a  human  child,  after  the  common 
way  of  all  men  (as  Justin  Martyr  says), :{:  though  the  grace 
of  God  was  upon  Him  ;  and  that  His  advance  in  wisdom 
was  as  normal  as  His  growth  in  strength  and  stature.  It 
pictures  to  us  a   natural   but    holy  childhood,  "  like   the 

*  Luke  ii  40.    The  word  Tr^povfievov  implies,  of  course,  conimuous  advance, 
like  the  word  npoEKonTe  in  Luke  ii.  52. 
f  Phil.  ii.  7.  EKEVuaev  iavrdv. 
X  Just.  Mart.  Dia/.  c.  Tryph.  88. 


74  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

flower  of  roses  in  the  spring  of  the  year,  and  as  lilies  by  the 
water  courses." 

But  St.  Luke — and  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  he 
heard  the  story  from  the  lips  of  the  Virgin,  whether  at 
Jerusalem  or  at  Ephesus — alone  preserves  for  us  a  single 
anecdote  of  the  boyhood  of  Jesus,  which  is  full  of  beauty 
and  preciousness. 

Twelve  silent  years  glided  by — perhaps  the  twelfth  had 
been  completed— and  Jesus  was  considered  old  enough  to 
accompany  His  parents  to  the  Paschal  Feast."^  Of  the 
eight  stages  into  which  the  Jews  divided  childhood  and 
boyhood,  He  had  now  reached  the  last.  He  was  a  bacJmr, 
"  a  full-grown  boy."  In  Rabbinic  phraseology,  He  was  no 
longer  animated  by  the  nephcsli,  or  "  natural  life,"  but  by 
the  ruach  or  "  spirit  "  ;  that  is,  as  we  should  express  it,  He 
had  attained  to  years  of  discretion — for  the  boys  develop 
much  more  rapidly  in  the  East  than  in  our  Northern  cli- 
mate. At  this  age,  by  the  rule  of  tradition,  a  boy  would 
begin  to  learn  a  trade  for  his  own  maintenance,  and  to 
wear  "  phylacteries  "  {tephillm)  after  presentation  by  his 
father  in  the  synagogue  on  the  Shabbath  Tcphilin.  It  is, 
however,  highly  uncertain  whether  our  Lord  ever  wore,  on 
arm  and  forehead,  these  little  leather  receptacles  for  texts, 
or  whether  they  were  common  among  "  the  men  of  the 
people  " — the  amharatsim  of  Galilee.  We  have  no  refer- 
ence to  them  in  the  Gospels,  except  in  Christ's  condemna- 
tion of  the  Pharisees  for  the  vain  ostentation  with  which 
they  made  them  unusually  broad. 

As  Jesus  was  now,  or  shortly  afterwards  became,  "  a  son 
of  the  Covenant  "  {Bar  mitzvaJi),  or  "  a  son  of  the  Law  " 
{Be?ihattorah),  He  had  already  received  a  considerable  part 
of  His  early  education.  What  were  the  most  marked 
features  in  the  training  of  a  Jewish  boy  of  that  day? 

The  Jews  were  honourably  distinguished  by  the  care 
they  took  in  the  education  of  their  children.  They  re- 
*Comp.  Jos.  Autl.  ii.  9,  §  6. 


HUMAN    EDUCATION    OF   JESUS.      75 

garded  their  schools  .as  "  vineyards."  There  is  a  story  in 
the  Talmud  how  once  there  had  been  a  long  and  painful 
drought,  and  all  the  Chief  Priests  and  Rabbis  assembled 
before  the  people  to  pray  for  rain.  They  prayed,  and 
prayed,  but  no  rain  fell.  Then  rose  up  one  common-look- 
ing man,  and  prayed,  and  instantly  the  heavens  grew  black 
with  clouds,  and  the  rain  fell  abundantly.  "  Who  art  thou," 
they  asked  in  astonishment,  "that  thy  prayer  alone  should 
have  prevailed  ?  "  And  he  answered,  "  /  am  a  teacher  of 
little  childrejiT* 

It  is  probable  that  our  Lord  grew  up  in  the  habitual  use 
of  two  languages — Aramaic  and  Greek.  Aramaic,  a  dia- 
lect of  Hebrew,  was  at  that  time  the  current  language  of 
Galilee.  A  great  part  of  Palestine  was  bilingual,  so  that 
there  can  be  no  doubt  that  Jesus  also  learnt  to  speak  Greek, 
for  He  could  converse  with  the  Centurion,  and  the  Syro- 
Phoenician  woman,  and  Pilate,  and  others,  without  any  inter- 
preter. He  was  of  course  familiar  with  the  Old  Testament 
in  the  original  Hebrew.f  Since  our  Lord's  brethren,  James 
and  Jude,  show  in  their  Epistles  that  they  were  well  ac- 
quainted with  the  Apocrypha,  we  may  be  sure  that  our 
Lord  was  also.  This  would  be  decisively  proved  by  the 
resemblance  of  Matt,  xxiii.  37  to  2  Esdras  i.  30-33,  if  it 
were  not  nearly  certain  that  much  of  2  Esdras  is  inter- 
polated by  a  Christian  writer. 

The  teaching  of  children  was,  however,  mainly  confined 
to  the  Mosaic  and  Levitic  Law.  "  I  lay  aside  all  the  trade 
of  the  world,"  said  R.  Nehorai,  "  and  teach  my  son  only 
the  Law  ;  for  its  reward  is  enjoyed  in  this  world,  and  its 

*  See  the  articles  on  ^^  Kinder"  '■''  Unterricht"  in  Winer,  Realworter- 
buch ;  Diestel,  s.v.  Unterricht,  in  Schenkel's  Bibel-Lexicon  ;  Hamburger, 
s.  vv.  Schuler,  Lehrer,  Schnle,  Mitzwa.  YJ\\X.o,Cyclopae(i.,s.v.  Education;  Dean 
Plumptre  in  Smith's  Diet,  of  the  Bible,  and  Schtirer,  Div.  ii.  r,  323-326  ; 
Herzfeld,  Gesch.  d.   Volkes  Israel,  iii.  266-268,  etc. 

f  As  seems  to  be  proved  by  the  quotations  from  the  original.  Mark  xii. 
29,  30  ;  Luke  xxi.  37  ;  Matt,  xxvii.  46.  The  knowledge  of  Hebrew  seems  to 
be  implied  by  Matt.  v.  22. 


76  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

capital  remains  for  the  world  to  come."  *  But  the  teach- 
ing of  the  Law  was  mainly  an  exercise  of  the  memory. 
The  commands  of  the  Law  were  iterated  and  reiterated,  so 
that  the  Rabbinic  word  for  "  to  teach  "  (shanah)  means 
"  to  repeat,"  and  the  word  for  "  teaching "  is  Mishnah 
("  repetition  ").  The  highest  praise  for  a  pupil  was  to  be 
"  like  a  well,  lined  with  lime,  which  loses  not  one  drop."  f 

The  main  effort,  then,  was  merely  to  train  the  memory. 
We  do  full  justice  to  the  importance  which  the  Jews 
attached  to  education,  yet  we  cannot  but  admit  that  their 
views  of  education  were  too  narrow.  We  cannot  concede 
to  Josephus  that  "the  Jews  by  their  system  of  teaching, 
which  combined  the  teaching  of  the  Law  with  the  practice 
of  morals,  surpassed  the  foremost  of  the  Greeks,  since  they 
united  the  unquestioning  obedience  of  the  Spartans  with 
the  theoretic  instruction  of  the  Athenians."  %  Jewish  boys 
were  taught  the  Law,  as  Philo  says,  by  their  parents  and 
teachers,  from  their  very  swaddling  clothes  ;  but,  unhap- 
pily, the  current  conception  of  the  Law  had  been  overlaid 
with  deplorable  perversions,  and  was  radically  erroneous 
in  important  particulars. 

There  can  be  little  doubt  that  Jesus  attended  the  school 
which  was  attached  to  the  synagogue  of  Nazareth,  and  that, 
as  He  "was  continually  growing  in  wisdom,"  He  had  from 
the  first  been  carefully  trained  by  His  mother  and  Joseph. 
That  training  also  was  all-but-exclusively  Scriptural.  The 
Kindergarten  of  Jewish  children — and  the  Jews  sometimes 
called  their  schools  "  gardens  " — was  the  Beth  Hassepher, 
or  "  House  of  the  Book  "  ;  and  it  was  only  when  a  child 
had  been  well  grounded  in  "the  Book  "  that  he  passed  to 
the  Beth  HammidrasJi,  or  secondary  school.  § 

*  Peak,  i.  I. 

\  Avoth.  ii.  8  ;  Qixoxtx,  Jakrh.  des  Heils,  i.;    Hamburger,  s.v.  Lehrhaus. 
IJos.  c.  Ap.  ii.  l6,  17.    Compare  ^«//.  iv.  8,  12  ;  Philo,  Leg.  ad  Caiunt.  36. 
§  Schools  for  children  are  said  to  have  been  founded  throughout  Palestine  a 
century  earlier  by  Simeon  ben  Shetach  (Jer.  Kethoiiboth,  viii.  14) ;  and  to  have 


HUMAN    EDUCATION    OF   JESUS.      ^^ 

By  that  time  a  boy  had  been  taught  to  read,  and  some- 
times (though  more  rarely)  to  write ;  to  keep  the  Sabbath  ; 
and  to  fast  on  the  Day  of  Atonement.  A  little  later  he 
would  be  taught  to  repeat  the  SJiema  and  the  SJiemoneh 
Ezrcli.  The  Shema — or  "  Hear,  O  Israel  !  " — consisted  of 
the  sections  Deut.  vi.  4-9,  xi.  13-21  ;  Num.  xv.  37-41, 
with  various  benedictions  {BeracJiotJi)  which  were  attached 
to  them.  The  SJioiioneh  EzreJi  consisted  of  "  Eighteen 
Blessings,"  mostly  expressed  in  the  words  of  Scripture,  and 
beginning  with  the  words  "  Blessed  art  Thou,  O  Lord."  * 

To  this  training  was  added  all  that  a  child  learnt  almost 
mechanically  from  his  constant  Sabbath-attendances  at  the 
synagogue,  which  was  meant  for  instruction  as  well  as  for 
worship.  How  familiar  must  Christ  have  been  with  that 
village  BetJi  Tcphilla  (House  of  Prayer)  or  Beth  Hakkeneseth 
(House  of  Assembly),  as  He  sat  among  the  other  boys  of 
Nazareth  in  the  back  seats,  behind  the  chief  worshippers  ! 
How  deeply  must  He  have  taken  in  the  divine  meaning 
alike  of  the  ParashotJi,  or  154  sections  of  the  Law,  by 
which  the  Pentateuch  was  read  through  in  three  years;  and 
also  of  the  Haphtaroth,  or  sections  of  the  Prophets,  the 
reading  of  which  had  been  introduced  in  the  days  of  the 
fierce  persecution  by  Antiochus  Epiphanes,  when  the  read- 
ing of  the  Law  was  punished  with  death.  Not  only  were 
the  passages  read  by  the  appointed  person — who  might 
even  be  a  boy — in  the  original  Hebrew,  but  they  were 
translated,  paragraph  after  paragraph,  into  the  Aramaic  by 
the  MctJiiirgemaii,  or  interpreter.  How  deep  must  have 
been  the  expectant  interest  with  which  the  child  Jesus  saw 
the  Rosh  Hakkeneseth,  or  "  Ruler  of  the  Synagogue,"  re- 
ceive from  the  hand  of  his  clerk  {Chazzati)  the  roll  of  the 
Law,  or  of  the  Prophets,  and  appoint  the  reader,  who  took 

been   extended   by  the   order   of   the    High    Priest,  Jesus  Bar  Gamala  (Bab. 
Bavabathrai.  21,  i). 

*For  full  information,    see   Hamburger,   Real-Encycl.  II.   s.v.,  Schemone- 
Esre. 


78  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

his  stand  behind  the  elevated  Benia,  and  read  the  lesson, 
and  then  sat  down  to  deliver  the  explanation  or  sermon 
{DerashaJi).  With  what  a  thrill  of  heart  must  He  have 
heard  the  trumpets  {Shopharoth)  blown  at  the  beginning  of 
the  new  year  and  on  the  solemn  feast  days. 

Thus  the  human  training  of  the  Christ  Child  involved  a 
thorough  acquaintance  with  the  letter  of  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures, which  rose  infinitely  above  the  wooden  literalism,  the 
fantastic  expansions,  the  evasive  manipulations  of  the  cur- 
rent exegesis.  The  right  apprehension  of  Holy  Writ  came 
to  Him  from  no  human  teacher,  but  from  His  own  pure 
spirit,  and  His  union  with  that  Father  of  Lights  with  whom 
is  no  variableness  nor  shadow  cast  by  turning.  Yet,  early 
as  He  may  have  seen  through  the  hollowness  of  the  inter- 
pretations with  which  Scripture  had  been  overlaid  by  the 
current  tendencies  of  His  day,  we  are  quite  sure  that  He 
was  utterly  unlike  the  terrible,  ungovernable  child  of  the 
Apocryphal  fictions.  Towards  all  His  earthly  teachers  we 
are  sure  that  He  exhibited  that  sweet  lowliness  of  heart 
which,  as  He  grew  in  wisdom  and  stature,  caused  Him  to 
advance  also  in  favour  with  God  and  man. 

The  Son  of  Sirach  asks  :  "  How  can  he  get  wisdom  that 
holdeth  the  plough,  that  driveth  oxen — and  whose  talk  is 
of  bullocks  ...  so  every  carpefiter  and  workmaster  that 
laboureth  night  and  day?  All  these  trust  to  their  hands  ; 
they  shall  not  be  sought  for  in  public  counsel.  .  .  They 
shall  not  understand  the  covenant  of  judgment,  and 
where  parables  are  they  shall  not  be  found."  *  Neverthe- 
less, however  simple  and  elementary  may  have  been  the 
training  which  Jesus  received  from  the  Mikrcdardike,  or 
"  teachers  of  children,"  in  the  local  synagogue-school,  so 
deep  was  His  insight  into  the  Scriptures — so  far  deeper 
than  that  derived  from  the  traditions  of  the  Scribes — that 
when  Rabbis  and  Jerusalemite  Pharisees  encountered  Him 
in  lordly  oppQsition,  He  could  at  once  refute  their  insolent 
*  Ecclus.  xxxviii.  24-34. 


HUMAN    EDUCATION    OF   JESUS.      79 

tone  of  superiority  by  His  searching  questions,  "  Have  jfe 
never  read?"*  We  observe,  too,  that  whereas  the  system 
of  Jewish  education  was  ahnost  exclusively  occupied  with  the 
study  of  the  Law,  our  Lord  reverts  far  more  frequently  to 
the  great  Prophets  of  Israel,  and  sets  mercy  far  above  sac- 
rifice. 

It  may  be  worth  while  to  emphasise  in  passing  the 
extreme  simplicity  of  the  worship  in  which  during  all  His  life 
the  Saviour  of  mankind,  Sabbath  after  Sabbath,  was  wont 
to  take  His  part.  The  visits  to  the  Temple  were  few  and 
exceptional,  and  all  His  life  long  He  mainly  worshipped  in 
the  synagogues,  which  were  as  bare  and  as  devoid  of  all 
ritual,  symbolism,  or  outward  gorgeousness  as  the  barest 
Dissenting  chapel.  The  synagogues  were  rooms,  of  which 
the  end  usually  pointed  to  Jerusalem  (the  Kibleh,  or  con- 
secrated direction  of  Jewish  worship,  Dan.  vi.  10).  On  one 
side  sat  the  men  ;  on  the  other  the  veiled  women.  Almost 
the  only  piece  of  furniture  in  them  was  the  Ark  {Tebhah)  of 
painted  wood,  which  contained  the  Law  {ThoraJi)  and  the 
rolls  {Tephilloth)  of  the  Prophets.  On  one  side  was  a  Bema 
(the  Jews  borrowed  the  name  from  the  Greeks)  for  the 
reader  and  preacher,  and  the  "  chief  seats  "  of  the  "  Ruler 
of  the  Synagogue  "  and  the  Elders  {Zekenim).  The  only 
servants  of  the  synagogue,  in  its  severe  simplicity,  were  the 
clerk  {Chazzan),  the  verger  [Sheliach),  and  the  deacons 
{Partiasim,  or  shepherds).  It  is  clear  therefore  that  rites 
and  ceremonies — in  favour  of  which  neither  Christ  nor  His 
Apostles  uttered  a  single  word — were  needless  for  the  most 
intense  and  exalted  worship  which  the  world  has  ever  seen. 
The  only  rubric  which  the  New  Testament  contains  is, 
"  Let  all  things  be  done  decently  and  in  order." 

*Luke  iv.  17  ;  Matt.  v.  18,  xii.  3,  xiii.  52,  xix.  4,  xxi.  16,  42,  xxii.  31.  The 
Rabbis  hardly  regarded  a  country  education  as  worth  their  notice  (Mark  vi.  2  ; 
John  vi.  42,  vii.  15). 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE    FIRST    ANECDOTE. 

Ir/aovg  6  nalg. — Luke  ii.  43. 

2  Mace,  ii.  22.  "  The  Temple,  renowned  all  the  world  over." 

"  Take  notice  that  His  doing  nothing  wonderful  was  itself  a  kind  of 
wonder.  As  there  was  power  in  His  actions,  so  is  there  power  in  His 
silence,  in  His  inactivity,  in  His  retirement." — St.  Bonaventura. 

The  other  Evangelists  give  us  a  passing  glimpse  of  the 
outer  circumstances  of  the  infancy  of  Jesus,  and  then  pass 
on  to  His  full  manhood. 

St.  Luke  alone,  as  we  have  seen,  gives  us  the  notice 
respecting  Him — brief,  but  inestimably  precious — when 
He  was  "  a  weaned  child."  He  also  furnishes  us  with  "  one 
solitary  floweret  out  of  the  enclosed  garden  of  the  thirty 
years,  plucked  precisely  there  where  the  swollen  bud,  at  a 
distinctive  crisis,  bursts  into  flower."  * 

Not  before  the  twelfth  year,  and,  as  a  rule,  not  till  after 
its  completion,f  was  a  boy  required  to  enter  into  the  full 
obedience  of  an  Israelite,  and  to  attend  the  Passover.  We 
can  imagine  how  the  heart  of  Jesus  must  have  beat  with 
earnest  joy,  as,  with  His  parents  and  the  many  pilgrims 
from  Nazareth  who  would  attend  the  Feast,  He  made  His 
way  down  the  narrow  valley  from  the  summit  of  His  native 
hill.  He  was  doubtless  clad  in  the  bright-coloured  robes  of 
an  Eastern  boy — in  red  caftan,  and  gay  tunic,  girded  with 
an  embroidered  sash,  and  covered,  perhaps,  with   a  loose 

*  Slier,  V.  18. 

\  Pirqe  Avoth.  v.  21.  "At  thirteen  years  of  age  a  boy  becomes  bound  to 
observe  the  (613)  precepts  of  the  Law." 

80 


THE    FIRST   ANECDOTE.  8i 

outer  jacket  of  white  or  blue.  What  a  rush  of  new  associa- 
tions would  sweep  through  His  soul  as  He  traversed  those 
eighty  miles  between  Nazareth  and  Jerusalem,  and  saw  the 
scenes  which  were  indelibly  associated  in  His  mind  with 
memories  of  Sisera  and  Barak,  of  Elijah  and  Elisha,  of 
Joshua  and  Saul,  at  Kishon,  and  Shunem,  and  Gilboa ! 
He  probably  passed  between  Ebal  and  Gerizin,  and  by 
Jacob's  Well,  and  so  by  Shiloh  and  Bethel  to  the  Holy 
City.  How  often  must  the  thought  have  been  in  His 
mind,  "  Our  feet  shall  stand  in  Thy  courts,  O  Jerusalem  !  " 
And  when  the  city  glittered  before  Him  on  its  rocky  water- 
shed between  the  Jordan  and  the  sea,  with  its  three  hills  of 
Zion,  Moriah,  and  Acra,  surrounded  by  walls  and  stately 
towers — when  He  saw  the  Temple,  with  its  white  marble, 
and  gilded  pinnacles,  flaming  in  the  eastern  sunlight  like  a 
mountain  of  snow  and  gold,  and  rising  before  Him,  terrace 
above  terrace — the  words  of  the  Psalmist  would  almost 
inevitably  be  in  His  mind,  "  Jerusalem  is  built  as  a  city  which 
is  at  unity  with  itself.  For  thither  the  tribes  go  up,  even 
the  tribes  of  the  Lord,  for  a  testimony  unto  Israel,  to  give 
thanks  unto  the  name  of  the  Lord."  * 

Or,  "  Walk  about  Zion,  and  go  round  about  her,  and  tell 
the  towers  thereof.  Mark  well  her  bulwarks,  consider  her 
palaces,  that  ye  may  tell  them  that  come  after."  f  The 
Psalms  known  as  the  "Songs  of  Degrees,":}:  were  often 
sung  by  the  pilgrims  as  they  approached  Jerusalem,  as  they 
had  been — according  to  tradition — by  the  exiles  who 
returned  with  Ezra.  We  can  imagine  the  enthusiasm  with 
which  they  would  join  in  such  words  as  : 

"  Peace  be  within  thy  walls,  and  plenteousness  within 
thy  palaces  ! 

"  For  my  brethren  and  companions'  sakes,  I  will  wish 
thee  prosperity. 

*Ps.  cxxii.  4.  fPs.  xlviii.  13. 

I  Pss.  cxx.-cxxxiv.  They  should  properly  be  called  "Songs  of  Ascents," 
or  "  of  the  Goings  Up." 


82  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

*'  Yea,  because  of  the  House  of  the  Lord  our  God  I  will 
seek  to  do  thee  good.'  * 

Amid  the  rose-gardens  and  pleasances  which  surrounded 
Jerusalem,!  and  under  the  umbrageous  multitudes  of 
palms  and  olives,  and  figs  and  cedars,  and  chestnut  trees, 
would  have  been  scattered  the  temporary  booths  of  some 
of  the  two  million  pilgrims  who  flocked  to  the  city  for  the 
great  yearly  feast  from  every  region  of  the  civilised  globe. 
When  the  pilgrims  from  Nazareth  had  passed  along  the 
Valleys  of  Jehoshaphat  and  Hinnom,  the  roads  and  the 
streets  through  which  they  made  their  way  to  the  Temple 
must  have  been  densely  thronged  with  ever-increasing 
crowds. 

Jesus  would  pass  beneath  those  colossal  substructions 
towering  up  some  600  feet  above  His  head,  and  built  of 
vast  blocks  of  stones,  still  visible,  of  which  some  are  20  feet 
in  length  and  4  feet  in  height. :j;  Perhaps  he  crossed  the 
royal  bridge  over  the  Valley  of  the  Tyropoeon.  And  at 
last — at  last — He  would  enter  "  the  Mountain  of  the 
House  "  §  by  one  of  the  five  gates.  If  He  entered  by  the 
gate  called  Shushan,  or  "  the  Lily  Gate,"  He  would  see 
"  Solomon's  Porch  "  stretching  to  right  and  left,  and  would 
stand  on  the  many-coloured  pavement  of  the  court  of  that 
gorgeous  Herodian  Temple  which  was  one  of  the  wonders 
of  the  world.  The  scene  was  doubtless  one  of  extraordi- 
nary animation,  yet  it  must  have  presented  many  repulsive 
features  which  it  required  an  intense  enthusiasm  to  over- 
look. For  the  colonnades  were  thronged  with  the  vendors 
of  sheep  and  oxen  for  sacrifice,  including  thousands  of 
Paschal  lambs.  Here  were  seated  the  sellers  of  the  doves, 
for  the   offerings  of  the  poor,  with  their  crowded  wicker 

*Ps.  cxxii.  7~9' 

f  An  ancient  rose-garden  is  mentioned  {Baha  Kama,  82,  i),  and  there  were 
the  gardens  of  Solomon  (2  Kings  xxv.  4  ;  Neh.  iii.  15  ;  Eccl.  ii.  5,  etc.). 
J  On  the  Temple,  see  Josephus  B.J.  v.  2,  and  plate  in  Carr's  St.  Matthew. 
§  n^3n  Tn     Comp.  i  Mace.  xiii.  52. 


THE    FIRST    ANECDOTE.  83 

baskets.  Here  sat  and  chaffered  the  two  classes  of  money- 
changers— those  who  gave  smaller  change  for  gold  and 
silver,*  and  those  who  took  foreign  money,  with  its  heathen 
emblems  and  inscriptions,  in  exchange  for  the  Jewish 
money,  which  could  alone  be  used  for  Temple  purposes.f 
These  men  drove  hard  bargains  in  noisy  and  often  nefari- 
ous traffic.  At  the  south  end  of  this  huge  Court  of  the 
Gentiles  was  the  triple  royal  colonnade — known  as  "  Solo- 
mon's Porch  " — which  was  reserved  for  more  quiet  gather- 
ings. This  Forecourt  of  the  Gentiles  was  marked  off  from 
the  more  sacred  enclosures  by  the  double  barriers  of  the 
Soreg  and  the  Cliel  (i'Ti).  Through  one  of  the  openings  of 
the  vS^rr^  Jesus  would  climb  the  fourteen  steps  to  the  CJiel, 
on  which  were  marble  tablets  with  inscriptions  in  Greek 
and  Latin  forbidding  any  Gentiles  to  proceed  a  step  farther 
on  pain  of  death.:}:  Mounting  the  steps  of  a  terrace  which 
towered  sixty  feet  above  the  Court  of  the  Gentiles,  Jesus 
would  pass,  perhaps,  through  "  the  Beautiful  Gate  "  and 
gaze  at  the  Court  of  the  Women,  and  the  Court  of  the 
Israelites.  In  the  latter  stood  the  LisJicath  Hag-gazztth,  or 
"  Hall  of  Square  Stones,"  to  the  southeast  of  the  inner 
forecourt,  in  which  perhaps  at  that  time  the  Sanhedrin 
held  its  meetings.  Here,  too,  was  the  Treasury,  outside  of 
which  were  the  thirteen  chests  with  trumpet-shaped  open- 

*  KoTC^v^icTai,  John  ii.  15.  See  Matt.  xxi.  12 ;  Mark  xi.  15;  Luke 
xix.    45. 

\  KepfiaTiaral,  John  ii.  14  ;  Josephus  B.  J.  vi.  2,  4  ;  Philo,  0pp.  ii.  577. 
Comp.  Acts  xxi.  28. 

\  One  of  these  marble  tablets,  which  must  have  been  seen  by  Christ  Himself, 
was  discovered  by  Mons.  Clermont  Ganneau  built  into  the  wall  of  a  Moham- 
medan house  at  Jerusalem.  It  is  now  in  one  of  the  mosques  in  Constantinople. 
For  the  actual  inscription  see  Rev.  Archiologique,  xxiii.  pi.  x. ;  Schiirer,  i.  266. 
M.  Clermont  Ganneau  gave  an  account  of  its  discovery  in  the  Athenceum  of 
June  10,  1871.  The  inscription  is  word  for  word  as  given  by  Josephus,  except 
that  he,  with  his  usual  complaisance  to  the  Romans,  omits  the  threatened 
penalty  of  death  to  any  intruder  beyond  the  6pv(paKTbg  which  ran  round  the 
temple  (lepov)  and  enclosure  (jvepijio^)  (Besant,  Twenty-Oyte  Years  of  Work,  p. 
167). 


84  THE    LIFE    OE    LIVES. 

ings  {Shopharoth)  *  into  which  alike  the  rich  and  the  poor 
cast  their  Temple-offerings. 

Twelve  or  fifteen  steps  higher  still  was  the  Court  of  the 
Priests,  on  the  northwest  end  of  which,  on  a  platform 
ascended  by  twelve  more  steps,  rose  in  white  marble  "  the 
joy  of  the  whole  earth,  the  Temple  of  the  Great  King."f 
Its  doors  were  open,  but  the  interior  was  concealed  from 
vulgar  gaze  by  curtains  of  Babylonian  purple.  Over  its 
gilded  portico  was  wreathed  the  huge  Vine  with  its  bunches 
of  golden  grapes.  On  its  topmost  roof  were  the  gilded 
spikes  ("  scare-ravens  ")  to  keep  birds  from  settling  on  it. 
Within  its  mysterious  recesses  was  that  awful  "  Holy  of 
Holies"  which  was  trodden  by  no  human  foot  save  that  of 
the  High  Priest  when  he  sprinkled  the  blood  of  the  sacri- 
fice, on  the  great  Day  of  Atonement,  towards  the  place 
where  once  had  stood  the  Ark  of  the  Covenant,  over- 
shadowed by  the  outspread  wings  of  the  golden  Cherubim.;}: 
And  this  was  the  one  most  hallowed  spot  of  all  the  world, 
towards  which,  for  centuries,  every  Jew  had  turned  his  eyes 
when  he  knelt  down  to  pray  to  the  God  of  his  Fathers.§ 

All  was  as  yet  entirely  new  to  the  Holy  Boy,  and  we  can 
but  imagine  with  what  interest  He — the  unknown  heir  of 
David's  line — would  have  listened  to  the  nine  trumpet- 
blasts  which  announced  the  morning  and  evening  sacrifice, 

*  Yotna,  f.  55,  2. 

\  We  cannot  always  be  certain  of  the  exactness  of  the  details. 

X  The  Ark  had  disappeared  since  the  Captivity.  Nothing  was  now  to  be 
seen  in  the  Holiest  Place  but  the  "  Stone  of  the  Foundation"  ( Voma,  f.  53,  2), 
which  was  supposed  to  be  the  centre  of  the  world  {cf.  Ezek.  v.  5,  and  see  Her- 
shon,  Tiilin.  Miscellany,  p.  300).  Pompey,  when  he  forced  his  way  into  the 
Holiest,  expecting  to  find  some  image  of  an  animal  which  the  Gentiles  ignor- 
antly  fancied  that  the  Jews  worshipped,  was  amazed  to  find  "  vacua  omnia," 
According  to  Yovia,  f.  21,  2,  tlie  five  things  wanting  to  the  second  Temple 
were:  i.  The  Ark.  2.  The  Holy  Fire.  3.  The  Shechinah.  4.  The  Spirit 
of  Prophecy.  5.  The  Urim  and  Thummim.  These  five  missing  things  were 
supposed  to  be  indicated  by  the  omission  of  H  (  =  5 )  in  the  word  13JN1,  "  and 
I  will  be  glorified,"  in  Hag.  i.  S. 

§  Dan.  vi.  10. 


THE    FIRST   ANECDOTE.  85 

and  to  the  sacred  songs  and  solemn  litanies  of  the  singers, 
the  sons  of  Asaph,  Heman,  and  Jeduthun,  with  their  silver 
trumpets,  and  harps,  and  cymbals.  He  must  have  watched 
the  army  of  priests  in  their  turbans  and  white  robes  and 
girdles  of  purple,  and  blue,  and  scarlet,  hurrying  about  the 
Court  of  the  Priests  with  their  bare  feet,  and  busy  from 
morn  till  dewy  eve  in  roasting  and  seething  the  oxen, 
and  lambs,  and  kids,  and  ever  washing  the  gold  and  silver 
vessels  of  the  Sanctuary.  He  would  see  for  the  first  time 
the  huge  altar  of  burnt-offering  standing  before  the  eastern 
front  of  the  Temple.  It  was  the  hugest  in  the  world,  forty- 
eight  feet  square  at  the  base,  and  diminishing  by  stages  to 
its  summit.  It  was  built  of  unhewn  stones,  untouched  by 
any  human  tool.  It  was  also  approached  by  an  ascent  of 
unhewn  stones,  and  on  its  broad  summit  flamed,  day  and 
night,  the  perpetual  fire.  Beyond  it  was  the  great  brazen 
laver  in  which  the  priests  washed  their  hands  and  feet.*  In 
this  Court  the  victims  were  slaughtered,  and  there  were 
pillars  to  which  their  carcasses  were  hung,  and  marble 
tables  on  which  they  were  skinned  and  the  entrails  washed. 
To  the  ordinary  eye  this  Court  must  often  have  looked  like 
one  huge  slaughter-house,  in  which  amid  the  wreaths  of 
curling  smoke  were  heard  the  sound  of  perpetual  prayers 
and  formularies,  the  bleating  of  sheep,  and  the  lowing  of 
oxen.  But  it  would  seem  transfigured  to  eyes  that  gazed 
on  it  with  holy  enthusiasm.  Jesus  could  only  have  seen  it 
from  the  Court  of  the  Israelites ;  for,  under  ordinary 
circumstances,  none  but  the  priestly  ministers  were  allowed 
to  enter  into  its  actual  precincts.  "Whoever  has  not  seen 
Herod's  Temple,"  says  the  Talmud,  "has  never  seen  a 
beautiful  structure  in  his  life.  How  did  Herod  build  it? 
Ravah  replied,  '  With  white  and  green  marble,  so  that  it 
appeared  in  the  distance  like  waves  of  the  sea.' "  f 

*  Baba  Bathra^  f.  3,  2.     "  The  Mount  of  the  Temple  was  500  yards  square." 
Middoth,  ch.  2. 

\  Baba  Bathra,  f.  4,  i.     See,  for  full  details,  Schiirer,  i.  280. 


86  THE    LIFE   OF    LIVES. 

But  in  the  Court  below,  the  full  stream  of  the  varied  life 
of  Judaism  must  have  passed  before  His  eyes.  Here  He 
would  have  seen  the  High  Priest  Hanan  (or  Annas),  son  of 
Seth,  before  whom  He  was  destined  to  stand  as  a  prisoner.  * 
He  would  have  seen  too,  the  "Captain  of  the  Temple" 
(the  Ish  har  hab-Bith,  or  "  Man  of  the  Mountain  of  the 
House  "),  with  his  little  army  of  subordinate  Levites,  in  their 
peaked  caps,  and  with  the  pockets  which  held  their  Law 
books.  Mingled  among  the  crowd  would  be  solemn  white- 
robed  Essenes  ;  Pharisees  with  their  broad  phylacteries; 
Herodian  courtiers  in  their  gorgeous  clothing  ;  Nazarites 
with  their  long  hair ;  beggars — blind  and  lame — seated 
before  the  two  great  bronze  valves  of  the  Gate  Beautiful ; 
and  here  and  there,  perhaps,  in  the  Court  of  the  Gentiles, 
some  Roman  soldier  in  his  armour,  looking  round  him 
with  scornful  curiosity,  and  answering  with  looks  of  disdain 
the  scowls  of  hatred  sometimes  thrown  upon  him.  At 
sunset  Jesus  would  perhaps  stop  to  witness  the  closing  of 
the  great  bronze  gate  on  the  east  of  the  Court  of  the 
Gentiles,  so  heavy  that  it  took  twenty  men  to  move  it,t 
though,  sixty  years  later,  before  the  destruction  of  the 
Temple,  it  was  said  to  have  opened  of  its  own  accord,  while 
Voices,  as  of  departing  Deities,  where  heard  to  wail  in  tones 
of  awful  warning,  "Let  us  depart  hence  !  "  % 

And  then,  at  evening,  in  some  little  wattled  booth  out- 
side the  city,  among  the  Galilean  pilgrims,  or  in  the  humble 
house  of  some  Galilean  friends  in  Jerusalem,  the  male  mem- 
bers of  the  Holy  Family — although  not  with  their  loins 
girded,  their  staves  in  their  hands,  their  shoes  on  their  feet, 
as  the  ancient  custom  was — would  have  eaten  the  Paschal 
meal  rejoicing,  with  hymns  and    benedictions,  and  would 

*  He  was  High  Priest  A.  D.  6-15.  At  later  visits  Jesus  may  have  seen,  in 
the  rapidly  changing  Hierarchy,  Ishmael  ben  Phabi  (a.  d.  15,  16)  ;  Eleazar, 
son  of  Annas  (a.  d.  16,  17)  ;  Simon  ben  Kamhith  (A.  D.  17,  18)  ;  and  Joseph 
Caiaphas  (a.  i>.  18-36). 

\  Josephus  B.  J.  vi.  5,  3.  \  Tac.  Hist.  v.  13. 


THE   FIRST   ANECDOTE.  87 

drink  the  cups  of  blessing  and    thanksgiving   which    the 
father  of  the  family  passed  round. 

So  the  Feast  ended,  with  its  tumult  of  new  associations. 
And  then,  after  this  chief  event  in  the  whole  year,  the 
booths  were  broken  up,  the  simple  belongings  of  the  pil- 
grims were  packed  on  the  backs  of  asses  and  camels,  and  in 
various  groups,  the  hundreds  of  thousands  of  pilgrims, 
amid  psalms  and  hymns  and  spiritual  songs,  began  to  wend 
their  way  back  to  their  own  quiet  homes. 

How  easy  it  would  be,  in  such  a  scene  of  bustle,  to  lose 
sight  of  one  young  boy."^'  At  first,  Joseph  and  Mary  did 
not  notice  His  absence,  feeling  no  doubt  assured  that,  as 
He  must  have  known  the  hour  at  which  the  caravan  would 
start.  He  must  be  safe  and  happy  amid  some  group  of  the 
rejoicing  relatives  and  friends  who  had  accompanied  them 
from  Nazareth.  The  fact  that  they  did  not  observe  His 
absence  illustrates  the  naturalness  and  unconstraint  of  the 
conditions  in  which  the  Boy  Jesus  had  been  trained.  To 
this  day  the  incident  of  separation  from  friends  in  these 
great  caravans  is  a  common  one,  and  excites  little  anxiety. 

It  was  not  till  the  evening  of  the  first  day's  journey — 
perhaps  when  they  had  arrived  at  Beeroth,  some  six  miles 
north  of  Jerusalem — that  they  missed  Him,  and  by  that 
time  wondered  why  He  had  not  rejoined  them.  Then, 
with  intense  anxiety,  they  began  to  search  for  Him,  and 
their  anxiety  deepened  to  agony  when  he  was  nowhere  to 
be  found  in  the  little  companies  of  Nazarenes  or  other  Gal- 
ileans. With  hearts  full  of  forebodings,  they  turned  back 
to  Jerusalem,  looking  for  Him  all  along  the  route.  Still 
they  could  hear  nothing  of  Him.  He  was  nowhere  to  be 
seen  in  the  entire  caravans,  nor  among  the  later  stragglers. 
It  was  not  till  the  third  day  that  they  discovered  Him  in 
the  Temple, f  probably  in  one  of  the  halls  or  rooms  which 
surrounded  the  Court  of  the  Israelities,  and  were  used  for 
purposes  of  teaching.     They  were  amazed  to  see  the  gracious 

*  Luke  ii.  43.  \  Luke  ii.  46,   "  After  three  days.'' 


S8  THE    LIFE   OF   LIVES. 

Boy  "  sitting  in  the  midst  of  the  Rabbis,  both  hearing  them 
and  asking  them  questions."  The  instruction  of  the  young 
was  a  constant  function  of  the  leading  Scribes,  and  they 
always  showed  ready  kindness  to  any  youthful  enquirer. 
It  is  not  impossible  that  among  these  Rabbis  may  have  been 
men  so  famous  as  Hilleland  Shammai,  and  Bava  ben  Butah, 
in  their  extreme  old  age  ;  and  among  the  younger  may  have 
been  Rabban  Simeon,  son  of  Shammai  ;  and  Gamaliel, 
son  of  Hillel  ;  and  Nicodemus,  and  Jochanan  ben  Zakkai. 

Overawed  perhaps  at  first,  Joseph  and  Mary  would  hardly 
venture  to  thrust  themselves  into  that  group  of  learned 
ofificials  and  Rabbis,  surrounded  as  they  were  with  almost 
awful  reverence  ;  but  they  took  in  enough  of  the  scene 
to  notice  that  "  all  that  heard  Him  were  astonished  at  His 
understanding  and  answers." 

In  the  Apocryphal  Gospels,  and  in  many  books,  the 
significance  of  the  scene  has  been  entirely  misunderstood. 
In  pictures,  also,  Jesus  has  been  represented  sitting,  or 
standing,  in  an  attitude  of  authority,  as  though  He  were 
teaching  and  catechising  these  Scribes,  the  most  famed  for 
learning  in  their  day.  Such  a  notion  is  contrary  to  all  that 
we  know  of  Christ's  gracious  humility.  Anything  like  for- 
wardness or  presumption  would  have  awakened  nothing  but 
displeasure  in  Rabbis  accustomed  to  deferential  homage  ;* 
but,  on  the  contrary,  the  Boy  of  Nazareth  had  won  their 
admiration  by  His  modesty  and  intelligence.  He  was 
"sitting  "  at  the  feet  of  the  Rabbis,  "  hearing  them,"  i.  e., 
trying  to  learn  all  which  they  could  teach  ;  and  ingenuously, 
but  with  consummate  insight,  "answering"  the  questions 
which    they   addressed    to    Him.     What    most   astonished 

*  See  Pirqe  Avoth,  v.  12,  15.  Baha  Meizia,  f.  84,  2.  Similar  stories  are 
told  of  Eliezer  ben  Azariah,  R.  Ashi,  and  Josephiis  (Vit.  2).  Comp.  Baba 
Metzia,  f.  48,  6,  where  we  are  told  liow  Rabbi  Elaza,  and  Rabbi  Judah  (the 
Holy)  sat  on  the  ground  as  boys  before  two  great  Rabbis,  "  asking  questions 
and  starting  objections.  The  other  Rabbis  exclaimed,  '  We  drink  of  their 
water  '  {i.  e.,  we  imbibe  their  wisdom),  '  and  they  sit  upon  the  ground  ! '  Seats 
were  then  brought  in  for  the  two  children." 


THE    FIRST   ANECDOTE.  89 

them  was  His  knowledge  of  the  Scriptures,  and'the  wisdom, 
beyond  His  boyish  age,  which  His  answers  manifested. 
His  parents  too — for  Mary's  awful  secret  was  hidden  deep 
within  her  heart,  aw^^oseph  was  regarded  as  His  father — 
were  amazed  to  see  Him  so  happy,  so  calmly  at  ease,  in 
that  august  assembly.  At  last  His  mother  ventured  to 
address  to  Him  the  agitated  question,  "  Child  {reuvov'), 
why  didst  thou  thus  to  us  ?  Behold,  thy  father  and  I  were 
seeking  thee  in  sorrow  ?  "  *  To  Him — so  wrapt  up  in  all 
that  He  had  seen  and  heard,  and  living  in  inward  com- 
munion with  His  Father  in  Heaven — their  distress  seemed 
strange.  When  they  first  missed  Him,  where.  He  asked, 
would  it  have  been  most  natural  for  them  at  once  to  seek 
Him  ?  "  Why  is  it  that  ye  were  seeking  me  ?  Did  ye  not 
know  that  I  must  be  in  my  Father's  house?  "  f 

The  rendering  of  the  A.  V.,  "  about  my  Father  s  business" 
may  now  be  regarded  as  having  been  finally  disproved.  It 
would  be,  in  every  way,  much  more  dif^cult  to  explain  ;  for 
Jesus  had  been  in  the  Temple,  tiot  in  any  fulfilment  of  His 
mission,  but  as  a  boy,  to  worship  and  to  learn.  His  kinsfolk 
must  have  observed  His  rapture  as  He  had  spent  day  after 
day  of  the  Feast  in  the  Temple  Courts.  They  must  have 
been  long  familiar  with  His  ardent  love  for  instruction, 
and  with  the  untroubled  simplicity  with  which  He  always 
looked  up  to  God  as  His  Father.  "  Where  then,"  He 
seems  to  ask  them,  "  would  it  be  natural  for  you  at  once 
to  seek  for  me,  except  in  my  Father  s  House  ?  "  It  was  an 
accident  that,  when  they  started  homeward,  they  had  not 
noticed  His  absence  ; — but,  having  missed  Him,  surely 
they  might  have  known  the  one  place  where  they  would  be 
most  sure  to  find  Him  ! 

*  Luke  ii.  4S. 

\  The  contrast  of  the  sublime  and  truthful  simplicity  of  the  Evangelists  with 
the  unauthorised  additions  of  the  Apocryphal  Gospels  may  be  seen  by  reading 
the  very  different  accounts  of  this  incident  in  the  Gospel  of  St.  Thomas.  The 
attempt  to  glorify  Christ  by  inventing  details  instantly  profanes  the  Ideal, 
which  nothing  but  truth  could  paint. 


90  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

What  could  they  say  ?  They  could  not  take  in  the  full 
meaning  of  His  words.  The  answer  came  to  them  like  a 
marvellous  gleam  of  light.  They  felt  that  worlds  of  mys- 
tery lay  hidden  in  the  depths  of  the  Boy's  soul — of  mystery 
which  they  could  not  fathom.  His  mother  especially  pon- 
dered over  His  words,  and  kept  them  in  her  heart.  What 
would  be  the  end  of  these  things  ?  Whereunto  would  they 
ultimately  grow  ? 

And  yet  to  His  parents  the  Divine  Boy  was  all  tender- 
ness and  meek  submission.  From  His  earliest  years  "  He 
was  meek  and  lowly  of  heart."  '^  He  returned  with  them 
at  once,  and  without  question.  They  soon  found  them- 
selves once  more  in  Nazareth,  among  the  poor  yet  happy 
surroundings  of  their  Holy  Home.  There  was  nothing 
froward  or  defiant  in  the  bearing  of  Mary's  Son.  His  years 
passed  in  uneventful  calm,  as  He  "  kept  advancing  in  wis- 
dom and  stature,  and  in  favour  with  God  and  man."  f 

Many  of  the  great  Prophets  of  the  Old  Testament  had 
lived  as  He  did,  through  a  youth  of  unknown  preparation 
— as  did  David  among  the  sheepfolds,  and  Elijah  in  the 
tents  of  the  Bed'awin,  and  Amos  as  a  gatherer  of  sycamore 
leaves  at  Tekoah,  and  Jeremiah  in  quiet  Anathoth,  and  the 
Baptist  in  the  wilderness.  They  had  waited,  as  He  waited, 
the  call  which  summoned  them  to  perform  in  the  face  of 
the  world  the  high  mission  of  their  lives. 

And  so,  as  Irenaius  says,  "  He  passed  through  every  age, 
having  been  made  an  infant  to  sanctify  infants  ;  a  little  one 
among  the  little  ones,  sanctifying  the  little  ones  ;  among 
the  youths  a  youth." :{:  That  His  childhood  and  early 
boyhood  were  full  of  happy  peace  we  have  every  reason  to 

*  Matt.  xi.  29. 

f  Comp.  Prov.  iii.  4.  "  So  shalt  thou  find  favour  and  good  success  in  the 
sight  of  God  and  man."  Pirqe  Avoth  iii.  10.  "  In  whomsoever  the  mind  of 
man  delights,  in  him  also  the  vSpirit  of  God  delights."  It  is  not  said  that  the 
Baptist  grew  up  in  favour  with  tnen.  On  the  lifelong  holy  submission  of  Jesus 
to  the  will  of  His  Heavenly  Father,  see  John  iv.  34,  v.  30,  vi.  38,  viii.  18,  etc. 

\  Iren.  c.  Haer,  ii.  22. 


THE    FIRST   ANECDOTE.  91 

infer  from  the  infinite  tenderness  which  He  always  displayed 
towards  children,  and  His  sympathetic  references  to  their 
joyous  games  and  trustful  gentleness.*  His  divine  nature 
deepened^  it  did  not  qtiench,  the  keenness  of  His  human 
sympathies  for  His  family,  for  His  nation,  for  all  mankind. 
His  greatness  was  not  the  separate  greatness  of  Poet,  or 
Artist,  or  Orator,  or  Hero,  but  the  unprecedented  greatness 
of  Harmony  and  Peace,  Humility  and  Majesty.  His  hatred 
of  sin  in  its  every  form,  combined  with  tender  compassion 
for  even  the  worst  of  sinners,  made  Him  the  fairest  of  the 
children  of  men,  the  most  supreme  representative  of  man 
in  that  union  with  God  which  is  the  sole  greatness  that 
it  is  open  to  our  nature  to  achieve  by  the  grace  which 
comes  from  Him  alone.f 

*  Matt.  xi.  16,  xix.  13-15. 

\  On  the  whole  subject,  see  Ullmann,  The  Sinlessness  of  Jesus,  pp.  50-59. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

LESSONS   OF  THE   UNRECORDED   YEARS. 

"  He  shall  grow  up  before  Him  as  a  tender  plant,  and  as  a  root  out  of 
the  dry  ground." — Isaiah  liii.  2. 

"  Having  food  and  raiment,  in  these  we  shall  have  enough." — I  Tim. 
vi.  8. 

"  Ecclesia  habet  quatuor  Evangelia,  haeresis  plurima." — Iren^us 
iii.  II,  9. 

"He  went  down  with  them  ...  to  Nazareth,  and  was 
subject  unto  them."  Such  is  St.  Luke's  brief  epitome.  It 
is  the  only  record  left  to  us  of  nearly  twenty  years  of  the 
life  of  Christ,  from  the  time  when  He  had  attained  the  age 
of  twelve  till  when  "  He  was  about  thirty  years  of  age."* 
We  are  told  the  one  anecdote  of  boyhood,  of  which  we 
have  been  trying  to  grasp  the  significance,  and,  beyond 
that,  only  the  general  facts  of  His  growth  in  wisdom  and 
stature  and  favour  with  God  and  man,  and  His  sweet  filial 
obedience  during  His  abode  in  that  beautiful  Valley  of 
Nazareth.  This  is  literally  all  that  the  four  Gospels  record 
of  all  except — at  the  outside — some  three  and  a  half  years 
of  the  life  of  the  Son  of  Man  and  the  Son  of  God. 

This  is  all  that  they  record;  but  in  St.  Mark,  a  single 
casual  word — not  meant  for  any  part  of  the  biography,  but 
occurring  in  the  most  incidental  manner  in  the  discontented 
murmurs  of  the  people  of  Nazareth — comes  like  a  revealing 
flash  to  illuminate  the  darkness.  That  word  is  "  the 
Carpenter.''^ 

*  Luke  iii.  23,  R.  V.  "  Jesus,  when  He  began  to  teach,  was  about  thirty 
years  of  age." 

f  Mark  vi.  3.  Justin  Martyr  says,  "He  used,  when  among  men,  to  work 
as  a  carpenter,  making  ploughs  and  yokes."     Dial.  c.  Tryph.  88. 

92 


UNRECORDED   YEARS.  93 

Jesus  had  been  teaching  in  the  synagogue  so  familiar  to 
Him  in  His  early  years,  and  His  disciples  were  with  Him. 
As  He  taught,  the  Nazarenes  were  ainazed  at  His  wisdom, 
and  His  mighty  works,  but  tiie  humility  of  His  origin  was 
a  stumbling-block  to  them.  Was  not  this  man  a  peasant 
like  themselves  ?  In  what  respect  could  He  claim  any 
superiority  over  them?  Did  they  not  know  Mary  His 
mother,  and  His  four  brothers,  and  His  sisters  ?  Had  He 
not  laboured  among  them  for  His  daily  bread  ?  Was  He 
not  in  the  eyes  of  the  Scribes  a  mere  ignoramus?  How 
could  they  accept  a  teaching  so  authoritative,  claims  so 
lofty  ?  A  prophet  could  expect  but  little  honour  in  his  own 
country,  and  among  his  own  kin,  and  in  his  own  house. 
"  Is  not  this  the  Carpenter?"  *  Christ  might  have  come 
as  a  Prince  like  Buddha,  or  a  Philosopher  like  Confucius,  or 
a  Priest  like  Zoroaster,  or  a  Warrior  like  Mohammed  ;  but 
He  chose  to  come  as  "  the  Carpenter  of  Nazareth."  The 
name  of  scorn  lingered  on  through  the  centuries.  "  What 
is  the  Carpenter  doing  now?"  sneeringly  asked  Libanius, 
the  pagan  sophist,  of  a  Christian.  ''He  is  making  a  coffin" 
answered  the  Christian;  and  shortly  after,  Julian,  the 
apostate  Emperor,  whom  Libanius  regarded  with  such 
proud  devotion,  was  cut  short  in  his  brilliant  career  of 
statesmanship  and  victory,  and  died  with  the  words 
"  TJioii  hast  conquered,  O  Galilean !  "  upon  his  lips.f 

The  innate  vulgarity  which  showed  itself  in  the  scoff  of 

*  Mark  vi.  3.  Hence  Origen  is  mistaken  when  he  says  (c.  Cels.  vi.  36)  that 
"  Jesus  has  never  been  described  as  the  carpenter."  The  Jews,  wiser  by  far  in 
this  respect  than  tlie  Pagans,  honoured  manual  labour,  and  many  of  their 
greatest  men — among  them  Hillel  and  Akiba — were  never  ashamed  to  have 
once  earned  their  bread  by  the  sweat  of  their  brow.  But  how  deep  was  the 
humility  of  Christ's  choice  may  be  estimated  if  we  read  Ecclus.  xxxviii.  24. 

f  There  is  a  curious  passage  in  Siiccah.  "  '  And  the  Lord  showed  me  four 
carpenters '  (Zech.  i.  20).  Who  are  these  four  carpenters  ?  Rav  Ghana  bar 
Bizna  says  that  they  were  A/cssia/i  the  Son  of  David;  Messiah  the  son  of  Joseph; 
Elijah,  and  the  Priest  of  Righteousness."  {Succah,  f.  52,  2  ;  Hershon,  Talm. 
Misc.  p.  77.) 


94  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

the  Nazarenes  has  been  common  in  all  ages,  although, 
again  and  again,  those  who  have  sprung  from  the  humblest 
ranks  among  the  people — like  Mohammed,  and  St.  Francis 
of  Assisi,  and  Gregory  VII.,  and  Luther,  and  Shakespeare, 
and  Bunyan — have  shown  themselves  to  be  moving  forces 
in  the  world.  But  the  low  sneer  becomes  to  us  an  illumin- 
ating truth,  revealing  to  us  the  methods  and  purposes  of 
God. 

The  very  silence  of  the  Evangelists  about  those  long 
years  is  full  of  eloquence.  Contrast  it  with  the  profane 
babblings  and  old  wives'  fables  of  unauthorised  invention, 
and  it  becomes  rich  in  most  blessed  significance! 

Let  us  consider  what  it  means. 

It  shows  the  truthfulness  of  the  Evangelists.  It  might 
well  have  seemed  most  strange  to  them,  as  at  first  sight  it 
does  to  us,  that  He  in  whom  they  recognised  the  Son  of 
God,  the  Saviour  of  the  world,  should  have  spent  in  lowly 
obscurity  and  unrecorded  silence  all  but  so  small  a  fraction 
of  His  years  on  earth.  They  must  have  yearned,  as  we 
yearn,  to  lift  the  curtain  of  apparent  oblivion  which  had 
been  suffered  to  rest  upon  the  Life  of  Lives.  But  they 
would  not  be  of  the  "  fools  "  who 

"  Rush  in  where  angels  fear  to  tread  " ; 

nor  would  they  surround  the  brow  of  Christ  with  a  halo  of 
lying  miracles.  They  would  record  nothing  where  nothing 
was  given  them  to  record. 

Throughout  these  four  narratives  they  show  a  great 
simplicity,  which  is  the  most  certain  stamp  of  truthfulness. 
They  burst  into  no  raptures,  they  abandon  themselves  to  no 
ecstasies,  they  indulge  in  no  notes  of  admiration.  "  lis  se 
souviennent,  voila  tout  !  "  * 

Yet  this  reticence  is  in  itself  rich  in  the  deepest  and  most 
necessary  lessons. 

^^  Fruit  is  seed.''  What  the  soil  and  the  grain  have  been, 
that  will  the  harvest  be     When  we  see  the  perfect  rose  we 

*  Didon,  I,  liv. 


UNRECORDED   YEARS.  95 

know  at  once  that  there  can  have  been  no  blight,  no  imper- 
fection in  the  bud.  So  far,  then,  as  the  revelation  of 
Christ's  Person  is  concerned,  we  recognise,  without  special 
record,  that  those  unrecorded  years  must  have  been  years 
of  holy  and  sinless  humility. 

But,  further,  the  one  word  preserved  (with  such  apparent 
casualness)  by  St.  Mark,  brings  clearly  home  to  us  that 
those  long  years  of  Jesus  in  Nazareth  were  years  of  prepar- 
ation, of  poverty,  of  obscurity,  of  labor, 

(i.)  They  were  years  of  preparation :  However  deep 
must  have  been  the  consciousness  in  the  soul  of  the  youth- 
ful Christ  that  He  was,  in  a  special  sense,  the  Son  of  His 
Heavenly  Father,  and  that  He  was  born  to  do  His  work, 
yet,  in  meekness  and  lowliness  of  heart.  He  would  abide 
God's  good  time.  He  would  await  the  pointing  of  His  finger, 
the  whisper  of  His  voice.  '*  He  shall  not  strive,  nor  cry, 
neither  shall  His  voice  be  heard  in  the  streets.  A  bruised 
reed  will  He  not  break,  and  the  smoking  flax  will  He  not 
quench,  until  He  send  forth  judgment  unto  victory."  ^  The 
life  ivith  God  and  in  God  sufficed  Him.  Men  might  look 
for  manifestations  of  God  in  the  earthquake  or  the  thunder, 
or  the  mighty  strong  wind  which  shakes  the  mountains  and 
rends  their  rocks :  to  Jesus,  hidden  in  the  cleft  of  that 
mountain  valley,  they  came,  as  to  Elijah,  in  the  "  still, 
small  voice." 

(ii.)  And  it  teaches  us  a  most  blessed  lesson,  that  God 
Himself,  hid  in  the  veil  of  mortal  flesh,  should  voluntarily 
have  undergone  those  long  silent  years  from  childhood  to 
manhood  in  the  lot  of  poverty,  of  obscurity,  of  labour. 

Of  poverty.  The  Gospel  of  Christ  is  a  Gospel  to  the 
poor,  who  are  the  many.  Poverty  is  the  normal  lot  of  the 
vast  majority  of  mankind.  There  was  nothing  squalid, 
nothing  torturing,  nothing  degraded  in  this  poverty.  It 
was  the  modest  competence,  earned  by  manly  toil,  which 
suffices  to  provide  all  that  men  truly  need,  though  not  all 
*  Matt.  xii.  19,  20;  Is.  xlii.  2,  3. 


96  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

that  they  passionately  desire.  It  was  the  poverty  which  is 
content  with  food  and  raiment.  Men,  by  myraids,  strive 
passionately  for  wealth.  In  all  ages  Mammon  has  been  the 
god  of  their  commonest  worship, — 

"Mammon,  the  least  erected  spirit  that  fell 
From  heaven  ;  for  e'en  in  heaven  his  looks  and  thoughts 
Were  always  downward  bent,  admiring  more 
The  riches  of  heaven's  pavement,  trodden  gold. 
Than  aught  divine  or  holy  else  enjoyed 
In  vision  beatific." 

Men  strive  and  agonise  for  gold  ;  they  toil  and  moil,  and 
cheat,  and  steal,  and  oppress,  and  poison,  and  ruin  their 
brethren  to  get  money  ;  they  sell  their  souls,  they  turn 
their  whole  lives  into  a  degradation  and  a  lie,  because  of 
the  false  glamour  of  riches.     The  old  song  says  rightly : — 

"  The  gods  from  above  the  mad  labour  behold, 
And  pity  mankind  who  would  perish  for  gold." 

Yet  after  all  it  is  but  very  few  who,  with  all  their  passionate 
endeavours,  attain  to  riches.  The  Dives  who  is  clad  in 
purple  and  fine  linen,  and  fares  sumptuously  every  day,  is 
but  one  out  of  every  hundred  thousand  ;  and  very  often  his 
earthly  wealth  tends  only  to  ossify  and  dehumanise  his 
heart.  The  lesson  of  Christ's  poverty  has  helped  myraids 
of  the  humble  to  say,  with  brave  Martin  Luther,  "  My 
God,  I  thank  Thee  that  Thou  hast  made  me  poor  and  a 
beggar  upon  earth."  And,  as  the  wise  king  had  prayed  : 
"Give  me  neither  poverty  nor  riches;  feed  me  with  food 
convenient  for  me,"  so  Christ,  by  the  example  of  these 
long,  silent  years  of  poverty,  gave  deeper  emphasis  to  His 
own  teaching:  "Lay  not  up  for  yourselves  treasures  upon 
earth,  where  moth  and  rust  doth  corrupt,  and  where  thieves 
dig  through  and  steal  ;  but  lay  up  for  yourselves  treasures 
in  heaven,  where  neither  moth  nor  rust  doth  corrupt,  and 
where    thieves  do   not   dig  through  nor  steal."  *     In   the 

*Matt.  vi.  19,  20. 


UNRECORDED   YEARS.  97 

workshop  at  Nazareth,  faithful  in  that  which  was  little, 
Christ  revealed  to  mankind  where  to  seek,  and  how  to 
enjoy  the  true  riches.  By  long  examjjle  He  added  force  to 
His  own  precept :  "  Be  not  anxious  for  the  morrow,  for  the 
morrow  will  be  anxious  for  the  things  of  itself."  "  Be  not 
anxious  for  your  life,  what  ye  shall  eat,  or  what  ye  shall 
drink;  nor  yet  for  your  body  what  ye  shall  put  on.  Is  not 
the  life  more  than  food,  and  the  body  than  raiment."  * 

(iii.)  And  it  was  a  life  of  obscurity.  Men  love  fame; 
they  will  risk  life  itself,  they  will  face  the  cannon  which 
pour  forth  destruction  into  the  midst  of  them,  to  win 
renown,  and  "  fly  victorious  in  the  mouths  of  men."  This 
passion  to  win  fame  is  not  so  grovellingly  ignoble  as  that 
love  of  money  which  is  a  root  of  all  kinds  of  evilPf 

Fame  is  the  spur  that  the  clear  spirit  doth  raise 
(That  last  infirmity  of  noble  minds), 
To  scorn  delights,  and  live  laborious  days  ; 
But  the  fair  guerdon  when  we  hope  to  find, 
And  think  to  burst  out  into  sudden  blaze, 
Comes  the  blind  Fury  with  th'  abhorred  shears 
And  slits  the  thin-spun  life." 

It  is  infinitely  diflficult  to  disillusion  men  from  this 
passion,  although  in  age  after  age  the  greatest  have  been 
among  the  saddest  of  mankind.  "  Omnia  fiii,  et  nihil 
expedite'  sighed  the  Roman  Emperor,  who  had  risen  from 
lowliness  to  the  topmost  summit  of  earthly  grandeur. 
"  All  my  life  long  I  have  been  prosperous  in  peace  and 
victorious  in  war,  feared  by  my  enemies,  loved  and  hon- 
oured by  my  friends,"  wrote  Abdalrahman  the  Magnifi- 
cent, in  his  private  diary.  "  Amid  all  this  wealth  and  glory 
I  have  counted  the  days  of  my  life  which  I  could  call 
happy.  They  amount  to  fourteen  !" :{;  Our  great  drama- 
tist makes  his  holy  king  say  : — 

♦Matt.  vi.  34,  25,  fTim.  vi.  IQ. 

\  Quoted  by  Gibbon,  ch,  Iii.  (ed,  Milman,  v,  197). 


98  THE    LIFE    OF   LIVES. 

"  My  crown  is  in  my  heart,  not  on  my  head, 
Not  set  with  diamonds,  or  Indian  stones, 
Nor  to  be  seen  :  my  crown  is  called  Content — 
A  crown  it  is  which  seldom  kings  enjoy  !  " 

And  again : — 

"  I  swear  'tis  better  to  be  lowly  born 
And  range  with  humble  dwellers  in  content. 
Than  to  be  perked  up  in  a  glistering  grief, 
And  wear  a  golden  sorrow." 

"  I  never  spent  such  tedious  hours  in  all  my  life," 
exclaimed  Napoleon  I.,  as  he  flung-  into  the  corners  of  the 
room  the  superb  coronation  robes  which  he  had  worn  when 
the  Pope  of  Rome,  in  the  Cathedral  of  Notre  Dame,  had 
placed  the  crown  of  St.  Louis  on  the  brows  of  him  who 
had,  a  few  years  before,  been  the  poor  and  struggling 
sub-lieutenant  of  artillery.  "  Right  well  I  know  " — such 
are  the  words  which  one  of  the  chief  poets  of  our  generation 
puts  into  the  mouth  of  the  mighty  Merlin — 

"  Right  well  know  I  that  fame  is  half  dis-fame, 
The  cackle  of  the  unborn  about  the  grave. 
Sweet  were  the  days  when  I  was  all  unknown, 
But  when  my  name  was  lifted  up,  the  storm 
Brake  on  the  mountain,  and  I  cared  not  for  it." 

And  so  the  "  Emptiness  of  emptiness,  emptiness  of 
emptiness,  all  is  emptiness  ! "  of  the  richest,  wisest,  and 
most  splendid  of  earthly  kings  *  has  been  reverberated 
from  century  to  century;  and  with  that  verdict  of  disil- 
lusionment comes  the  old  wise  lesson,  "  Seekest  thou  great 
things  for  thyself?  Seek  them  not,  saith  the  Lord."  f 
Jesus  gave  to  the  lesson  of  this  world-wide  experience  His 
seal  of  confirmation  by  His  unknown  years  at  Nazareth  ; 
and  thus,  by  example  as  by  His  words.  He  says  to    us : 

*  Ecc.  i.  2. 

•)■  Jer.  xlv.  5.     Comp.  Luke  xii.  29  ;  John  v.  30,  44,  viii.  50. 


UNRECORDED   YEARS.  99 

"  Come  unto  Me  .  .  .  for  I  am  meek  and  lowly  in  heart, 
and  ye  shall  find  rest  unto  your  souls."  * 

(iv.)  And  His  was  a  life  of  manual ioil.  In  this  respect 
also  how  inestimable  a  boon  did  He  confer  upon  the  toil- 
ing millions  of  mankind  : 

"Not  to  the  rich  He  came,  nor  to  the  ruHng, 

Men  full  of  meat,  whom  most  His  heart  abhors; 
Not  to  the  fools,  grown  insolent  in  fooling. 
Most  when  the  poor  are  dying  out  of  doors." 

There  has  been  a  haughty  tendency  in  all  ages  to  despise 
manual  labour,  and  look  down  on  those  who  live  by  it. 
All  trade  and  mechanic  work  was  to  the  ancient  world 
despicable  {^dyauaov)^  a  thing  to  be  left  to  slaves,  or 
those  but  a  little  above  them.  So  it  was  in  the  days  of  the 
Roman  Empire ;  so  it  was  even  among  our  Teutonic 
forefathers.  A  "  base  mechanic "  was  quite  an  ordinary 
description,  in  the  days  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  for  the  mass 
of  the  people,  f  and  to  this  day  the  insolent  'ineptitude  of 
commonplace  vulgarity  thinks  it  an  immense  disparagement 
to  call  a  man  "  a  mere  tradesman."  The  Jews  alone  among 
the  nations  rose  to  a  wiser  standpoint,  though  even  among 
them  we  find  such  haughty  sentence  as:  "  How  can  he  get 
wisdom  that  holdeth  the  plough  .  .  .  whose  talk  is  of 
bullocks?":}: 

Even  "  the  sweet  and  noble  Hillel,"  though  he  rose  from 
a  position  of  the  lowliest  poverty,  was  so  tainted  by  the 
pride  of  leisurely  sciolism  as  to  say,  "  No  am-Jia-aretz  can 
be  pious."  The  lot  of  artisans  was,  however,  indefinitely 
raised  among  the  Jews  by  the  fact  that  the  greatest  Rabbis 
were  taught  that  it  was  well  to  be  able  to  maintain  them- 
selves by  a  trade.  What  sublimer  lesson  could  Jesus  have 
taught  to  mankind  than  by  spending  thirty  unknown  years 
as  the  humble  Carpenter  of  Nazareth?  How  fundamen- 
tally did  He  thus  rectify  the  judgments  of  rnan's  feeble  and 

*Matt.  xi.  29.  fComp.  Shakespeare,  Ant.  and  Cleop.  v.  2. 

X  Ecclus.  xxxviii,  25. 


ICX5  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

erring  day!  How  did  He  thus  illustrate  the  truth  that 
"all  honest  labour  is  an  honour  to  the  labourer"!  How 
did  He  further  demojistrate  by  this  example  that  man  has 
no  essential  dignity  except  that  which  comes  from  his 
inherent  nature  as  created  in  the  image  of  God  !  Shakes- 
peare complains : 

"  Not  a  man  for  being  simply  man 
Hath  any  honour  ;  but  honour  for  those  honours 
Which  are  without  him,  as  place,  riches,  favour. 
Prizes  of  accident  as  oft  as  merit." 

Buddhism  has  its  Arhats;  Brahminism  its  Yogis; 
Mohammedanism  its  Dervishes ;  Manichean  asceticism  has 
its  monks  and  hermits.  But  Christ  wished  to  show  that 
He  who,  by  His  Divine  Being,  was  immeasurably  and 
inconceivably  greater  than  the  greatest  in  all  the  world, 
lost  no  particle  of  His  grandeur  by  living  the  common 
every-day  life,  and  by  learning  to  labour  truly,  and  earning 
His  bread  by  the  sweat  of  His  brow. 

"  He  who  is  without  friends,  without  money,  without 
home,  without  country,  is  still  at  the  least  a  man  ;  and  he 
who  has  all  these  is  no  more."  *  To  all  alike — to  the 
poorest,  the  lowliest,  the  most  oppressed,  the  most  perse- 
cuted— God  in  Christ  gives  an  equal  chance  of  happiness. 
Complete  earthly  insignificance  is  the  lot  of  the  mass  of 
mankind.  Millions  might  say,  **  We  are  the  merest 
cyphers."  All  but  the  very  few,  when  death  comes  might 
murmur: 

"  I  shall  be  gone  to  the  crowd  untold 
Of  men  by  the  cause  they  served  unknown, 
Who  lie  in  the  myriad  graves  of  old. 
Never  a  story,  and  never  a  stone." 

Some  men  are  inclined  to  ask  why  God    placed  them  in 

depths  where  their  voices  can  never  be  heard.     The  answer 

is  that  life  means  something  infinitely  more  precious  than 

*  Sir  Walter  Scott,  Rob  Roy. 


UNRECORDED   YEARS.  loi 

power  and  fame.  The  object  of  life — as  the  silent,  unre- 
corded years  of  Christ's  life  teach  us — is  neither  to  be 
known,  nor  to  be  praised,  but  simply  to  do  our  duty,  and 
to  the  best  of  our  power  to  serve  our  brother-men.  The 
inch-high  dignities  of  man  on  the  insignificant  stage  of  his 
little  greatness  are  annihilated  in  the  infinitude  of  God,  to 
whom  all  human  life,  apart  from  Him,  is  but  as  "a.  trouble 
of  ants  'mid  a  million  million  of  suns  ! "     But 

"  All  service  is  true  service,  wiiile  it  lasts," 

and 

"  All  service  ranks  the  same  with  God, 
Whose  puppets  are  we,  one  and  all ; 
There  is  no  great  and  small." 

If  we  realise  this  truth  in  the  light  of  Christ's  early  life,  we 
add  an  undreamed-of  "grandeur  to  the  beatings  of  the 
heart."  If  we  live  blameless  and  harmless  children  of 
God  without  rebuke,  we  may  make  our  lives  as  splendid  in 
the  sight  of  our  Heavenly  Father  as  though  we  stood  on 
the  summits  of  humanity,  clad  with  angels'  wings.  The 
Archangel  Gabriel  thought  it  as  high  an  honour  to  help 
back  to  its  nest  the  little  struggling  ant  as  to  save  the  great 
King  from  comm-itting  a  sin. 

"  He  did  God's  work,  to  him  all  one, 
If  on  the  earth,  or  in  the  sun." 

All  readers  then,  will,  I  trust,  agree  with  me  that  the 
silence  of  the  Evangelists  about  those  thirty  years  in  the 
earthly  life  of  the  Lord  of  Glory  is  the  grandest  eloquence  ; 
and  that  merely  by  living  this  unknown  life  of  labour  as  a 
peasant  in  a  Galilean  village,  Christ  set  the  very  example, 
and  taught  the  very  lesson,  which  the  untold  millions  of 
mankind  most  deeply  need — it  was  the  lesson  that  life 
comes  indeed  differently  to  the  good  and  to  the  bad,  to  the 
wise  and  to  the  foolish,  but  that  it  has  gifts  of  equal  blessed- 
ness for  the  low  and  for  the  high,  for  the  poor  and  for  the 


I02  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

rich.     To  all  true  men,  with  no  respect  of  persons,  are  flung 
equally  wide 

"  The  Gates  of  Heaven,  on  golden  hinges  moving." 

But  it  is  perfectly  lawful  and  reverent  for  us,  though  we 
cannot  narrate  a  single  incident  of  Christ's  youth  and  early 
manhood,  yet  to  try  to  realise  all  that  can  be  ascertained 
of  the  outer  circumstances  in  the  midst  of  which  that  life 
was  spent. 

"  He  went  down  ...  to  Nazareth  and  was  subject  unto 
them." 

What  was  the  scenery  around  the  humble  home  in  which 
Jesus  grew  up?  I  need  not  repeat  the  description  which 
I  have  given  elsewhere  of  that  little  white  village  on  the 
hill — "  urbs  florida  et  virgultis  consita  "  *— lying  amid  its 
green  and  umbrageous  fields  "like  a  handful  of  pearls  in  a 
goblet  of  emerald."  Suffice  it  to  say  that,  while  the 
scenery  is  by  no  means  grand  or  overwhelming,  it  is  full  of 
peaceful  loveliness.  In  this,  as  in  all  else,  there  was  noth- 
ing exceptional  in  the  conditions  which  surrounded  the 
youth  and  early  manhood  of  the  Saviour. 

"  Needs  no  show  of  mountain  hoary, 
Winding  sliore,  or  deepening  glen, 

Where  the  landscape  in  its  glory 
Teaches  truth  to  wondering  men  ; 

Give  true  hearts  but  earth  and  sky. 

And  some  flowers  to  bloom  and  die  ; 

Homely  scenes  and  simple  views, 

Lowly  thoughts  may  best  infuse." 

As  the  boy  Jesus  stood  on  the  hill-top  of  His  native 
town,  gazing  over  scenes  rich  in  the  historic  memories  of 
the  Chosen  People,  and  rejoicing  as  the  wind  of  the  moun- 
tains and  the  sea  played  in  His  long  hair.  He  would  have 
seen  the  pelicans,  with  their  great  white  wings,  flying  in 
long  lines  to  the  Lake  of  Galilee  ;  and  the  roller-bird,  with 

*  Jerome /«  Is.  xi.  i- 


UNRECORDED   YEARS.  103 

its  plumage  of  vivid  blue,  flash  like  a  living  sapphire  among 
the  pale  grey  olive-trees ;  and  the  kingfisher,  perched  on  a 
reed  beside  the  waters,  fishing  eagerly  from  hour  to  hour; 
and  the  harmless  doves,  soiled  sometimes  as  they  lighted 
on  the  dustheaps  of  the  streets,  but  "  covered  with  silver 
wings,  and  their  feathers  like  gold  "  when  they  soared  once 
more  into  the  azure,  and  reflected  the  sunlight  from  every 
varying  plume.  He  had  watched  with  loving  eye  the 
eagle  soaring  with  supreme  dominion  in  the  cloudless  sky; 
the  vultures  which  gather  round  the  fallen  carcass ;  the 
ravens  which  lay  up  no  store  for  food,  and  yet  the  Heavenly 
Father  feedeth  them ;  the  innumerable  little  brown 
sparrows  which  twittered  in  the  over-grown  foliage  of  the 
water-courses — so  valueless  that  you  could  buy  two  of  them 
for  a  farthing,  and,  if  you  spent  two  farthings,  could  get 
five,  so  that  one  would  be  thrown  in  for  nothing,*  and  yet 
not  one  of  them  falling  to  the  ground  without  our  Father's 
love.  He  had  noticed  "  the  hen,  with  passionate  maternal 
love,  clucking  to  gather  its  young  beneath  the  shelter  of 
its  widespread  wings;  the  lambs  blithely  following  their 
shepherd,  yet  going  astray,  and  roaming  into  the  wild  " ; 
the  sower  flinging  out  the  grains  of  wheat  which  sometimes 
fell  on  rocky,  or  trodden,  or  thorny  ground,  or  sank  into 
the  good  soil,  to  die  indeed,  but  to  spring  up  again  in  the 
hundredfold  of  golden  harvests.  He  would  watch  the 
green  blade  passing  into  the  ear,  and  then  into  the  full  corn 
in  the  ear;  and  the  fig-tree  in  springtide  putting  forth  its 
tender  leaves ;  and  the  vine-branch  hung  with  its  rich 
purple  clusters ;  and  the  grain  of  mustard-seed,  smallest  of 
all  seeds,  but  growing  up  into  the  largest  and  bushiest  of 
garden  herbs,  so  that  the  birds  of  the  air  took  shelter  in  its 
branches ;  and  the  rushes  whispering  and  wavering  in  the 
evening  wind  ;  and  the  lilies  of  the  field  brightening  the 
meadows  and  the  mountain  sides  with  blue  and  purple  and 
scarlet,  like  the  broidery  on  the  girdle  of  the  High  Priest ; 
*  Matt.  X.  29  ;  Luke  xii.  6. 


I04  THE    LIFE   OF    LIVES. 

and  the  many-coloured  tulip,  the  golden  armarylUs,  the 
scarlet  anemone  arrayed  more  splendidly  than  Solomon  in 
all  his  glory.  He  would  notice,  too,  all  the  wild  creatures 
with  an  eager  and  tender  gaze — the  sly  wisdom  of  the 
serpent,  the  fox  creeping  to  its  hole,  the  wild  wolves  and 
prowling  jackals,  as  well  as  the  sheep  which  hear  the  voice 
of  their  shepherd  and  follow  him  when  he  calls  them  by 
their  names.  He  would  watch  the  lightning  hurling  its 
flame  to  earth,  or  flashing  from  the  East  even  to  the  West, 
and  gaze  on  the  sky  red  with  the  promise  of  golden  days, 
or  lurid  with  the  menace  of  the  storm.  He  would  listen  to 
the  welcome  plash  of  the  fertilising  rain,  and  to  the  rush  of 
the  swollen  streams,  and  to  the  south  wind  with  its  burning 
heat,  and  to  the  breeze  of  which  we  hear  the  sound  but 
cannot  tell  whence  it  cometh  nor  whither  it  goeth.  Nature 
was  to  Him  no  blank  impervious  barrier  between  the  soul 
and  God,  but  a  glorious  crystal  mirror  in  which  the  Creator 
was  reflected  ;  and  every  one  of  these  sights  and  sounds  of 
common  nature,  treasured  up  in  His  pure  and  sinless  soul, 
became  parables  of  spiritual  truth  and  illustrations  of 
eternal  wisdom. 

"  To  Thee  all  nature's  oracles  unfold 

Their  wondrous  meaning,  deep-concealed  of  old, 
Now  by  Thy  touch  of  sympathy  laid  bare  : 

To  Thee  the  richness  of  their  truth  they  yield, 

Each  sparrow,  and  each  lily  of  the  field. 
Preaching  the  gospel  of  a  Father's  care. 

The  shepherd  seeking  his  lost  lambs  again. 

The  housewife's  bread,  the  gently  falling  rain, 
The  morning  sun  that  climbs  the  heavenly  height ; 

The  green  grass,  and  the  spirits  of  careless  youth. 

Are  all  but  garments  of  the  living  truth 
That  through  them  shines,  and  fills  our  lives  with  light."  * 

Nor  was  it  otherwise  with  the  commonest    sights   and 
sounds  and  incidents  of  daily  life.     To  Him  all    became 

*  Quoted  by  Mr.  Wicksteed  in  his  translation  of  H,  Van  Oort's  Bible  for  the 
Young,  V.  198. 


UNRECORDED   YEARS.  105 

fruitful  as  vehicles  of  the  holiest  teaching,  which  was  the 
more  impressive  because  all  alike  could  understand  it,  from 
the  highest  to  the  lowest.  The  form  which  His  teaching 
took  furnishes  an  indirect  proof  of  His  daily  familiarity 
with  the  common  life  of  the  people  during  the  long  years 
which  He  spent  as  one  of  the  labouring  classes.  He  had 
watched  the  processions  of  the  bridegrooms,  and  the  games 
of  the  little  ones,  and  the  gay  clothing  of  the  courtiers 
from  Tiberias.  "  He  was  at  home,"  says  Hausrath,*  "  in 
those  poor,  windowless  Syrian  hovels,  in  which  the  house- 
wife must  light  a  candle  in  the  daytime  in  order  to  seek  for 
her  lost  piece  of  silver.f  He  is  acquainted  with  the  secrets 
of  the  bakehouse,  :j:  and  the  gardener,  §  and  the  builder,  H 
and  with  things  which  the  higher  classes  never  see — such  as 
the  '  good  measure,  pressed  down,  and  shaken  together, 
and  running  over,'  of  the  cornchandler  ;^  the  rotten,  leak- 
ing wine-skin  of  the  wine-dealer  ;  ^'^  the  clumsy  patchwork 
of  the  peasant-woman  ;  ff  and  the  brutal  manners  of  the 
upper  servants  towards  the  lower.  ^  A  hundred  other 
features  of  a  similar  kind  are  enwoven  by  Him  into  His 
parables.  Reminiscences  given  of  His  more  special  handi- 
craft have  been  found,  it  is  believed,  in  some  of  His  sayings. 
The  parable  of  the  Splinter  and  the  Beam  is  said  to  recall 
the  carpenter's  shop ;  §§  the  uneven  foundation  of  the 
houses,  the  building-yard  ;  |||1  the  cubit  that  is  added.  His 
workshop ;  *l*l  the  distinction  in  the  appearance  of  the 
green  and  dry  wood,  the  drying  shed  ;  ***  but  from  the  fre- 
quency of  expressions  peculiar  to  Him,  it  would  be 
possible  to  find  similar  evidence  for  every  other  handicraft. 
Nevertheless  the  circumstance  that  His  discourses  are  not 

*  New  Testament  Times  n.  137.  fLukexv,  8. 

X  Matt.  xiii.  33  ;  Luke  xiii,  21.  §  Matt.  xv.  13. 

II  Luke  vi.  48,  49.  ^  Luke  vi.  38. 
**  Matt.  ix.  17.  ff  Matt.  ix.  16. 
XX  Luke  xii.  45.  §^5  Matt.  vii.  3. 

III  Matt.  vii.  24-27.  HTf  Matt.  vi.  27. 
***Luke  xxiii.  31. 


io6  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

drawn  from  rare  spectacles  and  unusual  processes,  but 
always  move  in  the  sphere  of  the  ordinary  man's  activity, 
has  contributed  to  establish  their  special  popularity." 

We  may  say  then  of  Jesus,  that,  for  the  infinite  consola- 
tion of  the  poor,  during  by  far  the  greater  part  of  His  life, 
He  showed  by  an  example  more  powerful  than  any  teach- 
ing, that  "  Man  is  as  great  as  he  is  in  God's  sight,  and  no 
greater." 


THK   HOME   AT   NAZARETH 

"  Love  had  he  found  in  huts  where  poor  men  lie  ; 
His  only  teachers  were  the  woods  and  rills, 
The  silence  that  is  in  the  starry  sky. 
The  peace  that  is  in  the  eternal  hills." 

— Wordsworth. 

The  hill-town  of  Nazareth  on  the  southwest  of  the  old 
tribal  district  of  Zabulon  was  remote,  insignificant,  and 
poor.  It  was  traversed  by  one  of  the  roads  from  Ptolemais 
to  Damascus,  and  was  near  large  and  populous  townships, 
like  Sepphoris  and  Tiberias,  but  it  never  rose  into  promi- 
nence. It  is  not  once  mentioned  in  the  Old  Testament,  nor 
in  the  Talmud,  nor  in  the  Midrashim.  The  recent  attempts 
to  make  out  that  it  was  the  centre  of  a  busy  commerce  are 
entirely  unsuccessful.  It  is  not  alluded  to  by  any  Gentile 
writer,  nor  even  by  Josephus,  though  he  writes  so  much 
about  Galilee.  The  Jews  despised  it  so  entirely  as  to  have 
among  them  the  proverb,*  "  Can  any  good  thing  come  out 

*  The  prophecy  quoted  by  Matthew  (ii.  23),  "He  shall  be  called  a  Naza- 
rene,"  is  of  uncertain  explanation.  It  is  probably  an  allusion  to  Netzer 
Branch  (Is.  xi.  i  ;  Comp.  Tsemach,  Jer.  xxiii.  5.  ;  Zech.  iii.  8),  or  Notsri,  as 
Nazareth  may  perhaps  mean  "  Protectress."  The  Christians  were  contemptu- 
ously called  "  Nazarenes."  Isaiah  (ix.  i,  2)  describes  the  region  in  which 
Nazareth  stood  as  inhabited  by  "those  that  walk  in  darkness,"  and  "  that 
dwell  in  the  land  of  the  shadow  of  death  "  (John  i.  46,  vii.  52,  xix.  19.  Light- 
foot,  Hor.  Hebr.  232).  Galilee,  occupied  by  so  many  Phoenicians,  Syrians,  Ara- 
bians, and  other  Gentiles  (Jos.  Antt.  xiii.  15,  4  ;  B.J.  iii.  3,  2  ;  Strabo  xvi.  2, 
34.  Comp.  Is.  ix.  i)  was  spoken  of  with  great  scorn  (Acts  ii.  7  ;  Matt.  xxvi. 
69,  73),  though  the  inhabitants,  in  their  glad  and  healthy  enthusiasm,  were  far 
superior  to  other  Jews.  See  Tacitus  Hist.  v.  6  ;  Josephus  B.  J.  q\  iii.  3,  2. 
Barak,  Deborah,  Elon,  Elisha,  Hoshea,  Jonah,  Nahum,  Tobit,  and  many 
other  men  of  fame  sprang  from  Galilee, 

107 


io8  THE    LIFE   OF   LIVES. 

of  Nazareth?"  And  afterwards  the  brethren  of  Jesus 
spoke  of  work  in  Galilee  as  work  "  in  secret."  * 

The  position  of  an  artisan  in  such  a  place  must  have 
been  humble  indeed.  The  picture  of  a  carpenter's  shop  at 
Nazareth,  drawn  by  Mr.  Holman  Hunt,  will  probably  give  a 
very  true  conception  of  what  such  a  shop  looked  like  in  the 
days  of  Christ  ;f  for  in  the  unchanging  East  the  aspect  of 
things  remains  the  same  for  century  after  century.  It  was 
probably  a  house  and  workshop  in  one,  and  lighted  mostly 
from  the  door,  except  by  night,  when  the  single  lamp 
suspended  in  the  centre  was  lit,  "  showing  curiously  com- 
mingled the  furniture  of  the  family  and  the  tools  of  the 
mechanic."  I  have  noticed  in  the  homes  of  Nazareth  the 
gay-coloured  quilts,  neatly  rolled  up  in  the  daytime,  and 
placed  in  a  corner  of  the  room,  which  at  night  are  the  beds 
of  the  family.  There  is  usually  no  table,  but  a  little  circu- 
lar or  octagonal  stand,  sometimes  gaily  painted  or  inlaid, 
on  which  is  placed  the  common  dish  of  libban,  or  stewed 
fruit,  and  the  bread  which  form  the  staple  meals.  The 
bronze  basin  and  ewer  are  brought  out  after  the  meal  by 
the  youngest  member  of  the  family,  that  he  may  pour 
water  over  the  hands  of  all  who  have  been  helping  them- 
selves out  of  the  common  dish. 

Such  was  the  home,  for  thirty  years,  of  the  Son  of  God, 
the  Saviour  of  the  world.  He  lived  amid  the  most  ordi- 
nary conditions.  He  would  not  seek  for  Himself  an  excep- 
tional lot,  but  one  which  most  closely  resembled  the  com- 
mon life  of  men,  of  whom  all  but  a  very  few  live  humble, 
unknown  lives,  and  earn  their  bread  by  the  labour  of  their 
hands.  There  was  nothing  squalid  or  repellent  in  such  a 
life,  but  it  served  as  the  most  forcible  of  proofs  that  the 

*  John  vii.  3-5. 

\  I  saw  Mr.  Hunt  when  he  was  living  at  Jerusalem,  and  he  drew  this  interior 
of  a  real  carpenter's  shop  at  Nazareth  to  illustrate  my  Life  of  Christ.  Since 
those  days  the  primitive  simplicity  of  Nazareth  is  said  to  have  partly  dis- 
appeared. 


THE    HOME    AT    NAZARETH.         109 

true  greatness  of  man  consists  in  the  immortal  nature 
which  God  has  bestowed  upon  him,  and  not  in  the  adjuncts 
by  which  he  is  surrounded.  Christ,  by  the  years  of  His 
earthly  obscurity,  meant  to  teach  us  that  God  judges  not 
as  man  judges,  but  that  the  sole  appreciable  greatness  of 
any  man,  be  he  emperor  or  peasant,  lies  in  the  fact  that 
God  breathed  into  his  nostrils  the  breath  of  life — that  God 
made  him  a  little  lower  than  the  angels,  to  crown  him  with 
glory  and  honour. 


CHAPTER   XL 

THE   P'AMILY  AT  NAZARETH,. 

"  Home  is  Heaven  for  beginners  ;  tlie  place  of  peace  ;  the  shelter  not 
only  from  all  injury  but  from  all  terror,  doubt,  and  division." 

In  the  humble  abode  of  the  carpenter,  Jesus  learnt  the 
strength  and  tenderness  of  human  affection  which  breathes 
through  all  His  utterances.  Joseph  and  Mary  were  so  poor 
that  the  Virgin  could  only  offer  at  her  purification  the  pair 
of  turtle  doves  which  none  but  the  humblest  mothers  were 
permitted  by  the  Law  to  present  in  the  place  of  lambs. 
The  fact  that  she  was  a  descendant  of  David — which  His 
enemies  never  denied,  and  which  is  even  admitted  by  the 
Talmud* — made  no  difference  in  the  lowliness  of  the  posi- 
tion of  the  Holy  Family.  The  great  Hillel  is  also  said  to 
have  been  of  David's  race,  yet  until  manhood  he  was  in  so 
humble  a  lot  as  barely  to  be  able  to  earn  his  daily  bread  by 
toiling  as  an  artisan.  There  is  many  an  obscure  working- 
man  in  England  at  this  moment  who  has  the  blood  of  the 
Plantagenets  in  his  veins.  A  few  centuries  entirely  obliter- 
ate any  dignity  which  may  be  derivable  from  a  royal 
origin.  In  Egypt  and  Arabia  we  constantly  see  common 
beggars  who  wear  the  green  turban  which  shows  them  to  be 
of  the  family  of  Mohammed.f 

♦See  Derenbourg,  Hist,  de  la  Palestine,  p.  349,  who  quotes  Sanhedrin  f.  43, 
I  (in  editions  not  expurgated).  The  late  Dr.  Schiller  Szinessy,  however,  called 
Derenbourg  an  am-ha-aretz  for  understanding  the  words  thus,  and  said  they 
only  meant  that  Jesus  was  "  influential  with  the  (Roman)  Government  "  ! 

f  St.  Peter,  very  soon  after  the  Crucifixion,  and  St.  Paul — Rabbi  and  San- 
hedrist  as  he  had  been — speak  of  Jesus  being  "  of  the  seed  of  David  according 
to  the  flesh,"  as  though  it  was  a  fact  which  could  not  be  challenged  (Acts  ii. 
29-31  ;  Rom.  i.  3 ;  2  Tim.  ii.  8.  Comp,  Heb.  vii.  14 ;  llegesippus  ap. 
Euseb.  ii,  8,  iii.  ii,  12,  19,  20). 

IIQ 


THE    FAMILY   AT    NAZARETH.       in 

Joseph,  according  to  tradition,  was  considerably  older 
than  the  Virgin  Mary,  and  as  he  is  not  once  mentioned  in 
the  Gospels  after  the  Passover  visit  to  Jerusalem,  and  as  no 
other  trace  of  him,  or  allusion  to  him,  has  been  preserved, 
except  in  the  Apocryphal  Gospel  which  goes  by  his  name, 
it  is  probable  th?.t  he  died  soon  after  Jesus  was  thirteen 
years  old.  The  rest  of  the  family  consisted  of  four  brothers, 
and  several  sisters.  They  seem  to  have  continued  to  live 
together,  with  Mary  and  with  Jesus.  The  names  of  these 
"  brethren  "  were  James,  and  Joses,  and  Judas,  and  Simon. 

What  was  their  exact  relationship  to  Jesus  ?  The  Hel- 
vidian  theory  takes  the  language  of  the  New  Testament  in 
its  natural  sense,  and  regards  them  as  full  brothers  ;  the  Epi- 
phanian  describes  them  as  elder  sons  of  Joseph  by  a  pre- 
vious or  a  Levirate  marriage;  the  Hieronymian — which  is 
the  weakest  and  most  foundationless — speaks  of  them  as 
the  cousins  of  Jesus.  From  the  unvarying  language  of  the 
Gospels  about  them,  we  might  naturally  infer  that  they 
were  sons  of  Mary  and  her  husband  Joseph,  born  after 
the  birth  of  Christ.*  The  belief  in  the  Aeiparthenia,  or 
perpetual  virginity  of  the  mother  of  Jesus,  was  an  after- 
thought, unknown  to  the  primitive  Christians.  It  does  not 
seem  to  have  been  turned  into  an  actual  dogma  before  the 
third  century ,f  and  even  then  there  were  some — called  the 
AntidicomarianitcB — who  followed  Helvidius  in  rejecting 
this  new  doctrine.     It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  one  of 

*See  Luke  ii.  7,  xxiv.  10;  John  ii.  12,  vii.  2-8,  xix.  25  ;  Mark  iii.  21,  31, 
XV.  40  ;  Matt,  xxvii.  56,  etc. 

f  Hegesippus  (circ.  A.  D.  160)  speaks  of  them  as  brethren  in  the  natural 
sense  ;  and  Tertullian  (A.  D.  220)  definitely  states  that  they  were  {c.  Marc.  iv. 
19;  De  Cam.  Christi  7;  De  Virg.  Vel.  61).  Origen,  indeed,  took  the  view 
that  they  were  sons  of  Joseph  by  a  former  wife,  but  could  only  quote  in  favour 
of  this  view  two  heretical  and  apocryphal  Gospels.  For  fuller  information,  see 
Bishop  Lightfoot's  Essay  on  the  Brethren  of  the  Lord  in  his  Commentary  on 
the  Galatians  ;  and  Dr.  J.  B.  Mayor  in  his  Commentary  on  St.  James  ;  and  in 
Hastings'  Diet,  of  the  Bible,  i.  320.  I  may  also  refer  to  ch.  xix.  of  my  Earlff 
Days  of  Christianity. 


112  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

the  views  most  universally  current  among  the  Jews  was  the 
inherent  duty  and  sanctity  of  marriage.  To  the  earliest 
Christians  it  would  have  seemed  no  derogation  whatever 
from  the  holy  dignity  of  the  Virgin,  but  rather  the  reverse, 
if  she  had  added  the  sacredness  of  ordinary  motherhood  to 
the  blessing  of  one  who  had  been  so  highly  favoured  by  the 
Lord. 

If,  however,  these  four  "  brethren  of  Jesus  "  were  not  the 
sons  of  His  mother,  they  can  only  have  been  (i.)  either  His 
cousins,  or  (ii.)  the  sons  of  Joseph  by  a  previous  or  a 
Levirate  marriage. 

The  notion  that  they  were  the  cousins  of  our  Lord — sug- 
gested by  St.  Jerome  only  as  a  desperate  expedient  of  argu- 
ment in  which  he  himself  hardly  believed  * — turns  on  the 
supposition  that  Mary,  the  wife  of  Cleopas  (Alphaeus),  was 
a  sister  of  the  Virgin,  and  that  these  were  her  four  sons. 

That  this  Mary  was  a  sister  of  the  Virgin  is  on  other 
grounds  probable.  The  fact  that  two  sisters  should  have 
borne  the  same  name  is  by  no  means  unprecedented,  and  it 
could  not  have  been  a  very  uncommon  circumstance  in  days 
when  distinctive  names,  especially  of  women,  were  extremely 
few  in  number.  But  it  is  fatal  to  this  hypothesis  (a)  that 
no  one  ever  seems  to  have  heard  of  it  before  Jerome 
invented  it ;  and  {d)  that,  (f  they  were  Christ's  cousins, 
there  is  no  conceivable  reason  why  the  word  "cousin" 
(aviipio?),  or  "  kinsman  "  {(jvyyevTj?)^  should  not  have  been 
used  of  them,f  nor  why,  without  a  single  variation,  they 
should  have  been  called  "  brethren  ";  and  (c)  that  two,  per- 
haps four,  of  the  sons  of  Mary  and  Alphaeus  were  Apostles 
of  Christ,  so  that  it  could  not  have  been  said,  "  neither  did 

*  He  first  made  the  suggestion,  without  pretending  to  quote  the  least 
authority  for  it,  about  A.  D.  3S3  ;  but  in  later  works  {E/>.  ad  Hedibiain),  and  in 
his  Commentary  on  the  Galatians,  he  holds  very  loosely  to  this  view,  and  his 
arguments,  such  as  they  are,  are  beneath  notice. 

•f-  The  word  aveipco^  occurs  in  Col.  iv.  10  ;  and  of  Symeon,  son  of  Clopas,  by 
liegesippus,  ap  Euseb.  //,  £,  iv.  22,  For  avyyevr/g,  see  Luke  i.  36,  ii.  44 ; 
John  xviii.  26,  etc, 


THE    FAMILY   AT    NAZARETH.       113 

His  brethren  believe  on  Him."  On  the  other  hand,  if  they 
were  sons  of  Joseph  by  a  Levirate  marriage,  they  would  not 
have  been  officially  regarded  as  his  sons,  but  rather  as  sons 
of  his  deceased  brother.  And  if  they  were  sons  of  Joseph 
by  a  previous  marriage,*  they,  and  not  Jesus,  were  the 
elder  heirs  of  David's  line. 

In  calling  them  Christ's  "brethren"  we  adopt  the  lan- 
guage of  the  Evangelists,  and  there  is  no  evidence  to  justify 
us  in  explaining  it  away  out  of  deference  to  later  fancies, 
which  seem  to  be  purely  subjective,  and  derive  no  support 
of  any  kind  from  Scripture.  If  the  "  Perpetual  Virginity  " 
had  been  regarded  as  a  doctrine  of  any  importance  the 
Evangelists  would  have  guarded  themselves  against  lan- 
guage so  liable  to  misinterpretation  as  Matt.  i.  24,  Luke 
ii.  7. 

Of  these  brethren,  the  two  of  most  marked  individuality — 
the  only  two  of  whom  any  record  survives — are  James  "the 
Lord's  brother,"  and  Jude  the  "  brother  of  James,"  to  each 
of  whom  we  owe  one  of  the  Epistles  of  the  New  Testament. 

St.  James  was  a  man  of  most  powerful  and  independent 
personality — pure  and  holy,  yet  with  a  certain  natural 
sternness  of  character.  If  the  traditions  preserved  by 
Hegesippus  be  true,  he  had  been  a  Nazarite  from  his  birth, 
and  the  long  locks  of  the  Nazarite  flowed  over  his  shoul- 
ders. It  is  manifest  from  his  Epistle  that  he  was  a  devoted 
Jew.  He  addresses"  the  sojourners  of  the  Dispersion  ";  he 
speaks  of  the  Christian  assembly  as  "  a  synagogue ";  his 
mind  was  evidently  steeped  in  Jewish  literature,  both 
Scriptural  and  Apocryphal.  There  is  a  tone  of  severity  in 
his  moral  appeals  and  objurgations  which  recalls  John  the 

*  This  was  the  view  of  Epiphanius  (A.  D.  370).  Pearson  and  others  have 
quoted  Ezek.  xliv.  2  in  this  connection,  but  nothing  is  more  deplorable  that 
this  "ever-widening  spiral  ergo  from  the  narrow  aperture  of  single  texts." 
If  we  are  to  quote  the  Old  Testament  in  this  matter,  Ps.  Ixix.  8  would  be  much 
more  apposite.  This  Psalm,  treated  as  Messianic  by  St.  John  (ii.  17),  and  St. 
Luke  (ii.  35),  and  St.  Matthew  (xxvii.  34),  says:  "  I  have  become  a  stranger  to 
my  brethren  ;  and  an  alien  unto  my  mother's  children."     See  Mayor  /.  c. 


114  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

Baptist.  His  Epistle  is  the  least  directly  Christological  in 
the  New  Testament,  yet  Luther  made  an  utter  mistake 
when  he  ventured  to  speak  of  it  as  a  "  downright  strawy 
Epistle."  One  passage  in  it  especially  has  the  profoundest 
Gospel  significance.  It  is  the  one  in  which  he  says,  "  Put- 
ting  away  all  filthincss  and  overflowing  of  wickedness, 
receive  with  meekness  the  Implanted  Word  which  is  able 
to  save  your  souls."  * 

Still  the  Epistle  shows  us  one  who,  while  he  believed 
in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  had  not  broken  loose  from  the 
traditions  of  Judaism.  In  this  respect  he  carried  out  the 
early  custom  of  St.  Peter  and  St.  John,  who,  being  Jews, 
after  the  Resurrection  and  after  Pentecost  still  attended 
the  Temple  services.  Indeed,  it  is  clear,  if  we  accept  the 
story  of  Hegesippus,  that  St.  James  stood  very  high  in  the 
estimation  of  the  Jews,  who  even  called  him  Obliam,  or 
"  TJie  Buhvark  of  the  People  "  {OpJiel  am).  Yet  so  absolute 
was  his  fidelity  to  Christ,  that,  in  His  name  and  for  His  sake, 
he  braved  a  martyr's  death  (a.  D.  62.  )  f 

Of  St.  Jude,  who  modestly  calls  himself  "  the  brother 
of  James,"  we  know  much  less.  Tradition  has  preserved 
no  particulars  respecting  him,  except  that  he  was  the  grand- 
father of  those  descendants  of  David  who  were  known  as 
"  the  Desposyni."  We  have,  however,  St.  Jude's  Epistle  by 
which  to  form  some  estimate  of  his  character.  We  find  in 
it  the  same  qualities  of  moral  sternness  as  in  that  of  his 
brother;  and  besides  the  evident  traces  of  a  strict  Judaic 

*  James  i.  2i. 

f  See,  on  the  death  of  St.  James,  Jos.  Antt.  xx.  9,  I  ;  Orig.  c.  Cels.  i.  47  ; 
Euseb.  H.  E.  ii.  i,  vii.  19.  The  well-known  tradition  of  his  martyrdom  is 
given  at  length  by  Hegesippus  (a.  d.  160),  quoted  by  Euseb.  H.  E.  ii.  23.  The 
story  may  come  from  an  Ebionite  book  called  'Avajiai^nol  'laKu/Sov,  of  which 
there  are  traces  in  the  Clementine  Recognitions.  The  simpler  story  is  given  by 
Josephus  (/^«//.  XX.  9).  Comp.  Orig.  c.  Cels.  i.47;  Euseb.  //.  E.  vii.  19.  There 
is  an  interesting  allusion  to  St.  James  in  the  spurious  letter  of  Ignatius  to  St. 
John.  "  The  venerable  James,  who  is  surnamed  Just,  whom  they  relate  to  be 
very  like  Christ  in  appearance,  in  life,  and  in  method  of  conduct,  as  if  he  were 
a  twin  brother  of  the  same  womb." 


THE    FAMILY   AT    NAZARETH.       115 

training,  it  contains  uncommon  allusions  to  Levitic  institu- 
tions,* and  the  apocryphal  legends  of  the  Jewish  Haggadah.\ 
Some  of  these  are  softened  down  in  the  rifacimento  of  the 
Epistle  which  we  find  in  the  second  chapter  of  the  Second 
Epistle  of  St.  Peter. 

It  is  clear,  then,  that  the  family  of  Joseph  was  trained 
in  the  strictest  traditions  of  Mosaism,  and  it  is  one  of  the 
numberless  proofs  of  the  Divine  individuality  of  the  Son  of 
Man  that  He  was  not  swayed  by  such  near  and  powerful 
representatives  of  the  Old  Dispensation.  There  is  not  a 
whisper  or  a  trace  of  any  disagreement  or  disunion  within 
the  narrow  limits  of  that  humble  home  at  Nazareth.  But 
the  testimony  of  the  Evangelists  shows  that  when  our 
Lord  began  His  mission,  when  he  claimed  the  right  to 
speak  with  authority,  and  not  as  the  Scribes  ;  when  He  set 
aside  the  Oral  Law,  which  his  brethren  had  been  taught  to 
reverence  as  "  the  tradition  of  the  Elders  "  ;  when  He  openly 
broke  with  the  all-venerated  religious  teachers  of  His  day — 
His  brethren  were  startled  by  the  immensity  of  His  claims. 
They  even  seem  to  have  attributed  them  to  a  dangerous 
enthusiasm,  for — dreading,  perhaps,  lest  they  should  lead  to 
some  terrible  catastrophe — they  induced  His  mother  to  join 
them  in  the  endeavour  to  put  some  gentle  restraint  on  what 
they,  with  eyes  as  yet  unenlightened,  regarded  as  perilous 
impulses.;}; 

And  again,  on  a  later  occasion,  His  brethren  tried  to 
exercise  an  unwarrantable  influence  over  His  methods  and 
actions,  since  their  eyes  were  not  yet  opened  to  His  Divine 
authority.g  They  held  to  the  current  conceptions  of  the 
coming  Messiah,  and  urged  Him  to  go  openly  to  the  Feast 
of  Tabernacles,  and  show  His  works,  and  claim  his  due  posi- 

*  Jude8-23.  t  Jude6,  g,  14. 

X  MaU,  xii.  46  :  Mark  iii.  31,  k^karr]  \  Luke  viii.  19.  They  were  no  doubt 
deeply  troubled  by  the  fact  that  the  venerated  Scribes  said  that  He  "  had  a 
demon,"  and  cast  out  demons  by  Beelzebul.  Comp.  Mark  vi.  4  ;  John  vii.  20. 
Beelzebul  seems  to  be  the  best  attested  reading. 

§  John  vii.    3,  5,   lo,  14. 


ii6  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

tion.  He  was  compelled,  therefore,  to  set  aside  their 
intrusiveness.  He  would  not  go  to  the  Feast  with  them. 
He  would  not  follow  the  wisdom  or  the  ways  of  this  world. 
He  was  compelled  to  repudiate  their  officiousness,  and 
He  did  not  take  them  into  His  confidence.  He  went  up 
to  Jerusalem,  not  officially,  but  privately,  after  they  had 
departed,  and  did  not  appear  in  the  Temple  till  the  midst 
of  the  Feast. 

We  see,  however,  clearly  that  if  these  "  brethren  of  the 
Lord  "  were  men  of  somewhat  unbending  convictions,  they 
were  nevertheless  men  of  lofty  moral  character.  They  seem 
to  have  been  convinced  and  converted  by  the  Resurrection 
of  Christ ;  for  though,  during  His  ministry,  they  had  not 
fully  or  adequately  believed  on  Him,  immediately  after- 
wards we  find  them  among  his  leading  disciples.  His 
brother  James,  though  not  one  of  the  Twelve,  was  elected 
Bishop  of  Jerusalem  after  the  martyrdom  of  James  the  son 
of  Zebedee.  St.  Paul,  among  six  appearances  of  the  Risen 
Christ,  mentions  two  only  which  are  unrecorded  in  the 
Gospels.  One  of  these  is,  "  after  that  He  appeared  to 
James.''  *  This  has  often  been  supposed  to  be  the  appear- 
ance, not  to  the  son  of  Zebedee,  but  to  the  eldest  brother 
of  Jesus,  which  is  mentioned  in  the  Gospel  according  to  the 
Hebrews,  f  We  are  told  that,  after  the  Crucifixion,  \  James 
said  that  he  would  neither  eat  nor  drink  till  he  had  seen 
Christ  risen  from  the  dead  ;  and  that  Christ,  appearing  to 
him,  said,  "  Eat  and  drink,  my  brother,  for  the  Son  of  Man 
is  risen  from  the  dead." 

The  descendants  of  Jude,  known  as  "members  of  the 
Lord's  family,"  are  mentioned  in  the  famous  story  of  the 

*  I  Cor.  XV.  7.  The  separate  appearance  to  Peter  is  not  described  in  the 
Gospels. 

f  Quoted  by  Jerome  De  Ver,  ill.  2. 

X  Or,  i  nanother  version,  "  from  the  hour  in  which  he  had  drunk  the  cup  of 
the  Lord."  See  Mayor,  Ep.  of  St.  James,  xxxvii.  n.  See  "  Gospel  ace.  to  the 
Hebrews,"  ap.  Jer.  De  Vir.  ill.  2. 


THE    FAMILY   AT    NAZARETH.       117 

Emperor  Domitian,  who  (A.  D.  81),  hearing  from  Josephus 
and  from  certain  Nazarean  heretics  that  some  of  the  family 
of  Christ  in  Palestine  claimed  royal  descent,  suspected  that 
they  might  become  possible  leaders  of  sedition,  and  sent  for 
them  to  come  to  Rome.  But  on  seeing  at  a  glance  that 
they  were  only  poor  peasants  whose  hands  were  rough  and 
hard  with  toil,  and  hearing  from  them  that  they  only  tilled 
seven  acres  of  land,  he  contemptuously  dismissed  them  to 
their  humble  Galilean  farms."* 

In  Christian  History  there  is  no  more  mysterious  figure 
than  that  of  THE  Mother  of  our  Lord.  In  that  car- 
penter's shop  at  Nazareth  what  was  her  influence  over  the 
early  years  of  her  Divine  Son  ? 

After  the  events  of  the  Nativity,  the  Virgin,  strange  to 
say,  almost  disappears,  not  only  from  the  New  Testament, 
but  even  from  all  the  records  of  the  Early  Church.  From 
the  incident  in  the  Temple  when  Jesus  had  completed  His 
early  boyhood,  and  from  the  fact  that  it  was  Mary,  not 
Joseph,  who  addressed  Him,  we  infer  that  her  share  in  the 
training  of  His  early  years  was  more  marked  than  was  usual 
in  the  case  of  Jewish  mothers.  We  see  again  in  the  record 
of  the  first  miracle  at  Cana  that  she  occupied  a  leading 
position.  There  is  no  possible  explanation  of  her  remark 
to  Christ,  "  TJiey  have  no  wine"  except  that  it  was  an 
indirect  suggestion  that  by  some  word  or  deed  of  power 
He  should  prevent  the  joy  of  the  wedding-feast  from  being 
destroyed  by  an  apparent  failure  of  the  sacred  duties  of 
hospitality.  His  answer,  "  Woman,  what  have  I  to  do  with 
thee  ?  mine  hour  is  not  yet  come,"  sounds  to  our  ears  far 
more  harsh  than  it  was.  It  set  aside  the  right  of  Mary  to 
direct  His  actions,  yet  was  an  implicit  granting  of  her 
request.     The   address,    "  Woman,"  f  in    accordance    with 

*  Hegesippus  ap.  Eusebius,  H.  E.  iii.  19-21.  Julius  Africanus  (early  in  the 
third  century)  says  that  he  knew  some  of  the  Desposyni  personally.  He  was 
born  at  Eniniaus.     Euseb.  H.  E.  i.  7. 

f  John  ii.  4,TikfioiKai  aoi  yvvai.     In    Aramaic  this  would  be  the  common 


ii8  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

ancient  idiom,  was  perfectly  tender  and  respectful,  and 
might  be  used  even  to  Queens.  *  The  "  what  have  I  to  do 
with  thee?"  spoken  in  tones  of  perfect  gentleness,  meant 
merely,  "  This  is  a  point  which  /  must  arrange,  not  thou." 
The  words  might  have  been  used  by  the  most  gentle  and 
affectionate  son  of  full  age,  to  his  mother.  The  direction 
immediately  given  by  Mary  to  the  servants  shows  that,  so 
far  from  feeling  any  sense  of  a  repulse,  she  anticipated  the 
granting  of  her  petition,  which  followed,  without  delay. 

The  Virgin  is  prominently  mentioned  in  the  Gospels  in  but 
one  other  incident.  It  was  on  the  occasion  when  she  came 
with  the  Lord's  brethren  to  prevent,  if  possible,  what  they 
regarded  as  the  continuance  of  a  deeply  imperilled  career. 
Not  only  did  Jesus  decline  to  see  them,  but  He  uttered  a 
remark  which  seemed  most  decisively  to  show  that  the  time 
had  now  come  when  His  work  as  the  Son  of  God  tran- 
scended all  the  earthly  conditions  of  the  Son  of  Man. 
Looking  round  on  His  assembled  hearers  at  Capernaum, 
He  exclaimed,  "Who  is  My  mother,  and  who  are  My 
brethren  ?"  And  stretching  forth  His  hand  towards  His 
disciples,  He  said,  "  Behold  My  mother  and  My  brethren  ! 
For  whosoever  shall  do  the  will  of  Mj''  Father  who  is  in 
heaven,  he  is  My  brother,  and  sister,  and  mother."  f 

Another  incident  tends  still  more  strongly  to  emphasise 
our  conviction  that  any  form  of  what  has  been  called 
"  Mariolatry  "  is  entirely  alien  from  the  teaching  of  the 
pure  Gospel  of  Christ.  Our  Lord  had  been  teaching  in  one 
of  the  synagogues,  when  a  woman  in  the  assembly,  carried 
away  by  the  intensity  of  her  feelings,  cried  out  in  the  hear- 
ing of  all,  "  Blessed  is  the  womb  that  bare  Thee,  and  the 
breasts   which  Thou    hast    sucked."  :]:       But   though    that 

phrase,  Mali  If  veldh,  which  is  perfectly  courteous.  See  2  Sam.  xvi.  lo,  xix. 
22  ;   I  Kings  xvii.  i8  ;  2  Kings  iii.  13,  etc. 

*  See  John  iv.  21,  xix.  26,  xx.  13,  15.  Thus  Augustus  addressed  Cleopatra 
in  the  words  Oaprrn  yi'vai  (Dio.  Cass.  ii.  p.  305). 

\  MaU.  xii.  46-50  ;    Mark  iii.  31-35.  %  Luke  xi.  27. 


THE    FAMILY   AT    NAZARETH.       119 

might  have  seemed  to  be  the  most  natural  of  sentiments, 
yet  our  Lord  corrects  its  too  material  and  human  point  of 
view.  He  systematically  discouraged  the  exaltation  of 
mere  outward  contact  with  His  person,  and  taught  that  the 
presence  of  His  Spirit  was  something  nearer  and  more  to  be 
desired  than  any  relationship  with  Him  after  the  flesh  (John 
xiv.  16,  2  Cor.  V.  16).  "  How  many  women  have  blessed  the 
Holy  Virgin,"  says  St.  Chrysostom,  "  and  desired  to  be  such 
a  mother  as  she  was  !  What  hinders  them  ?  Christ  has  made 
for  us  a  wide  way  to  this  happiness,  and  not  only  women  but 
men  may  tread  it — the  way  of  obedience.  This  it  is  which 
makes  such  a  mother,  and  not  the  throes  of  parturition." 

The  last  time  during  His  life  on  earth  that  the  Virgin  is 
mentioned  is  in  the  intensely  pathetic  incident  when  Jesus, 
as  He  hung  upon  His  Cross  of  Shame,  saw  His  mother 
standingby,  and  the  disciple  whom  He  loved.  Thoughtful, 
even  at  that  supreme  moment,  for  her  desolate  future.  He 
said,  indicating  by  a  movement  of  His  head  the  Beloved 
Disciple,  "  Woman,  behold  thy  son  !  "  and  to  John,  "  Behold 
thy  mother  !  "  She  had  now  drunk  to  the  very  dregs  the 
cup  of  anguish.  John  led  her  away,  and  from  that  hour 
took  her  to  his  own  home.  In  the  surmises  of  which  the 
Lives  of  Christ  are  full,  this  incident  has  been  much  dis- 
cussed. I  think  the  answer  to  any  difificulty  lies  in  some 
obvious  considerations.  St.  John  was  "the  disciple  whom 
Jesus  loved,"  and  was  His  kinsman.  Having  been  admitted 
into  Christ's  closest  and  most  tender  friendship,  he  would 
be  more  likely  to  enter  into  the  unspeakable  depth  of  Mary's 
feelings  than  the  "  brethren  "  who,  up  to  that  time,  had 
never  fully  accepted  His  Divine  claims.  Then  again  there 
are  indications  that  St.  John  was  in  a  somewhat  less  strug- 
gling worldly  position  than  the  sons  of  Joseph  the  car- 
penter. Unlike  "  the  brethren  of  the  Lord,"  he  was  un- 
married. He  was  familiar  with  Jerusalem,  and  probably 
had  a  home  there,  in  which,  according  to  one  tradition,  the 
Virgin  lived  from  that  time  until  her  death. 


120  THE    LIFE   OF    LIVES. 

From  this  moment  the  Virgin  Mary,  though  her  name 
is  just  mentioned  among  those  who  formed  the  assemblies 
of  the  early  believers,  practically  disappears  from  Christian 
History.*  Even  apocryphal  tradition  scarcely  so  much  as 
mentions  her.  It  is  not  known  how  long  she  lived.  It  is 
not  certain  whether  she  died  at  Jerusalem  or  at  Ephcsus. 
She  is  not  referred  to  as  a  source  of  information,  still  less 
as  a  fount  of  authority,  though  she  could  have  told  more 
than  any  living  being  about  the  birth  of  the  Saviour,  and  the 
thirty  long  years  of  His  humble  obscurity.  She  "kept  all 
these  and  pondered  them  in  her  heart."  But  though 
she  must  ever  be  cherished  in  Christian  reverence  as  the 
chosen  handmaid  of  the  Lord,  and  "  blessed  among  women," 
it  is  impossible  not  to  see  in  these  indisputable  facts  the 
strongest  possible  condemnation  of  that  utterly  unauthor- 
ised worship  of  the  Virgin,  which  centuries  afterwards, 
began  to  corrupt  the  turbid  stream  of  Christianity.  As 
though  by  a  Divine  prevision  of  the  dangerous  aberrations 
which  were  to  come,  in  which  Christians  by  millions  were 
taught  to  adore  the  creature  even  more  than  the  Creator, 
who  is  blessed  for  evermore,  the  name  Mary  is  scarcely 
noticed  in  the  whole  New  Testament  after  the  beginning  of 
Christ's  ministry,  and  indeed  after  the  one  incident  of  His 
boyhood.  In  tJirce  of  the  instances  in  which  it  is  introduced, 
our  Lord  says,  "Woman,  what  have  I  to  do  with  thee?"; 
"  He  that  doeth  the  will  of  God  the  same  is  my  mother, 
and  my  sister,  and  my  brother  "  ;  and,  "  Yea  rather,  blessed 
are  they  that  do  the  word  of  God  and  keep  it."  It  might, 
therefore,  seem  as  if  special  care  had  been  taken  to  dis- 
courage and  obviate  the  corrupted  forms  of  Christianity 

*  Epiphanius  (//(7^r.  Ixxviii.  ii)kncw  nothing  on  the  subject.  Nicephonis 
(//.  E.  ii.  3)  is  no  authority,  for  he  lived  in  the  middle  of  the  fourteenth  cen- 
tury. He  says  that  she  died  at  Jerusalem,  aged  59,  eleven  years  after  the  Cru- 
cifixion. There  was  a  tradition,  mentioned  in  a  letter  of  tlie  Council  of  Ephe- 
sus  (a.  n.  431),  that  she  went  with  St.  John  to  Ephesus  and  was  buried  there. 
(See  Weslcott  on  John  xix.  2,  4.)  A  supposed  "  Tomb  of  the  Virgin  "  is 
shown  at  Jerusalem,  near  the  traditional  Gethsemane. 


THE    FAMILY   AT    NAZARETH.       121 

which  have  thrust  the  Virgin  Mary  into  the  place  of  her 
Eternal  Son,  and  made  lier  more  an  object  of  rapturous 
worship  than  God,  to  whom  alone  all  worship  is  due. 


Here  we  may  perhaps  revert  for  a  moment  to  the  ques- 
tion on  which  I  have  already  spoken  elsewhere,  as  to  the 
human  aspect  of  the  Lord  of  Life.  The  early  Christians 
—  looking  almost  daily  for  the  visible  return  of  Christ  in 
glory,  and  habitually  regarding  Him,  no  longer  as  "the 
Man  Christ  Jesus,"  who  for  a  few  short  years  moved  about 
upon  this  earth,  but  rather  as  the  Divine,  the  Eternal,  the 
ever-present  God — have  preserved  for  us  no  outline  of  a 
picture,  not  even  so  much  as  a  passing  tradition,  of  His  ap- 
pearance as  a  man  among  men.*  The  early  Christians — 
feeling  that  He  was  with  them,  and  within  them,  and  that 
He  was  "  God  of  God,  Lord  of  Lords,  very  God  of  very 
God  " — cared  nothing  for  relics,  or  holy  places,  or  semblances 
of  His  mortal  face.  Hence,  as  far  back  as  the  second  century, 
nothing  whatever  was  knoiv7i  which  could  even  decide  the 
question  whether  He  was  tall  and  stately  and  humanly 
beautiful,  or  whether  He  was  the  very  reverse.  Ancient 
writers  could  only  fall  back  on  the  language  of  Prophecy. 
Among  the  Greek  Fathers  and  the  earlier  Latin  writers  the 
tendency  was  to  borrow  the  conception  of  His  earthly 
aspect  from  the  prophecies  of  Isaiah  (lii.  14,  liii.  23),  and 
to  speak  of  Him  as  "  without  form  or  comeliness,"  inglori- 
ous, nay,  even  mean  in  appearance,  "  short,  ignoble,  ill- 
favoured  in  body."  \  But  later  on  it  began  to  be  felt  that 
such  notions  were  utterly  untenable.  We  may  safely  infer 
from  the  Gospels  themselves  that  there  must  have  been 
some  grandeur  about  the  appearance  of  Jesus — "  Sidereiim 

*  For  full  further  information  on  these  questions  see  my  Life  of  Christ  in 
Art.     See,  too,  Ullmann,  p.  igi  ;  Schiirer,  II.  ii,  i6i. 

t  See  the  well-known  passages :  Just.  Mart.  Dial.  14,  36,  85,  88  ;  Clem, 
Alex.  Paed.  iii.  1,3;  and  others  quoted  on  next  page. 


122  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

qniddam,''  as  St.  Jerome  says — which  on  many  occasions 
won  His  friends  and  overawed  His  enemies.*  No  one  who 
had  lived  a  life  of  sinless  innocence  and  the  supremest 
moral  nobleness  could  be  otherwise  than  "  fairer  than  the 
children  of  men  "  (Ps.  xlv.  3).  This  was  the  view  of  Jerome 
and  Augustine,  and  it  became  established  in  the  Church  of 
the  West,  though  Byzantine  art  continued  to  depict  Ilim 
in  traditional  ugliness. 

The  two  late  descriptions  of  Jesus — that  by  the  pseudo 
Publius  Lentulus,  preserved  by  John  of  Damascus  in  the 
eighth,  and  that  by  Nicephorus  in  the  fourteenth  century — 
are  very  beautiful,  but  purely  ideal.  All  that  we  may  be 
sure  of  is  that  if  "  beauty  "  be  "  the  sacrament  of  goodness," 
the  Sinless  Purity  of  the  Son  of  Man  could  not  but  have 
created  for  itself  a  noble  Presence,  and  a  Countenance  full 
of  all  human  sweetness  and  all  Divine  dignity.  It  is  certain 
that  pretended  likeness  of  Christ  originated  among  heretics 
like  the  Carpocratians  (Iren.  i.  25),  and  we  must  still  say 
generally  with  St.  Augustine,  "  Qua  fiierit  Ille  facie, 
penitiis  ignoranmsy  f  It  must  be  remembered  that  St. 
Augustine  gave  this  decisive  judgment  when  hundreds  of 
pretended  likenesses  were  in  existence,  all  of  which,  he 
says,  differed  most  widely  from  each  other. 


And  now  the  greater  part  of  Christ's  human  life  had 
passed.  The  long  thirty  years  were  over.  As  yet  He  had 
wrought  no  miracle,  had  given  no  sign,  had  uttered  no 
revelation  of  the  Divine  claims  which  were  part  of  the 
teaching  destined  to  revolutionise  the  world.     He  had  lived 

*  See,  for  instances,  Matt.  vii.  28,  xiii.  54,  xix.  25  ;  Mark  ix.  15  ;  Luke  ii. 
47,  etc. 

f  Jer.  Ep.  Ixv.  in  Matt.  ix.  9 ;  Aug.  De  Trin.  viii.  4,  5.  See  Gieseler,  i.  66  ; 
W.  H.  Lecky,  Hist,  of  Rationalism,  i.  257  ;  Kugler, //?>/.  of  Art,  i.  15,  16.  The 
chief  authorities  are  Clem.  Alex.  Paedai^.  iii.  i,  Strom,  ii.  p.  308  ;  Tert.  De 
Came  Christi,  9.  c.  Jud.  14;  Orig.  c.  Cels.  vi.  327  ;  Euseb.  H.  E.  vii.  15. 


THE    FAMILY   AT    NAZARETH.       123 

unknown  and  unnoticed,  in  the  small  Galilean  town,  as  an 
ordinary  and  humble  mechanic,  not  challenging  any  place 
among  its  provincial  aristocracy,  not  interfering  even  with 
the  extremely  modest  prerogatives  of  the  officials  in  its 
synagogue.     He  had  fulfilled  the  prophecy  of  Isaiah  : 

"  He  shall  not  strive,  nor  cry  aloud; 
Neither  shall  any  one  hear  His  voice  in  the  streets. 
A  bruised  reed  shall  He  not  break, 
And  smoking  flax  shall  He  not  quench. 
Till  He  send  forth  judgment  unto  victory." 

We  may  here  sum  up  the  deep  lessons  involved  in  these 
long  years  of  obscure  and  silent  labour.  They  involve  in 
the  most  striking  of  all  possible  forms  a  testimony  to  the 
value  and  sacredness  of  the  ordinary  life  of  man.  They 
were  destined  to  furnish  the  most  vivid  possible  proof  that 
the  life  is  more  than  the  food,  and  the  body  than  the 
raiment ;  that  God  created  man  for  incorruption,  and  made 
him  an  image  of  His  own  everlastingness  ;  that  to  receive 
Him  into  the  soul  is  perfect  righteousness,  and  to  know 
His  dominion  is  the  root  of  immortality.  The  lot  of  all  but 
the  very  few  in  every  million  of  human  beings  is  the  lot  of 
struggle  and  obscurity.     The  Psalmist  sang,  ages  ago,  that 

"  As  for  man,  his  days  are  as  grass, 
As  a  flower  of  the  field,  so  he  flourisheth. 
For  the  wind  passeth  over  it  and  it  is  gone, 
And  the  place  thereof  shall  know  it  no  more." 

Christ  came  to  live,  in  all  external  respects,  the  commonest 
life  of  man,  that  the  multitude  might  not  regard  their 
lives  as  mere  stubble  of  the  field,  and  themselves  as  things 
of  no  account  with  God,  because  they  constitute  but 

"  Of  men,  the  common  rout 
That,  wandering  loose  about. 
Grow  up  and  perish,  as  the  summer  fly  ; 
Heads  without  name,  no  more  remembered." 


124  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

For  the  life  which  they  live,  in  its  namelessness  and  little 
apparent  value  to  mankind,  was  the  very  life  lived  by  the 
Son  of  God  Himself,  the  Lord  of  Glory,  for  all  but  the 
brief  years  of  His  ministry.  It  sufficed  Him,  and  He 
thereby  taught  us  how  infinite  is  the  inherent  preciousness 
of  life  itself,  apart  from  those  concomitants  of  pride,  suc- 
cess, and  riches,  which  to  many  men  seem  alone  to  make  it 
worth  living.  Tried  by  the  world's  standard,  our  existence 
may  seem  deplorably  insignificant  ;  but  what  is  taught  us 
by  the  thirty  years  passed  in  the  shop  of  the  Nazarene  car- 
penter by  "  the  Lord  of  Time  and  all  the  worlds,"  is  that 
each  man  has  a  right  to  say  with  humble  faith : 

"  All  I  could  never  be, 
All  men  ignored  in  me, 
This  was  I  worth  to  God,  whose  wheel  the  pitcher  shaped."  * 

And  in  all  the  early  years  of  His  life,  with  their  experi- 
ences and  meditations,  Jesus  looked  far  more  on  what  is 
good  in  human  nature  than  on  what  is  evil.  He  became 
filled  more  and  more  with  a  boundless  compassion  for  man, 
springing  from  absolute  love  for  God.  "  Here,"  says  Keim, 
"  we  are  made  aware  in  Him  of  an  ascending  effort  to  get 
beyond  the  boundaries  of  the  natural,  beyond  the  limita- 
tions of  human  nature  ; — a  renunciation  of  the  whole  world, 
a  feeling  of  the  nothingness  of  riches,  and  of  the  utter 
helplessness  of  all  human  existence  which  lives  but  from 
the  alms,  and  crumbs,  of  the  Eternal :  but  yet,  instead  of 
the  leap  of  self-annihilation,  the  plunging  of  man's  nothing- 
ness into  God's  Eternity — a  profound  repose  of  the  creature 
in  itself ;  an  inward  contemplation  of  inward  riches  along 
with  outward  neediness ;  a  joyful  recognition  of  the  bright 
light  and  everlasting  worth  of  a  human  soul ;  a  self-confir- 
mation in  the  right  to  endless  existence  ;  and  belief  in  the 
personal  elevation  and  dignity  of  mankind  at  large,  in  such 
strength  of  conviction   as  had  never  been  before,  and  as 

*  Browning,  Rabbi  Ben  Ezra, 


THE    FAMILY   AT    NAZARETH.       125 

became  henceforth  tlie  motive-power  of  all  the  future  life  of 
humanity.  "  *  Even  the  most  abject  and  wretched  were,  in 
Christ's  apprehension,  still  sons  and  daughters  of  Abraham, 
still  children  of  the  Heavenly  Father,  of  the  true  and  ever- 
lasting God. 

It  was  Christ's  intense  realisation  of  God's  infinitude  of 
love  which  raised  Him  into  the  all-embracing  love  of  Man. 
It  was  His  sense  of  the  infinite  grandeur  of  the  Divine  Per- 
fection which  made  Him  insist  on  the  nature  of  true 
worship  as  consisting  in  a  communion  of  the  soul  with  God. 
The  self-deceiving  littlenesses  of  a  theatrical  externalism 
hinder  rather  than  promote  the  depth  of  that  communion 
of  man  with  God  which  uplifts  our  souls  at  last  into  that 
mystery  wherein  God  in  man  is  one  with  man  in  God. 

*Keim,  ii.  170.     See  Matt.  vii.  9-11. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

THE   CONDITION   OF   THE   WORLD. 

"  In  whatsoever  I  may  find  you,  in  tills  will  I  also  judge  you." — Un- 
written Saying  of  Ciirist.     Clem.  Hovi.  ii.  5.     JusT.  Mart.  Dial.  47. 

"  Divina  Providentia  agitur  mundus  et  homo." — Orosius. 

"  No  incident  in  the  Gospel  story,  no  word  in  the  teaching  of  Jesus 
Christ,  is  intelligible  apart  from  its  setting  in  Jewish  History,  and  with- 
out a  clear  understanding  of  that  world  of  thought  distinctive  of  the 
Jewish  People." — SCHURER,  Hist,  of  the  Jewish  People,  Div.  i,  Vol.  i, 
p.  I. 

But  the  time  had  now  come,  when,  in  fulfilment  of  the 
mission  which  was  to  regenerate  mankind  and  to  inaugu- 
rate the  last  ason  of  the  Divine  Dispensation,  Christ  had  to 
reveal  Himself  to  the  world.  Nazareth,  secluded  as  it  was, 
was  in  a  central  position  for  observing  the  movements  and 
tendencies  of  the  age.  The  Galileans- — an  eager  and  emo- 
tional race — were  in  constant  contact  with  Jerusalem  and 
Samaria,  and  their  hearts  thrilled  to  the  religious  questions 
of  the  day.  They  were  within  a  short  distance  from 
Decapolis,  and  the  heathen  or  seini-heathen  cities  of  Sep- 
phoris.  Hippos,  Bethsaida  Julias,  and  Tiberias.  Not  far 
from  them,  in  the  plain  of  Esdraelon,  was  an  encampment 
of  Roman  soldiers,  which  still  retains  the  name  of  "  Legion  " 
(Lejjun).  They  were  under  the  dominance  of  the  meanest 
of  the  Herods,  and  were  well  aware  that  their  political 
existence  was  ultimately  dependent  on  the  will  of  those 
whom  Herod  the  Great  had  called  "  the  almighty  Romans" 
and  their  deified  Emperors.  From  the  hill-top  of  Nazareth 
was  visible  the  blue  Mediterranean  traversed  by  "  the  ships  of 
Chittim  " — the  narrow  and  open  pathway  to  the  Greek  and 
Asiatic  world  and  the  Isles  of  the  Gentiles.     And  though 

126 


CONDITION    OF   THE    WORLD.       127 

there  is  no  proof  that  Nazareth  itself  was  in  any  sense  a 
centre  of  commercial  activity,  it  was  within  easy  access  of 
the  roads  from  Damascus  to  the  sea,  the  great  Southern 
road  which  led  ultimately  to  Egypt,  and  the  Eastern  road 
which  led  from  Acre  to  Bethlehem.*  In  the  festal  visits 
to  Jerusalem  Jesus  must  have  mingled  among  crowds  in 
which  there  were  "  Parthians,  and  Medes,  and  Elamites, 
and  dwellers  in  Mesopotamia,  in  Judaea  and  Cappadocia,  in 
Pontus  and  Asia,  in  Phrygia  and  Pamphylia,  in  Egypt  and 
the  parts  of  Libya  about  Cyrene,  Alexandrians  and  Cilicians, 
and  sojourners  from  Rome,  both  Jews  and  Proselytes, 
Cretans  and  Arabians."  A  Passover  crowd  in  the  Temple 
Courts  was  an  epitome  of  the  civilised  world. 

Jesus  must,  therefore,  have  often  meditated  on  the  general 
conditions  of  the  life  of  His  day,  both  among  the  Jews  and 
among  the  Gentiles.  And  the  epoch  was  a  deplorable  one. 
The  darkness  was  deepest  before  the  approach  of  dawn. 

I.    THE   GENTILES. 

As  regards  the  Gentile  world,  no  epoch  could  have  been 
worse,  no  period  more  deeply  plunged  into  the  Dead  Sea 
of  corruption,  or  more  despairingly  conscious  of  its  own 
moral  degradation.  The  mimes  of  Paganism  reeked  with 
moral  corruption,  and  the  sanguinary  amphitheatres  were 
schools  of  callous  cruelty.f  Infanticide  was  so  universal 
that  a  senator  challenged  the  members  of  a  full  Senate  to 
say  whether  nearly  every  one  of  them  had  not  exposed 
infant  children  to  die.  Their  very  religion  was  corrupt  at 
the  fountain-head.  The  pictures  in  the  Temples,  and  the 
representations  of  stories  of  their  religious  mythology,  were 
potent   sources   of   corruption,  such    as   even    light    poets 

*  See  G.  A.  Smith,  Hist.  Geogr.  of  the  Holy  Land,  413-463. 

f  Juv.  Sat.  vi.  67  ;  Mart.  De  Spectac.  7  ;  Sen.  Ep.  7  ;  Tert.  Apol.  15  ;  ad 
Nat.  i.  II.  See  Zosimus,  Hist.  i.  6.  Offences  against  moral  purity  were 
regarded  even  by  philosophers  as  "  matters  of  indifference"  (ddmyopa). 


128  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

observed  and  bewailed  ;  *  and  the  dark  mysterious  recesses 
of  consecrated  shrines  were  scenes  of  gross  demoralisation.f 
The  old  Roman  virtues  had  been  quenched,  partly  in 
consequence  of  the  closer  contact  of  Rome  with  Greek 
immorality,  partly  because  the  dead  weight  of  military 
despotism,  as  represented  by  the  Emperors,  had  crushed 
out  the  old  freedom  and  nobleness.  A  highborn  Roman 
historian,  Cremutius  Cordus,  was  driven  to  suicide  in  the 
days  of  Tiberius  for  speaking  of  Cassius  as  "  the  last  of  the 
RomansyX  The  age  was  under  no  illusion  as  to  its  own 
degeneracy,  and  it  was  pervaded  by  the  gloomiest  dread.  § 
The  lowest  of  the  mob  were  conscious  of  the  unsurpassable 
abominations  which  ran  riot  in  the  recesses  of  the  palace, 
and  were  envied  and  reproduced,  not  only  in  the  houses  of 
the  great  senators,  but  even  in  those  of  the  middle  class. 
How  could  any  nobleness  or  purity  survive  the  sway  of 
adored  and  deified  monsters  such  as  Tiberius,  Caligula, 
Nero,  Vitellius,  Otho,  and  Domitian  ?  Was  ever  a  more 
deplorable  picture  drawn  of  a  state  of  morals  rotten  to  its 
inmost  depths,  than  that  delineated  by  such  historians  as 
Tacitus  and  Suetonius?  The  picture  which  our  Lord  drew 
in  one  of  His  last  discourses,  of  wars  and  tumults,  of 
nations  in  perplexity  for  the  roaring  of  the  sea  and  the 
billows,  and  of  men  fainting  for  fear  and  expectation  of  the 
things  which  are  coming  on  the  world, ||  is  the  exact  parallel 
of  the  description  of  the  same  epoch  by  Tacitus  as  one 
"  rich  in  disasters,  savage  with  battles,  rent  with  factions, 
cruel  even  in  peace ;  the  swallowing  up  or  overthrow  of 
cities,  the  pollution  of  sacred  functions,  the  prevalence  of 
adulteries,  the  corruption  of  slaves  against  their  masters,  of 

*  Propert.  Eleg.  ii.  5,  19-26. 

•)•  Tert.  Apol.  15  ;  Minucius  Felix,  Octav,  25  ;  Ovid  Ars.  Amat.  i.  77,  iii. 
393  ;  Firmicus  De  err.  prof.  rel.  iv.  p.  64  ;  Rufinus,  H.  E.  xii.  24,  cited  by 
Dollinger,  Judenth.  u.  Heidenth.  p.  644. 

\  Tac.  Ann.  iv.  34. 

§See  Tac.  Ann.  vi.  28-51,  //.  i.  3. 

II  Matt.  xxiv.  3-14  ;  Luke  xxi.  10-28. 


CONDITION    OF   THE    WORLD.       129 

freedmen  against  their  patrons,  and,  when  there  was  no 
open  enemy,  the  ruin  of  friends  by  friends."'^  Could  aii}-- 
thing  be  more  debased  [[than  the  tone  of  vileness  unbkish- 
ingly  presented  by  Juvenal,  Martial,  and  Petronius  ? 
Already,  in  the  better  days  of  Augustus,  Horace  had  sung: 

"  Damnosa  quid  non  imminuit  dies  ? 
Aetas  paientum  pejor  avis  dabit 
Nos  nequiores,  mox  daturos 
Progeniem  vitiosiorem."  t 

Bad  as  his  age  was,  the  poet  thought  it  might  conceivably 
be  worse,  and  prophesied  for  future  generations  a  still 
more  irredeemable  decadence.  But  Juvenal,  in  the  days 
of  Nero,  with  no  conscious  reference  to  what  Horace  had 
said,  wrote  that  wickedness  had  now  reached  its  absolute 
culmination,  and  that  though  future  generations  might  be 
as  bad  as  his  was,  they  could  not  be  more  vile. 

"iV//erit  ullerius  quod  nostris  moribus  addat 
Posteritas  ;  eadem  cupient,  facientque  minores 
Omne  in  praecipiti  vitium  stetit."|: 

Their  hideous  taurobolies  and  kriobolies — of  which  the  first 
trace  is  found  on  an  inscription.  A,  D.  133 — were  but  vain 
outward  forms  of  expiation,  which  neither  diminished  the 
violence  of  their  passions,  nor  cooled  the  anguish  of  their 
accusing  consciences.  Judaism  did  not  reach  them.  They 
fancied  that  the  Jews  were  descended  from  lepers  who  had 
been  driven  out  of  Egypt ;  that  they  worshipped,  some 
said  an  ass,  and  others  the  clouds  of  heaven  ;  that  they 
were  a  nation  of  cheats  and  liars ;  that  they  kept  Sabbaths 
on  pretence  of  superstition,  but  solely  as  an  excuse  for 
idleness  ;§  and  that  they  hated  all  men,  as  all  men  hated 
them. 

*Tac.  Hist.  I,  2.  t  Hor.  Od.  iii,  vi.  45.  tJuv.  Sat.  i.  148. 

§0n  these  ignorant  misapprehensions,  even  of  cultivated  heathen  writers, 
see  Tac.  H,  v.  2,  etc.;  Juv.  Sat.  xiv.  96  ;  Strabo,  xvi.  p.  670;  Aug.  Civ,  Dei 
vi.  I ;  Tert.  Apol.  23  ;  Dollinger,  Jtidcnth.  «.  Hcidaith,  p.  628. 


I30  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

And  the  anguish  of  retribution  was  equal  to  the  wicked- 
ness of  universal  abandonment  to  vile  affections.  Inso- 
lence, arrogance,  greed,  and  the  superabundance  of  fla- 
gitiousness,  filled  Rome  with  whisperers,  liars,  slanderers, 
professional  informers — of  whom  some,  to  the  common 
terror,  exercised  their  infernal  trade  openly,  others 
secretly.*  The  Emperor  Tiberius  had  sunk  to  the  lowest 
depths  of  degradation  in  his  sty  at  Caprea^,  as  an  "  inventor 
of  evil  things,"  so  that  new  words  had  to  be  coined  to 
describe  his  vileness;f  and  he  was,  as  even  Pliny  says  of 
him,  "  notoriously  the  most  wretched  of  mankind."  He 
himself  wrote  to  his  Senate,  "  What  to  write,  or  how  to 
write  to  you,  Conscript  Fathers,  or  what  not  to  write,  at 
the  present  moment,  may  all  the  gods  and  goddesses 
destroy  me  worse  than  I  feel  myself  to  be  daily  perishing, 
if  I  know." :}:  The  comment  of  the  stern  historian  on  those 
words  is  that  his  crimes  and  enormities  turned  to  his  own 
punishment ;  that  neither  his  splendour  nor  his  solitude 
saved  him  from  suffering  the  torments  and  penalties  which 
he  confessed  ;  and  that  he  illustrated  the  wise  remark  that, 
if  the  minds  of  tyrants  could  be  laid  open  to  view,  they 
would  be  as  visibly  lacerated  by  the  scourges  of  cruelty, 
lust,  and  wicked  counsels  as  bodies  are  by  the  lash. 

This  awful  condition  of  things  created  an  unspeakable 
weariness  of  life  ;§  and  so  deep  was  the  conviction  that 
the  life  of  men  is  but  a  matter  of  indifference,  or  even 
a  constant  comedy  in  the  eyes  of  the  gods,!  that  suicide 
was  no  longer  regarded  as  a  crime,  but  had  come  to  be 
looked  upon  as  a  sign  of  moral  nobleness.  Nor  are  these 
the  rhetorical  exaggerations  of  poets,  historians,  and 
satirists.  Seneca  was  a  grave  philosopher,  and  one  who 
tried  to  be  sincere,  and  he  wrote,  "  He  who  denies  that  we 
may  forcibly  end  our  life,  does  not  see  that  he  is  closing  the 

♦Tac.  Ann.  vi.  7.  f  Tac,  Ann.  vi.  I  ;  Rom.  i.  30. 

ifTac.  Ann,  vi.  6.  §  Tac.  Ann.  iv.  I,  xvi.  16  ;  Cic.  de  Off.  i.  4-18. 

\  Tac.  Ann.  iii.  18. 


CONDITION    OF   THE    WORLD.       131 

path  of  liberty.  The  eternal  law  hath  done  nothing  better 
than  that  it  has  given  us  one  entrance  to  life,  but  many 
exits." 

Self-murder  was  belauded  as  an  act  of  real  magnanimity 
by  many,  both  of  Greeks  and  Romans.*  Even  an  Epicte- 
tus  and  a  Marcus  Aurelius  did  not  rise  above  this  point  of 
view.f  Not  a  few  who  were  counted  by  the  Greeks  and 
Romans  among  their  noblest  sons  had  died  by  their  own 
hands,  and  among  them  such  philosophers  as  Zeno  and 
Kleanthes.  "  Having  gone  through  every  species  of 
wickedness,"  says  Theophylact,  "  Human  Nature  needed 
to  be  healed." 

Thus  the  Gentiles  are  convicted  out  of  the  mouths  of 
their  own  writers,  and  it  is  proved  that  when  St.  Paul,  in 
the  first  chapter  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  drew,  in 
such  deep  dark  lines,  the  sketch  of  Pagan  wickedness,  and 
showed  how  the  heathen  had  "  become  vain  in  their  reason- 
ings and  their  senseless  heart  was  darkened,"  and  how  they 
were  given  up  to  passions  of  dishonour  and  reprobate 
uncleanness,  he  was  not  actuated  by  feelings  of  national  or 
religious  hatred,  but  was  speaking,  with  holy  dignity,  the 
words  of  soberness  and  truth.  The  worst  fact  about  them 
Avas  that  they  were  "  past  feeling  "  ;  they  had  felt  once,  but 
now  were  "  hardened  in  wickedness.":}: 

II.    THE    JEWS. 

Nor  must  it  be  supposed  that  this  leprosy  of  Pagan 
wickedness  was  visible  only  in  great  Roman  centres  and 
heathen  lands.  There  were  many  Gentiles,  and  large 
contingents  of  soldiers,  in  Palestine,§  and  the  wickedness 

*See  Ep.  Iviii.  34,  Ixxvii.;  Plin.  Epp.  3,  7. 

f  Epict.  Diss.  i.  25,  ii.  2  ;   Marc.  Aurel.  v.  9,  viii.  47,  x.  8. 

X  Eph.  iv.  19,  airTjlyTjKOTeq.  See,  for  further  proofs,  Dollinger,  The  Jew  and 
the  Gentile  ;  Renan,  L' Antichrist ;  and  my  Seekers  after  God,  pp.  36-53. 

§  Since  the  year  A,  D,  63,  when  Pompey  had  entered  Jerusalem  with  his 
&rmy,  Palestine  had  been  under  the  dominance  of  Rome.     Even  in  the  days 


132  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

of  '  them  that  knew  not  God  "  was  not  restrained  by  con- 
tact with  Judaism.  The  stories  told  of  things  done  by 
Roman  soldiers,  even  in  Jerusalem;  their  close  alliance,  in 
the  days  of  Felix,  with  the  murderous  Sicarii ;  the  cruel 
slaughters  of  the  defenceless  in  which  they  took  a  share ; 
the  act  of  gross  indecency  openly  displayed  for  purposes  of 
insult  by  a  Roman  legionary  in  sight  of  all  the  worshippers 
in  the  Temple  at  a  great  festival ;  the  abominable  deeds  of 
brutalism  enacted  by  the  soldiers  and  people  after  the  death 
of  Agrippa,  in  the  cities  of  Caesarea  and  Sebaste* — are 
incidents  which  sufificiently  prove  that  the  contagion  of 
heathendom  was  diffused  even  into  the  Holy  Land. 

Herod  the  Great  and  his  sons  were  open  patrons  of 
idolatry  everywhere  but  in  Jerusalem.  They  were  not  Jews 
at  all.  Herod,  who  came  to  the  throne  in  A.  D.  39,  and  held 
it  for  thirty-seven  years,  was  the  son  of  an  Edomite  father 
and  an  Arabian  mother.  He  could  afford  to  defy  the 
shuddering  hatred  of  the  Jews  so  long  as  by  flattering  sub- 
servience and  supple  complaisance  he  could  retain  the 
favour  of  his  Roman  lords.  These  aliens  built  temples,  in 
the  Holy  Land  itself,  to  heathen  deities  and  to  deified 
Emperors.  Herod  the  Great  had  even  introduced  into  the 
Holy  City  the  looseness  of  the  theatre  and  the  sanguinary 
ferocity  of  the  gladiatorial  games.  Herod  Philip,  the 
tetrarch  of  Ituraea,  ruled  as  a  heathen  among  heathens. 
He  stamped  his  coinage  with  the  temple  of  Augustus,  and 
the  laureated  efifigies  of  Augustus  and  Tiberius,  and  he 
called  the  town  of  Bethsaida  "Julias"  in  honour  of  the 
infamous  daughter  of  Augustus.  Besides  this  it  was  uni- 
versally known,  nor  was  there  even  a  pretence  at  conceal- 
ing the  fact,  that  the  darkest  vices  of  fallen  humanity  were 
practised  in  the  Herodian  palaces  ;  and  that  Herod's  sons, 
while  still  mere  youths,  had  carried  back  with  them  from 

of  the  Maccabees  there  were  irdleiq  ''EXkr/viSEq  in  the  boundaries  of  Judsea 
(2  Mace.  vi.  8). 

*Jos.  Antt.  xix.  9,  I, 


CONDITION    OF   THE   WORLD.       133 

Rome,  where  they  were  educated,  sins  which  the  Mosaic 
law  punished  with  death.  So  deeply  indeed  had  this  con- 
tamination sunk  that,  for  the  sake  of  political  dominance, 
Alexandra,  the  mother  of  the  beautiful  Mariamne  and  of 
the  young  High  Priest  Aristobulos,  had,  with  the  worst  pur- 
poses, sent  the  likenesses  of  her  son  and  daughter  to  the 
lewd  Mark  Antony,  in  order  that  she  might  secure  an  influ- 
ence over  him  by  means  of  his  most  shameless  depravities. 
And  this  was  the  family  which,  under  the  protection  first 
of  the  Triumvirate,  and  then  of  Augustus  and  Tiberius, 
held  in  their  hands  the  autocracy  of  the  Land  of  Israel ! 

Philip,  the  tetrarch  of  Ituraea,  was  the  only  one  of  the 
Herodian  family  who  was  unstained  by  crimes  of  lust  and 
bloodshed  ;  and  he,  as  we  have  seen,  was  an  open  patron  of 
a  decadent  idolatry.  It  was  in  vain  for  the  Rabbis  to  pro- 
test against  the  CJiokuiath  JavanitJi,  or  "  Greek  science," 
and  to  say  that,  since  men  ought  to  study  the  Law  day  and 
night,  Hellenic  books  could  only  be  studied  at  some  time 
which  was  neither  day  nor  night.*  Hellenism,  in  its  liter- 
ary aspect,  deeply  affected  the  views  even  of  Philo ;  in  its 
practical  influences  it  was  felt  not  only  throughout  the 
Dispersion,  but  in  large  areas  of  Palestine  itself.  In  the 
palace  of  Herod  the  Great  were  to  be  found  cultivated 
Hellenists  like  Nicolas  of  Damascus,  a  man  of  most  versa- 
tile ability,  and  time-serving  fortune  hunters  of  the  "  6^r^- 
ciilus  esitriens "  type,  and  even  a  youth  like  Carus,  who 
represented  the  lowest  decadence  of  heathen  immorality 
and  shame. f  There  were  still  righteous  and  holy  men 
among  the  Jews;  yet  very  shortly  after  the  days  of  Christ, 
St.  Paul,  a  Hebrew  of  the  Hebrews,  draws  a  very  dark  pic- 
ture of  the  moral  condition  of  his  countrymen,  and  accuses 
them  of  imposture,  impurity,  and  theft.  He  says  of  the 
Jews:  "They  please  not  God,  and  are  contrary  to  all 
men "  ;    and    adds   that   though    they    professed  "  to    dis- 

*  Menachoth,  p.  992.     Derenbourg,  p.  361. 
f  Jos.  Antt.  xvii.  2,  4. 


134  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

criminate  the  transcendent,"  they  caused  the  Name  of  God 
to  be  blasphemed  among  the  Gentiles.*  The  Pharisees 
thought  so  lightly  of  the  mass  of  their  own  people  as  to 
call  them  "  accursed. "f  The  Roman  writers  attach  to  the 
name  of  Jew  such  epithets  as  '^ gens  scelcratissi)na,  tcterrima, 
projectissima  ad  libidineiHy\  Their  own  historian  Josephus 
declares  that  tiie  nation  had  become  so  wicked  and  depraved 
that  the  Holy  City  would  have  been  swallowed  up  by  an 
earthquake,  or  overthrown  by  Sodomitic  lightning,  had  not 
the  Romans  executed  judgment  upon  it.§  Divorce  had 
become  disgracefully  common.  Adultery  was  so  rife  that 
pretexts  had  to  be  devised  for  getting  rid  of  the  fearful 
ordeal  of  "the  water  of  jealousy."  Judaism  had  become  a 
*^  seJitina  iniquitatis^'  and  Jerusalem  was  a  ^' lanicna  pro- 
pJietarumy 

III.   THE   DISPERSION. 

If  Heathendom  brought  its  taint  into  the  Promised  Land 
of  the  People  of  the  Covenant,  it  might  have  been  hoped 
that  the  vast  majority  of  the  Jewish  nation,  now  known  as 
the  Galootha,  or  Dispersion, ||  which  was  scattered  through- 
out the  civilised  world,  would  have  disseminated  some 
higher  moral  ideals  and  some  knowledge  of  the  true  God. 
It  is  to  be  feared  that  this  was  not  the  case.  In  Rome 
itself,  since  Pompey  (B.  C.  63)  had  brought  back  with  him 
his  multitude  of  captives,  there  had  been  a  large  and  for- 
midable colony  of  Jews  in  the  Imperial  city,  where  their 
ancient  burial-places  {coliinibarid)  may  still  be  seen.^     They 

*  Rom.  ii.  17-29,  ix.  3  ;  I  Tliess.  ii.  2i.  \  John  vii.  49. 

X  Seneca,  ap.  Aug.  Civ.  Dei  vi.  11  ;  Tac.  Hist,  v.  5,  8  ;  Ann.  ii.  85  ;  Suet. 
Tiber.  36. 

§  Keim  i.  314  ;  Jos.  B.J.  v.  13,  6,  x.  5,  vii.  8,  i. 

\  Only  a  handful  of  Jews — likened  by  their  own  writers  to  the  chaff  in  com- 
parison with  the  wheat — returned  with  Ezra  to  Palestine,  Kiddushiii,  69,  2. 
See  Hershon,  Genesis  ace.  to  the  Talt?iud,  p.  246. 

^  The  Sibylline  verses  say  that  "every  land  and  every  sea  was  filled  with 
Jews"   {Omc.  Sibyll.  iii.  271),  and   Strabo,  that  they  had  come  into  every  city 


CONDITION    OF   THE    WORLD.       135 

were  so  numerous  as  at  times  to  create  real  alarm,  and  they 
made  themselves  specially  terrible  to  returning  Provincial 
Governors  who  had  treated  their  compatriots  with  severity. 
In  Cicero's  days  they  assembled  in  the  Forum  in  such 
threatening  crowds  that  in  B.  C.  59  he  had  to  deliver  his 
speech  in  favour  of  Flaccus — who  was  obnoxious  to  them- — 
in  a  tone  of  voice  too  low  for  them  to  hear.*  Julius  Caesar 
had  always  been  their  friend,  and  their  mourning  ceremo- 
nies after  his  murder  were  expressive  of  such  unrestrained 
grief  as  to  amaze  the  people  of  the  city.f  Tiberius  had 
multitudes  of  them  impressed  into  the  army,  and  sent  to  the 
pestilential  regions  of  Sardinia,  in  accordance  with  a  uni- 
versal feeling  that  if  they  all  perished  by  malaria  it  would 
be  a  very  cheap  loss.  Claudius  passed  an  edict  which  ex- 
pelled them  all  from  Rome  because  they  were  continually 
rioting  "  under  the  impulse  of  Christus.";}:  They  did  indeed 
make  some  proselytes, but  almost  exclusively  among  women. 
Josephus  claims  Poppaea,  the  wife  of  Nero,  as  a  Jewish  prose- 
]yte.§  But  two  circumstances  prevented  Jews  from  exer- 
cising a  beneficent  influence  over  their  heathen  neighbours. 
One  was  the  impression  they  made  of  being  the  devotees 
of  a  superstition  which  gave  them  no  moral  superiority. 
Cicero  calls  their  religion  "  a  barbarous  superstition,"  and 
the  elder  Pliny  brands  them  as  "noted  for  a  contempt  of 
the  gods."  Coarser  stories  spoke  of  them  as  a  nation  who 
worshipped  the  head  of  an  ass.||     The  vile  cheating  prac- 

{ap.  Jos.  Anit.  xiv.  7,  2  ;  Schiirer  div.  ii.  vol.  ii,  p.  321).  They  were  most 
numerous  in  Egypt  and  Cyrene.  St.  Paul  found  Jewish  synagogues  not  only 
throughout  Asia  Minor,  but  in  Thessalonica,  Beroea,  Athens,  Corinth  (Acts 
xvii.  xviii.),  Crete,  and  Rome. 

*  Cic.  Pro  Flacco,  28. 

\  Sueton.  CcEs.  84.  In  B.  c.  4  eight  thousand  Jews  of  Rome  met  the  deputa- 
tion which  came  from  Jerusalem  to  denounce  the  Herods. 

\  Suet.  Claud.   25  ;  Acts  xviii.  2. 

§  Jos.  Antt.  XX.  8;  Vit.  3.     On  the  whole  subject,  see  Schtirer  ii.  vol.  ii.  §  31. 

I  Tac.  Hist.  V.  2-4,  13  ;  Ann.  ii.  85  ;  Suet.  Tib.  36  ;  Pliny,  H.  N.  iii.  4  ; 
Juv.  Sat.  xiv.  97  ;  Pers.  v.   184  ;  Plut.  Sympos.  iv,  5,  6  ;  Justin  xxxvi.  i,  2  ; 


136  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

tised  on  a  Roman  lady  in  Rome  in  the  reign  of  Nero 
greatly  deepened  the  hatred  felt  for  them.*  They  were 
regarded  as  beggars,  swindlers,  and  sacrilegious  robbers  ;  and 
were  believed  to  alienate  to  their  private  use  the  sums  of 
money  which  were  contributed  as  the  "  Temple  didrachm." 
The  other  impediment  to  their  influence  rose  from  their 
attitude  of  habitual  disdain  and  hatred  for  those  around 
them.f  "  Adversiis  ouines  alios,"  says  Seneca,  "  hostile 
odium.''  St.  Paul,  with  inspired  insight,  lays  his  finger  on 
both  sources  of  failure.  "They  are  contrary  to  all  men,";}: 
he  says  in  his  letter  to  the  Thessalonians  ;  and  in  the  Epis- 
tle to  the  Romans  he  turns  on  the  self-satisfied  Jews  with 
a  series  of  crushing  questions. §  "  Thou  therefore  that 
teachest  another,  teachest  thou  not  thyself?  Thou  that 
teachest  that  a  man  should  not  steal,  dost  thou  steal  ?  Thou 
that  abhorrest  idols,  dost  thou  rob  temples?  Thou  that 
makest  thy  boast  in  the  Law,  through  breaking  the  Law 
dishonourest  thou  God?"  We  see,  then,  that  the  Jews  as 
a  nation  had  shown  themselves  false  to  the  high  ideal 
which  had  been  set  before  them.  Their  religion  was 
nothing  more  than  a  decrepit  survival.  They  had  failed  to 
accomplish  the  mission  which  intended  them  to  be  the 
moral  and  religious  teachers  of  the  ancient  world.  Josephus 
says  {B.J.  v.-vi.  lo)  that  no  age  had  ever  bred  a  genera- 
tion more  fruitful  in  wickedness  since  the  beginning  of 
the  world. 

Philostr.  Apoll.  Tycan.  v.  il.  Comp.  Jos.  Ap.  i.  14,  ii.  4-6  ;  Rutilianus,  i. 
887.  "  Humanis  animal  dissociale  cibis.  Reddimus  obscence  convicia  debita 
genti."     Tert.  Apol.  16,  etc. 

*  Suet.  Nero.  32.  Hence  St.  Paul's  questions,  "  Thou  that  abhorrest  idols, 
dost  thou  rob  tetnples  ?  "  The  notorious  case  had  been  that  in  wliich  some  Jews 
swindled  the  Roman  lady  Fulvia  (Jos.  Antt.  xviii.  3,  5). 

f  They  applied  to  the  Gentiles,  Ezek.  xxiii.  20,  "whose  flesh  is  as  the  flesh  of 
asses."  Many  fierce  and  contemistuous  passages  against  Gentiles  might  be 
quoted  from  the  Talmud.  See  Rosh  Hashanah,  f.  17,  i  (Hershon,  Ta/m. 
Miscell.  p.  155). 

X  I  Thess.  ii.  15.  §  Rom.  ii.  17-29. 


CONDITION    OF   THE    WORLD.       137 


IV.      THE  SAMARITANS. 

Within  the  limits  of  the  Holy  Land  itself  there  were 
three  closely  connected  yet  often  widely  antagonistic 
nationalities — the  Jews,  the  Samaritans,  and  the  Galileans. 

The  Samaritans  were  a  people  of  mongrel  origin.  They 
had  sprung  from  the  mixture  of  the  Israelitish  population 
with  immigrants  sent  into  the  ancient  territory  of  the  kings 
of  Israel  by  Shalmaneser,  king  of  Assyria,  after  his  capture 
of  Samaria.*  At  first  these  immigrants  had  continued  the 
forms  of  idolatry  to  which  they  had  been  accustomed  ;  but 
on  the  devastation  of  the  land  by  lions  they  asked  the  king 
of  Assyria  to  have  a  priest  sent  to  them  who  should  teach 
them  "  the  religion  of  the  God  of  the  land."  This  was 
done,  and  they  learned  to  worship  Jehovah,  though  their 
various  communities  mingled  His  worship  with  that  of  all 
sorts  of  idols, f  Nerjal  and  Ashimah,  Nibhaz  and  Tartuk, 
Adrammelech  and  Ananmelech.  The  Jews  looked  askance 
upon  them,  and  called  them  by  the  contemptuous  name  of 
"lion-proselytes"  and  "  Cuthaeans,":|:  and  "that  foolish 
people  that  dwell  in  Sichem."  §  Gradually,  however,  the 
descendants  of  these  settlers  and  the  original  people  of  the 
land  shook  off  the  old  idolatries,  accepted  Mosaism,  claimed 
the  special  heritage  of  Jacob,  and  built  a  Temple  on  Mount 
Gerizim,  which  they  (perhaps  rightly)  regarded  as  the  scene 
of  Abraham's  sacrifice  of  Isaac,||  and  of  the  meeting  of  Abra- 

*  2  Kings  xviii.  9,  12-24.  The  new  settlers  came  from  Babylon,  Cuthah, 
Ava,  Hamath,  Sepharvaim. 

f  Some  most  gratuitously  see  an  allusion  to  this  fivefold  worship  in  John  iv. 
18  :   "  Thou  hast  had  five  husbands." 

X  Cuthim — so  they  are  called  throughout  the  Mishna ;  and  see  Jos.  Antt.  ix. 
14,  3,  xi.  4,  etc.  Cuth,  near  Babylon,  was  one  of  the  cities  from  which  Sargon 
(b.  c.  722)  deported  the  settlers.  See  Neubauer,  Geogr.  du  Talm.  329.  They 
were  also  accused  of  worshipping  the  amulets  buried  by  Jacob  under  the 
Enchanted  Oak  (Gen.  xxx.  47).     See  my  Life  of  Christ,  p.  149. 

§Ecclus.  I,  25,  26. 

Kin  Deut.  xi.  29,  they  interpolated   the   words  "'that  is,   Shechem"  after 


138  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

ham  with  Melchisedech,*  and  as  the  scene  of  Jacob's  vision. 
They  referred  to  Deut.  xxvii.,  and  to  the  fact  that  at 
Shechem  Abraham  had  built  his  first  altar  to  the  Lord 
(Gen.  xii.  7).  Since  Gerizim  had  been  chosen  as  "  the 
Mount  of  Blessing,"  f  they  regarded  it — and  not  Jerusa- 
lem— as  being  "  the  place  which  the  Lord  thy  God  shall 
choose.":}:  Their  religion  was  the  earliest  form  of  Judaism, 
though  they  accepted  only  the  Pentateuch  as  their  sacred 
book.  They  were  monotheists ;  the)^  adopted  circum- 
cision ;  they  kept  the  Sabbath  and  the  chief  festivals. 

The  antagonism  between  them  and  the  Jews  was  spe- 
cially accentuated  by  the  building  of  their  Temple  on  Geri- 
zim in  the  days  of  Alexander  the  Great. §  It  was  destroyed 
by  John  Hyrcanus  in  B.  C.  iio,||  but  the  mountain  was  still 
their  sacred  shrine.  The  breach  might  have  been  healed  if 
the  Jews  in  the  days  Zerubbabel  had  accepted  their  offer  of 
co-operation  in  rebuilding  the  Temple  of  Jerusalem.^  The 
refusal  of  this  offer  led  to  centuries  of  embitterment.  The 
Jews  did  not  in  general  rank  them  above  Edomites  and 
Philistines,"^*  though  in  a  few  respects  they  gave  them  a 
grudging  recognition.  It  was  not  till  the  days  of  the  Tal- 
mud that  they  were  slanderously  charged  with  worshipping 
a  dove.ff   The  treatment  they  received  at  the  hands  of  their 

"  Gerizim,"  and  were  accused  of  tampering  with  the  Books  of  the  Law  (Solfh, 
f-  33>  2).  In  Chullin,  p.  13  i.  we  read,  "  The  bread  of  a  Min  (heretic)  is  as 
the  bread  of  a  Cuthite  ;  his  wine  as  the  wine  of  idol-worship  ;  his  books  as  tlie 
books  of  wizards."  Sheviiik,  ch,  8.  "  He  who  eats  the  bread  of  a  Cuthite, 
eats  as  it  were  the  flesh  of  swine."  Many  other  passages  of  tlie  Talmud  might 
be  quoted. 

*Gen.  xiv.  17.  f  Deut.  xi.  29,  xxvii.  4,  12. 

X  John  iv.  20. 

§  It  had  been  originally  built  by  a  son-in-law  of  Sanballat  the  Heronite. 
Neh.  xiii.  28. 

llJos.  Antt.  xii.  9,  i  ;  B.J.  i.  2,  6.  lEzra  iv. 

**  "  The  nation  that  I  hate  is  no  nation,"  Ecclus.  i,  25,  26.  The  Samaritans 
always  showed  themselves  open  to  foreign  influences,  and  had  become  greatly 
Hellenised. 

\\ Demoth  Jotiah,  Chullin,  i.  6,  i.     The  dove  was  worshipped  at  Ascalon, 


CONDITION    OF   THE    WORLD.       139 

neighbours  caused  a  bitter  hostility,  which  still  raged  in 
our  Lord's  day.  In  former  times  they  had  purposely  caused 
confusion  by  kindling  fire  signals  to  mislead  Jews  as  to  the 
time  of  the  Easter  moon.  They  frequently  annoyed  any 
Jewish  Passover  pilgrims  who  ventured  to  pass  through 
their  territory.*  The  people  of  En-Gannim  (Gin3ea),f  on 
the  Samaritan  frontier,  actually  refused  hospitality  to  our 
Lord  and  the  Apostles  on  their  way  to  His  last  Passover, 
"because  His  face  was  as  though  He  would  go  to  Jerusa- 
lem.":}: Even  when  Jesus,  in  His  thirst  and  weariness, 
asked  the  Samaritan  woman  for  some  water  from  Jacob's 
well,  she  was  astonished  at  so  small  a  request,  because 
"  Jews  have  no  dealings  with  Samaritans. "§  It  was  prob- 
ably for  this  reason  that,  on  sending  out  the  Apostles  on  a 
mission,  Jesus  said,  "Into  any  city  of  the  Samaritans  enter 
ye  not." 

The  hatred  between  the  two  peoples  was  raised  to  white 
heat,  partly  by  the  promise  of  an  impostor  (in  A.  D.  35)  to 
lead  the  Samaritans  to  Gerizim,  and  there  reveal  to  them 
the  buried  treasures  of  the  old  Temple  ;  ||  and  partly  by  a 
detestable  act  of  some  Samaritans  at  the  Passover.  During 
the  Feast  the  Temple  was  kept  open  at  night,  and  Samari- 
tans had  entered  the  sacred  precincts  and  prevented  the 
possibility  of  keeping  the  Passover  by  scattering  dead  men's 
bones  about  the  courts.^  The  Samaritans  have  now 
dwindled  down  to  a  small  community  of  some  sixty  souls, 

and  doves  may  have  been  an  object  of  worship  among  the  Assyrians.  Most  of 
the  relevant  passages  of  the  Talmud,  some  of  which  breathe  an  intense  hatred, 
are  quoted  by  Mr.  Hershon,  Treasures  of  the  Talmud,  pp.  i88  ff.  See, 
too,  Schiirer,  Div.  ii.,  vol.  i.  pp.  5-8  ;  Hamburger,  Real  Encycl.  ii.  1662,  etc. 
Jos.  Antt.  xviii.  2,  2,  xx.  6,  \  \  B.  J.  ii.  12,  3. 

*  Lives  were  sometimes  sacrificed.     Jos.  Antt.  xx.  6,  i  ;  B.J.  ii.  12,  13. 

f  Jos.  B.J.  ii.  12. 

:i:Luke  ix.  51,  53. 

§  John  iv.  9.     The  clause  is  omitted  in  some  of  the  best  MSS. 

\  Moses  was  supposed  to  have  buried  the  old  sacred  vessels  of  the  Tabernacle 
in  the  clefts  of  Gerizim  (Jos.  Antt.  xviii.  4). 

T[  Jos.  Antt.  xviii.  2,  2.     Coponius,  the  Procurator,  left  the  crime  unpunished. 


I40  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

and  it  is  probable  that  they  may  soon  disappear  altogether. 
They  alone  have  been  able  yearly  to  kill  the  Paschal  lamb, 
because  they  regard  the  summit  of  Gerizim  as  the  chosen 
place  for  that  sacrifice,  whereas  the  Jews,  since  the  destruc- 
tion of  Jerusalem,  have  only  been  able  to  observe  a 
"  memorial "  {/xv}/j.wv£vtiji6v)  and  not  a  "  sacrificial  " 
{Svffijxov)  Passover. 

But  the  same  hatred  and  alienation  still  exists.  A 
modern  traveller  relates  how  he  saw  a  Jew  and  a  Samaritan 
tugging  at  each  other's  beards,  and  thought  that  "  there 
were  very  rough  dealings  between  the  Jews  and  Samari- 
tans." They  are  still  reviled'  as  "worshippers  of  the 
pigeon  ";  and  the  Jewish  traveller.  Dr.  Frankl,  tells  us  that, 
on  informing  a  lady  in  Sainaria  that  he  had  been  spending 
a  morning  with  the  Samaritans,  she  drew  back  from  him 
with  the  exclamation,  "  Take  a p2irifying  bath  !  " 

Our  Lord  utterly  discountenanced  this  spirit  of  furious 
bigotry  and  mutual  injuries.  Although  among  the  Jews 
it  was  the  bitterest  term  of  reproach  to  call  a  man  "  a 
Samaritan  " — as  when  they  said  to  Jesus,  "  Thou  art  a 
Samaritan,  and  hast  a  demon"* — He  chose  the  compas- 
sion of  the  hated  and  heretical  Samaritan  as  an  example  to 
Priests  and  Piiarisees,  and  gladly  accepted  the  hospitality 
of  these  detested  aliens.  This  was  the  more  remarkable 
because  the  Galileans,  no  less  than  the  Jews,  were  on  terms 
of  bitterest  animosity  with  them,  and  Tacitus  tells  us  of 
"  pillaging  upon  both  sides,  marauding  bands  despatched 
against  each  other,  ambuscades  devised,  and  at  times  regu- 
lar engagements."  t  But  Jesus  habitually  breathed  that 
empyreal  air  of  love  towards  all  men,  in  which  it  was  impos- 
sible that  personal  or  national  animosities  should  continue 
to  exist. 

*  John  viii.  48. 

\Ann.  xii.  54.     See  Hausrath,  N.  T.  Times,  E.  T.  i.  27. 


CONDITION    OF   THE    WORLD.       141 

V.  THE  GALILEANS, 

We  must  next  consider  what  was  the  condition  of  the 
Galileans  among  whom  our  Lord  spent  the  greater  part  of 
His  Hfe,  and  to  whom  the  main  part  of  His  teaching  was 
addressed. 

Gahlee  (derived  from  Galil,  "  circle,"  or  "  ring  ")  was  a 
district  of  some  1600  square  miles,  measuring  about  36 
miles  from  east  to  west,  and  about  50  miles  from  north  to 
south.  With  its  hills  and  valleys,  rivers,  lakes  and  plains, 
it  had  every  variety  of  scenery.  It  was  well  watered  by 
many  streams,  which  took  their  origin  from  the  accumu- 
lated snows  of  Lebanon,  and  even  in  ancient  days  it  had 
been  famous  for  its  fertility,  comprising  as  it  did  the  tribes 
of  Asher,  Zabulon  and  Naphthali.*  It  was  a  densely  popu- 
lated country,  which  contained,  according  to  Josephus,  204 
towns,  15  fortified  places,  and  3,000,000  inhabitants.  It  was 
chiefly  remarkable  for  the  mixture  of  populations  which  had 
gained  it  the  name  of  "  Galilee  of  the  Gentiles." 

Few  Jews  had  settled  in  the  district  after  the  return 
from  Babylon,  and  in  B.  C.  164  Simon  the  Maccabean  had 
removed  them  to  Judaea.f  Many  of  the  population  had, 
however,  returned  between  B.  C.  165-135,  in  the  reign  of 
John  Hyrcanus.  Galilee  was  crowded  with  Phoenicians, 
Syrians,  Arabs,  and  Greeks.  Scythopolis,  on  the  road  from 
Jezreel  to  the  Valley  of  the  Jordan,  was  practically  a  Gen- 
tile city.  The  great  roads  which  ran  through  Galilee  were 
constantly  traversed  by  throngs  of  foreign  traders.  Sep- 
phoris,  so  near  Nazareth,  looked  like  a  Roman  city,  and  at 
Tiberias  Herod  Antipas  had  not  scrupled  to  adorn  the 
frieze  of  his  palace  with  the  figures  of  animals.  The  Gali- 
leans were  much  more  cosmopolitan  in  their  tolerance,  and 
far   less   scrupulously   bigoted,    than    the    Jews.     But   the 

*  Deut.  xxxiii.  23,  24  ;  Gen.  xlix.  20  :  Hos.  xiv.  5  ;  Ps.  Ixxxix.  12.,  See  G. 
A.  Smith,  Geogr.  of  the  Holy  Land,  413  ff. 

f  I  Mace.  V.  23  ;  2  Mace.  vi.  8  ;  Sehiirer,  piy.  i.  i,  19. 


142  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

Syrians  had  infected  them  with  superstition  so  that  they 
were  specially  susceptible  to  "demoniacal  possession." 
They  were  gay  and  quick-witted,  and  though  they  did  not 
resist  Hellenic  and  other  influences  they  remained  faithful 
Jews  and  ardent  patriots,  whose  old  traditional  bravery  and 
passionate  idealism  often  hurried  them  into  tumults.* 
Even  at  Jerusalem  their  excitability  had  led  to  a  massa- 
cre, in  which  Pilate  had  mingled  their  blood  with  their 
sacrifices. 

Judas  the  Galilean,  who  came  from  Gamala,  had  headed 
the  Zealots  (A.  D.  6),  who  were  the  extremest  section  of  the 
Pharisees.  He  took  for  his  watchword,  "  No  Lord  but 
Jehovah  ;  no  tax  but  the  Temple  didrachma  ;  no  friend  but 
the  Zealot."  Judas,  indeed,  as  Gamaliel  tells  us  (Acts  v. 
37),  perished  ;  but  not  till  after  a  furious  struggle,  which 
warned  the  Romans  not  to  attempt  the  taxation  of  the 
country. 

His  mantle  fell  on  his  sons,  James,  Simon,  Menahem, 
and  Eleazar,  who  still  maintained  internecine  hostility 
against  Rome.  The  family  of  Judas  ended  with  the  fearful 
deed  of  his  grandson  Eleazar  at  Magada,  when  he  and  all 
his  garrison  died  by  their  own  hands,  set  the  fortress  in 
flames,  and  left  nothing  for  the  Roman  Conqueror  but 
blackened  ruins  and  half-burnt  corpses.  Hence,  as  Josephus 
says,  a  Galilean  revolt  of  two  months  "  disturbed  Rome  for 
seventy  years,  turned  Palestine  into  a  desert,  destoyed 
the  Temple,  and  scattered  Israel  over  the  face  of  the 
earth."  f 

The  Jews  ridiculed  the  rough  patois  of  the  Galileans,  \ 
which  made  them  mispronounce  the  most  common  letters.§ 

The  Pharisees,  with  a  strange  ignorance  of  history,  said 

*Judg.  V.  18. 

f  Hausrath  ii.  81  ;   Jos.  B.  J.  vii.  8,  i,  viii.  6,     For  John  of  Gamala,  see  Jos 
Vil.  and^.  y.  xxi.  i. 
X  Mark  xiv.  70  ;  Matt.  xxvi.  73. 
§  Thus  they  substituted  n  f"r  15',  and  call  a  man  Uh,  not  ish. 


CONDITION    OF   THE    WORLD.       143 

that  "out  of  Galilee  ariseth  no  prophet."*  Even  Nathan- 
ael  had  asked  Pliilip,  "  Can  any  good  thing  come  out  of 
Nazareth  ?  "  and  at  Pentecost  the  amazement  of  the  assem- 
bled multitude  at  the  Gift  of  Tongues  was  increased  by  the 
question,  "  Behold,  are  not  all  these  who  speak  Galileans  ?  " 
*"  Nazarene  "  was  a  term  of  opprobrium  even  in  the  first 
century,  and  it  continues  to  be  the  contemptuous  designa- 
tion for  Christians  in  Palestine  to  this  day.  f  Nevertheless, 
though  they  were  not  without  serious  faults,  and  were  highly 
excitable  and  liable  to  sudden  changes  of  temperament, 
and  though  Josephus  describes  them  as  ever  fond  of  inno- 
vation, we  may  say  in  accordance  with  both  ancient  and 
modern  testimony,  that  "  they  were  still  a  healthy  people 
whose  conscience  would  not  get  corrupted  by  Rabbinical 
sophistries,  and  among  whom  full-grown  men  were  elevated 
far  above  their  Jewish  kinsfolk  sickening  with  fanaticism.":}: 
The  Talmud  itself  bears  witness  that  whereas  the  Jews 
cared  more  for  money,  the  Galileans  cared  more  for 
honour.  § 

*  See  ante,  p.  io8  (footnote).  Not  a  few  prophets  like  Hoshea,  and  great 
leaders  like  Barak,  sprang  from  tribes  included  in  the  district  of  Galilee,  and 
the  glowing  poetry  of  the  Song  of  Songs  derives  its  colouring  from  the  land 
they  occupied.     See  Hausrath  i.  14. 

\  When  I  was  in  Palestine,  if  ever  we  came  to  a  village  where  the  inhabitants 
were  specially  rude  and  inhospitable,  my  dragoman  used  always  to  say,  "  Oh, 
yes,  those  people  are  Nazarenes." 

X  Hausrath  quotes  Jos.  B.  J.  iii.  2,  3  ;  Tac.  Hist.  v.  6  ;  Ann.  xii.  5.  See 
too  Jos.  Antt.  X.  5,  XX.  6,  i  ;    B.J.  xv.  5  ;  Vit.  xvii. 

§See  Neubauer,  Geogr.  der  Talmud,  p.  181, 


CHAPTER    XIII. 

THE  STATE  OF  RELIGION  IN   PALESTINE. 
"  Corruptio  optimi,  pessima." 

The  conditions  of  the  world  in  general  woke,  then, 
echoes  even  in  Nazareth,  and  must  have  had  their  influence 
on  the  human  mind  of  Jesus  during  the  silent  years.  Still 
more  would  He  feel  and  meditate  over  the  state  of  things 
in  His  own  province,  and  in  those  which  bordered  upon  it. 
As  regards  questions  of  eternal  moment,  the  thoughts  of 
the  people  of  Palestine,  of  the  countless  Jews  of  the  Dis- 
persion,  and  indirectly  of  all  who  were  under  the  sway  of 
Imperial  Rome,  were  affected  by  the  religious  views  of  the 
Priests  and  religious  teachers  in  Judaea,  and  most  of  all  in 
Jerusalem  itself.  And  there  the  aspects  of  religious  life 
and  religious  opinion,  which  we  must  now  more  closely 
scrutinise,  might  well  awaken  the  deepest  misgivings. 

(i.)  Of  the  Zealots  we  need  say  but  little  further. 
They  represented  the  extreme  wing  of  Pharisaic  fanaticism, 
and  seem  first  to  have  acquired  their  distinctive  name  in 
the  rising  of  Judas  the  Galilean  in  A.  D.  6.  In  Jerusalem 
and  Judsea  the  Zealots  were  rarely  able  to  achieve  any- 
thing. The  destruction  of  the  Golden  Eagle  which  Herod 
had  put  over  the  Temple  Gate,  by  the  wild  scholars  of  the 
Rabbis  Judas  and  Matthias,  was  punished  by  wholesale  exe- 
cutions. The  party  became  more  prominent  in  later  days. 
Many  of  them  degenerated  into  mere  assassins  {sicarii) 
and  conspirators,  like  the  forty  who  bound  themselves 
under  a  curse  {Cherem)  that  they  would  neither  eat  nor 
drink  till  they  had  murdered  Paul. 

144 


RELIGION    IN    PALESTINE.  145 

(ii.)  Nor  is  it  necessary  to  dwell  long  on  the  ESSENES,  for 
the  accounts  which  we  have  of  them  vary  so  much  that 
they  must  either  be  inaccurate  or  refer  to  different  sections 
of  the  general  body.  The  very  derivation  of  the  name  is 
quite  uncertain.  Philo  seems  to  connect  it  with  "  holy 
ones."  Others  derive  it  from  Jesse.  Bishop  Lightfoot 
connects  it  with  chasha,  "  to  be  silent  " ;  Ewald,  from 
chazan,  "to  be  strong";  Gfrorer,  from  asi,  "healers"; 
Gratz,  from  sacha,  "to  bathe."  If  Philo's  account  of  them 
in  his  book,  Quod  omnis  prohiis  liber,  be  correct,  they 
lived  mainly  in  villages,  avoided  trade,  disapproved  of  war, 
formed  social  communities  of  which  all  the  members  ate  at 
a  common  table,  and  lived  a  life  of  celibacy  and  labour.  * 
The  notion  that  they  worshipped  the  sun  seems  to  have 
been  a  calumny  or  a  blunder.  Josephus  also  speaks  of 
them.  He  compares  them  with  the  Pythagoreans,!  ^i^d 
adds  such  particulars  as  that  they  avoided  the  use  of  oil, 
refused  to  take  oaths,  and  were  very  scrupulous  in  all  mat- 
ters of  ceremonial  cleanness.  He  mentions  Judas  the 
Essene  and  Menahem  as  exercising  gifts  of  prophecy,  and 
Simon  the  Essene  as  an  interpreter  of  dreams.      Pliny  the 

*  The  fullest  information  is  given  by  Bishop  Lightfoot  in  his  Essay  on  the 
Essenes  {Epistle  to  the  Colossians,  pp.  1 14-179).  The  original  accounts  are 
found  in  Philo,  Quod  omnis  probus  liber;  and  a  quotation  from  Philo  in  Euseb. 
Praep.  Evang.;  V\\\vj,Hist.  Nat.  v.  17;  Jos.  Antt.  xiii.  8,  9;  ii.  2,  xviii.  i.  5, 
etc.;  B.J.  ii.  8,  2,  ff.  ;  Hippol.  Laer.  ix.  18-28.  They  were  akin  in  doctrines 
to  ,the  Therapeutse,  of  Alexandria,  whom  Philo  describes  in  his  De  Vita  Con- 
templativa.  Some  of  the  statements  about  them  are  confused  and  contra- 
dictory. 

See,  too,  the  quotation  of  Eusebius  {Praep.  Evan.)  from  Philo's  De  Nobil- 
tate.  It  must  be  regarded  as  quite  uncertain  whether,  in  his  book  (if  it  be  bis) 
De  Vita  Contemplativa,  he  meant  to  describe  the  Essenes  under  the  name  of 
Therapeut(E. 

f  Jos.  Antt.  ii.  8,  2,  xiii.  5,  g,  xv.  10,  xviii.  i.  Both  Philo  and  Josephus 
state  the  numbers  of  the  Essenes  at  about  4000.  Zeller,  Keim,  and  Herzfeld 
think  that  they  were  under  Pythagorean  influences  (as  well  as  Alexandrian)  ; 
but  there  seems  more  truth  in  the  view  of  Frankl,  Jost,  Gratz,  Derenbourg, 
Ewald,  Hausrath,  and  others,  that  Essenism  is  only  a  peculiar  and  extreme 
development  of  Pharisaism. 


146  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

Elder  describes  one  of  their  communities  which  was  settled 
in  the  neighbourhood  of  Engadi  and  Masada.* 

They  are  not  even  mentioned  in  the  New  Testament,  or 
in  the  Mishnah,  and  they  do  not  seem  to  have  exercised 
any  effective  influence  on  the  religion  of  the  nation.  They 
were  exclusive  and  self-righteous  ascetics,  who  abandoned 
the  world,  which  only  regarded  them  with  cold  and  distant 
curiosity.  Their  Manichaean  tenet  that  "  enjoyment  is 
vile,"  is  utterly  unlike  the  teaching  of  Christ,  who  never 
encouraged  self-macerating  abstemiousness  for  its  own  sake, 
but  "  came  eating  and  drinking."  "  Essenism  was  in  reality 
only  a  confession  of  helplessness  against  the  actual  state  of 
things,  a  renunciation  of  all  attempts  to  reconstruct  a 
united  Israel." 

The  fancy  that  John  the  Baptist  was  an  Essene  is  sufifl- 
ciently  refuted  by  the  fact  that  he  wore  a  dress  of  camel's 
hair,  whereas  they  dressed  in  white  linen  ;  and  that  he  fed 
on  locusts,  whereas  they  seem  to  have  abjured  animal 
food.f  We  are  not  told  that  our  Lord  or  His  Apostles 
once  came  into  contact  with  them,  and  nothing  is  more 
absolutely  baseless  than  the  notion  that  He  was  Himself  an 
Essene.  They  were  Separatists  ;  His  life  was  spent  among 
the  multitudes.  They  were  ascetics  ;  He  came  eating  and 
drinking,  and  living  in  outward  particulars  the  common  life 
of  men.  They  were  Sabbatarians  of  the  strictest  school, 
whereas  He  set  aside  the  rules  of  Pharisaic  Sabbatism. 
They  forbade  the  use  and  even  the  manufacture  of  weapons  ; 
He  said,  "  He  that  hath  no  sword,  let  him  sell  his  cloak 
and    buy   one."  ^     They  were    vegetarians ;    He    was    not. 

*Plin.  //.  N.  V.  17.  There  are  also  dubious  and  unimportant  references  to 
them  in  Epiphanius  and  in  the  Tahnud.  "  The  Colossian  heresy,"  against 
■which  St.  Paul  wrote,  may  have  been  tinged  with  Essenian  as  well  as  Gnostic 
elements. 

f  This  is  denied  by  Schurer  (Div.  II.  vol.  ii.  20i),  but  his  arguments  do  not 
seem  to  me  entirely  conclusive.  Perhaps  some  only  of  the  Essenes  were 
vegetarians. 

\  Luke  xxii.  36. 


RELIGION    IN    PALESTINE.  147 

They  would  never  touch  food  not  prepared  by  the  members 
of  their  sect ;  He  reclined  alike  at  the  banquets  of  the  Publi- 
can and  of  the  Pharisee,  and  swept  away  hosts  of  petty  Hal- 
achotJi  about  ceremonial  uncleanness.  They  shunned  and 
despised  women  ;  He  was  followed  by  a  band  of  ministering 
women.  They  washed  themselves  if  a  stranger  touched 
them ;  He  suffered  the  penitent  harlot  to  wet  His  feet  with 
her  tears,  and  to  wipe  them  with  the  hairs  of  her  head.  So 
far  as  they  aimed  at  holiness,  and  believed  in  a  universal 
Priesthood,  they  resembled  the  Christians,  but  their  reli- 
gious opinions  and  practices  diverged  most  widely  from  the 
teachings  of  Christ,  and  would  have  been  absolutely  power- 
less for  the  regeneration  of  the  world.* 

(iii.)  The  Sadducees  played  a  far  greater  part  in  the 
politics  and  destiny  of  Palestine  that  the  Essenes,  and  exer- 
cised a  wider  influence  over  the  fortunes  of  the  people.  In 
Jerusalem  the  Sadducees  and  Pharisees  absorbed  or  over- 
shadowed all  other  sects. 

The  entire  religion  of  Israel  underwent  a  change  during 
the  Babylonian  Captivity,  quite  apart  from  any  Persian 
influences  which  the  Jews  imbibed. 

Before  the  Captivity  the  people  had  shown  an  incessant 
tendency  to  relapse  into  idolatry.  After  the  Captivity 
they  abhorred  idols  with  the  whole  intensity  of  their  con- 
victions. 

But  the  peril  of  idolatry  was  replaced  by  the  peril  of  a 
dead  ritual,  and  by  the  ruinous  results  of  substituting  an 
outward  and  mechanical  worship  for  the  service  of  pure 
hearts  and  holy  lives. 

From  the  days  of  Ezra,  all  the  ordinances  which  may  be 

*See,  among  other  authorities,  Gfrorer,  Philo  ii.  299  ;  Uhlhorn,  s.v. 
"  Essenes  "(Herzog's  Real  Eticyc.)  ;  Hilgenfeld,y2/i/.  Apocal.  243-286  ;  Herz- 
feld,  Gesch.  des  Volkes  Isr.  iii.  36S  ff. ;  Keim,  i.  365-393;  Ewald,  Gesch.  des 
Volkes  Isr.  iv.  453  ;  Wescott,  "  Essenes"  (Smith's  Diet,  of  the  Bible) ;  Gins- 
burg,  "Essenes"  (Kitto's  Cyclop.);  'Y\\o\wio\'\,  Books  which  Influenced  Our 
Lord,  75-123  ;  Lightfoot,  Colossians  (349-419)  ;  and  the  authorities  referred  to 
by  Hausrath,  Schurer,  and  Hamburger,  s.v.  "  Essaer." 


148  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

summed  up  under  the  head  of  "  Levitism  " — all  the  Levitic 
ordinances  of  the  later  Mosaic  Law — assumed  a  new  and 
immense  prominence.*  During  the  long  centuries  from 
the  entrance  of  Israel  into  Canaan  to  the  Return  from  the 
Exile,  there  is  scarcely  the  slightest  trace  that  they  existed, 
and  certainly  they  do  not  attract  the  least  attention.  The 
Day  of  Atonement,  which  came  to  be  regarded  as  the  most 
memorable  day  of  the  year,  is  not  mentioned  even  in  nar- 
ratives where  everything  would  have  led  us  to  suppose  that 
it  would  have  occupied  a  most  prominent  place.  The  name 
of  Azazel,  the  evil  spirit  to  whom  the  scape-goat  was 
devoted,  only  occurs  in  Lev.  xvi.,  and  is  alluded  to  nowhere 
else  in  the  whole  Bible.  But  after  the  days  of  Ezra,  "  ordi- 
nances which  were  not  good,  and  statutes  whereby  they 
could  not  live "  f — given  to  the  Jews  originally  only 
"  because  of  the  hardness  of  their  hearts  "  ;  this  system  of 
ordinances — against  the  slavish  use  of  which  the  great 
Prophets  of  Israel  had  spoken  in  tones  of  thunder — became 
the  main  religion,  and  ultimately  the  almost  mechanical 
fetish  of  the  rehgionists  of  the  nation.  The  patriotism,  and 
the  fervour  for  the  institutions  of  Moses,  aroused  by  the 
cruel  persecutions  and  apostatising  Hellenism  of  some 
of  the  Priests,  created  the  party  of  the  Chasidim,  or  "  the 
Pious."  The  party  which  rejected  legal  stringency  gradually 
acquired  the  name  of  Sadducees.  The  origin  of  the  name 
is  uncertain.  The  Fathers — as  Epiphanius  and  St.  Jerome 
— connected  it  with  Tsaddtktm,  "  the  righteous,"  but  the 
form  of  the  name  perhaps  indicates  a  connection  with  l^sad- 
duk,  or  Zadok.X  The  sons  of  Zadok  formed  one  of  the 
priestly  families,  and  the  name  may  have  been  immediately 

*It  is  remarkable  that  the  word  "  Levites"  occurs  only  twice  in  the  N.  T.  : 
John  i.  19  ;   Luke  x.  32. 

f  Ezek.  XX.  25. 

\  Epiphan.  Panar.  H.  14  ;  Jer.  in  Matt.  xxii.  23.  The  double  d  favours 
this  derivation.  The  word  may  have  been  altered  from  Tsaddikiin  to  Tsad- 
donVxm.  only  because  of  assonance  with  Pironshiin,  "  Pharisees."  On  the 
Sadducees,  see  Taylor,  Pirqe  Avdth,  pp.  126,  127. 


RELIGION    IN    PALESTINE.  149 

derived  from  Zadok,  the  High  Priest  in  the  days  of  David 
(Ezek.  xl.46;  I  Chr.  xii.  28  ;  Ex.  ii.  2)  ;  or  from  Zadok,  the 
pupil  of  Antigonus  of  Socho,*  and  successor  of  Simeon  the 
Just.  Antigonus  is  said  to  have  left  behind  him  the  rule 
that  "  we  ought  not  to  do  righteousness  for  the  sake  of 
reward."  As  the  notion  that  salvation  must  be  earned  by 
legal  scrupulosities  was  rooted  in  the  system  of  the  Phari- 
sees, the  opposition  to  this  view  became  the  mark  of  Sad- 
ducees.  The  CJiasidun  developed  into  the  Perushim  {Sep- 
aratists), or  Pharisees;  and  the  Sadducees,  as  representing 
the  Priests,  rejected  more  and  more  the  authority  of  the 
Pharisaic  Rabbis.  They  would  only  accept  the  Written 
Law,  and  ignored  "  the  traditions  of  the  Elders "  with 
which  it  was  overlaid. 

But  besides  the  endless  disputes  which  arose  between  the 
two  parties  about  the  interpretation  of  Levitic  rules,  there 
were  other  lines  of  demarcation.  The  Sadducees  were  the 
more  aristocratic  party,  and  also  the  more  worldly  and  cos- 
mopolitan. Almost  all  the  leading  Priests  were  Sadducees,f 
and  this  sacerdotal  party,  contenting  itself  with  sacrificial 
functions,  was  always  inclined  to  temporise.  Even  in  the 
days  of  Ezra  and  Nehemiah  the  Priests  had  shown  a  ten- 
dency to  be  at  ease  amid  their  privileges  and  emoluments, 
to  adopt  motives  of  worldly  policy,  and  to  relax  the  most 
binding  ordinances. :{:  Thus  Eliashib  the  Priest,  in  direct 
defiance  of  the  Mosaic  Law  (Deut.  xxiii.  3,  4),  had  roused 
the  righteous  indignation  of  Nehemiah  by  clearing  out  a 
chamber  in  the  Temple  which  had  been  used  for  storing 
tithes  and  frankincense,  and  assigning  it  to  the  use  of 
Tobiah  the  Ammonite.  In  later  days  the  Priests  Manasseh 
and  Onias  had  proved  themselves  traitors  to  the  nation  and 
its  religion  in  their  dealings  with  the  Seleucidse,  and  Joshua 
had  openly  assumed  the  heathen  name  of  Jason. 

The  Asmonaean   Priest-Prince   Alexander   Jannaeus,  dis- 

*  Aboth  de  Rabbi  Nathan,  5. 
fActsv.  17.  |Neh.  xiii.  7. 


I50  THE    LIFE    OF   LIVES. 

gusted  with  the  arrogance,  insolence,  and  dishonesty  of  the 
Pharisaic  leader,  Simeon  ben  Shetach,  had  joined  the  Sad- 
ducees.  He  showed  his  contempt  for  Pharisaic  tradition  at 
the  Feast  of  Tabernacles,  by  pouring  out  the  libation  on 
the  ground,  and  not  on  the  altar.*  The  people  were 
always  witli  the  Pharisees,  and  in  their  fury  at  this  neglect 
of  customary  ritual,  tiiey  pelted  Jannaeus  with  the  citrons 
and  branches  {lidabivi)  which  they  carried  in  their  hands. 
This  resulted  in  a  tumult  and  a  massacre,  but  the  Priest- 
Prince  became  so  conscious  of  the  power  of  the  Pharisees 
that  on  his  deathbed  he  ordered  his  widow  to  reconcile 
herself  with  them.f 

In  the  days  of  Herod  the  Great,  Sudduceeism  assumed  its 
fullest  dimensions,  for  then  the  priests  could  reckon  on  the 
aid  of  Roman  and  Idumaean  despotism.  Herod  had  sum- 
moned to  the  High  Priesthood  the  obscure  Ananeel,  of 
Babylon.  After  this  the  High  Priesthood,  as  we  shall  see 
hereafter,  became  the  coveted  appanage  of  a  few  worldly 
families — the  House  of  Annas,  the  Boethusim,:}:  the  Kam- 
hits,  and  others.  These  Priests,  while  they  professed  the 
utmost  strictness  about  sacrificial  minutiae,  had  the  worst 
reputation  among  the  people  for  greed,  tyranny,  and 
arrogance,  and  denied  such  essential  elements  of  religion 
as  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  the  resurrection  of  the  body, 
the  future  Messianic  kingdom, §  the  world  of  angels  and 
spirits,  and  even  (it  is  said)  the  over-ruling  Providence  of 
God  in  the  affairs  of  men.||  The  Sadducees  remained  to 
the  last  the  aristocratic  and  exclusive  party,  luxurious 
time-servers,  insouciant  sceptics,  noted  at  once  for  cruelty 
and   Epicureanism.     Disliked    by  the    nation,  and    strong 

*  Succak,  f.  48,  2. 

f  Jos.  Antt.  xiii.  15,  5  ;    Soteh,  f.  22,  2  ;    Derenbourg,  Palestine,  p.  99. 

X  The  Boethusim  owed  their  elevation  to  Herod,  who  married  Mariamne 
(the  Second),  a  daughter  of  the  Alexandrian  Priest  Joazar,  son  of  Boethos. 

^  Jos.  Antt.  xviii.  i,  4  ;  Enoch  xcviii.  6,  c.  16,  civ.  7. 

I  See  Jos.  Antt.  x.  11,  7,  xviii.  i,  3,  xiii.  5,  9  ;  B.  J.  ii.  8,  14  ;  Acts  xxiii. 
8  ;  Keim,  i.  353-365.     The  Talmud  calls  them  "  Epicureans." 


RELIGION    IN    PALESTINE.  151 

only  by  their  alliance  with  the  ruling  powers,  they  had  to 
allow  the  Pharisees  to  dominate  in  the  Sanhedrin.*  "The 
eloquence  of  the  Synagogue,"  says  Hausrath,  "  had  won 
the  victory  over  the  splendour  of  the  Temple,  but  only  to 
dig  a  pit  for  the  State,  in  which  the  Temple  and  School 
were  together  buried."  Whatever  the  Sadducees  may 
have  been  in  their  origin,  they  had,  before  the  days  of  our 
Lord,  degenerated  into  "typical  opportunists,"  bent  above 
all  things  on  holding  fast  their  own  rights,  privileges,  and 
immunities. f 

(iv.)  The  Herodians  need  not  occupy  much  of  our 
attention.  They  are  only  mentioned  on  two  occasions  in 
the  Gospels  (Mark.  iii.  6,  xii.  13;  Matt.  xxii.  16).  Josephus 
defines  them  generally  as  "the  partisans  of  Herod" 
{oi  rd  rov  'HpcbSov  (ppovovrre?),  and  it  is  evident  that 
they  were  a  political  rather  than  a  religious  party.  It  is 
true  that  Tertullian  says  that  they  tried  to  represent  Herod 
the  Great  as  a  sort  o{ political  Messiah,;}:  and  they  certainly 
claimed  the  adherence  of  so  prominent  an  Essene  as 
Menahem  (Manaen),  whose  son  was  a  foster-brother  of 
Herod. §  But  though  they  recognised  in  Jesus  an  enemy 
to  their  worldly  views,  and  were  ready  to  plot  with 
Pharisees  and  Sadducees,  and  attempted  to  entangle  Him 
by  their  insidious  questions  as  to  the  lawfulness  of  paying 
tribute-money  to  Caesar,  they  played  no  prominent  part 
among  the  religious  sects  of  Palestine. 

(v.)  We  shall  recur  to  the  subject  of  the  distinctive  views 
of  the  Pharisees  when  we  have  to  show  our  Lord's  deal- 
ings with  them  and  their  system. 

The  PerusJiim    rose   into  prominence  in  those  times  of 

*  I  Mace.  ii.  42,  vii.  13,  17  ;  2  Mace.  xiv.  6.  See  Wellhausen,  Pharisaer 
unci  Sadducder,  76  ff. 

f  "Qui  Christum  Herodetn  esse  dixerunt."  Tert.  Adv.  Omit.  Haer.  i. 
Jer.  Adv.  Lucifer  (opp.  Bened.  iv.  304),  "  Herodiani  Herodem  regem 
suscepere  pro  Christo." 

:|:See  Jos.  Anlt.  xv.  10,  5  ;  Lightfoot,  Hor.  Hebr.  ii,  726. 

§  Acts  xiii.  i. 


J52  THE    LIFE   OF    LIVES. 

priestly  Hellenising  which  were  known  as  the  "days  of  the 
mingling'' ;  and  the  word  Perishooth,  or  "separatism,"  rep- 
resents the  afxi$ia  of  legalised  and  intentional  unsocia- 
bility (2  Mace.  xiv.  3,  38).  In  the  days  of  Christ  they  had 
risen  into  marked  prominence,  and  are  said  to  have  num- 
bered 6000  adherents  of  their  sect.*  Their  main  charac- 
teristic was  devotion  to  the  Oral  Law,  with  its  masses  of 
inferential  tradition,  and  a  slavish  reverence  for  the 
Lawyers,  Scribes,  and  Rabbis,  to  whose  misplaced  and 
microscopic  ingenuity  the  development  of  this  system  was 
due.  The  Talmud  is,  of  course,  a  late  and  most  untrust- 
worthy authority.  It  is  utterly  unhistoric,  and  full  of 
confusions,  anachronisms,  and  sheer  inventions;  yet  to  a 
certain  extent  it  represents  the  continuity  of  older  tradi- 
tions. The  Talmudists  leave  a  false  impression  when  they 
represent  the  Zougoth,  or  "  Couples  "f — that  is,  the  two 
leading  teachers  of  the  Schools  in  successive  generations — 
as  having  been  the  Presidents  (the  Nasi  and  the  Ab-beth- 
Din)  of  the  Sanhedrin — for  the  Nasi  was  always  the  High 
Priest.  The  leading  Rabbis  merely  held  positions  in  the 
non-political  Sanhedrin  of  the  Schools.  Those  of  them  who 
were  specially  and,  so  to  s'^Qak,  professionally,  devoted  to 
the  study  of  the  Law,  were  called  "  Lawyers,"  i.  e.y 
"  Teachers  of  the  Law,"  or  "  Scribes,":}:  of  whom  the  Son 
of  Sirach  says,  "Where  subtle  parables  are,  he  will  be 
there  also.  He  will  seek  out  the  hidden  meaning  of 
similitudes,  and  be  conversant  in  the  dark  sayings  of 
parables."  § 

There  were  many  particulars  in  which  Pharisaism  was 

*Jos.  Antt.  xvii.  ii.  4. 

•j-The  chief  "Couples"  were:  Jose  Ben  Joezer  and  Jose  Ben  Jochanan, 
Joshua  Ben  Peracliiah  and  Nitai  of  Arbela,  Jehuda  Ben  Tabbai  and  Simeon 
Ben  Shetach,  Shemaiah  and  Abtalion,  Hillel  and  Shammai. 

^'NofUKol,  vo/io(h6aaiia?.oi,  Luke  vii.  30,  xi.  45,  etc.  The  "Scribes  of  the 
Pharisees "  is  the  true  reading  in  Mark  ii.  16.  The  Sopherim  (yfjaufiareis), 
"  Scribes,"  are  hardly  distinguishable  from  "  the  Lawyers." 

§  Ecclus.  xxxix.  1-5. 


RELIGION    IN    PALESTINE.  153 

nearer  to  Christianity  than  Sadduceeism.  The  Pharisees 
believed  in  the  coming  of  the  Messianic  Kingdom,  though 
they  mistook  its  nature.  They  believed  in  the  immortality 
of  the  soul,  and  the  overruling  Providence  of  God.  But  the 
more  they  sank  into  petty  ceremonialism — the  more  extrava- 
gantly they  valued  mere  external  acts — the  more  radically 
did  they  degrade  the  conception  of  the  true  nature  of  God. 
Their  religionism  led  to  a  hypocrisy  all  the  deeper  because 
it  was  half  unconscious.  What  shall  we  think  of  the 
Talmudic  representation  of  God,  the  Lord  of  Heaven  and 
Earth,  as  a  kind  of  magnified  Rabbi,  who  repeats  the 
Sh'ma  to  Himself  daily;  wears  phylacteries  on  the  wrist 
and  forehead;  occupies  Himself  three  hours  every  day  in 
studying  His  own  law ;  has  disputes  with  the  Angels  about 
legal  minutiae;  and  finally  summons  a  Rabbi  to  settle  the 
difference?  Religion  must  always  suffer  in  the  worst 
degree  when  the  King  of  Kings  and  Lord  of  Lords,  who 
filleth  Infinitude  and  Eternity,  is  dwarfed  into  a  small- 
minded  precisionist,  to  be  pleased  and  pacified  by  pros- 
trations, genuflexions,  ablutions,  and  infinitestimal  minu- 
tiae,  as  though  these  paltry  externals  could  be  substitutes 
for  that  inward  holiness  which  alone  He  requires. 

It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  Pharisaism  sank  more  and 
more  into  a  system  which,  while  it  travestied  the  burden- 
some externalities  of  developed  Levitism,  ignored  all  that 
was  noblest  and  most  spiritual  in  the  whole  teaching  of 
the  Old  Testament  Scriptures.  It  nullified  and  superseded 
the  plainest  injunctions  of  Moses  by  casuistic  Halachoth 
and  tricky  Erubhin ;  and  took  into  no  real  account  the 
magnificent  and  unbroken  series  of  utterances  which,  in 
book  after  book  of  Scripture,  laid  it  down  with  unmistak- 
able plainness  that  such  things  are  to  true  religion  but 
as  the  small  dust  of  the  balance.  With  deplorable  self- 
deceit  the  Pharisees  aborbed  themselves  in  numbering 
the  threads  of  tassels,  and  tithing  the  stalks  of  pot- 
herbs,  while    for   such    cheap  things   they   neglected    the 


154  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

weightier  matters  of  the  Law — Justice,  Mercy,  and  Truth. 
That  was  why  they  drew  down  upon  themselves  "  the  seven- 
fold flash  of  Christ's  terrible  invective."  Utterly  absorbed 
in  making  their  "  hedge  round  the  Law,"  they  emptied  the 
Law  itself — especially  its  most  pure  and  spiritual  elements — 
of  all  the  deepest  significance.*  Paralysed  by  self-induced 
hypocrisy  they  showed  far  less  real  sincerity  than  the 
blindest  of  Pagan  devotees,  and  while  they  posed  as  religious 
teachers,  they  poisoned  religion  at  its  fountain-head,  made 
it  petty  and  unreal,  and  precipitated  the  catastrophe  which 
overwhelmed  themselves  and  the  nation  which  they  had 
misled. 

The  Prophets  of  the  Old  Testament  furnished  a  direct 
antithesis  to  the  current  Pharisaism  of  the  Gospel  era ; 
their  declarations  of  the  inmost  will  of  God  are  valid  for  all 
time,  and  constitute  the  final  distinctions  between  conceited 
will- worship  and  that  religion  which  is  pure  and  undefiled 
before  God  and  the  Father. 

What  said  the  mighty  MoSES? 

"  And  now,  Israel,  what  doth  the  Lord  thy  God  require 
of  thee,  but  to  fear  the  Lord  thy  God,  to  walk  in  all  His 
ways,  and  to  love  Him  ?  "  f 

What  said  the  holy  SAMUEL  ? 

"  Hath  the  Lord  as  great  delight  in  burnt-offerings  and 
sacrifices  as  in  obeying  the  voice  of  the  Lord  ?  Behold,  to 
obey  is  better  than  sacrifice,  and  to  hearken  than  the  fat  of 
rams." :}: 

What  said  KING  SOLOMON  ? 

"To  do  justice  and  judgment  is  more  acceptable  to  the 
Lord  than  sacrifice."! 

What  said  the  inspired  gatherer  of  sycamore  leaves — the 
Prophet  Amos  ? 

"  I  hate,  I  despise  your  feast-days,  and  I  will  not  dwell  in 


*  On  the  Pharisees,  see  Jos.  Atiff.  xvii.  2,  4  ;  B.  J.  ii.  8,  14. 

f  Deut.  X.  12,  13.  X  I  Sam.  xv.  22.  §  Prov.  xxi.  3. 


RELIGION    IN    PALESTINE.  155 

your  solemn  assemblies.  .  .  .  But  let  judgment  run  down 
as  waters,  and  righteousness  as  a  mighty  stream."  * 

What  said  the  sad-hearted  HOSHEA,  in  words  which  were 
the  favourite  quotation  of  our  Lord  ? 

"  I  desired  mercy  and  not  sacrifice ;  and  the  knowledge 
of  God  more  than  burnt-offerings,"  f 

What  said  the  burning  ISAIAH,  again  and  again,  in  words 
which  were  like  thunder  ? 

"  To  what  purpose  is  the  multitude  of  your  sacrifices  unto 
Me,  saith  the  Lord.  .  .  Bring  no  more  vain  oblations ; 
incense  is  an  abomination  unto  Me.  Wash  you,  make  you 
clean,  put  away  the  evil  of  your  doings  from  before  Mine 
eyes  ;  cease  to  do  evil ;  learn  to  do  well.";}: 

What  said  the  royal  David  in  his  broken-hearted  peni- 
tence ? 

"  Thou  desirest  not  sacrifice,  else  would  I  give  it  ;  Thou 
delightest  not  in  burnt-offerings.  The  sacrifices  of  God  are 
a  broken  spirit  ;  a  broken  and  a  contrite  heart,  O  God,  Thou 
wilt  not  despise."  § 

What  said  the  sweet  PSALMISTS  of  Israel  ? 

"  Lord,  who  shall  abide  in  Thy  tabernacle  ?  Who  shall 
dwell  in  Thy  holy  hill  ?  He  that  walketh  uprightly  and 
worketh  righteousness,  and  speaketh  the  truth  in  his 
heart."  || 

"  Who  shall  ascend  unto  the  hill  of  the  Lord  ?  And  who 
shall  stand  in  His  holy  place  ?  He  that  hath  clean  hands 
and  a  pure  heart ;  who  hath  not  lifted  up  his  soul  to  vanity 
nor  sworn  to  deceive  his  neighbour.  He  shall  receive  the 
blessing  from  the  Lord,  and  righteousness  from  the  God  of 
his  salvation."  ^ 

What  said  JEREMIAH,  in  language  startling  in  its  em- 
phasis ? 

*Amosv.  21-24.  f  Hos.  vi.  6;  Matt.  xii.  7. 

:|:  Is.  i.  II,  16,  17.     Comp.  Iviii,  6,  7,  Ixvi.  3,  xxix,  13^  andpassim. 

§  Ps.  li.  16,  17.     Comp.  xxxiv.  18. 

|Ps.  XV.  I,  2.  ITPs.  xxiv.  3-5.     Comp.  Ps.  Ixxxiv.  11,  12. 


156  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

"  I  spake  not  unto  your  fathers,  nor  commanded  them  in 
the  day  that  I  brought  them  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt,  con- 
cerning burnt-offerings  or  sacrifices  ;  but  this  thing  com- 
manded I  them,  saying.  Obey  My  voice,  and  I  will  be  your 
God."* 

What  said  EZEKIEL  ? 

"  They  sit  before  thee  as  My  people,  and  they  hear  thy 
words,  but  they  will  not  do  them.  For  with  their  mouth 
they  shew  much  love,  but  their  heart  goeth  after  their 
covetousness."  f 

What  said  the  eloquent  MiCAH  ? 

"  Wherewith  shall  I  come  before  the  Lord  and  bow  my- 
self before  the  Most  High  God?  Shall  I  come  before  Him 
with  burnt-offerings,  with  calves  of  a  year  old  ?  Will  the 
Lord  be  pleased  with  thousands  of  rams,  or  with  ten  thou- 
sands of  rivers  of  oil  ?  Shall  I  give  my  first-born  for  my 
transgression,  the  fruit  of  my  body  for  the  sin  of  my  soul  ? 
He  hath  showed  thee,  O  man,  what  is  good  ;  and  what  doth 
the  Lord  require  of  thee,  but  to  do  justly,  and  to  love 
mercy,  and  to  walk  humbly  with  thy  God  ?  " :}: 

What  said  Habakkuk  ? 

"The  just  shall  live  by  faith,"  or  "  in  his  faithfulness." § 

What  said  Zechariah  in  answer  to  inquiries  about 
fasting  ? 

"  Execute  true  judgment,  and  show  mercy  and  compas- 
sion every  man  to  his  brother."  "  These  are  the  things 
that  ye  shall  do.  Speak  ye  every  man  the  truth  to  his 
neighbour.  And  let  none  of  you  imagine  evil  in  your 
hearts."  || 

The  teaching  of  the  whole  New  Testament  as  to  the 
nature  of  true  religion,  and  as  to  what  God  desires,  is  in 
closest  accordance  with  these  utterances  of  the  Prophets. 
This  must  be  patent  to  every  one  who  has  not  blinded  and 

*Jer.  vii.  22,  23.  f  Ezek.  xxxiii.  31.  %  Micah.  vi.  6-8. 

§  Hab.  ii.  4.     (John  iii.  36  ;  Gal.  ii.  16,  iii.  11  ;  Heb.  x.  38.) 
JZech.  vii.  9,  viii.  16,  17. 


RELIGION    IN    PALESTINE.  157 

benumbed  his  own  soul  by  the  super-exaltation  of  tradi- 
tional nothings.  Suffice  it  to  point  to  the  explicit  words  of 
Christ  Himself.  When  the  young  man  asked  Him,  "What 
must  I  do  to  be  saved?"  he  received  the  answer,  "  If  thou 
wouldst  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  keep  the  com- 
mandments." When  the  Scribe,  tempting  Him,  asked, 
"  Which  is  the  great  commandment  of  the  Law  ?  "  He  said 
that  on  the  two  commandments,  "  Love  God  with  all  thy 
heart,"  and  "  Love  thy  neighbour  as  thyself,"  hang  all  the 
Law,  and  the  Prophets."  * 

To  quote  but  two  of  His  special  utterances,  he  said  : 

"  Not  every  one  that  saitJi  unto  Me,  Lord,  Lord,  shall 
enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  but  he  that  doeth  the 
will  of  My  Father  which  is  in  heaven."  f 

And  He  said  : 

"Whatsoever  ye  would  that  men  should  do  unto  you, 
even  so  do  unto  .  them :  for  tliis  is  the  Law  and  the 
Prophets.":}: 

Contrast  these  with  some  of  the  Pharisaic  utterances  in 
the  Talmud,  which  constantly  confound  an  easy,  useless, 
and  self-deceiving  legalism  with  the  holiness  which  God 
requires. 

The  Mosaic  rule  about  wearing  fringes  (Num.  xv.  38) 
{Tsitsith,  upaffTtsda,  Matt.  ix.  20),  at  the  "wings,"  i.  c, 
corners  of  garments,  and  to  put  on  them  a  thread  §  of  blue, 
is  probably  of  Egyptian  origin  ;  and  there  was  nothing 
either  burdensome  or  unreasonable  about  it,  since  the  white 
wool  and  blue  threads  might  stand  as  symbols  of  innocence 
and  heaven.  But  to  this  the  Scribes  had  added  a  moun- 
tainous mass  of  oral  pedantries.  The  fringe  was  to  be 
made  of  four  threads  of  white  wool,  of  which  one  was  to 
be  wound  round  the  others  first  7  times  with  a  double 
knot,  then  8  times  with  a  double  knot,  then  1 1  times 
with  a  double  knot,   then   13   times  with  a  double  knot; 

*  Matt.  xxii.  38  ;  Mark  xii.  33.  f  Matt.  vii.  21,  xii.  50. 

X  MaU.  vii.   12,  §  Not  as  in  A.  V.,  "  ribands." 


158  THE    LIFE    OF   LIVES. 

because  7  +  8  +  ii  =  26,  the  numerical  value  of  the 
letters  of  Jehovah  (nin-),  and  13  is  the  numerical  value  of 
Achad,  "  one,"  so  that  the  number  of  windings  represents 
the  words  "  Jehovah  is  one." 

The  great  Rashi  said,  "  The  precept  concerning  fringes  is 
as  zveiglity  as  all  the  other  precepts  put  togetJier ;  for  it  is 
written  (Num.  xv.  39),  '  And  remember  all  the  command- 
ments of  the  Lord.'  "  Now  numerically  (by  what  the  Rabbis 
called  Gematrid)  the  word  fringes  {Tsitsith)  =  600;  and 
this  with  8  threads  and  5  knots  makes  613.  And  Rabbi 
Samlai  had  said  that  Moses  gave  613  commandments, 
namely,  365  negative  {Gezaroth),  as  many  as  the  days  of  the 
year,  and  2^% positive  (  Tekanoth),  as  many  as  the  members  of 
the  human  body  =  613;*  and  this  he  proved  by  saying 
that  Thorah,  "Law,"  by  Gematria  =  611  ;  which  with  "  I 
am,"  and  "Thou  shalt  have  no  other"  =  613. f 

Again,  Rashi  said  that  "  he  who  observes  the  precepts 
about  fringes  shall  have  2800  slaves  to  wait  on  him  " :  for, 
in  Zech.  viii.  23,  we  are  told  tliat  ten  men  of  all  nations 
shall  take  hold  of  the  skirt  of  a  Jew,  and  as  there  are 
seventy  nations,  and  four  corners  of  a  garment,  70  X  10  X 
4  =  28004 

In  the  same  Talmudic  treatise  we  are  also  told  that  Rabbi 
Joseph  ben  Rabba  declared  that  "  the  law  about  fringes  " 
was  the  one  which  should  be  most  strongly  inculcated,  and 
that  his  father  Rabba  having  once  accidentally  trodden  on 
his  fringe  and  torn  it  while  he  was  standing  on  a  ladder, 
stayed  where  he  was,  and  would  not  move  till  it  was 
mended. § 

Our  Lord,  when  He  warned  the  people  and  His  disciples 

*See  the  Kabbalistic  work  Kitznr  Sh'lu,  p.  2,  and  Hershon,  Talm.  Misc., 
pp.  322  ff. 

\  Sheznioth,  f.  29,  I  ;  Maccoth,  f.  23,  2.  In  Deut.  xxii.  12  they  are  called 
gedillim,  Ixx. ,  OTpt-Kra,  R.  V.  Marg.,  "twisted  threads."  The  rule  is  elabor- 
ated in  Num.  xv.  37,  38. 

\  Shabbath,  f.  32,  2. 

%  Shabbath,  f.  118,  2.      Sec  Rashi  on  Num.  xv.  39, 


RELIGION    IN    PALESTINE.  159 

against  the  hypocrisy  of  the  Pharisees,  said  not  only  that 
"  they  enlarge  the  border  of  their  garments  "  (which  is  an 
allusion  to  the  "  fringes  "),  but  also  that  "  they  make  broad 
their  phylacteries,"  TepJiillin.  * 

It  is  at  least  doubtful  whether  Moses  ever  intended  these 
Tephillin  to  be  worn.  He  said  indeed,  **  It  [the  institution 
of  the  Passover]  shall  be  for  a  sign  unto  thee  upon  thine 
hand,  and  for  a  memorial  between  thine  eyes"  ;  f  and  "  It 
shall  be  for  a  token  upon  thine  hand,  and  for  frontlets 
between  thine  eyes."  %  There  is  the  strongest  probability 
that  the  words  were  only  metaphorical,  just  as  in  Prov.  iii. 
3,  "  Bind  them  on  thy  neck  ;  write  them  on  the  tablet  of 
thine  heart."  For  there  is  no  trace  of  any  early  use  of  these 
prayer-boxes,  and  the  passages  inscribed  on  the  vellum  are 
by  no  means  the  most  memorable  that  might  have  been 
selected.§  On  these  grounds  the  sensible  Karaites  rejected 
the  use  of  them,  and  St.  Jerome  rightly  explains  the  pas- 
sages to  mean  that  the  Jews  should  meditate  constantly  on 
these  commands.  The  Scribes  and  Pharisees,  how^ever, 
attached  the  most  exaggerated  importance  to  the  use  of 
them,  and  made  them  as  showily  broad  as  they  could. 
The  arm-phylacteries  (7V/>/////z//  sJiel  yod)  were  bound  on 
the  left  arm,  so  as  to  be  near  the  heart ;  and  the  head- 
phylacteries  {Tephillin  slid  rosJi)  were  bound  between  the 
eyes.  The  leather  strips  by  which  they  were  tied  were 
regarded  as  symbols  of  "  the  self-fettering  of  the  Divine 
commands."  On  the  phylactery  of  the  forehead  the  four 
passages  were  to  be  written  on  four  strips,  and  each  placed 
in  a  separate  compartment  of  the  calfskin  receptacle,  and 
each  was  to  be  tied  round  with  well-washed  hair  from  the 

*The  separate  compartments  of  the  beth  or  "  house  "  of  the  Tephillin  were 
called  Totaphoth. 

\  Ex.  xiii.  9. 

\  Ex.  xiii.  16,  Similiarly,  the  use  of  Mezuzoth,  hollow  cylinders  with  texts 
in  them,  was  founded  on  Deut.  vi.  8,  xi.  iS. 

§  They  were  Ex.  xiii.  1-16  ;  Deut.  vi.  4-9,  xi.  13-21. 


i6o  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

tail  of  a  calf,  with  the  letter  Shin,  K'.  with  tJirce  prongs  on 
the  right  side  (for  SJiaddai,  Almighty),  and  with  four 
prongs  on  the  left  side.  In  the  "arm-phylactery"  the 
four  passages  were  to  be  written  on  a  single  slip  of*  parch- 
ment in  four  columns  of  seven  lines  each,  and  the 
thong  was  to  be  passed  round  the  arm  three  times 
for  t^,  and  then  to  have  seven  more  twists.  Rabbi  Simon 
Hassida  deduced  from  Ex.  xxxiii.  23  that  God  had  revealed 
to  Moses  the  way  to  make  the  knot  of  the  phylacteries,* 
and  also  that  the  Eternal  Himself  wears  "  phylacteries." 
So  vast  was  the  importance  attached  to  these  fetishes  that 
the  Rabbis  said,  "  He  who  has  Tcphilltn  on  his  arm,  and 
Tsitsith  on  his  garment,  and  Meausoth  on  his  door,  has 
every  possible  guarantee  that  he  will  not  sin."  Yet  they 
said  that,  since  some  of  the  words  of  the  Law  were  "  light  " 
and  some  "  heavy,"  it  was  venial  to  deny  that  phylacteries 
had  ever  been  enjoined  ;  but  since  all  the  words  of  the 
Scribes  were  "  heavy,"  i.  e.,  of  consummate  importance,  it 
was  a  capital  offence  to  say  that  the  division  of  the  prayer- 
box  should  have  five  compartments  and  not  fourif  Salva- 
tion by  works,  and  by  such  paltry  nothings  as  these,  vvas 
the  direct  contradiction  of  the  righteousness  which  Jesus 
taught.  Thus  we  may  say  of  the  Pharisees  that  their  fear 
towards  God  was  taught  by  the  precepts  of  men.:}: 

"Mankind,"  said  Bishop  Butler,  "are  for  placing  the 
stress  of  their  religion  anywhere  rather  than  upon  virtue." 
Nevertheless  in  virtue — or  to  use  the  higher  and  better 
words,  "in  righteousness  and  true  holiness" — all  that  is 
essential  in  true  religion  is  comprised.  The  vast  error  both 
of  Sadducees  and  Pharisees  was  that  they  laid  more  stress  on 
rules  which  had  degenerated  into  external  rites  and  petty 
puerilities  than  on  temperance,  chastity,  and  soberness.  And 

*  Beb.  Barachoth,  f.  7. 

f  Mcnach.  33,  6  ;  Jer.  Berackoth,  3,  6.     See  GixQrtr,  Jakr.  d.  Heils  i.  146; 
Schwab,  p.  17  ;   Kalisch,  Exodus,  p.  224, 
\  Matt.  XV.  9  ;  Col.  ii.  22, 


RELIGION    IN    PALESTINE.  i6i 

that  was  why  Christ  addressed  them  as  "  Ye  hypocrites  !  " 
and  quoted  against  them  the  words  of  the  Evangehcal 
Prophet:  "This  people  draweth  nigh  unto  Me  with  their 
mouth  and  honoureth  Me  with  their  lips  ;  but  their  heart  is 
far  from  Me.  But  in  vain  they  do  worship  Me,  teaching 
for  doctrines  the  commandments  of  men."* 


In  these  pages  we  have  been  able  to  furnish  but  the 
slightest  glimpse  of  the  religious  condition  of  the  Jews  in  the 
time  of  our  Lord,  as  represented  by  their  leading  parties. 
But  in  the  Talmud  itself  we  find  the  elements  of  their 
emphatic  condemnation.  The  people,  while  they  continued 
to  pay  conventional  honour  to  the  Priests,  deeply  suspected 
them  of  betraying  the  national  interests  for  their  own 
aggrandisement,!  and  gave  their  main  confidence  to  the 
Pharisees.  On  the  great  Day  of  Atonement,  on  one  occa- 
sion, the  High  Priest  left  the  Temple  followed  by  a  crowd 
of  worshippers,  just  after  he  had  pronounced  the  promises 
of  God's  pardon  ;  but  on  seeing  the  Pharisaic  "  couple  "  of 
the  day,  Shemaiah  and  Abtalion,  the  crowd  immediately 
deserted  the  High  Priest  to  give  an  escort  to  the  Rabbis, 
"  Greeting  to  the  men  of  the  people  !  "  said  the  sarcastic 
and  indignant  Pontiff.  "Greeting,"  answered  the  Rabbis, 
"  to  the  men  of  the  people  who  do  the  works  of  Aaron,  not 
to  the  sons  of  Aaron  who  do  not  resemble  Aaron."  :j: 

Thus,  of  the  Sadducean  families  of  Priests  in  the  days  of 
the  Herods  we  read  : 

"  Woe  to  the  family  of  Boethos !  woe  to  their  spears  !  " 

"  Woe  to  the  family  of  Hanan  (Annas)  !  woe  to  their 
serpent-hissings  !  " 

"  Woe  to  the  family  of  Kanthera  !  woe  to  their  pens  !  " 

*  Matt.  XV.  8,  9.  f  Jos.  Antt.  xiv.  3.  2. 

X  Yoma,  f.  71,  2  ;  Griitz,  iii.  Ii6  ;  Derenbourg,  p.  118,  See  Hamburger, 
Real-Encycl,  ii.  1043. 


i62  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

"  Woe  to  the  family  of  Ishmael  ben  Phabi  !  woe  to  their 
fists  ! " 

"  They  themselves  are  High  Priests.  Their  sons  are  the 
treasurers ;  their  sons-in-law  captains  of  the  Temple  ;  and 
their  servants  smite  the  people  with  their  rods."* 

In  another  passage  we  read  that  "  the  threshold  of  the 
Sanctuary  uttered  four  cries,  '  Depart  hence,  ye  descend- 
ants of  Eli  ;  you  defile  the  Temple  of  Jehovah  ! ' 

" '  Depart  hence,  Issachar  of  Kephar  Barkai,  who  only 
carest  for  thyself,  and  profanest  the  victims  consecrated  to 
heaven — [for  he  wore  silk  gloves  when  he  sacrificed  !] 

"  '  Open  yourselves  wide,  ye  portals  !  let  Ishmael  ben 
Phabi  enter,  the  disciple  of  Pinekai. 

"'Open  yourselves  wide,  ye  gates!  let  Johanan  ben 
Nebedai  enter,  the  disciple  of  gluttons,  that  he  may  gorge 
himself  on  the  victims  ! '  "f 

And  of  the  Pharisees,  we  read  : 

There  are  eight  sects  of  Pharisees,  viz.,  these  : 

1.  The  shoulder  Pharisees,  i.  e.,  he  who,  as  it  were,  shoul- 
ders his  good  works,  to  be  seen  of  men. 

2.  The  time-gaining  Pharisee,  he  who  says,  "  Wait  a 
little  while ;  let  me  first  perform  this  or  that  good  work." 

3.  The  compounding  Pharisee,  he  who  says,  "  May  my 
few  sins  be  deducted  from  my  many  virtues,  and  so  atoned 
for." 

4.  The  mortar  Pharisee  {medorkia),  who  so  bends  his  back 
with  his  eyes  on  the  ground,  as  to  look  like  an  inverted 
mortar. 

This  seems  to  be  the  same  as  the  tumbling  Pharisee,  who 
is  so  humble  that  he  will  not  lift  his  feet  from  the  ground  ; 

*  Fesac/iim,  {.  S7. 'i ',  K'erithotJi,{.i^.  Josephus  furnishes  a  startling  com- 
ment on  the  last  woe  in  Antt.  xx.  8,  g.  See  also  Tosefta,  Meiiachoth  ad  Jin.; 
GerLgtr,Urschrift,  p.  118;  Derenbourg,  Palestine,  p.  233;  Renan,  L' Antichrist, 
p.  51;  Raphall,  Hist,  of  the  Jews,  ii.  370. 

f  Derenbourg,  Palestine,  p.  233.  He  regards  Pinekai  as  meaning  Self- 
indulgence,"  an  ironic  variation  of  Phinehas. 


RELIGION    IN    Px^LESTINE.  163 

and  the  hump-backed  Pharisee  who  walked  as  though  his 
shoulders  bore  the  whole  weight  of  the  Law. 

5.  The  tell-me-anotJier-diity-to-do-and-I -will-do-it  Pharisee. 

6.  The  SJiechemite  Pharisee,  who  is  a  Pharisee  only  for 
reward.     (Com.  Gen.  xxxiv.  19.) 

7.  The  timid  Pharisee,  who  is  a  Pharisee  only  from  dread 
of  Punishment. 

To  which  Rabbi  Nathan  adds : 

8.  The  born  Pharisee. 

And  some  substituted  for  one  of  these  classes  the  bleed- 
ing Pharisee  {kinai),  who  shuts  his  eyes  and  knocks  his 
face  against  walls,  lest  he  should  happen  to  see  a  woman. 

In  their  unbounded  self-exaltation,  and  undisguised  con- 
tempt for  all  except  their  own  set,  they  thrust  themselves 
into  the  place  of  God,  and  identified  their  small  decisions 
with  the  very  voice  of  the  Almighty.  They  fostered  the 
"  enormous  delusion  "  that  sensuous  and  finical  scrupulos- 
ities constituted  an  acceptable  service,  and  could  suspend 
the  vengeance  of  God,  which  they  imagined  as  ever  ready 
to  burst  upon  those  who  neglected  and  despised  their 
"  commandments  of  men."  Punctilious  trifles  were  sub- 
stituted for  holy  lives,  and  immorality  was  concealed  under 
a  cloak  "  doubly-lined  with  the  fox-fur  of  hypocrisy." 

Dr.  Emmanuel  Deutsch  says  that  the  Talmud  inveighs 
even  more  bitterly  and  caustically  than  the  New  Testa- 
ment against  what  it  calls  "  the  plague  of  Pharisaism  " — 
"the  dyed  ones  who  do  evil  deeds  and  claim  godly  recom- 
pense";*  "they  who  preach  beautifully,  but  do  not  act 
beautifully."  Parodying  their  exaggerated  logical  arrange- 
ments, their  scrupulous  divisions  and  sub-divisions,  the 
Talmud,  among  its  classes  of  unworthy  pretenders,  says 
that  the  real  and  only  Pharisee  is  he  who  doeth  the  will  of 

*  Jer.  Berachoth,  f.  ix.  7,  f.  13  ;  Bab.  Soteh,  f.  22,  i  ;  Avoth  d' Rabbi 
Nathan,  ch.  37.  See  Hershon,  Talm.  Miscel.  p.  122  ;  Derenbourg,  Palestine, 
p.  71.  In  Soteh,  f.  21,  2,  we  read  :  "  Foolish  saints,  crafty  villains,  sancti- 
pionious  women,  and  self -afflicting  Pharisees  are  the  destroyers  of  the  world." 


i64  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

his  Father  in  heaven  because  he  loves  Him.  But  the  charge 
of  hypocrisy  against  the  Pharisees  was  not  new  in  the  days 
of  Christ.  Even  Alexander  Jannaeus  had  warned  his  wife 
against  "  painted  Pharisees,  who  do  the  deeds  of  Zimri  and 
look  for  the  reward  of  Phinehas." 

Yet  there  must  be  in  the  human  mind  an  instinctive 
tendency  to  substitute  outward  observance  for  heart- 
religion,  and  to  make  exaggerated  legalism  usurp  the  place 
of  true  holiness;  for  Pharisaism,  from  its  incipient  stage  in 
the  days  of  the  Scribes  of  the  Great  Synagogue  till  the  time 
when  it  was  codified  in  the  Mishnah,  covered  a  space  of  six 
centuries  ;  and,  in  the  grotesque  developments  of  Talmud- 
ism,  it  lasted  on,  in  greater  or  less  degree,  down  to  modern 
times.  The  explanation  of  the  tendency  is  that  externalism 
is  easy,  and  generates  a  self-satisfaction  which  enables  men 
to  pose  as  "  religious,"  while  they  despise  others.  Nothing 
is  more  easy  than  to  live  with  boundless  self-complacency 
in  an  elaborate  round  of  functions  dictated  by  some  empty 
Directorium  of  useless  and  obsolete  tradition :  but,  as  even 
a  heathen  could  say,  it  is  difificult — difficult  and  not  so  easy 
as  it  seems — to  be  good  and  not  bad. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

THE   MESSIANIC   HOPE. 

"  Proclaim  glad  tidings  in  Jerusalem,  for  God  hath  had  mercy  upon 
Israel  in  her  visitation.  Set  thyself,  O  Jerusalem,  upon  a  high  place, 
and  behold  thy  sons  and  thy  daughters  from  the  morning  unto  the 
evening,  brought  together  for  ever  by  the  Lord." — Ps.  Salom  xi. 

"  All  the  prophets  prophesied  of  nothing  else  than  of  the  days  of  the 
Messiah." — Bab.  Berachoth,  f.  34,  2. 

Such  was  the  condition  of  the  world  and  of  reh'gion  as 
Jesus  heard  of  it,  and  saw  it,  and  meditated  upon  it,  while 
in  holy  and  obscure  poverty  He  toiled  in  the  shop  of  the 
village  carpenter.  But  He  was  also  profoundly  conscious 
of  the  deep  unrest,  of  the  passionate  longing  for  deliver- 
ance, which  moved  the  inmost  hearts  of  thousands,  and 
caused  so  many  of  the  best  and  holiest  to  live  in  constant 
and  yearning  hope  for  '*  the  redemption  of  Jerusalem  "  and 
"  the  consolation  of  Israel."  * 

There  are  epochs  in  the  world's  history  when  men  feel  a 
depressing  sense  of  uncertainty  and  misery  which  tends 
to  deepen  into  despair.  At  such  times  they  yearn  with  the 
whole  strength  of  their  being  for  some  fresh  communication 
of  the  mind  and  will  of  God.  The  lamp  of  revelation  has 
a  tendency  to  burn  dim  as  the  ages  advance ;  not  only  be- 
cause it  remains  untrimmed,  but  also  because  the  require- 
ments of  the  ages  differ,  and  that  which  sufificed  the  needs 
of  one  millennium  loses  much  of  its  force  in  another.  For 
this  reason  God  has  renewed  again  and  again  His  communi- 

*  Luke  ii.  25,  38,  i.  46-55.  Comp.  Pss.  Sol.  v.  13  ff. ;  2  Esdras  xi.  42  ;  Orac. 
Sib.  iii.  49,  etc.  The  Book  of  Baruch  and  2  Esdras  were  probably  not  written 
till  after  the  Fall  of  Jerusalem  (a.  d.  72),  and  are  doubtless  influenced  directly 
and  indirectly  by  Christian  hopes. 

165 


i66  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

cations  with  mankind.  From  the  first  dim  promise  of 
deHverance  to  the  fallen  progenitors  of  the  human  race — 
from  the  days  of  Enoch,  and  Noah,  and  Abraham,  and 
Jacob,  and  Moses,  again  and  again  has 

"  God,  stooping,  showed  sufficient  of  His  light 
For  those  i'  the  dark  to  walk  by." 

Then  came  the  succession  of  Prophets,  from  Samuel  to 
Amos,  and  Isaiah  to  Malachi.  After  five  centuries  of 
Scribism,  not  unenlightened  by  the  appearance  of  a  few 
noble  personalities  like  Judas  the  Maccabee  and  Simon  the 
Just,  and  by  a  few  great  writers  like  the  Son  of  Sirach,  we 
come  down  to  the  Messianic  era.  The  olden  prophets  had 
spoken  of  a  coming  Deliverer — a  Davidic  King,  who  should 
give  victory,  peace,  and  prosperity  to  His  people ;  or  of  a 
Servant  of  Jehovah,  who  should  bear  the  sins  of  many. 
The  Book  of  Daniel — the  favourite  book  of  the  days  of 
Christ* — and  various  Apocryphal  books,  of  more  recent 
date,  pointed  to  the  establishment  of  an  everlasting  king- 
dom, and  looked  for  a  return  of  Elijah,  or  one  of  the 
Prophets.f  to  prepare  the  way  of  its  Founder.  :j:  It  was  a 
current  belief  that  Jeremiah  might  re-appear  to  restore  to 
the  nation  the  five  missing  glories  of  the  Temple,  some  of 
which  he  was  supposed  to  have  hidden. §  But  in  parts  of 
the  Book  of  Enoch  (b.  C.  70),  and  the  Sibylline  Prophecies, 
and  in  the  Psalms  of  Solomon  (b.  c.  70-40),  the  belief  in 
the  Advent  of  a  Davidic  King  had  been  revived, ||  though 

*Jos.  Atitt.  X.  10,  II,  B.J.  vi.  5,  4.  Josephus  says  that  the  popularity  of 
the  Book  rose  from  the  definite  calculations  wliich  they  founded  upon  it.  They 
saw  in  the  Roman  Empire  the  "  fourtli  Beast"  of  Daniel,  which  was  to  be 
followed  by  the  Kingdom  which  should  not  be  destroyed  (Dan.  vii.  13,  14). 

f  Mai.  iv.  5  ;  Ecclus.  xxxvi.  15,  16,  xlix.  7  ;  Mark  vi.  15,  viii.  28  ;  Johni.  21, 
vi.  14,  etc. 

\  I  Mace.  iv.  46,  xiv.  41.  Comp.  Deut.  xviii.  15  ;  Wendt,  Teaching  of 
Jesus,  i.  63. 

§  Matt.  xvi.  14  ;  John  i.  21,  vi.  14,  vii.  40.  In  2  Mace.  xv.  13  ff.  he  appears 
in  vision  to  strengthen  his  countrymen. 

II  Enoch  X.  16-38,  xlvi.  i,  Iv.  4,  Ixii.  6,  etc.;  Sibyll.   iii.  652-794  ;  Pss.  Sol. 


THE    MESSIANIC    HOPE.  167 

it  is  not  found  in  the  Assumption  of  Moses  or  the  Book  of 
Jubilees.  The  Psalms  of  Solomon  were  specially  full  of  a 
passionate  conviction  that  the  day  was  at  hand  when  the 
coming  Messiah  should  cleanse  Jerusalem  with  His  sanctifi- 
cation,  even  as  it  was  at  the  first,  so  that  nations  would 
come  from  the  ends  of  the  earth  to  behold  its  glory.  "  No 
evil  will  prevail  among  them  in  those  days,  for  all  shall  be 
holy,  and  their  King  is  Christ  the  Lord.''*  The  great 
Alexandrian  thinker,  Philo,  though  he  moved  for  the  most 
part  in  a  region  of  chill  philosophical  abstractions,  yet 
sometimes  dwells  on  the  coming  glory  of  Messianic  days,  f 
Josephus,  though  intensely  cautious  lest  he  should  offend 
his  Roman  patrons,  shows  that  he,  too,  shared  to  some 
extent  in  the  hopes  of  his  people.:}:  Since  the  days  of 
Queen  Alexandra,  many  like  Simeon  and  Joseph  of  Arima. 
thaea  had  been  "waiting  for  the  Consolation  of  Israel"  and 
for  the  Kingdom  of  God;  so  that  at  the  coming  of  the 
Baptist  §  the  people  were  in  expectation,  "and  many 
reasoned  in  their  hearts  of  John  whether  haply  he  were  the 
Christ."!  The  generality  of  the  expectation  explains  the 
daring  violence  of  the  Pharisaic  youths  who,  at  the  instiga- 
tion of  Matthias  and  Judas,  destroyed  the  golden  eagle 
which  Herod  had  placed  over  the  entrance-gate  of  his  new 
Temple.  It  also  accounts  for  the  multitude  of  followers 
who   gathered    round    Simon,    Athronges,    and    Judas    of 

xvii.,  xviii. ;  Wendt.  /.  c.  It  is  clear  from  the  Gospels  that  the  conception  was 
prominent  in  the  minds  of  the  people.  Mark  viii,  29,  ix.  13,  x.  47,  xi.  10,  xii. 
35,  xiv.  61-64  ;  John  vi.  69,  xii.  34. 

*Pss.  Sol.  xvii.  33,  36.  The  writer  also  exclaims  :  "Behold,  O  Lord,  and 
raise  up  for  them  their  King,  David's  Son,  in  the  time  when  Thou  hast 
appointed,  that  he  may  reign  over  Israel  thy  servants."  The  Psalter  of 
Solomon  may  be  read  in  Hilgenfeld's  Messias  Judceorum.  It  refers  in  many 
passages  to  a  pure  and  mighty  Messiah,  who  in  Ps.  xvii.  is  described  as 
Xpcarbg  Kiiftiog  as  in  Lam.  iv.  20  (Ixx). 

f  Philo,  in  his  De  execratiotie,  and  De pram,  et poen. 

XB.J.  v.  I,  3  ;  Antt.  iv.  6,  5,  x.  10,  4.     See  Hausrath  i.  199. 

§  Luke  ii.  25-28  ;  Mark  xv.  43. 

II  Luke  iii.  15. 


i68  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

Galilee,  and  even  such  a  miserable  impostor  as  Theudas. 
The  multitude  clung  with  convulsive  hope  or  despairing 
frenzy  to  almost  anyone  who  seemed  to  promise  any  form 
or  possibility  of  emancipation — to  Hyrcanus  ;  to  the  beau- 
tiful young  High  Priest  Aristobulus ;  to  the  impostor 
Alexander ;  to  Agrippa  I.; — some  Jews  even  regarded 
Herod  the  Great  as  a  Divinely  appointed  Deliverer;*  while 
Josephus  looked,  or  professed  to  look,  to  Vespasian  and  the 
power  of  Rome  as  a  source  of  hope  for  the  future.  It  was 
not  until  after  the  final  overthrow  of  Bar  Cochba,  "  the  Son 
of  a  Star  "  (a.  d.  135),  that  such  movements  became  impos- 
sible for  ever.  With  the  enthusiastic  Pharisee,  Rabbi 
Akiba,  ended  the  Rabbinic  Schools,  which  expected  for 
Israel  a  temporal  deliverance. 

The  older  Messianic  Hope  had  mainly  concerned  itself 
with  the  future  glories  of  Israel ;  the  later  form  of  Messi- 
anic Expectation  began  to  regard  the  Messiah  as  the 
Deliverer  of  the  whole  world,  and  the  Comforter  of  indi- 
vidual miseries.  It  also  enriched  and  enlarged  the  horizon 
of  mortal  life  by  the  doctrine  of  a  future  Resurrection — in 
which  the  Pharisees  believed,  though  it  was  rejected  by  the 
Priests  and  Sadducees.  The  Olani  Habbah,  or  "  future 
aeon,"  was  to  be  in  every  respect  more  splendid  and  happy 
than  the  Olam  Hazzeh,  or  "  present  aeon."  But  the  happy 
age  was  to  be  preceded  by  days  of  immense  tribulation,  of 
which  the  only  alleviation  lay  in  the  knowledge  that  they 
were  "  the  birth-throes  "  {oadirs? :  Matt.  xxiv.  8  ;  Mark  xiii. 
8;  B. /.  vi.  5,  4),  the  Chebly  Hammeshiach,  or  travail-pangs 
of  the  Messiah  (Hos.  xiii.  13). 

Such  expectations  had  even  been  disseminated  in  the 
heathen  world.  They  have  left  their  traces  on  the  pages  of 
Horace  and  of  Virgil.  "  In  the  whole  East,"  says  Sue- 
tonius, "  had  prevailed  an  ancient  and  fixed  opinion,  that, 
at  this  time,  it  was  a  decree  of  destiny  that  some  who  came 
from   Judaia  would  become   masters  of  the  whole  world. 

*See  Keim  i.  300  ff.  (Tert.  Praescr.  45), 


THE    MESSIANIC    HOPE.  169 

Events  subsequently  proved  that  such  a  prophecy  had  some 
reference  to  a  Roman  Emperor  ;  but  the  Jews,  forcing  its 
interpretation  to  themselves,  rose  in  rebellion."  Josephus 
was  probably  the  first  who  gave  this  interpretation  to  the 
prophecy.  Tacitus,  like  Suetonius,  attributes  the  revolt 
of  the  Jews  to  their  perverted  application  to  themselves  of 
a  prediction  which  referred  to  the  Roman  Conquerors.* 
The  rumoured  appearance  of  the  Phoenix  in  Egypt,  after 
the  lapse  of  many  centuries,  excited  the  wildest  surmise  in 
an  age  which  felt  that  the  mass  of  mankind  had  sunk  into  a 
condition  too  horrible  for  continuance,  and  which  had  been 
affrighted  by  endless  misfortunes  and  omens.f  Men  had 
also  been  deeply  moved  by  the  story  of  the  cry,  "  Great 
Pan  is  dead!  ""  %  which  had  been  heard  by  the  sailors  in  the 
reign  of  Tiberius,  and  had  evoked  a  burst  of  multitudinous 
wailing.  Before  things  had  assumed  their  worst  aspect, 
Virgil,  in  his  vaticination  of  the  future  glories  of  the  son  of 
Asinius  Pollio,  had  sung:§ 

"  Aspice  convexo  nutantem  pondere  mundum 
Terraeque  tractusque  maris,  coelumque  profundum, 
Adspice  venturo  laetantur  ut  omnia  saeclo  !  " 

The  restless  belief  as  to  some  overwhelmingly  important 
world-crisis,  which  would  have  its  origin  in  Eastern  lands, 
affected  even  the  most  godless  of  Roman  Emperors.  It 
was  the  passionate  desire  of  Caius  Caligula  to  set  up  the 
gilded  colossus  of  himself  in  the  Temple  of  Jerusalem.  As 
we  have  seen,  Poppaea,  the  wife  of  Nero,  was,  according  to 
Josephus,  a  Jewish  proselyte;  ||  and  Nero  himself  had  been 
taught,  perhaps  by  Jews,  to  look  to  the  East,  and  even  to 
Jerusalem,  as  the  seat  of  a  future  dominion.^f 

It  was  not  strange  that,  amid  the  deep  and  ever-deepen- 
ing darkness,  men  should  be  expectant  of  a  coming  Dawn. 

*Tac.  Hist.  V.  13.  f  Tac.  Ann.  vi.  28-51. 

X  Plut.  De  Defect.  Orac.  17.  §  Eel.  iv.     Comp.  Orac.  Sibyll.  784  ff. 

Il  Jos.   Vit.  3  ;  Antt,  xx.  8,  11.     Comp.  Tac.  Ann.  xvi.  6. 
'[  Suet.  Nero,  40.     See  Keim,  i.  326. 


I70  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

It  is,  however,  important  to  observe  that  the  True  Messiah 
was  so  little  the  natural  evolution  of  current  Messianic 
expectations  that,  coming  neither  as  a  King  nor  as  a  Vic- 
tor, nor  as  a  temporal  Emancipator  of  His  people,  nor  as  a 
mere  man  at  all,  but  as  a  Divine  and  crucified  Nazarene, 
He  reversed  and  violated  all  the  most  cherished  expecta- 
tions of  His  land  and  age.  He  was  not  "  a  more  victorious 
Joshua,  a  more  magnificent  Herod,  a  wider-reaching  Caesar, 
a  wiser  Moses,  a  holier  Abraham."  He  was  no  burning 
Isaiah,  no  vengeful  Elijah,  no  learned  Hillel,  or  passionate 
Akiba — no  ringleader  of  rising  multitudes,  like  Judas  the 
Gaulonite,  or  Bar  Cochba. 

"  He  came,  but  not  in  regal  splendour  drest — 
The  haughty  diadem,  the  Tyrian  vest ; 
Not  armed  in  flame  all  glorious  from  afar, 
Of  hosts  the  Captain,  and  the  Lord  of  war  "; 

but  He  came  as  "  the  Carpenter,"  as  the  meek  and  lowly,  as 
the  wearer  of  the  crown  of  thorns  ;  and  He  established  His 
claim  as  Universal  Victor  by  means  of  a  few  obscure  and 
timid  followers,  after  He  had  perished  amid  the  banded 
obloquies  of  His  nation  and  of  His  age. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

JOHN   THE   BAPTIST. 

"  This  is  Elijah  which  was  for  to  come." — Matt.  xi.  14. 

"  John,  than  which  man  a  sadder  and  a  greater 
Not  till  this  day  had  been  of  woman  born  ; 
John,  like  some  iron  peak  by  the  Creator 

Fired  with  the  red  glow  of  the  rushing  morn." 

— F.  Myers. 

When  the  hour  has  struck — when  "  the  shadow  has 
crept  to  the  appointed  hne  on  the  dial-plate  of  destiny  " — 
God  calls  forth  the  man. 

The  chief  need  of  the  world  is  the  death-defying  courage 
of  true  men.  The  only  power  which  can  reclaim  the  world 
in  ages  of  sloth,  decadence,  and  self-deceiving  religionisin  is 
the  power  of  insight  and  burning  sincerity  which  He 
inspires  into  the  hearts  of  saints  and  Prophets.  No  prayer 
is  more  constantly  needed  than  that  God  would  grant  to 
His  Church  a  succession  of  men, — not  of  incarnate  conven- 
tionalities, who  think  that  the  truth  will  perish  with  them, 
or  that  it  has  been  frozen  for  ever  in  channels  of  stagnant 
function.  Through  such  channels  the  living  water  flows  no 
longer.  The  cry  which  springs  spontaneously  from  our 
hearts  is — 

"  God  give  us  men  !     A  time  like  this  demands 

Great  hearts,  strong  minds,  true  faith,  and  willing  hands  ; 
Men  whom  the  lust  of  office  does  not  kill, 

Men  whom  the  spoils  of  office  cannot  buy, 
Men  who  possess  convictions  and  a  will. 

Men  who  have  honour,  men  who  dare  not  lie." 

This  has  been  felt  even  in  heathen  lands.     We  know  how 
Diogenes  went  through  the  streets  of  Athens  with  a  lan- 

171 


172  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

tern,  seeking  for  a  man  ;  and  when  some  of  the  crowd  came 
to  him  he  beat  them  away  with  the  contemptuous  exclama- 
tion, "  I  want  men ;  ye  are  GuvftaXa.'"  Much  more  has  it 
been  felt  in  Churches  which  have  stagnated  into  pretence 
and  unreality  under  the  ruinous  influences  of  priestly 
usurpation.  "  Run  ye  to  and  fro  through  the  streets  of 
Jerusalem,"  said  Jeremiah,  "and  see  now,  and  know,  and 
seek  in  the  broad  places  thereof,  if  ye  can  find  a  man,  if 
there  be  any  that  doeth  justly  and  seeketh  faithfulness,  and 
I  will  pardon  her."*  But  he  could  find  no  such  man. 
There  were  many  who  said,  "  The  Lord  liveth,"  but  they 
swore  falsely,  and  made  their  faces  harder  than  a  rock  even 
against  chastisement.  And  if  these  were  mainly  the  poor 
and  foolish,  the  great  men  and  leaders  were  even  worse. 
They  had  altogether  broken  the  yoke  and  burst  the  bands. 
The  nation  as  a  nation  continued  to  trust  in  dead  formulae 
which,  so  used,  had  dwindled  into  lying  words.  "  Ignorant 
of  God's  righteousness  and  seeking  to  establish  their  own, 
they  did  not  subject  themselves  to  the  righteousness  of 
God."f  Convinced  that  they  were  themselves  righteous, 
and  despising  others,  they  had  degraded  God  into  the 
leader  of  a  sect,  and  in  their  opinionated  infallibility  furi- 
ously condemned  and  did  their  utmost  to  suppress,  by  mean 
slanders  and  by  open  or  subterranean  violence,  those  who 
had  some  glimpses  of  the  true  light.  Like  the  snail, 
which,  as  the  Hindoo  proverb  says,  "sees  nothing  but  its 
own  shell,  and  thinks  it  the  grandest  place  in  the  universe," 
so  they  saw  nothing  beyond  the  pettinesses  which  they 
glorified  as  though  they  were  the  essence  of  holy  service. 
Out  of  the  heart  of  this  spiritual  stagnancy  which  had 
lost  sight  of  righteousness  in  ritualism,  and  fancied  that  a 
mass  of  meaningless  minutiae  were  essential  things;  out 
of  the  very  heart  of  this  dead  and  half-putrescent  system, 
which  was  abundantly  breeding  its  "  offspring  of  vipers  "  X — 

*  Jer.  V.  1-9.  f  Rom.  x.  3. 

i^This  phrase  yevv^/fxa-a  ixi^vuv  (Matt.  iii.   7;  Luke  iii.  7  ;  "  serpentes  ex 


JOHN   THE    BAPTIST.  173 

God  called  a  MAN.  He  was  by  birth  a  priest,  the  son 
of  a  priest  of  the  order  of  Abijah,  and  was  therefore 
in  a  position  to  observe  at  first  hand  the  moral  decay  of  a 
sacerdotalism  which  within  was  full  of  extortion  and  excess. 
The  mission  of  John  expressed  a  revolt  against  Levitism, 
and  a  republication — as  from  a  new  Sinai — of  the  eternal 
moral  law.  It  was  a  declaration  that  religion  means  "  a 
good  mind  and  a  good  life,"  and  that  when  it  ceases  to 
mean  this,  it  means  worse  than  nothing.  It  was  a  preach- 
ing of  the  old,  simple,  obliterated  truth  that  "  the  righteous 
Lord  loveth  righteousness^  John  came,  as  our  Lord  said, 
"  171  the  zvay  of  righteousness.'"'^  His  mission  was  a  return 
to  the  mighty  moral  teaching  of  those  old  prophets  who 
were  the  glory  of  Hebraism.  John  the  Baptist  did  not  so 
much  as  allude  to  one  of  the  myriad  rules  of  Pharisaism. 
Priest  and  Nazarite  though  he  was,  he  did  not  once  refer  to 
the  ceremonial  law  to  which  the  current  orthodoxy  made 
the  Prophets  a  mere  appendage.  But  he  re-echoed,  in  tones 
of  thunder,  the  burning  messages  of  the  Prophets  them- 
selves, and  especially  of  Isaiah.  The  essence  of  his  teach- 
ing was  to  be  found  in  the  messages  of  "the  Evangelical 
Prophet,"  of  Amos,  Micah,  Jeremiah,  and  Hoshea. 

His  aspect  emphasised  his  message.  His  preached  not 
in  Temple  or  synagogue,  but  among  the  wild  rocks  of  **  the 
appalling  desolation  "  {/eshiinon),  in  the  Valley  of  the  Dead 
Sea,  "  the  haunt  of  thirst,  where  the  dragons  and  demons 
howl."  He  wore  no  priestly  vestments,  but  a  shaggy  skin.f 
His  girdle  was  a  strip  of  untanned  leather — not  a  girdle  of 
fine  linen  embroidered  with  threads  of  gold  and  silver,  like 
those  worn  by  such  as  lived  in  kings'  houses.  His  food 
was  such  as  nature  supplied.  It  consisted  of  the  wild 
honey  which  exudes  from  the  leaves  of  tropical  plants,  or  is 

serpentibus  ")  is  not  found  in  the  Old  Testament,  but  waa  twice  used  by  our 
Lord  (Matt.  xii.  34,  xxiii.  33). 

*  Matt.  xxi.  32. 

f  2  Kings  i,  8;  Zech.  xiii.  4;  Is,  iii.  24;  Heb.  xi.  37. 


174  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

left  by  the  bees  in  the  clefts  of  the  rocks;*  and  of  the 
locusts,  which  the  south  wind  swept  from  Arabia,  and 
scattered  among  the  valleys  of  the  Dead  Sea,  but  which 
few  could  eat  without  disgust. f  John  poured  open  scorn 
on  all  luxur)'.  He  came  like  a  new  Elijah,  in  all  the  uncom- 
promising sternness  of  his  prototype. :|:  He  did  not  preach 
smooth  things  and  prophesy  deceits,  but  told  of  One  whose 
fan  was  in  His  hand,  who  should  thoroughly  purge  His 
floor,  and  burn  up  the  chaff  with  unquenchable  fire.  This 
constituted  the  terribly  original  feature  of  his  message. 
"Of  all  the  Messianic  passages  which  we  find  written  in 
Sibyls,  Apocalypses,  and  Jubilees,  not  one  has  struck  this 
tone,  which  fell  like  rolling  thunder  on  the  ears  of  the 
people." 

His  preaching  was  avowedly  preparative — it  was  that  of 
a  Forerunner.  He  told  the  deputation  of  Priests  and 
Levites  which  came  to  him  from  Jerusalem  that  he  was 
not  the  Messiah,  nor  Elijah,  nor  the  expected  Prophet,  but 
that  he  was  "  the  Voice  of  one  crying  in  the  wilderness, 
Make  straight  the  way  of  the  Lord,  as  said  the  Prophet 
Isaiah."  John  baptised  with  water  only,  as  a  preparation 
for  Him  who  already  stood  among  them,  though  they 
knew  Him  not,  who  should  baptise  them  with  the  Holy 
Ghost  and  with  fire,  but  who  would  not  be  finally  mani- 
fested except  after  a  time  of  judgment — "the  great  and 
terrible  day  of  the  Lord." 

John's  preaching  aimed  at  religious  awakenment.  The 
priests  were  indolently  absorbed  in  "sacrificing  and  cele- 
brating," and  were  sunk  in  greed,  routine,  and  ambitious 
worldliness.  The  masses  of  the  people  and  of  their 
teachers  were  trusting  in  lying  words,  saying,  "We  be 
Abraham's     sons " ;     and    in     outward     privileges — "  The 

*  Jos.  B.  J.  iv.  8. 

f  All  kinds  of  locusts  are  allowed  to  be  eaten  in  Lev.  xi.  22.     They  were 
dried  and  salted.     Jer.  in  Jovin.  ii.     Comp.  Plin  H.  N.  ii.  29,  vi.  30. 
X  Mai.  iii,  1-3  ;  Ecclus.  xlviii.  ip,  11  ;  Mark  ix.  12, 


JOHN    THE    BAPTIST.  175 

Temple  of  the  Lord,  the  Temple  of  the  Lord,  the  Temple 
of  the  Lord  are  these."  They  were  occupied  with  badges 
of  party,  and  tithes  of  mint,  anise,  and  cumin,  and  with 
artificial  moralities  which  altogether  benumbed  the  sense 
of  truth  and  reality.  The  fogs  needed  to  be  scattered  by 
thunder  and  hurricane.  From  the  sickly  and  perfumed  air 
of  contentment  with  the  infinitesimal,  and  hypocrisy  as  to 
the  essential — from  the  conventional  optimism  "  which 
sweetened  the  present,  and  gilded  the  future  with  the  lazy 
fancy  of  a  well-fed  piety  " — he  roused  them  as  with  shocks 
of  earthquake.  It  was  not  his  to  say  smooth  things  and 
prophesy  deceits ;  not  his  to  bow  low  before  the  idol  of 
fashionable  "  views,"  nor  "to  glide  softly  into  the  hearts 
of  party  votaries."  His  object  was  to  tear  off  the 
mask  from  the  pretenders  who  disguised  themselves  as 
angels  of  li^t,  and  to  smite  them  in  the  face.  The 
preaching  of  John  was  "as  the  sweeping  storms  of  March 
before  the  soft  rustling  of  the  vernal  breezes  of  the 
Gospel." 

He  stood  up,  an  Incarnate  Conscience  rising  in  revolt 
against  "  the  shows  and  shams  of  a  self-soothing  piety." 
This  child — nurtured  amid  the  free  winds  and  lonely 
grandeur  of  the  wilderness — represented  Reality  confront- 
ing Sham.  What  he  demanded  was  genuine  penitence  and 
amendment  of  life.  He  had  nothing  to  say  about  "  bowing 
the  head  like  a  bulrush,"  offering  sacrificial  atonements,  or 
being  particular  about  fasts  and  feasts — but  he  thundered 
forth,  "  Wash  you,  make  you  clean,  put  away  the  evil  of 
your  doings ;  flee  from  the  wrath  to  come ;  bring  forth 
fruits  worthy  of  your  repentance."  In  all  this  (as  we  have 
seen)  he  was  but  returning  to  the  central  messages  of  the 
Old  Testament  Scriptures  before  the  religion  of  Israel  had 
been  overlaid  with  the  filmy  network  of  Scribism  and 
formality.  * 

*  The  inmost  essence  of  the  Law  is  expressed  in  such  passages  as  Lev.  xxvi. 
40  ;  Deut.  iv.  29,  xxx.  2  ;  Isaiah  i.  16,  xlii.  24  ;  Joel  ii.  12  ;  and />assim. 


176  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

Hence  his  preaching  was  necessarily  a  preaching  of 
repentance  in  the  sternest  of  tones.  Never  was  there  a 
more  fierce  denouncer  of  disguised  hypocrisy.  "  Offspring 
of  vipers,"  he  said  to  the  Pharisees  and  Sadducccs,  "  wlio 
warned  you  to  flee  from  the  wrath  to  come  ?  Bring  forth, 
therefore,  fruit  worthy  of  repentance.  And  think  not  to 
say  within  yourselves,  '  We  have  Abraham  to  our  father,* 
for  I  say  unto  you  that  God  is  able  of  these  stones 
{Abanim)  to  raise  up  children  {Banini)  to  Abraham."  He 
did  not  speak  to  Jews  as  a  Jew,  but  as  a  man  to  men,  "that 
all  men  through  him  might  believe."  Addressing  his 
hearers  quite  irrespectively  of  their  nationality  or  pre- 
rogatives, he  discouraged  the  materialised  hopes  of  his 
people  no  less  than  their  boasted  prerogatives.  The  things 
about  which  they  prided  themselves,  and  postured  before 
others,  were  not  of  the  smallest  importance.  Their  fast- 
ings, their  casuistical  theologies,  and  multiplied  ablutions — 
their  phylacteries,  whether  broad  or  narrow — were  beneath 
his  notice.  Their  whole  system  of  religion  was  but  the 
blighted  tree  on  which  the  axe,  already  at  its  backmost 
poise,  should  swoop  with  a  final  crash ;  or  as  the  barren 
chaff  which  should  soon  be  burnt  with  unquenchable  fire. 

The  preaching  of  John  dealt,  as  all  true  preaching  should, 
with  plain,  simple,  unconventional  holiness.  It  is  not  the 
work  of  such  men  to  compass  heaven  and  earth  to  make 
one  proselyte,  and  then  to  make  him  "  tenfold  more  the 
child  of  hell  than  themselves."  His  work  was  to  preach 
the  "  pure,  unsophisticated,  dephlegmated,  defaecated  " 
moral  law;  to  tell  the  publicans  to  exact  no  more  than  that 
which  was  legal ;  to  bid  the  soldiers  be  content  with  their 
wages,  to  accuse  none  falsely,  and  to  do  no  violence ;  to 
convince  the  people  that  they  must  substitute  righteous- 
ness for  idle  self-confidence,  give  alms  to  their  fellow-men 
with  the  most  ample  and  generous  self-sacrifice,  and  by 
love  serve  one  another.* 

No  wonder  that  such  preaching  in  the  wild  desert  of 
*  Matt,  V.  40. 


JOHN   THE    BAPTIST.  177 

Jeshimon — preaching  so  utterly  new,  so  fearless,  so  heart- 
searching — uttered  by  a  man  who  had  broken  with  the 
traditional  religionism  of  his  day,  and  desired  something 
deeper  and  more  real  than  its  narcotics,  something  higher 
and  more  heroical  than  its  functions,  something  more  heal- 
ing and  essential  than  its  petty  effeminacies — caused  multi- 
tudes to  stream  out  to  "  the  horror  "  of  the  desert,  to  see 
this  "  shocking  figure  "  in  camel's  skin  and  leathern  girdle, 
who  only  cared  to  sustain  life  on  locusts  and  wild  honey. 
The  religious  despots  might  self-complacently  pronounce 
that  "  he  had  a  demon,"  but  the  multitude  heard  the  mes- 
sage of  God  in  the  voice  of  a  true  man.  Here  was  a  man 
"  whose  manifestation  was  like  a  burning  torch ;  whose 
whole  life  was  a  very  earthquake  ;  whose  whole  being  was  a 
sermon."  Here  was  one  who,  alone  among  the  teachers  of 
his  day,  scornfully  tore  to  shreds  the  rags  of  hypocrisy,  and 
while  he  showed  men  that  they  were  something  better  than 
"hungers,  thirsts,  fevers,  and  appetites,"  strove  to  bring 
them  face  to  face  with  the  Unseen,  and  make  them  realise 
the  grandeur  of  God,  and  feel  the  supremacy  of  righteous- 
ness and  true  holiness.* 

But  there  was  also  an  element  of  Hope  in  his  discourses. 
Sharing  in  the  intense  Messianic  expectations  of  the  day, 
he  promised  the  speedy  advent  of  the  stern  yet  righteous 
Deliverer,  who  should  purify  the  air  infected  with  heathen 
influences  and  Sadducean  unbelief,f  and  pour  life  into  a 
religion  which  had  become  like  the  thin  iridescence  over 
the  stagnancy  of  a  putrescent  pool. 

The  career  of  a  Prophet  or  a  true  saint — especially  if  he 
denounces  current  unrealities,  and  shows  no  respect  for 
dominant  religious  autocrats — is  hardly  complete  unless  it 

*  The  simple  veracity  and  authenticity  of  the  Gospels  constantly  find  corrob- 
oration from  external  sources.  The  account  of  the  Baptist  receives  an  inde- 
pendent support  in  all  essential  features  from  the  reticent  narrative  of  Josephus. 

f  The  troubles  raised  by  the  Samaritan  Messianic  impostor  (Jos.  Atttt.  xviii. 
4,  I,  2)  may  have  partly  arisen  from  the  tension  of  mind  caused  by  John's 
teaching. 


178  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

be  surrounded  with  the  malice,  hatred,  and  all  uncharit- 
ableness  of  the  world  and  of  the  nominal  Church.  The 
normal  lot  of  the  loftiest  teachers  is  some  form  or  other  of 
martyrdom  at  the  hands  of  all  who  love  falsity.  Popu- 
larity, and  party  adulation,  and  the  soft  murmur  of  applause 
are  not  for  such,  but  for  those  natures  who,  in  self-complac- 
ent usurpation  of  prerogatives  which  are  not  theirs,  answer 
the  world  according  to  its  idols  !  The  stake,  the  dungeon, 
the  torture-chamber,  the  roar  of  violent  abuse,  the  viper's 
hiss  of  creeping  malice,  the  subterranean  calumnies  of  reli- 
gious partisans,  the  bale-fires  of  the  Inquisitors,  have  been 
the  ordinary  destiny  of  the  noblest  of  the  sons  of  God. 
Their  crown  and  sceptre  have  been  like  those  of  their 
Saviour — a  crown  of  torturing  thorns,  the  sceptre  of  a 
mocking  reed.  Such  is  the  teaching  alike  of  the  Old*  and 
of  the  New  Testament. f  By  Priests  and  Kings,  "  with 
fierce  lies  maddening  the  blind  multitude,"  the  saints  are 
stoned,  are  sawn  asunder,  are  slain  with  the  sword,  desti- 
tute, afflicted,  tormented,  because  the  world  is  not  worthy 
of  them.  And  worst  of  all,  much  of  their  work  often  seems 
— though  only  seems — to  have  been  in  vain. 

So  it  was  with  St.  John  the  Baptist.  First  came  cold 
neglect  and  indifTerence,  and  the  sneer  of  the  religious 
leaders  that  he  was  a  demoniac  ;  %  then  the  sword  flashed, 
and  the  life  of  the  noblest  of  the  Prophets  was  shorn  away. 
The  "  viper's  brood,"  the  Pharisees  and  the  Sadducees,  the 
adulterous  king,  the  wicked  matron,  the  dancing  girl,  pre- 
vailed ;  and  all  that  was  left  of  him,  than  whom  no  greater 
had  been  born  of  woman,  was  a  head  on  a  charger  in  a  har- 
lot's hand,  and  a  bleeding  trunk  in  the  dungeon  of  a  grim 
fortress  among  the  desert  hills. 

Nevertheless  his  work  lived  on.     Not  only  did   many, 

*i  Kings  xix.  lo  ;  2  Chr.  xvi.  lo,  xxiv.  21  ;  Jer.  xxvi.  8,  23. 

f  See  Luke  vi.  22,  23,  26  ;  Matt.  v.  11  :  Mk.  x.  29.  30  ;  John  xvii.  14  ; 
Acts  V.  41,  vii.  52  ;  Rom.  v.  3  ;  i  Thess.  ii.  14,  15  ;  Heb.  xi.  36-38,  xiii.  13  ; 
I  Pet.  iii.  14,  iv.  12,  16. 

%  Matt   xiv.  8-12. 


JOHN    THE    BAPTIST.  179 

even  at  Ephesus,  own  his  leadership  nearly  thirty  years 
later  (Acts  xviii.  25,  xix.  3),  but — what  was  of  infinitely 
greater  importance — he  had  effectually  prepared  the  way 
for  Him  "  whose  shoe's  latchet  he  was  not  worthy  to 
unloose." 

"The  last  and  greatest  herald  of  heaven's  King, 
Girt  with  rough  skins,  hies  to  the  deserts  wild  : 
His  food  was  locusts,  and  what  there  doth  spring, 
With  honey  that  from  virgin-hives  distilled  ; 
Then  burst  he  forth,  '  All  ye  whose  hopes  rely 
On  God,  with  me  among  the  deserts  mourn  : 
Repent  !  repent  !  and  from  old  errors  turn  1 ' 
Who  listened  to  his  voice,  obeyed  his  cry  ? 
Only  the  echoes  which  he  made  relent 
Rung  from  their  flinty  caves — '  Repent !  repent  1!  '  " 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

THE  BAPTISM   OF  JESUS. 

ovx  wf  cvdea,     .     .     .     dA/l'  vnep  tov  yhovq 

Tov  Tuv  avBpuTvuv. — Just.  Mart.  Dial.  88. 

The  Ministry  of  St.  John  the  Baptist  falls  into  two  well- 
marked  epochs,  separated  from  each  other  by  the  Baptism 
of  Christ.* 

To  Jesus,  in  His  obscure  and  humble  home,  the  thrill 
which  passed  through  every  section  of  society  at  the  voice 
of  the  Baptist,  and  the  appearance  of  a  true  Man  among 
the  ignoble  shadows  and  self-satisfied  hypocrisies,  came  as 
a  sign  from  His  Heavenly  Father  that  the  time  had  arrived 
for  His  manifestation  to  the  world.  For  now,  by  John's 
work  as  an  avowed  Forerunner,  the  long-slumbering  hope 
was  aroused,  and,  "  with  mighty  billows  the  Messianic 
movement  surged  through  the  entire  people."  Was  he  the 
promised  Forerunner,  Elijah,  whom  in  so  many  respects  he 
resembled?  Was  he  the  expected  Jeremiah  come  to 
restore  to  them  the  Ark  and  the  Mercy  Seat,  and  the  Urim 
which  he  was  supposed  to  have  hidden  in  a  cave  on  Mount 
Nebo?f  Many  even  wondered  whether  he  might  not  him- 
self be  the  promised  Messiah.  "  All  men  mused  in  their 
hearts  of  John  whether  he  were  the  Christ  or  not.":}: 

In  going  to  listen  to  the  preaching  of  John,  our  Lord 
doubtless  followed  that  inward  guidance  which  was  the 
supreme  law  of  His  life.  He  offered  Himself  for  baptism. 
The  full  meaning  of  this  act  is  beyond  our  apprehension. 

*  It  has  not  been  my  object  to  enter  into  questions  of  chronology,  endlessly 
debated,  and  still  undecided.  Several  modern  authorities  have  concluded  that 
Christ's  Baptism  took  place  before  the  Passover  in  A.  D.  27. 

f  2  Mace.  ii.  1-7.  X  Luke  iii.  15. 

i9o 


THE    BAPTISM    OF   JESUS.  i8i 

The  baptism  of  John  was  no  mere  Essene  or  Levitical 
ablution.  It  was  accompanied  by  the  confession  of  sins. 
It  was  not  "  a  laver  of  regeneration"  (Tit.  iii.  5),  but  "a 
baptism  of  repentance."  It  was  a  sign  that  a  man  desired 
to  cleanse  himself  from  moral  defilement,  to  abandon  all 
righteousness  of  his  own,  and  **  to  draw  nigh  unto  God  in 
full  assurance  of  faith,  having  his  heart  sprinkled  from  an 
evil  conscience,  and  his  body  washed  with  pure  water."  * 
How,  then,  could  it  be  accepted  by  the  Divine  and  sinless 
Son  of  Man  ?  To  others — but  not  to  Him — could  have 
been  applied  the  words  of  Ezekiel,  "  Then  will  I  sprinkle 
clean  water  upon  you,  and  ye  shall  be  clean."  f  All  that  we 
know  is  what  the  Gospels  tell  us.  We  see  that  the  stern 
Prophet,  who  was  no  respecter  of  persons,  but  had  dared  to 
address  Scribes  and  Pharisees  in  words  of  scornful  denunci- 
ation, was  overawed  before  the  innate  majesty  of  the  Son 
of  God.  This  new  Elijah,  in  his  shaggy  robe  of  camel's 
hair  with  its  coarse  leathern  girdle — this  ascetic  dweller  in 
the  deserts — this  herald  whose  voice  rang  with  sternest 
rebukes  to  startle  drowsy  souls,  and  stir  them  to  repentance 
— is  at  once  hushed  into  timidity  at  the  Presence  of  the 
Lord  of  Love.  So  far  from  welcoming  the  acknowledg- 
ment of  his  ministry  by  one  whom  he  instinctively  recog- 
nised as  his  Lord,  he  made  an  earnest  and  continuous  effort 
to  prevent  Him  from  accepting  his  baptism.;}:  He  even 
said,  "  /  have  need  to  be  baptised  of  T/iee,  and  comest 
T/ioH  to  Me  ?  "  But  the  only  explanation  given  to  us  is  in 
the  words  of  our  Lord  Himself.  He  overcame  John's 
hesitating  scruples  by  saying,  "  Suffer  it  to  be  so  now  ;  for 
thus  it  becometh   us  to  fulfil  all   righteousness."  §     "  He 

*  Heb.  X.  22.  f  Ezek.  xxxvi.  25.     (Is.  i.  16  ;  Zech.  xiii.  i.) 

X  Matt.  iii.  14,  iisKiAvev.  The  Baptism  of  Christ  seems  to  have  been  a  soli- 
tary one.  It  took  place  apparently  "  after  all  the  people  were  baptised  "  (Luke 
iii.  21),  and  may  have  been  in  a  measure  private. 

§  This  may  possibly  mean,  as  Dean  Alford  says,  "  to  fulfil  all  the  claims  or 
requirements  {diKai^naTa)  of  the  Law  according  to  the  definition  of  St.  Chrys- 
OStom,"  SiKatoGvv?/  yap  eotcv  ij  tuv  ivToldv  kKnlfipuaiq, 


i82  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

placed  the  confirmation  of  perfect  righteousness,"  says  St. 
Bernard,  "  in  perfect  humihty."  *  Many  have  supposed 
that  He  only  submitted  to  the  baptism  as  a  corporate  act, 
desiring  to  identify  Himself  with  the  nation  whose  guilt 
He  came  to  bear  and  remove;  others  that  He  accepted  it 
vicariously  and  solely  for  the  sake  of  mankind  ;f  others 
that  He  regarded  the  act  for  Himself  personally  as  a  con- 
secration to  the  Messianic  kingdom.;}:  Others,  again,  have 
thought  that  as,  to  the  mass  of  the  people,  the  immer- 
sion in  the  Jordan  and  the  rising  out  of  the  water  indicated 
a  death  unto  sin  and  a  new  life  unto  righteousness,  so  to 
Christ  it  marked  by  way  of  symbol  the  close  of  His  former 
life  of  seclusion,  and  the  entrance  into  that  Divine  mission 
to  which  he  was  henceforth  dedicated. §  Whatever  be  the 
exact  ejfplanation,  it  was  as  He  went  up  out  of  the  water, 
and  stood  praying,  that  both  to  Him  and  to  the  Baptist  the 
sign  was  given  which  had  been  promised,  and  which  led 
John  to  recognise  Jesus  as  the  Messiah,  the  Son  of  God. 
He  beheld  the  Spirit,  probably  in  some  gleam  of  heavenly 
brightness,  descending  out  of  the  parted  heavens  as  a 
dove  II  with  soft  and  hovering  motion,  and  abiding  upon 
Him,!^  while    a   Voice    from    Heaven   said,   "This  is  my 

*  St.  Bernard,  Serm.  d,"}  in  Cant.;    St.  Bonaventura,  Vit.  C/iristi  xiii, 

f  This  is  the  oldest  explanation,  and  is  found  as  early  as  Justin  Martyr 
Dial  c.  Tryph.  88.  Conip.  John  i.  29.  Our  Baptismal  office  says,  "  He  sanc- 
tified water  to  the  mystical  washirig  away  of  sin."  Comp.  Ps.  Aug.  Serrt. 
145,  4  ;  Ignat.  ad  Eph.  18  .  Maxim  Serm.  7,  de  Epiphan. 

X  Eph.  i.  22.     Comp.  Ex.  xxix.  4  ;  Lev.  viii.  1-30,  xiv.  8. 

§See  Is.  lii.  15  ;  Ezek.  xxxvi.  25  ;   Zech.  xiii.  i. 

\  The  text  does  not  say  that  the  Spirit  actually  took  the  form  of  a  dove. 
The  aufiaTiKo  eiSei.  of  Luke  iii.  22,  does  not  necessarily  imply  more  than  a  vis- 
ible appearance.  It  seems  more  in  accordance  with  other  analogies  to  suppose 
that  like  the  outpouring  of  the  Spirit  at  Pentecost  (Acts  ii.  7)  the  appearance 
was  "  like  as  of  fire"  (comp.  Matt.  iii.  11).  The  dove  was  indeed  a  fitting 
emblem  of  innocence  and  gentleness ;  but  Irenseus,  arguing  that  the  Logos  was 
united  to  Jesus  at  baptism,  proves  this  by  Gematria,  since  irepiaTeim  =  801  = 
K  n  (Rev.  i.  8,  II,  xxi.  6,  xxii.  13  ;  Iren.  C.  Haer.  i.  14,  6). 

^  kfix^fxevov  fTT*  avTov,  Matt.  iii.  16  ;  Is.  xi.  2  ;  Luke  iii.  22  ;  KaTajiaivov  eig 
avT6v  (b.  d.  etc.),  lit.  "  descending  into  Him,"  Mark  i.  10.     "  Of  all  the  fowls 


THE    BAPTISM    OF   JESUS.  183 

beloved  Son,  in  whom  I  am  well  pleased."  Henceforth 
Jesus  felt  Himself  finally  consecrated  by  the  will  of  His 
Father  to  be  the  Founder  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven  on 
earth.  As  a  man  He  now  became  fully  "conscious  of  a 
power  of  the  Spirit  within  Him  corresponding  to  the  new 
form  of  His  work."  * 

After  this  it  was  destined  that  Jesus  should  increase  and 
John  decrease.  For  though  John  was  "the  lamp  kindled 
and  burninsf,"  his  work  showed  the  inevitable  limitations 
of  all  human  work.  He  preached  the  preliminaries  neces- 
sary for  the  advent  of  the  Kingdom ;  it  was  beyond  his 
power  to  found  the  Kingdom  itself.  Indeed,  it  is  probable 
that  though  he  differed  so  widely  from  the  religious 
teachers  of  his  day  in  his  moral  ideals,  he  may  have  shared 
in  their  special  Messianic  hopes.  He  may  have  looked,  not 
for  a  suffering,  but  for  a  triumphant  Christ — for  one  who 
should  be  a  magnificent  Potentate  and  Deliverer  of  His 
nation — though  the  establishment  of  His  Kingdom  was  to 
be  preceded  by  earthquake  and  eclipse,  such  as  the  Hebrew 
Prophets  had  foretold.f  Softened  in  tone  as  his  ministry 
had  evidently  been  by  the  appearence  of  Jesus,  it  is  very 
likely  that  he  failed  to  understand  a  Messiah  at  whose 
presence  the  nations  did  not  tremble,  nor  the  mountains 
visibly  flow  down  ;  who  was  not  outwardly  "  a  consuming 
fire,"  and  did  not  do  terrible  things  in  His  wrath.:};  The 
humble  humanity,  and  untempestuous  quietude  of  a  Deliv- 
erer who  did  not  strive  nor  cry,  neither  was  His  voice 
heard  in  the  streets,  became  a  decided  stumbling-block  in 
the  path  of  his  Messianic  faith. §  Jesus  did  not  attempt  to 
found  any  such  earthly  kingdom  as  John  had  imagined. 
The  whole  ideal   of  the  Saviour's  work  was  different  from 

that  are  created,  Thou  hast  named  thee  one  Dove,"  2  Esdr.  v.  26.  Ps.  Iv.  6  ; 
Is.  lix.  II  :  Matt.  X.  16.  Justin  Martyr  says  (c.  Tryph.  88)  that  a  fire  or  light 
was  kindled  in  the  Jordan. 

*  Bishop  Westcott  on  John  i.  34.  \  Is.  xiii.  9  ;  Zeph.  i.  14. 

X  Is.  Ixiv.  1-3.  §  Matt.  xi.  6. 


i84  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

that  of  John.  He  did  not  frequent  the  wilderness,  or 
appear  as  an  ascetic  in  hairy  garb,  or  hurl  thunderbolts. 
He  moved  about  in  lowly  simplicity  as  a  man  with  men — 
and  that  among  the  most  stained  and  despised  outcasts, 
whom  Pharisees  and  Sadducees  would  not  touch  with  the 
hem  of  their  garments. 

After  the  Baptist's  work  had  culminated  in  the  pointing 
out  of  the  Messiah,  he  seems  to  have  lost  much  of  his 
power  and  insight.  His  disciples,  if  not  he  himself,  began 
to  mistake  means  for  ends.  They  did  not  become  direct 
disciples  of  Jesus.  There  austere  self-denials  did  not  meet 
with  our  Lord's  approval.  Outward  asceticism — like  that 
of  the  Pharisees — was  brought  by  them  into  injurious  prom- 
inence. This  was  to  put  a  patch  of  undressed  cloth  upon 
an  old  garment.  What  was  intended  to  fill  up  the  rent  only 
made  it  worse.  It  was  to  put  unfermented  wine  into  old 
wine-skins.  The  new  wine  fermented,  in  contact  with  the 
yeasty  particles  left  adhering  to  the  leather — "  the  skins 
burst  and  the  wine  was  spilled."  ^'  There  is  something 
infinitely  pathetic  in  the  fact  that,  in  the  gloomy  recesses  of 
his  frightful  dungeon,  haunted  by  demons  and  surrounded 
by  inaccessible  crags,  doubt  as  to  Him  whom  he  had 
pointed  out  as  the  promised  Christ  seems  for  a  moment  to 
have  overshadowed  the  Baptist's  soul.  "  A  reed  shaken  by 
the  wind  "  he  was  not,  and  could  not  be  ;  but  he  might  be 
compared  to  "  a  cedar,  half  uprooted  by  the  storm."  He 
foretold,  he  announced,  the  Kingdom  of  Christ,  but  can 
hardly  be  said  to  have  entered  into  it,  so  that — on  the 
principle  "■minimum  maximi  est  majus  maxima  minimi'' — 
he  who  is  but  little  (o  jxinporipo?)  in  the  kingdom  of 
heaven  was  greater  than  he.f  Nevertheless,  Jesus  pro- 
nounced on  him  the  splendid  eulogy  that  "  Of  them  that 
have  been  born  of  women  there  is  none  greater  than  John 
the  Baptist  "  ;  and  we  may  feel  sure  that  any  doubt  which 
may  have  crossed  his  mind  was  dispelled  by  the  merciful 

*  Matt.  ix.  14,  xi.  14,  xxi.  32  ;  Luke,  v.  33.  f  Matt.  xi.  II. 


THE    BAPTISM    OF  JESUS.  185 

forbearance  of  Him  whom  he  had  pointed  out  as  the  Lamb 
of  God  that  taketh  away  the  sins  of  the  world.  It  disap- 
peared for  ever  in  the  [jlorious  Hght  of  that  world  where 
all  is  judged  of  truly.  There  he  would  learn  the  meaning 
of  Christ's  saying,  "  The  kingdom  of  God  is  within  you,"  * 
and  that  they  only  can  enter  it,  who  enter  it  in  the  spirit  of 
little  children,  with  meekness  and  perfect  self-surrender.f 

*  ''EvTog  vfiuv.  Vulg.  tnira  vos  est  (i.  e.,  in  anhnis  vestris).  This  meaning 
seems  to  be  the  correct  one.  Comp.  Rom.  xiv.  17  ;  Deut.  xxx.  14.  The 
"  Kingdom  of  God  "  is  not  only  an  external,  but  an  ethical  condition. 

f  Luke  xvii.  20,  21  ;  Matt,  xviii.  3. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

THE   TEMPTATION. 

"  Thou  shalt  tread  upon  the  lion  and  the  adder,  the  young  lion  and 
the  dragon  shalt  thou  trample  under  foot." — Ps.  xci.  13. 

HeTTovQev  avTog  TretpaaBEig. — Heb.  ii.  18,  iv.  15. 

Am  Tovg  aaOevovvrag  7/cQevovv,  koI  did  rovg  neivuvTaQ  kireivuv,  Kol  did  rovg 
diipuvTag  kditpuv—"  Unwritten  Saying"  of  Christ. — Orig.  ijn  Matt.  xvii. 
21). 

"Omnis  diabolica  ilia  Tentatio /tfr/.y  non  inius  fuit." — Greg.  M. 
Hovi.  i.  16. 

"  Thou  Spirit  that  ledd'st  this  glorious  Eremite 
Into  the  desert,  His  victorious  field 
Against  the  spiritual  foe,  and  brought'st  Him  thence 
By  proof  the  undoubted  Son  of  God." 

— Milton,  Par.  Reg.  r. 

Little  as  we  may  think  it  right  to  enter  into  the  bound- 
less field  of  speculation,  yet  the  history  of  the  Temptation 
of  our  Lord  is  of  such  importance  to  a  right  understanding 
of  all  that  is  revealed  respecting  Him  in  the  Gospels  as  to 
demand  our  patient  endeavour  to  understand  it  aright. 

It  is  narrated  most  circumstantially  in  the  first  and  third 
Gospels.  In  St.  Mark  it  is  compressed  into  one  character- 
istic but  vivid  verse,  and  he  alone  tells  us,  both,  that  "  He 
was  with  the  wild  beasts,"  and  that  "angels  were  continu- 
ously ministering  {ditpiovovv)  unto  Him."  As  St.  John 
was  not  professing  to  write  a  complete  narrative,  but 
intended  only  to  supplement  in  certain  essential  particulars 
the  records  of  the  three  Synoptic  Gospels,  it  did  not  fall 
within  the  scope  of  his  work  to  narrate  it  once  more.  Yet, 
so  far  was  this  from  being — as  it  has  been  falsely  repre- 
sented— a    designed    suppression    intended    to   exalt  the 

186 


THE    TEMPTATION.  187 

Divinity  of  Christ,  that  St,  John,  no  less  than  the  other 
Evangelists,  shows  us  that  the  soul  of  Jesus  could  be 
troubled  and  perplexed;'^  and  that  He  regarded  His  work 
as  a  triumph  over  the  Prince  of  this  worId,f  who,  through 
Him,  should  be  "  cast  out  "  when  He  should  draw  all  men 
unto  Him.  St.  John  also  describes  temptation  as  due  to 
the  direct  influence  of  Satan  ;:|:  he  quotes  the  words  of 
Jesus — which  describe  the  result  of  the  Tempation — that 
"  the  Prince  of  this  world  cometh,  and  hath  nothing  in 
Me "  ;§  and  says  that  Christ  should  "  convict  the  world 
in  respect  of  judgment,  because  the  Prince  of  this  world 
hath  been  judged." 

The  author  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  greatly  helps 
us  to  apprehend  the  significance  of  the  Temptation  when 
he  writes  : 

"  We  have  not  a  High  Priest  who  cannot  be  touched 
with  the  feeling  of  our  infirmities,  but  one  that  hath  been 
in  all  points  tempted  like  as  zve  are,  yet  without  sin."  || 

And  again  : 

"  Wherefore  it  behoved  Him  in  all  things  to  be  made 
like  unto  His  brethren,  that  He  might  be  a  merciful  and 
faithful  High  Priest  in  things  pertaining  to  God,  to  make 
propitiation  for  the  sins  of  the  people.  For  in  that  He 
Himself  hath  suffered  being  tempted,  He  is  able  to  succour 
them  that  are  tempted."^ 

"  We  may  represent  the  truth  to  ourselves  best,"  says 
Bishop  Westcott,  "  by  saying  that  Christ  assumed  human- 
ity under  the  conditions  of  life  belonging  to  man  fallen, 
though  not  with  sinful  promptings /r(?w  witJiin." 

First  then  let  us  consider  the  occasion,  the  locality, 
and  the  circumstances  of  the  Temptation. 

Christ — who  "  lived  in  a  tent  like  ours,  and  of  the  same 
material,"  seeing  that,  as  all  the  Gospels  and  Epistles  teach 
us.  He  was  "  perfectly  man  " — must  have  been  swayed  in 

*  John  xii.  27.  f  John  xii.  31.  %  John  xiii.  27. 

§  John  xiv.  30,  \  Heb.  iii.  15.  T[  Heb.  ii.  17,  18. 


i88  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

His  human  soul  no  less  than  in  the  mortal  body  by  the 
conditions  which  affect  humanity.  To  Him  therefore 
the  Baptism  in  the  waters  of  Jordan,  the  opening  heavens 
which  indicated  a  new  relation  with  God,  the  Divine  Voice 
which  called  Him  a  Beloved  Son,  the  descent  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  upon  and  into  Him,*  there  to  abide  in  plenitude, 
were  the  signs  that  the  hour  was  at  hand  to  begin  His 
Messianic  work  of  Redemption.  It  was,  as  it  were,  the 
final  call  to  come  forth  from  the  Galilean  village,  and  fulfil 
His  eternal  purpose  as  the  Teacher  and  Deliverer  of  man- 
kind. In  proportion  as  we  realise  the  stupendous  char- 
acter of  the  work  shall  we  be  able  to  understand  the 
profound  human  emotion  with  which  the  Son  of  Man 
contemplated  the  as  yet  unknown  events  and  destines  of 
His  earthly  mission.  In  all  such  high  hours  of  visitation 
from  the  Living  God  there  is,  and  must  be,  an  intensity  of 
feeling  which  pervades  the  whole  being,  and  creates  an  im- 
perious demand  for  solitude  and  meditation.  Man  must  be 
alone,  and  "  of  the  people  there  must  be  none  with  him," 
when  he  treads  the  winepress  of  his  decisive  hours.  We  can 
therefore  understand  the  expression  of  St.  Matthew  and 
St.  Luke  that  "  then  He  was  led  up  into  the  wilderness  "  ; 
and  that  "  full  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  He  was  led  in  the  Spirit 
into  the  wilderness  "  ;  and  even  the  more  forcible  phrase  of 
St.  Mark  :  "  straightway  the  Spirit  driveth  Him  fortJi  into 
the  wilderness. "f  In  the  Old  Testament,  Moses  and 
Elijah  had  spent  forty  days  of  spiritual  crisis  in  lonely 
places,  and  Paul,  after  his  conversion,  retired  to  Arabia. 

"Into  the  wilderness": — we  cannot  say  with  certainty 
what  wilderness  it  was,  for  the  tradition  which  gives  its 
name  to  the  desert  of  the  Forty  Days  {Qnarantania)  is 
quite  uncertain  ;  but  the  awful  associations  with  which 
Jewish  imagination  filled  these  solitudes  would  correspond 
with  the  tension  of  the  spirit  of  Jesus.     "  He  was,"  says  St. 

*  Mark  i.  lo,  uq  avrbv,  v.  I.  \  Comp.  Ezek.  viii.  3  ;  Acts  viii.  39. 


THE    TEMPTATION.  189 

Mark,  "  with  the  wild  beasts."*  The  Prophet  Isaiah  had 
spoken  of  the  Tsiyyim,  and  Ochim,  and  lyyini,  "  the 
droughty  ones "  and  "  shaggy  monsters  and  groaners," 
"  the  daughters  of  screaming,"f  the  owls,  and  the  arrow- 
snakes,  and  Lilith,  "  the  night  fairy,"  \ — half  demoniac 
creatures  which  made  their  homes  amid  its  wild  vegetation. 
Those  rugged  and  desolate  places  were  also  the  dwelling 
place  of  Azazel,  the  demon  to  whom"  the  scapegoat  was  dis- 
missed.§  "  When  the  evil  spirit  is  gone  out  of  a  man,  he 
walketh  through  dry  places" — through  the  stony,  waterless 
deserts — "seeking  rest,  and  he  findeth  it  not."||  The  evil 
demon  of  "  the  dry  places  "  was  associated  with  the  thought 
of  temptation,  and  there  our  Lord  was  tempted,  as  in 
famine  and  solitude  He  wrestled  mentally  with  the  vast 
problems  of  His  predestined  work.  He  felt  an  irrepres- 
sible impulse  to  be  alone  in  spirit  with  His  Heavenly 
Father,  however  much  He  might  be  surrounded  by  the 
snares  of  the  Evil  One.  He  did  not  indeed  feel  the  stings 
of  privation — scant  as  must  have  been  the  nourishment 
which  the  wilderness  afforded — till  the  close  of  the  forty 
days  ;  for  it  was  only  at  their  close — so  St.  Matthew  tells  us 
— that  "afterwards  He  hungered."  But  the  Temptation, 
though  it  was  subsequently  concentrated  into  three  mighty 
special  assaults,  was,  in  its  essence,  continuous.  "  He  was 
in  the  wilderness  forty  days,  being  tempted  by  the  devil,'' 
says  St.  Mark,  and  St.  Luke  uses  the  same  expression.  It 
was  a  period  of  mental  strain  and  moral  struggle,  and  it 
involved  the  decisive  victory  over  the  assaults  of  Satan. 
Henceforth  it  became  possible  for  all  to  experience  the 
truth  of  the  promise  given  by  St.  James,  the  Lord's 
brother,  "  Resist  the  devil,  and  he  will  flee  from  you." 

Two  truths  we  must  firmly  apprehend. 

(i.)  One  is  that  the  Temptation  was  real,  not  a  mere  sem- 
blance.    Our  Lord,  under  stress  of  genuine  temptation,  had 

*  See  Job  V.  22,  23.  f  Is.  xiii.  21. 

I  Is.  xxxiv.  13-15.  §  Lev.  xvi.  8,  10,  20.  ||  Matt.  xii.  43. 


I90  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

to  win  the  victory,  in  man  and  for  man,  by  evincing  self- 
denial,  self-control,  disregard  for  selfish  advantage  ;  absolute 
renunciation  of  power,  honour,  and  self-gratification  ;  and 
complete  self-surrender  to  His  Heavenly  Father's  will.  If 
the  struggle  had  not  been  an  actual  struggle,  there  would 
have  been  no  significance  in  the  victory.  The  Gospels 
represent  Jesus  as  subject  to  temptations  from  without,  not 
only  at  this  crisis,  but  during  all  His  life.  He  said  to 
Peter,  "Get  thee  behind  Me,  Satan:  thou  art  a  stiimhling- 
block  unto  Me  "  ;  *  and  He  said  to  His  Apostles,  "  Ye  are 
they  which  have  continued  with  Me  in  my  temptations."  f 
The  only  difference  between  the  temptations  of  Christ  and 
our  own  is  that  His  came  from  without,  but  ours  come  also 
from  within.  In  Him  "  the  tempting  opportunity  "  could 
not  appeal  to  "  the  susceptible  disposition."  With  us  sin 
acquires  its  deadliest  force  because  we  have  yielded  to  it. 
We  can  only  conquer  it  when,  by  the  triumph  of  God's 
grace  within  us,  we  are  able  to  say  with  the  dying  hero  of 
Azincour,  "  Get  thee  hence,  Satan  ;  thou  hast  no  part  in 
me ;  my  part  is  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ." 

(ii.)  The  other  truth  which  must  be  firmly  grasped  is  that 
the  force  and  reality  of  the  outward  temptation  did  not 
impair — nay,  it  illustrated — Christ's  sinlessness.  It  is,  as 
Luther  said,  one  thing  to  feel  temptation  {scntire  tenta- 
tioneni),  and  quite  another  thing  to  yield  to  it  [asscntire 
tentatio)ii)\  or,  as  our  own  great  poet  so  well  expresses  it : 

"  'Tis  one  thing  to  be  tempted,  Escalus, 
Another  thing  to  fall." 

The  temptations  came  to  Christ  externally,  through  the 
craft  and  subtlety  of  the  devil,  and,  in  defeating  them.  He 
illustrated  His  own  parable  about  the  conquest  of  the  Evil 
One  :  "  When  the  strong  man,  fully  armed,  guardeth  his 
own  court,  his  goods  are  in  peace  ;  but  when  a  stronger 
than  he  shall  come  upon  him,  he  taketh  from  him  his  whole 

*  Matt.  xvi.  23.  ■)■  Luke  xxii.  25. 


THE    TEMPTATION.  191 

armour  wherein  he  trusted,  and  divideth  the  spoil."  By 
His  victory  He  gave  power  over  the  demons  to  all  who 
trust  in  Him,  so  that  in  all  the  power  of  the  enemy  nothing 
should  be  able  to  hurt  them.  And  for  this  very  end  has 
He  been  manifested,  "that  He  might  destroy  th(^  works  of 
the  devil."  *  He  did  not,  like  the  parents  of  our  fallen 
race,  dabble  with  temptation,  or  go  halfway  to  meet  it,  but, 
by  the  instant  rejection  of  it  with  the  whole  force  of  His 
inner  nature.  He  secured  His  transcendent  and  perfect 
victory. 

The  question  how  the  details  of  the  Temptation  became 
known  to  the  Apostles  and  Evangelists  is  not  specially 
important,  but  the  answer  to  it  seems  clear.  They  could 
only  have  learnt  it  from  the  Lord  Himself.  Nor,  again,  is 
it  in  any  way  essential  for  the  lessons  which  the  narrative 
is  designed  to  teach  us,  whether  we  suppose  that,  in  reveal- 
ing it,  He  clothed  the  essential  facts  under  the  veil  of  sym- 
bols or  not.  If  He  did  so,  it  was  only  that  we  might  have 
a  more  vivid  apprehension  of  truths  which  it  would  have 
been  impossible  for  us  to  understand  had  they  been 
expressed  in  spiritual  or  metaphysical  terms.  Nor  need  we 
enter  into  the  discussion  as  to  whether  Satan  appeared  to 
Christ  in  a  visible  shape  or  not.  There  is  nothing  in  the 
form  of  expression  which  forces  this  conclusion  upon  us, 
any  more  than  in  our  Lord's  words,  "  I  was  gazing  on  Satan 
fallen  as  lightning  from  heaven."  f  Even  the  question  as  to 
the  personality  of  the  Tempter  is  one  which  does  not  con- 
cern us  here.  It  is  sufficient  to  say  that  Satan,  the  Accuser, 
the  Tempter,  the  Destroyer,  is  set  before  us  throughout  the 
New  Testament  as  a  really  existent  and  concrete  being,  and, 
in  any  case,  there  exists  for  every  one  of  us,  as  we  know  by 
fatal  experience,  a  reality  of  evil  without  us,  "a  force  not 
ourselves  "  which  impels  to  all  sin  and  unrighteousness,  and 
which  it  is  our  perpetual  duty,  as  well  as  our  only  safety, 
to  resist  to  the  uttermost. 

*  I  John  iii.  8.  f  Luke  x.  17,  Tveadwa, 


192  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

It  is  much  more  important  for  us  to  observe  that  the  three 
temptations  of  our  Lord  fall  generally  under  the  compre- 
hensive summary  under  which  St.  John  sums  up  all  forms 
of  temptation,  namely,  those  that  arise  from  "  the  lust  of 
the  flesh,  the  lust  of  the  eyes,  and  the  pride  of  life."  *  We 
are  perhaps  hardly  in  a  position  to  decide  whether  the  order 
of  the  Temptations  as  given  by  St.  Matthew  or  that  as  given 
by  St.  Luke  is  the  more  exact.  In  spiritual  crises  we  can- 
not take  note  of  the  ordinary  sequences  of  time  ;  they 

"  Crowd  eternity  into  an  hour, 

And  stretch  an  hour  into  eternity." 

It  is  clear  from  the  expressions  used  by  St.  Mark  and  St. 
Lukef  that,  though  the  temptations  of  Satan  came  to  a  head 
in  one  great  final  conflict,  they  were,  in  some  shape  or  other, 
continuous  ;  and  our  Lord's  victory  is  our  example,  that  we 
are  not  to  love  the  world,  neither  the  things  that  are  in  the 
world,  for  if  any  man  love  the  world  the  love  of  the  Father 
is  not  in  him.  "  Nothing  rises  higher  than  its  source.  The 
desire  of  things  earthly,  as  though  they  were  ends  in  them- 
selves, comes  from  the  world,  and  is  bounded  by  the  world. 
It  is,  therefore,  incompatible  with  the  love  of  the  Father." 

(i.)  The  first  appeal  of  Satan  was  an  appeal  to  the  desire 
of  the  flesh  in  its  simplest  and  most  innocent  form.  It  was 
a  temptation  through  suffering.  It  was  not  a  temptation  to 
q)i\r]6ovia,  the  love  of  pleasure  for  its  own  sake,  but  rather 
to  the  exercise  of  an  inherent  power  for  the  extinction  of 
pain.  Nothing  could  seem  more  plausible  than  the  sugges- 
tion that  Jesus  should  appease  the  pangs  of  hunger  by  the 
exercise  of  a  prerogative  which  had  been  conferred  on  Him. 
The  wilderness  abounds  in  stones,  which  sometimes  look 
like  melons  or  cucumbers,:}:  and  sometimes  bear  the  exact 

*  I  John  ii.  l6. 

f  Mark  i.  I2  ;  Luke  iv.  2,  treipa^SfiEvog.  Comp.  xxii.  28,  "  ye  are  they  who 
have  continued  with  Me  in  my  temptations."  Heb.  iv.  15,  He  "  was  in  all 
points  tempted  like  as  we  are,  yet  without  sin." 

X  These  stones  are  known  as  septaria. 


THE    TEMPTATION.  193 

appearance  of  loaves  of  bread.  It  would  make  hunger  more 
keen  to  see  the  semblance  of  food.  And  had  not  God  fed 
His  whole  people  with  manna  in  the  wilderness  in  answer  to 
their  cry  ?  And  had  He  not  sustained  Moses  during  the 
forty  days  of  awful  communion  on  Sinai  ?  And  had  not  an 
angel  ministered  to  the  needs  of  the  unhappy  and  fugitive 
Elijah  ?  And  had  not  a  voice  from  the  heavens,  which 
seemed  to  be  bursting  open  to  their  depths,*  accompanied 
by  the  hovering  gleam  of  the  descending  Spirit,  proclaimed 
Him  to  be  the  beloved  Son  in  whom  God  was  well  pleased  ? 
What  could  be  more  natural,  what  more  harmless,  than  that 
He  should,  under  these  circumstances,  work  the  miracle 
which  was  suggested  to  Him  ?  If  He  did  so  would  it  not 
be  a  decisive  test  whether  such  a  power  were  absolutely 
His  or  not? 

He  now  knew  Himself  to  be  called  to  His  work  as  the 
promised  Messiah.  Was  it  not  one  popular  conception  of 
the  Messiah's  work  that,  like  Moses,  He  should  again  feed 
His  people  with  bread  from  heaven  ?f  Was  not  this  a 
most  favourable  opportunity  to  exercise  this  power  for  the 
supply  of  His  own  urgent  needs,  that,  having  thus  tested 
its  reality,  He  might  ever  afterwards  put  it  forth  for  the 
blessing  of  the  world  which  He  had  come  to  save? 

Thus,  beyond  the  mere  agony  of  hunger,  there  might 
well  be  this  longing  for  support,  this  desire  for  assurance, 
this  impulse  to  test  what,  in  the  human  sphere — though 
He  had  laid  aside  His  glory  and  taken  upon  Him  the  form 
of  a  servant — might  be  permitted  to  Him,  in  a  manner 
which  was  in  itself  perfectly  innocent.  But  whence  did  the 
suggestion  come  ?  It  came  from  something  without  Him, 
appealing  to  a  bodily  instinct.  Quite  clearly  it  was  of  the 
earth,  and  came  from  the  Prince  of  the  Power  of  the  Air, 
suggesting  to  Him  an  inward  doubt,  or  an  open  self- 
assertion.  And  what  was  hunger?  Could  not  hunger  be 
borne,  if  God  had  sent  it?  If  God  desired  to  satiate 
^  Mark  i.  lo.  f  John  vi.  30-35, 


194  THE    LIFE    OF   LIVES. 

hunger  by  a  miracle  it  was  a  duty  to  await  His  good  time, 
and  not  to  use  supernatural  gifts  for  personal  alleviation. 
In  any  case  there  is  the  higher  as  well  as  the  lower  life. 
The  Tempter  had  indirectly  suggested  the  thought  of  the 
manna;  but  in  the  wilderness  God  had  suffered  His  people 
to  hunger,  expressly  that  He  might  try  their  faith  and  con- 
stancy before  He  supplied  their  needs  by  the  manna  which 
neither  they  nor  their  fathers  had  known.  Jesus,  therefore, 
repelled  the  temptation  by  the  words  which  follow  in  the 
Book  of  Deuteronomy — that  God  had  acted  thus  "  that  He 
might  make  thee  know  that  man  doth  not  live  by  bread 
only,  but  by  every  thing  that  proceedeth  out  of  the  mouth 
of  the  Lord  doth  man  live."  *  Thus  to  the  Israelites  the 
manna  became  "  spiritual  food."f  And  had  not  Jeremiah 
also  said,  "  TJiy  words  were  found,  and  I  did  eat  them,  and 
Thy  word  was  unto  me  the  joy  and  rejoicing  of  mine 
heart;  for  I  am  called  by  Thy  name,  O  Lord  God  of 
Hosts.":}:  Our  Lord  would  neither  sate  His  hunger,  nor 
challenge  His  Almighty  Father  by  putting  His  own  mirac- 
ulous powers  to  the  test. 

Thus,  by  "  the  sword  of  the  Spirit,  which  is  the  word  of 
God,"  the  first  temptation  was  victoriously  encountered,  and 
plainly  shown  to  be  a  temptation  through  all  its  subtle 
speciousness. 

(ii.)  But  the  Tempter  was  not  yet  foiled.  His  next 
temptation  should  be  separate  from  anything  which  could 
seem  even  remotely  to  have  in  it  any  admixture  of  selfish- 
ness or  of  personal  desires.  It  should  be  a  purely  imagina- 
tive temptation,  appealing  solely  to  the  deep  thoughts 
about  His  Messianic  work,  which  had  been  occupying  the 

*  Deut.  viii.  3.  The  idea  that  the  observance  of  God's  commandments 
tends  to  life  runs  through  Deuteronomy  (iv.  I,  2,  40,  v.  29-33,  etc.).  See 
Wright,  Some  Problems  of  the  New  Testament,  p.  10.  All  three  of  our  Lord's 
answers  to  Satan  were  taken  from  Deut.  vi.  and  viii.  Two  of  them  were  texts 
enclosed  in  the  apertures  of  the  phylacteries  {Tephillin). 

f  I  Cor.  X.  4. 

JJer.  XV.  16.     Comp.  Ps.  cxix.  103. 


THE   TEMPTATION.  195 

mind  of  Jesus  during  His  forty  days  in  the  wilderness,  and 
only  suggesting  that  He  should  put  to  the  test  the  miracu- 
lous endowments  which  seemed  indispensable  to  the  fulfil- 
ment of  the  mighty  issues  before  Him.  Appealing  this 
time  to  the  pride  of  life,  the  Tempter  suggests,  "Thou 
hast  been  proclaimed  to  be  the  Son  of  God,  and  if  Thou 
art  the  Son  of  God,  no  harm  can  happen  to  Thee.  See ! 
Thou  art  on  the  pinnacle  of  the  Temple;*  cast  Thyself 
down.  Thy  safety  will  be  a  glorious,  a  decisive  proof  of 
Thy  Divine  origin.  Even  of  God's  ordinary  human  saints 
it  is  written — 

"  '  There  shall  no  harm  happen  unto  thee. 

For  He  shall  give  His  angels  charge  concerning  thee 

To  keep  thee  in  all  thy  ways  ; 

And  on  their  hands  they  shall  bear  thee  up, 

Lest  haply  thou  dash  thy  foot  against  a  stone.'  "  t 

Thus  did  the  Devil  cite  Scripture  for  his  purpose,  and 
clothe  his  temptation  in  the  most  seeming-innocent  guise. 
But  he  omitted  from  his  quotations  the  words  "  to  keep 
thee  ifi  all  thy  zvays,'"  because  those  words  implied  that 
God's  promise  did  not  extend  to  "  the  precipice  in  the 
Temple,  the  regions  of  mid-air,  or  any  devious  paths  of 
mere  presumption,  but  only  to  the  ways  of  obvious  duty.";}: 

If,  as  many  have  supposed — though  in  the  brief  narrative 
of  this  spiritual  struggle  in  the  two  Evangelists  no  hint  of 
the  kind  is  distantly  suggested — if  the  temptation  was 
really  one  to  descend  miraculously  among  the  people 
assembled  in  the  court  below  ;  to  flash  upon  them  as  it 
were  at  once  in  one  sudden  supernatural  Epiphany  of 
divine  power — it  might  seem  to  acquire  additional  force. 

*  Perhaps  on  the  roof  of  the  Sfoa  Basilikh,  or  Royal  Porch,  on  the  southern 
side  of  the  Temple,  which  looked  down  400  cubits  into  the  luady  oi  the  Kidron 
(Jos.  Antt.  XV.  II,  5) ;  or  the  Stoa  Aiiatoiike  (Solomon's  Porch),  from  which  the 
Lord's  brother,  St.  James,  was  afterwards  flung.  Hegesippus  ap.  Euseb.  H.  E. 
ii.  23. 

f  Ps.  xci,  I,  II.  :|:  See  Mill,  Five  Sermons  on  the  Temptation,  p.  116. 


196  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

What  a  splendid  manifestation  would  this  be?  How 
irresistibly  would  He  thus  inaugurate  the  work  which  His 
Father  had  given  Him  to  do ! 

But  again  Jesus  saw  into  the  hidden  heart  of  the  tempta- 
tion. It  was  an  allurement  to  self-will,  to  self-assertion,  to 
the  independent  challenge  and  use  of  heavenly  powers. 
He  repels  the  allurement  by  refuting  the  misapplication  of 
Satan's  Scriptural  quotation.  The  promise  which  the  Evil 
One  had  quoted  was  a  promise  that  God  would  keep  His 
children  amid  the  inevitable,  iinsouglit  dangers  of  life. 
Scripture  is  not  to  be  identified — as  it  constantly  is — with 
any  perversion,  to  alien  ends,  of  its  mere  words  :  Scripture 
is  solely  what  Scripture  means.  The  Devil  can  quote 
Scripture  for  his  purpose,  but  it  is  always  a  perversion  of 
Scripture.  The  Psalmist  had  never  meant  to  encourage 
the  audacious  demand  for  God's  supernatural  interferences 
to  enable  us  to  escape  from  self-created  perils.  Jesus 
would  not  be  guilty  of  forcing  or  of  challenging  God's 
purposes.  His  reliance  on  His  Heavenly  Father  should  be 
one  of  absolute  dependence.  He  knew  that  He  would 
never  be  left  alone  while  He  did  always  the  things  which 
were  pleasing  in  God's  sight.*  So  He  met  Satan's  false 
references  to  Scripture  by  another  quotation  which  was  of 
eternal  validity.  "  It  stands  written  again,"  He  said, 
"  Thou  shalt  not  tempt  the  Lord  thy  God."  f  This  second 
answer,  like  the  first,  involved  the  repudiation  of  all  self- 
will  ;  the  determination  to  follow  only  the  Divine  order, 
not  any  promptings,  whether  subjective  or  objective,  which 
did  not  come  from  the  Father  of  Lights.  "  Trust  in  God 
must  be  accompanied  by  humble  submission  to  His  will, 
and  is  incompatible  with  the  attempt  to  bring  the  power 
of  God  into  the  service  of  one's  own  caprice."  \ 

*  John  viii.  29. 

\  Matt.  iv.  7  (Deut.  vi.  16),  yi-yparrTai,  "  it  hath  been  written,"  "  it  standeth 
written  ;  ovk  eKneipdaeig  "  thou  shalt  not  tempt  ij  the  full  the  Lord  thy  God," 
i.  e.,  thou  shalt  not  challenge  the  full  expression  of  His  power. 

X  Wendt. 


THE   TEMPTATION.  197 

(iii.)  The  form  in  which  the  third  Temptation  is  narrated 
illustrates  most  decisively  that  our  Lord,  in  revealing  the 
story  of  His  temptations  in  the  wilderness,  threw  them  into 
such  a  form  as  would  bring  them  most  vividly  before  the 
minds  of  His  Apostles.  The  form  of  the  story — that 
Satan  set  Jesus  on  an  exceeding  high  mountain,  and 
showed  him,  in  a  moment  of  time,  all  the  kingdoms  of  the 
world  and  the  glory  of  them — is  doubtless  an  anthro- 
pomorphic picture  which  summarises  the  result  of  a  mental 
conflict.  The  offer  to  give  all  these  to  Jesus  on  the  condi- 
tion ^^  that  He  would  fall  doivn  and  do  reverence  before 
hint,''  is  obviously  one  which,  in  this  form,  would  have  been 
too  coarsely  and  audaciously  crude  to  have  been  a  possible 
temptation  to  the  Son  of  God.*  But  not  so  the  underly- 
ing significance  of  the  picture.  Our  Lord  had  been  pro- 
claimed to  be  the  Messiah,  and  He  was  aware  of  the  nature 
of  the  Messianic  hopes  shared  by  the  whole  of  His  nation. 
But  how  could  He  carry  out  such  hopes?  how  could  He 
come  up  to  the  ideal  of  One  whom  John  had  painted  as  a 
Ruler,  thoroughly  purging  His  floor  with  mighty  winnow- 
ing-fan,  and  gathering  the  wheat  into  His  garner,  but 
burning  up  the  chaff  with  unquenchable  fire?  Surely  the 
fulfilment  of  such  magnificent  anticipations  would  be 
impossible  so  long  as  He  did  not  rise  above  the  humble 
worldly  position  of  a  peasant  and  a  Nazarene  ?  Conscious 
of  His  Divine  nature,  and  His  as  yet  unexercised  powers — 
anxious,  as  a  man  among  men,  to  inaugurate  the  King- 
dom— He  must  have  felt  how  easy  it  would  be  to  kindle 
His  countrymen  into  a  flame  of  zeal  in  comparison  with 
which  the  enthusiasm  aroused  by  Judas  of  Galilee  would 
have  been  as  nothing ; — into  zeal  which  would  have  gathered 
them  as  one  man  under  one  banner,  and  not  only  have 
broken  in  sunder  the  galling  yoke  of  Roman  dominion,  but 


*  The  rendering,  "  fall  down  and   worship  me,"  is  rather  too  strong  ;  it  is, 
rather,  "  do  me  homage  as  to  a  king,  the  KoafioKparup,"     Eph.  vi.  12. 


198  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

have  carried  Him  forward  to  a  world-wide  dominion  of 
glory  and  righteousness. 

The  "  desire  of  the  eyes  "  could  have  had  no  share  in 
this  temptation,  for  to  Him  the  riches  of  the  world  and  the 
glory  of  them  must  have  seemed  no  better  than  dross  in 
comparison  with  the  things  unseen  and  eternal.  It  is  only 
in  a  secondary  and  spiritual  sense  that  what  St.  Joiin  calls 
"the  braggart  vaunt  of  life,"  its  vain  pomp  and  splendour, 
could  have  had  the  smallest  allurement  for  One  who  lived 
in  His  Father's  presence.  But  the  temptation  may  have 
come  as  a  suggestion  of  the  readiest  and  most  triumphant 
means  by  which  He  could  subdue  the  world,  and  make  its 
kingdoms  the  kingdoms  of  God,  at  no  other  cost  than  that 
of  concession  to  earthly  prejudices.  The  temptation  was 
most  ingeniously  veiled,  as  though  it  involved  nothing  more 
than  a  politic  accommodation  to  outward  conditions — the 
condescension  of  employing  human  means  for  high  ends. 
But  this  temptation  also — this  half-hidden  offer  of  the 
KOGf.iOKparopj'^  "the  ruler  of  this  world  "^ — to  promote 
establishment  of  a  Messianic  empire — was  decisively 
rejected.  "  The  god  of  this  world  "  could  not  blind  the 
eyes  of  a  Wisdom  which  came  from  heaven,  nor  could  his 
fiery  darts  remain  unquenched  on  the  shield  of  perfect 
faith.  Decisive  and  energetic  was  the  rejection  of  this  last 
assault :  "  Get  thee  hence,  Satan  !  for  it  standeth  written, 
Thou  shalt  worship  the  Lord  thy  God,  and  Him  only  shalt 
thou  serve." 

After  so  absolute  a  defeat,  the  Devil  might  well  leave 
Him  "  until  a  season,"  i.  e.,  till  he  could  see  some  new  oppor- 
tunity for  assault  ;t  and  angels  came  and  were  ministering 
unto  Him.     He  left  the  wilderness  with  mind  determined, 

*  John  xiii.  31,  xiv.  30,  xvi.  II.  The  Jews  spoke  of  Satan  as  Sar  ha-Olam. 
But  his  power  was  not,  as  he  said,  "  delivered  unto  him,"  except  by  the 
apostasy  of  men,  for  "the  earth  is  the  Lord's,  and  the  fulness  thereof" 
(Ps.  xxiv.  i). 

\  Luke  iv.  13,  aniarji  an'  uvtov  axpl  naifjov. 


THE    TEMPTATION.  199 

with  will  resolutely  fixed,  to  walk  only  in  God's  way — in  the 
path  which,  step  by  step,  the  Heavenly  Father  should  make 
clear  to  Him,  whithersoever  it  might  lead.  The  principle 
which  would  henceforth  sustain  His  whole  life  should  be  to 
shrink  from  no  self-sacrifice,  however  awful ;  to  drink  the 
cup,  however  bitter,  which  God  should  send  to  Him ;  and 
to  annihilate  every  prompting  which  should  have  its  source 
only  in  the  earthly  self. 

Finally  victorious  over  all  the  assaults  and  blandish- 
ments of  "  the  prince  of  the  power  of  the  air,"  Jesus  felt  the 
clear  conviction  that  the  path  of  His  Messianic  deliverance 
of  Israel  and  of  the  world  did  not  lie  over  the  radiant  moun- 
tain-heights of  human  glory,  but  through  the  deep  Valley  of 
Humiliation  ;  and  that  the  one  inflexible  purpose  of  every 
act  of  His  mortal  life  must  be,  in  absolute  self-abnegation, 
"  to  do  the  will  of  Him  that  sent  Him,  and  to  finish  His 
work."  The  whole  narrative  of  the  Temptation  is  a  com- 
ment on  our  Lord's  saying,  "  The  prince  of  this  world 
Cometh,  and  hath  notlmig  in  me."  '^ 

*  John  xiv.  30. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

SCENES   OF   CHRIST'S   MINISTRY. 

"  In  the  former  time  He  brought  into  contempt  the  land  of  Zebulun 
and  the  land  of  Naphtali,  but  in  the  latter  time  He  hath  made  it  glo- 
rious, by  the  way  of  the  sea.     .     .     Galilee  of  the  nations. — Is.  ix.  i. 

"  Quare  Vocatur  Gennazar  .-*  ob  hortos  principum  {ganne  sarim)." — 
LiGHTFOOT,  Cent.  Chorogr.  Ixxix. 

I  PASS  over  the  pathetically  beautiful  events  which  took 
place  when,  on  the  return  of  Jesus  from  the  Desert  of  the 
Temptation,  He  once  more  visited  the  scenes  where  John, 
having  left  the  Wilderness  of  Judaea,  was  now  baptising. 
John  was  at  Bethany,*  beyond  Jordan,  near  the  well-known 
Peraean  ford  of  Bethabara,  within  a  day's  journey  of  Naza- 
reth. The  second  stage  of  His  ministry  had  begun.  The 
Baptist  now  knew  full  well  that  his  mission  was  practically 
finished,  and  he  was  inspired  to  point  out  the  Lamb  of  God 
to  some  of  his  own  disciples,f  openly  avowing  that //i?  must 
increase,  and  he  himself  must  decrease.  I  shall  speak  far- 
ther on  of  the  earliest  disciples  to  obey  the  call  of  Christ — 
Andrew,  John,  Simon,  Philip,  and  Nathanael.  With  them 
He  visited  Cana  and  wrought  His  earliest  miracle.  At  the 
first  Passover  of  His  ministry  He  cleansed  the  Temple,  and 
had  His  nocturnal  interview  with  Nicodemus,  the  teacher  of 

*'' Bethany,"  the  reading  of  A,  B,  C,  etc. ,  was  conjecturally  altered  by 
Origen  into  Bethabara,  because  he  only  knew  of  the  Bethany  on  the  Mount  of 
Olives.  Bethabara  means  "  the  House  of  the  Passage,"  and  is  within  easy 
reach  of  Cana.  Caspari  identifies  it  with  Tiellanije,  north  of  the  Sea  of  Gali- 
lee.    Condor  thinks  it  may  be  Makhadet  Abarah,  northeast  of  Beisah. 

f  Is.  liii.;  Acts  viii.  32.  There  may  also  be  a  reference  to  the  Paschal  Lamb, 
as  the  Passover  was  near.  The  thought  may  have  been  brought  home  to  him 
by  the  sight  of  the  flocks  of  lambs  being  driven  to  Jerusalem  as  offerings  at 
the  coming  Feast. 

200 


SCENES   OF   CHRIST'S   MINISTRY.     201 

Israel,  After  this  He  continued  for  a  time  to  work  in  Judaea, 
and  permitted  His  disciples  to  baptise,  though  He  himself 
baptised  not.  It  was  at  this  time  that,  in  answer  to  the 
jealous  complaints  of  John's  disciples,  the  great  Forerunner 
bore  emphatic  witness  to  Him  as  to  One  who  cometh  from 
heaven,  who  spoke  the  words  of  God,  and  to  whom  the 
Spirit  had  been  given  without  measure — nay  more,  as  the 
Son,  into  whose  hands  the  Father  had  given  all  things.* 
Soon  after  this,  Herod  consummated  his  crimes  by  throwing 
John  into  the  prison  at  Machaerus.  Jesus  then  retired  from 
Judaea  into  Galilee,  and  it  may  have  been  on  this  journey — 
for  the  exact  chronology  of  events  must  ever  remain  uncer- 
tain— that  He  spoke  with  the  Samaritan  woman  by  Jacob's 
Well.  To  this  first  year  of  His  ministry  also  belonged  the 
healing  of  the  son  of  the  court  officer  (^fiaaikinoi)  of 
Capernaum,  and  His  rejection  by  the  Nazarenes  when  He 
preached  in  their  synagogue. 

That  pre-eminently  bright  and  fruitful  period  of  His 
ministry  which  has  been  called  "the  Galilaean  Spring"  began 
with  His  retirement  from  Nazareth  to  Capernaum.  No  small 
portion  of  the  Gospels  is  occupied  by  the  narratives  of  the 
work  and  teaching  in  the  Plain  of  Gennesareth,  beside  the 
Sea  of  Galilee.  Remote  and  narrow  in  extent  is  this  cor- 
ner of  Galilee,  from  which  issued  forth  to  all  the  world  the 
words  of  eternal  life.  Yet  the  scenery  eminently  suited  the 
Divine  teaching,  which  was  addressed  to  the  humble,  but 
was  intended  to  bring  new  life  to  all  mankind.  The  words 
of  Jesus  had  few  or  none  of  the  thunderous  elements  which 
marked  the  preaching  of  the  Baptist.  They  were  spoken, 
not  in  the  waste  and  howling  wilderness,  nor,  like  those  of 
Moses,  among  the  more  awful  aspects  of  nature,  but  amid 
the  soft  delightful  fields  which  He  on  the  west  of  the  Lake 
of  Galilee.  There  is  a  quiet  enchantment  about  the  whole 
locality.  I  once  rode  into  the  plain  from  the  top  of  Kur'n 
Hattin — the  Mount  of  Beatitudes — down  the  Wady  Ham- 
mam,  or  "Vale  of  Doves,"  rich  with  its  Eastern  vegetation. 

*John  iii.  22-36. 


202  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

The  road  descends  to  the  lake  through  the  wretched  village 
of  El  Mejdel  (Magdala),*  where  (a  certain  sign  of  squalor)  the 
little  children  run  about  naked  in  the  street.  So  desolate 
are  the  shores  of  the  Sea  of  Galilee  in  these  days,  that,  as  I 
rode  for  hours  through  the  tall  flowering  oleanders,  laden 
with  their  pink  blossoms,  there  was  scarcely  a  sign  of  human 
life.  The  white-winged  pelicans  floated  on  the  water,  and 
the  kingfishers  perched  on  the  reeds  beside  the  lake,  and  the 
masses  of  green  entangled  foliage  along  the  water-courses 
were  alive  with  myriads  of  twittering  birds;  but,  with  the 
exception  of  a  little  group  of  fishermen  who  were  fishing 
with  a  drag-net  from  the  shore,  and  four  splendidly  mounted 
Bedouin  Arabs,  I  saw  no  one  during  many  hours  ;  nor  did 
the  whole  surface  of  the  lake  for  thirteen  miles  from  north 
to  south  show  one  single  sail  of  the  smallest  fishing-boat. 

The  green  plain  itself — Gennesareth,  "  that  unparalleled 
garden  of  God  "f — is  but  three  miles  long,  and  a  mile  and 
a  half  broad.  Yet  it  gave  its  name  to  the  sea,  of  which  the 
Talmud  has  this  remarkable  eulogy:  "Seven  seas,  spake 
the  Lord  God,  have  I  created  in  the  land  of  Canaan,  but 
only  one  have  I  chosen  for  myself,  the  Sea  of  Gennezar." :}: 
It  was  "  surrounded  by  pleasant  towns,"  §  and  its  famous 
hot  springs  attracted  numerous  visitors. 

In  the  days  of  Jesus  Christ  the  little  plain  was  densely 
populated,  and  was  far  more  lovely  than  now  it  is  in  its 
prolific  luxuriance,  which  perhaps  gained  it  the  name  of 
the  Garden  of  Princes.  ||  Then  as  now  the  lake  abounded 
in  rare  and  delicious  varieties  of  fish  ;  then  as  now  the  grass 
was  enamelled  with  a  profusion  of  the  lilies  of  the  field  ; 

*  In  ancient  days  indigo  grew  there,  and  it  was  known  as  "  the  town  of 
dyers." 

f  Jos.  B.  J.  iii.  3,  2,  X.  8. 

XMidrash  Tillin  iv.  1  (quoted  by  Sepp.  ii.  170). 

§Plin.  H.  N.y.   15. 

II  The  derivation  of  "  Gennesareth  "  is  uncertain.  Some  regard  the  name  as 
a  corruption  of  the  old  Hebrew  name  Chinnereth,  "  a  harp  "  (Deut.  iii.  17; 
Josh.  xi.  2). 


SCENES    OF   CHRIST'S    MINISTRY.     203 

then  as  now  the  barren  basaltic  hills  of  the  Eastern  shore 
flung  the  shadows  of  their  abrupt  precipices  upon  the  waters, 
and  the  gusts  which  rushed  down  their  narrow  valleys  often 
swept  the  little  inland  sea  into  sudden  storm.  But  the  con- 
temporary description  given  of  it  by  the  Jewish  historian 
will  show  how  widely  its  present  desolation  differs  from  the 
aspect  which  it  presented  to  the  eyes  of  the  Saviour  of  the 
World.  "  The  waters,"  he  says,*  "  are  sweet,  and  very  agree- 
able for  drinking;  they  are  finer  than  the  thick  waters  of 
other  fens.  The  lake  is  also  pure,  and  on  every  side  ends 
directly  at  the  shores  and  at  the  sand  ;  it  is  also  of  a  tem- 
perate nature  when  you  draw  it  up,  and  of  a  more  gentle 
nature  than  river  or  fountain  water,  and  yet  always  cooler 
than  one  could  expect.  Now  when  this  water  is  kept  in  the 
open  air  it  is  as  cold  as  snow.  There  are  several  kinds  of 
fish  in  it,  different  both  to  the  taste  and  the  sight  from 
those  elsewhere.  .  .  .  Tiie  country  also  that  lies  over 
against  this  lake  hath  the  same  name  of  Gennesareth.  Its 
nature  is  wonderful  as  well  as  its  beauty ;  its  soil  is  so  fruit- 
ful that  all  sorts  of  trees  can  grow  upon  it  .  .  .  for  the 
temper  of  the  air  is  so  well  mixed  that  it  agrees  very  well 
with  the  several  sorts  .  .  .  walnuts  in  vast  plenty  .  .  . 
palm  trees  .  .  .  fig-trees  .  .  .  olives.  One  may  call  this 
place  the  ambition  of  nature,  where  it  forces  those  plants 
which  are  naturally  enemies  to  one  another  to  grow  to- 
gether ;  it  is  a  happy  contention  of  the  Seasons,  as  if  every 
one  of  them  lay  claim  to  this  country."  f 

"  Oh,  why,"  asked  a  Rabbi,  "  are  the  fruits  of  Jerusalem 
not  so  good  as  those  of  Galilee  ?"  "  Because  else,"  is  the 
answer,  "  we  should  live  at  Jerusalem  for  the  sake  of  the 
fruits,  and  not  for  Divine  service."     It  was  in  these  regions 

*Jos.  B.  J.  iii.  10,  7,  8.      See  Stanley,  Sinai  and  Palestine,  pp.   425-47; 
Thomson,  The  Land  and  the  Book,  p.  402  ;  Tristram,  Land  of  Israel,  p.  431; 
Rob  Roy  on  the  Jordan  ;  Conder,  Tent  Work   in  Palestine,  ch.  xix. ;  Renan, 
Vie  dejisus,  144  ;  Neubauer,  Geogr.  du  Talmud,  p.  48. 
f  Whiston's  transl.  (abbreviated). 


204  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

that  the  Prophet  Hoshea  "  poured  forth  his  warm  and  deep- 
felt  words  in  which  the  excitable  temper  of  the  Galileans 
especially  found  expression  "  ;  and  the  Song  of  Songs  had 
been  composed  "  by  a  poet,  into  whose  heart  the  cheerful 
vicinage  had  poured  its  sunniest  beams,  and  whose  eyes 
were  open  to  note  how  the  flowers  gleam  and  the  fig-tree  puts 
forth  its  green  figs,  and  the  vine  sprouts,  and  the  bloom  of 
the  pomegranates  unfolds  itself."  And  "  amid  this  luxuri- 
ance of  nature  there  lived  still  a  healthy  people,  whose  con- 
science was  not  yet  corrupted  by  Rabbinical  sophistries, 
and  where  full-grown  men  were  elevated  far  above  their 
Jewish  kinsfolk,  sickening  with  fanaticism." 

The  commercial  road  which  ran  by  the  lake  to  Damascus 
made  Gennesareth  familiar  to  foreign  merchants,  and  vari- 
ous Gentile  elements  were  to  be  found  among  the  popula- 
tion. Tiberias,  the  new  and  half-heathen  capital  of  Herod, 
into  which  we  are  not  told  that  our  Lord  so  much  as  once 
entered,  exhibited  to  the  offended  eyes  of  the  Jews  its 
Palace  ornamented  with  Grecian  sculptures.  Jesus  never 
seems  to  have  visited  Sepphoris  or  Tarichece  or  other  popu- 
lous cities;  but  three  village-towns  {xoof.w7ioXei<;^  of  Gen- 
nesareth were  specially  familiar  with  the  words  and  works 
of  the  Son  of  Man — Chorazin,  Bethsaida,  and  Capernaum. 
These  are  mentioned  by  Christ  Himself  as  the  main 
scenes  of  His  ministry  in  the  towns  of  Galilee. 

"  Woe  unto  thee,  Chorazin  !  Woe  unto  thee,  Bethsaida  ! 
for  if  the  mighty  works  had  been  done  in  Tyre  and  Sidon 
which  have  been  done  in  you,  they  would  have  repented 
long  ago  in  sackcloth  and  ashes.    .    .    . 

"  And  thou,  Capernaum,  shalt  thou  be  exalted  into 
heaven  ?  Thou  shalt  be  brought  down  unto  Hades  !  for  if 
the  mighty  works  had  been  done  in  Sodom  which  were 
done  in  thee,  it  would  have  remained  unto  this  day." 

So  fragmentary  is  our  knowlege  of  the  continuous  work 
of  Christ,  that,  though  Chorazin  is  mentioned  first  among 
the  towns  which  Jesus  had  thus  signally  endowed  with  the 


SCENES   OF   CHRIST'S    MINISTRY.     205 

privilege  of  witnessing  Plis  miracles  of  mercy,*  it  is  not  once 
again  alluded  to  in  the  Gospels,  nor  do  we  know  of  a  single 
miracle  which  was  wrought  in  it.  Though  we  learn  from 
the  Talmud  that  it  was  once  famous  for  the  fineness  of  its 
wheat,f  it  was  deserted  even  in  the  fourth  century  after 
Christ,  and  it  is  only  within  the  last  few  years  that  its  site 
has  been  identified  with  Kherazeh,;}:  a  heap  of  indistin- 
guishable ruins  not  quite  three  miles  from  Tell  Hum.  Its 
unusually  stately  synagogue  had  five  aisles,  and  a  quadruple 
row  of  columns  adorned  with  Corinthian  capitals,  and 
decorative  details  elaborately  carved  in  hard,  black  basalt. 
Over  the  upheaped  and  weed-grown  debris  of  its  forgotten 
prosperity  might  well  be  written  the  inscription  : 

"  Woe  unto  thee,  Chorazin  !  " 

The  site  of  Bethsaida  is  to  this  day  uncertain,  though  it 
was  the  native  place  of  Andrew,  Peter,  and  Philip,  and  was 
the  frequeni  scene  of  the  Lord's  manifestations.  It  was 
near  Capernaum  and  Chorazin,  and  its  name  ('*  House  of 
Fish")  seems  to  indicate  that  it  was  on  the  shore  of  the 
lake.  The  scanty  remains  at  Ain  et  Tabijah,  "  the  fountain 
of  the  fig-tree,"  seem  to  meet  the  necessary  requirements. 

The  site  of  Capernaum  is  also  still  a  matter  of  dispute, 
though  more  than  any  other  town  it  became  Christ's  "  own 
city,"  §  and  was  the  scene  of  His  constant  "  signs."  It  is 
not  mentioned  either  in  the  Old  Testament  or  the  Apocry- 
pha, but  in  Christ's  day  it  was  "  exalted  to  heaven  "  by  His 
presence  and  gracious  words.  Tell  Hum  seems  to  me  to 
correspond  most  nearly  with  the  indications  of  its  locality 
furnished  by  the  Gospels.  Capernaum  is  a  corruption  of 
Kaphar  Nahum,  "  the  village  of  Nahum,"  and  Tell  Hum 

*  Matt.  xi.  21  ;  Luke  x.  13. 

\Bab.  Menachoth,  f.  85,  i. 

X  It  was  discovered  in  1842  by  the  Rev.  G.  Williams ;  and  by  the  Rev.  W. 
Thomson,  1857.  It  was  in  ruins  in  the  days  of  Eus^bius  (a.  d.  330).  See 
Neubauer,  Geogr.  du  Talm.  220. 

§Matt.  ix.  I  ;  Mark  ii.  i. 


2o6  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

may  mean  "  the  ruinous  mound  of  (Na)hum."  It  is  near 
Chorazin.  Among  its  ruins  still  stands  the  fragment  of  a 
synagogue,  over  the  gate  of  which  is  carved  the  pot  of  manna, 
which  may  have  turned  the  thoughts  of  the  people  to 
Moses'  gift  of  "  bread  from  heaven."  *  This  is,  perhaps,  the 
very  synagogue  which  the  town  owed  to  the  munificence  of 
the  friendly  Roman  centurion. f  In  this  city  Matthew  was 
called  from  "  the  place  of  toll,"  and  here  Jesus  had  at  least 
a  temporary  home,|  perhaps  in  a  house  which  may  have 
been  partly  occupied  by  Simon  and  Andrew.  No  town,  so 
far  as  we  are  aware,  witnessed  anything  like  the  same  num- 
ber of  miracles.  Here  great  multitudes  gathered  to  Him  ; 
here  He  healed  the  nobleman's  son,  and  the  centurion's  ser- 
vant, and  Simon's  mother-in-law,  and  the  paralytic,  and  the 
unclean  demoniac,  and  the  woman  with  the  issue  of  blood, 
and  raised  the  daughter  of  Jairus,  and  showed  many  other 
unrecorded  signs. §  Here  He  taught  humility  to  the  dis- 
puting disciples  by  the  example  of  a  little  child. ||  Here,  too, 
in  the  synagogue  He  delivered  that  memorable  discourse 
about  "  the  Bread  of  Life,"  and  about  "  eating  His  flesh  and 
drinking  His  blood,"  ^  which  caused  such  deep-seated 
offence,  but  which  He  Himself  explained  to  be  a  metaphor 
when  He  said,  "  It  is  the  Spirit  that  quickeneth ;  the  flesh 
profiteth  nothing ;  the  zvords  that  I  have  spoken  unto  yon  are 
spirit  and  are  life^'^''^  If  that  explanation,  given  by  Christ 
Himself,  had  been  rightly  considered  and  apprehended,  we 
might  have  been  saved  from  masses  of  superstition.  "  The 
letter,"  as  St.  Paul  says,  "  killeth  ;  it  is  only  the  Spirit  that 
giveth  life."ff  "Nothing  can  carry  us  beyond  the  limits 
of  its  own  realms.  The  new  life  must  come  from  that  which 
belongs  properly  to  the  sphere  in  which  it  moves."  There 
is  no  room  for  a  wooden  literalism.     "  Gratia  Dei,''  says  St. 

*John  vi.  22-71.  f  Luke  vii.  i,  8  ;  Matt.  viii.  8.  ^  Mark  ii.  i. 

§John  iv.  46  ;  Mark  i.  21,  29  ;  Matt,  viii.,  ix.;  Luke  iv.  23,  etc. 

II  Matt.  xix.  13  ;   Mark  x.  13,  14  ;  Luke  xviii.  15-17, 

Hjohn  vi.  22-71,  **  John  vi..  6^..  ff  2  Cor.  iii.  6.. 


SCENES   OF   CHRIST'S    MINISTRY.     207 

Augustine, "  non  consuviitiir  niorsibtis."  There  is  no  more 
excuse  for  giving  d^  literal  meaning  \.o  ^^  M.y  flesh  is  meat 
indeed,"  than  for  understanding  literally  the  words,  "  He 
that  believeth  on  Me,  out  of  his  belly  shall  flow  rivers  of  liv- 
ing water."* 

It  was  first  in  the  synagogues,  and  then  in  the  market- 
places f  of  these  cities,  and  in  the  highways  and  the  hedges, 
that  the  Saviour  of  the  World  manifested  forth  His  glory. 
Here  "  Oriental  misery  in  its  most  terrible  shape  became  the 
dearest  object  of  His  care."  Here  the  lepers  cried  to  Him 
amid  the  degradation  of  their  hideous  deformity,  and  the 
helpless  crippled  beggars — the  blind,  and  the  halt,  and  the 
maimed.  Jesus  had  nothing  but  love  and  healing  pity  for 
wretches  who  lived  on  the  scraps  flung  out  of  the  rich  man's 
door,  and  for  the  wild,  naked,  howling  demoniacs,  and  the 
miserable,  degraded  harlots,  and  those  whom  Priests  and 
Pharisees  spurned  and  loathed  as  the  very  outcasts  of 
society.  Nor  did  He  in  the  least  resemble  the  self-deceivers 
who 

"  Sigh  for  wretchedness,  but  shun  the  wretched, 
Nursing  in  some  delicious  solitude 
Their  dainty  loves  and  slothful  sympathies." 

He  never  withheld  the  fulness  of  His  miraculous  mercy  from 
the  sick  and  sorrowful,  the  weary  and  heavy  laden.  Yet  He 
came  not  to  these  alone,  but  to  all  around  them  ;  and  as  He 
regarded  them  with  His  kingly  eye  of  love.  He  used  the 
simplest  incidents  of  their  everyday  lives  to  give  point  to 
His  parables  and  vividness  to  His  instruction  of  the  poor. 
In  the  common  illustrations  which  He  employed,  "  day 
labourers  are  hired  in  the  market,  and  paid  in  the  evening; 
with  plough  reversed  the  labourer  takes  his  homeward  way  ; 
even  at  a  distance  from  the  village  the  singing  and  dancing 

*  John  vii.  38. 

f  Not  "  in  the  streets,"  for  the  narrow,  densely-crowded  streets  of  Oriental 
towns  would  afford  no  place  for  sermons  or  for  acts  of  healing.  Hence  the 
R.  v.,  in  Mark  vi.  56,  rightly  corrects  the  "  streets  "  of  the  A.  V.  St.  Luke 
uses  "  streets  "  in  &  general  sense  in  xiii.  26. 


2o8  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

of  the  holiday-makers  can  be  heard  ;  in  the  market-place 
the  children  wrangle  in  their  sports  ;  until  late  at  night  the 
noise  of  revelry  and  knocking  at  closed  doors  continues. 
The  drunken  steward  storms  at,  and  beats,  and  otherwise 
misuses  the  men-servants  and  maid-servants.  In  short,  from 
morning  till  night  life  is  much  occupied,  and  boisterous  and 
gay,  and  the  busy  people  find  no  time  for  meditating  on  the 
kingdom  of  God.  The  one  has  bought  a  piece  of  ground 
and  must  needs  go  and  see  it ;  the  other  must  prove  the 
oxen  that  have  been  knocked  down  to  him  ;  the  third  has 
other  business — a  feast,  or  a  funeral,  or  a  marriage."  "  They 
ate,  they  drank,  they  bought,  they  sold,  they  planted,  they 
builded,  they  married  and  were  given  in  marriage."  So  does 
Jesus  describe  the  restless,  busy  life  of  His  native  land. 

At  first  Jesus  seems  largely  to  have  used  the  synagogues 
as  the  scenes  of  His  teaching.*  They  were,  during  all  His 
life,  the  normal  resorts  of  His  Sabbath  worship,  and  He 
required  no  other  adjuncts  than  the  bare  simplicity  of  the 
desk  and  platform  for  preaching,  and  the  cupboard  in  which 
the  Thorah  was  kept.  But  when  even  in  the  synagogues 
He  began  to  be  opposed,  and  worried  by  the  petty  legal- 
ities of  the  officials  who  were  instigated  to  annoy  Him  by 
their  local  Scribes,  and  by  Pharisaic  spies  sent  from  Jeru- 
salem to  watch  and  harass  His  movements,  then  more  and 
more  He  deserted  the  synagogues,  and  taught  under  the 
open  air  of  heaven  those  outcasts  of  the  world  and  of  nom- 
inal Churches  from  whom  He  meant  to  gather  the  children 
of  the  Kingdom. 

It  is  a  strange  thought  that  there  are  but  three  or  four 
actual  spots  where  we  may  be  certain  that  the  feet  of  the 
Saviour  of  mankind  have  stood.  One  is  in  the  rocky  road 
full  of  sepulchral  caves  which  mounts  from  the  Plain  of 
Esdraelon  to  Nein  (the  Nain  of  the  Gospel)  up  the  sides  of 
Little  Hermon  (Jebel  ed-Duhy),  where  He  raised  to  life  the 
widow's  son.     Another  is  the   rocky  platform  where  the 

*  Matt.  iv.  23,  ix.  35,  x.  17,  xii.  9,  xiii.  54  ;  Luke  iv.  15,  20,  44,  etc.;  John 
xviii.  20. 


SCENES   OF   CHRIST'S   MINISTRY.     209 

road  from  Bethany  sweeps  to  the  northward  round  the 
shoulder  of  the  Mount  of  Olives,  and  Jerusalem  first  bursts 
on  the  view.  The  third  is  the  summit  of  Kur'n  Hattin, 
from  which  Safed,  "  the  city  set  on  a  hill,"  stands  full  in 
view,  where  Jesus  uttered  "  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount." 

To  these  we  may  perhaps  add  the  Har-ha-Beit,  or  "  Hill 
of  the  House,"  on  the  broad  platform  of  which  once  stood 
the  Temple  which  was  "  the  joy  of  the  whole  earth  "  ;  and 
perhaps  Gethsemane,  of  which  the  traditional  site  has  much 
to  be  said  in  its  favour.  But  we  do  not  know  with  distant 
approach  to  certainty  the  sites  even  of  the  Crucifixion,  or 
of  the  Holy  Sepulchre.  That  the  sites  where  events  took 
place  which  have  swayed  the  whole  temporal  and  eternal 
destinies  of  the  human  race  could  have  been  forgotten 
might  well  seem  passing  strange  ;  but  the  earliest  genera- 
tions of  believers,  in  the  days  of  primitive  Christianity, 
attached  no  importance  to  localities  or  relics.  The  Lord 
Christ  was  to  them  far  less  the  human  Jesus,  who,  for  one 
brief  lifetime  had  moved  among  men,  than  He  was  the 
Risen,  the  Eternal,  the  Glorified  Christ,  their  Lord  and 
their  God.  They  habitually  contemplated  Him,  not  as  on 
the  Cross,  but  as  on  the  Throne ;  not  as  the  humiliated 
sufferer,  but  as  the  King  exalted  far  above  all  heavens. 
They  never  regarded  Him  as  taken  away  from  them,  but 
on  the  contrary  as  nearer  to  them  than  He  had  been  while 
on  earth  even  to  the  Disciple  whom  He  loved,  and  who 
bowed  his  head  upon  His  breast.  So  far  from  being  absent 
from  them,  He  was,  as  He  had  expressly  taught,  ever  tuitk 
them  and  within  them.  To  minds  pervaded  by  such 
thoughts,  the  scenes  of  His  earthly  pilgrimage  were  com- 
paratively as  nothing.  Their  thoughts  were  with  Him  in 
the  "  far  more  exceeding  and  eternal  weight  of  glory  " 
wherein,  though  He  now  lived  amid  "  the  sevenfold  chorus 
of  Hallelujahs  and  harping  symphonies,"  He  was  yet  no 
less  in  the  midst  of  them,  wheresoever  two  or  three  were 
gathered  together  in  His  name. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

CHRIST'S  METHODS   OF  EVANGELISATION. 

TlTuxoi  EvayyeTii^ovTai. — MaTT,   xi.   5. 

Bpaxei?  ^£  Kal,  cvvTOfiol  nap'  avrov  X6yoi  yeySvaaiv.     ov  yap  ao(j)iaTlc  vnfjpx^ 
aXka  Avvafjiig  Qeov  6  Myog  avrov  f/v. — JuSTIN  MARTYR,  A^o/.  i.  14. 

The  manner  in  which  the  Son  of  God  preached  the 
Gospel  of  His  Kingdom  was  characterised  by  the  perfect 
simplicity  which  marked  His  whole  career.  He  came  to 
give  an  example  to  all  mankind  of  what  might  be  the  ordi- 
nary state  of  men,  not  exalted  by  any  factitious  rank,  nor 
glorified  by  any  external  magnificence,  nor  rendered  prom- 
inent by  any  adventitious  circumstances,  but  elevated  trans- 
cendently  above  the  low  malarious  swamps  of  common 
humanity  by  the  sinlessness  of  that  spiriUial  life  which 
He  came  not  only  to  exemplify  but  to  impart.  The  High 
Priest  on  the  Day  of  Atonement  went  into  the  holy  place 
in  hierarchic  pomp,  in  his  golden  garments,  encircled  with 
his  girdle  of  blue  and  purple  and  scarlet,  and  the  jewelled 
Urim  on  his  breast  ;  the  Essene  affected  white  robes,  and  a 
predetermined  look  of  sanctified  asceticism  ;  the  Pharisee, 
while  he  was  devouring  widows'  houses,  and  for  a  pretence 
making  long  prayers,  chose  the  chief  seats  in  feasts  and 
synagogues,  loved  to  walk  in  long  robes,  and  to  pose 
in  saintly  attitudes,  delighted  in  ceremonious  greetings, 
sounded  a  trumpet  before  him  when  he  did  his  alms,  made 
broad  his  phylacteries,  enlarged  the  tassels  of  his  garment, 
and  did  all  his  works  to  be  seen  of  men.  The  Lord  of  Life 
went  about  in  humble  sincerity,  wearing  neither  the  mantle 
of  the  Prophet,  nor  the  hairy  garb  and  leathern  girdle  of 
the  eremite,  but  making  His  appeal  to  the  hearts  of  men 
by  the  sacred    elements   of   the   humanity  which  was  the 

210 


CHRIST'S    METHODS.  211 

common  gift  of  God  alike  to  the  rich  and  to  the  poor,  to 
the  great  and  to  the  lowly. 

"  In  Himself  was  all  His  state. 
More  solemn  than  the  tedious  pomp  that  waits 
On  princes,  when  their  rich  retinue  long 
Of  horses  led,  and  grooms  besmeared  with  gold. 
Dazzles  the  crowd,  and  sets  them  all  agape." 

His  was  that  most  simple  and  deep-reaching  form  of  evan- 
gelisation which,  in  the  persons  of  His  holiest  followers — a 
Paul,  a  Peter,  a  Francis  of  Assisi,  a  Francis  Xavier,  a  Wes- 
ley, a  Whitefield — has  ever  been  ten-thousandfold  more 
effective  than  the  most  elaborately  gorgeous  ceremonials 
of  Popes  and  Priests.  And  though  He  wore  the  peasant 
garb,  and  associated  constantly  with  the  peasant  multitude, 
and  had  not  about  Him  a  single  attribute  of  earthly  state, 
there  was  something  so  heart-searching  in  His  very  look 
that  it  troubled  the  world-entangled  soul  of  the  young 
ruler;*  and  broke  the  heart  of  Peter ;f  and  impressed  the 
arrogant  cynicism  of  the  Roman  Procurator ;  :j:  and  again 
and  again  left  an  indelible  impression  on  the  minds  of  His 
disciples, §  and  even  of  the  multitude. 

When  He  was  at  Jerusalem  He  taught  sometimes  in  the 
Temple — but  only  in  the  open  courts  and  porticoes,  because 
they  were  the  common  places  of  resort  where  alone  in  the 
Holy  City  His  voice  could  be  heard  by  the  multitudes  who 
thronged  thither  to  the  feasts.  But  the  rites  and  cere- 
monies of  that  desecrated  Temple,  infinitely  elaborated  as 
they  were,  received  from  Him  no  word  of  approval.  The 
wild  joy  of  the  ceremony  of  drawing  water  in  the  Feast  of 
Tabernacles  only  caused  Him  to  exclaim,  "  If  any  man 
thirst,  let  him  come  unto  Me  and  drink  "  ;  |  and  when  the 
people  were  exulting  in  the  glory  of  the  huge  golden  can- 
delabra and  numberless  lamps  which  shed  their  glow  over 
the  Treasury  and  the  Temple  Courts,  He  said,  "  I  am  the 

*  Mark  x.  21,  22.  f  Luke  xxii.  6i.  t  John  xix.  5. 

§  Matt.  xix.  26  ;  Mark  x.  27.  II  John  vii.  37. 


212  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

Light  of  the  world :  he  that  followeth  Me  shall  not  walk  in 
the  darkness,  but  shall  have  the  light  of  life."* 

These  obvious,  but  unrecorded,  indications  that  Christ's 
teaching  was  suggested  by  immediate  circumstances  lead  us 
to  suppose  that  this  was  constantly  the  case.  The  Parable 
of  the  Pounds  was  suggested  by  the  history  of  King  Arche- 
laus,  which  was  brought  into  our  Lord's  mind  by  the  sight 
of  the  palace  which  he  had  built  at  Jericho.  The  allusion 
to  the  wind  which  bloweth  where  it  listeth,  in  the  discourse 
with  Nicodemus,  would  naturally  arise  from  the  soughing 
of  the  night  wind  outside  the  booth.  The  allegory  of  the 
Ideal  Vine  may  have  been  suggested  by  the  vineyards  near 
the  Kidron,  or  by  the  Golden  Vine  over  the  Temple  door. 

There  are  some  minds  which  seem  to  think  that  worship 
must  be  imperfect  if  it  is  not  surrounded  with  splendour 
and  symbolism.  Thus  a  Roman  Catholic  author  wrote : 
"Oh!  then  what  delight!  what  joy  unspeakable!  The 
stoups  are  filled  to  the  brim ;  the  lamp  of  the  Sanctuary 
burns  bright,  and  the  albs  hang  in  the  oaken  ambries,  and 
the  cope-chests  are  filled  with  osphreyed  baudekins,  and 
pyx,  and  pax,  and  chrismatory  are  there,  and  thurible 
and  cross  !"f  Strange  sources,  indeed,  to  any  manly  and 
spiritual  mind  for  such  ecstatic  rapture!  How  many 
millions  of  true  saints  have  enjoyed  the  utmost  bliss  of 
holy  worship  without  any  need  of  being  excited  or  dis- 
tracted by  "  pyx,"  or  "  pax,"  or  "  chrismatory,"  or  "  oaken 
ambries,"  or  even  "  osphreyed  baudekins  ! "  Such  things  as 
the  thurible  and  the  crucifix  were  unknown  to,  and  avoided 
by,  primitive  Christians  in  the  centuries  when  Christianity 
was  most  effective  and  most  pure.  Artificial  religious 
externalism  receives  no  approval  from  the  lips  of  Christ. 
Nothing  which  remotely  resembles  it  is  distantly  alluded 
to,  either  by  Him  or  His  Apostles,  as  constituting  a  desir- 
able adjunct  of  holy  worship.  Even  Levitism,  destined  to 
meet  the  requirements  of  a  people  whose  hearts  were  gross, 
*John  viii.  12.  \  Recollections  of  A.  Welby  Pugiti,  p.  162. 


CHRIST'S    METHODS.  213 

and  their  ears  dull  of  hearing,  offers  no  analogy  to  the 
spirituality,  simplicity,  and  sincerity  of  worship  which  are 
the  sole  requirements  for  our  approach  to  Him  who  is  a 
Spirit,  and  who  requires  them  that  worship  Him  to  worship 
Him  in  spirit  and  in  truth.  Alike  by  His  precepts  and  by 
His  practice,  He  who  came  from  the  bosom  of  the  Father 
illustrates  the  truth  that  sincere  devotion  can  make  even 
the  mud  floor  of  the  humblest  cottage  "as  sacred  as  the 
rocks  of  Sinai." 

Hence  Jesus  taught  sometimes  in  the  house  which  at 
Capernaum  served  Him  as  a  home;  *  sometimes  in  Peter's 
house,  or  the  house  of  Martha  and  Mary  at  Bethany,  f 
Sometimes — as  in  the  house  of  Simon  the  Pharisee,  and  of 
other  Pharisaic  rulers— He  made  an  ordinary  meal  the 
occasion  of  some  of  His  deepest  lessons,  and  borrowed  His 
images  from  bread,  and  salt,  and  wine,  and  the  washing  of 
hands. :{:  He  taught  and  healed  in  the  market-places,  and 
at  city  gates ;  §  and  in  the  broader  streets  and  roads.  || 
Much  of  His  most  solemn  instruction  was  given,  especially 
to  His  Apostles,  as  He  journeyed  with  them  on  the 
frequented  highways,^  or  in  lonely  places  to  which  He 
had  retired,**  or  "  in  the  fields  as  they  went  from  village  to 
to  village."  ff  Some  of  His  richest  Parables  were  addressed 
to  the  multitudes  who  crowded  the  beach  while  the  little 
boat,  which  was  always  at  His  disposal,  rocked  gently  on 
the  bright  ripples  of  the  lake  He  loved.  '!^  Sometimes  He 
spoke  to  throngs  composed  of   poor  pilgrims  from  every 

*Mark  ii.  I,  iii.  20,  where  elg  oIkov  {or  hv  oko)  means  that  the  house  was  His 
house. 

f  Matt.  viii.  14  ;  Luke  x.  38. 

:j:  John  vi. ;  Matt.  v.  13,  ix.  17  ;  Luke  v.  37  ;  Matt.  xv.  2  ;  Mark  vii.  2. 

§  Mark  vi.  56. 

II  Matt.  vi.  2  ;  Luke  x.  10,  xiii.  26. 

T[  Matt.  xvi.  13. 

**  Matt.  xiv.  13  ;  Luke  ix.  10,  xi.  i  ;  Mark  vi.  34,  35. 

ff  Matt.  ix.  35,  xiv.  15  ;  Mark  vi.  56  ;  Luke  xii.  22,  etc. 

\\  Matt.  xiii.  i.  2  ;  Mark  ii.  13  ;  Luke  v.  1-3, 


214  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

nation,  as  they  sat  round  Him  on  the  hilltop;  and  some- 
times on  the  broad  and  lonely  plains  whither  great  multi- 
tudes flocked  to  Him  on  foot  from  all  the  cities.*  He 
loved  to  speak  in  the  open  air  under  God's  blue  heaven, 
and  among  the  lilies  of  the  field.  Teaching,  with  His  feet 
among  the  mountain  flowers,  He  could  point  to  the  golden 
amaryllis,  or  the  scarlet  anemones,  or  the  gorgeous  tulips, 
and  tell  His  hearers  to  trust  in  God's  free  bounty,  since  not 
even  "Solomon  in  all  his  glory"  was  arrayed  like  one  of 
these,  which  were  but  the  perishing  "grass  of  the  field." 
Teaching  with  the  soft  wind  of  heaven  upon  His  brow,  He 
could  point  the  lessons  to  be  learnt  from  the  ravens  and  the 
sparrows  and  the  bright  or  lowering  sky.  But,  for  the 
greater  part  of  His  life,  the  simple  worship  of  the  syna- 
gogues sufficed  Him.  "As  His  custom  was  He  went  into 
the  synagogue  on  the  Sabbath  day,  and  stood  up  for  to 
read "  ;  and  "  He  taught  in  their  synagogues,  being 
glorified  of  all."  f 

But  it  did  not  seem  to  make  the  least  difference  to  the 
depth  and  power  of  His  teaching  whether  He  was  speaking 
to  the  ears  of  a  single  auditor,  like  Nicodemus,  the  timid 
Chakani  who  came  to  Him  by  night,  or  the  Samaritan 
woman  by  the  noonday  well,  or  the  blind  man  whom  He 
had  healed  ;  or  whether  He  was  in  the  midst  of  "  myriads,":}: 
who  "pressed,  and  crushed  Him,"§  and  "  trode  on  one 
another"  in  their  eagerness  to  hear  the  gracious  words 
which  proceeded  from  His  lips. 

*  Matt.  V.  I,  XV.  29,  xvii.  I.  f  Luke  iv.  15,  16,  etc. 

X  Luke  xii.  -  §  Luke  viii.  45. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

THE   FORM    OF   CHRIST'S   TEACHING. 
UoTiVfiepug  km  no'kvTpdKuq. — Heb.  i.  I. 

The  form  of  Christ's  teaching  was  as  varied  and  as  simple 
as  were  its  methods.  It  was  the  spontaneous  outcome  of 
the  requirements  of  the  moment.  Whatever  was  most 
exactly  needed  for  the  defence  of  a  truth,  or  the  blighting 
of  a  hypocrisy,  or  the  startling  of  self-satisfaction  into  peni- 
tence, or  the  consolation  of  despondency,  was  instantane- 
ously clothed  in  its  best  form,  whether  of  reproach,  or 
question,  or  deep  irony,  or  tender  apostrophe,  or  exquisitely 
poetic  image.  It  was  a  UoXvttoihiXo?  Goqjia,  "a.  richly 
variegated  wisdom,"  which,  like  the  King's  daughter,  was 
"  circu7naniicta  varietatibiis — clothed  in  raiment  of  various 
colours."''^  His  lessons  were  not,  it  would  seem,  often 
expressed  in  long  and  didactic  addresses,  to  which  the  Ser- 
mon on  the  Mount  offers  the  nearest  approach.  There  was 
in  them  nothing  of  recondite  metaphysics.  "What  Jesus 
had  to  offer,"  it  has  been  said,  "was  not  a  new  code  with  its 
penal  enactments,  not  a  new  system  of  doctrine  with  its 
curse  upon  all  who  should  dare  to  depart  from  it,  but  a  sure 
promise  of  deliverance  from  misery,  of  consolation  under 
all  suffering,  and  perfect  satisfaction  for  all  the  wants  of  the 
soul."  And  this  was  set  forth,  not  in  gorgeous  metaphor, 
or  sonorous  rhetoric,  but  in  language  of  the  most  perfect 
simplicity,  unencumbered  by  the  pedantry  of  scholasticism, 
or  the  minutiae  of  logic.  There  ran  throughout  His  dis- 
courses "  the  two  weighty  qualities  of  impressive  pregnancy 
and  popular  intelligibility."     And  to  make  what  He  said 

*  Eph.  iii.  10  ;  Ps.  xlv.  13. 
315 


2i6  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

more  clear  in  its  brevity,  His  words  were  illuminated  with 
constant  illustrations,  not  drawn  from  remote  truths  of 
science,  but  suggested  by  the  commonest  sights,  sounds, 
and  scenes  of  nature,  and  the  most  familiar  incidents  of 
humble  life — the  rejoicing  shepherd  carrying  back  on  his 
shoulders  the  recovered  lamb  ;  the  toiling  vine-dressers ; 
the  harvesters  in  the  fields  of  ripe  corn  ;  the  children  busy 
in  gathering  the  tares  for  burning  ;  the  woman  seeking  for 
the  lost  coin  out  of  her  forehead-circlet ;  the  man  going  to 
borrow  from  his  neighbour  a  loaf  for  his  hungry  and 
unexpected  guest.  He  taught  by  picturesque  and  concrete 
examples,*  or  when  He  laid  down  general  rules  applied 
them  to  actual  cases.  Instead  of  speaking  in  the  abstract 
of  the  beauty  of  Humility,  He  took  a  little  child  and  set 
him  in  the  midst,  and  bade  the  disciples  receive  the  King- 
dom of  Heaven  as  that  little  child. f  Instead  of  warning 
them  that  they  were  liable  to  constant  temptation,  He  says, 
"  Behold,  Satan  has  desired  to  have  you,  that  he  may  sift 
you  as  wheat."  f  Instead  of  saying,  "You  must  not  be 
content  to  keep  your  convictions  for  your  private  guidance," 
He  says,  "  Is  the  lamp  brought  to  be  put  under  the  bushel 
or  under  the  bed,  and  not  to  be  put  on  the  stand?":}:  By 
multitudes  of  such  pictures  He  caused  a  spontaneous 
recognition  of  the  truth  which  to  every  enlightened  con- 
science would  itself  be  as  an  authoritative  command. 

"  A  theoretical  philosophy  strictly  so  called,"  says  Schii- 
rer,  "  was  a  thing  entirely  foreign  to  genuine  Judaism. 
Whatever  it  did  happen  to  produce  in  the  way  of  philoso- 
phy {Chokmah,  *  wisdom ')  either  had  practical  religious 
problems  as  its  theme  (as  in  Job  and  Ecclesiastes),  or  was 
of  a  directly  practical  nature — being  directions  based  upon 
a  thoughtful  study  of  human  things  in  order  so  to  regulate 
our  life  as  to  ensure  our  being  truly  happy.      The  form  in 

*  Matt.  vi.   19,  25,  vii.  6,  x.  35,  xi.  8,  xviii.  6,  xix.   12  ;  Luke  vi.  34,  and 
passim, 

\  Luke  xxii,  31.  %  Matt.  v.  15. 


FORM    OF   CHRIST'S   TEACHING.     217 

which  these  contemplations  and  instructions  were  presented 
was  that  of  the  '  proverb  '  or  aphorism  {Mashai),  which  con- 
tained a  single  thought  expressed  in  concise  and  compre- 
hensive terms,  in  a  form  more  or  less  poetical,  and  in  which 
there  was  nothing  of  the  nature  of  discussion  or  argument."* 
Jewish  literature  possessed  a  collection  of  such  aphorisms 
in  the  Proverbs  of  Solomon,  and  the  Wisdom  of  Jesus  the 
Son  of  Sirach;  and  later  we  find  them  in  the  Talmudic 
book,  Pirqe  Avotk,  or  "Sayings  of  the  Fathers."  Our  Lord 
frequently  adopted  this  gnomic  mode  of  instruction  in 
concise  sayings,  of  which  these  are  but  a  few  specimens ; 
although,  as  a  glance  suffices  to  prove,  He  infuses  into  them 
a  depth  of  spiritual  meaning  which  finds  no  parallel  in  any 
other  form  of  proverbial  instruction. 

"  A  city  set  on  a  hill  cannot  be  hid."  t 

"  Beware  of  the  leaven  of  the  Pharisees."  f 

"  God  is  not  the  God  of  the  dead,  but  of  the  living."  § 

"  Leave  the  dead  to  bury  their  own  dead."  || 

"  If  the  light  in  thee  be  darkness,  how  great  is  that  darkness."  IT 

"  Salt  is  good  ;  but  if  the  salt  have  lost  its  saltness,  wherewith  will  ye 

season  it.?"** 

"  Do  men  gather  grapes  of  thorns,  or  figs  of  thistles  ?"  tt 
"  If  the  blind  lead  the  blind,  both  shall  fall  into  a  pit."];|: 
"  It  is  not   meet   to   take   the   children's   bread,  and   cast  it  to  the 

dogs."  §§ 

"  He  that  walketh  in  darkness  knoweth  not  whither  he  goeth,"  ||{| 

"  They  that  are  whole  have  no  need  of  a  physician,  but  they  that  are 

sick."  1[1[ 

"Be  ye  wise  as  serpents,  but  harmless  as  doves."*** 

If  these  be  compared  with  the  sayings  of  Heraclitus  (for 
instance)  among  the  Greeks,  or  of  Hillel,  who  furnishes  the 
best  specimens  which  we  can  find  in  the  Talmud,  their 
immense  superiority  will  at  once  be  recognised.     There  is 

*  Hist,  of  the  Jezvish  People,  div.  ii,  vol.  iii.  24,  E.  T. 
t  Matt.  V.  14.  X  Matt.  xvi.  6.  §  Matt.  xxii.  32. 

II  Luke  ix.  60.  \  Matt.  vi.  23.  **  Mark  ix.  50. 

tt  Matt.  vii.  19.  XX  Matt.  xv.  14.  §§  Mark  vii.  27, 

II  John  xii.  35.  T[T[  Mark  ii.  17.  ***  Matt.  x.  16, 


2i8  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

nothing  strained  or  obscure  about  them  ;  they  are  intensely 
concrete  and  picturesque.  Their  marvellous  concentration 
excludes  every  superfluous  word,  yet  admits  no  lurking  fal- 
lacy. They  have  the  illuminating  force  of  the  lightning  ; 
they  compress  words  of  wisdom  into  a  single  line.  A  child 
may  understand  them,  but  the  wisest  philosopher  cannot 
exhaust  their  infinite  significance. 

Our  Lord  taught,  it  has  been  truly  said,  in  ideas,  not  in 
limitations;  and  the  essence  of  faith  is  "a  permanent  confi- 
dence in  the  idea — a  confidence  never  to  be  broken  down 
by  apparent  failures,  or  by  examples  by  which  ordinary 
people  prove  that  qualification  is  necessary.  It  was  pre- 
cisely because  Jesus  taught  the  idea,  and  nothing  below  it, 
that  the  effect  produced  by  Him  could  not  have  been  pro- 
duced by  anybody  nearer  to  ordinary  humanity." 

Again,  in  order  to  arrest  the  attention  and  stimulate  the 
jaded  and  conventional  moral  sense  of  His  hearers,  our 
Lord  often  adopted  the  form  of  paradox  to  state  "  excep- 
tionless principles^'  such  as  could  only  be  perverted  by  a 
stupid  literalism.  Exceptions  which  are  inevitable,  and  are 
a  matter  of  course,  may  easily  be  omitted.*  In  fact,  some 
of  Christ's  vivid  questions  and  concentrated  appeals  are 
thrown  into  the  form  which  was  known  to  the  Greeks  as 
oxymoron — which  is  defined  as  a  saying  which  is  the  more 
forcible  from  its  apparent  extravagance,  f 

Take,  for  instance,  such  a  rule  as : 

"  When  thou  makest  a  dinner  or  a  supper,  call  not  thy  friends,  nor 
thy  l)rethren,  nor  thy  kinsfolk,  nor  rich  neighbours  ;  lest  haply  they  also 
bid  thee  again,  and  a  recompense  be  made  thee.  But  when  thou  makest 
a  feast,  bid  the  poor,  the  maimed,  the  lame,  the  blind.     .     ."J 

No  one  of  the  most  ordinary  intelligence  would  fail  to  see 

*  See  Matt.  vii.  i,  xx.  i6,  xxv.  29  ;  Mark  ii.  17  ;  John  v.  31  (comp.  viii. 
14),  ix.  39,  etc. 

f  See  Matt.  v.  39,  ix.  13  ;  Luke  xiv.  26  ;  John  vi.  27,  etc.;  Glass,  Philology 
Sacr.  p.  468. 

X  Luke  xiv.  12-14. 


FORM    OF   CHRIST'S   TEACHING.     219 

that  the  rule  is  not  intended  for  /zV^r^'/ application,  but  that 
it  was  meant  to  point  out  that  there  is  no  merit  in  hospital- 
ity which  is  only  directed  by  the  "  slightly  expanded  egot- 
ism "  of  family  selfishness,  or  only  intended  to  bring  about 
a  return  in  kind  ;  but  that  the  highest  and  most  genuine 
hospitality  is  disinterested,  loving,  and  compassionate.  It 
must  also  be  borne  in  mind  that  our  Lord  naturally  spoke 
in  the  idioms  of  His  country,  and  that  in  Hebrew";/^/" 
often  means  "  not  only — but  also,"  or  "  not  so  much — as."  * 
In  other  words,  ^^  not"  is  often  used  to  deny,  not  abso- 
lutely, but  conditionally  and  comparatively,  f 

Again,  when  He  said,  "Whosoever  smiteth  thee  on  thy 
right  cheek,  turn  to  him  the  other  also.  And  if  any  man 
would  go  to  law  with  thee,  and  take  away  thy  coat,  let  him 
have  thy  cloak  also,"  He  merely  meant  to  present  the  essen- 
tial ideas  of  forbearance  and  forgiveness  "  with  the  great- 
est clearness  and  in  the  briefest  compass."  He  showed  by 
His  own  example — as  indeed  His  hearers  would  have  easily 
understood — that  He  did  not  mean  such  paradoxes  to  be 
taken  in  the  letter;  for  when  He  was  Himself  smitten  on 
the  cheek  by  the  servant  of  the  High  Priest  He  did  not 
turn  the  other  cheek,  but  addressed  to  the  insolent  offender 
a  dignified  rebuke  in  the  words,  "  If  I  have  spoken  evil,  bear 
witness  of  the  evil ;  but  if  well,  why  smitest  thou  Me?  " 

So,  too,  when  He  said,  "  If  any  man  cometh  unto  Me, 
and  Jiatetli  not  his  own  father  and  mother,  and  wife,  and 
children,  and  brethren  and  sisters,  yea  and  his  own  life  also, 
he  cannot  be  My  disciple,":}:  He  was  speaking  to  those  who 
were  perfectly  familiar  with  Jewish  idioms,  which  put  truth 
in  its  extremest  form,  and — as  a  figure  of  speech — empha- 
sised a  precept  by  the  exclusion  of  all  exceptions.  § 

*  See  Prov.  viii.  lo ;  John  vi.  27  ;  i  Cor.  i.  17,  xv.  10  ;  i  Tim.  ii.  9,  etc. 

f  See  Jer.  viii.  22  ;  Joel  ii.  13  ;  Matt.  ix.  13  ;  Gal.  v.  21  ;  Heb.  vii.  Ii. 

if  Wendt  (ii.  67)  compares  the  saying  of  Luther  "  Nehmen  sie  den  Leib, 
Gut,  Ehr,  Kind,  und  Weib.  Lass  fahren  dahin  !  " 

§  Luke  xiv.  26.  We  see  from  Matt.  x.  37,  that  "  hate  "  merely  means  in 
comtarison  with  the  deeper,  diviner  love. 


220  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

This  fact  is  illustrated  by  the  way  in  whicii  St.  Matthew 
records  the  saying  ; — which  is  "  He  that  loveth  father  or 
mother  more  tJian  Me  is  not  worthy  of  Me  :  and  he  that 
loveth  son  or  daughter  more  than  Me  is  not  worthy  of  Me."* 
Thus,  in  our  Lord's  favourite  quotation  from  the  Prophet 
Hoshea,  "  I  desire  mercy  and  7iot  sacrifice,"  neither  the 
ancient  Prophet  nor  our  Lord  meant  to  abrogate  the  whole 
Levitic  law  of  sacrifice,  but  only  to  express  the  transcen- 
dence of  the  duty  of  mercy. 

In  teaching  which  was  pre-eminently  intended  to  arrest 
the  attention  and  to  linger  in  the  memory,  the  form  of  ex- 
pression is  of  the  utmost  importance. f  Our  Lord's  dis- 
courses were  often  delivered  in  the  current  Aramaic,  and  if 
we  possessed  them  in  their  original  form  it  is  more  than 
possible  that  we  should  find  that  they  abounded  in  those 
assonances  and  forcible  plays  on  words  which  often  have  a 
hidden  power  of  their  own.     Thus,  the  words  (Matt.  xi.  17), 

"  We  piped  unto  you  and  ye  did  not  dance, 
We  wailed,  and  ye  did  not  beat  the  breast," 

in  addition  to  their  rhythmic  and  antithetic  parallelism 
would  have  been  still  more  forcible  if  the  words  used  for 
"danced"  and  "mourned"  were  rakedtoon  and  arkedtoon. 
The  phrase  "  the  gates  of  Hades"  (Matt.  xvii.  18)  may 
have  acquired  impressiveness  from  the  alliteration,  Shaare 
SJieol.  \  Again,  what  a  new  light  falls  on  the  familiar  words, 
"  Come  unto  Me  all  ye  who  are  weary  and  heavy  laden,  and 
I  will  give  you  rest.  For  I  am  meek  and  lowly  in  heart, 
and  ye  shall  find  rest  unto  your  souls,"  when  we  know  the 
assonances  between  "  I  will  give  you  rest  "  {anikhkhoii), 
"  meek  "  {jiikh)  and  "  rest  "  {Nikhd). 

*  Matt.  X.  37. 

\  Thomas  Boys  (on  I  Pet.  iii.)  says  :  "  The  intention  of  these  apparent  in- 
consistencies is  that  we  may  mark  them,  dwell  upon  them,  get  instruction  out 
of  them.  Things  are  put  to  us  in  a  strange  way,  because  if  they  were  put  in  a 
more  ordinary  way  we  should  not  notice  them." 

:j:On  this  subject,  see  Ileinsius,  Aristarchus;  and  Glass,  FJiil.  Sacra,  p.  958, 


FORM    OF   CHRIST'S   TEACHING.     221 

In  Matt.  iii.  9,  St.  John  the  Baptist  plays  on  the  asso- 
nance between  Abanim  ("  stones  ")  and  Banivi  ("  sons  ").  In 
Matt.  X.  30,  we  read,  "  The  very  hairs  of  your  head  are  all 
nuviberedr  This  is  a  paronomasia  between  Mene  ("hairs  ") 
and  mamyan  ("  numbered").  In  Luke  vii.  41,  42,  the  words 
chav  ("  owe  ")  and  achab  ("  one  another  ")  resemble  each 
other.  In  John  i.  5,  the  Syriac  would  be,  "  The  light  shin- 
eth  in  darkness  {Gebal),  and  the  darkness  comprehended 
{gibbal)  it  not."* 

It  has  not  perhaps  been  sufficiently  noticed  that  our 
Lord  sometimes  adopted  for  His  teaching  the  form  of 
spontaneous  poetry — engraving  the  words  on  the  memory 
of  His  hearers  by  adopting  the  rhythmic  parallelism  of 
Hebrew  verse,  characterised  by  that  climax  and  refrain  in 
which  Eastern  poetry  delights.  The  parallelism  which  is 
the  distinctive  characteristic  of  Hebrew  poetry  falls  under 
three  main  heads — antithetic,  synthetic,  and  synonymous. 
We  find  all  three  forms  utilised  in  Christ's  teaching.  We 
have  antithetic  paralellism  in  such  sayings  as 

"  Every  one  that  exalteth  himself  shall  be  humbled. 
And  he  that  humbleth  himself  shall  be  exalted."  t 

We  have  synthetic,  or  progressive  parallelism  in 

"  He  that  receiveth  you  receiveth  Me, 
And  he  that  recevieth  Me,  receiveth  Him  that  sent  Me."t 

Synonymous,  or  illustrative  parallelism  is  found  in  such  say- 
ings as 

"  They  that  are  whole  have  no  need  of  a  physician, 

But  they  that  are  sick." 
"  I  came  not  to  call  the  righteous,  but  sinners  to  repentance."  § 

The  following  is  a  specimen  of  synthetic  parallelism  in 
which  the  second  line  not  only  emphasises  but  advances 

*  Adduced  by  Dr.  Bullinger,  Figures  of  Scripture,  p.  322. 
f  Luke  xiv.  11.  |  Matt.  x.  40.  §  Mark  ii.  17. 


222  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

the  sense  of  the  first ;  and  to  which  in  the  last  two  lines  is 
added  a  specimen  of  antithetic  parallelism  : 

"  Think  not  that  I  came  to  send  peace  on  earth  : 
I  came  not  to  send  peace,  but  a  sword. 
For  I  came  to  set  a  man  at  variance  against  his  father. 
And  the  daughter  against  her  mother, 
And  the  daughter-in-law  against  her  mother-in-law. 
And  a  man's  foe  shall  be  they  of  his  own  household." 

"  He  that  findeth  his  life  shall  lose  it  ; 
And  he  that  loseth  his  life  for  My  sake  shall  find  it."* 

Again 

"  Every  sin  and  blasphemy  shall  be  forgiven  unto  men, 
But  the  blasphemy  against  the  Holy  Spirit  shall  not  be  forgiven. 
And  whosoever  shall  speak  a  word  against  the  Son  of  Man,  it  shall  be 

forgiven  him  ; 
But  whosoever  shall  speak  against   the   Holy  Spirit,  it  shall  not  be 

forgiven  him. 
Neither  in  this  aeon,  nor  in  the  coming  one." 

Here  two  antithetic  parallelisms  are  followed  by  a  strong 
synthetic  conclusion,  f  Again,  in  Matt.  xxv.  34-46  there 
is  a  lovely  and  powerful  rhythmic  passage  in  which  "  each 
division  consists  of  a  triplet  or  stanza  of  three  lines,  fol- 
lowed by  a  stanza  of  six  lines,  which,  in  the  form  of  a 
climax,  state  the  reason  of  the  sentence  ;  then  the  response 
of  those  that  receive  the  sentence,  then  the  reply  of  the 
Judge;  lastl}^  the  concluding  couplet  describes  the  passage 
to  their  doom  of  the  just  and  of  the  unjust."  :{: 

This  poetic  structure  is  often  traceable  in  the  Sermon  on 
the  Mount,  as  in  the  lines  of  synthetic  and  introverted 
parallelism  in  which  the  first  corresponds  to  the  fourth, 
and  the  second  to  the  third. 

"  Give  not  that  which  is  holy  unto  the  dogs, 
Neither  cast  ye  your  pearls  before  swine, 

*Matt.  X.  34-39,  xvi.  25  ;  Mark  viii.  35  ;  Luke  ix.  24.  See,  too.  Matt.  vi. 
19,  20. 

f  Matt.  xii.  31,  32.  X  Carr  Si.  Matthezv,  p.  280. 


FORM   OF   CHRIST'S   TEACHING.     223 

Lest  haply  they  trample  them  under  their  feet 
And  turn  again  and  rend  you."  * 

And  in  the  next  two  verses  there  are  "  triplets  with  an 
ascending  climax."  f 

"  Ask,  and  it  shall  be  given  you  ; 
Seek,  and  ye  shall  find  ; 
Knock,  and  it  shall  be  opened  unto  you 
For  every  one  that  asketh  receiveth, 
And  he  that  seeketh  findeth, 
And  to  him  that  knocketh  it  shall  be  opened." 

And,  not  to  multiply  examples,  there  is  a  peculiarly  lovely 
and  finished  specimen  of  synthetic  and  antithetic  parallel- 
ism in  the  address  of  our  Lord  to  Simon  the  Pharisee.  ^ 

"  Simon,  dost  thou  mark  this  woman  ? 
I  entered  into  thine  house, 
Thou  gavest  me  no  water  for  my  feet ; 
But  she  hath  wetted  my  feet  with  her  tears 
And  wiped  them  with  her  hair. 
Thou  gavest  me  no  kiss  ; 
But  she,  since  the  time  I  came  in, 
Hath  not  ceased  to  kiss  my  feet. 
My  head  with  oil  thou  didst  not' anoint ; 
But  she  hath  anointed  my  feet  with  spikenard. 
Her  sins,  which  are  many,  are  forgiven. 
For  she  loved  much  ; 
But  to  whom  little  is  forgiven. 
The  same  loveth  little." 

*  Matt.  vii.  6.  For  another  instance  of  introverted  parallelism  see  Matt.  vi. 
24. 

f  /(/.  7,  8.  Similiar  triplets  of  synthetic  parallelism  are  found  in  John  x. 
27,  28. 

X  Luke  vii.  44-47. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

THE   FORM  OF  CHRIST'S  TEACHING  {continued). 
THE   PARABLES. 

"  A  parable  of  knowledge  is  in  the  treasures  of  wisdom." — Ecclus.  i.  25. 

"Apples  of  gold  in  baskets  of  silver." — Prov.  xxv.  11, 

"  Though  truths  in  manhood  darkly  join, 
Deep-seated  in  our  mystic  frame, 
We  yield  all  blessing  to  the  Name 
Of  Him  who  made  them  current  coin." 

—Tennyson. 

The  teachings  of  our  Lord,  especially  after  the  earliest 
phase  of  His  Ministry,  was  more  habitually  and  essentially 
pictorial  and  illustrative  than  that  of  any  other  teacher  of 
mankind.  The  word  •"  parable  " — derived  from  napa^oKX- 
£iv,  "  to  place  side  by  side,"  and  so  "  to  compare  " — is 
used  in  the  Gospels  with  a  wider  latitude  than  we  ordi- 
narily give  to  it.  The  parable  differs  from  (i.)  a  fable 
because  it  only  moves  within  the  limits  of  possibility ; 
from  (ii.)  an  allegory  in  not  being  throughout  identical 
with  the  truth  illustrated  ;  from  (iii.)  a  simile,  in  its  more 
complete  and  dramatic  development.  There  is  no  direct 
parable  in  the  Gospel  of  St.  John,  but  there  are  many 
"  symbolic  comparisons,"  of  which  the  majority  are  drawn 
from  Nature — such  as  that  of  the  wind  blowing  where  it 
listeth  (iii.  8)  ;  the  growth  of  the  grain  of  wheat  (xii.  24); 
sowing  and  reaping  (iv.  35-38) ;  and  there  are  two  alle- 
gories, those  of  the  Fair  Shepherd,  and  the  Vine  and  its 
branches.  St.  John  does  not  use  the  word  napafioXr} 
once,   but  he   uses  the   word  napoijxia  ("  proverb  ")  four 

224 


FORM    OF   CHRIST'S    TEACHING.     225 

times  (x.  6,  xvi.  25,  29).     Elsewhere  this  word  only  occurs 
in  2  Peter  ii.  22.* 

The  name,  "  parable,"  is  given,  not  only  to  continuous 
narratives,  but  to  condensed  maxims  such  as  : 

"  If  the  blind  lead  the  blind,  shall  they  not  both  fall  into  the  ditch  ?  "  f 
"Physician,  heal  thyself."  I 

"  The  whole  have  no  need  of  the  physician,  but  the  sick."  § 
"  No  man  rendeth  a  piece  from  a  new  garment  and  putteth  it  on  an 
old  garment,  or  putteth  new  wine  into  old  wine-skins."  || 
"  Do  men  gather  grapes  of  thorns,  or  figs  of  thistles .''"  IF 

In  point  of  fact,  the  words  "  parable  "  and  "  proverb  " 
are  used  to  some  extent  interchangeably,  and  both  words 
are,  in  the  Septuagint,  chosen  to  translate  the  Hebrew 
Mashal.  **  In  this  sense  of  the  word  even  the  Sermon  on 
the  Mount  abounds  in  parables,  for  it  contains  fully  four- 
teen comparisons,  any  one  of  which  might  have  been 
expanded  into  a  little  narrative. 

In  ordinary  English,  however,  the  word  "  parable  "  is 
used  to  describe  the  illustrations  which,  whether  derivad 
from  nature  or  from  human  life,  are  used  as  pictorial  figures 
of  spiritual  and  moral  truths.  These  have  been  divided 
into  symbolic  (which  are  the  more  numerous)  and  typical.\^ 
Symbolic  parables  are  those  which,  like  the  Parables  of  the 
Sower,  the  Mustard  Seed,  or  the  Fisher's  Net,  are  descrip- 

*  The  Book  of  Proverbs  is  called  Tlapoifiiai  in  the  LXX.,  but  in  i  Kings  iv.  32 
we  read,  k2.d?i7iae  rpiaxi^tai  irapafio^aq. 

f  Luke  V.  36.     Our  Lord  very  rarely  used  irony,  as  in  Mark  vii.  9. 

X  Luke  vi.  39. 

§  Mark  ii.  17. 

I  Luke  iv.  23.    This  proverb  is  found  in  the  Talmud,  in  e.  g.  Tanchuma  f .  4,  2. 

^Matt.  vii.  16,  2-4,  xxiii.  24,  xxiv.  28.  For  many  others  see  Mark  ii.  2I; 
iii.  27,iiv,  21,  vii.  27,  x.  25  ;  Luke  xvi.  13,  xvii.  31,  xxiii.  31  ;  Matt.  xvii.  25; 
John  iv.  37,  etc.  Many  of  these  are  found  in  the  Talmud  ;  Sanhedrin,  f.  100, 
i;  Baba  Bathra,  f.  15,  2,  etc. 

**  Ps.  xHx.  4 ;  Ixxviii.  2  ;  i  Sam.  x.  19,  xxiv.  14.  Comp.  Num.  xxiii.  7 ; 
Prov.  i.  6  ;  Ezek.  xii.  22,  etc. 

f  f  Goebel,  The  Parables  of  Jesus,  p.  4. 


226  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

tive  pictures  set  forth  in  a  narrative  form  ;  typical  parables 
are  those  like  the  Parables  of  the  Good  Samaritan,  or  Dives 
and  Lazarus,  which  convey  instruction  and  warning  by  the 
incidents  or  histories  of  human  life.  The  Old  Testament 
supplies  us  with  one  example  of  each  kind.*  Nathan's 
Parable  of  the  Ewe  Lamb  is  typical ;  f  Isaiah's  Parable  of 
the  Vineyard  is  symbolic:]:  In  the  Psalms  of  Solomon,  the 
Book  of  Enoch,  and  in  later  Rabbinic  literature,  parables 
are  found,  both  symbolic  and  typical ;  but  whereas  not  one 
of  them  has  seized  the  imagination  of  mankind,  the  para- 
bles of  Jesus  remain  to  this  day  a  source  of  delight  and  of 
deepest  instruction  to  all  sorts  and  conditions  of  men,  and 
in  age  after  age  have  exercised  over  the  world  a  memorable 
influence. 

It  is  interesting  to  observe  that  our  Lord  expressly  used 
parables  to  instruct  the  simple  and  ignorant  multitude, 
whereas  by  earlier  teachers  they  had  been  regarded  as  the 
prerogative  of  the  Chaberim,  or  "  pupils  of  the  wise." 
Tillers  and  herdsmen,  says  the  Son  of  Sirach,  are  not  found 
where  parables  are  spoken. § 

It  is  further  remarked  that,  amid  all  the  crude  and  auda- 
cious inventions  of  the  Apocryphal  Gospels,  they  do  not 
venture  to  invent  a  single  parable.  The  Divine  Wisdom  nec- 
essary to  offer  even  a  remote  parallel  to  such  instruction  lay 
wholly  beyond  the  sphere  of  the  capacity  of  crude  fabulists. 

The  parables  of  Jesus  took  their  tone  in  a  great  measure 
from  the  circumstances  by  which  He  was  surrounded,  and 
the  class  of  people  whom  He  was  addressing.!  For  instance, 
the  first  series,  delivered  at  Capernaum — seven  or  eight  in 

*The  address  of  Jotham  (Judge  ix.  7-15)  is  a  fable.  The  scornful  reply  of 
Jehoash  to  Amaziah  (2  Kings  xiv.  9,  10)  is  a  sort  of  symbolic  parable.  Comp. 
Heb.  ix.  g. 

f  2  Sam.  xii.  1-6. 

:f  There  are  many  passages  in  Ezekiel  (xv.,  xvi.,  xvii.  i-io,  22-24,  xxiii.) 
and  Isaiah  (v.  1-6)  which  contain  parabolic  elements. 

§  Ecclus.  xxxviii.  33. 

\  Goebel,  pp.  21-23. 


FORM    OF   CHRIST'S   TEACHING.     227 

number — deals  with  the  founding  of  God's  Kingdom;  the 
second  series,  mainly  given  by  St.  Luke  (x.-xix.)  describes 
the  progressive  development  of  the  Kingdom,  and  the  atti- 
tude of  its  members  toward  God  and  toward  the  world  ;  the 
final  series,  which  belong  to  the  last  period  of  Christ's  minis- 
try, relates  to  the  future  completion  of  the  Kingdom  at  the 
end  of  its  temporal  development. 

One  series  of  these  parables  was  practically  consecutive. 
"  The  Sower  exhibits  the  rise  of  the  kingdom  ;  the  Weeds 
sown  by  the  devil,  its  obstacles ;  the  Mustard  Seed  and  the 
Leaven,  its  growth  ;  the  Treasure  and  the  Pearl,  its  appro- 
priation by  mankind  ;  the  Net,  the  separation  at  the  judg- 
ment, which  closes  the  history  of  its  development." 

There  was  a  reason  for  the  adoption  of  the  parabolic 
form  of  teaching,  which  our  Lord  explained.  His  parables 
resembled  the  pillar  of  fire,  which  to  the  hostile  Egyptians 
was  a  pillar  of  cloud.  At  first  He  had  spoken  to  the  multi- 
tudes in  similitudes  indeed,  but  such  as  explained  them- 
selves ;  and  when  He  first  resorted  to  parables  the  disciples 
were  astonished.*  In  answer  to  their  question  He  explained 
the  double  object  of  this  change  of  method.  It  was  at  once 
helpful  and  penal.  To  the  earnest  and  faithful  they  gave 
light  ;  to  the  wilful  and  perverse  they  were  as  a  veil.  To 
the  earnest,  the  sincere,  the  humble-minded,  in  proportion 
to  their  faithfulness,  the  parables  were,  as  Seneca  said  of 
fables,  "  adniinicula  imbecillitatis  "/  but,  to  those  who  cared 
nothing  for  the  truth,  or  directly  set  themselves  against  it, 
the  indifference  which  caused  them  to  disdain  the  truth  made 
of  the  parables  a  shroud  to  hide  it  from  them.f  Thus,  as 
Bacon  said,  "  A  parable  has  a  double  use — it  tends  to  veil, 
and  it  tends  to  illustrate  a  truth.  In  the  latter  case  it  seems 
designed  to  teach;  in  the  former  to  conceal.";}: 

*  Matt.  xiii.  lo. 

f  See  the  excellent  article  on  Parables  by  the  late  Dean  Plumptre  in  Smith's 
Diet,  of  the  Bible. 

\  Bacon,  De  Sap.    Veteriun.     The  strong  expression  of  Mark  iv.  I2,  "  in 


228  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

How  far  any  of  the  typical  parables  were  borrowed  from 
actual  facts  which  had  come  under  the  cognisance  of  Jesus 
we  are  unable  to  say,  though  many  of  them  read  like 
descriptions  of  real  events.  None  of  them  show  any  im- 
probability ;  much  less  do  they  even  transgress  the  limits 
of  the  possible.  It  is,  however,  a  most  interesting  fact  that 
we  are  able  to  trace  the  origin  of  <?;^(f  parable — though  of  one 
only — that  of  the  Pounds.*  It  was  delivered  on  the  jour- 
ney from  Jericho  towards  Jerusalem,  and  unintelligible  as 
the  notion  of  "  a  nobleman  going  into  a  far  country  to  seek 
a  kingdom  "  might  seem  to  tis,  there  was  not  one  of  our 
Lord's  hearers  who  would  not  at  once  think  of  Herod  the 
Great,  and  of  his  son  Archelaus,  both  of  whom  had  done 
this  very  thing.  They  could  not  reign  over  Judaea  without 
the  permission  of  the  all-powerful  Caesar,  and  they  had  to 
seek  it  at  Rome.  Jesus  had  just  passed  by  the  splendid 
palace  reared  by  Archelaus  among  the  balsam-groves  of 
Jericho,  and  the  thought  of  the  tyrant  would  naturally  be 
brought  into  His  mind.f  The  parable  recalls  some  actual 
incidents  of  the  Ethnarch's  history,  and  since  Christ  utilised 
these  events  to  convey  deep  and  awful  lessons,  we  are  justi- 
fied in  the  conjecture  that  many  others  of  the  parables  may 
have  derived  fresh  force  because  they  were  directly  bor- 
rowed from  circumstances  which  were  known  to  those  who 
heard  them.  This  parable  also,  like  those  of  the  Unjust 
Judge  and  the  Unjust  Steward,  proves  that  the  details  of 
parables  are  not  to  be  extravagantly  forced  ;  for  our  Lord 
here  employs  the  movements  and  actions  of  a  bad  and  cruel 
prince  to  shadow  forth  certain  truths  in  the  relations  of 
God  to  men. 

Absolute  simplicity  was  the  characteristic  of  the  preach- 

order  that  seeing  they  may  see,  and  not  perceive,"  is,  in  Matt.  xiii.  13,  "  I 
speak  with  them  in  parables  because  seeing  they  see  not."  Comp.  Hos.  xiv. 
9 ;  Rev.  xxii.  11. 

*  Luke  xix.  11-27. 

f  Jos.  Antt.  ii.  4,  5,  xvii.  13,  i  ;  B.J.  ii.  6,  3  ;  Tac.  Hist.  v.  9. 


FORM    OF   CHRIST'S   TEACHING.     229 

ing  of  the  Son  of  God.  It  is  interesting  to  notice  tliat  the 
first  groups  of  parables  are  derived  from  natural  facts  ;*  the 
other  three  are  not  narratives,  but  dwell  on  single  inci- 
dents.f 

The  second  group  consists  of  parables  mainly  drawn  from 
human  events,  and  addressed  to  the  disciples  on  the  way 
from  Galilee  to  Jerusalem,  and  before  the  closing  scenes.:}: 

The  last  group  of  parables — which  were  delivered  during 
the  closing  days  of  Christ's  earthly  life — are  all  derived  from 
human  conduct. § 

By  far  the  larger  number  of  parables  are  recorded  by  St. 
Matthew  and  St.  Luke ;  St.  John  has  no  parable,  and  St.  Mark 
only  one  which  is  peculiarly  his  own — that  of  the  Seed  grow- 
ing secretly  (iv.  26).  If  we  compare  the  parables  preserved 
respectively  by  St.  Matthew  and  St.  Luke,  we  shall  see 
that  (as  Archbishop  Trench  says)  "  St.  Matthew's  are  more 
theocratic,  St.  Luke's  more  ethical ;  St.  Matthew's  are  more 
parables  of  judgment,  St.  Luke's  of  mercy;  those  are 
statelier,  these  tenderer."  || 

In  the  parables  generally  we  mark  "  the  lessons  which  we 
may  learn  from  the  natural  world  on  the  progress  and  scope 
of  Revelation,  and  the  testimony  which  man's  own  heart 
renders  to  the  Christian  morality."!^  Christ's  parables  were 
the  exact  antithesis  to  those  "subtle  "  and  "  riddling  "  para- 

*  The  Sower  ;  the  Wheat  and  Tares  ;  the  Mustard  Seed  ;  the  Seed  cast  into 
the  Ground  ;  the  Leaven.     (Matt,  xiii.;   Mark  iv.) 

f  The  Hid  Treasure  ;  the  Pearl  ;  the  Net.     (Matt,  xiii.) 

:}:  Such  are  the  Two  Debtors  ;  the  Merciless  Servant  ;  the  Good  Samaritan  ; 
the  Friend  at  Midnight ;  the  Rich  Fool ;  the  Wedding  Feast ;  the  Great  Sup- 
per ;  the  Lost  Sheep  ;  the  Lost  Piece  of  Money  ;  the  Prodigal  Son  ;  the  Unjust 
Steward  ;  Dives  and  Lazarus  ;  the  Unjust  Judge  ;  the  Pharisee  and  the  Publi- 
can ;  the  Labourer  in  the  Vineyard.  (Luke  vii.,  x.,  xi.,  xii,,  xiii.,  xiv.,  xv., 
xvi.,  xviii.;  Matt,  xviii.,  xx.) 

§  The  Pounds  ;  the  Two  Sons  ;  the  Husbandmen  ;  the  Marriage  Feast  ;  the 
Ten  Virgins  ;  the  Talents  ;  the  Sheep  and  Goats.  (Luke  xix.,xx. ;  Matt,  xxi., 
xxii.,  XXV.) 

H  Trench,  On  the  Parables,  p.  28. 

\  Bishop  Westcott,  Introd.  to  the  Gospels,  p.  478. 


230  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

bles  in  which  the  son  of  Sirach  tells  us  that  the  Scribes  and 
ideal  wise  men  delighted.*  The  general  teaching  of  them 
all  is  in  the  direction  of  that  large  view  of  religion  which 
uplifts  it  entirely  above  the  formulae  and  functions  with 
which  it  has  been  confused  by  the  majority  of  mankind. 
Their  one  main  object  is  to  inculcate  holiness,  and  to  show 
that  the  only  religion  for  which  God  cares  is  the  religion  of 
the  heart.  Again  and  again  they  impress  on  us  the  great 
duties  of  love,  watchfulness,  humility,  and  prayer,  and  show 
that  perfect  love  toward  God  is  most  surely  evinced  by  per- 
fect love  towards,  and  service  of,  our  fellow-men.  They  set 
before  us  the  one  supreme  end  of  human  life,  which  is  to 
live  in  the  conviction  of  God's  presence,  and  the  knowledge 
that  in  His  presence  is  life.  And  with  these  eternal  lessons 
are  intermingled  the  awful  notes  of  necessary  warning — 
that  man  cannot  sin  with  impunity;  that  our  sins  will 
always  find  us  out;  that,  against  all  pride,  cruelty,  hypoc- 
risy, and  wickedness,  "  our  God  is  a  consuming  fire." 
These  lessons  run  through  the  whole  of  Scripture;  but 
"never  man  spake  like  this  Man."  He  taught,  says  Bishop 
Jeremy  Taylor,  "  by  parables,  under  which  were  hid  mys- 
terious senses,  which  shined  through  the  veil,  like  a  bright 
sun  through  an  eye  closed  with  a  thin  eyelid."  Was  it 
strange  that  all  the  people  "  hanged  on  Him  fas  the  bee 
doth  on  the  flower,  the  babe  on  the  breast,  the  little  bird  on 
the  bill  of  her  dam?  Christ  drew  the  people  after  Him  by 
the  golden  chain  of  His  heavenly  eloquence.":}: 

The  parables  remain  as  the  most  winning,  yet  at  the 
same  time  the  richest  and  divinest  sources  of  moral  and 
spiritual  guidance.  They  do  not  furnish  us  with  scholastic 
forms  of  creed,  or  intricate  systems  of  morality,  but  they 
teach  throughout  one  main  doctrine — "  a  consistent  view  of 
the  right  ideal  relation  between  God  and  men,  thoroughly 
pervaded  by  the  idea  of  God  as  the  living  Father."  §     Who 

*  Ecclus.  xxxix.  1-5.  f  Luke  xix.  48,  e^EKptifxaTO  avrov, 

X  J.  Trapp.  §  Wendt  ii.  390. 


FORM   OF   CHRIST'S   TEACHING.     231 

could  exhaust  the  depths  of  tenderness,  and  warning,  and 
appeal,  and  revelation  of  Him  whose  mercy  endureth  for 
ever,  which  Jesus  compi^essed  into  the  few  thrilling  verses 
that  tell  the  story  of  the  Prodigal  Son  ?  Truly,  of  this  par- 
able we  may  say  with  special  force : 

"  For  Wisdom  dealt  with  mortal  powers, 
Where  truth  in  closest  words  shall  fail, 
When  truth  embodied  in  a  tale 
Shall  enter  in  at  lowly  doors." 

The  hard  dogmatism  and  theoretic  minutiae  of  an  arrogant 
theology  vanish  like  oppressive  nightmares  before  this 
single  parable  in  which  Jesus  reveals  the  heavenly  secret  of 
human  redemption,  not  according  to  any  mystical  or  crimi- 
nal theory  of  punishment,  but  anthropologically,  psycholog- 
ically, theologically,  to  every  pure  eye  that  looks  into  the 
perfect  laws  of  Olivet.  Were  we  to  be  asked  to  name  one 
page  of  all  the  literature  of  all  the  world  since  time  began 
which  had  caused  the  deepest  blessings,  and  kindled  in  the 
despairing  hearts  of  men  the  most  effectual  belief  in  the 
possibility  and  efficacy  of  repentance,  would  any  one  hesi- 
tate to  name  the  Parable  of  the  Prodigal  Son  ?  It  shatters 
to  pieces  all  the  common  theological  conceptions  of  God 
the  Father  as  a  wrathful  Judge,  whose  flaming  countenance 
can  only  be  softened  by  the  compassion  of  God  the  Son  ;  or 
who  only  deals  with  men  in  the  form  of  forensic  arrange- 
ment by  means  of  substitutes,  and  equivalents,  and  exact 
retributive  vengeance.  It  sets  Him  forth  as  the  All  Merci- 
ful, whose  heart  is  filled  with  a  Father's  love;  who  is  more 
ready  to  hear  than  we  to  pray  ;  who  desireth  not  the  death 
of  a  sinner,  but  rather  that  he  should  turn  from  his  sins  and 
be  saved.  It  is  the  Evangelium  in  Evajigelio,  and,  even 
after  long  centuries  of  Christianity,  towers  transcendently 
above  the  elder-brotherly  spirit  which  so  many  who  "  pro- 
fess and  call  themselves  Christians  "  display  in  all  their 
dealings  with  their  fellow-men,  and  even  with  their  brother- 


232  THE    LIFE   OF   LIVES. 

religionists  whose  belief  varies    ever    so  little  from  their 
own. 

Goebel  classifies  the  parables  under  the  heads  of — I. 
I.  The  Founding  of  the  Kingdom,  The  Sower.  2.  The 
Development  of  the  Kingdom  (a)  in  the  immediate  future  ; 
{d)  in  its  development  to  the  end.  3.  The  Consummation 
of  the  Kingdom.  II.  The  Right  Attitude  of  the  Members 
of  the  Kingdom  (i.)  towards  God ;  (ii.)  towards  the  world  ; 
(iii.)  to  men  ;  (iv.)  to  worldly  goods. 

Bishop  Westcott  has  given  a  classification  of  the  parables 
in  his  Introduction  to  the  Study  of  the  Gospels  (pp.  478-480). 
In  main  outline  he  divides  them  into — I.  Parables  drawn 
FROM  THE  Material  World — The  Sower;  The  Tares; 
The  Seed  growing  secretly;  The  Mustard  Seed;  The 
Leaven.     [5] 

II.  Parables  drawn  from  the  RELATION  OF  Man — (i.)  To 
the  Loiver  World :  The  Draw-net ;  The  Barren  Fig-tree  ;  The 
Lost  Sheep  ;  The  Lost  Drachm.  [4]  (ii.)  To  his  Fellozv- 
inen,  and  in  the  Family  :  The  Unmerciful  Servant ;  The  Two 
Debtors;  The  Prodigal  Son;  The  Two  Sons.  [4]  (iii.)  /;/ 
Social  Life :  The  Friend  at  Midnight;  The  Unjust  Judge; 
The  Ten  Virgins  ;  The  Lower  Seats  (Luke  xiv.  7-11) ;  The 
Great  Supper;  The  King's  Marriage  Feast.  [6]  (iv.)  To 
God's  Service :  The  Tower  Builders  ;  The  King  Making 
War;  The  Unjust  Steward;  The  Talents;  The  Pounds; 
The  Wicked  Husbandman;  The  Unprofitable  Servants; 
The  Labourers  in  the  Vineyard.  [8]  (v.)  To  Providence  : 
The  Hid  Treasure ;  The  Man  Seeking  Pearls ;  The  Rich 
Fool.     [3] 

There  are  also  three  symbolic  narratives : — The  Publican 
and  the  Pharisee;  The  Good  Samaritan;  and  Dives  and 
Lazarus — which  illustrate  (in  opposition  to  Judaism)  the 
essential  spirituality,  the  universal  love,  and  the  outward 
lowliness  of  Christianity. 

We  may  further  notice  that  the  general  characteristics  of 
our  Lord's  parables  were  influenced  by  circumstances.     In 


FORM    OF   CHRIST'S   TEACHING.     233 

the  brighter  period  of  His  ministry,  before  the  enmity  of 
the  Pharisees  had  developed  into  deadly  opposition,  His 
parables  mainly  dwelt  on  the  growth,  holiness,  and  glory  of 
the  kingdom  of  heaven  (Matt.  xiii.).  After  the  Transfigur- 
ation, and  when  He  fully  foresaw  the  end  which  awaited 
Him,  they  have  stronger  elements  of  warning  mixed  with 
their  exhortations  (Luke  xi.-xiv.).  The  third  series  is 
more  directly  judicial  and  predictive  (Luke  xix.,  and  in 
Matt,  xviii.-xxv.).  This  is  specially  true  of  the  Parables  of 
the  Rich  Fool,  the  Barren  Fig-tree,  and  the  Great  Supper, 
which  convey  the  most  solemn  warnings.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  whole  depths  of  Divine  tenderness  are  unfolded 
before  us  in  the  three  Parables  of  the  Lost  Sheep,  the  Lost 
Drachm,  and  the  Prodigal  Son.*  The  duties  of  righteous- 
ness and  mercy  are  enforced  in  the  Parables  of  the  Dis- 
honest Steward,  Dives  and  Lazarus,  and  the  Unmerciful 
Servant.  The  peril  of  self-righteousness  is  set  forth  in  a 
few  powerful  touches  in  the  Parable  of  the  Pharisee  and 
the  Publican. 

While  in  every  parable  there  is  one  main  central  lesson, 
there  are  many  touches  and  incidental  details  which  are 
often  rich  in  instruction.  Almost  every  marked  phase  in 
the  history  of  human  life  comes  within  the  compass  of  the 
story  of  the  Prodigal  Son.  Yet  we  must  be  carefully  on 
our  guard  against  pressing  every  incident  into  the  service 
of  vast  structures  of  theological  dogmatism.  It  is,  for 
instance,  entirely  unwarrantable  to  force  the  story  of  the 
Rich  Man  into  the  proof  of  the  ghastly  dogma  of  endless 
torments  in  hell  fire  ;  and  it  is  a  horrible  perversion  of  the 
story  of  the  King's  Marriage  Feast  to  distort  the  incidental 
phrase  "  constrain  them  to  come  in " — as  many  Roman 
Catholic    theologians    have    done — into    a    command    to 

*  Dr.  Edersheim  contrasts  the  teaching  of  Christ,  "  There  is  joy  in  heaven 
over  one  sinner  that  repenteth,"  with  that  of  Pharisaism  {Siphr},  p.  37,  i), 
which  said,  "  There  is  joy  before  God  when  those  who  provoke  Him  perish 
from  the  world." 


234  THE    LIFE    OF   LIVES. 

practise  the  atrocities  of  the  Inquisition,  and    the   helHsh 
crime  of  burning  men  alive  for  their  religious  opinions.* 

*See  the  wise  remarks  of  Archbishop  Trench,  On  the  Parables,  p.  369.  Of 
course,  "  constrain  them  to  come  in  "  means  constrain  them  by  moral  suasion 
(2  Tim.  iv.  2  ;  Matt.  xiv.  22).  "  Foris  inveniatur  necessitas,"  says  St.  Chrys- 
ostom,  "  intus  nascitur  voluntas."  Calvin  wisely  says,  "  Nihil  amplius  quceren- 
dum  est  quam  quuJ  tradere  Christi  consilium  fuit "  (on  Matt.  xx.  i-i6). 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

THE   SUBSTANCE   OF   CHRIST'S   TEACHING. 

"  I  am  the  Way,  the  Truth,  and  the  Lite :  no  man  cometh  unto  the 
Father  but  by  Me."— John  xiv.  6. 

"  Regnum  caslorum  quo  emitur  ?  Paupertate,  regnum  ;  dolore  gau- 
dium  ;  labore,  requies  ;  vihtate,  gloria  ;  morte,  vita." — AUGUSTINE,  De 
Serm.  in  Morte. 

The  heart  of  man — which  in  its  hardness  and  pride  is  so 
naturally  prepense  to  all  that  is  worldly — has  shown,  every- 
where and  always,  a  tendency  to  corrupt  the  very  elements 
of  spiritual  religion.  Without  incessant  watchfulness,  and 
unless  God  sends  to  age  after  age  His  Prophets  and  Saints 
— whose  usual  reward  has  been  the  hate,  slander,  and  per- 
secution of  their  fellow-men — the  tendency  of  all  religions 
has  been  to  sink  into  formal  religiosity.  Men  think  it  suffi- 
cient to  draw  nigh  unto  God  with  their  mouth,  and  honour 
Him  with  their  lips,  while  their  hearts  are  far  from  Him  ; 
and  they  worship  Him  in  vain  because,  with  innate  hypoc- 
risy, they  substitute  for  His  requirements  the  command- 
ments of  men. 

The  one  remedy  for  erring  generations  and  perverted 
priesthoods,  if  they  have  left  in  them  the  faintest  elements 
of  sincerity,  is  to  go  back  from  the  ever-accumulating 
masses  of  false  human  traditions  to  the  teaching  of  Him 
whom  they  profess  to  worship  as  their  Lord  and  their  God. 
Much  that  to  this  day  is  taught  and  paraded  as  the  doctrine 
of  "  the  church  "  is  in  direct  and  flagrant  antagonism  to 
the  teaching  and  example  of  the  Son  of  God  and  of  His 
immediate  Apostles. 

Now,  as  far  as  the  outward  aspect  of  Judaism  was  con- 
cerned, there   were    in    Christ's    days    but    two  prominent 

235 


236  THE    LIFE    OF   LIVES. 

"  schools  "  of  religion,  namely,  those  of  the  Priests  and  of 
the  Legalists. 

Christ  entered  into  no  relations  with  the  Priests.  He 
said  nothing  in  commendation  of  them,  or  approval  of 
their  ideals,  or  acceptance  of  their  religious  views.  They 
were  absorbed  in  selfish  worldliness  and  a  ritualism  which 
their  insincerity  had  emptied  of  its  original  subordinate 
significance.  The  whole  body  of  Priests  were  Sadducees 
who  had  become  unspiritual  sceptics  and  worshippers  of 
Mammon.  Jesus  thought  nothing  of  their  pretensions,  or 
of  their  system.  Apart  from  an  allusion  to  the  High  Priest 
Abiathar,  who  rightly  broke  the  law  by  giving  the  shew- 
bread  to  David  in  his  hunger.  He  scarcely  mentions  priests 
at  all.*  In  one  parable  He  described  the  cold-hearted  and 
supercilious  formalist  who  on  the  way  to  perform  his  func- 
tions passed  with  heartless  indifference  by  the  wounded 
wayfarer  ;f  and  He  told  lepers,  whom  He  had  already 
cleansed  by  His  word,  to  get  from  the  priests  the  ordinary 
legal  certificate  that  their  leprosy  was  healed. ;{:  Otherwise 
He  has  nothing  to  say  either  to  them  or  of  them,  because 
they  had  no  connection  with  the  essential  truths  which  He 
came  to  reveal.  They  were  not  teachers  at  all ;  they  had 
sunk  into  mere  functionaries  who  contributed  nothing  to 
spiritual  religion,  or  even  to  elementary  morality. 

The  more  numerous  and  predominant  party  was  that  of 
the  Pharisees.  Of  them  we  have  already  spoken,  and  shall 
have  to  speak  again  later  on.  All  that  need  here  be  said 
is  that  Christ  rejected  Pharisaism  so  utterly  that,  whereas 
to  all  others  His  words  were  full  of  merciful  tenderness,  He 
was  compelled  again  and  again  to  denounce  in  burning 
utterances — which  have  been  shown  to  be  necessary  in  each 
successive  generation — the  deep-rooted  hypocrisies  of  these 
haughty  and  pretentious  formalists. 

What  Christ  with  unvarying  consistency  taught,  both  by 

*  Mark  ii.  26  ;  Luke  vi.  4.  f  Luke  x.  31, 

J  Matt.  viii.  4  ;  Luke  v.  14. 


SUBSTANCE    OF    HIS   TEACHING.     237 

His  words  and  His  example,  was  imvard  reality,  not  out- 
IV ard  conformities.  His  religious  practices  were  marked  by 
undeviating  simplicity.  He  taught  that  the  kingdom  of 
God  is  zuithin  us,  and  that  it  consists  not  in  meats  and 
drinks,  but  in  righteousness,  peace,  and  joy  in  believing. 
He  taught  that  the  kingdom  of  God  is  not  eating  and 
drinking,  but  holiness,  and  love,  and  joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost. 
He  taught  that  it  is  not  the  food  which  goeth  into  a  man 
which  defiles  him,  but  the  evil  thoughts  which  come  out  of 
him.  Thus,  by  one  word,  "  He  made  all  meats  clean."  * 
He  would  have  said  with  Jeremiah,  "Thus  said  the  Lord 
of  Hosts,  Add  your  burnt  offerings  unto  your  sacrifices 
and  eat  flesh.  For  I  spake  not  unto  your  fathers,  nor 
commanded  them  in  the  day  when  I  brought  them  out  of 
the  land  of  Egypt  concerning  burnt-offerings  or  sacrifices: 
but  this  thing  I  commanded  them,  saying.  Obey  My 
Voice."  f 

Again,  the  Pharisees  delighted  in  outward  ablutions — • 
hand-washings  and  the  washing  of  cups  and  platters  and 
brazen  vessels  and  tables.  For  such  practices  Christ  had 
no  word  of  recognition,  and  many  words  of  disparagement. 
The  whole  of  what  He  had  to  reveal  bore  on  the  essence 
of  heart-reality  and  spiritual  pureness.  We  shall  see  here- 
after some  of  the  minute  and  tortuous  regulations  on  which 
the  Pharisees  insisted  in  the  matter  of  fasts  and  ablutions. 
Christ  practised  no  formal  fast,  and  discouraged  His  dis- 
ciples from  doing  so ;  He  despised  the  hand-washings 
and  ablutions  of  cups  and  platters  which  had  nothing  to  do 
with  cleanliness,  but  only  with  religious  formalism.  For 
those  who  desire  to  learn  of  Him,  religion  will  be  the  love 
of  God  shown  in  love  to  man,  and  rites  and  ceremonies 
will  sink  into  the    most  infinitesimal  proportions.     There 

*Mark  vii.  ig. 

f  Jer.  vii.  21-23.  I"  other  words  "  though  burnt-offerings  are  usually  con- 
sumed by  fire,  as  given  to  Jehovah,  yet  eat  them  as  though  they  were  mere 
flesh."     They  are  nothing  to  Gq4  without  jusUce  and  kindness.. 


238  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

is  no  true  piety  except  such  as  consists  in  the  bond  of 
union  between  God  and  man — -that  direct  and  immediate 
relation  of  the  personal  creature  to  the  personal  Creator  by 
which  all  true  life  can  alone  be  determined. 

Without  heart-sincerity,  and  rectitude  of  life,  all  forms, 
however  ancient,  are  worthless.  It  is  dangerous  to  elabor- 
ate and  magnify  the  outward  ceremonies  of  worship  when 
they  tend  (as  they  too  often  do)  to  breed  self-deceit, 
supercilious  arrogance,  and  opinionated  lawlessness.  It 
is  of  no  use  to  be  free  from  outward  crimes  if  the  heart  be 
unclean  ;  it  is  of  no  use  to  abstain  from  murder  if  the 
thoughts  be  full  of  hatred,  and  the  words  full  of  rage  and 
slander ;  it  is  of  no  use  even  to  do  good  works  if  they  are 
only  done  to  obtain  the  applause  or  approval  of  men. 
Christ  evidently  regards  the  Levitic  law,  whatever  may 
have  been  its  date  and  origin,  as  given  to  the  Israelites 
because  of  the  hardness  of  their  hearts,  and  as  consisting 
intrinsically  in  "  weak  and  beggarly  rudiments,"  fitted  only 
to  train  the  disobedient  childhood  of  the  race.  He  came 
to  abrogate  it  all.  "  It  hath  been  said  to  them  of  old 
time — but  I  say  unto  you."  *  The  essential  conception  of 
holiness  from  henceforth  was  to  be  faith  and  love  towards 
God  and  the  exhibition  of  that  faith  and  love  in  constant 
service  to  our  brethren  who  are  in  the  world.  And  the 
chief  means  of  attaining  to  this  height  was  prayer — not 
formal  prayers,  verbose,  stereotyped,  wearisome,  and 
interminable,  abounding  in  vain  repetitions  and  artificial 
phrases  ;  not  prayers  accompanied,  like  those  of  Dervishes 
and  Stylites,  with  endless  crossings,  prostrations,  and 
genuflexions — but  brief  prayers  of  humble,  simple,  and 
trustful  earnestness. 

All  this  teaching  had  become  most  necessary.  The 
Jews  had  abandoned  the  idolatry  of  false  gods  during  the 
seventy  years  of  disastrous  exile  ;  but  almost  from  the  days 
of  their  restoration  they  began  to  fall  into  a  new  idolatry — 
the   worship   of   the  symbol   and  the  letter.     While  they 

*Matt.  V.  21,  23. 


SUBSTANCE    OF    HIS   TEACHING.     239 

professed  to  deify  the  Law,  they  emptied  it  of  all  its 
significance,  and  with  cunning-  casuistry  managed  to  evade 
its  most  searching  requirements.*  The  result  was  a 
mixture  of  arrogant  tyranny  and  spiritual  uselessness — it 
was  that  common  form  of  religionism  which  may  be  de- 
fined as  "  self-complacency  flavoured  by  a  comprehensive 
uncharitableness."  Religious  attitudinising  ended  in  a 
hypocritic  life;  a  terrible  obliquity  of  moral  precepts  and 
conduct ;  a  deplorable  confusion  of  holiness  with  Levitic 
purity,  and  of  sin  with  ceremonial  defilements;  a  futile 
attempt  to  extort  Divine  favour  by  a  mass  of  observances 
while  it  was  disgracefully  indifferent  to  inward  holiness,  f 
If  any  regard  this  view  of  Pharisaism  as  too  severe,  let 
me  remind  them  that  the  Lord  of  Love  characterised 
its  votaries  as  "  fools  and  blind  "  ;  as  "  the  offspring  of 
vipers " ;  devouring  widows'  houses,  and  for  a  pretence 
making  long  prayers ;  as  washing  the  outside  of  the  cup 
and  of  the  platter,  while  within  they  were  full  of  extortion 
and  uncleanness. 

The  Sermon  on  the  Mount  was  the  promulgation  of  the 
laws  of  Ciirist's  new  kingdom.  Conceive  what  the  Sermon 
on  the  Mount  would  have  been  if  it  had  been  delivered  by 
Caiaphas  the  Priest,  or  Simon  the  Pharisee,  or  any  of  their 
modern  representatives!  Would  it  not  have  been  full  of 
priestly  usurpations,  and  petty  orthodoxies,  and  the  small 
proprieties  of  the  infinitely  little  ?  Would  it  not  have  been 
deplorably  empty  of  moral  manliness  and  spiritual  free- 
dom ?  Christ  touched  on  none  of  these  things.  Apart 
from  two  sacraments,  accompanied  by  rites  of  the  most 
elementary  simplicity,  He  did  not  lay  down  one  liturgical 
ordinance,  or  ceremonial  injunction,  or  priestly  tradition, 
or  Pharisaic  observance.  No,  but  He  pronounced  beati- 
tudes on  the  meek  and  the  loving,  and  precepts  of  self- 
denial,  and  inculcations  of  tenderness  and  sympathy.     So 

*See  Schurer,  i.  313-323,  ii-  120-125.     Scribes  (Kitto  and  Smith), 
f  See  Schurer,  ii.  91-106. 


240  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

broad,  so  simple,  so  free,  so  eternal  and  natural,  are  the 
essentials  of  real  saintliness ;  so  universal  are  the  sole 
requirements  of  Him  who  said,  "  Learn  of  Me,  for  I  am 
meek  and  lowly  of  heart,  and  ye  shall  find  rest  unto  your 
souls."  To  wash  the  hands  in  innoccncy,  and  so  to  come 
to  God's  altar — that  is  sainthood.  To  have  the  heart 
sprinkled  from  an  evil  conscience,  void  of  offence  toward 
God  and  toward  man — that  is  sainthood.  To  behold  the 
face  of  our  brother  in  love  ;  to  be  pure,  peaceable,  gentle; 
to  bring  forth  the  fruits  of  the  Spirit,  which  are  love,  joy, 
peace,  long-suffering,  gentleness,  goodness,  faith,  meekness, 
temperance — tJiat  is  the  only  sainthood  of  which  Christ  set 
the  example,  which  Christ  approves,  which  Christ  will 
reward  for  ever. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

THE   UNIQUENESS   OF  CHRIST'S  TEACHING. 

Ti  'eari  tovto  ;     AiSax^  koivt/. — MARK  i.   27, 

"  Christianus  miser  videri  potest,  inveniri  non  potest." — MiNUC. 
Fel.     Oct.  37. 

"  What  if  earth 
Be  but  the  shadow  of  heaven,  and  things  therein 
Each  to  the  other  Hke  more  than  on  earth  is  thought  ?  " 

— Milton. 

The  broad  eternal  characteristic  of  the  teaching  of  the 
Lord  of  Life  was  that  it  ignored  all  that  was  not  spiritual 
and  essential.  It  constantly  insisted  on  two  fundamental 
truths — the  infinite  love  of  God,  and  the  moral  duty  of  man. 
We  see  the  depth  and  uniqueness  of  Christ's  teaching,  as 
well  as  the  unequalled  power  of  its  methods,  illustrated 
from  the  first  in  the  eight  opening  beatitudes  with  which  He 
began  to  train  the  disciples  and  the  assembled  multitudes. 
**They  may  be  regarded,"  says  Dr.  Plummer,  "as  an  anal- 
ysis of  perfect  spiritual  well-being,  and  nowhere  in  non- 
Christian  literature  shall  we  find  so  sublime  a  summary  of 
the  felicity  attainable  by  man.  They  correct  all  low  and 
carnal  views  of  human  happiness.  They  do  not  describe 
eight  different  classes  of  people,  but  eight  different  elements 
of  excellence,  and  may  all  be  contained  in  one  and  the  same 
man." 

Christ  had  nothing  to  say  to  the  wretched  questions 
which  now  agitate  and  distract  Church  parties.  There  is 
not  the  slightest  allusion  to  his  having  ever  used  a  purifica- 
tion for  ceremonial  uncleanness.  His  only  reference  to 
Jewish  sacrificial  worship  was  in  His  repeated  reference  to 

241 


242  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

the  Prophet  Hoshea,  "I  will  have  mercy  and  not  sacrifice." 
He  swept  away  with  a  divine  scorn  the  idolatry  of  symbols. 
He  was  not  in  the  most  distant  degree  interested  in  "the 
sorts  and  qualities  of  sacrificial  wood,"  or  "  the  right  burn- 
ing of  the  two  kidneys  and  the  fat."  It  is  hardly  possible 
to  conceive  the  immeasurable  disdain  with  which  such 
questions  as  crowd  the  Talmud,  and  fill  whole  reams  of 
religious  literature,  would  have  been  regarded  by  the  Son 
of  God.  All  that  He  had  to  say  of  the  formalism  which 
the  ignorant  people  confounded  with  saintliness,  was  that 
they  who  practised  it  had  made  the  word  of  God  of  none 
effect  by  their  traditions.  His  attitude  to  the  ceremonial 
Law  was  that  it  was  obsolete  and  abrogated.  The  popular 
religion  had  filled  it  with  falsities  and  emptied  it  of  mean- 
ing. He  came  to  purge  it  from  useless  trivialities  and  to 
substitute  for  it  righteousness  and  true  holiness.  Nothing 
was  more  abhorrent  to  Him  than  the  notion  that  the 
Infinite,  Eternal,  Almighty  Father  cared  for,  or  was  to  be 
propitiated  by  external  scrupulosities.  Of  what  use.  He 
asked,  was  the  outward  glistering  of  the  whitewashed 
grave,  which  within  was  full  of  dead  men's  bones  and  all 
uncleanness? 

We  see  the  essence  of  His  teaching  in  His  first  great 
discourse.  It  has  been  well  described  as  an  answer  to  the 
question,  "  What  ought  to  be  a  man's  daily  care  upon 
earth?"  The  answer  is  to  be  found  in  the  one  word, 
Whole-heartedness.  A  double-souled  man  {dii/'vxo?)  is,  as 
St.  James  says,  "  unstable  in  all  his  ways."  He  falls  into 
the  countless  host  of  trimmers,  who  are  content  to  be  one 
hundredth  part  for  God,  and  ninety-nine  parts  for  them- 
selves and  ror  the  world.  These  are  the  mammon-wor- 
shippers and  the  self-worshippers,  who  devote  themselves 
to  greed,  envy,  self-importance,  and  the  indulgence  of  their 
own  guilty  passions. 

But  God  will  be  content  with  no  scant  and  divided  serv- 
ice.    Therefore  Christ  set  Himself  to  teach  us,  Let    your 


UNIQUENESS    OF    HIS    TEACHING.     243 

treasure  be  with  your  heart,  in  heaven.  Be  in  no  wise 
anxious  about  the  things  of  this  world.  If  you  are  seeking 
with  all  your  strength  the  approval  of  God,  care  nothing 
for  the  hate  or  scorn  of  men.  Trust  implicitly  in  God's 
infinite  goodness.  For  His  sake  love  your  brethren  who 
are  in  the  world.  Regard  all  men  as  your  brethren, 
pardoning  and  loving  even  the  worst,  and  leaving  them  to 
God's  merciful  judgment,  not  to  that  of  your  own  spiritual 
conceit.  Above  all,  beware  of  secret  hypocrisy.  Sancti- 
monious externalism  may  deceive  men  ;  it  cannot  deceive 
God.  Religion  is  not  Pharisaism  ;  it  is  to  love  God  with 
all  your  heart  and  your  neighbour  as  yourself.  This  is  the 
Law  and  the  Prophets,  and  he  who  builds  on  this  founda- 
tion builds  upon  a  rock,  and  the  house  of  his  life  can  never 
be  swept  away  by  any  earthly  storms. 

By  living  up  to  this  teaching  we  shall  find  that  the  King- 
dom of  Heaven  is  now  established  upon  earth.  It  is 
written,  "  Seek  ye  first  the  Kingdom  of  God  and  His 
righteousness,  and  all  else  shall  be  added  unto  you."  * 

And  this  is  illustrated  by  the  attitude  of  our  Lord 
toward  the  ancient  Scriptures.  The  people,  as  they  heard 
Him,  might  well  exclaim,  "  What  is  this?  A  new  teach- 
ing ! "  In  direct  antithesis  to  the  inferences  which  the 
tortuous  ingenuity  of  men  had  forced  out  of  the  Law  of 
Moses  by  putting  it  on  the  rack  to  their  own  destruction, 
He  taught  that  all  forms  of  righteousness  were  worthless, 
all  precepts  of  righteousness  insignificant,  unless  they  rule 
the  conduct,  and  dominate  the  heart.  So  far,  indeed,  from 
coming  to  destroy  the  Law  and  the  Prophets,  His  object 
was  to  give  them  their  sole  valid  and  permanent  sig- 
nificance. 

As  regards   the    moral    law,  which   Rabbinism,  even   in 

fundamental  matters,  often  contrived  to  evade.  He  taught 

that  it  could  only  be  fulfilled    by  fidelity  to  God    in    the 

inmost  thoughts.     From    quantitative    extensions  of  ordi- 

*Matt.  vi.  33.     See  Wendt,  i.  267. 


244  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

nance  He  recalled  the  thoughts  of  men  to  central  obliga- 
tions. Instead  of  the  allegorising  casuistry  of  the  Jewish 
fourfold  exegesis,  the  Rabbinic  Pardes,  i.e.,  the  Pcshat  or 
explanation,  the  Reine:z  or  "  hint,"  the  Darush  or  homiletic 
inference,  the  Sod  or  "  mystery  " — and  the  fourfold  argu- 
ments and  Seven  Middoth  or  "  Rules  "  of  Hillel  * — He 
bade  men  study  the  innermost  meaning  of  the  word  of 
God.  He  appealed  most  often  to  the  Prophets,  and  rati- 
fied their  sweeping  depreciation  of  the  whole  ceremonial 
Law  when  its  requirements  are  made  a  substitute  for  true 
religion.  Prophecy  had  long  been  dead  in  Israel,  as  it 
always  dies  when  sacerdotalism  reigns.  "  The  creative 
period  had  ceased,"  even  "  the  interpretative  period  "  had 
ceased  ;  what  now  prevailed  was  the  period  of  false  literal- 
ism, mingled  with  ingenious  perversions.  The  living  voice 
had  long  been  silent ;  it  had  been  replaced  by  "  spent 
echoes,  broken  into  confused  and  inarticulate  sound." 
The  pool  of  popular  religion  had  become  turbid,  as  it  must 
do  when  it  is  not  flushed  by  the  living  streams  of  that 
river  of  inspiration  which  maketh  glad  the  city  of  God. 
The  surface  glitter  of  the  Dead  Sea  shore  does  but  hide 
the  blight  and  barrenness  beneath.  It  has  been  said  that 
"what  Jesus  really  did  was  to  give  utterance  to  a  new 
principle,  which  explains  all  His  teaching  and  furnishes 
the  key  to  the  mystery  of  His  own  religious  genius.  This 
great  principle  may  be  described,  according  to  the  side 
from  which  it  is  approached,  as  the  Worth  of  Man,  or  the 
Love  of  God."  t 

The  whole  of  religion  must  ultimately  and  essentially 
depend  on  the  ideas  which  we  form  of  God,  and  it  is  in 
their  mean  and  narrow  conceptions  of  God  that  all  false 
religions,  and  all  perversions  and  degradations  of  true 
religion,   have   gone   astray. 

*  Rabbi  Ishmael   expanded  the  Rule  into  thirteen,  for  which  see  Hershon, 
Talm.  Miscell.  p.  i66. 
f  Van  Oort,  v.  22i. 


UNIQUENESS   OF    HIS   TEACHING.     245 

If,  with  the  Sadducees,  we  hold  that  there  is  no  resur- 
rection, neither  angel  nor  spirit,  we  shall  try  to  line  our 
pockets  well  in  the  world,  and  with  complete  insouciance 
to  go  through  certain  functions  whether  we  believe  in  their 
efficacy  or  not  ;  and  with  Caiaphas  and  his  brother-priests 
we  shall  be  ready  to  commit  any  crime  if  we  regard  it  as 
"expedient"  for  our  interests,  or  our  party,  and  for  the 
maintenance  of  the  present  state  of  things  which  we  regard 
as  advantageous  to  ourselves. 

If  we  be  cruel  and  wrathful,  we  shall  conceive  of  God  as 
the  Egyptian  conceived  of  his  Typhon,  or  the  Moabite  of 
his  Chemosh,  and  shall  suppose  that  He  is  a  terrific,  supra- 
human  monster,  a 

"  Moloch,  horrid  King,  besmeared  with  blood 
Of  human  sacrifice,  and  parents'  tears  ; 
Tiiough,  for  the  noise  of  drums  and  timbrels  loud, 
Their  children's  cries  unheard  who  passed  thro'  fire 
To  His  grim  idol." 

If  we  be  jealously  wrapped  up  in  the  serene  infallibility 
of  our  own  opinionated  ignorance,  and  determined  to 
crush  all  freedom  of  thought  in  order  that  we  may  keep 
our  own  usurped  power  over  the  hearts  and  consciences  of 
our  fellow-men,  we  shall  be  ready  to  rekindle  the  accursed 
balefires  of  Smithfield  or  of  Seville,  and  to  blacken  the 
golden  light  of  heaven  with  the  smoke  of  hell,  to  get  rid  of 
men  who  are  wiser  and  holier  than  ourselves. 

If  we  be  dwarfed,  and  petty,  and  exacting  in  our  concep- 
tions, we  shall  multiply  fantastic  obligations  till  they  be- 
come like  a  mountain  suspended  by  a  single  hair  of  false 
teaching;  and  we  shall  slander,  and  belittle,  and  persecute 
all  who  see  deeper  into  the  reality  of  things  than  ourselves. 
We  shall  look  upon  our  whole  relation  to  God  as  a  sort  of 
small  bargaining  in  which  we  shall  be  repaid  exact  equiva- 
lents for  all  our  tithes  of  mint,  and  anise,  and  cumin. 
What  becomes  of  others  who  do  not  pay  them  we  shall  not 


246  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

greatly  care,  but  shall  say  with  the  Pharisees,  "  This  people 
that  knoweth  not  the  Law  is  accursed." 

If  our  hearts  be  full  of  gloom  and  self-absorbed  individu- 
alism— if  we  never  raise  our  eyes  upwards  from  our  own 
unworthiness,  but  regard  God  as  a  sternly  pitiless  Avenger, 
dealing  with  us  after  our  sins,  rewarding  us  after  our  iniqui- 
ties, and  never  appeased  till  we  have  paid  the  uttermost  far- 
thing— then  we  shall  adopt  an  exaggerated  asceticism,  and 
shut  ourselves  up  in  a  half-dazed  seclusion  equally  injurious 
to  ourselves  and  useless  to  the  world. 

Now  He  who  came  from  the  bosom  of  the  Fathei  to  re- 
veal Him  repudiated  all  such  corruptions.  He  taught  the 
Fatherhood  of  God  towards  all  His  creatures.  He  taught 
man 

"  to  turn 

To  the  deep  sky,  and  from  its  splendours  learn 

By  stars,  by  sunsets,  by  soft  clouds  that  rove 

Its  blue  expanse,  or  sleep  in  silvery  rest. 

That  nature's  God  hath  left  no  place  unblest 

With  founts  of  beauty  for  the  eye  of  love." 

This  was  His  essential  revelation.  He  pointed  to  this  as 
the  teaching  of  Nature.  Doth  not  God  cause  His  sun  to 
shine  on  the  evil  and  on  the  good,  and  send  His  rain  to  the 
just  and  to  the  unjust?  Doth  He  not  clothe  the  lilies  of 
the  field,  though  they  toil  not,  neither  do  they  spin,  with  a 
glory  surpassing  the  magnificence  of  Solomon  ?  Doth  He 
not  feed  the  ravens,  though  they  neither  sow  nor  reap,  nor 
gather  into  barns  ?  Doth  He  not  care  even  for  each  one  of 
the  millions  of  feeble  sparrows,  so  that  not  one  of  them 
falleth  to  the  ground  without  His  will? 

And  if  this  be  the  revelation  of  Nature,  how  much  more 
is  it  the  revelation  of  Grace  ?  Hence  the  Parable  of  the 
Prodigal  Son  represents  the  essence  of  Christ's  teaching  as 
to  the  relation  of  God  to  men.  The  wild,  dissolute  youth 
had  flung  away  the  love  and  left  the  holy  home  of  his 
father ;  had  hastened  into  the  far  country ;  had  there  lived 


UNIQUENESS   OF    HIS    TEACHING.     247 

the  life  of  a  riotous,  self-indulgent  debauchee,  disgracing  the 
name  he  bore,  and  devouring  his  living  with  harlots  ;  and 
he  had  sunk  by  inevitable  retribution  into  contempt  and 
misery.  Deserted  by  his  fair-weather  friends  the  moment 
when  nothing  more  was  to  be  got  out  of  him,  he  had  passed 
from  extravagant  luxury  into  abject  serfdom.  In  the  low- 
est abyss  of  his  degradation,  he  had  been  sent  into  the  fields 
to  feed  swine  ;  and,  since  it  was  no  longer  possible  to  sate 
the  gnawing  of  his  hunger,  he  would  fain  at  least  have  filled 
his  belly  with  the  coarse  carob-pods  which  were  the  food 
of  swine  ;  yet  even  of  these  no  man  gave  unto  him.  It 
was  only  when  he  had  sounded  the  uttermost  abyss  of  mis- 
ery that  he  thought  of  his  loving  father,  and  of  his  lost 
home,  and  of  his  willing  forfeiture  of  all  that  he  had  re- 
ceived of  nobleness  and  grace,  once  more  took  possession  of 
his  thoughts.  He  "  came  to  himself."  He  had  abandoned, 
he  had  done  his  utmost  to  destroy  and  obliterate,  his  true 
self.  But  though  the  light  of  grace  may  dwindle  to  a  spark, 
and  the  lamp  of  the  Holy  Spirit  within  us  be  almost 
quenched,  it  cannot  be  wJiolly  lost  in  this  life,  or  man  would 
sink  irredeemably  into  a  beast  or  a  demon.  In  this  awful 
catastrophe  the  poor,  lost  youth  determined  to  fling  him- 
self unreservedly  on  his  father's  love,  and  to  plead  for  read- 
mission  into  the  home  of  his  early  innocence — no  longer  as 
a  son,  but  as  a  hired  servant.  So  he  arose  and  returned  ;  and 
while  he  was  yet  a  long  way  off  his  father  saw  him,  and  ran 
to  meet  him  with  the  outstretched  arms  of  infinite  compas- 
sion, and  kissed  him  tenderly  ;  and  when  the  son  had  sobbed 
forth  upon  his  neck  the  confession  of  his  despairing  peni- 
tence, the  father  ordered  the  best  robe  to  be  brought  at 
once  to  cover  his  swinish  rags,  and  the  fatted  calf  to  be 
killed  for  his  banquet. 

This  is  the  picture  of  God's  full,  free,  unconditioned  for- 
giveness to  all  who  seek  Him,  and  call  upon  Him,  and 
repent  of  their  old  sins.  There  is  no  question  of  repara- 
tion ;  no  demand  for  the  equivalent  payment  of  a  debt ;  no 


248  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

claim  for  the  pound  of  flesh  ;  no  requirement  of  a  "  substi- 
tute  "  ;  no  need  for  the  intrusion  of  intermediaries  ;  but, 
as  a  father  pitieth  his  own  children,  even  so  is  the  Lord 
pitiful  to  them  that  fear  Him.  The  prodigal's  anguish  of 
loving  penitence  was  dearer  to  the  father's  heart  than  the 
prim,  loveless,  quantitative  goodness  and  unlovely  spite  of 
the  elder  son,  who  was  still  far  astray  and  saw  no  need  for 
repentance.  And  all  this,  let  us  observe,  was  taught  with  a 
simplicity  which  a  child  might  understand.  It  was  not  ex- 
panded into  vast  folios  of  a  Sunivia  Theologies.  It  was  not 
thrown  into  rigid  and  technical  formulae.  It  was  set  forth 
in  words  exquisitely  beautiful  as  a  simple,  eternal,  trans- 
cendent truth,  clothed  in  a  form  intelligible  to  the  humblest 
and  least  instructed  souls,  yet  full  of  sublime  meanings 
inexhaustible  by  men  of  the  loftiest  genius. 

Was  it  wonderful  if,  after  having  become  familiar  with 
such  teaching,  St.  Peter  should  exclaim  on  behalf  of  all  the 
Apostles,  "  Lord,  to  whom  shall  we  go  ?  Thou  hast  the 
words  of  eternal  life." 

In  this  relation  of  God  to  man  was  implicitly  involved  the 
duty  of  man  to  God.  The  first  step  towards  the  Kingdom 
of  Heaven  was  to  realise  the  truth  that  love  to  God  necessi- 
tated the  feeling  of  brotherhood  to  man.  "When  the  can- 
did Scribe  recognised  that  the  Ten  Commandments  were 
summed  up  in  Two,  and  said,  "  Of  a  truth,  Master,  Thou 
hast  well  said  that  there  is  none  other  but  God  ;  and  to  love 
Him  with  all  the  heart,  and  to  love  his  neighbour  as  him- 
self, is  much  more  than  all  whole  burnt-offerings  and  sacri- 
fices," Jesus  said  unto  him,  "Thou  art  not  far  from  the 
kingdom  of  God."* 

This  was  the  practical  summary  of  Christ's  earliest  teach- 
ing. He  pointed  out  the  secret  of  salvation  ;  the  inmost 
essence  of  love  and  joy  and  peace.  This  is  the  Magna 
Charta  of  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven.  The  Beatitudes  reversed 
all  the  judgments  of  the  world,  as  well  as  of  the  Sadducees 
and  of  the  Scribes.     They  set    forth  the    four  virtues   of 

*  Mark  xii.  34. 


UNIQUENESS   OF    HIS   TEACHING.     249 

humility,  holy  sorrow,  meekness,  and  yearning  after  right- 
eousness ;  and  the  virtues  of  mercy,  purity,  peaceableness, 
and  the  endurance  of  persecution  and  reproach.  Thus  did 
Jesus  cancel,  revise,  or  fill  with  far  deeper  spiritual  reality 
the  moral  teaching  of  the  world.  He  showed  that  what  the 
world  regarded  as  misery  might  not  only  lead  to,  but  actually 
^^,  the  present  fulness  of  holy  joy.  God's  blessing  rests  not 
on  the  arrogant,  and  the  self-satisfied,  but  on  the  seekers 
after  God,  and  those  who  with  pure  hearts  devote  their 
lives  to  works  of  compassion,  in  saving  the  world  from  cor- 
ruption, and  setting  a  shining  example  to  its  slaves  and 
votaries.  He  extended  the  obligations  of  the  Decalogue  to 
the  thoughts  of  the  heart.  The  essence  of  murder  consists 
in  hatred,  in  unreasoning  anger,  and  bitter  speech  ;  the  true 
fulfilment  of  the  sixth  commandment  lies  in  peace  towards 
all  men.  The  essence  of  adultery  lies  in  dissolute  imagina- 
tions, and  no  sacrifice  is  too  severe  which  is  required  for  the 
attainment  of  inward  purity.  The  lex  talionis — a  conces- 
sion to  wild  and  unprotected  times — may  be  reversed  by  a 
spirit  of  non-resistance  and  self-suppression.  Love,  which 
the  Rabbis  had  confined  to  love  of  our  neighbours,  must  be 
extended  to  our  enemies.  Ostentation  in  well-doing,  or  in 
alms-giving,  corrupts  all  its  blessedness.  Prayer  must  be 
humble,  secret,  sincere,  free  from  vain  repetitions,  the  out- 
come of  an  intense  longing  to  fulfil  God's  law.  Desire  for 
earthly  treasure  must  be  superseded  by  a  love  for  God 
which  expels  minor  affections,  and  a  trust  in  God  which 
excludes  the  possibility  of  earthly  anxieties.  For  the  cen- 
soriousncss  which  is  ever  passing  judgment  on  others,  the 
children  of  the  kingdom  must  aim  at  the  sincerity  which  is 
only  severe  to  our  own  shortcomings.  God's  mercy  and 
lovingkindness  are  infinite,  and  as  we  rely  on  His  bounty 
for  ourselves,  we  must  show  the  same  to  others.  "  Narrow 
is  the  gate  and  straitened  the  way  "  which  leads  to  the 
attainment  of  these  aims.*  We  must  never  suffer  ourselves 
to  be  turned  from  that  narrow  gate,  or  driven  out  of  that 

*  Matt.  vii.  I4» 


250  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

strait  path.  We  must  judge  of  religion  not  by  its  demon- 
strativeness,  but  by  its  fruits.  Love,  obedience,  sincerity, 
simplicity — these  are  the  eternal  bases  of  the  spiritual  life. 

The  only  superstructure  of  religion  which  can  ever  abide 
the  rush  of  the  whirlwind  and  the  sweeping  of  the  flood  is 
that  which  is  built  on  the  words  and  deeds  of  the  Son  of 
Man.  Alike  in  form  and  substance  His  teaching  stands 
alone.  It  is  at  once  radiantly  simple,  and  unutterably  pro- 
found. It  is,  as  St.  Augustine  said,  like  a  great  ocean  on 
whose  surface  is  the  avfjpiBjuov  yiXafff^a,  the  "  ever-twin- 
kling smile  "  which  charms  even  children,  yet  whose  depths 
are  unfathomable.'^  It  bears  upon  it  a  certain  ineffable 
stamp  of  divinity  which  Priests  and  Pharisees  have  often 
perverted ;  but  which  no  human  being — no  Prophet  who 
came  before  Jesus,  no  Apostle  or  Evangelist,  who  followed 
Him  ;  no  Gentile  philosopher,  no  Eastern  Theosophist,  no 
self-satisfied  Agnostic,  no  modern  enquirer  with  all  the 
learning  and  wisdom  of  the  world  to  draw  from  at  his  will 
— has  ever  been  able  in  the  most  distant  degree  to  equal, 
much  less  to  surpass.  Many  have  uttered  wise  words,  and 
written  noble  books ;  but  either  they  have  soon  been  com- 
paratively forgotten,  or  have  only  reached  the  few.  The 
simplest  words  of  Christ  have  been  as  arrows  of  lightnings 
which  still  quiver  in  the  hearts  of  millions  of  every  race,  as 
they  have  done  in  every  age,  and  which  are  blessedly  pow- 
erful to  heal  the  very  wounds  which  they  inflict  on  the 
awakened  consciences  of  men. 

*  Aug.  Con/,  xii.  14. 


CHAPTER   XXIV. 

THE   TITLES   OF   JESUS  AND   THE   BROTHERHOOD   OF   MAN. 

"  The  first  man,  Adam,  became  a  living  soul  ;  the  last  Adam  became 
a  life-giving  spirit." — i  Cor.  xv.  45. 

Our  Lord  used  various  titles  to  describe  Himself. 

He  called  Himself  "  the  Christ,"  i.  e.,  the  Messiah,  the 
Anointed  One,  anointed  by  the  grace  of  God  to  preach  the 
Gospel  to  the  poor.*  At  an  earlier  period  of  the  ministry- 
He  did  not  wish  His  Messiahship  to  be  openly  proclaimed 
(Mark  viii.  31),  and  He  separated  from  the  idea  of  Messiah- 
ship  the  notion  of  earthly  kingship.f  The  Messianic  faith 
was  a  desire,  a  hope,  a  promise,  and  Jesus  fulfilled  this 
idea.:}: 

He  alludes  to  His  Davidic  descent,  and  was  often  ad- 
dressed by  others  as  the  Son  of  David. % 

He  sometimes  spoke  of  Himself  as  the  Son  of  God  ;  || 
but  this  title  was  generally  given  Him  by  others.^     Once 

*  More  distinctly  at  the  close  of  His  ministry  (Matt,  xxiii.  8,  xxiv,  5;  Mark 
ix.  41,  xi.  10). 

f  Mark  x.  42;  Luke  xii.  14. 

X  Hausrath,  ii.  223. 

g  Matt.  ix.  27,  xii.  23,  xv.  22,  xx.  30,  xxi.  9,  etc.;  Mark  x.  47,  xi.  10;  John 
vii.  42.  Com.  Rom.  i.  3.  On  this  title,  see  Dalman,  Die  Worte  Jesu,  pp. 
260-266. 

II  Matt.  xi.  27,  xxvi.  63,  64,  xxvii.  43;  Mark  xiii.  32,  xiv.  6r;  Luke  x.  21, 
22;  John  i.  16-18,  iii.  35,  36,  v.  20-26,  vi.  40,  viii.  35,  36,  ix.  35,  x.  36, 
xiv.  13,  xvii.  I.  St.  Matthew  records  the  prophecy  of  Isaiah  (vii.  14)  in 
which  Jesus  is  called  Emmanuel — "God  with  us" — not  merely  avv  r/julv  (oi 
accompaniment),  but  fieQ'  i/juuv  ("  God  in  the  common  nature  of  us  all  "). 
i  IT  By  the  Angel  Gabriel  (Luke  i.  35);  by  John  the  Baptist  (John  i.  34):  by 
Nathanael  (John  i.  50);  by  St.  Peter  (John  vi.  69;  Matt.  xvi.  16);  by  Martha 
(John  xi.  27);  by  Satan  (Matt.  iv.  3,  6);  by  the  multitude  (Mark  xv.  39;  by 
demoniacs  (Matt.  viii.  29;  Mark  v.  7);  by  the  centurion  (Matt,  xxvii.  54)}  by 

851 


252  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

only,  in  St.  John,  He  describes  Himself  as  "the  Paraclete," 
or  Divine  Advocate.*  He  does  not  use  of  Himself  the 
title  of  "The  Chosen  One"  (Luke  ix.  35,  xxiii.  35).t 

The  remarkable  designation  of  "  The  Word  "  is  given 
to  Christ  by  St.  John  alone  (John  i.  14).  As  he  opens  his 
Gospel  with  the  phrase,  "  In  the  beginning,"  which  is  also 
the  first  word  in  the  Book  of  Genesis  {Bercshtth),  the  title 
may  be  a  reference  to  the  truth  that  "  the  worlds  were 
made  by  the  Word  of  God."  Christ  was  the  Incarnate 
Word.  Philo  had  written  much  of  the  Logos,  but  without 
the  most  distant  approach  to  any  conception  that  the 
Word  could  could  ever  "  be  made  flesh,  and  dwell  among 
us."  In  the  Targums — ancient  paraphrases  of  the  Hebrew 
Scriptures — "  the  action  of  God  is  constantly,  though  not 
consistently,  referred  to  His  Word  {JSIemra  and  DeburaH)'' 
In  the  Talmudic  writings  we  find  the  Metatron,  a  sort  of 
divine  intermediary  between  God  and  man.  In  the  Apoc- 
ryphal books  of  the  pras-Christian  epoch  we  find  "  Wis- 
dom "  spoken  of  repeatedly  as  a  person  ;  even  in  the 
Pentateuch  and  the  Prophets  we  find  mention  of  "  the 
Angel  of  the  Presence"  (Gen.  xxxii.  24;  Ex.  xxxiii.  12; 
Hos.  xii.  4;  Is.  Ixiii.  9,  etc.).  St.  John  was  doubtless  well 
aware  of  these  unconscious,  or  half-conscious,  prophecies ; 
but  the  identification  of  "  the  Word  "  with  the  Man  Christ 
Jesus  transcends  all  that  had  previously  been  thought  or 
written.:|:     St.   John   was   inspired  to    reveal   with    perfect 

the  disciples  (Matt.  xiv.  33;  John  xx.  31);  by  the  Evangelists  (Mark  i.  i;  John 
i.  18);  by  the  voice  from  heaven  (Matt.  xvii.  5).  In  the  Apocalyptic  literature 
the  Messiah  is  regarded  as  the  Son  of  God.  Enoch  cv.  2;  4  Esdras  viii.  28, 
xiii.  32,  37,  52,  xiv.  9.     See  Schurer,  ii.  11,  158.     Comp.  Mark  xii.  35-37. 

*Conip.  Job  xiv.  16;  Matt,  xxviii.  19.  The  word  "  Paraclete,"  or  Advocate, 
is  only  found  in  St.  John — "  Christ  as  the  Advocate  pleads  the  believer's  cause 
with  the  Father  against  the  Accuser  Satan  (i  John  ii.  i);  the  Holy  Spirit 
pleads  the  believer's  cause  against  the  world  and  also  its  cause  with  the 
believer  "  (John  xiv.  26,  xv,  26).     Westcott. 

f  Comp.  Is.  xliii.  10;  i  Peter  ii.  4. 

X  On  the  whole  subject,  see  Bp.  Westcott's  Inirod.  to  the  Gospel  of  St.  John, 
pp.  XV.  fl. 


THE   TITLES   OF   JESUS.  253 

clearness  that  "  the  personal  Being  of  the  Word  was 
realised  in  active  intercourse  and  in  perfect  communion 
with  God,"  and  at  the  same  time  in  historic  manifestation 
and  nearest  spiritual  influence  upon  the  hearts  of  men. 

But  the  designation  which  Christ  ordinarily  adopted, 
and  which  He  chose  for  Himself,  was  "  the  Son  of  Man." 

There  may  be  in  this  title  a  dim  and  indirect  allusion  to 
Dan.  vii.  13,  where  the  word  is  Bar-Enosh.  The  phrase  is 
used  ninety  times  of  the  Prophet  Ezekiel,  though  he  never 
applies  it  to  himself.  Christ  used  it  eighty  times,  and 
always  of  Himself.  It  is  only  applied  to  Him  by  others  in 
passages  which,  like  Acts  vii.  56,  Rev.  i.  13-20,  imply  His 
exaltation.  But  since  in  Dan.  vii.  13  this  phrase  is  ex- 
plained to  be  equivalent  to  "the  saints  of  the  Most  High," 
in  antithesis  to  "  the  beasts  "  who  represent  the  kingdoms 
of  the  world,  the  allusion  to  Daniel  could  only  be  very 
indirect.  The  prophet  does  not  speak  of  "  the  Son  of 
Man,"  but  of  "  one  like  a  son  of  man."  In  the  later 
Jewish  Apocalypses — the  Psalms  of  Solomon,  the  Book  of 
Enoch,  and  the  Apocalypse  of  Baruch — the  Messiah  is 
indeed  a  Person,  a  King  and  Judge;  but  not  in  the  Book 
of  Daniel.  "  The  Second  Man  is  the  Lord  from  heaven." 
That  the  title  was  not  a  synonym  for  "  the  Messiah  "  seems 
to  be  proved  by  the  question,  "  Who  do  men  say  that  I 
the  Son  of  Man  am  ?  "  * 

Upon  the  lips  of  Christ  the  title  had  a  very  deep  mean- 
ing, which  throws  light  on  His  entire  mission  and  revela- 
tions. He  used  the  phrase  "The  Son  of  Man"  to  imply 
His  federal  Headship  of  Humanity,  as  one  whom  God  had 
highly  exalted  because  of  His  self-humiliation  in  taking 
our  flesh  (Phil.  ii.  6-1 1).  It  called  attention  to  Him  as 
"the  Second  Adam,"  who  came  to  restore  the  Eden  lost 
by  the  sins  of  the  First  Adam.  In  the  Old  Testament  the 
phrase  "  Son  of  Man  "  had  been  constantly  used  to  repre- 
sent man  in  his  feebleness,  man  in  his  nothingness  before 

*  Matt.  xvi.  13;  Mark  viii.  37;  Luke  ix.  18. 


254  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

the  Majesty  of  God  ;*  and  Jesus  adopted  it  because,  in  all 
senses  and  to  the  full,  He  came  to  bear  our  griefs  and  to 
carry  our  sorrows,  while  nevertheless  He  came  as  the  Ideal, 
as  the  Representative,  of  Humanity  in  all  its  possible 
nobleness,  when  it  ha^  been  forgiven,  redeemed,  and  filled 
with  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God.  "  The  Son  of  God,"  says 
St.  Augustine,  "was  made  the  Son  of  Man,  that  ye  who 
were  sons  of  men  might  be  made  sons  of  God."  He  came 
as  the  divine  yet  human  Brother  of  the  whole  human  race ; 
as  the  Elder  Brother  in  the  great  family  of  man.  He  came 
to  extend  to  all  mankind  that  infinite  tenderness  which  the 
particularism  of  the  Jews  had  supposed  to  be  confined  to 
the  sons  of  tiieir  own  nation.  In  the  Old  Testament  God 
by  the  voice  of  His  Prophets  had  addressed  words  of 
tender,  compassionate  affection  to  the  children  of  Israel. 
He  had  said  : 

"  As  an  eagle  stirreth  up  her  nest, 
Fluttereth  over  her  young, 
Spreadeth  abroad  her  wings, 
Taketh  them,  beareth  them  on  her  wings, 
So  the  Lord  alone  did  lead  iiim."t 

He  had  said — 

"  Is  Ephraim  My  dear  son  ?  is  he  a  pleasant  child  ?  for  since  I  spake 
against  him,  I  do  earnestly  remember  him  still.  Therefore  My  heart  is 
troubled  for  him  ;  I  will  surely  have  mercy  upon  him,  saith  the  Lord."  I 

*  Num.  xxiii.  19-22;  Ps.  viii.  4:  "What  is  man  that  Thou  art  mindful  of 
him,  and  the  Son  of  Man  that  Thou  so  regardest  him  ?  Man  is  like  a  thing  of 
nought,  his  time  passeth  away  like  a  shadow."  Job  xxv.  6  :  "  How  much  less 
man  that  is  a  worm;  and  the  son  of  tnan  that  is  a  worm  ?  "  Is.  li.  12:  "  The  son 
of  man  that  shall  be  made  as  grass"  (comp.  Ps.  cxlvi.  3)  Ezekiel  (ii.  i,  3)  had, 
perhaps,  chosen  this  designation  to  emphasise  "  the  self-reflection  as  to  the 
distance  between  God  and  him."  But  though  the  title  Ben-Adam  is  applied  to 
him  nearly  ninety  times,  he  never  used  it  of  himself.  Ben-Adam  may  apply  to 
any  man  (Job  xxv.  6,  etc.).  The  Chaldee  Bar-Enosh,  "  son  of  man  in  his 
frailty,"  is  found  in  Daniel  (vii.  13,  etc.).  Beni  ish,  "  filii  viri,"  is  found  in 
Ps.  iv.  3,  xlix.  2,  etc.,  for  highljorn  or  wealthy  men. 

f  Deut,  xxxii.  11.  tjer.  xxxi.  20. 


THE   TITLES   OF   JESUS.  255 

He  had  said — 

"They  shall  be  Mine,  saith  the  Lord  of  Hosts,  in  that  day  when  I 
make  up  My  jewels,  and  I  will  spare  them  as  a  man  spareth  his  own 
son  that  serveth  him."  * 

But  the  Son  of  Man  had  come  to  reveal  that  God  has  no 
favourites  ;  that  He  is  the  merciful  and  loving  Father  of  all 
the  race  of  man  ;  that  He  has  not  merely  flung  us  into  the 
chaos  of  a  wretched  and  inexplicable  existence  by  the 
unimpeded  operation  of  blind  laws,  "dark  as  night,  inexor- 
able as  destiny,  merciless  as  death,  which  have  no  ear  to 
hear,  no  heart  to  pity,  no  arm  to  save  "  ;  but  that  "  His 
tender  mercy  is  over  all  His  works"  ;  and  that,  above  all, 
"  the  Spirit  which  He  made  to  dwell  in  us  yearneth  over  us 
even  to  jealous  envy,"f  and  "  maketh  intercession  for  us 
with  groanings  which  cannot  be  uttered."  \ 

Nothing  could  have  been  more  radically  subversive  of 
the  current  Jewish  views  in  their  narrow  exclusiveness  than 
this  teaching  of  the  Son  of  Man,  and  the  way  in  which  He 
illustrated  it  by  all  the  relations  of  His  life.  The  religion 
of  man  is  essentially  dependent  on  the  ideas  which  it 
cherishes  of  God  and  of  Man.  The  Pharisees  had  degraded 
both  conceptions.  To  them  God  was  a  Being  who  chiefly 
delighted  in  nullities;  and  on  the  majority  of  men  they 
looked  down  from  the  inch-high  pedestal  of  their  own 
imaginary  superiority. 

Alike  by  all  His  words  and  all  His  deeds  the  Son  of  Man 
came  to  sweep  away  this  sandhill  of  pretentious  ignorance, 
and  to  substitute  for  it  the  Eternal  Temple  of  the  Living 
God.§ 

Hence  the  unlimited  kindness,  courtesy,  forbearance, 
respect  which  He  observed  always  to  all  sorts  and  condi- 
tions of  men,  in  the  world.     The  poet  says  that : 

*  Mai.  iii.  17.  f  James  iv.  5. 

IjlRom.  viii.  26.  §  Hos.  vi.  6  ;  Matt.  v.  17,  vii.  18,  ix.  13,  xii.  7. 


256  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

"  Not  a  man  for  being  simply  man 
Hath  any  honour;  but  honour  for  those  honours 
Which  are  without  him,  as  place,  riches,  favour — 
Prizes  of  accident  as  oft  as  merit.'" 

But  the  bearing  of  the  Son  of  Man  ahke  to  the  high  and  to 
the  low,  to  the  rich  and  to  the  poor,  to  the  sick  and  to  the 
sound,  to  the  gifted  and  to  the  ignorant,  was  always  full  of 
that  infinite  respect  for  the  work  of  God's  hands  which 
founded  the  brotherhood  of  men  upon  the  living  rock  of 
the  fatherhood  of  God.  He  called  Himself  the  Son  of  Man, 
because,  as  the  representative  of  all  that  is  beautiful  and 
good  in  human  nature,  He  came  to  restore  to  man  that 
inefTaceable  dignity  which  he  had  forfeited  and  lost."^' 

(i.)  Nothing  could  be  more  virulent  than  the  hatred  of  the 
Jews  for  the  Samaritans,  which  still  continues,  and  which 
naturally  provoked  the  most  violent  reprisals.  A  little 
tact,  a  little  conciliatoriness  on  the  part  of  the  Jews,  even  in 
the  days  of  Ezra  and  Nehemiah,  might  have  obviated  the 
miseries  which  arose  from  this  age-long  friction.  If  the 
Samaritans  denied  all  hospitality  to  Jewish  pilgrims  ;f  if 
they  were  ready  to  refuse  even  a  cup  of  cold  water,  which 
the  primary  principle  of  Eastern  hospitality  required ;  if 
they  mocked,  and  attacked,  and  sometimes  slew,  those  who 
were  on  their  way  to  the  Jewish  feasts;  if  they  caused  con- 
fusion and  irregularity  by  mock  fire-signals  at  Passovertide; 
if  some  of  their  fanatics  had  even  stolen  into  the  Temple, 
when  the  gates  were  open  at  midnight  during  the  Feast,  to 
render  the  Passover  impossible  by  strewing  the  Temple 
with  dead  men's  bones,:}: — the  Jews  were  in  no  small 
measure   to  blame  for  this  deep-seated   animosity.     They 

*  Jesus  applies  to  Himself  the  word  ai'OpwTrof  {homo),  a  human  being  (John 
viii.  40.  Comp.  2  Tim.  ii.  25).  The  word  avfjp  (  Vir,  a  man  in  his  personal 
dignity)  is  applied  to  Him  by  the  Baptist  (John  i.  30),  by  Cleopas  (Luke  xxiv. 
19),  and  by  St.  Paul  (Acts  xvii.  31).  See  Canon  Mason,  The  Conditions  of 
our  Lord's  Life  on  Earth,  pp.  46-48. 

f  Luke  ix.  3. 

X]o%.  Antt.  xviii.  2,  2.     Comp.  xx.  6,  i  ;  B.  J.  ii.  12,  6.     See  ante,  p.  139. 


THE    TITLES    OF   JESUS.  257 

had   admitted    into    one    of    their   half-sacred    books   the 
passage : 

"  There  be  two  manner  of  nations  which  my  heart  abhorreth  ;  and  the 
the  third  is  no  nation.  They  that  sit  upon  the  mountain  of  Samaria, 
and  they  that  dwell  among  the  Philistines,  and  that  foolish  people  that 
dwell  in  Sichem."* 

In  our  Lord's  time,  to  call  a  man  "  a  Samaritan  "  was  as 
bad  as  to  call  him  a  demoniac.f  Samaritans  were  regarded 
as  excommunicate  and  accursed  ;  they  were  denied  all 
share  in  the  Resurrection  ;  it  was  doubtful  whether  it  was 
lawful  to  partake  of  any  of  the  produce  of  their  soil ;  to 
eat  their  bread  was  like  eating  the  flesh  of  swine  ;  and 
their  women  were  despised  as  specially  abhorrent.;]: 

Yet  the  Son  of  Man,  as  in  the  hot  noonday  He  sat 
"  thus  "  by  Jacob's  well,  did  not  for  a  moment  hesitate  to 
ask  drink  of  a  poor  sinful  woman  of  Samaria;  to  speak  to 
her  with  uttermost  kindness  ;  to  reveal  to  her — and  to  her 
first — His  Messiahship  ;  to  preach  to,  and  stay  among  her 
hated  and  heretical  countrymen,  making  no  difference 
between  them  and  the  dwellers  in  Holy  Jerusalem.  Nay, 
even  when  He  and  His  disciples  were  churlishly  rejected, 
and  refused  ordinary  hospitality  at  the  border  village  of 
Engannim,  and  when  "  the  Sons  of  Thunder,"  in  their 
impetuous  indignation,  wanted  Him  to  call  down  fire  from 
heaven  upon  them,  even  as  Elijah  did.  He  at  once,  without 
a  gleam  of  resentment  against  the  churlish  villagers,  turned 
and  rebuked  James  and  John  with  the  words,  "Ye  know 
not  of  what  spirit  ye  are,  ye.  For  the  Son  of  Man  came 
not  to  destroy  men's  lives,  but  to  save."  §  Very  shortly 
after  this  He  pronounced  His  pathetic  eulogy  on  the  only 
one  of  the  ten  cleansed  lepers  who  returned  to  give  Him 
thanks,  and  he  was  a  Samaritan. I|     And,   more  even  than 

*  Ecclus.  1.  25,  26.  tjohn  viii.  48. 

X  Pirqe,  R.   Eliezer,  38  ;  Book  of  Jubilee^  30,  quoted  by  Hausrath,  i.   26. 
See,  too,  Schurer,  Div.  ii.  i,  p.  8. 
§  Luke  ix.  55.  \  Luke  xvii.  16. 


258  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

this,  He  chose  the  hated  and  heretical  Samaritan  as  a 
model  of  right  action  to  mocking  Scribes,  cold-hearted 
Priests,  and  unmerciful  Levites.* 

(ii.)  For  the  Gentiles  also  He  showed  the  same  large  con- 
siderateness.  He  was  indeed  primarily  sent  to  "  the  lost 
sheep  of  the  House  of  Israel."  But  when  the  Gentile 
centurion  of  Capernaum  came  to  Him,  relying  on  the  mere 
utterance  of  His  word,  and  not  deeming  himself  worthy 
that  He  should  enter  under  his  roof,  the  Son  of  Man  not 
only  granted  his  petition,  but  added,  "  I  have  not  found  so 
great  faith,  no,  not  in  Israel."  f  He  seemed,  indeed,  to  chill 
the  urgency  of  the  poor  Syro-Phcenician  woman,  but  it  was 
only  because  He  desired  to  evoke  and  to  crown  the 
indomitable  resoluteness  of  her  faith.  \  He  unfavourably 
contrasted  His  own  generation  in  their  hard  unbelief  with 
the  people  of  Nineveh,  and  the  Queen  of  the  South,  and 
the  widow  of  Sarepta,  and  declared  that  it  should  be  better 
for  Tyre  and  Sidon,  yea,  even  for  Sodom  and  Gomorrha,  in 
the  Day  of  Judgment,  than  for  Chorazin  and  Bethsaida, 
and  His  own  Capernaum.  §  And  when  some  Gentiles  who 
had  come  to  His  last  Passover — "certain  Greeks" — came 
to  Philip  to  find  some  way  of  arranging  a  meeting  with 
Him,  so  far  from  coldly  and  haughtily  repudiating  their 
desire,  He  rejoiced  in  this  sign  that  the  hour  was  come 
that  the  Son  of  Man  should  be  glorified. |  He  had 
declared,  long  before,  in  language  of  unprecedented — and 
to  His  Jewish  hearers,  of  repellent — strangeness,  that 
"  many  a  Gentile  should  be  admitted  into  the  kingdom  of 
heaven  :  but  the  children  of  the  kingdom  should  be  cast 
out."^  These  were  preliminary  indications  of  the  vast 
mission  which  He  left  to  be  carried  out  after  His  depart- 
ure: "Go  ye  into  all  the  world  and  preach  the  Gospel, 
and  make   disciples    of   all   the  nations."**     The  Chosen 

*Luke  X.  28-37.  t  Matt.  viii.  10.  %  Matt.  xv.  21-28, 

§  Matt.  xi.  20-24.  il  Jo^"  ''"•  20-23. 

T[  Matt.  viii.  12  ;  Luke  xiii.  28,  29.  **  Matt,  xxviii.  19. 


THE    TITLES    OF   JESUS.  259 

People  had  rejected  Him,  and  Crucified  Him  to  their  own 
destruction  ;  thenceforth  His  servants  were  to  go  forth  into 
the  highways  and  hedges  and  constrain  to  come  in  even  the 
poor,  and  the  maimed,  and  the  bhnd,  and  the  lame. 

In  the  Eternal  Temple  of  Christ  there  was  no  CJiel  or 
Soreg,  with  inscriptions  threatening  death  to  any  Gentile 
who  dared  to  enter,  and  by  entering  to  pollute,  the  hal- 
lowed enclosure.  The  middle  wall  of  partition  was  broken 
down ;  nay,  the  veil  of  the  Temple  was  rent  in  twain  from 
the  top  to  the  bottom,  and  free  access  was  given  into  its 
very  Holy  of  Holies  to  the  more  genuine  priesthood  of  all 
who  were  pure  in  heart.  The  Jews  regarded  all  Gentiles 
as  utterly  unclean,  and  all  intercourse  with  them  as  a 
source  of  ceremonial  pollution.  The  Jews,  as  St.  Paul 
says,  were  "  contrary  to  all  men."  *  It  was  unlawful  for  a 
Jew  to  enter  the  house  of  a  Gentile  or  to  hold  any  close 
communion  with  him.f  The  Talmudic  treatise,  Avoda 
Zara.X  directs  that  if  a  Jew  brought  so  much  as  a  stone  or 
a  gridiron  from  a  Gentile,  it  must  be  made  red-hot  before  it 
could  be  accounted  clean,  and  it  was  illegal  even  to  drink 
milk  if  a  heathen  had  milked  the  cow.§  What  a  tremen- 
dous reversal  of  such  "  religious  "  conceptions  was  the  decla- 
ration that  Gentiles  from  the  East  and  the  West  should  be 
preferred  to  Jews,  and  sit  down  with  Abraham,  Isaac,  and 
Jacob  themselves  at  the  marriage  supper  of  the  Lamb  !  I 

(iii.)  No  less  deep  was  Christ's  tender  regard  for  the  poor, 
the  destitute,  the  ignorant,  the  physically  wretched,  those 
of  whom  men  spoke  as  "  common  people,"  and  "  the  vulgar 
multitude  "  : 

"  Of  men  the  common  rout 
That,  wandering  loose  about. 
Grow  up  and  perish  as  the  summer  fly, 
Heads  without  name,  no  more  remembered." 

*  Thess.  ii.  15.  f  Acts  x.  28  ;  John  xviii.  28. 

%  Zara  v.   12.  %Id.  ii.  6. 

11  Comp.  Acts  xi.  18.  The  feeling  of  the  Jews  against  Gentiles  is  illustrated 
in  Acts  xiii.  45  ;   i  Thess.  ii.  14-16. 


26o  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

These  were  all  swept  by  Pharisaic  contempt  into  one  com- 
mon  dust-heap,  unworthy  of  notice — except  the  drawing 
back  the  hem  of  the  garment  so  as  not  to  touch  them. 
They  were  disdainfully  massed  together  under  the  common 
name  of  "  the  people  of  the  land."  To  these  they  applied 
Is.  xxvii.  II.  "It  is  a  people  of  no  understanding,  there- 
fore He  that  hath  made  them  will  not  have  mercy  upon 
them."  *  Hence  even  Rabbi  the  Holy  once  exclaimed, 
"  Woe  is  me  !  I  have  given  my  morsel  to  an  Aju  Jia- 
arets  !  " — a  man  who  does  not  recite  the  Shona  !  a  man  who 
wears  no  Tsitsith  and  no  phylacteries,  and  does  not  wait  on 
the  pupils  of  the  wise !  f  No  parley  must  be  held  with 
such  ;  no  CJiaber,  i.  e.,  no  member  of  the  Rabbinic  school, 
must  buy  fruit  from  them  or  sell  it  to  them,  or  receive  one 
of  them  as  a  guest,  or  travel  with  them,  or  regard  their 
wives  and  daughters  as  other  than  an  abomination.  Nay, 
they  might  be  "torn  open  like  a  fish.";}:  Their  salutations 
were  only  to  be  noticed  by  a  reluctant  nod  of  the  head. 
No  calamity  ever  befalls  the  world  except  through  them. 
If  an  am  Jia-arets  but  touched  a  vine-cluster,  the  whole 
wine-press,  according  to  Rabbi  Chejah,  became  unclean  ; 
and  everything  within  reach  of  his  hand  is  defiled. § 

It  may  be  imagined,  then,  how  startling  was  the  reversal 
of  current  judgments,  how  absolute  the  reprobation  of 
Pharisaic  prejudices,  when  the  Son  of  Man  came  to  seek 
and  save  those  despised  and  lost  ones;  mingled  wath  them, 
ate  with   them,  taught   them,  healed   them,  extended   His 

*  Berachoth,  f.  33,  i.  \  Id.  f.  47,  2. 

\  This  vulgar  piece  of  Rabbinic  bluster  occurs  (with  more  to  the  same  effect) 
in  Pesackim,  f.  49,  i. 

§  Pesachim,  f.  49,  2.  Av$th  ii.  6.  Here,  even  Hillel  says,  "  No  boor  is  a 
sinbearer  ;  nor  is  the  am  ha-arets  pious."  (Comp.  John  vii.  49,  "  This  multi- 
tude that  knoweth  not  the  law  are  accursed.")  Taanith,  f.  14,  2.  Bava 
Bathra,  f.  8,  i.  Avodah  Zara,  f.  75,  2.  These  passages  from  the  Talmud  are 
collected  by  Hamburger,  Real.  Encycl.  filr  Bibel  und  Talmud,  ii.  s.  v.  Am 
ha-arets ;  and  Mr.  Hershon,  in  his  Tahnndic  Miscellany,  pp.  17,  91,  92; 
Treasures  of  the  Talmud,  pp.  98,  127  ;  Tabaroth,  ch.  7  ;  Hershon,  Genesis 
ace.  to  the  Talmud,  p.  443, 


THE   TITLES    OF   JESUS.  261 

main  work  of  compassion  and  amelioration  to  the  phys- 
ically destitute  and  the  utterly  ignorant  !  The  "  people 
of  the  land,"  on  whom  the  religious  leaders  looked  down 
with  such  unutterable  contempt,  were  the  normal  hearers 
whom  the  Son  of  Man  addressed  in  Galilee.  They  might 
be  chilled  and  brutalised  by  contempt,  but  could  only  be 
uplifted  to  the  true  possibilities  of  human  greatness  and 
goodness  by  sympathy  and  tenderness — "  by  quickening 
them  to  a  sense  of  their  own  worth,  and  restoring  them  to 
self-respect."  He  did  not  speak  to  them  with  lofty  conde- 
scension, but  with  brotherly  tenderness. 

(iv.)  If  there  was  one  class  in  Palestine  which  was  more 
hated  and  despised  than  all  others,  it  was  the  class  of  the 
Publicans,  or  tax-collectors."^'  The  strict  Jews  were  suflfi- 
ciently  horrified  by  the  thought  that  the  Holy  Land,  which 
in  their  view  could  only  be  lawfully  taxed  for  sacred  pur- 
poses, should  in  anyway  be  liable  to  pay  imposts  to  heathen 
conquerors  for  the  use  of  a  heathen  state  and  a  heathen 
emperor.  But  the  maladministration,  cheating,  and  extor- 
tions which  prevailed  throughout  the  Roman  Empire  were 
felt  in  Judaea  with  peculiar  keenness.  The  tax-farmers — 
usually  Roman  knights,  who,  singly  or  in  companies,  pur- 
chased from  the  government  the  proceeds  of  a  tax,  and  then 
proceeded  to  make  as  much  as  they  could  out  of  it — were 
universally  regarded  even  by  Pagans  with  a  mixture  of  dis- 
like and  contempt.f  Suetonius,  in  his  "  Life  of  Vespasian," 
records  that  the  Emperor's  father,  whose  name  was  Sabinus, 
actually  had  a  statue  raised  to  him  by  several  cities  as  that 
astonishingly  exceptional  personage,  "  an  excellent  publi- 
can ";:{:  and,  in  answer  to  the  question,  "Which  are  the 

*  Their  name  became  proverbial  (Matt,  xviii.  17). 

fCic.  De  Off.  i.  42.  Lucian  {Menipp.  ii.)  classes  them  among  the  worst 
criminals.  See  Ep.  Barnab.  4  ;  Celsus  ap.  Orig.  ii.  46  ;  Keim  iii.  267  ;  Light- 
foot,  Hor.  Hehr.  on  Matt,  xviii.  17  ;  Cave,  Lives  of  ike  Apostles  ;  Yia.mb\xrg&T 
Realwbrterb.  ii.  1310. 

:|:Suet,  Vesp.  i.,  Kokuq  reluvijaavTi.  Josephus  mentions  one  respectable  publi- 
can {B.  J.  ii.  14,  4). 


262  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

worst  of  wild  beasts?"  Theocritus  answers,  "  On  the  moun- 
tains, bears  and  lions  :  in  the  cities,  publicans  and  pettifog- 
gers." Suidas  describes  the  life  of  a  publican  as  "Unre- 
strained plunder,  unblushing  greed,  unreasonable  pettifog- 
ging, shameless  business."  Among  the  Jews,  who  made  it 
a  question  of  conscience  whether  under  any  circumstances 
it  was  lawful  to  pay  tribute  to  Caesar,  these  feelings  were 
intensified.  In  A.  D.  17  Roman  taxation  had  caused  the 
insurrection  of  Judas  the  Gaulonite,  whose  motto  was,  "  No 
Lord  but  Jehovah  ;  no  tax  but  to  the  Temple."  Judaea 
seethed  with  chronic  disaffection.  The  Jews  were  con- 
fronted on  every  side  with  the  irritating  worry  of  oppres- 
sive demands  and  illegal  extortion.  There  was  the  poll-tax, 
and  the  land-tax,  which  demanded  a  tenth  of  the  corn  and 
a  fifth  of  the  produce  of  vineyards  and  fruit  trees  ;  and  there 
were  endless  tolls  on  the  most  necessary  wares  relentlessly 
exacted  at  frontiers,  at  ferries,  at  bridges,  in  markets,  and 
on  roads,  of  which  no  small  part  went,  as  the  cost  of  adminis- 
tration, not  to  the  State  at  all,  but  to  the  wealthy  and 
greedy  publican.  The  system  was  radically  bad.  It  put  a 
premium  on  dishonesty.  The  State  got  the  sum  it  wanted 
from  the  men  who  farmed  the  tax,  and  was  selfishly 
indifferent  to  the  methods  which  they  and  their  agents 
adopted. 

The  consequence  was,  in  many  provinces,  an  amount  of 
misery  and  bankruptcy  analogous  to  that  created  by  the 
same  vile  methods  in  the  Turkish  Empire.  The  Roman 
knights  and  Company-Directors  {Piiblicani,  Mancipes)'^ 
necessarily  required  an  army  of  subordinate  agents  {socii); 
nd  in  addition  to  their  own  exorbitant  demands— for  which 
they  had  established  a  sort  of  official  impunity — the  rapacity 
of  these  underlings  had  to  be  sated,  and  was  kept  in  very 
inefficient  check.  If  the  upper  piiblicani  were  hated,  how 
much  more  was  this  the  case  with  the  portitores  or  exactors, 
to  whom  fell  the  daily  disagreeable  task  of  enforcing  the 

*Cic.  Pro  Plancio,  ix. 


THE   TITLES   OF   JESUS.  263 

payment  which  gorged  their  own  avarice  as  well  as  that  of 
their  masters  !  That  a  Jew  should  accept  such  a  post  for 
the  sake  of  filthy  lucre,  or  even  to  get  a  bare  living,  placed 
him  beneath  the  reach  of  the  utmost  capacity  for  disdain  in 
the  hearts  of  his  stricter  countrymen  ;  and  this  spirit  of  de- 
testation for  these  lower  officials  was  exacerbated  by  daily 
scorn  and  ingenious  annoyances.  They,  and  all  things  that 
belonged  to  them,  were  regarded  as  hopelessly  unclean,  and 
as  a  source  of  pollution  which  any  number  of  purifications 
could  hardly  clear  away.  Now  when  a  class  is  thus 
radically  despised  it  is  apt  to  become  despicable,  and  to 
defy  contempt  by  ostentatious  vileness.  Hence  "  pub- 
licans"— by  which  in  the  Gospel  is  meant  these  inferior 
portitores — are  classed  with  sinners,  harlots,  thieves,  and 
murderers.  They  were  the  worst  pariahs  of  the  Holy  Land, 
whose  very  existence  was  regarded  as  offensive,  whose  hand 
was  against  every  man,  and  every  man's  hand  against  them. 
The  ordinary  tax-collector  ((7rt^^«/)  was  hated  and  scorned, 
but  the  toll-collector  {Mokes)  was  still  more  an  object  of 
execration.* 

How  deeply  seated,  then,  was  the  amazement  at,  and 
how  strong  the  indignation  against,  the  Son  of  Man, 
when — sent  as  He  was  to  seek  and  save  those  that  were 
lost — He  deliberately  chose  one  of  these  subordinate  tax- 
gathers — not  even  a  Gabbai,  but  a  Mokes — to  be  one  of 
His  Chosen  Twelve  Apostles  ;  took  him  from  "the  place  of 
toll,"  and  sat  down  at  his  farewell  banquet  with  other  pub- 
licans and  sinners !  Many  loudly  murmured  at  His  con- 
descending love.f  "  With  arid  heart,"  says  St.  Gregory  the 
Great,  "  they  blamed  the  very  Fount  of  Mercy."  In  all 
ages  it  has  been  the  fault  of  such  religionists  that  "  they 
sought  not  the  lost.":}: 

Yet  Christ's  action  was  part  of  a  distinct  purpose.     He 

*See  Hamburger,  Realworterb ,  ii.  i-io  ;  Buxtorf,  Lex.  s.  v,,  D3D» 
f  Luke  XV.  2,  Sieydyyv^ov. 
X  Ezek.  xxxiv.  4. 


264  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

held  up  the  humility  of  the  penitent  publican  who  smote 
on  his  breast  with  the  cry  of  "  God  be  merciful  to  me  the 
sinner,"  as  an  example  to  the  posing  Pharisee,  who  bragged 
of  his  immaculate  superiority  rather  than  prayed  for 
needed  pardon. 

(v.)  Again,  throughout  the  East  generally  the  position 
of  woman  is  more  or  less  despised  and  down-trodden,  so 
that  in  some  Eastern  countries  it  was  a  common  prayer, 
"  O  God,  let  not  my  infant  be  a  girl ;  for  very  wretched  is 
the  life  of  women."*  Their  position  in  Judaea  was  not 
quite  so  low,  yet  a  Pharisee  thought  it  a  disgrace  to  speak 
to  a  woman  in  public,  even  if  the  woman  was  his  own 
wife.f  The  Apostles  were  so  much  infected  with  this 
current  spirit  of  fancied  superiority  that  they  were  amazed 
when  they  saw  Jesus  talking  "  with  a  zvoman  !  ";{:  But  He 
always  displayed  towards  all  women  the  same  fine  respect 
and  tenderness.  Ministering  women — Salome,  and  Mary 
the  wife  of  Cleopas,  and  Joanna  the  wife  of  Chuzas, 
Herod's  steward,  and  the  Magdalene,  out  of  whom  He  had 
cast  seven  devils — followed  His  wanderings,  and  ministered 
to  Him  of  their  substance.  When  a  poor  woman  stole 
from  Him  a  work  of  mercy,  by  secretly  touching  the  hem 
of  His  garment  among  the  throng,  and  thus  communicating 
to  Him  her  ceremonial  uncleanness,  so  far  from  sternly 
rebuking  her  trembling  presumption,  He  said,  "  Daughter, 
be  of  good  cheer,  thy  faith  hath  saved  thee."  § 

Nay,   more    even   than    this,    He   did    not    repulse   the 

*  Happy  he  whose  children  are  boys,  and  woe  unto  him  whose  children  are 
girls,"  Kiddushin,  f.  82,  2.     See  Hershon,  Gen.  ace.  to  the  Talmud,  p.  168. 

f  Jose  ben  Jochanan  of  Jerusalem,  "Prolong  not  converse  with  woman," 
Pirqe  Avdth,  i,  5.  There  is  a  better  view  in  Bereshith  Kabbah,  viii.  But 
according  to  Dr.  Frankl,yi?wj-  in  the  East,  ii.  Si,  the  Pharisaic  Chakatns  to 
this  day  are  specially  careful  to  avoid  being  touched  by  any  part  of  a  woman's 
dress. 

:{:  John  iv.  27.  To  talk  with  a  woman  in  public  was  one  of  the  six  things 
which  a  Rabbi  might  not  do,     Berachoth,  f.  42,  2. 

§  Matt.  ix.  22. 


THE   TITLES   OF   JESUS.  265 

"  woman  who  was  a  sinner,"  whom  Simon  the  Pharisee 
eyed  with  such  supercih'ous  disgust,  regarding  it  as  a  proof 
that  Jesus  was  no  Prophet  since  not  repulsing  her  stained 
touch.  He  suffered  her  to  kiss  His  feet,  and  wet  them  with 
her  tears,  and  wipe  them  with  the  hairs  of  her  head.  But 
Jesus  calmly  rebuked  the  Pharisee  by  a  parable,  and  saved 
the  soul  of  the  sinner  by  compassion, 

"  She  sat  and  wept  beside  His  feet ;  the  weight 
Of  sin  oppressed  her  heart ;  for  all  the  shame, 
And  the  poor  malice  of  the  worldly  blame, 
For  her  were  past,  extinct,  and  out  of  date. 
She  would  be  melted  by  the  heat  of  love — 
By  fires  far  fiercer  than  are  blown  to  prove, 
And  purge  the  silver  ore  adulterate. 

She  sat  and  wept,  and  with  her  untressed  hair 
Still  wiped  the  feet  she  was  so  blessed  to  touch : 
And  He  wiped  off  the  soiling  of  despair 
From  her  sweet  soul,  because  she  loved  so  much." 

Nay,  even  when  the  Scribes  brought  to  Him  a  woman 
taken  in  adultery,  hoping  either  to  get  Him  into  trouble 
with  the  Romans  by  condemning  her  to  death  by  stoning, 
or  to  give  them  an  excuse  for  accusing  Him  of  violation  of 
the  Mosaic  Law,  He  defeated  their  base  plot  by  sending 
the  arrow  of  conviction  into  their  own  hardened  con- 
sciences. When,  self-convicted,  they  had  stolen  away,  and 
He  raised  His  eyes  from  the  ground — to  which  He  had 
bent  them  in  an  intolerable  sense  of  shamed  indignation  at 
their  coarse  cruelty — and  found  Himself  standing  there 
alone,  with  the  guilty  woman  before  Him,  He  only  said  to 
her,  "Woman,  where  are  they?  Did  no  man  condemn 
thee?  Neither  do  I  condemn  thee.  Go  thy  way;  from 
henceforth  sin  no  more.""^ 

(vi.)  The  Jews  did  not  indeed  despise  little  cliildren,  but, 
like  all  ancient  nations,  they  left  them  all  but  exclusively  to 

*John  viii.  ii.  Though  this  narrative  was  not  in  the  original  Gospel  of  St, 
John,  the  incident  is  undoubtedly  a  real  one. 


266  THE    LIFE   OF    LIVES. 

the  charge  of  women,  repressed  them,  kept  them  in  the 
background,  did  little  or  nothing  to  mould  their  infant 
years.  When  the  eager,  loving  mothers  brought  their 
children  to  Christ  that  He  should  bless  them,  the  disciples 
were  impatient  at  what  they  regarded  as  feminine  intrusive- 
ness,  and  rebuked  those  that  brought  them.  *  But  Jesus 
was  more  than  usually  displeased  f  at  this  lack  of  sympathy. 
He  took  the  little  ones  in  His  arms,  laid  His  hands  upon 
them,  and  blessed  them,  and  said,  "  Suffer  the  little  children 
to  come  unto  Me,  and  forbid  them  not,  for  of  such  is  the 
Kingdom  of  Heaven."  He  held  up  for  an  example  their 
gentle  innocence  and  blameless  receptivity.:}:  He  had 
watched  with  a  loving  eye  their  little  games  in  the  market- 
place, as  they  amused  themselves  by  playing  at  marriages 
or  funerals.  §  Home,  with  its  commonest  incidents,  was  to 
Him  an  infinitely  sacred  place.  When  the  mothers  brought 
to  Him,  not  only  their  little  children,  but  ^^  even  their 
babes,'"  ||  He  did  not  disdain  to  take  in  His  arms  their 
helpless  infancy,  and  more  than  once  He  rebuked  the 
ambitious  selfishness  of  the  disciples  in  their  disputes  as  to 
which  was  the  greater  of  them  ^  by  taking  a  little  child, 
■netting  him  in  the  midst  of  them,  and  bidding  them  take 
example  from  his  humble  innocence.  **  As  the  poet 
describes  it : 

"  The  twelve  disputing  who  was  first  and  chief, 
He  took  a  Httle  child,  knit  holy  arms 
Round  the  brown,  flower-soft  boy,  and  smiled  and  said, 
'  Here  is  the  first  and  chiefest !     If  a  man 

*  Matt,  xviii.  1-6,  10-14,  xix.  13-18;  Mark  ix.  36,  x.  13-16;  Luke 
xviii.  17-18. 

\yyavdLTrjoe.     The  word  is  only  used  once  of  Jesus  (Mark  x.  14). 

X  Matt,  xviii.  2. 

§  Matt.  xi.  17  ;  Luke  vii.  32. 

II  Luke  xviii.    15,  to.  (iptcj)?]. 

^Not  "  which  should  be  the  greatest,"  liut  "  which  of  them  is  accounted  to 
be  greatest,"  R.  V.  (Luke  xxii.  24),  or  "  who  was  the  greater  "  (Mark  ix.  34). 

**  Luke  xviii.  17  ;  Matt,  xviii.  1-4, 


THE    TITLES   OF   JESUS.  267 

Will  be  the  greatest,  see  he  make  himself 
Lowest  and  least,  a  servant  unto  all  ; 
Meek  as  my  small  disciple  here,  who  asks 
No  place  nor  praise,  but  takes  unquestioning 
Love,  as  the  river-lilies  take  the  sun. 
And  pays  it  back  with  rosy  folded  palms 
Clasped  round  My  neck,  and  simple  head  reclined 
On  his  Friend's  breast.'  " 


Thus,  by  all  His  words  and  works  did  Jesus  show  that 
He  came  to  be  the  representative  of  Humanity,  to  save  the 
most  fallen,  to  rescue  the  most  miserable,  to  inspire  the 
most  hopeless,  to  reverence  the  very  weakest,  and  as  the 
Son  of  Man  to  bring  home  to  every  soul  the  revelation 
which  He  came  to  impart  as  the  Son  of  God.  Nor  ought 
we  to  ignore,  as  is  almost  habitually  done,  the  fact  that 
our  Lord's  promises  are  often  unlimited  in  scope.  Thus, 
He  said  that  "God  sent  not  His  son  into  the  world  to 
condemn  the  world,  but  that  the  zuorld  through  Him 
might  be  saved."  And  He  said,  "  I,  if  I  be  lifted  up,  will 
draw  all  tnen  unto  Me  ;  "  and  He  came  to  be  "  the  Saviour 
of  the  world  "  and  **  the  Lamb  of  God  which  taketh  away 
the  sins  of  the  world."  "  The  sad  realities  of  present 
experience,"  says  Bishop  Westcott,  "cannot  change  the 
truth  thus  made  known,  however  little  we  may  be  able  to 
understand  the  way  in  which  it  will  be  accomplished." 

It  must  not  be  for  a  moment  supposed  that  the  Divine 
claims  were  veiled  under  the  title  of  "  The  Son  of  Man  "  ; 
for  our  Lord  not  unfrequently  used,  and  allowed  others  to 
use,  the  title  of  "  The  Son  "  in  a  pre-eminent  sense,  as  the 
Son  of  the  Almighty  Father.  In  St.  Mark,  indeed,  it  only 
occurs  in  xiii.  32 ;  and  in  the  other  synoptic  Gospels  only 
in  Matt.  xi.  27,  Luke  x.  22  ;  but  it  is  found  twenty-two 
times,  and  always  in  the  highest  sense  and  with  the  most 
Eternal  claims,  in  the  Gospel  of  St.  John.  And  in  the 
synoptic  Gospels,  where  the  title  is  not  directly  used,  it  is 
constantly  referred  to  and  implied.     Christ  spoke  of  God 


268  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

the  Father  as  in  a  very  unique  sense  His  Father.  Again 
and  again  he  speaks  of  My  heavenly  Father,*  in  a  sense 
different  from  and  higher  than  the  phrase  your  Father, 
which  was  also  frequently  upon  His  lips.f  Stupendous, 
indeed,  was  the  revelation  that  He,  the  persecuted  peasant- 
teacher  of  Nazareth,  was  not  only  "«  Son  of  God  " — as,  in 
one  sense,  all  men  are — but  "  the  Son  of  God."  Yet,  amid 
all  His  humiliations,  at  the  apparent  nadir  of  His  earthly 
rejection  and  defeat,  this  truth — such  was  the  power  of  His 
daily  presence  and  influence — burnt  itself  deeply  into  the 
hearts  of  His  poor  Apostles.  It  forced  from  the  lips  of 
Peter  the  great  confession,  "  TJiou  art  the  Christ,  the  Son  of 
the  Living  God.'' ^  That  acknowledgment  was  the  crown- 
ing crisis  of  Christ's  earthly  ministry.  It  proved  that  His 
essential  work  was  now  accomplished.  And  as  Keim 
strikingly  observes,  "We  do  not  know  which  first  to 
designate  great,  whether  this  lofty  flight  of  the  disciples 
who  renounce  the  Jewish  standard,  quash  the  verdict  of 
the  hierarchs,  leap  over  the  popular  opinion  which  hung 
midway  between  the  two  extremes,  find  loftiness  and 
Divinity  in  the  downtrodden  and  insignificant,  because, 
spiritually  to  spiritual  eyes,  it  remains  something  Divine  ; 
or,  that  Personality  of  Jesus  which  compels  such  weak 
disciples,  even  under  the  paralysing  influence  of  all  external 
facts,  distinctly  and  simply  and  nobly  to  mirror  back  the 
total  impression  of  His  Ministry."  § 

*  Matt.  vii.  21  ;  xii.  50  ;  xv.  13  ;  xvii.  35,  xviii.  10,  35,  etc. 

f  Matt.  X.  20,  xvii.  26,  xviii.  14,  xxiii.  9,  etc.  In  the  sentence,  "  I  ascend 
unto  my  Father  and  your  Father"  (John  xx.  17),  the  Greek  is  npb^  tuv  naripa 
finv  KoX  narepa  vfiuv,  "The  Father  of  me  and  Father  of  you."  Comp.  Heb. 
ii    II  ;  Rom.  iii.  29,  xv.  6. 

X  Matt.  xvi.  16. 

§  Keim,  iv.  263. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

CHRIST'S   CONDEMNATION    OF    PHARISAIC    RELIGIONISM. 

"  There  is  a  generation  that  are  pure  in  their  own  eyes,  and  yet  are 
not  washed  from  their  filthiness." — Prov.  xxx.  12. 

"  Which  say,  'Stand  by  thyself;  come  not  near  to  me, for  I  am  holier 
than  thou  / '  These  are  a  smoke  in  my  nose,  a  fire  that  burneth  all  the 
day." — Is.  Ixv.  5. 

"  Beggarly  elements." — Gal.  iv.  9. 

'AnepavToloyia. — OriGEN,  0/>/>.  i.  1 19. 

"  Stupenda  inanitas  et  vafrities." — Lightfoot,  Bed.  in  Hor.  Hebr. 

Already  in  a  previous  chapter  we  have  seen  something 
of  the  wretched  series  of  minutiae  into  which  the  Pharisees 
had  degraded  the  Levitic  System,  though  that  system  con- 
sisted, as  St.  Paul  says,  of  "  weak  and  beggarly  rudiments," 
and  was  nothing  more  than  "  a  yoke  of  bondage,"  necessi- 
tated by  ignorance  and  hardness  of  heart.*  The  funda- 
mental differences  between  the  religion  of  the  letter  and  of 
the  spirit,  between  the  righteousness  of  the  law  and  "  the 
righteousness  which  is  through  faith  in  Christ,"  f  will  be 
found  summarily  described  in  the  answer  of  Christ  to  the 
Scribes  and  Pharisees  from  Jerusalem,  who  came  to  act  as 
spies  upon  His  ministry.  :j: 

The  Pharisees  were  the  only  body  of  the  Jewish  people 
with  whom  Christ  entered  into  a  position  of  direct  antago- 
nism, forced  upon  Him  by  their  subterranean  baseness,  as 
well  as  by  the  paltriness  of  their  conceptions  and  the  arro- 
gance which  resulted  from  their  fundamental  misapprehen- 
sion of  what  is  and  is  not  truly  sacred  in  the  eyes  of  God.. 

*  Gal,  iv,  9,  V.  I.  \  See  Phil.  iii.  9. 

%  Matt,  \v.  1-20  ;  M?i.rk  vii.  1-2 1^ 

269 


270  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

Their  system  was  an  elaborate  "  cxternalization  of  holi- 
ness"  ;  His  teaching  was  that  "  God  is  a  Spirit,  and  they 
that  worship  Him  must  worship  Him  in  spirit  and  in  truth." 
It  was  the  main  object  of  the  Lord  of  Life  to  bring  to 
erring  men  that  true  life  which  they  can  only  acquire  by 
union  with  God.  Formalities  of  every  kind,  will-worship, 
even  severities  of  the  body,  are  easy ;  but,  as  St.  Paul  so 
emphatically  says,  they  are  of  no  value  against  the  indul- 
gence of  the  flesh.*  It  is  easy  to  bow  the  head  like  a  bul- 
rush, but  not  easy  to  offer  from  the  depths  of  a  penitent 
heart  the  prayer  of  the  Publican,  "  God  be  merciful  to  me, 
the  sinner."  The  Pharisees  called  their  Rabbis  "  Uprooters 
of  Mountains,"  "  Lights  of  Israel,"  "  Glories  of  the  Law," 
"The  Great,"  "The  Holy,"  but  the  mass  of  the  people 
were  in  their  eyes  mere  boors,  "empty  wells,"  "people  of 
the  earth,"  "  who  knew  not  the  Law  and  were  accursed."  f 
Yet  "  the  boldest  religionists  and  mock-prophets,"  says 
Henry  More,;}:  "are  very  full  of  heat  and  spirits;  and  have 
their  imagination  too  often  infected  with  the  fumes  of 
those  lower  parts,  the  full  sense  and  pleasure  whereof 
they  prefer  before  all  the  subtle  delights  of  reason  and 
generous  contemplation." 

Always  kind,  always  courteous,  always  forbearing  even 
towards  meddling  spies — ready  to  meet  their  quibbles, 
ready  to  answer  their  questions,  ready  to  accept  their  super- 
cilious hospitality,  ready  with  the  most  gracious  courtesy 
to  meet  their  hard  and  calumnious  criticisms — Jesus  was 
compelled  at  last  "  to  break  into  plain  thunderings  and 
lightnings  "  against  them,  in  order  to  strip  bare  their  hypoc- 
risies, and  to  blight  the  influence  they  exerted  over  hosts  of 

*Col.  ii.  23. 

f  In  Lukexviii.  10-12,  we  read  the  brag  of  the  posing  Pharisee,  and  it  is 
exactly  analogous  to  a  prayer  of  R.  Nechounia  ben  Hakana  in  Berachoth  (see 
Schwab,  p.  336).     But 

"  Humble  we  must  be  if  to  heaven  we  go  ; 
High  is  the  roof  there,  but  the  gate  is  low." 
\  Conject.  Cahbalist.,  p.  231. 


PHARISAIC    RELIGIONISM.  271 

deluded  followers  and  proselytes,  whom,  to  use  His  own 
terrible  expression,  they  "  made  tenfold  more  the  children 
of  Gehenna  than  themselves."*  He  could  not  reveal  to  the 
world  the  unchangeable  truths  which  constitute  the  Alpha 
and  Omega  of  genuine  holiness,  without  showing  how  mean 
a  parody  was  substituted  for  it  by  these  "shallow  and  sel- 
fish men,  bigots  in  creed  and  in  conduct,  capable  of  no  sin 
disapproved  by  tradition,  incapable  of  any  virtue  unenjoined 
by  it ;  too  respectable  to  be  publicans  and  sinners,  but  at 
once  too  ungenerous  to  forgive  any  sin  against  their  own 
order,  and  too  blind  to  see  the  sins  within  it ;  who  remain 
for  all  time  our  most  perfect  types  of  fierce  and  inflexible 
devotion  to  a  worship  instituted  and  administered  by  man, 
but  of  relentless  and  unbending  antagonism  to  religion,  as 
the  service  of  God  in  spirit  and  in  truth."  f 

The  Pharisees  were  the  Tartuffes  of  ancient  days.  The 
Gospel  system  could  not  be  established  without  the  over- 
throw of  that  which  had  become  the  corporate  expression 
ol  the  cardinal  sin  of  Judaism,  the  corruption  of  man's  wor- 
ship of  God  to  a  mere  outward  service  by  acts  formal  and 
artificial,  through  instruments  and  articles  sensuous,  exter- 
nal, purchasable. :{:  Shammai,  the  rival  of  Hillel,  was  a 
luxurious  and  selfish  man  ;  yet  so  particular  was  he  about 
senseless  scrupulosities  that  he  almost  starved  his  little  son 
on  the  Day  of  Atonement,  and  made  a  booth  over  the  child- 
bed of  his  daughter-in-law  that  his  first-born  grandson  might 
keep  the  Feast  of  Tabernacles  !  §  If  they  had  understood 
the  most  elementary  teaching  of  the  Psalms,  ||  the  Proph- 
ets, T[  and  even  of  their  own  Law,**  they  would  not  have 

*  Matt,  xxiii.  15.  -j-  Fairbairn. 

X  Jost.,  GescA.  d.  Juden.  iv.  76  ;  Gfrorer,  Jahrh.  d.  Heils,  i.  140  ;  Lightfoot, 
Hor.  Hebr.  on  Matt.  iii.  17. 

§  Succah.  ii.  g. 

II  Ps.  vii.  10,  xxiv.  4,  1.  8,  li.  12,  18,  cxxxix.  23. 

iris.  i.  10,  Iviii.  I,  Ixvi.  i;  Jer.  vi.  20,  vii.  21,  xvii.  10,  xxxi.  32  ;  Mic.  vi.  6; 
Amos  V.  21  ;  i  Sam.  xvi.  7. 

**  Deut.  vi.  5. 


272  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

elaborated  their  eye-service  of  men-pleasers  which  usurped 
the  place  of  that  singleness  of  heart  without  which  forms 
and  ceremonies  are  but  as  a  booming  gong  or  a  clanging 
cymbal.  They  ordained  rites  which  corresponded  to  noth- 
ing, and  made  their  scrupulosities  a  cloak  of  maliciousness. 
Christ  extended  the  Decalogue  itself  to  the  thoughts  of  the 
heart,  and  summed  up  all  the  Commandments  in  the  Law 
of  Love.  And  in  point  of  fact  this  was  not  in  disaccord 
with  their  own  best  teaching  in  their  saner  moments,  for  We 
read  in  Soteh  (p.  14,  i),  "The  beginning  of  the  Law  is 
benevolence,  and  in  benevolence  it  ends.  At  the  begin- 
ning God  clothed  the  naked  (Gen.  iii.  21),  at  the  end  He 
buried  the  dead  (Deut.  xxxiv.  5,6)." 

What  was  the  so-called  Oral  Law  which  the  Pharisees  so 
extravagantly  valued  ?  The  first  sentence  of  the  Pirqe 
AvotJi  tells  us  how  Moses  received  the  Thorah  from  God  on 
Mount  Sinai,  and  that  through  Joshua,  the  Elders,  and  the 
Prophets  it  was  transmitted  to  the  men  of  the  Great  Syna- 
gogue, who,  in  accordance  with  the  literal  translation  of 
Lev.  xviii.  30  ("  make  a  MisJwieretJi  to  my  MisJwiereth  ") 
handed  it  down  as  a  duty  to  "  make  a  fence  to  the  Thorah  " 
{seyyag  la-Thorah).  The  Rabbis  held  that  Moses  received 
two  Laws  on  Sinai,  both  the  Written  [Tho7'ah  Sliebektab) 
and  the  Oral  Law  {Thorah  shebeal  Pch) — "  the  law  on  the 
lip."*  Hence  they  described  the  Mishnah  as  "the 
Halachah  "  (or  "  Rule  ")  given  to  Moses  on  Sinai  ;  and 
Rabbi  Simon  Ben  Lakdeh  assigned  a  Mosaic  origin  even  to 
the  Gemara,f  including  Halachoth,  Haggadoth,  and  Mid- 
rashim.:}:     Nay,  they  exalted  their  tradition  above  the  writ- 

*  The  phrase  is  borrowed  from  Ex.  xxxiv.  27,  where  al  Peh  is  rendered 
"  after  the  tenor," 

\  Gittin,  f.  6,  2  ;  Hershon,  Talm.  Miscell.,  p.  xv.  On  the  great  synagogue, 
see  Taylor's  Pirqe  Avoth,  pp.  125,  126. 

\  This  they  deduced  in  their  own  way  from  Mich.  ii.  6,  7.  In  Baba  Metzia 
(86a)  God  summons  Rabbi  Bar-Nachman  to  settle  a  controversy  which  has 
arisen  between  Him  and  the  angels.  Comp.  f.  59,  6  ;  Shemoth  Kabbah,  ch. 
clvii. ;   Berachoth,  i.  7. 


PHARISAIC    RELIGIONISM.  273 

ten  Law,  and  said,  "  The  words  of  the  Scribes  are  more 
noble  than  the  words  of  the  Law,"  In  the  Baba  Metzia 
we  are  told  that  to  read  the  Mishnah  and  Gemara  is  far 
more  meritorious  than  to  read  the  words  of  Scripture. 
"The  sayings  of  the  elders,"  they  said,  "are  weightier  than 
those  of  the  Prophets."  *  Not  to  read  the  Shema,  accord- 
ing to  Rabbi  Abba  Bar-Eshera,  in  the  name  of  Rabbi 
Judah  Bar-Pari,  deserves  but  a  slight  punishment,  for  it 
only  breaks  an  affirmative  precept  ;  but  not  to  read  it 
according  to  the  rule  of  Hillel  deserves  capital  punish- 
ment, for  "  whoso  breaketh  a  hedge  (the  Seyyag  la-Thorah) 
a  serpent  shall  bite  him"!  (Eccl.  x.  8).  If  a  man's  father 
and  his  Rabbi  are  carrying  burdens,  he  is  to  lighten  the 
Rabbi  first.  If  both  are  in  captivity  he  must  first  ransom 
his  Rabbi.f  Pride  went  hand  in  hand  with  littleness. 
They  loved  the  chief  seats  in  synagogues  and  the  upper- 
most place  at  feasts,  and  greetings  in  the  market  places, 
and  to  be  called  of  men.  Rabbi,  Rabbi.  Modern  criticism 
has  proved  it  to  be  at  least  possible  that  much  of  the 
Levitic  system  did  not  assume  its  present  form  until  after 
the  Exile.  The  futile  elaborations  of  this  Levitism — 
imperfect  and  secondary  as  it  was — had  their  origin  in  the 
endeavour  to  separate  Israel  from  all  contact  with  the 
nations  by  a  network  of  traditions.  The  Scribes  had 
developed  it  into  a  sort  of  abracadabra  without  limit  and 
without  end.  "  The  whole  history  of  religion  proves  that 
a  ceremony-  and  tradition-ridden  time  is  infallibly  a 
morally  corrupt  time — artificial  ceremonies,  whether  origin- 
ating with  Jewish  Rabbis  or  Christian  *  priests,'  are  of  no 
spiritual  value.  Recommended  by  their  zealous  advocates, 
often  sincerely,  as  tending  to  promote  the  culture  of 
morality  and  piety,  they  often  prove  fatal  to  both.  Well 
are  they  called  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  '  dead  works.* 
If  they  have  any  life  at  all,  it  is  life  feeding  upon  death,  the 

*  See  Schiirer  II.  i.  3. 

f  Avoth  iv.  12  ;  Kerithoth,  vi.  9.     See  Schurer  II.  i.  3. 


274  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

life  of  fungi  growing  on  dead  trees  ;  if  they  have  any 
beauty,  it  is  the  beauty  of  decay,  of  autumnal  leaves,  sere 
and  yellow  .  .  .  when  the  woods  are  about  to  pass  into 
their  winter  state  of  nakedness."  ^ 

Let  us  see  how  Jesus  dealt  with  this  state  of  things  in 
separate  instances. 

(i.)  The  Oral  Law  attached  immense  importance  to  the 
ceremo7iial  purifications,  which  occupy  no  less  than  twelve 
treatises  of  the  sixth  Seder  of  the  Mishnah,  including 
Yadaim  or  "  Hand  washings,"  and  Migvaoth,  "  the  water 
used  for  baths  and  ablutions,  and  for  the  stalks  of  fruit 
which  convey  uncleanness."  f 

Our  Lord  said  to  the  Pharisees,  "  Now  do  ye  Pharisees 
cleanse  the  outside  of  the  cup  and  of  the  platter,  but  your 
inward  part  is  full  of  extortion  and  wickedness."  \\  or,  as  it 
is  in  St.  Matthew,  "  but  within  they  are  full  from  extortion 
and  excess."  §  The  Pharisaic  rules  about  the  washing  of 
"cups  and  platters"  were  ludicrously  minute.  In  the 
treatise  Kelim  we  read  that  the  air  in  hollow  earthen  ves- 
sels, like  the  hollow  of  the  foot,  contracts  and  propagates 
uncleanness,  so  that  they  must  be  broken,  and  if  a  piece  be 
left  large  enough  to  anoint  the  little  toe  with,  it  is  still  "  a 
vessel,"  and  therefore  capable  of  defilement.  They  are  to 
be  accounted  as  "  broken  "  if  there  be  a  hole  in  them  as 
large  as  a  medium-sized  pomegranate  !  Hillel  caused  end- 
less trouble  throughout  the  Dispersion  by  deciding,  in 
accordance  with  the  rule  of  Joseph  Ben  Jezzer  and  Joseph 
Ben  Johanan,  that  even  glass  vessels  were  capable  of  con- 
veying defilement.     This  legalised  and  intentional  unsoci- 

*  See  Bruce,  Training  of  the  Twelve,  p.  82. 

f  See  Winer,  s.  v.  Reinigkeii ;  Herzog,  s.  v.  Reinigungen  ;  Schiirer  II.  ii. 
§28. 

\  Luke  xi.  39. 

§  Matt,  xxiii.  25.  St.  Mark  (vii.  4)  speaks  also  of  the  washing  of  pots,  and 
brazen  vessels,  and  tables,  or  couches.  As  to  the  latter  we  read  in  Kelim  that 
if  one  or  two  of  the  legs  of  a  three-legged  table  are  broken  it  is  clean,  but  if 
the  third  foot  is  gone,  it  becomes  a  board,  and  is  susceptible  of  defilement. 


PHARISAIC    RELIGIONISM.  275 

ability  (Perishooth,  afxi^ia)  did  infinite  harm  to  the  Jews 
and  prevented  them  from  fulfilling  the  Divine  mission 
which  they  might  otherwise  have  accomplished  for  the 
ennoblement  of  the  world,*  Such  puerilities  could  only 
excite  contempt  in  any  healthy  mind. 

Again,  as  we  know,  the  Jerusalemite  spies,  Scribes  and 
Pharisees,  had  seen  some  of  the  disciples  "  eat  bread  with 
defiled  {lit.  common),  tJiat  is,  tinwasJien  hands,"  whereas 
they  themselves,  following  the  tradition  of  the  Elders, 
washed  their  hands  nvyf-U]  (diligently  ?),  which  is  by  some 
interpreted  to  mean  "  up  to  the  elbow,"  or  "  with  the  fist," 
and  by  others  "  up  to  the  wrist."  f  The  rule  given  in  the 
Talmudic  book  Soteli  (f.  4,  6)  is  that  "  He  who  eats  bread 
without  having  first  washed  his  hands,  commits  as  it  were 
fornication."  According  to  ShabbatJi  (f.  14,  2)  a  Bath  Kol, 
or  voice  from  heaven,  had  pronounced  Solomon  blessed 
when  he  instituted  the  laws  respecting  hand-washings ;  and 
when  a  man  washes  his  hands  he  is  to  first  wash  the  right 
hand,  then  the  left,  whereas  in  anointirig  the  hands  he  is 
first  to  anoint  the  left  hand,  then  the  right.;}:  "  If  a  man 
poured  on  one  hand  one  gush  his  hand  is  clean  ;  but  if  one 
gush  on  both  hands  R.  Meir  pronounces  them  unclean, 
until  one  poured  out  a  quarter  log  of  water  upon  them."  § 
Moreover  the  scribes  said  it  were  better  to  cut  off  the 
hands  than  to  touch  the  nose,  mouth,  and  ears  with  them 
without  having  first  washed  them,  as  this  causes  blind- 
ness, deafness,  foul  breath,  and  polypus.     According  to  R. 

*  See  many  more  of  these  paltry  minutiae  in  Schiirer,  /.  c. 

\  Heb.  y.TrZ  '  Mark  vii.  3.  See  Lightfoot  on  Matt.  xvi.  2  ;  Hamburger, 
Real.  Ency.  Handeivaschen.  The  word  i^vyjuj  probably  refers  to  the  rule  that 
the  hand  was  to  be  held  up,  with  closed  fist,  so  that  the  water  poured  on  it 
streamed  down  to  the  elbow.  There  were  additional  rules  as  to  the  sort  of 
water  to  be  used,  from  what  vessel  it  was  to  be  poured,  who  was  to  pour  it, 
etc.  Vulg.,  crebro.  Epiphanius  {Hcer.  15)  e'jrifj.e^.u^,  "  carefully."  Erasmus 
suggested  a  reading  nvKvy.  The  reading  of  K  is  TrvKvd.  The  word  occurs  in 
the  LXX. ;  Ex.  xxi.  18  ;  Is.  Iviii.  4. 

jj.  Shabbath,  f.  61,  I.  §  Yadayim,  ch.  2,  I. 


276  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

Nathan  an  evil  spirit  named  Bath  Chorin  haunts  the 
hands  at  night,  and  only  departs  if  they  are  washed  three 
times !  '*  Akiba  preferred  to  die  of  thirst  rather  than  not 
wash  his  hands.  The  treatise  Yadayivi,  in  four  chapters,  is 
mainly  devoted  to  this  subject.  According  to  another 
treatise — the  Kitzur  Sh'lah — a  man  who  does  not  wash  his 
hands  before  eating  will  have  as  little  rest  as  a  murderer, 
and  will  be  transmigrated  into  a  cataract ;  and  in  this 
treatise  we  are  taught  that  the  proper  way  to  wash  the 
hands  is  to  stretch  out  the  fingers,  turning  the  palms 
upwards,  and  say  "Lift  ye  up  your  holy  hands."  f  Fur- 
ther, every  one  should  have  a  vessel  of  water  by  his  bed, 
and  if  he  walks  four  ells  without  washing  his  hands  after 
getting  up  "he  has  forfeited  his  life  as  a  Divine  punish- 
ment.":}: Most  truly  may  it  be  said  of  the  Rabbinic  writ- 
ings, as  Lightfoot  says  of  them,  "■  Niigis  tibique  scatent." 

It  should  be  observed  that  the  question  was  not  in  the 
least  a  question  of  health  or  cleanliness,  but  only  of  imagi- 
nary and  incidental  defilements  ;  and  our  Lord  swept  aside 
this  whole  mass  of  contemptible  traditions  in  the  one 
sentence,  "to  eat  with  unwashen  hands  defileth  not  a  man." 
Between  Christ's  teaching  of  spiritual  simplicity  and  the 
boundless  i^eXoTtepiGGo^pijaueia  (as  Epiphanius  admirably 
calls  it)  of  the  Pharisees,  there  could  be  no  middle  term.§ 

(ii.)  Again,  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees  had  developed 
from  the  Levitic  law  reams  of  inferential  littlenesses  about 
the  distinction  between  clean  and  unclean  meats.  Accord- 
ing to  the  Mishnah,  God,  in  giving  the  law  to  Moses,  had 
assigned  forty-nine  reasons  in  every  case  for  pronouncing 
one  thing  unclean  and  another  clean. ||  Seven  hundred 
kinds  of  fish  and  twenty-four  kinds  of  birds  were  pro- 
nounced unclean.     Our  Lord  made  very  short  work  of  all 

*  Yadayim,  p.  109,  i.  f  Ps.  cxxxiv.  2. 

X  Kitzur  Sh'lak,  f.  43,  2.     See  Ilershon,  Talmttdic  Miscellany,  p.  333. 
§  Har.  xvi.  34 
\  Sopherim,  xvi.  6. 


PHARISAIC    RELIGIONISM.  277 

these  laws  of  Kasliar  2,Vidi  Tame  (which  still  prevail  in  Jewish 
communities)*  when  he  said,  "That  which  proceedeth  out 
of  the  man — out  of  the  heart  of  men — that  defileth  the 
man  .  .  .  whatsoever  from  without  goeth  into  the  man 
cannot  defile  him."f  This  he  said,  making  all  meats  clean. 
He  bade  the  disciples  simply  to  eat  such  things  as  were  set 
before  them,;}:  just  as  St.  Paul  told  his  Gentile  converts 
to  eat  whatsoever  was  sold  in  the  shambles,  "  asking  no 
questions."! 

(iii.)  To  fasting  the  Pharisees  ascribed  an  exaggerated 
and  most  mistaken  importance.  The  ninth  treatise  of 
the  second  Seder  of  the  Mishnah  is  devoted  to  fasts.  In 
the  Levitic  Law  only  one  fast  day  was  appointed  in  the 
whole  year  (Lev.  xvi.  29) — the  Kippiir,  or  Day  of  Atone- 
ment.! Py  the  time  of  Zechariah  four  yearly  fasts  had 
come  into  vogue  (Zech.  viii.  19),  but  the  Prophet  declared 
that  they  "  should  be  to  the  House  of  Judah  joy,  and  glad- 
ness, and  cheerful  feasts,"  and  when  he  was  consulted 
about  them  he  in  no  way  encouraged  their  observance 
(vii.  1-14),  but,  in  their  place,  enforced  the  duties  of  mercy 
and  compassion.  Over  and  over  again  the  great  Prophets 
of  Israel  had  taught  the  uselessness  of  a  fasting  which  had 
not  the  least  connection  with  goodness  and  charity.l"     In 

*Jos.c.  Ap.  ii.  17;  Chullin,  f.  63,  2.  One  specimen  of  the  littleness  of 
their  exegesis  is  shown  in  the  prohibition  to  eat  flesh  and  milk  together  because 
of  the  law,  "  Thou  shalt  not  seethe  a  kid  in  its  mother's  milk  !  " 

f  Mark  vii.  iS-23. 

X  Luke  X.  8. 

§  I  Cor.  X.  25. 

II  See,  too.  Numb.  xxix.  7.  The  fact  that  this  single  fast  and  its  ceremonies 
is  never  referred  to  elsewhere  in  the  Old  Testament— not  even  in  such  passages 
as  Ezek.  xl.-xlviii.  and  Neh.  viii.-x.,  taken  in  connection  with  critical  argu- 
ments, constituted  a  decisive  proof  that  the  Day  of  Atonement  was  a  Post- 
exilic  ordinance.  See  Dr.  Driver,  s.  v.  Day  of  Atonement  (Dr.  Hastings' 
Diet,  of  the  Bible). 

Tfls.  Iviii.  3-6;  Mic.  vi.  6-8;  Amos  v.  21-24,  etc.  Even  in  the  Megillath 
Taanith,  which  emanated  from  the  early  Rabbinic  School,  there  is  only  a  list 
of  days  on  which  fasting  is  forbidden.     Fasting  was  chiefly  developed  in  the 


278  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

the  age  of  Christ  the  Pharisees  had  established  two  weekly 
fasts,  one  on  Thursday,  when  Moses  was  supposed  to  have 
ascended  Sinai,  and  one  on  Monday,  when  he  descended,* 
and  they  plumed  themselves  in  a  manner  which  the  Lord 
heartily  disapproved  upon  these  empty  observances. 
They  probably  became  mere  sham  functions,  fasting  of 
the  effeminate  amateur  kind,  in  which  case  they  were 
beneath  contempt  ;  or  if  they  were  real  fasts,  they  were 
a  needless  and  injurious  burden.  The  Scribes  made  them 
still  more  injurious  by  parading  their  sanctimoniousness 
and  regarding  it  as  a  means  for  extorting  Divine  favours. 
But  when,  on  one  of  these  fast-days,  they,  with  the  dis- 
ciples of  the  Baptist,  who  in  the  imperfection  of  his  views 
had  adopted  the  practice,  came  to  complain,  in  all  the  carp- 
ing fretfulness  which  fasting  produces,!  that  neither  our 
Lord  nor  His  Apostles  took  the  least  notice  of  this  "  tradi- 
tion of  the  Elders,"  our  Lord  pointed  out  to  them  the  only 
conditions  under  which  fasting  becomes  natural — the  con- 
ditions of  overwhelming  sorrow.  He  Himself  "  came  eat- 
ing and  drinking  " — that  is,  not  depriving  our  human  life 
of  the  necessary  support  and  innocent  enjoyments  which 
God  supplies  and  permits.  This  He  did  so  openly  as  to 
give  to  those  who  thought  it  right  "  to  lie  for  God,"  the 
excuse  for  the  abhorrent  calumny,  "  Behold  a  gluttonous 
man  and  a  wine-bibber."  His  disciples,  "  sons  of  the  Bride- 
chamber," ;{:  could  not  fast  while  the  Bridegroom  was  with 

Post-exilic  age.  It  is  absurdly  magnified  in  the  Book  of  Judith  iv.  13,  viii.  6, 
17-20.     Comp.  Tobit  i,  10  ff.  xii.  8. 

*  Bada  Kama,  f.  82,  I, 

f  Mark  ii.  18,  ijcsav  vjiaTEvovTeg.  "  The  principle  underlying  this  graphic  rep- 
resentation is  that  fasting  should  no/  be  a  matter  of  fixed  mechanical  rule,  but 
should  have  reference  to  the  state  of  mind.  .  .  Fasting  under  any  other  cir- 
cumstances is  forced,  unnatural,  unreal.  Bruce's  Training  of  the  Twelve,  72. 
In  the  New  Testament  the  words  "  and  fasting  "  are  an  ascetic  and  Manichean 
interpolation  of  Scribes  in  Matt.  xvii.  21;  Mark  ix.  29;  Acts  x.  30;  i  Cor. 
vii.  5. 

X  Beni  habachiinnah,  the  nearest  friends  of  the  wedded  pair. 


PHARISAIC    RELIGIONISM.  279 

them,  but  should  fast,  not  of  necessity,  but  in  heaviness  of 
heart,  when  they  had  seen  Him  die  on  the  Cross,  and  in  the 
coming  days  of  overwhelming  persecution.  To  interpret 
"  the  days  when  the  Bridegroom  shall  be  taken  away  from 
them,"  of  the  whole  Christian  Dispensation,  and  on  that 
misinterpretation  to  found  the  false  inference  that  Chris- 
tians ought  continually  to  fast,  is  one  of  the  most  egre- 
gious of  the  many  egregious  blunders  of  ignorant  will- 
worship.  It  ignores  the  innermost  revelation  of  the 
Saviour  that  His  physical  absence  was  actually  "  expedi- 
ent "  for  His  disciples,  involving,  as  it  did,  the  richer  bless- 
ing of  a  closer  spiritual  nearness.  Hence  the  character- 
istics of  the  early  Christians  were  not  gloomy  anguish  and 
morose  asceticism,  but,  on  the  contrary,  exultation  and 
simplicity  of  heart.* 

(iv.)  Again  our  Lord  entirely  discountenapced  the  whole 
method  of  Rabbinic  exegesis  with  its  "  ever-widening 
spiral  ergo,''  drawn  from  the  aperture  of  single  texts.  He 
never  referred  except  with  disdain  to  Halachoth,  which 
were  but  masses  of  cobwebs  spun  out  of  their  own  fancy. 
He  ignored  the  Midrash,  which  was  far  less  an  explanation 
of  the  Law  and  the  Prophets  than  an  inverted  pyramid  of 
distortions  built  on  its  isolated  phrases.     In  Ps.  Ixii.  11  we 

read 

"God  hath  spoken  once  ; 
Twice  have  I  heard  this  ;  " 

and  this  was  interpreted  by  Rabbi  Akiba  to  mean  "  God 
spake  one  thing  ;  what  I  heard  is  twofold,"  which  wrests 
the  whole  passage  from  its  true  meaning.  This  is  in 
accordance  with  the  common  Rabbinic  comment,  "Read 
not  thus,  but  thus."  But  our  Lord's  comments  are  always 
on  what  the  Bible  means,  not  on  those  ingenious  perver- 
sions of  it  for  party  purposes  which  constituted  no  small 

♦Acts  ii.  46,  "Breaking  bread  at  home,  they  did  take  their  food  iv 
hyoKkLaqei,  ' '  in  exultation  "  (the  strongest  of  all  words  for  abounding  joy) 
"  and  simplicity  of  heart." 


28o  THE    LIFE    OF   LIVES. 

part  of  current  exegesis.  He  held  with  the  saner  Rabbis 
that  "  Scripture  speaks  in  the  tongue  of  the  sons  of  men."* 
Jesus  charged  the  Scribes  with  deliberately  setting  at 
nought  by  their  traditions  the  very  Law  round  which,  as 
the  most  sacred  object  of  their  lives,  they  professed  it  to 
be  their  duty  to  "make  a  hedge."  They  explained  it  "  in 
as  many  ways  as  a  hammer  dashes  a  rock  into  fragments."f 
He  never  referred  to  the  "decision  of  the  Scribes,":}:  nor 
to  the  Kabbalistic  mode  of  interpretation  known  as 
Ge7ietJi,%  nor  to  one  of  their  unprofitably  minute  precepts. 
But  He  did  upbraid  them  with  their  hypocrisy.||  Thus  by 
means  of  their  Emhhin  (or  "mixtures")^  they  nullified 
some  of  the  Mosaic  laws  which  they  professed  most  pro- 
foundly to  respect,**  so  much  so  that  in  Menachoth  Moses 
himself  is  represented  as  standing  amazed  at  the  fatuous 
inferences  established  by  R.  Akiba  from  the  horns  and 
tips  of  letters.ft  Well  might  Christ  say  to  them,  "  Ye 
search  the  Scriptures,  because  ye  think  that  in  them  ye 
have  eternal  life,  and  those  very  Scriptures  testify  of  Me; 
yet  ye  will  not  come  to  Me  that  ye  may  have  life.":}^: 

For  instance,  the  law  of  the  Sabbatic  year  was  regarded 
as  fundamental.  But  as  time  went  on,  it  was  found  to  be 
very  inconvenient  for  commerce,  so  Hillel  got  rid  of  it  by 
a  subterfuge  called  Prosbol,  a  preconcerted  farce  for  the 

*Berach.  31,  2.  f  Sanhedrin,  34. 

§  Namely  (i),  Gematria  (Geometria),  inferences  from  the  numerical  value  of 
the  letters  of  words.  (2)  Notarikon,  the  deducing  of  sentences  from  the  letters 
of  words.  (3)  Themoiirah,  the  interchange  of  letters  by  Athbash,  Albam, 
etc.  Those  who  wish  for  further  explanations  may  find  them  fully  furnished 
in  my  papers  on  Rabbinic  exegesis  in  The  Expositor^  vols,  v.,  vi,  (First  Series). 

II  Mark  vii.  5-13. 

^  In  the  first  instance  the  word  seems  to  be  used  for  "  the  binding  together 
of  several  localities,"  in  order  to  get  rid  of  the  supposed  law  that  they  might 
not  walk  more  than  2000  ells  on  the  Sabbath. 

**Weil,  Le  Jttdaistne,  iii.  268. 

ff  Vajikra  Rabba,  i.  162,  I.     Quoted  by  Schottgen  on  Matt.  xv.  18. 

XX  John  v.  39,  40. 


PHARISAIC    RELIGIONISM. 


2bl 


evasion  of  the  law,  by  which  the  creditor  said  to  the 
debtor,  "  TJiis  being  the  Sabbatic  year  I  release  yoii  from 
your  debt"  and  the  debtor  replied  (as  had  been  pre- 
arranged), ^'  Many  thanks,  but  I  prefer  to  pay  it  ! ''  Thus 
did  they  honour  God  with  their  lips,  but  denied  Him  in 
their  double  heart.  Long  prayers,  and  devouring  of 
widows'  houses ;  flaming  proselytism  and  subsequent 
moral  neglect ;  rigorous  stickling  for  the  letter,  bound- 
less levity  as  to  the  spirit  ;  high-sounding  words  as  to  the 
sanctity  of  oaths,  and  cunning  reservations  of  casuistry  ; 
fidelity  in  trifles,  gross  neglect  of  essential  principles ;  the 
mask  of  godliness  without  the  reality  ;  petty  orthodoxy 
and  artificial  morals — such  was  Pharisaism.  It  was  a  false 
system,  based  on  egotism  and  self-seeking  ;  a  semblable 
goodness  swayed  by  "  a  tame  conscience,"  which  had  no 
power  over  the  heart.'^  And  that  was  why  the  Pharisees 
were  "  the  only  class  which  Jesus  cared  publicly  to  expose." 

*  See  Canon  Mozley,  Univ.  Sermons,  pp.  28-51. 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

CHRIST   AND   THE   SABBATH. 

It  was  as  regards  the  non-observance  of  the  traditions  of 
the  Elders  about  tJie  Sabbath  that  the  Pharisees  raised  the 
fiercest  clamour  against  Christ.  They  had  established  a 
number  of  arbitrary  rules,  whereas  the  principle  and  the 
practice  of  Christ  was  that  of  the  olden  Law,  that  "  the 
Sabbath  was  made  for  man,  and  not  man  for  the  Sabbath." 
The  Sabbath  of  the  "  Book  of  the  Covenant"  had  been 
greatly  altered  in  the  later  priestly  laws.*  No  one  on  that 
day  was  to  walk  more  than  2000  yards,  because,  in 
Ex.  xvi.  29,  a  Jew  is  forbidden  "to  go  out  of  his  place" 
{Makoin),  but,  in  Ex.  xxi.  13,  the  homicide  may  fly  to  the 
Levitic  suburb,  which  was  2000  yards  from  the  camp ; 
hence,  by  one  of  Hillel's  Middoih  {known  as  "analogy"), 
every  one  might  walk  2000  yards  on  the  Sabbath.f  But 
supposing  a  Pharisee  wanted  to  dine  with  another  on  the 
Sabbath,  was  he  to  forego  his  pleasure  on  this  account  ? 
Oh,  no  !  By  putting  up  sham  lintels  and  doorposts,  the 
whole  street,  even  if  it  were  miles  long,  becomes  a  part  of 
their  own  house !  \  And  no  man  might  carry  anything 
more  than  four  ells  on  a  Sabbath;  but  at  the  end  of  the 
four  ells  he  might  hand  it  to  another  and  he  to  another, 
and  so  get  it  conveyed  a  hundred  miles  if  necessary. 

Again,  no  man  might  buy  anything  on  the  Sabbath,  but 
he  might  go  to  a  shopkeeper  and  say,  "  Give  me  this  or 
that,''  and  call  and   pay  for  it  next  day.     No  Jew  might 

*  See  Montefiore,  Ilihbert  Lectures,  p.  338. 
\  Rosh  Hashanah,  f.  21  ;  2  Erubhin,  f.  42,  I. 

X  This  particular  evasion  was  called  the  Eriibh.  Techumim.  See  Maimoni- 
des,  Hilchoth  Erubhin,  vi.  6  ;  Montefiore,  Hibbert  Lectures,  p.  562. 

282 


CHRIST    AND    THE   SABBATH.       283 

carry  any  burden  on  the  Sabbath,  however  small,  not  even 
a  pocket-handkerchief ;  but  he  might  tie  a  pocket-hand- 
kerchief round  his  knee,  and  regard  it  as  a  garter  !  This 
ocTtepavtoXoyia,  as  Origen  calls  it,  has  lasted  for  ages,  for 
even  in  the  third  century  the  Jews  had  decided  that  on 
the  Sabbath  a  man  might  wear  one  kind  of  shoe,  but  not 
another.*  Our  Lord  denounces  such  mean  modes  of  trying 
to  deceive  God,  in  the  matter  of  the  Corban,  in  the  rule 
about  hating  enemies,  and  on  the  subject  of  divorce.  He 
taught  on  the  principle  that  Scripture  does  not  cover  any 
number  of  inferences  which  can  be  extorted  out  of  isolated 
expressions,  but  that  we  are  to  abide  by  all  that  is  perma- 
nent in  the  plain  meaning  of  Holy  Writ.  Scripture  is  what 
Scripture  jneans.  To  quote  a  phrase,  and  attribute  to  its 
/2V(?r(?/ significance  a  meaning  which  it  never  had,  and  never 
could  have  had,  is  a  mere  trick  of  ignorant  hypocrisy. 

We  read  in  the  Book  of  Jubilees  (50),  "Every  one  who 
desecrates  the  Sabbath,  or  declares  that  he  intends  to 
make  a  journey  on  it,  or  speaks  either  of  buying  or  selling, 
or  he  who  draws  water  and  has  not  provided  it  upon  the 
sixth  day,  and  he  who  lifts  a  burden  in  order  to  take  it  out 
of  his  dwelling-place,  or  out  of  his  house,  shall  die.  And 
every  man  who  makes  a  journey,  or  attends  to  his  cattle,\ 
and  he  who  kindles  a  fire,  or  rides  upon  any  beast,  or  sails 
tipon  a  ship  on  the  sea  upon  the  Sabbath  day,  shall  die." 
The  rules  about  the  Sabbath  were  divided  into  Avoth, 
"  fathers,"  X  ^rid  Toldoth,  "  generations  " — i.  e.,  primary  and 
derivative  rules. 

The  Avoth  were  thirty-nine  in  number,§  and  they  for- 
bade all  such  works  as  sowing,  ploughing,  reaping,  binding 

*Orig.  0pp.  i.  179.  The  Sabbatic  fanaticism  of  the  Jews  attracted  the  notice 
of  Pagans.     Ovid,  Ars  Amat.  i.  415  ;  Juv.  Sat.  xiv.  98-100. 

f  Some  Rabbis  who  "bound"  with  Shammai,  rather  than  "loosed"  with 
Hillel,  had  decided  that  if  a  sheep  fell  into  a  water-tank  on  the  Sabbath  it  was 
not  to  be  drawn  out.     See  Hausrath  i.  95. 

X  apxTiyiKuTara  alria.      Philo,  De  Vit.  686. 

§  Shabbath,  i.  78,  I. 


284  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

sheaves,  threshing,  etc.  To  these  rules  the  Pharisees  of 
Christ's  day  seem  to  have  added  another,  that  no  one  was 
to  be  healed  on  a  Sabbath  day,  so  little  did  they  recognise 
in  their  blindness  that  charity  is  above  rubrics,  and  mercy 
better  than  sacrifice.  Now,  our  Lord,  in  order  to  combat 
this  folly,  performed  no  less  than  seven  miraculous  healings 
on  the  Sabbath  Day.  To  refute  their  fanatical  formalism 
He  appealed  not  only  to  His  inherent  authority  as  "Lord 
of  the  Sabbath"  (Mark  ii.  28;  John  v.  17-47),  but  also  to 
Scripture  precedents  (Luke  vi.  3-5),  as  well  as  to  common 
sense  and  to  eternal  principles  (vi.  9).  Sometimes,  too,  He 
used,  with  crushing  force,  the  argiimentuin  ad  hommcjn, 
showing  the  selfish  insincerity  with  which  they  applied  and 
modified  their  own  regulations. 

The  rules  of  the  Rabbis  were  so  minute  in  what  Origen 
calls  their  "frigid  traditions"  that  you  might  put  wine  on 
the  eyelid  on  the  "  Sabbath,"  but  not  into  the  eye,  because 
that  is  healing  ;  *  and  you  might  put  vinegar  into  your 
mouth  for  a  toothache,  but  might  not  rinse  the  mouth  with 
it !  Yet  our  Lord  never  violated  even  their  best  princi- 
ples : — for  they  said,  "  The  Sabbath  may  be  broken  when 
life  is  in  danger — ^a  child,  for  instance,  may  be  saved  from 
drowning."f  They  distinguished,  however,  between  saving 
life  and  doing  any  other  work  of  mercy ;  for  instance,  if  a 
woman  has  a  toothache  she  may  keep  a  piece  of  salt  in  her 
mouth,  but  only  on  condition  that  she  has  put  it  in  the  day 
before  ! :{:  "In  no  case  was  this  miserable  micrology  carried 
to  greater  lengths." 

Our  Lord  wished  to  restore  the  two  divine  principles  that 
God  loves  mercy  rather  than  sacrifice ;  and  that  God  de- 
sires our  service  solely  because  He  desires  that  we  should 
be  happy.  He  desired  for  the  sake  of  Mankind  to  redeem 
the  Sabbath  from  a  miserable  fetish  into  the  blessed  boon 
for  which  God  had  intended  it.     Therefore,  on  the  Sabbath 

*  Shabbaih,  f.  108,  2. 
[       \  Yoma,  f.  84,  2.  :J:  Shabbath,  f.  64,  2. 


CHRIST   AND    THE    SABBATH.       285 

days  He  liealed  the  Demoniac  ;*  and  Simon's  wife's 
mother  ;f  and  the  man  with  the  withered  hand  ;:{:  and 
the  woman  bound  by  a  spirit  of  infirmity;  §  and  the  man 
with  the  dropsy  ;||  and  the  paralytic  at  Bethesda  ;^[  and 
the  man  born  blind.**  The  Jews  vehemently  denounced 
Him  for  these  deeds  of  compassion,  even  though  they 
involved  no  labour.  Our  Lord  showed  the  inherent  hy- 
pocrisy of  their  denunciations  by  pointing  out  that,  in  far 
smaller  matters  tJiey  violated  their  own  professions,  since 
none  of  them  hesitated  to  loose  his  ox  or  ass  from  the 
manger  and  lead  him  away  to  watering  ;  or  to  draw  out  on 
the  Sabbath  an  animal  that  had  fallen  into  a  pit.  When 
Shemaiah  and  Abtalion  had  found  Hillel  almost  frozen  on 
the  outer  window-sill  of  their  lecture-room  on  a  Sabbath, 
they  had  not  hesitated  to  spend  a  considerable  amount  of 
labour  to  rub,  and  warm,  and  rouse  him ;  ff  and  so  far 
from  being  blamed  for  this,  their  remark  that  "  he  was 
worthy  that  the  Sabbath  should  be  profaned  on  his  behalf  " 
had  met  with  universal  approval.  So  too,  when  their  op- 
ponents were  not  concerned  in  the  matter,  the  Talmudic 
writings  can  praise  Rabbis  for  even  bearing  burdens  on  the 
Sabbath  !  In  the  Midrash  Koheleth,^^  Abba  Techama  is 
praised  for  carrying  a  sick  man  into  a  town,  and  going 
back — though  it  was  the  Sabbath — to  fetch  his  bundle. 

The  rule  laid  down  by  our  Lord  with  perfect  distinctness 
was,  "  It  is  lawful  to  do  good  on  the  Sabbath. "§§  Could 
there  be  a  stronger  contrast  to  the  Rabbinic  inanity,  which 
alloived  bathing  on  the  Sabbath,  but  not  in  the  Dead  Sea  or 
the  Mediterranean,  because  the  waters  of  those  seas  were 
supposed  to  be  medicinal,  and  healing  is  unlawful  on  the 
Sabbath  Day !  |||1 

The   objection  to  the  Sabbath  healings  was  sometimes 

*Mark  i.  23-26.  f  Mark  i.  30,  31.  %  Matt.  xii.  10. 

§Luke  xiii.  11,  ||  Luke  xiv.  2.  Iljohn  v,  8,  9. 

** John  ix.  \\Y07na,  f.  35,  6.  %%  Yoma,  f.  gi,  2. 

§§  Matt.  xii.  12.  Ill  Shabbath,  f.  109,  I. 


286  THE    LIFE    OF   LIVES. 

complicated  by  the  fact  that  Jesus  had  broken  one  of  the 
trivial  Pharisaic  Toldoth  ox  derivative  r\x\es.  Thus  He  had 
bidden  the  healed  man  to  take  up  his  bed  and  walk,* 
and  the  Jews  "sought  to  slay  Him  because  He  had  done 
these  things  on  the  Sabbath  day."  But  the  so-called 
"  bed  "  was  a  mere  mat  or  pallet,  the  carrying  of  which  was 
necessary  for  the  man,  and  involved  no  labour.  The  act 
bore  no  relation  to  the  real  meaning  of  Jer.  xvii.  21,  22, 
"Take  heed  to  yourselves,  and  bear  no  burden  on  the 
Sabbath  day,  neither  carry  forth  a  burden  out  of  your 
houses,"  which  was  spoken  to  prevent  the  profanation  of 
the  Sabbath  by  daily  toil  and  commerce.  Although,  there- 
fore, the  Rabbis  had  decided  that  "  to  carry  anything  from 
a  public  place  to  a  private  house  on  the  Sabbath  "  rendered 
a  man  liable  to  death  by  stoning,f  our  Lord  intentionally 
ignored  the  literalism  which  strained  out  a  gnat  yet 
swallowed  a  camel. 

Again,  when  Jesus  healed  the  man  born  blind,  the  miracle 
went  for  nothing  in  the  obstinate  perversion  of  the  Phari- 
sees; but,  because  He  had  effected  the  miracle  by  anoint- 
ing the  man's  eyes  with  clay  moistened  with  saliva,  they 
declared  that  "  He  was  not  of  God,  because  He  keepeth 
not  the  Sabbath  ;  "  %  and  said,  "  We  know  that  this  man  is 
a  sinner."§  Clay  and  saliva  |  were  both  regarded  as  thera- 
peutic agents,  and  our  Lord  had  used  both  as  helps  to  the 
faith  of  those  whom    He  cured. ^     The  Jews   themselves 

*John  V.  10,  16;  Mark  ii.  11,  vi.  55,  Kpd^^aroq,  grabatiis;  Heb.,  mittah  j 
Luke  V.  24,  k?i/.vl6iov  ;  Attic,  cKi/iKovg  ;  ¥r.  grabat.  It  \\a.s  a.  mere  palliasse, 
or  even  sometimes  an  abeijah  (outer  robe)  folded  up,  as  we  see  from  Ex.  xxii. 
27,  where  it  is  forbidden  to  take  a  man's  upper  robe  in  payment  for  a  debt 
because  it  is  "that  whereon  he  sleepeth  "  and  "his  only  covering."  Comp. 
Virg.  Mor.  5.     "  Membra  levat  sensim  vili  A^xax^^z.  grabato" 

\  Shabbath,  vi.l. 

X  John  ix.  16.  §  John  ix.  24. 

II  Tac.  Hist.  iv.  81  ;  Suet.  Vesp.  7  ;  Plin.  H.  N.  xxviii.  7.  Comp.  Mark 
viii.  23,  vii.  33  ;  Shabbath  xiv.  4  (where  the  healing  application  of  saliva  to 
the  eyes  on  the  Sabbath  is  distinctly  forbidden). 

^  Matt.  xii.  5. 


CHRIST    AND    THE    SABBATH.       287 

held  that  there  was  "  no  Sabbatism  in  the  Temple,"  and 
therefore  that  the  Priests  "  profaned  the  Sabbath  in  the 
Temple  and  were  blameless."*  To  Christ  the  Temple  of 
God  was  the  Temple  of  infinite,  all-embracing  compassion. 

Again,  on  a  certain  Sabbath  the  disciples,  in  their 
poverty  and  hunger,  as  they  were  making  their  way 
through  the  cornfields,  began  to  pluck  the  ears  of  corn,  and 
to  rub  them  in  the  palms  of  their  hands.  Now,  by  two  of 
the  thirty-nine  Avoth  or  primary  rules,  all  reaping  and 
threshing  on  the  Sabbath  were  forbidden  ;  and  one  of  the 
numberless  Toldoth  or  "  derivative  rules  "  regarded  pluck- 
ing the  ears  of  corn  (even  to  satisfy  hunger  !)  as  a  kind 
of  reaping,  and  rubbing  them  as  a  ki7id  of  threshing.  Im- 
mediately, therefore,  the  Phariasic  spies  came  down  on 
them  with  their  contemptuous  censure,  "  Why  do  ye  do 
that  which  is  not  lawful  on  the  Sabbath  Day?  "  and  going 
at  once  to  Jesus,  who  seems  to  have  been  walking  apart 
from  the  Apostles,  they  said,  "  See  "  (pointing  to  the 
Apostles,)  "  why  do  they  do  on  the  Sabbath  Day  what  is 
not  lawful?"  The  vitality  of  these  artificial  trivialities 
among  the  Jews  is  remarkable.  Abarbanel  relates  that 
when  in  1492  the  Jews  were  driven  from  Spain,  and  not 
allowed  to  enter  the  city  of  Fez,  lest  they  should  cause 
a  famine,  "  they  had  to  live  on  grass,  but  '  religiously  ' 
avoided  the  violation  of  their  Sabbath  by  plucking  the 
grass  with  their  hands !  "  Yet  in  order  to  keep  the  small 
regulation,  they  gave  themselves  tiie  infinitely  greater 
Sabbath-labour  of  grovelling  on  their  knees,  and  cropping  the 
grass  with  their  teeth !  But  our  Lord  at  once  defended 
His  poor  Apostles  from  censure  by  reminding  these  literal- 
ists  how  on  the  Sabbath  no  less  a  saint  than  their  own 
David  had  illustrated  the  principle  that  physical  necessities 
abrogated  ceremonial  obligations,  and  had  fearlessly  vio- 
lated the  letter  of  the  law  by  eating  the  sacred  sliew-bread 
with  his  companions,  though  it  was  "  most  holy,"  and  was 
*  See  Matt.  xii.  5  ;  Numb,  xxviii.  g. 


288  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

expressly  reserved  for  the  Priests  alone.  *  Mercy  is  always 
a  thing  infinitely  more  sacred  than  "  miserable  micrology." 

After  the  narration  of  this  incident  in  Luke  vi.  1-7,  we 
find  in  the  Cambridge  Uncial  Manuscript  D.  the  famous 
Codex  BezcB,  the  passage :  "  On  the  same  day,  observing 
one  working  on  the  Sabbath,  He  said,  '  O  man,  if  indeed 
thou  knowest  what  thou  art  doing,  thou  art  blessed,  but  if 
thou  knowest  not,  thou  art  accursed,  and  a  transgressor  of 
the  Law.  '  "  f 

The  authority  of  a  single  manuscript  is,  of  course,  insufifi- 
cient  to  establish  the  genuineness  of  this  passage  as  a  part 
of  St.  Luke's  Gospel ;  but  there  is  much  to  be  said  for  the 
authenticity  of  the  fact  recorded.  A  man  would  not  indeed 
have  dared  to  work  openly  on  the  Sabbath,  for  then  he 
would  have  incurred  the  certainty  of  being  stoned  ;  but  if 
he  had  been  compelled  in  some  way — say  in  his  own  house 
— to  toil  for  some  purpose  of  necessity,  piety,  or  charity, 
then  his  toil  was  perfectly  justified  by  our  Lord's  own 
teaching.  Even  the  wiser  Rabbis  agreed  that  it  was  better 
to  work  seven  days  in  the  week  than  to  beg  one's  bread. 
No  less  a  personage  than  Rabbi  Jochanan  said — "  in  the 
name  of  the  people  of  Jerusalem  " — "-Make  thy  Sabbath  as 
a  week-day  rather  than  depend  ttpon  other  people."  X  In  any 
case,  if  there  be  any  basis  for  the  story,  in  some  agraphon 
dogma  of  Christ  current  in  early  Christian  days,  His  meaning 
could  only  have  been,  "  If  thy  work  is  of  faith — if  thou  art 
thoroughly  persuaded  in  thine  inmost  heart  and  conscience 
that  thy  Sabbath  work  is  justifiable — then  thou  art  acting 
with  true  insight  ;  but  if  thy  work  is  not  of  faith,  it  is  sin."§ 

*  Lev.  xxiv.  9,  xxii.  lO.  See  i  Sam.  xxi.  6.  The  scene  took  place  in  the 
Tabernacle  at  Nob,  and  Abiathar  may  have  been  assisting  his  father  Ahimelech. 
Mark  ii.  26.  The  words  "  in  the  High  priesthood  of  Abiathar  "  are  omitted 
in  D,  and  some  old  Latin  MSS. ;  and  if  the  reading  tov  apxiEpi:^^  in  A.  C,  etc., 
be  right,  the  wrords  might  mean  "  in  the  times  of  Abiathar." 

f  On  this  reading,  see  Westcott,  Introd.  to  the  Gospels,  Appendix  C. 

\  Pesachim,  f.  113,  i  ;  Hershon,  Treasurer  of  the  Talmud,  i.  194. 

§  See  Rom.  xiv.  22,  23  ;  i  Cor.  viii.  i. 


CHRIST   AND   THE    SABBATH.       289 

Not  all  the  Pharisees  were  scribes  or  lawyers.*  In  Mark 
ii.  16  we  read  of  "  The  Scribes  of  the  Pharisees."  They 
were  the  "  doctors "  or  "  theologians  "  of  the  Pharisaic 
party,  and  were  held  in  the  highest  honour.  When  one  of 
them  complained  that,  in  His  strong  denunciations  of  the 
Pharisees,  Jesus  insulted  them  also,f  He  emphasised  His 
disapproval  by  pointing  out  their  supercilious  tyranny 
(Luke  xi.  46),  their  insincerity  and  persecuting  rancour 
(47-51),  and  their  arrogant  exclusiveness  (52).:}:  But  His 
eight-fold  "  woe  "  on  the  Pharisees  was  even  more  severe. 
He  upbraided  them  for  their  frivolous  scrupulosity  (Luke 
xi.  39,  40),  mingled  with  hypocrisy  (41);  for  their  gross  lack 
of  reality  in  religion  (42) ;  for  their  pride,  ambition,  and  self- 
seeking  (43)  ;  and  for  their  hidden  depths  of  corruption, 
which  made  them  like  tombs  glistering  with  whitewash,  or 
graves  over  which  men  walked  without  being  aware  of  the 
putrescence  underneath  (44).  In  the  seven  great  "  woes  " 
pronounced  in  the  Temple  on  the  last  day  of  His  public 
ministry.  He  spoke  yet  more  fully  of  their  blind  folly, 
which  carefully  strained  out  the  gnat,  yet  swallowed  the 
camel ;  which  tithed  the  stalks  of  pot-herds,  yet  neglected 
justice,  mercy,  and  faith  ;  which  professed  external  scru- 
pulosity, while  within  they  were  full  from  extortion  and 
excess;  which  bound  heavy  burdens  on  men's  shoulders, 
and  would  not  move  them  with  one  of  their  fingers ;  which 
shut  the  gate  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven  against  men,  and 
neither  entered  nor  suffered  them  to  enter ;  which  com- 
passed sea  and  land  to  make  one  proselyte,  and  then  made 
him  tenfold  more  a  son  of  Gehenna  than  themselves ; 
which  devoured  widows'  houses,  while  for  a  pretence  they 

*  There  does  not  seem  to  be  much  distinction  between  "  Scribes "  and 
"  Lawyers"  or  "  Teachers  of  the  Law."  See  Luke  xi.  52,  53  ;  Matt,  xxiii.  13. 
The  name  "Scribes"  for  those  who  wrote  out  and  studied  the  Books  of  the 
Law  begins  with  Ezra. 

f  Luke  xi.  45. 

f  "  Ye  have  caused  many  to  stumble  at  the  Law."     Mai.  ii.  8. 


290  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

made  long  prayers.  *  Severe  as  are  these  denunciations, 
they  are  amply  supported  by  many  scathing  passages  in  the 
Talmud.  To  this  day  in  Jerusalem,  "You  are  a  PorisW 
{i.  e.,  a  Pharisee)  is,  says  Dr.  Frankl,  a  Jewish  writer,  "  the 
bitterest  term  of  reproach."  "  They  proudly  separate  them- 
selves," he  says,  "  from  the  rest  of  their  co-religionists. 
Fajiatical,  bigoted,  intolerajit,  quarrelsome,  and  in  truth 
irreligious,  with  them  the  outward  observance  of  the  cere- 
monial law  is  everything  ;  the  moral  law  little  binding, 
morality  itself  of  no  importance."  f  And  the  results  of 
Pharisaism  were  wholly  bad.  Formalism  killed  religion,  as 
the  strangling  ivy  kills  the  oak  round  which  it  twines.  "  At 
last  over  the  whole  inert  stagnation  of  the  soul  there  grew 
a  scurf  of  feeble  corruption.  Petty  vices,  meannesses,  little- 
nesses were  rife,  and  there  appeared  at  last  nothing  to 
mark  the  religious  man  except  a  little  ill-temper,  a  faint 
spite  against  those  who  held  different  opinions,  and  a  fee- 
ble, self-important  pleasure  in  detecting  heresy." 

If  the  Pharisees  had  only  listened  to  the  words  of  Eter- 
nal Wisdom,  how  different  might  have  been  the  course  of 
history!  But,  although  Jesus  had  at  first  tried  to  win 
them  by  gentle  courtesy,  they  set  their  faces  as  a  flint 
against  Him,  and  tried  in  every  way  to  thwart  His  efforts 
and  stir  up  the  multitudes  to  kill  Him.  They  displayed 
the  deadliest  insolence — treating  with  continuous  and 
scornful  jeers  even  His  warnings  against  their  besetting 
avarice.:}:  The  words  of  most  just  judgment  which  had  at 
last  to  be  uttered  by  the  lips  of  love,  involved  the  final 
breach  between  Him  and  the  self-constituted  religious 
teachers  of  His  day.  At  the  close  of  one  of  these  utter- 
ances, the  Pharisees,  in  a  scene  of  violence  almost  unique 
in  His  ministry,  began  to  press  vehemently  upon  Him,  and 

*  Matt.  vi.  7,  xxiii.  1-36  ;  Mark  xii.  40  ;  Luke  xx.  47. 
\  Frankl,   The  Jews  in  the  East,  ii.  27. 

\  i^EfivKT^pi^ov,  Luke  xvi.  14,  xxiii.  35.  Comp.  2  Sam.  xix.  21  ;  Psalm  ii. 
2-4. 


CHRIST   AND   THE    SABBATH.       291 

tried  to  catch  grounds  of  accusation  against  Him  about  very 
many  things  by  treacherous  questions,  lying  in  wait  for 
Him  to  hunt  something  out  of  His  mouth,*  until  the  very 
multitude,  in  alarm  and  excitement,  gathered  for  His  per- 
sonal protection  round  the  door  of  the  house  in  which  the 
scene  had  taken  place. 

But  He  came  "  to  cast  fire  upon  the  earth  " — the  fire 
which  is  salutary  as  well  as  retributive  ;  which  warms  and 
purifies  as  well  as  consumes.  One  of  the  most  remarkable 
of  the  "  unwritten  sayings  "  is  "  He  who  is  near  Me,  is  near 
the  fire."  f 

Can  there  be  the  least  doubt,  we  ask,  after  this  survey 
of  the  invariable  teaching  of  Christ,  wherein  pure  religion 
does,  and  wherein  it  does  not,  consist  ?  May  it  not  be 
summed  up  even  in  the  words  of  the  Old  Testament — "  He 
hath  shown  thee,  O  man,  what  is  good  ;  and  what  doth  the 
Lord  require  of  thee,  but  to  do  justly,  and  to  love  mercy, 
and  to  walk  humbly  with  thy  God?"  St.  Paul  is  emphatic 
in  teaching  that  in  Christ  Jesus  neither  circumcision 
availeth  anything  nor  uncircumcision,  but  faith  working  by 
love.  The  revelation  of  Christ's  will  is  unmistakably  plain, 
His  commandments  are  summed  up  in  the  one  word  "  love." 
He  said  that  to  do  unto  others  as  we  would  they  should  do 
unto  us  is  the  Law  and  the  Prophets ;  that  to  say,  "  Lord, 
Lord,"  is  nothing,  but  to  do  the  will  of  His  Father  in 
heaven ;  that  if  we  would  enter  into  life  we  must  keep  His 
commandments;  that  he  who  heareth  the  Word  of  God  and 
keepeth  it,  the  same  is  His  brother  and  His  sister  and  His 
mother.  If  we  care  at  all  for  what  Christ  taught  we  shall 
think  less  than  nothing  of  the  devotee's  will-worship,  or  the 
ascetic's  self-torture,  or  artificial  absolutions,  or  vestments, 
or  shibboleths,  or  Church  exclusiveness,  or  hierarchic  usur- 
pations. What  we  shall  desire  will  be  simple  faithfulness 
in  "the  daily  round,  the  common  task,"  the  humble  prayer 

*  Luke  xi.  53,  54,  airoaTOfiari^eiv.     .     .     Qr/pevaai  .     .     .     Seivug  evexeiv. 
■j-  Preserved  in  Ignatius,  Origen,  and  Didymus. 


292 


TME    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 


offered  in  secret,  the  sweet  silent  charities  of  common 
life — the  imitation  of  Christ,  learnt,  not  from  corrupt 
manuals,  or  ecclesiastical  traditions,  but  from  His  own  lips, 
and  His  own  life,  and  His  own  Spirit  shed  abroad  in  the 
hearts  of  all  of  every  communion  who  humbly  desire  to  be 
His  true  servants,  and  who  prefer  His  teaching  and  His 
example  to  the  intrusive  inventions  and  tyrannies  of  men 
deceiving  and  self-deceived. 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

THE   MIRACLES   OF   CHRIST. 

"  Miraculum  voco  quicquid  arduum  aut  insolitum  supra  spem  vel 
facultatem  mirantis  apparet." — Augustine,  De  Util.  Cred.  i6. 

"  Quisquis  prodigia  ut  credat  requirit,  magnum  est  ipse  prodigium, 
qui,  mundo  credente,  non  credit." — Aug,  De  Civ.  Dei,  c.  22. 

"  Prima  miracula  confestim  fecit,  ne  videretur  cum  labore  facere  ; 
postea  quum  auctoritatem^  satis  constituerat,  moram  interum  adhibuit 
salutarem." — Bengel. 

I  SHALL  not  here  pause  to  enter  once  more  into  the  ques- 
tion of  the  credibility  of  the  Gospel  miracles.  Enough  for 
us  to  say  that  the  attempt  to  account  for  all  Christ's 
miracles  by  hallucination  or  exaggeration  breaks  down  in 
every  direction  before  the  utter  simplicity  of  the  Gospel 
narratives,  which  differ  toto  ccelo  from  the  portents  of  the 
Apocryphal  Gospels,  and  from  those  invented  to  glorify 
mediaeval  saints.  Had  the  Apostles  been  capable  of  deceit- 
ful intentions,  their  narratives  would  not  have  been  marked 
by  such  extreme  sobriety  and  moderation.  The  miracles 
which  Christ  wrought  were  not  denied  by  the  Pharisees, 
and  are  admitted  even  in  the  Talmud.  The  Evangelists 
regarded  John  the  Baptist  as  the  great  Forerunner,  as  the 
promised  Elijah.  Yet  they  acknowledge  with  the  frankest 
truthfulness  that  "  John  did  no  miracle,"  and  they  represent 
the  Son  of  Man  as  habitually  repressing  and  restraining  His 
miraculous  gifts  (Matt.  xxvi.  53);  as  only  exercising  them 
for  definite  ends ;  and  as  forbidding  many  of  those  who 
received  them  to  blazon  them  abroad.  He  only  appealed 
to  His  works  as  giving  further  emphasis  to  the  grandeur 
of  His  words.  To  all  believing  Christians  the  one  sur- 
passing, overwhelming  miracle  is  that  of  the  Incarnation. 

293 


294  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

Christ  being  what  He  was,  miracles  wrought  out  of  com- 
passion would  radiate  from  Him  as  naturally  as  sunbeams 
from  the  sun. 

In  the  endeavour  to  grasp  the  essential  characteristics  of 
our  Lord's  miracles,  and  the  relation  in  which  they  stand 
to  His  whole  work,  we  may  learn  important  lessons  from  the 
names  by  which  they  are  ordinarily  described.  It  will  be 
seen  at  once  that  they  all  involved  deeds  of  mercy,  or  con- 
veyed lessons  of  truth,  and  do  not  bear  the  slightest  rela- 
tion to  the  senseless  prodigies  of  Eastern  invention,  or 
Apocryphal  romance. 

1.  In  the  Synoptic  Gospels  they  are  often  called 
"  Powers  "  {dvvdjuEii)  ;  *  seven  times  in  St.  Matthew,  and 
twice  in  St.  Mark  and  St.  Luke ;  and  the  word  "  Power  " 
(A.  V.  "  Virtue  "f)  is  applied  to  the  source  from  which 
they  emanated.  By  this  designation  they  are  represented 
as  the  outcome  of  a  divine  gift. 

2.  The  word  "  wonders''  or  ^^ portents'"  {rspara),  is  only 
used  of  them  three  times,  and  always  in  connection  with 
"  signs."  \  This  word  describes  them  by  the  effect  of 
amazement  which  they  produced  upon  the  minds  of  those 
who  witnessed  them.  The  rousing  of  astonishment  Avas 
the  lowest  and  poorest  result  of  our  Lord's  exercise  of  His 
divine  gifts,  and  one  which  He  always  discouraged.  His 
object  was  to  lead  men  beyond  the  miracle  to  the  facts  it 
was  designed  to  prove. § 

3.  The  word  "  Sign  "  and  "  Signs  "  (ffT^/Aeia)  is  used  fre- 
quently in  the  Gospels,  and  is  the  designation  ordinarily 
employed  by  St.  John.     This  word  indicates  the  main  pur- 

*Sometimes  rendered  in  the  A.  V.  "mighty  works,"  "wonderful  works," 
or  '■  miracles."     It  is  not  used  by  St.  John. 

f  2  Mark  v.  30  ;  Luke  vi.  19. 

X  Matt.  xxiv.  24  ;  Mark  xiii.  22  ;  John  iv.  48. 

§  Matt.  viii.  27,  ix.  8,  33,  xv.  31,  etc.;  John  vi.  26.  The  name  Qavfiaaiov 
only  occurs  in  Matt.  xxi.  15,  and  irapaSo^ov  (something  abnormal)  only  in  Luke 
V.  26  (comp.  Mark.  ii.  12).  Christ  recognised  this  element  of  the  value  of 
miracles.     John  v.  36,  xi.  15,  xx.  31  ;   Mark  ii.  10,  11  ;  Matt.  xi.  20,  21, 


THE    MIRACLES    OF   CHRIST.        295 

pose  for  which  they  were  wrought.  They  were  the  creden- 
tials of  Christ's  divine  power,  and  of  His  unity  with  the 
Father. 

4.  The  fourth  name,  "  Works,"  is  almost  peculiar  to  St. 
John,  where  it  occurs  many  times,*  It  is  the  deepest  and 
most  characteristic  of  the  four  terms.  It  represents  the 
miracles  as  the  natural  outcome  of  Christ's  relation  to  the 
Father,  who  was  the  real  doer  of  the  works.  "  They  are 
the  periphery  of  the  circle  of  which  He  is  the  centre.  The 
great  miracle  is  the  Incarnation  ;  all  else,  so  to  speak,  fol- 
lows naturally  and  of  course.  It  is  no  wonder  that  He 
whose  name  is  *  Wonderful '  (Is.  ix.  6)  does  works  of  won- 
der;  the  only  wonder  would  be  if  He  did  them  not."f 
They  were  the  normal  fruit  of  the  heavenly  tree ;  the  efflu- 
ence spontaneously  irradiated  from  the  Sun  of  Righteous- 
ness. In  the  miracle  of  His  personality  all  that  might 
otherwise  startle  us  in  the  story  of  His  miracles  is  com- 
pletely absorbed.  The  influence  of  a  higher  nature  finds 
expression  in  "  works  "  which  are  not  contrary  to,  but  are 
beyond,  and  above,  the  ordinary  working  of  earth's  natural 
laws. 

It  is  important  to  observe  that  miracles  do  not  seem 
to  have  been  primarily  intended  as  evidences  of  Christ's 
divinity,  but  rather  as  adding  emphasis  to  His  teaching, 
and  calling  attention  to  His  unity  with  the  Father.     Our 

*  John  vi.  28,  vii.  21,  x.  25,  33,  38,  xiv.  11,  etc.  But  it  also  occurs  in  Matt, 
xi.  2. 

fl~ench,  0>i  Miracles,  p.  8.  Ullmann,  Sinlessness  of  Jesus,  p.  193. 
Ammjnius,  quoted  by  Theophylact,  misses  the  force  of  the  word  aTjfielov 
entirely  in  the  definition  repag  wapa  ^vaiv,  oTj/nela  irapa  cwrfieiav  yiveTai. 
Schleiermacher  {Leben  Jesu,  p.  206)  rightly  says,  "  In  arf/ielov  the  most  promi- 
nent thing  is  the  significance  of  what  we  should  deduce  from  the  result ;  in 
diivafiig,  '  power,'  the  chief  thing  is  the  nature  of  the  actor — that  he  has  in  him- 
self such  a  power  ;  and  in  repag,  '  wonder,'  the  comparison  of  this  result  with 
other  results."  In  Acts  ii.  22,  St.  Peter,  using  the  three  words,  says  that 
"  Jesus  of  Nazareth  was  approved  of  God  unto  you  by  powers,  and  wonders, 
and  signs,  which  God  did  by  Him  in  the  midst  of  you,  even  as  ye  yourselves 
know."     See  Steinmeyer,  On  Miracles,  p.  42  ;  Col.  i.  19. 


296  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

Lord  was  well  aware  that  miracles  will  not  convince  the 
obstinate  and  the  hardened.*  His  miracles  were  forms  of 
Revelation,  f  Had  they  been  meant  to  prostrate  opposi- 
tion, or  to  ejiforce  belief,  their  characteristics  would  have 
been  different ;  nor,  in  that  case,  would  our  Lord  have  per- 
sistently refused  to  exhibit  the  startling  and  overwhelming 
"  sign  from  heaven  " — the  miracle  of  constantly-descending 
manna  to  supply  bodily  needs,  or  the  portent  in  the  sun 
or  moon  or  stars — which  the  Pharisees  and  the  multitude 
demanded.  In  all  true  and  transforming  faith  there  is  a 
moral  and  spiritual  element,  and  Jesus  taught  that  it  was  a 
higher  thing  to  believe  in  His  words,  and  to  recognise  that 
the  words  which  He  spake  were  Spirit  and  were  Life,  than  to 
believe  for  the  works'  sake.;}:  The  miracles  were  not  acts 
of  His  divinity  working  apart  from  His  humanity.  He  was 
truly  God,  perfectly  man,  indivisibly  God-Man,  distinctly 
God  and  Man  ;  and  He  appeals  to  His  works  only  to  prove 
that  the  Father  dwelt  in  Him,  with  whom  He  was  indis- 
solubly  united. §  He  was  co-ordinately  the  Doer  of  the 
works. II  Hence  the  miracles  "belong  properly  to  the 
believer  and  not  to  the  doubter.  They  are  a  treasure 
rather  than  a  bulwark.  They  are  in  their  inmost  sense 
instruction  and  not  evidence."  ^ 

All  of  our  Lord's  miracles  fall  under  the  three  heads  of 
miracles  on  Nature,  on  man,  and  on  the  spirit-world. 

I.  The  miracles  exercised  in  the  world  of  Nature  are,  for 
reasons  already  indicated,  the  rarest.     With  the  exception 

*Luke  xvi.  31,     Comp.  John.  xii.  37,  xi.  45,  46. 

f  St.  Thomas  Aquinas  distinguishes  between  mir acuta  qtim  sunt  ad  fidei  cott- 
firmationem,  and  miracula  de  quibiis  ipsa  est  fides.  See  Steinmeyer,  On  the 
Miracles,  p.  7  ;  Wendt  ii.  192-197. 

X  Theophylact  wisely  wrote,  "  Preaching  is  confirmed  by  miracles,  and  mira- 
cles by  preaching." 

§  John  xiv.  10. 

\  John  V.  17,  19. 

T  Westcott,  The  Gospel  Miracles,  p.  7.  Gerhard  says,  '*  Miracula  sunt  doc- 
trinae  tesserae  et  sigilla  ;  quemadmodum  igitur  sigillum  Uteris  avulsum  nihil  pr«- 
bat,  ita  quoque  miracula  sine  doctrina  nihil  valent." 


THE    MIRACLES   OF   CHRIST.       297 

of  the  two  miracles  of  the  multiplication  of  the  loaves  and 
fishes — of  which,  perhaps,  the  real  character  was  scarcely 
understood  by  most  of  the  5000  and  of  the  4000  for  whose 
benefit  they  were  wrought — the  Nature-miracles  were  only 
directly  witnessed  by  Christ's  nearest  disciples.  These 
were  the  changing  of  water  into  wine,  the  stilling  of  the 
storm,  the  walking  on  the  sea,  and  the  withering  of  the 
barren  fig-tree.  The  miracles  of  the  two  draughts  of  fishes 
are  probably  to  be  regarded  rather  as  instances  of  supernat- 
ural knowledge  than  as  supersessions  of  the  normal  course 
of  natural  laws.* 

2.  The  miracles  on  man  were,  without  exception,  works 
of  mercy  to  relieve  the  sick  and  the  suffering.  They  are 
healings  of  the  blind  ;  f  of  the  deaf  and  dumb  ;  of  the  impo- 
tent ;  of  the  sick  ;  of  lepers  ;  of  the  palsied  ;  of  the  dropsi- 
cal ;  of  the  fever-stricken ;  of  the  man  with  the  withered 
hand ;  of  the  woman  with  the  issue.  They  were  granted 
either  to  the  faith  of  personal  suppliants,  or  to  the  inter- 
cession of  their  parents  or  friends. 

3.  The  miracles  on  the  spirit-world  are  chiefly  those  ex- 
tended to  men  or  women  possessed  of  the  demons,:}:  who 

*Luke  V.  l-ii  ;  John  xxi.  1-23.  The  story  of  the  stater  in  the  fish's 
mouth  stands  in  all  respects  alone.  It  is  not  said  that  any  miracle  was  wrought. 
It  taught  no  spiritual  truth,  and  did  not  arise  from  pity,  nor  depend  on  faith. 
The  meaning  of  the  words  has  probably  been  misunderstood.  On  this  subject 
I  must  refer  to  what  I  have  said  in  The  Life  of  Christ. 

\  Found  in  the  Gospels  only  in  Mark  viii.  23  ;  Malt.  ix.  29,  xi.  4,  5,  xv.  30, 
XX.  34,  xxi.  14  ;  Luke  vii.  22  ;  John  ix.  6. 

X^.aiii6via,  always  "demons"  (Heb.  Shedim).  It  is  a  pity  that  even  the 
Revised  Version  preserved  the  erroneous  version  "  devils."  Josephus,  in 
accordance  with  the  general  view  of  that  day,  defines  "  demons"  as  "the 
spirits  of  wicked  men,  entering  into,  and  slaying,  the  living."  See  Antt.  vi.  8, 
2,  ii.  3  ;  B.  J.  viii.  6,  3.  For  a  full  discussion  of  the  nature  of  demoniac  pos- 
session, see  Jahn,  Archceologia  Biblica,  E.  T.,  pp.  200-216.  Weber,  Syst.  d. 
altsynag.  Paldst.  Theol.  The  Talmud  describes  "demons"  as  resembling 
men.  Pesikta,  i.  504.  In  the  Book  of  Enoch  (xv.)  they  are  regarded  as  fallen 
angels  (comp.  i  Cor.  x.  20).  If  the  account  of  an  exorciser  in  Josephus  {Antt. 
viii.  2,  5)  be  compared  with  the  Gospel  narratives  it  will  be  seen  at  once  how 
free  from  superstition,  and  stamped  with  the  mark  of  truth,  are  the  latter. 


298  THE    LIFE   OF    LIVES. 

afflicted  them  either  with  wild  and  convulsive  madness,  or 
with  grievous  physical  calamities.  There  were  also  three 
instances  in  which  Jesus  raised  the  dead — the  daughter  of 
Jairus;  the  young  son  of  the  widow  of  Nain  ;  and  Lazarus 
whom  he  loved.  The  whole  series  of  miracles,  of  which 
thirty-three  are  recorded  by  the  Evangelists,*  was  crowned 
by  our  Lord's  own  Resurrection  and  Ascension,  when  by 
death  He  had  conquered  him  that  hath  the  power  of 
death — that  is  the  Devil. 

It  is  not  unnatural  to  ask  how  it  came  about  that  such 
miracles  of  power  and  mercy,  and  many  which  were 
wrought  collectively,  and  on  a  large  scale,  did  not — even 
apart  from  our  Lord's  teaching — exercise  a  more  decisive 
effect  in  hushing  all  criticism,  and  overcoming  all  opposi- 
tion. The  answer  seems  to  be  twofold.  On  the  one  hand, 
miracles,  or  what  passed  as  such,  were  not  unknown  in  the 
Eastern  world. f  Various  Rabbis  are  said  to  have  wrought 
miracles,  and  our  Lord  Himself  tells  us  that  exorcism  was 
commonly  practised  among  the  Jews  themselves.  "  If  I  by 
Beelzebul  cast  out  demons,  by  whom  do  your  sons  cast 
them  out  ?  Therefore  shall  they  be  your  judges."  :{: 
Indeed,  according  to  Josephus,  the  power  to  eject  demons 
has  been  specially  bestowed  upon  his  people,  and  he  tells 
one  remarkable  story  respecting  it.  What  was  known  as 
demoniacal  possession  often  showed  itself  in  forms  of  vio- 
lent nervous  excitement,  by  which  the  sin-polluted  mind 
swayed  the  functions  and  temperaments  of  the  degraded 
and  weakened  body.  Such  emotional  conditions  are  capa- 
ble of  being  affected  by  the  influence  of  stronger  wills  and 

*  St.  Matthew  narrates  twenty  miracles  ;  St.  Mark,  eighteen  ;  St.  Luke, 
nineteen  ;  St.  John,  seven. 

t  Jos.  B.  J.  vii.  6,  3  ;  Antt.  viii.  2,  5  ;  Dial.  c.   Tryph.  i. 

X  Matt.  xii.  27  ;  Mark  iii.  22,  etc.  The  true  reading  seems  to  be  Beelzebul. 
Beelzebub  was  the  name  of  the  god  of  Ekron,  like  Zeus  Apomuios,  "  the 
averter  of  flies,"  2  Kings  i.  2.  Beelzebul  may  mean  "  the  lord  of  the  (celestial) 
habitation,"  or,  as  a  Jewish  name  of  scorn,  "  lord  of  dung." — See  Jahn, 
Archaologia  Biblica. 


THE    MIRACLES    OF   CHRIST.        299 

holier  personalities.'^  It  was  easy,  within  certain  limits, 
even  for  an  impostor  to  excite  a  belief  in  his  possession  of 
supernatural  powers,  as  was  the  case  with  Theudas,  who  led 
hundreds  of  deluded  followers  to  feel  confident  that  he 
could  divide  the  Jordan  before  them,  and  lead  them  over 
dryshod ;  f  and  during  the  procuratorship  of  Felix  no  less 
than  30,000  had  assembled  on  the  Mount  of  Olives  in  the 
belief  that  another  impostor  would  throw  down  the  walls 
of  Jerusalem  before  their  advancing  footsteps.  The  Phari- 
sees, without  the  smallest  tendency  to  believe  in  Christ, 
yet  admitted,  and  were  forced  to  admit,  that  He  did  work 
miracles,  and  that  His  miracles  were  works  of  love  and 
mercy.:}: 

But,  secondly,  the  Pharisees  nullified  the  effect  of  them 
on  the  minds  of  the  multitude  by  attributing  them  to  the 
co-operation  of  evil  spirits.  They  constantly  averred  that 
Christ  "  had  a  demon,"  who  conferred  on  Him  the  power 
of  doing  wonders.  They  challenged  Him  to  perform  some 
*'  sign  from  heaven,''  such  as  no  demon  could  perform  ;  but 
He  refused  to  meet  a  challenge  which  would  not,  even  if  it 
had  been  performed,  have  really  swept  away  their  doubts ; 
and  He  pointed  them  to  His  teaching,  and  the  sign  of  the 
Prophet  Jonah.  The  preaching  of  Jonah  had  converted 
the  Ninevites ;  the  Queen  of  the  South  had  come  all 
the  way  to  Jerusalem  to  hear  the  wisdom  of  Solomon  ; 
if  they  refused  to  listen  to  one  greater  than  Jonah  or 
Solomon  they  would  harden  their  hearts  even  to  the 
end. 

His  Miracles  of  Mercy,  the  course  of  which  seems  to 
have  begun   with  the  healing  of  the  demoniac  at  Caper- 

*  "  Demons  "  were  supposed  to  be  the  spirits  of  the  wicked  dead.  Jos.  B.J. 
vii.  6,  3.  The  Jews  attributed  all  sorts  of  moral  failures  and  physical  calami- 
ties to  demons  (as  is  still  the  case  in  the  East,  where  they  are  called  devs).  See 
Ps.  xci.  6,  Ixx. ;  Targ.  Cant.  iv.  6. 

f  Jos.  Antt.  xix.  5,  i.     Comp.  B.J.  c,  13,  4. 

:j:  John  xi.  47,  xii.  ig.  Miracles  which  could  not  be  denied  were  attributed 
io  ktshoof,  "magic."     Sanhedrin,y\\.  13,  19.     See  Derenbourg,  pp.  106,  361. 


300  THE    LIFE    OF   LIVES. 

naum,*  were  in  the  great  majority  of  instances  miracles  of 
simple  compassion.  Jesus  suffered  with  those  whom  He 
saw  suffer,  and  St.  Mark  records  how,  at  the  sight  of 
human  infirmity,  a  sigh  was  wrung  from  His  inmost  heart. f 
^^  I  have  compassion  on  the  multitude^'  was  a  feeling  which 
always  filled  the  Saviour's  soul.:};  His  miracles  all  look 
back  to  the  Incarnation,  and  forward  to  the  Ascension,  now 
bringing  God  to  man,  and  now  raising  man  to  God,  as  signs 
of  the  full  accomplishment  of  his  earthly  work.  §  They 
differ  fundamentally  from  the  legends  and  miracles  of 
other  religions.  Each  miracle  was  also  the  revelation  of  a 
mystery,  and  all  tend  to  raise  us  from  a  blind  idolatry  of 
physical  laws  to  the  consciousness  of  a  nobler  presence,  and 
of  a  higher  power.  Thus  they  are  a  prophecy  of  a  more 
glorious  world,  and  a  revelation  of  a  near  God  unseen — 
an  Epiphany  of  sovereignty  and  of  mercy.  They  involve 
a  revelation  of  hope,  of  restoration,  of  forgiveness.  The 
same  powers  which  conquered  sickness  and  death  are  not 
less  mighty  to  overcome  their  spiritual  antitypes,  "the 
blindness  of  sensuality  and  the  leprosy  of  caste,  the  fever  of 
restlessness,  the  palsy  of  indolence,  the  death  of  sin." 

I  have  already  pointed  out  that  it  is  no  small  indication 
of  the  simple  truthfulness  of  the  Gospels  that  although 
John  stood  among  the  greatest  of  the  Prophets  they  do  not 
attribute  to  him  a  single  miracle.  "  John  did  no  miracle," 
yet  he  exercised  over  the  people  a  stupendous  influence. 
The  Evangelists  only  attribute  to  Christ  these  works,  and 
signs,  and  powers,  because  they  narrated  things  as  they 
were,  with  no  desire  to  suppress  any  more  than  to  invent. 

*Mark  i.  21-34.  f  Mark  vii.  34. 

J  Mark  i.  41,  viii.  2.     Comp.  Matt.  ix.  36,  xiv.  14,  xx.  34  ;  Luke  vii.  13. 
§  I  here  refer  to  the  wise  teaching  on  this  subject  in  Bp.  Westcott's  Charac- 
teristics of  the  Gospel  Miracles. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

THE    GLADNESS    AND    SORROW    OF    THE    CHRIST. 

TO  SaKpvov  avTov  x^pa  7/neTpd. — Athanasius,  De  Incarn. 

"  Crede  mihi,  res  severa  est  varum  gaudium." — Augustine. 

It  has  been  an  error,  and  one  not  wholly  devoid  of  disas- 
trous consequences,  to  regard  the  life  of  our  Lord  on  earth 
as  a  life  of  continuous  and  almost  overwhelming  sorrow. 
This  has  arisen  from  too  exclusive  a  contemplation  of  His 
last  year  of  flight  and  rejection,  and  of  the  anguish  of  His 
death  and  passion  ;  and  it  has  led  to  the  overlooking  of  the 
indications  which  point  to  the  many  gladder  hours  of  the 
Son  of  Man.  He  did,  indeed,  "bear  our  griefs  and  carry 
our  sorrows";  *  but  man's  life  is  not  an  unbroken  misery, 
and  Jesus  had  the  deepest  sympathy  with  all  natural  and 
innocent  sources  of  gladness.  Nay  more,  He  often  called 
attention  to  the  truth  that,  in  despite  of  earthly  trials  and 
persecution,  the  Christian's  joy  shines  on  like  a  lamp, 
unquenched  by  the  darkness  of  the  tomb.  In  the  midst  of 
the  worst  misfortunes  which  the  devil  or  the  world  could 
inflict,  He  bade  His  followers  to  be  not  only  patient  in 
tribulation,  but  also  to  rejoice  in  hope  ;  f — to  "  rejoice  and 
be  exceeding  glad,"  for  great  was  their  reward  in  heaven  ; 
nay,  even  to  recognise  their  deep  blessedness  and  "  to  leap 
for  joy." :}:  He  never  intended  to  reduce  the  natural 
blessedness  of  life  to  an  artificial  monotony  of  woe-begone 
abjectness.  It  was  one  of  the  objects  of  His  life  to  give  to 
men  "  the  oil  of  exultation  for  mourning,  the  spirit  of  joy 

*  Is.  liii.  4  :  Heb.  ix.  28  ;  Matt.  viii.  17.  "  Himself  took  our  infirmities 
and  bare  our  diseases." 

f  Matt.  V.  12.  X  Luke,  vL  23. 

301 


302  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

for  the  spirit  of  heaviness";*  by  His  gift  they  should  exult 
"  with  joy  unspeakable  and  full  of  glory."  f 

When  the  seventy  returned  with  joy  at  the  proof  that 
even  demons  were  subject  unto  them  in  Christ's  name,  He 
bade  them  to  rejoice  still  more  that  their  names  were  written 
in  heaven. :{:  The  word  ayaWiaGi?,  "  exultation,"  means 
"  abounding  and  overflowing  joy,"  and  not  only  did  Jesus 
bid  His  disciples  "to  exult,"  but  in  witnessing  the  success 
of  their  simple-hearted  ministrations  He  Himself  "  exulted 
in  spirit."  § 

Must  we  not  feel  confident  that,  during  the  thirty  almost 
unrecorded  years  of  life,  in  the  lovely  country,  in  the  pure 
and  happy  home,  in  the  humble  and  honourable  toil,  Jesus 
must  have  tasted  of  the  most  limpid  well-springs  of  human 
happiness?  This  happiness  must  have  been  immeasurably 
increased  because  His  heart,  unstained  by  any  shadow  of 
guilt,  reflected  the  very  blue  of  heaven.  Let  any  one  con- 
sider how  much  our  human  life  is  darkened  by  the  deceit- 
fulness  of  sin ;  by  the  stings  of  shame  ;  by  the  voice  of  a 
self-reproach  which  cannot  be  silenced  ;  by  the  memory  of 
wasted  hours  and  desecrated  gifts ;  by  erring  judgments ; 
by  the  constant  sense  of  moral  failure  and  unworthiness — 
and  he  will  then  be  able  to  estimate  what  must  have  been 
the  boyish  and  youthful  happiness  of  one  whose  thoughts 
were  ever — 

"  Pleasant  as  roses  in  the  thickets  blown, 
And  pure  as  dew  bathing  their  crimson  leaves." 

But  do  not  we  further  see  the  constant  elements  of  simple 
gladness  throughout  our  Lord's  ministry  ?     He  discounte- 

*  Heb.  i.  9,  i2.aiov  ayakliaaeug.     Comp,  LXX.;  Ps.  xlv.  7,  8. 

f  John  xvi.  22  ;  i  Peter  i.  6,  8,  iv.  13  ;  Rev.  xix.  7  ;  Acts  ii.  26  ;  Jude  24. 

X  Luke  X.  20. 

§  Luke  X.  21,  T/yaTiXiaaaTO  rw  nvev/iari  (the  opposite  extreme  of  emotion  to 
EveSpifi^aaTo  tg"  nvevnan  in  John  xi.  33).  In  the  spurious  letter  of  P.  Lentulus 
to  the  Senate,  it  is  said  that  "  He  wept  oft,  but  no  one  had  ever  seen  Him 
smile."  This  is  an  instance  of  the  erroneous  conception  and  groundless  tradi- 
tion which.  I  hav?  pointed  out. 


HIS    GLADNESS   AND   SORROW.      303 

nanced  the  showy  abstinences  of  the  Pharisees  ;  He  prac- 
tised no  form  of  Essene  rigorism;  He  had  nothing  of  the 
habitual  fuhnination  and  stern  asperities  of  the  Baptist: 
He  neither  practised  fasting  Himself,  nor  encouraged  His 
disciples  to  do  so.  His  whole  attitude  towards  life  show 
us  that  "  self-chosen,  self-inflicted  suffering,  where  it  is  not 
a  wise  discipline,  is  ingratitude  to  God,  or  rather  it  is 
partial  suicide.  The  suffering  in  itself  is  nothing  worth, 
the  moral  end  for  which  it  is  the  means  gives  it  its 
value."  * 

He  only  recognised  fasting  as  the  natural  expression  of 
natural  grief.  He  was  radically  opposed  to  the  conception 
which  looked  upon  self-inflicted  burdens  as  a  method  for 
extorting  God's  approval.  He  compared  the  ministry  of 
John  to  children  playing  at  funerals  in  the  market-places, 
among  companions  who  would  not  mourn  ;  and  His  own 
ministry  to  the  games  of  merry  children,  playing  at  wed- 
dings, and  piping  for  sullen  comrades  who  would  not  dance. 
Throughout  His  life  Jesus  must  have  had  in  His  heart  pure 
fountains  of  perennial  joy.  He  never  knew.  He  could  not 
know — except  by  keen  sympathy  with  the  lost — the  accu- 
mulated miseries  of  selfishness,  and  its  inevitable  disappoint- 
ments. He  never  knew,  He  could  not  know,  those  terrors 
of  a  fearful  expectation  of  most  just  judgment  when 
"  Iniquity  hath  played  her  part,  and  Vengeance  leaps  upon 
the  stage  " — when  "  man's  gifts  begin  to  fade  as  though  a 
worm  were  gnawing  at  them  " — when  "  the  gnawing  con- 
science reawakens  the  warning  conscience  " — when  "  Fear 
and  Anguish  divide  the  man's  soul  between  them,  and  the 
Furies  of  Hell  leap  upon  his  heart  like  a  stage  " — when 
"  Thought  calleth  to  Fear,  Fear  whistleth  to  Horror ;  Hatred 
beckoneth  to  Despair,  and  saith,  '  Come  and  help  me  to 
torment  this  sinner.'  One  saith  that  she  cometh  from  this 
sin,  and  another  saith  that  she  cometh  from  that  sin — so  the 
man  goes  through  a  thousand  deaths  and  cannot  die.    Irons 

*Westcott,  The  Victory  of  the  Cross,  p.  82. 


304  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

are  laid  upon  his  body  like  a  prisoner.  All  his  lights  are 
put  out  at  once."  * 

These  worst  tragedies  of  human  existence  could  never  be 
personally  experienced  by  Him  who  was  "  holy,  harmless, 
undefiled,  separate  from  sinners,  and  made  higher  than  the 
heavens." 

All  that  we  read  of  His  ministry  illustrates  the  noble 
words  of  the  poet : 

"  Gladness  be  with  Thee,  Saviour  of  the  world  ! 
I  think  this  is  the  essential  sign  and  seal 
Of  goodness,  that  it  ever  waxes  glad. 
And  more  glad,  till  the  gladness  blossoms  forth 
Into  a  rage  to  suffer  for  mankind 
And  recommence  at  sorrow." 

It  was  almost  exclusively  after  the  culmination  of  His 
ministry  that  sorrows  burst  like  a  hurricane  upon  the  life  of 
the  Saviour  of  the  world.  His  afflictions  came  from  the 
wickedness  of  men,  and  always,  in  our  human  career, 

"  Man  is  to  man  the  sorest,  surest  ill," 

Yet  we  have  learnt  from  Him  that  '^  otir  light  affliction, 
which  is  but  for  a  moment,  worketh  for  us,  more  and  more 
exceedingly,  an  eternal  weight  of  glory,  while  we  look  not 
at  the  things  which  are  seen,  but  at  the  things  which  are 
not  seen."  f  We  must  remember  that,  far  more  than  is  the 
case  with  us,  Christ,  in  the  midst  of  things  temporal,  and 
the  worst  trials  which  they  could  bring,  was  living  in  the 
constant  realisation  of  the  things  unseen  and  eternal.  The 
human  privations — the  homeliness  of  Him  who  had  not 
where  to  lay  His  Head,  the  poverty,  the  wanderings,  the 
intense,  bitter,  unscrupulous  hatred  and  opposition  of  the 
religious  leaders  of  His  day,  the  calumnious  meanness  of 
those  who  called  Him  "  a  gluttonous  man  and  a  wine- 
bibber,"  "a  Samaritan,"  "a  blasphemer,"  "a  Sabbath- 
breaker,"  and  said  that  He  had  a  demon,  and  was  the  agent 

*  Henry  More,  The  Betraying  of  Christ.  f  2  Cor.  iv.  17. 


HIS   GLADNESS   AND    SORROW.      305 

of  Beelzebul — these  He  could  lightly  disregard.  They 
simply  arose  from  the  fact  that — 

"  The  base  man,  judging  of  the  good, 
Puts  his  own  baseness  to  him,  by  default 
Of  will  and  nature." 

It  has  never  been  otherwise  in  any  age  or  nation. 

"  It  is  the  penalty  of  being  great 
Still  to  be  aimed  at "  ; 

and  even  Plato  wrote,  "  The  just  man  will  be  scourged, 
racked,  bound,  blinded  and  after  suffering  many  ills,  will 
be  crucified  "  (arKao'^zrcJi'Aff^^o'fra'z).* 

Calumny  and  misrepresentation  pained  Him,  not  at  all 
on  His  own  account,  but  out  of  pity  for  the  wretches  who, 
under  pretence  of  religion,  could  be  so  grossly  guilty  of 
such  slanderous  lies.  That  men  who  proposed  to  teach 
truth  should  revel  in  falsehood ;  that  men  who  claimed  to 
be  sources  of  light  should  live  in  a  self-chosen  darkness; 
that  men  who  ought  to  have  set  the  example  of  love  and 
humility  should  use  every  power  they  possessed  to  dis- 
seminate  an  arrogant  hatred — these  were  thorns  in  His 
crown  of  sorrow ;  and 

"  Face  loved  of  little  children  long  ago, 

Head  hated  of  the  Priests  and  Elders  then, 
Say  was  not  this  Thy  sorrow — to  foreknow 
In  Thy  last  hour  the  deeds  of  Christian  men?  " 

Christ  bore  the  worst  which  a  bad  world  and  a  corrupted 
Church  could  inflict  upon  Him ;  yet,  through  His  invisible 
aid  and  presence,  His  followers  in  all  ages  have  learnt  how 
to  be  in  need  as  well  as  how  to  abound.  Amid  the  utmost 
evils  with  which  men  could  torture  them,  they  have  known 
how  to  be  "  pressed  on  every  side,  yet  not  straitened  ; 
perplexed,  yet  not  unto  despair ;  pursued,  yet  not  for- 
saken ;  smitten  down,  yet  not  destroyed  ;  always  bearing 
^  Plato,  De  Rep.  ii.  362. 


3o6  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

about  in  the  body  the  dying  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  that  the 
life  also  of  Jesus  may  be  manifested  in  their  body."  * 

There  was  one  trial  which,  most  of  all,  made  the  iron 
enter  into  Christ's  soul.  When  the  gleam  of  enthusiasm 
which  welcomed  His  early  preaching  had  died  out  ;  when 
the  people  took  wilful  offence  at  the  words  which  they 
would  not  understand  ;  when  he  began  to  doubt  whetner 
even  His  beloved  disciples  might  not  fall  away  from  Him; 
when  He  could  hardly  speak  in  any  Synagogue  without 
seeing  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees,  who  came  to  spy  upon 
Him  from  Jerusalem,  scowling  at  Him  in  bitter  envy,  or 
regarding  Him  with  supercilious  smiles  of  fancied  superi- 
ority ;  when  He  heard  their 

"  Blind  and  naked  Ignorance 
Delivering  brawling  judgments  all  day  long 
On  all  things  unashamed  "  ; 

when  He,  in  His  Divine,  ethereal  loftiness  of  soul,  was 
thrust  into  daily  contact  with  every  form  of  meanness  and 
misery,  in  the  vulgarities,  the  garrulities,  the  disgraces, 
the  insinuated  slanders,  the  infinitesimal  littleness  of  fallen 
human  souls,  which  boasted  of  their  immaculate  upright- 
ness ;  when  He  was  hardly  safe  from  personal  molestation 
even  in  the  towns  and  villages  of  Galilee  ;  when  He  heard 
that  "  the  fox"  Herod  Antipasf  had  designs  to  seize  Him  ; 
when  He  learnt  that  not  only  the  disciples  of  John,  but 
even  the  Baptist  himself,  in  his  rocky  dungeon,  were  be- 
ginning to  yield  to  doubts  respecting  Him  ;  when  flight 
into  heathen  lands  and  concealment  in  distant  cities 
became  a  necessity ;  when  on  every  side  He  encountered 
opposition  and  unbelief ;  when  He  witnessed  around  Him 
the  ravages  of  disease  and  the  triumphs  of  the  Evil  One, 

*2  Cor.  iv.  8,  9,  lo. 

t  Literally,  "Go  ye  and  tell  this  she-fox"  {t^  aliitreKi  Tavrrj) '  kluivEKi(,u  in 
Aristophanes  {Vesp.  i.  241)  means  "to  make  covert-attacks."  It  is  remark- 
able as  being  the  only  recorded  word  of  unmitigated  contempt  which  our  Lord 
ever  used. 


HIS   GLADNESS   AND    SORROW.      307 

and  looked  out  over  a  Dead  Sea  of  human  debasement, 
whose  raging  and  swelling  waters  cast  up  mire  and  dirt; 
when  He  saw  "  faces  with  the  terrible  stamp  of  various 
degradation,  and  features  scarred  by  sickness,  dimmed  by 
sensuality,  convulsed  by  passion,  pinched  by  poverty, 
shadowed  by  sorrow,  branded  with  remorse,  broken  down 
by  labour,  tortured  by  disease,  dishonoured  with  foul 
uses  ; "  when  He  saw  religion  itself  degraded  into  petty 
feebleness  and  rotted  with  conceit  and  posturing  hypoc- 
risy ;  when  He  saw  **  intellects  without  power,  hearts  with- 
out life,  men  with  their  bones  full  of  the  sin  of  their 
youth  ;  "  when  instead  of  what  should  be  the  true  noble- 
ness of  Humanity,  with 

"  Its  godlike  head  crowned  with  spiritual  stars 
And  touching  other  worlds," 

He  saw  the  pretence  of  religion  conjoined  with  the  depths 
of  wickedness: — then,  that  which  was  far  more  full  of 
anguish  to  the  perfect  holiness  of  Jesus  than  the  sting 
of  death  itself,  was  trembling  pity  for  the  victims  of  the 
world,  the  flesh,  and  the  devil,  in  their  apparently  hopeless 
overthrow  ;  in  their  awful,  and,  to  all  love  short  of  the 
Divine,  their  apparently  irremediable  degradation. 

It  is  interesting  and  deeply  instructive  to  consider  the 
words  used  by  the  Evangelists  to  indicate  the  emotions  of 
Jesus  as  He  was  brought  face  to  face  with  these  all  but 
universal"  indications  of  human  weakness,  misery,  and  sin — 
of  false  religion  and  of  hopes  vain  or  vile. 

I.  One  of  the  commonest  feelings  attributed  to  Him  is 
Pity*  St.  Paul  tells  his  beloved  Phillippians  how  he 
longed  after  them  all  "  in  the  tender  mercies  of  Jesus 
Christ";  and  we  are  told  again  and  again  in  the  Gospels 
of  the  yearning  compassion  of  Jesus  over  human  beings  in 

'*' l.irTiayxviCo/iai.     The   word   (JTrldyxva,    "tender  compassion,"  in   several 
passages  of    the  Autliorised  Version,    is   with  disastrous  literalness  rendered 
"bowels,"  2  Cor.  vi.  I2,  vii.  15  ;  Phil.  i.  8  ;  Col.  iii.  12  ;  Philem.  7.  I2,  go 
I  John  iii.   17. 


3o8  THE    LIFE    OF   LIVES. 

their  afflictions.  Thus,  when  He  saw  the  multitudes  in  the 
cities  and  villages,  "  He  was  moved  with  compassion  for 
them  because  they  were  harassed  '^  and  scattered,!  as 
sheep  when  they  have  no  shepherd."  And  when  the  great 
multitudes  had  followed  Him  on  foot  out  of  their  cities 
into  a  desert  place.  He  had  compassion  on  them,  and 
healed  their  sick,  and  would  not  let  them  depart  in  hunger, 
but 

"  He  fed  their  souls  with  bread  from  Heaven 
Then  stayed  their  sinking  frame."  I 

Again,  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  lake,  after  healing  the 
lame,  blind,  dumb,  maimed,  and  many  whom  they  cast 
down  at  His  feet.  He  said,  "I  have  compassion  on  the 
multitude,"  and,  once  more,  miraculously  provided  for 
their  needs.§  He  had  compassion  on  Bartimaeus  and  his 
blind  companion  at  Jericho  ;  |1  and  on  the  leper  who  came 
beseeching  Him  as  He  descended  from  the  Mount  of 
Beatitudes,^[  and  on  the  Demoniac  Boy,*"^  and  on  the 
widow  of  Nain.ff  We  cannot  doubt  that  His  heart  was 
thrilled  by  incessant  pity.  We  cannot  fathom  the  depths 
of  His  sympathy.  But  t/iis  sorrow  had  its  own  alleviation, 
for  it  was  the  intensest  joy  to  Him  to  relieve  the  sufferings 
of  men. 

2.  We  are  also  told  of  the  "tconder"  or  "  surprise"  of 
Jesus.  This  was  sometimes  awakened  by  the  happy  dis- 
covery of  faith  in  unexpected  quarters^  as,  for  instance,  in 
the  Gentile  Centurion  at  Capernaum.:}::}:  More  often  His 
wonder  was  mingled  with  deepening  regret  at  the  unbelief 

*  iaKv'k[ihoi.     The  original  meaning  of  the  verb  is  "  to  flay,"  and  then  "  to 
worry." 
f  kpptficvoi,  "  outcast,"  utterly  neglected  (by  their  proper  teachers). 

I  Matt.  xiv.  14,  15  ;  Mark  vi.  34. 
§Matt.  XV.  32  ;  Mark  viii.  2. 

II  Matt.  XX.  34.  1[  Mark  i.  41. 
**  Mark  ix.  22. 

If  Luke  vii.  13.     The  word  is  not  found  in  St.  John's  Gospel. 
.  Matt.  viii.  10;  Luke  vii.  9. 


HIS   GLADNESS   AND   SORROW.      309 

of  those  who  should  have  known  Hinnt,  and  who  prevented 
all  possibility  of  His  doing  many  good  works  among  them 
by  their  lack  of  faith.  This  was  the  case  at  His  own  city, 
Nazareth,  and  here  it  must  have  grieved  him  most.* 

3.  Sometimes  this  surprise  deepened  into  grief  and 
anger.  In  the  synagogue,  when  He  was  about  to  heal  the 
man  with  the  withered  hand,  and  came  into  collision  with 
the  obstinate,  conceited,  sham-infallibility  of  the  small- 
minded  sticklers  for  religious  convention,  "  He  looked 
round  about  on  them  with  anger,  being  at  the  same  time 
grieved  at  the  callosity  of  their  heart."  f  Jesus  also  felt 
most  deeply  the  sting  of  thanldessness  in  those  who  had 
been  the  recipients  of  inestimable  gifts.  He  sometimes 
felt  as  if  all  His  mercies  were  "  falling  into  a  deep,  silent 
grave,"  and  He  might  have  said  : 

"  Blow,  blow,  thou  winter  wind. 
Thou  art  not  so  unkind 
As  man's  ingratitude."  J 

This  the  only  passage  in  which  "  anger  "  {opytj)  is  directly 
attributed  to  Jesus  ;  and  the  only  other  scene  in  which  His 
^^grief  is  spoken  of  is  when  in  the  Garden  of  Gethsemane 
His  soul  was  "  exceeding  sorrowful  even  unto  death."  § 

4.  It  is  interesting  to  observe  that  the  verb  "  He  was 
much  displeased"  or,  more  accurately,  '*  was  indignant " 
{r]yavaKT7]GE),  is  used  of  our  Lord  but  once  (Mark  x.  14). 
It  is  used  of  the  Apostles, ||  and  of  the  Chief  Priests,^  and 
of  the  foolish  ruler  of  the  synagogue  ;**  but  only  once  of 
Christ.  And  what  was  it  that  thus  kindled  the  indignation 
of  the  "  Blessed  One  "  ?  Simply  the  fact  that  the  Apostles 
in  their  lack  of  sympathy  had  gone  so  far  as  to  "  rebuke  " 

*  Mark  vi.  6.  \  Mark  iii.,  5,  avUvirovnEVog  inl  tj/  nupuaei. 

X  See  Luke  xvii.  18. 

§  iTEpDivnoq.  Matt.  xxvi.  38  ;  Mark  xiv.  34.  Comp.  eKBafipEioQai,  Mark 
xiv.  33. 

I  Matt.  XX.  24,  xxvi.  8  ;  Mark  xiv.  4,  ^  Matt.  xxi.  15. 

**  Luke  xiii.  14. 


3IO  THE    LIFE    OF   LIVES. 

the  mothers  who  brought  to  Jesus  the  little  children  whom 
He  so  tenderly  loved.  Nothing  so  deeply  stirs  the  heart 
of  the  Lord  of  love  as  the  lack  of  love  in  those  whom  He 
loves. 

5.  We  find,  however,  a  strong  and  expressive  verb 
{£j.i/3pi/xdo/xai)  used  to  indicate  His  self-restraint  amid  the 
impulses  of  holy  indignation.  *  In  the  Authorised  and 
Revised  Versions  it  is  rendered  "  He  groaned  in  the  spirit  " 
(Vulg,  infreimiit  spiritii),  and  in  the  margin,  "  He  was 
moved  with  indignation  in  the  spirit."  f  This  feeling  was 
caused  by  the  heart-rending  spectacle  of  the  wailing  of  the 
Jews,  and  of  Martha  and  Mary,  for  the  dead  Lazarus.  It 
perhaps  implies  emotion  "  at  the  sight  of  the  momentary 
triumph  of  evil,  as  death,  or  the  devil,  who  had  brought  sin 
into  the  world,  and  death  through  sin,  which  was  here 
shown  under  circumstances  of  the  deepest  pathos." 

6.  It  is  followed  by  the  word,  "  He  was  troubled"  or 
(more  literally)  ^^  He  troubled  Hijnself."  This  is  a  peculiar 
and  striking  expression.  It  is  true  that  in  other  passages 
St.  John  merely  says  that  our  Lord  "  was  troubled  in 
Spirit  ;":|:  but  still  the  phrase  "He  troubled  Himself" 
seems  to  imply  His  entire  control  over  all  the  impulses  of 
His  own  heart.  His  emotions  never  swept  Him  away,  as 
ours  do,  with  a  resistless  force,  but  were  firmly  under  His 

*  On  this  word,  see  Matt.  ix.  30  ;  Mark  i.  43,  xiv.  4,  and  comp.  Lam.  ii. 
6  (LXX.).  It  perhaps  means  that  He  put  constraint  on  His  Spirit  in  John 
xi.  33- 

\  John  xi.  33.  In  Matt.  ix.  31,  it  is  rendered  "  He  strictly"  (or  "  sternly") 
"  charged  them,"  where  it  is  used  of  the  injunction  to  the  blind  men  not  to 
spread  aljroad  the  news  of  their  healing.  So  in  Mark  i.  43  of  the  leper.  In 
Mark  xiv.  4  it  is  used  of  the  "  indignation  "  of  Judas  and  others  against  Mary 
of  Bethany.  In  Classical  Greek  it  is  used  of  the  roaring  of  a  lion,  or  the  snorting 
of  a  steed  (/Esch.  Theb.  461)  ;  and  then  of  vehement  threats  (Ar.  Eq.  855). 
Brittle  or  Brimo  was  a  name  for  Persephone,  "  the  Angered."  See  Trench,  On 
the  Miracles,  p.  432.  Euthymius  explains  the  verb  £yW/3p</idoaf,  by  "astern 
look,  accompanied  by  a  shake  of  the  head."  It  is  used  by  Aquila  and  Sym- 
machus  to  render  Ps.  vii.  11  ;  Is.  xvii.  13. 

\  John  xiii.  21  (comp.  xii.  27.) 


HIS   GLADNESS   AND   SORROW.      311 

own  power.  The  emotion  of  Jesus  shows  that  though  He 
did  not  approve  of  the  Stoic  apathy,  His  feeHngs  were 
always  kept  under  the  holy  bonds  of  self-restraint.*  "  Tur- 
batus  est,"  says  St.  Augustine,  "  q2iia  voliiit'' 

As  regards  the  outward  expressions  of  emotion,  we  are 
told  once,  and  once  only,  that  Jesus  "  sighed  deeply^'  once 
only  that  He  "  wept,''  once  only  that  He  was  well-nigh 
^'  stupefied  with  grief ,"  once  only  that  He  ^^  wailed  aloud." 

7.  He  sighed,  or  perhaps  ^'groaned,"  \  at  the  sight  of  the 
helplessness  of  the  blind  man  whom  He  healed,  for  He 
never  looked  with  indifference  on  the  spectacle  of  human 
infirmity. 

8.  He  shed  ^'silent  tears  "  at  the  grave  of  Lazarus,  ^  not 
only  "  because  He  loved  him  " — as  the  Jews  surmised,  for 
He  knew  that  He  was  about  immediately  to  recall  him 
from  the  grave — but  because  He  then  saw,  on  every  side  of 
Him  in  the  wailing  Jews  and  the  wailing  family,  the  proofs 
of  ruined  earth  and  sinful  man — the  outcome  of  that  first 
transgression  which  lost  for  man  his  primaeval  Paradise,  and 
"  brought  sin  into  the  world  and  all  our  woe." 

9.  The  word  adrjixoveiv,  a  word  which  expresses  the 
crushing  and  stunning  weight  of  overwhehning  sorrow,  is 
only  used  of  the  Agony  in  the  Garden.  It  swayed  His 
human  spirit  with  awful  power.  § 

10.  He  "  ivailed  aloud"  {suXavffsv)  but  once,  and  again 
it  was  from  the  sense  of  profoundest  pity.  It  was  when, 
from  the  rocky  plateau  at  the  turn  of  the  road  from 
Bethany  to  Jerusalem,  the  glorious  guilty  city  burst  sud- 
denly upon  His  view,  rising  out  of  the  deep  umbrageous 
valley  with  its  "imperial  mantle  of  proud  towers."     There 

*  The  fJETpioTzddEia  of  the  Peripatetic  philosophers. 

•j-  EdTeva^Ev,  Mark  vii.  34.  Here  only  in  the  Gospels  (but  see  Rom.  viii.  23  ; 
2  Cor.  V.  2,  4,),  and  dvacTEvd^ac  Tu  nvev/iaTi,  Mark  viii.  12. 

:{:  kSaKpvaev,  John  xi.  35. 

§  In  Aquila  this  verb  is  used  in  Job  xviii.  20  ;  Ps.  cxvi.  11.  Jesus  is  only 
recorded  to  have  used  the  word  "soul"  of  Himself  in  Matt,  xxvi,  38  ;  John 
xii.  27. 


312  THE    LIFE   OF   LIVES. 

stood  the  Temple  with  its  pinnacles  and  gilded  roofs,  re- 
flecting the  morning  light  with  such  fiery  splendour  as  to 
force  the  spectator  to  avert  his  gaze.  And  well  might  He 
wail  aloud !  Was  not  the  city  of  Jerusalem  the  most 
"  religious "  city  in  the  the  world  ?  Was  it  not  wholly 
devoted  to  religion,  or,  at  any  rate,  to  religionism  ?  Could 
not  its  Temple  Service  number  its  white-robed  array  of 
40,000  priests,  and  its  endless  army  of  attendant  Levites? 
Did  not  the  blast  of  silver  trumpets  announce  daily  its 
morning  and  evening  sacrifices  ?  Did  not  the  High  Priest 
enter  its  Holy  of  Holies  every  year  with  the  golden  censer 
and  the  blood  of  Atonement  in  his  hands?  Were  not  some 
2,000,000  pilgrims,  from  every  region  of  the  world,  with 
Gentile  proselytes  among  them,  streaming  on  that  very  day 
to  its  Paschal  Feast?  Ah,  yes  !  there  was  sumptuous  ritual 
enough,  and  more  than  enough,  but  no  righteousness; 
abundant  externalism,  but  no  religion  pure  and  undefiled; 
and  to  His  eyes  the  city  was  but  as  a  glistering  sepulchre, 
a  hollow  sham.  He  knew  that  the  Priests  and  Levites,  and 
Scribes  and  Pharisees,  were,  at  that  very  moment,  on  the 
verge  of  the  deadliest  sin  in  all  the  world,  and  that  that  sin 
would  involve  the  ultimate  doom  of  them  and  of  their 
whole  nation,  amid  the  death-throes  of  an  agony  more 
overwhelming  than  any  which  History  has  ever  known. 
All  this  He  knew — and  for  the  only  time  in  all  His  life 
He  wailed  aloud.     For  : 

"  There  is  an  hour,  and  Justice  marks  the  date 
For  long-enduring  Clemency  to  wait  : 
That  hour  elapsed,  the  incurable  revolt 
Is  punished — and  down  comes  the  thunder  bolt !  " 

The  scene  which  burst  upon  His  view,  and  caused  Him  to 
stop  the  progress  of  the  humble,  joyful  procession  of  those 
who  loved  Him,  and  believed  in  Him,  and  were  so  full  of 
hope,  was  the  most  visible  proof  that  He  had  "  come  unto 
His  own  possessions,  and  His  own  people  received  Him 


HIS   GLADNESS   AND   SORROW.      313 

not."*  In  the  concentrated  agony  and  bitterness  of  that 
conviction — the  conviction  that,  in  spite  of  His  unbounded 
tenderness  and  infinite  self-sacrifice,  their  House  would  so 
soon  be  left  unto  them  desolate — He  wailed  aloud.f  He 
would  fain  have  gathered  their  children  together  as  a  hen 
gathereth  her  chickens  under  her  wings ;  but  now  they 
should  be  covered  indeed,  but  by  "  the  desolating  wing  of 
abomination."! 

He  "  wailed  aloud  "  out  of  deep  pity ;  but,  afterwards, 
all  the  unspeakable  agonies  of  His  coming  doom,  and  all 
the  forms  of  exquisite  torture  and  brutal  insult,  could  not 
wring  from  Him  one  single  groan.  Personal  anguish  and 
affliction  could  not  affect  even  His  humanity  half  so  deeply 
as  the  sight  of  human  degradation  and  the  fore-knowledge 
of  all  the  miseries  which  sin  involves,  and  of  all  the  deadly 
catastrophes  which  it  precipitates  so  unceasingly  on  the 
heads  of  its  miserable  and  deluded  votaries. 

Forty  years  afterwards  Jerusalem  perished  amid  unspeak- 
able horrors  of  slaughter  and  conflagation ;  and  Josephus 
says  that  so  awful  were  the  calamities  that  fell  on  the  guilty 
nation  that  "their  misery  was  an  object  of  commiseration 
not  to  Jews  only,  but  even  to  those  that  hated  them,  and 
had  been  the  authors  of  that  misery."  § 

*  John  i.  II,  TO,  Idia  .  .   .  6i  Idioi. 

\  There   is  a   remarkable  parallel  to  our  Lord's  description  of  His  tender 
yearning  for  Jerusalem  in  2  Esdras  i.  30-33. 
X  1  Dan.  ix.  27. 
§  2  Jos.  B./.  iii.  10,  8. 


CHAPTER   XXIX. 

THE   APOSTLES. 

"  I  know  Mine  own,  and  Mine  own  know  Me." — John  x.  14. 

Among  the  many  decisive  proofs  of  the  Divine  Suprenm- 
acy  and  Eternal  Mission  of  our  Lord,  one  is  the  colossal 
work  effected  in  the  world  by  the  twelve  humble  Galilean 
peasants  who  were  the  chosen  few.  In  themselves  they 
were  nothing,  and  less  than  nothing.  The  lordly  Priests 
and  supercilious  Pharisees  of  the  Sanhedrin  contemptuously 
set  aside  their  greatest  leaders — Peter  and  John — as  igno- 
rant nobodies  and  common  peasants,*  only  fit  to  be  thrust 
into  ward,  and  threatened,  and  on  due  opportunity  got  rid 
of.  They  were  wholly  outside  the  sphere  of  Roman  notice. 
Over  and  over  again  their  lack  of  apprehension,  their  un- 
imaginative literalism, f  their  slowness  of  heart  to  believe, 
their  struggles  for  precedence,  their  disputes  as  to  which 
was  the  greatest, :j:  together  with  the  dulness  of  their  under- 
standing and  the  selfishness  of  their  individual  claims, 
wrung  from  the  very  depths  of  His  heart — wrung  from 
Him,  in  spite  of  His  compassion  and  love  for  them,  such 
sad  complaints  as,  "  Why  reason  ye  because  ye  have  no 
bread  ?  Perceive  ye  not  yet,  neither  understand  ?  Have  ye 
your  hearts  yet  hardened?  Having  eyes  see  ye  not,  and 
having  ears  hear  ye  not?  Do  ye  not  remember  ?  How  is 
it  that  ye  do  not  understand  ?  " 

*  Acts  iv.  13.     The  first  five  Apostles  were  of  Bethsaida. 

•)■  Our  Lord's  remarks,  "I  have  food  to  cat  that  ye  know  not  of,"  "Our 
friend  Lazarus  sleepeth,"  "  Beware  of  the  leaven  of  the  Pharisees,"  only  called 
forth  such  wooden  rejoinders  as  "  Hath  any  man  brought  Him  aught  to  eat  ?  " 
"  Lord,  if  he  sleep  he  shall  do  well  "  ;  "  It  is  because  we  have  no  bread." 

|:Matt.  xviii.  1-35  ;  Mark  ix.  33-50  ;  Luke  ix.  46-50. 

314 


THE    APOSTLES.  315 

On  one  occasion  He  exclaimed  to  them,  "  O  faithless 
generation,  how  long  shall  I  be  with  you  ?  how  long  shall  I 
suffer  you  ? "  *  He  addressed  them  as  "  O  ye  of  little 
faith."  He  had  to  shame  their  worldly-mindedness  by  the 
rebuke,  "Verily,  I  say  unto  you,  except  ye  become  as  the 
little  children,  ye  shall  not  enter  into  the  Kingdom  of 
Heaven."  f  They  did  not  grasp  His  abolition  of  the  dis- 
tinction between  clean  and  unclean  meats.  They  could  not 
comprehend  His  teaching  about  His  death  and  earthly 
humiliation,  and  were  too  much  awestruck  to  ask  Him.;}: 
To  their  leader  He  had  to  say,  "  Get  thee  behind  me,  Satan  ; 
thou  art  a  stumbling-block  unto  me,  for  thou  mindest  not  the 
things  of  God,  but  the  things  of  men  ;  "  §  and  again,  "  Simon, 
Simon,  Satan  obtained  you  by  asking,  that  he  may  sift  you 
as  wheat."  ||  James  and  John  pained  Him  by  their  request 
for  pre-eminent  thrones, ^[  and  by  the  vindictive  fierceness 
of  their  Elijah-spirit  in  desiring  to  call  down  fire  on  the 
the  offending  Samaritan  village.**  Even  "  the  disciple 
whom  He  loved  "  incurred  rebuke  by  forbidding  the  exor- 
ciser  who  used  His  name,  but  "  followed  not  them,"  to  cast 
out  demons.  There  was  something  full  of  charm  about  the 
characters  of  Philip  and  Thomas,  yet  to  one  he  had  to  say, 
"  Have  I  been  so  long  time  with  you,  and  dost  thou  not 
know  me,  Philip  ?  "  f f  and  to  Thomas,  "  Be  not  faithless,  but 
believing,"  :j;:j:  At  the  very  last,  in  the  hour  of  His  over- 
whelming peril.  His  nearest  and  dearest  could  not  even 
watch  with  Him  for  one  hour,  and  at  the  terrible  moment 
of  His  arrest  "  all  the  disciples  forsook  Him  and  fled." 
And  though  He  had  so  often  indicated  to  them  His  Resur- 
rection from  the  dead,  they  treated  the  earliest  reports  of 
those  who  had  seen  Him  as  mere  Xrjpo? — mere  idle  talk. 

*  Mark  ix.  19.     On  these  rebukes  to  the  Apostles,  see  Mark  iv.  13,  40,  vi. 
52,  viii.  17,  18,  26,  33,  ix.  6-19,  32,  34,  X.  24,  32,  35,  xiv.  40. 
•j-  Matt,  xviii.  2. 

X  Mark  ix.  32,  §  Matt.  xvi.  23.     .  |  Luke  xxii.  31. 

T[  Matt.  XX.  22.  **Luke  ix.  55,  56. 

j(\  John  xiv.  9.  ij::}:  John  xx.  27. 


3i6  THE    LIFE    OF   LIVES. 

It  is  no  small  testimony  to  the  simple  truthfulness  of  the 
Gospels  that  the  Apostles  and  Evangelists  thus  humbly 
recorded  their  own  low  rank,  imperfect  education,  and 
utter  inadequacy,  and  handed  down  the  memory  of  the 
rebukes  which  they  drew  upon  themselves  by  their  blank 
dulness,  petty  quarrels,  and  unworthy  self-seeking.*  Yet 
because  they  loved  Him,  and  believed  in  Him,  and  had 
remained  with  Him  in  His  trials,  and  wandered  with  Him 
over  the  fields  of  Galilee,  and  in  His  flight  to  heathen  lands, 
in  poverty  and  hunger,  and  amid  the  manifold  taunt«s,  bru- 
talities, and  scorn  of  men  ;  because  they  did  not  leave  Him 
when  men  took  up  stones  to  stone  Him  in  the  Temple 
courts  ;  because  they  shared  with  Him  the  burning  noon- 
tides and  the  homeless  nights,  He  made  them  blessed 
above  kings  and  wise  men,  and  sent  them  forth  to  ennoble 
and  regenerate  the  whole  wide  world.  He  spent  much  of 
the  time  of  His  ministry  in  training  them  for  their  high 
task.  He  made  them  His  Apostles — Sheloochim.\  He 
"  sent  them  forth  "  to  be  His  authorised  delegates  among 
mankind.  His  fishers  of  men.  He  called  them  His  "  chil- 
dren,":}:"  His  "little  flock,"  His  "friends"  and  "chosen 
companions,"  "  the  salt  of  the  earth,"  "  sons  of  light,"  "  a 
city  set  upon  a  hill."  §     Men  might  despise  them  and  call 

*  Matt.  iv.  l8,  viii.  14,  26,  xiii.  52,  xiv.  27,  31,  xv.  16,  xvi.  9,  xviii.  i,  xx. 
20,  26,  xxvi.  40  ;  Mark  xiv.  51. 

f  The  word  "  Apostle  "  is  used  thirty-six  times  by  St.  Luke,  twenty-one 
times  by  St.  Paul.  Elsewhere  only  in  Mark  vi.  30  ;  Matt.  x.  2.  In  the  LXX. 
the  word  only  occurs  in  i  Kings  xiv.  6,  where  Abijah  speaks  of  himself  as  com- 
missioned to  deliver  a  stern  message  to  the  wife  of  Jeroboam.  The  Jews  gave 
the  name  to  the  collectors  of  the  Temple  tribute.  Christ  Himself  is  called 
"  the  Apostle  and  High  Priest  of  our  confession  "'  (Heb.  iii.  i),  as  having  been 
commissioned  and  sent  forth  by  the  Father.  But  the  name  is  not  confined  to 
the  Twelve.  It  is  given  to  James,  the  Lord's  brother,  and  Matthias,  and 
Paul,  and  Barnabas  ;  and  in  Rom.  xvi.  7,  Andronicus  and  Junia  are  said  to 
be  "  of  note  among  the  Apostles."  It  also  means  "  Messenger  "  in  Phil, 
ii.  25. 

X  John  xiii.  33. 

§Luke  xii.  4,  32  ;  John  xv.  14,  15  ;  Matt.  v.  13,  14  ;  John  xii.  36. 


THE   APOSTLES.  317 

them  "  Beelzebul,"*  "  as  they  had  called  their  Master,  but 
their  infinite  reward  was  that  they  became  the  soldiers,  the 
servants,  the  beloved  emissaries  of  the  Lord  of  Glory.  At 
His  touch,  like  the  gems  on  the  oracular  Urim,  the  character 
of  each  of  them  gleamed  into  the  most  heavenly  lustre,  and 
in  a  reality  more  lofty  than  the  metaphor  they  sat  on  thrones, 
judging  the  tribes  of  Israel.f  He  gave  them  the  fullest 
instruction  on  their  commission,  their  trials,  their  consola- 
tion and  their  reward,  and  they  were  privileged  more  than 
any  men  to  enter  into  the  inmost  heart  and  mind  of  the 
Son  of  Man. 

The  lists  of  the  Apostles,  as  given  by  the  Evangelists,  fall 
into  three  well-marked  tetrads,  ranged  in  the  order  of  their 
nearness  to  Christ,  and  the  special  closeness  of  intimacy 
into  which  He  admitted  them.:{; 

I.  The  first  tetrad  consisted  of  the  two  pairs  of  brothers 
— Simon  and  Andrew,  Jarries  and  John.  They  were  the 
BsoXoyiKcoTaroi,  the  skXsktc^v  eKXsKrorspoi,  the  ecclesiola 
in  ecclesia,  the  inmost  circle  of  Christ's  friends.  Andrew 
seems  to  have  been  the  link  of  communication  between  Him 
and  the  others. §  As  the  first  of  all  the  disciples  to  accept 
Jesus,!  he  deserved  the  high  honour  of  being  among  the 
most  chosen,  a  position  for  which  this  fisherman  of  Beth- 
saida  was  well  fitted  by  his  humble,  blameless,  contempla- 
tive character.  The  other  three  of  the  first  tetrad — Peter, 
James,  and  John,  are  sometimes  called  "the  Pillar  Apos- 

*  The  name  "  Beelzebul"  (which  is  a  better  attested  reading  than  "  Beelze- 
bub ")  is  possibly  a  nickname  of  the  demon-god  of  Ekron  by  the  alteration  of  a 
letter.  But  some  of  the  theories  about  it  seem  to  be  dubious.  See  Dr. 
Cheyne,  in  Encycl.  Bib.  s.  v.  "  Baalzebub  "  (2  Kings  i.  2)  means  "  Lord  of 
flies."     See  p.  298. 

f  Matt.  xix.  28  ;  Luke  xxii.  30. 

X  Matt.  X.  2-4  ;  Luke  vi.  14-16  ;  Mark  iii.  16-19,  vi.  7  ;  Acts  i.  13.  The 
number  Twelve  is  symbolical  of  completion.  It  is  the  number  of  the  Tribes  of 
Israel.     Ex.  xxviii.  2  ;  Rev.  xxi.  14. 

§  On  two  occasions  Philip  and  Andrew  are  brought  together.  John  i.  44, 
vi.  8,  xii.  22. 

H  John  i.  40. 


3i8  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

ties."*  They  were  the  only  ones  admitted  to  be  with 
Christ  at  the  raising  of  Jairus'  daughter,  at  the  Transfigura- 
tion, and  at  Gethsemane.f  James  and  John  were  the  sons 
of  Zebedce,  and  of  Salome,  who,  it  is  nearly  certain,  was  a 
sister  of  the  Virgin  Mary.  »,. 

2.  The  second  tetrad  consisted  of  Philip,  Bartholomew, 
Thomas,  and  Matthew.  Philip  may  have  been  closely  con- 
nected with  Bartholomew  ;  and  Thomas,  whose  surname 
was  "  Didymus,"  or  "the  Twin,"  may  possibly  have  been  a 
brother  of  Matthew.;}: 

3.  The  third  tetrad  consisted  of  two  fathers  and  two 
sons — James,  the  son  of  Alpha^us,  and  his  son  Jude  (also 
called  Thaddaeus  and  Lebbaeus) ;  §  Simon  the  Zealot,  and 
his  son  Judas  Iscariot.  If  Alphaeus,  or  Clopas  ||  (Chalpai), 
was,  as  tradition  says,  a  brother  of  Joseph,  the  carpenter  of 
Nazareth,  then  Jagigs  was  our  Lord's  first  cousin,  and  Jude 
His  first  cousin  once  removed.  It  is  therefore  possible,  and 
not  improbable,  that  in  this  band  of  twelve  there  were  four 
sets  of  brothers — Simon  and  Andrew ;  James  and  John  ; 
Philip  and  Bartholomew  ;  Matthew,  Thomas,  and  James, 
sons  of  Alphseus  ;  and  that  there  were  two  sets  of  Apostles 
who  stood  to  each  other  in  the  relation  of  father  and  son — 
namely,  James,  son  of  Alphaeus,  and  Jude  ;  Simon  the 
Zealot  and  Judas  Iscariot.  It  is  also  a  deeply  interesting 
and  far  from  improbable  view,  that  no  less  than  six  of  the 
Apostles — James,  John,  Thomas,  Matthew,  James  the  Less, 
and  Jude  Thaddaeus — were  cousins  of  our  Lord.^ 

*  From  St.  Paul's  expression  in  Gal.  ii.  9. 

\  Mark  v.  37  ;  Luke  viii.  51  ;   Matt.  xvii.  i,  xxvi.  37. 

X  John  xi.  16  ;    xxi.  2. 

§  Jude  "  of  James  "  is  sometimes  called  "  the  brother  of  James,"  but  though 
the  ellipse  of  the  word  "brother"  is  not  unprecedented,  it  is  much  more 
probable  that  "  the  son  of  James  "  is  intended. 

II  John  xix.  25. 

T[  Some  have  supposed  that  Simon  Iscariot  was  also  a  son  of  Clopas.  If  so 
ei^/ii  of  the  Apostles  were  cousins  of  Christ.  These  conclusions  are,  however, 
very  uncertain. 


THE   APOSTLES.  319 

They  were  all  Galileans  with  the  possible  exceptions  of 
Simon  the  Zealot  and  Judas  Iscariot,  who  were,  perhaps, 
Jews  from  the  little  town  of  Kerioth  * — Kuryetein — ten 
miles  south  of  Hebron,  f 

Of  some  of  these  Apostles  we  know  next  to  nothing  in- 
dividually. No  incident  is  recorded  of  Simon  the  Zealot,;}: 
or  of  James  the  son  of  Alphaeus,  called  by  St.  Mark  (xv.  40) 
"  the  Little,"  or  "  Short  of  Stature."  Nothing  is  told  us 
about  Jude  the  son  of  James,  except  his  one  perplexed 
question  at  the  Last  Supper.  §  In  spite  of  the  nearness  of 
Andrew  to  Jesus,  little  that  is  distinctive  is  told  us  about 
him,  though  he  was  the  earliest  disciple, |  and  one  of  the 
four  who  specially  spoke  to  Jesus  on  Mount  Olivet.^  Philip 
became  one  of  the  earliest  disciples  by  the  special  call  of 
Jesus,  ■**  but  after  his  call  (John  i.  44)  he  is  only  mentioned 
by  St.  John  in  two  little  incidents — one  being  the  interest- 
ing occasion  when  the  Greeks  came  to  him  desiring  to  see 
Jesus ;  ft  and  another,  the  remark,  "  Lord  show  us  the 
Father,  and  it  sufificeth  us."  :{::|:  Matthew,  or  Levi,  is  only 
spoken  of  in  connection  with  his  oiifice  and  his  call,  §§  but 

*Josh.  XV.  25. 

f  Simon  is  called  "  Iscariot,"  by  theMSS.  XB,  C,  G,  L,  in  John  vi.  71,  xiii.26. 
The  MS.  D  often  reads,  for  "  Iscariot,'"  and  KapiuJTov.  It  is  not  impossible 
that  Simon  may  have  been  a  Galilean,  who,  for  political  reasons,  fled  south- 
wards to  the  i^emote  and  obscure  Kerioth. 

I  6  Kavava'iog  does  not  mean  "  the  Canaanite,"  or  "  the  man  of  Cana,"  but 
"the  Zealot,"  from  "  Kaenna,"  "  to  be  hot,"  Kineatic  zeal  (Ex.  xx.  5).  The 
name  was  taken  from  the  dying  words  of  Matthias,  father  of  Judas  Maccabasus, 
"  Be  ye  zealous  for  the  Law  "  (i  Mace.  ii.  27,  2  iv.  2). 

§  John  xiv.  22.  He  is  "  the  three-named  disciple.''  The  name  Lebbseus 
is  derived  from  leb,  "  heart";  and  the  name  Thaddjeus  from  thad,  "bosom." 
It  is  another  form  of  Theudas.  James  and  Jude  were  among  the  commonest 
Jewish  names. 

II  John  i.  40.  '^  Mark  xiii.  3. 

**  John  i.  43.  There  does  not  seem  to  be  any  traceable  significance  in  the 
fact  that  Andrew  and  Philip  have  Greek  names  ;  the  Jews  not  unfrequently 
adopted  Hellenistic  names. 

ff  John  xii.  20-22. 

XX  John  xiv.  8.  §§  Mark  ii.  14. 


320  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

it  is  an  intensely  significant  fact  that  Christ  should  have 
chosen  for  His  immediate  follower  on  the  one  hand  a  man 
who  had  belonged  to  the  fierce  uncompromising  national 
party  of  the  Zealots,  and  on  the  other  a  man  who  had  not 
only  accepted  the  Roman  domination,  but  held  the  despised 
and  detested  office  of  a  Mokes,  or  toll-gatherer.  The  char- 
acter of  Thomas,  at  once  faithful  and  despondent,  is 
depicted  for  us  in  a  few  delicate  touches  by  St.  John,* 
but  we  see  that  even  when  he  took  the  darkest  view  of  the 
future  he  was  still  ready  to  die  with  Christ. 

In  the  case  of  Bartholomew,  who  was  undoubtedly  the 
same  as  Nathanael,  we  are  only  told  that  he  was  of  Cana  in 
Galilee  ;f  and  that  our  Lord,  when  He  gained  him  as  a 
disciple  by  reading  the  inmost  thoughts  of  his  heart,  de- 
scribed him  as  "  an  Israelite  indeed,  in  whom  is  no  guile." 
He  was  one  of  the  happy  band  of  seven  to  whom  the  Risen 
Lord  appeared  on  the  shores  of  the  Sea  of  Galilee,:}:  "  when 
the  morning  was  come." 

Thus  little  do  we  know  of  the  great  majority  of  those 
whom  Christ  bade  to  "  be  wise  as  serpents  yet  simple  as 
doves";  to  whom  He  promised  the  Spirit  of  His  Father; 
and  whom  He  bade  to  go  forth  and  face  the  very  worst  that 
the  world  could  do  to  them,  certain  that  through  Him  they 
could  do  all  things,  and  should  receive  at  last  their  unimag- 
inable reward. § 

But  is  it  not  an  immensely  powerful  ratification  of  all 
that  we  believe  of  Jesus  as  the  Son  of  God,  that,  with  in- 
struments so  feeble — by  the  agency  of  men  humble,  poor, 
unknown,  insignificant  in  the  judgment  of  the  world — He 
should  have  subdued  kingdoms,  wrought  righteousness,  and 
altered  the  entire  conditions  and  destinies  of  the  race  of 

*  John  xi.  i6,  xiv.  5,  xx.  24-29,  xxi.  2. 

f  John  xxi.  2.     Nathaniel,  like  "  Theodore  "  and  "Adeodatus,"  means  "  the 
gift  of  God."     Bartholomew  means  "  son  of  Tolmai.'" 
\  John  xxi.  2. 
§  Matt.  V,  12,  x.  16,  22,  42. 


THE    APOSTLES.  321 

man  ?  Truly  "  God  chose  the  foolish  things  of  the  world 
that  He  might  put  to  shame  the  wise  ;  and  God  chose  the 
weak  things  of  the  world  to  confound  the  strong  ;  and  the 
base  and  despised  things  of  the  world,  and  the  things  that 
are  not,  to  bring  to  naught  the  things  that  are."  * 
The  poet  makes  Cassius  say  of  the  great  Caesar : 

"  Ye  gods  !  it  doth  amaze  me 
That  man  of  such  a  feeble  temper  should 
So  get  the  start  of  the  majestic  world, 
And  bear  the  palm  alone." 

But  what  works  did  the  mighty  Caesar  accomplish  which 
are  distantly  comparable  in  eternal  significance  to  the  reno- 
vation of  mankind,  the  overthrow  of  the  entire  conditions 
of  the  ancient  world,  and  of  the  ancient  religions,  by  the 
agency  of  this  handful  of  Galilean  peasants?  Is  there 
any  thing  parallel  to  this  in  the  entire  history  of  the 
world  ? 

"Such  is  His  will — He  takes  and  He  refuses, 
Chooseth  Him  ministers  whom  men  deny  ; 
Great  ones  nor  mighty  for  His  work  He  chooses — 
No  !    Such  as  Paul,  or  Gideon,  or  I." 

Whence  did  they  derive  this  unequalled  force,  this 
amazing  influence  ?  Not  from  themselves,  but  solely  from 
the  training  of  their  Lord  ;  from  the  enthusiasm  and  the 
conviction  which  He  had  inspired ;  from  the  memory  of 
His  sinlessness  ;  from  His  words  of  eternal  life ;  above  all, 
from  the  outpouring  of  His  Spirit  upon  them  at  Pentecost. 
After  that  day,  indeed,  we  lose  sight  of  most  of  them,  and 
the  stories  of  their  travels  and  their  martyrdoms  are  only 
recorded  by  unauthenticated  legend.  Nevertheless,  they 
sowed  the  little  seed  which  sprang  into  the  living  and 
mighty  tree  of  Christianity ;  and  : 

*  I  Cor.  j.  27.  28. 


322  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

"  The  seed, 
The  tiny  seed  men  laughed  at  in  the  dark, 
Has  risen,  and  cleft  the  soil,  and  grown  a  bulk 
Of  spanless  girth,  that  lays  on  every  side 
A  thousand  arms,  and  rushes  to  the  sun. 
There  dwelt  an  iron  nature  in  the  grain; 
The  glittering  axe  was  broken  in  men's  arms, 
Their  arms  were  shattered  to  the  shoulder-blade. 
Its  enemies  have  fall'n,  but  this  shall  grow, 
A  Night  of  Summer  from  the  heat,  a  breath 
Of  Autumn,  dropping  fruits  of  power — and  rolled 
With  Music  on  the  growing  breeze  of  Time 
The  tops  shall  strike  from  star  to  star,  the  fangs 
Shall  move  the  stony  bases  of  the  world." 

Apart  from  Christ  they  were  feeble  and  insignificant. 
All  their  strength,  all  their  wisdom,  all  their  influence  came 
from  Him,  and  Him  alone. 


CHAPTER  XXX. 

ST.    PETER,    ST.   JOHN,   AND   JUDAS. 
"  Let  both  grow  together  until  the  harvest." — Matt.  xiii.  30. 

Perhaps  it  may  be  said  that  though  the  rest  of  the 
Apostles  remain  but  little  known,  two  of  them  at  least  were 
men  of  unique  endowments — Peter  and  John.  I  do  not  add 
the  name  of  James,  because  this  other  "  Son  of  Thunder," 
though  he  shared  the  early  fiery  impetuosity  of  his  brother, 
is  never  mentioned  in  any  incident  apart  from  him.  He 
was  indeed  the  first  Apostolic  Martyr,  as  John  was  the  last 
survivor  of  the  band,*  and  the  fact  that  he  was  chosen  to  be 
the  head  of  the  Infant  Church  in  Jerusalem  is  one  illustra- 
tion of  his  "  light  and  leading,"  just  as  the  traditions  of  his 
martyrdom  illustrate  the  sweet  and  tender  elements  in  his 
character.!  Yet  we  cannot  trace  any  results  of  the  influ- 
ence which  he  exercised  which  are  at  all  comparable  to 
those  achieved  by  St.  Peter  and  St.  John. 

The  character  of  Peter — Symeon,  or  Simon,  the  son  of 
John  or  Jonas  :{: — stands  out  before  us  with  strange  distinct- 
ness alike  in  its  strength  and  in  its  weakness,  in  its  elements 
of  heroic  fidelity  and  of  deplorable  fear,  of  entire  self- 
sacrifice  and  of  self-seeking  vulgarism.  The  quick  suscepti- 
bility and  impetuous  eagerness  of  this  warm  Galilean  heart 
are  again  and  again  illustrated.     The  Fathers  spoke  of  him 

*  Acts  xii.  2  ;  John  xxi.  22. 

f  He  was  martyred  A.  D.  44  by  Herod  Agrippa  I.  The  legends  about  his 
conversion  of  his  accuser  are  found  in  Euseb.  H.  E.  ii.  q  (quoted  from  the 
Hypotyposes  of  Clem.  Alex.  Bk.  vii.). 

X  Symeon  (Acts  xv.  14),  or  "  Simon,"  means  "  hearer."  John  is  a  shortened 
form  of  Johanan,  "the  mercy  of  God"  (John  i.  42,  xxi.  16),  and  is  another 
form  of  Jona. 

323 


324  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

as  "  the  symbol  of  practical  life,"  whereas  St.  John  was 
"  the  symbol  of  theoria,'*  the  contemplative  life.  St. 
Chrysostom  calls  him  "  the  ever-impassioned,  the  coryphaeus 
of  the  choir  of  the  Apostles."  *  He  it  was  who,  when  so 
many  were  deserting  Christ,  said,  "Lord,  to  whom  shall  we 
go?  Thou  hast  the  words  of  eternal  life."  He  it  was  who 
justified  the  name  of  Kepha  which  Christ  gave  him,  by 
earning  chief  prominence  among  the  Apostles,  often  speak- 
ing in  their  name,  answering  when  all  were  addressed, f  and 
taking  a  marked  lead  among  them  after  the  Ascension.;}; 
He  it  was  who  formulated  the  great  confession,  "Thou  art 
the  Christ,  the  Son  of  the  Living  God."  §  Yet  immediately 
afterwards  he  incurred  sternest  rebuke  as  "  a  Satan,"  and  a 
stumbling-block.  He  accepts  the  early  call  of  Christ,  but 
at  the  second  call  cries,  "Depart  from  me,  for  I  am  a  sinful 
man,  O  Lord."  He  wishes  to  walk  to  meet  his  Master  over 
the  stormy  waters,  yet  immediately  he  began  to  do  so  his 
faith  fails,  and  he  cries  out,  "  Lord,  save  me:  I  perish!" 
He  refuses  Christ's  act  of  infinite  tenderness  in  kneeling  to 
wash  his  feet,  yet  immediately  afterwards  cries,  "  Lord,  not 
my  feet  only,  but  also  my  hands  and  my  head."  He  strikes 
the  first  and  only  blow  for  his  Master  at  Gethsemane,  yet 
the  very  same  night,  at  the  questioning  of  a  servant-maid, 
denies  Him  with  oaths  and  curses.  He  does  not  recognise 
Christ  on  the  shore  after  the  Resurrection  so  soon  as  John, 
but  the  moment  he  does  so  he  girds  his  fisher's  coat  about 
him,  and  plunges  into  the  sea  to  swim  to  Him.  He  is  the 
first,  with  consummate  boldness,  to  baptise,  and  eat  and 
drink  with,  a  Gentile  convert,  yet  long  afterwards,  at 
Antioch,  afraid  of  "  certain  who  came  from  James,"  with 
timid    lack  of  candour,   he   belies  his    former   courage   in 

*Chrys.  Horn.  liv. 

fMatt.  xvi.  16,  xix.  27;  Mark  viii.  2g  ;  Luke  xii.  41,  xxii.  31.  Comp. 
Matt.  xvii.  24,  25,  xxvi.  35,  37. 

J  Acts  i.  15,  ii.  14,  iv.  8,  v.  29. 

§  His  brother  Andrew  had  from  the  first  spoken  to  him  of  Jesus  as  the 
Messiah,  or  Anointed  of  God  (John  i.  41,  49,  vi.  69). 


PETER,  JOHN,  AND   JUDAS.         325 

mixing  freely  with  the  Gentiles,  and  carries  Barnabas  away 
with  him  in  his  dissimulation.  This  surely  is  sufficient  to 
show  that  if  he,  individually,  was  "  the  Rock  "  on  which 
Christ  built  His  Church,  the  rock  was  one  which  was  often 
as  shifting  sand  ;  and  that  the  expression  on  which  so  huge 
a  superstructure  of  fraud,  tyranny,  and  superstition  has 
been  built,  referred  only  to  the  fact  that,  in  reward  for  his 
quick  insight  and  bold  confession,  he  was  regarded  as  being 
in  some  ways  a  leader — though  by  no  means  an  exclusive 
or  finally  authoritative  leader — among  the  Apostles,*  and 
that  to  him  was  granted  the  glorious  prerogative  of  prepar- 
ing for  the  evangelisation  of  the  whole  world  by  being  the 
first  to  admit  the  Gentiles  into  the  fold  of  Christ's  Church. 
But  it  was  only  in  this  secondary  and  metaphorical  sense 
that  Christ  built  His  Church  on  Peter  as  a  rock  ;f  for  else- 
where we  are  told  that  the  Church  is  built  on  the  founda- 
tion, not  of  one  erring  man,  but  of  all  the  Apostles  and 
Prophets,  and  still  more  on  Christ  Himself,  who  is  at  once 
the  Foundation  and  the  Chief  Corner-stone.;}:  We  may  well 
ask  with  David,  and  with  Isaiah,  "  Who  is  a  rock,  save  our 
God?"  and  say  with  St.  Paul,  "Other  foundation  can  no 
man  lay  than  that  which  is  laid,  which  is  Christ  Jesus."  § 

*  As  is  clear  from  John  xxi.  19-23  ;  Luke  xxii,  24-26  ;  Gal.  ii.  9,  etc.  The 
building  of  the  claims  of  the  Church  of  Rome  on  this  phrase  is,  says  Dean 
Plumptre,  "  but  the  idlest  of  fantastic  dreams,  fit  only  to  find  its  place  in  that 
Limbo  of  Vanities  which  contains,  among  other  abortive  or  morbid  growths, 
the  monstrosities  of  interpretation." 

f  This  passage  is  the  only  one  in  the  Gospels  in  which  Christ  uses  the  word 
"  Church  "  (Heb.  Kahal),  for  in  Matt,  xviii.  17,  the  word  only  means  the  local 
congregation.  (Comp.  Acts  xix.  32,  41.)  Everywhere  else  He  speaks  not  of 
His  "  Church  "  but  of  His  "  Kingdom." 

X  I  Cor.  iii.  11. 

§2  Sam.  xxii.  32  ;  Is.  xxviii.  16,  xliv.  8  ;  I  Cor.  iii.  II,  x.  4.  In  the  Old 
Testament  the  metaphor  of  a  Rock  is  applied  always  to  God,  not  to  a  man 
(Deut.  xxxii.  4,  18;  Ps.  xviii.  2,  31,  46;  Is.  xvii.  10;  etc.).  In  Is.  li.  i 
Abraham  is  called  "  the  rock  "  {Tstir)  whence  Israel  was  hewn.  St.  Paul  cer- 
tainly recognised  no  supremacy  of  Peter,  for  he  calls  himself  "  not  a  whit 
behind  the  very  chiefest  Apostles"  (2  Cor.  xi.  5,  xii.  Il),  and  he  openly 
rebuked  Peter  for  timid  unfaithfulness  (Gal.  ii.  11). 


326  THE    LIFE   OF    LIVES. 

Nor,  in  any  case,  has  the  privilege  granted  to  St.  Peter  the 
most  distantly  remote  bearing  on  the  colossal  usurpations 
of  the  Church  of  Rome. 

St.  John's  faults — his  jealousy  of  "  outsiders,"  *  his 
vindictiveness,t  his  passion  to  have  the  pre-eminence:}: — 
are  set  forth  with  the  same  unvarnished  faithfulness  as 
those  of  St.  Peter;  yet  it  will  be  his  glory  to  all  time  to 
have  been  "  the  disciple  whom  Jesus  loved,"  the  disciple 
who,  at  the  Last  Supper,  leaned  his  young  head  upon  His 
breast.  To  the  last,  as  is  proved  by  the  rich  traditions 
respecting  his  later  years,  he  retained  his  burning  energy, 
his  impetuous  horror  against  wickedness  and  apostasy 
which  gained  from  Christ  the  name  of  "  Sons  of  Thunder  " 
{Bent  Regcsh?)  for  the  brothers  whose  life  was  often  as 
lightning  and  their  words  as  thunder.§  It  is  in  the  Apoc- 
alypse, in  his  Gospel,  and  in  his  Epistles  that  we  learn 
to  understand  the  depth,  force,  and  loveliness  of  this 
disciple's  character  ;  his  rare  combination  of  meditative- 
ness  and  passion,  of  strength  and  sweetness,  of  imperious 
force  and  most  tender  affection.  We  lose  sight  of  him  for 
many  years,  which  he  doubtless  spent  in  preparation  for  the 
work  which  he  would  have  to  do  when  the  call  came,  and  in 
devoted  care  of  the  Virgin  Mother,  whom  Christ  had  so 
specially  entrusted  to  his  charge. ||     Who  can  measure  the 

*  Mark  ix.  38.  f  Luke  ix.  54.  %  Mark  x.  35-45. 

§  The  Greek  Church  calls  John  ^povr^^wvof,  "the  Thunder-voiced."  The 
form  of  the  word  Boanei-ges  is  perplexing  and  difficult  of  explanation,  as  it  can 
hardly  be  a  phonetic  corruption  of  Bent  Regesh.  It  never  came  into  common 
use.     See  Dalman,  Die  Woric  Jesu,  39. 

I  In  his  own  Gospel  he  generally  alludes  to  himself  as  "  the  other  disciple  " 
(xviii.  15,  XX.  2,  3),  or  "the  disciple  whom  Jesus  loved"  (xiii.  23,  xix.  26). 
Tiie  account  of  the  origin  of  the  Gospel,  quoted  by  Eusebius  (//'.  E.  vi.  15),  is 
very  interesting.  I  have  not  thouglit  it  necessary  to  enter  once  more  into  the 
genuineness  of  St.  John's  Gospel.  It  may  be  regarded  as  finally  established  by 
modern  criticism.  The  internal  evidence  in  its  favour  is  overwhelming  ;  and 
as  for  external  evidence,  we  know  that,  in  the  second  century,  it  is  attested  by 
Irenrcus  (a  disciple  of  Polycarj))  at  Lyons  ;  by  Tertullian  at  Carthage  ;  by 
Clement  at  Alexandria  ;  by  the  Muratorian  fragment  at  Rome  ;  by  the  Peshito 


PETER,  JOHN,  AND   JUDAS.         327 

value  of  the  elements  which  he  contributed  to  the  age-long 
dominance  of  Christianity  by  the  burning  Apocalypse,  and 
the  spiritual  Gospel  and  Epistles,  in  which  he  seems  to  be 
soaring  heavenwards  on  the  wings,  now  of  the  eagle  which 
has  been  chosen  for  his  appropriate  symbol,  and  now  of  the 
dove  wliich  is  covered  with  silver  wings  and  her  feathers 
like  gold  ? 

In  the  Apocalypse  we  still  trace  the  passionate  energy  of 
his  convictions ;  in  the  Gospel  they  have  become  as  the 
lightning  which  slumbers  in  the  dewdrop.  "The  Son  of 
Thunder,"  says  Weiss,  "  became,  through  the  training  of  the 
Spirit,  refined  and  matured  into  a  mystic,  in  whom  the 
flames  of  youth  had  died  down  into  the  glow  of  a  holy 
love."  * 

It  is  strange — amid  this  little  band  of  men  who,  in  spite 
of  their  original  weaknesses,  were  noble  and  pure-hearted 
enthusiasts, — to  find  the  dreadful,  sullen,  saturnine  figure 
of  Judas,  "who  became  a  traitor "f — 

"  That  furtive  mien,  that  scowHng  eye  ; 
Of  hair  that  red  and  tufted  fell." 

We  shudder  at  the  depth  of  wickedness  involved  in  such  a 
crime;  at  the  desperate  blindness  and  callosity  of  heart, 
mingled  with  almost  demoniac  madness,  which,  after 
belonging  to  that  holy  fellowship,  after  spending  those 
years  with  the  sinless  Son  of  Man,  after  hearing  His  words 
of  eternal    wisdom,  after  such  close    familiarity  with  the 

Version  in  Syria  ;  by  the  old  Latin  in  Africa  ;  by  Tatian  in  his  Diatessaron, 
etc.  See  Lightfoot,  Cojitemp.  Rev.,  Feb.,  1876  ;  Westcott,  Introd.  to  St. 
John's  Gospel ;  Sanday,  The  Fourth  Gospel ;  Watkins  (Ellicott's  New  Testa- 
ment Commentary,  i.  377). 

*  Nothing  can  be  made  of  the  legend  that  James  and  John  were  of  High 
Priestly  descent,  or  that  they  wore  the  -KETakov  (Ex.  xxviii.  34  ;  Euseb.  H.  E. 
iii.  31  ;  Epiphan.  Hcsr.  xxix.  4).  For  the  later  legends  of  St.  John,  see  Tert. 
De  Praescr.  Har.  36  ;  Iren.  c.  Hcer.  v.  30. 

f  Luke  vi.  16,  of  eyEvero  TrpoSdrT/g.  In  the  Apocryphal  Gospel  of  the  Infancy, 
Judas,  as  a  boy,  was  a  demoniac  who  was  healed  by  the  presence  of  the  Boy 
Jesus. 


328  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

divine  beauty  of  His  daily  life — could  for  "  thirty  pence  " 
betray  Him  into  the  scheming,  tyrannous,  greedy  hands  of 
Priests  and  Pharisees  !  All  that  we  can  suppose  was  that 
Judas  was  not  always  "  the  traitor."  Could  not  Christ  read 
the  hearts  of  men?  Undoubtedly  He  could.*  He  could 
see — 

"  In  the  green  the  mouldered  tree, 
And  ruined  towers  as  soon  as  built." 

The  depraved,  hardened  sinner  is  a  very  different  being 
from  the  youth  who  has  not  yet  been  stereotyped  in 
wickedness,  and  who  still  has  within  him  the  boundless 
possibilities  of  good.  We  might  well  exclaim,  "  O  quam 
dissimiles  hie  vir,  et  ille  puer  !''  The  Judas  whom  Christ 
chose  among  His  twelve  was  not  yet  the  same  man  as  he 
"  who  also  became  a  betrayer."  We  only  see  him  in  the 
poisonous  crimson  flower  and  deadly  fruitage  of  his 
wickedness,  in  the  concentrated  degradation  of  slavery 
to  a  mean  temptation.  But  he  was  once  an  innocent 
child  ;  he  was  once,  perhaps,  a  bright-hearted  boy,f  an 
ardent  youth,  capable  of  noble  aspirations,  not  yet 
possessed  by  the  seven  devils  of  a  brooding  sullenness 
and  an   unresisted  temptation. 

"  We  are  not  worst  at  once.     The  course  of  evil 
Begins  so  slowly,  and  from  such  slight  source, 
An  infant's  hand  might  stem  the  breach  with  clay. 
But  let  the  stream  grow  wider,  and  Philosophy, 
Aye,  and  Religion  too,  may  strive  in  vain 
To  stem  the  headlong  current." 

Judas  remains  to  all  time  an  awful  incarnate  warning 
against  the  peril  of  yielding  to  a  besetting  sin.  We  are 
left  to  surmise  the  incidents  of  his  career.  If  he  was 
the    son    of   Simon  the  Zealot,  he  may  have  shared  as   a 

*  See  Matt.  xii.  25  ;  Mark  ii.  8,  xii.  15  ;  John  i.  43,  48,  ii.  25,  vi.  64,  70. 
f  No  weight  whatever  can  be  attached  to  the  fictions  in  the  Arabic  Gospel  of 
the  Infancy  (xxxv.). 


PETER,  JOHN,  AND   JUDAS.         329 

youth  the  wild  impulses  of  patriotism,  and  the  glowing 
anticipations  of  a  temporal  Messiah — who  should  shatter 
the  yoke  of  Rome,  and  restore  the  kingdom  to  Israel — 
which  fired  the  untamed  hearts  of  Judas  of  Gamala,  and 
of  his  sons  and  followers.  If  so,  we  can  imagine  how  the 
gradual  chilling  and  final  quenching  of  such  Messianic 
hopes  had  worked  in  his  heart  side  by  side  with  the 
growth  of  a  petty,  dishonest  greed,  fostered  by  the  fact 
that  he  carried  the  bag^  which  contained  the  little 
common  store  of  Jesus  and  His  poor  Apostles.  The  heart 
of  Judas  was  one 

"  Which  fancies,  like  to  vermin  in  the  nut, 
Have  fretted  all  to  dust  and  bitterness." 

To  this  was  added  the  fact  that  he  could  not  be  unaware 
that  Christ  saw  through  him,  penetrated  the  guilty  secrets 
of  his  heart  long  before  his  fellow-disciples  had  learnt  to 
do  so.  He  could  not  miss  the  significance  of  some  of  the 
allusions  by  which  Christ  strove  to  check  him  in  his  awful 
career.f  The  climax  came  when  he  was  robbed  of  the 
chance  of  getting,  and  partly  appropriating,  "  the  three 
hundred  denarii  "  for  which  the  precious  pistic  spikenard 
might  have  been  sold,  with  which  Mary  of  Bethany  with 
glorious  wastefulness  anointed  the  head  and  feet  of  the 
Lord  whom  she  loved.  It  was  the  spasm  of  dreadful  dis- 
appointment thus  caused  to  his  avarice  which  drove  him 
to  the  consummation  of  his  crime.  He  felt  that,  at  all 
costs,  he  must  indemnify  himself — were  it  only  by  thirty 

*  John  xii.  6,  yTMaadKOfiov  (in  Luke,  PaXXavriov.)  A  glossokotnon,  according 
to  Hesychius,  is  a  box  in  which  flute-players  kept  the  tongue  (or  reed)  of 
their  flutes.  It  is  used  by  the  LXX.  in  2  Chron.  xxiv.  8  ;  by  Aquila  in  Ex. 
xxxvii.  II. 

f  "  Did  not  I  choose  you  the  twelve,  and  one  of  you  is  a  devil  ?  "  {diafioTMQ) 
John  vi.  70.  Probably  the  expression  in  the  Aramaic  (NStOD)  vvas  less  fear- 
ful, but  Judas  must  have  felt  that  Christ's  warnings  against  avarice  (Matt.  vi. 
19-21,  xiii.  22,  23  ;  Mark  x.  25  ;  Luke  xii.  15,  xvi.  11)  had  a  special  meaning 
for  him. 


330  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

shekels — for  the  loss  of  a  larger  chance  of  gain.*  The 
Priests  weighed  out  to  him  the  thirty  pieces  of  silver,  and 
we  know  all  that  followed.  We  know  how  Christ  washed 
the  traitor's  feet;  how,  in  answer  to  the  cold,  formal  ques- 
tion, "  Rabbi,  is  it  I  ?  "  He  whispered  to  him  the  dis- 
covery of  his  guilt  ;f  how  He  privately  indicated  to  John 
and  Peter  that  He  was  conscious  of  the  man's  nefarious 
plot  ;  how  the  traitor  led  the  Roman  soldiers,  and  Temple- 
guard,  and  High  Priest's  servants  to  Gethsemane  and 
said,  "  Rabbi,  Rabbi,  hail  !  "  and  covered  Him  with  kisses;:}: 
we  know,  lastly,  of  the  awful  overwhelming  revulsion  of 
feeling,  the  sickening  horror  with  which  he  became  aware 
of  the  transcendent  deadliness  of  the  crime  into  which  he 
had  fallen  ;  the  frantic  passion  of  remorse  with  which, 
when  he  realised  the  anguish  to  which  his  foul  deed  had 
doomed  his  Lord,  he  flung  the  hated  silver — which  now 
seemed  to  burn  his  hands — upon  the  Temple  floor,  and 
rushed  away  to  hideous  suicide.  His  crime  kindled  in  his 
heart  a  lurid  glare  by  which  he  first  realised  its  awful 
enormity.  ^^  Perfccto  deinum  scelere,  viagnitiido  ejus  intel- 
Iccta  est,''  as  the  Roman  historian  so  strikingly  observes.§ 
The  very  horror,  intensity,  and  hopelessness  of  his  remorse 
may  perhaps  help  us  to  gauge  what  his  better  feelings 
must  once  have  been.  Who  can  say  whether  after  he  had 
gone  to  "  his  own  place,"  he  may  not,  even  in  that  abyss, 
have  been  reached  by  the  Divine  tenderness  and  pardoning 
compassion  of  his  Lord,  and,  like  the  healed  demoniac, 
have  sat  at  His  feet  at  last,  clothed  and  in  his  right  mind  ? 
A  son  of  perdition  ||  indeed  he  was;  in  the  most  terrible  of 
earthly  senses  "  he   perished  "  because  he  was  "  a  son  of 

*  Thirty  shekels  only  amounts  to  £2  13s.,  and  was  the  lowest  price  of  a 
slave  (Ex.  xxi.  32).     But  vast  crimes  have  been  committed  for  far  smaller  sums. 
f  Matt.  xxvi.  25. 
\  Matt.  xxvi.  49. 

§  Tac.  Ann.  xiv.  15.     Comp.  Juv.  Sat.  xiii.  238. 
I  John  xvii.  12. 


PETER,  JOHN,  AND   JUDAS.  331 

perishing  ":  but  it  is  doubtful  whether  our  Lord  meant  to 
pronounce  over  him  the  terrible  sentence  that  "  it  would 
have  been  better  for  him  never  to  have  been  born  "  ;  for 
the  curious  order  of  the  words,  and  the  context,  make  it 
at  least  possible  that  what  our  Lord  meant  was,  "  Good 
were  it  for  Him  (the  Son  of  Man)  if  that  man  had  not 
been  born."  * 

*  This  more  merciful  view  of  the  ultimate  destiny  of  Judas  was  taken  long 
ago  by  Origen  {Tract,  in  Matt.  35)  and  Theophanes  (Suicer,  s.  v.  'Iov6aq). 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 

THE  APOSTOLIC   COMMISSION. 

"  We  are  ambassadors,  therefore,  on  behalf  of  Christ  .  .  .  we 
beseech  you  on  behalf  of  Christ,  be  ye  reconciled  to  God." — 2  Cor.  v.  20. 

It  was  to  His  little  band  of  Apostles  that  Jesus  gave  His 
great  Commission,  and  on  them  He  conferred  the  rich  spiritual 
prerogatives  metaphorically  expressed  in  the  words,  "  The 
Keys  of  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven,"  and  the  powers  to  "  loose  " 
and  "  bind,"  to  "  remit  "  and  "  retain  "  sins.  It  was  not  till 
after  His  death — it  was  not  till  their  hearts  had  been  filled  with 
the  Spirit  and  their  brows  encircled  with  hovering  flame  that 
they  sprang  to  their  full  spiritual  stature,  and  began  first  to  un- 
derstand the  words  of  Christ  and  their  full  significance.*  Nor 
must  we  forget  that  from  two — it  may  practically  be  said,  from 
three  of  them — emanated  the  Four  Gospels  which  contain  the 
richest  treasures  of  our  knowledge  of  Christ.  The  Gospel  of 
St.  Matthew,  of  which  the  nucleus  seems  to  have  been  (as 
Papias  tells  us)  a  collection  of  the  Sayings  (Logia)  of  Christ, 
was  perhaps  the  earliest  which  became  current,  and  may  have 
assumed  its  present  form  some  thirty-seven  years  after  the 
Crucifixion.f  It  is  the  Gospel  for  the  Jew,  the  Gospel  of  the 
Messiah,  the  Gospel  of  the  Past,  the  Gospel  of  Prophecy  ful- 
filled. The  Gospel  of  St.  Mark,  as  we  know  alike  from  internal 
evidence  and  ancient  tradition,  in  its  brief,  vivid,  practical  de- 
lineation, reflects  the  memories  of  St.  Peter,  and  is  the  Gospel 
for  the  Roman,  the  Gospel  of  the  Present.  The  Gospel  of  St. 
Luke  reflects  the  mind  of  St.  Paul,  and  is  the  Gospel  for  the 
Greeks.  The  Gospel  of  St.  John  is  "  the  Spiritual  Gospel,"  the 
last  utterance  of  the  last  survivor,  and  of  "  the  best  beloved," 

*  John  ii.  22,  xii.  16,  xiii.  7,  xiv.  7,  xx.  9. 
f  See  Weiss,  Li/t:  of  Christ,  p.  39. 

332 


THE    APOSTOLIC    COMMISSION.      333 

of  the  Apostolic  band,  who  could  look  back  over  nearly  a  cen- 
tury, and  could  interpret  the  Gospel  of  Eternity  in  its  final 
meaning.     It  is  the  Gospel  of  the  Church  of  all  time. 

I  have  already  mentioned  that  Christ  only  once  used  the 
word  "  Church."  The  exclusiveness  which  is  too  often  con- 
nected with  the  boast  of  "  Churchnianship  " — the  contemptuous 
tone  towards  others  so  frequently  adopted  by  those  who  de- 
light to  call  themselves  "  Good  Churchmen  " — is  entirely  alien 
from  the  teaching  of  Christ.  He  described  Himself  as  coming 
to  establish  a  Kingdom  in  which  all  are  alike  the  subjects  of 
the  one  King.  And  by  His  Church  He  did  not  mean  this  or 
that  body  of  exclusive  claimants,  but  all  the  many  folds  in  the 
one  true  flock;  in  the  language  of  our  Prayer  Book,  "the 
blessed  company  of  all  faithful  people ;  "  "  all  true  Christians 
dispersed  throughout  the  world ; "  all  who  love  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  in  sincerity  and  truth ;  "  all  who  in  every  place  call  on 
the  Name  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  both  theirs  and  ours." 

1.  What  is  called  "  the  power  of  the  keys  "  is  a  symbol  only 
explicable  by  its  current  meaning  among  the  Jews.  The  key 
was  not  a  sacerdotal  emblem.  It  was  a  sign  of  authority,*  and 
in  the  highest  sense  that  Key  was  retained  by  Christ  Himself.f 
But  it  was  granted  to  Peter — as  one  of  the  Apostles  J — because, 
just  as  the  Jewish  Scribes  were  supposed  to  have  the  key  of  the 
treasuries  of  wisdom  and  knowledge  stored  up  in  Scripture  and 
in  tradition,  so  the  Apostles  were  authorised  to  admit  men  into 
the  kingdom  of  Christ,  and  to  lay  open  before  them  its  eternal 
riches.  But  the  keys  were  not  entrusted  to  Peter  individually. 
"  Clavcs  data:  sunt,''  says  St.  Augustine,  "  non  nni  sed  iinitati." 
The  keys,  the  powers  to  loose  and  bind,  the  power  to  remit 
and  retain  sin,  refer  neither  to  individual  priests  nor  to  sacer- 
dotal caste,  but  to  the  didactic,  the  legislative,  and  the  prophetic 
powers  of  the  ivliole  Church  of  God.^ 

2.  The  power  "  to  loose  "  and  "  bind  "  was  also  a  familiar 
Jewish  metaphor  of  the  day,  which  was  not  applied  to  Priests, 
but  only  to  Rabbis.     "  To  loose  "  was  to  remove  the  yoke  of 

*Is.  xxii.  22.     Comp.  Luke  xii.  41,  42.  f  Rev.  iii.  7. 

1^.  Matt.  xiii.  52,  xvi.  19,  xviii.  18,  §  See  Hooker,  EccL  Pol,  iv.  4,  I,  2,^ 


334  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

some  legal  or  traditional  precept:  "  to  bind  "  was  to  enforce  its 
obligatoriness.  It  was  a  Jewish  saying  that  "  Hillel  loosed  " 
and  '*  Shammai  bound,"  because  in  some  respects  Hillel  and  his 
school  were  inclined  to  take  a  lenient  view  of  traditional  ob- 
ligations, whereas  Shammai  insisted  on  their  most  punctilious 
observance.  In  the  days  of  the  Primitive  Church  the  Apos- 
tles were  naturally  appealed  to,  in  all  uncertain  questions,  to 
decide  what  rules  of  Judaism  were  still  incumbent  on  Chris- 
tians, and  what  rules  were  now  abrogated.  St.  James  and  the 
Council  of  Jerusalem  exercised  the  powers  both  of  "  loosing  " 
and  of  "  binding  "  in  their  decisions  about  what  was  necessary 
for  the  Gentile  Churches  ;*  and  while  Paul  frequently  "  bound," 
he  exercised  the  prerogative  of  "  loosing  "  on  a  stupendous 
scale  when  he  pronounced  the  Gentile  Church  to  be  free  from 
the  yoke  of  the  Levitic  law,  and — taking  the  ordinance  to  which 
the  Jews  attached  the  most  immense  importance — declared 
thrice  over  that  "  circumcision  is  nothing,  and  uncircumcision 
is  nothing,"  but  "  a  new  creature ;  "  but  "  keeping  the  com- 
mandments of  God ;  "  but  "  faith  energising  by  love." 

3.  A  still  loftier  prerogative  was  conferred  by  the  zvords 
spoken,  not  to  the  Apostles  only — this  is  a  point  of  consummate 
importance,  which  is  habitually  ignored — but  to  the  disciples 
generally,  as  we  are  expressly  told  by  St.  Luke — "  to  the  eleven, 
and  those  that  were  with  them."  As  my  Father  hath  sent  Me 
{aneGraXjis),  Christ  said,  "even  so  am  I  sending  {nki.ntoi) 
you ;  "  and  then,  after  breathing  on  them,  He  added,  "  Take  ye 
the  Holy  Spirit ;  whosesoever  sins  ye  forgive  they  are  forgiven 
unto  them ;  whosesoever  sins  ye  retain  they  are  retained. f 

Dangerous  errors  have  risen  in  the  Church  from  the  failure 
to  observe  that  the  commission  was  given,  not  to  Apostles  only, 
not  to  ordained  ministers  only,  but  to  the  ivJwle  Christian  com- 
munity;— to  the  Church  as  a  Church,  not  to  any  class  or  caste 
within  it.  It  is  only  by  the  gift  of  the  Spirit,  only  by  the  pro- 
phetic insight  which  the  Spirit  can  alone  bestow,  that  the  Church 
can  "  remit  "  or  "  retain  "  sins  by  declaring  the  conditions  on 
which  God  remits  ot  retains  them,  and  deciding  whether  those 
*  Acts  XV.  19.  f  John  xx.  23  ;  Luke  xxiv.  47. 


THE    APOSTOLIC    COMMISSION.      335 

conditions  do  or  do  not  exist.  It  is  "  Ye  " — the  Christian  Com- 
munity— who  alone  possess  this  power,  and  it  is  exercised  on 
men  collectively  rather  than  on  individual  sinners.  Christ  con- 
ferred upon  the  Church  the  ri^ht,  not  indeed  of  deciding 
whether  this  or  that  man  shall  be  saved  or  lost,  but  of  declar- 
ing what  men  she  can  admit  into,  or  reject  from,  her  com- 
munity. The  claim  of  "  priests  "  that  they  can  absolve  from 
sin  entirely  perverts  the  true  meaning  of  Christ's  words.  All 
that  priests  can  do  is  to  state — not  by  their  individual  authority, 
but  solely  in  agreement  with  the  mind  of  the  whole  Church — 
the  conditions  on  which  sin  can  alone  be  forgiven.  Those  con- 
ditions the  Church  may  set  forth.  They  are  the  conditions  of 
sincere  repentance  and  genuine  amendment.  If  any  one  fulfil 
these  conditions,  he  not  only  will  be,  but  is  forgiven,  and  has 
everlasting  life.  If  a  man  have  not  fulfilled  those  conditions 
he  is  not  forgiven,  though  all  Popes  and  priests  should  pro- 
nounce their  absolutions  over  him,  and  call  him  "  Saint." 
Apart  from  a  miraculous  power  of  reading  the  heart,  any  "  ab- 
solution "  which  is  not  simply  declaratory  and  hypothetic  is  a 
false  pretence,  founded  on  the  perversion  of  a  phrase  which 
has  no  such  meaning — a  pretence  more  meaningless  than  the 
idle  wind.     Who  can  forgive  sins  but  God  only  ? 

The  following  remarks  of  Bishop  Westcott  should  be  care- 
fully considered  by  those  who,  on  this  subject,  have  been  mis- 
led into  false  conclusions  by  relying  on  an  isolated  and  misin- 
terpreted phrase,  and  who  pay  no  attention  to  certain  truths. 
"  The  main  thought  is  that  of  the  reality  of  the  power  of  abso- 
lution from  sin  granted  to  the  Church,  and  not  of  the  particular 
organisation  through  which  the  power  is  administered.  There 
is  nothing  in  the  context  to  show  that  this  gift  was  confined  to 
any  particular  group  (as  the  Apostles)  among  the  whole  com- 
pany present.  The  commission,  therefore,  must  be  regarded 
properly  as  the  commission  of  the  Christian  Society,  and  not  as 
that  of  the  Christian  Ministry.  As  the  promise  formerly  given 
to  the  Society  (Matt,  xviii.  18)  gave  the  power  of  laying  down 
the  terms  of  fellowship,  so  this  gives  a  living  and  abiding  power 
to  declare  the  fact  and  conditions  of  forgiveness.    The  con- 


336  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

ditions  refer  to  character  (Luke  xxiv.  47).  The  gift  and  the 
refusal  of  the  gift  are  regarded  in  relation  to  classes  and  not  in 
relation  to  individuals.  It  is  impossible  to  contemplate  an  ab- 
solute individual  exercise  of  the  power  of  '  retaining ' ;  so  far  it 
is  contrary  to  the  scope  of  the  passage  to  seek  in  it  a  direct  au- 
thority for  the  absolute  individual  exercise  of  the  'remitting.' 
At  the  same  time  the  exercise  of  the  power  must  be  placed  in 
the  closest  connection  with  the  faculty  of  Spiritual  discernment 
consequent  upon  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Spirit."  *  It  does  not 
need  much  observation  to  see  that  priests,  in  all  ages,  have 
been  in  no  respect  more  richly  endowed  with  anything  which 
can  be  called  "  spiritual  discernment "  than  whole  classes  of 
men  whom  they  despise. 

*  Bishop  Westcott  on  John  xx.  23. 


CHAPTER   XXXII. 

ORDER  OF  EVENTS  IN  OUR  LORD's  LIFE. 

And  so  the  Word  had  breath,  and  wrought 
With  human  hands  the  creed  of  creeds, 
In  loveUness  of  perfect  deeds 

More  strong  than  all  poetic  thought. 

— Tennyson. 

I  SHALL  not  here  enter  into  the  difficult  details  of  chronology 
on  which  I  have  already  spoken  in  my  "  Life  of  Christ,"  and  in 
the  notes  on  St.  Luke's  Gospel.*  After  the  mass  of  close  in- 
vestigation which  has  been  devoted  to  this  question,  it  may  be 
regarded  as  probable,  even  if  it  cannot  be  established  as  certain, 
that  our  Lord  was  born  in  the  winter  of  b.  c.  4.  Our  present 
mode  of  calculation,  which  fixes  the  birth  four  years  later,  was 
only  introduced  by  the  Abbot  Dionysius  Exiguus,  in  the  sixth 
century  (a.  d.  525),  and  was  founded  on  the  necessarily  imper- 
fect knowledge  of  his  day.j  The  question  is  an  open  one,  for 
there  is  no  agreement  in  the  traditions  of  the  Church  as  to 
either  the  year,  the  day,  or  the  month  of  our  Lord's  Advent.^ 

It  is  still  a  stranger  fact,  and  one  even  more  to  be  regretted, 
that  there  is  no  agreement  among  Christian  scholars  as  to  the 

*0n  Luke  iii.  I,  p.  125  (Greek  edition). 

f  The  Biblical  data  on  which  the  date  of  the  Nativity  depends  are  found  in 
Luke  iii.  I,  2  (where  a  sixfold  date  is  given),  23  ;  John  ii.  13,  20.  Owing, 
however,  to  the  difficulty  of  obtaining  absolutely  certain  information,  various 
dates  have  been  fixed  upon.  There  have  been  wide  differences  of  opinion. 
Thus  Pearson  and  Hug  fix  the  Nativity  in  B.  c.  i  ;  Scaliger  in  B,  c.  2  ; 
Baronius,  etc.,  B.  c.  8 ;  Ussher  and  Petavius  in  b.  c.  5  ;  Adeler  and  Sancle- 
menteinB,  c.  7.  (See  Archbishop  Thomson  in  Smith's  DzcL  of  the  Bible,  ii., 
p.  1701.)  But  the  opinions  of  most  authorities  now  agree  in  the  date  B.  c.  4 
(Lamy,  Bengel,  Auger,  Wieseler,  Cresswell,  etc.).  The  main  element  in  the 
decision  is  the  death  of  Herod  in  the  early  part  of  A.  u.  c.  750,  in  March  or 
April,  B.  c.  4. 

:j:  Lichtenstein  in  Herzog,  Real.  Encycl.  s.  v.  "  Jesus  Christ." 

337 


338  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

length  of  our  Lord's  ministry.  Many  of  the  Fathers,*  building 
their  conclusion  wholly  without  reason  on  the  phrase  of  Isaiah, 
"  the  acceptable  year  of  the  Lord,"  f  confine  ihc  period  of  His 
active  work  to  a  single  year.  Others  consider  that  the  min- 
istry lasted  one  and  a  half  years,  or  two  years  and  one  or  two 
months.  But  most  inquirers  are  now  agreed  that  our  Lord's 
public  work  extended  over  about  three  and  a  half  years,  or,  at 
any  rate,  three  years  and  some  weeks  or  months.!  The  ques- 
tion is  further  complicated  by  the  opinion  of  some  of  the 
Fathers  that  our  Lord,  at  His  death,  was  between  forty  and 
fifty  years  old.  This  is  a  mere  mistake  of  tradition,  based  on 
the  surprised  question  of  the  Jews  (in  John  viii.  57),  "  Thou 
art  not  yet  fifty  years  old,  and  hast  thou  seen  Abraham?  "  On 
this  verse,  Chrysostom,  Eythymius,  and  others  adopt  the  read- 
ing "  forty,"  which,  again,  in  all  probability  is  a  mere  conjec- 
tural correction  of  the  text.  It  is  a  curious  fact  that  Irenseus§ 
— the  scholar  of  Polycarp,  who  is  said  to  have  received  the  tra- 
dition directly  from  St.  John — says  that  our  Lord  was  about 
fifty  at  the  time  of  His  passion.  Such  an  error  is,  however, 
easily  accounted  for  by  mistaken  inferences  from  this  text. 
The  view  that  our  Lord  lived  fifty  years  would  be  subversive 
to  all  our  records.  1 1     The  Jews  only  mentioned  fifty  years  as  a 

*  Eusebius  (ZT.  E.  iii.  24)  Clemens  of  Alexandria  {Strom,  i,  xxi.).  Origen 
{Princip,  iv.  5)  says,  eviavrbv  Kai  nov  Kal  oTiiyovq  fiyvaq  kdida^ev,  but  does  not 
seem  to  be  quite  consistent  with  himself  {c.  Cels.  ii.,  p.  29)  in  Matt.  xxiv.  15. 
So,  too,  Tert.  c.  Jud.  8  ;  Lactant.  iv.  10  ;  Aug.  De  Civ.  Dei,  xxviii.  54  ; 
Gieseler,  Ch.  Hist.  E.  T.  i,  55 ;  Hase,  Leben  Jesu,  p.  21.  But  Melito, 
Irenseus,  and  others  take  a  different  view.  This  opinion  has,  however,  been 
strongly,  if  unsuccessfully,  supported  by  Mr.  Browne  in  his  Ordo  Saclortim  (pp. 
342-391). 

\  Is.  Ixi.  2. 

\  Some  have  seen  a  reference  to  this  in  Luke  xiii.  7,  8.  "  Tres.  Numerus 
quodammodo  decretorius.  Tertiiim  docendi  annum  incipiebat  Dominus,  ut 
vera  docet  Harmonia  Evangelistarum. — Bengel. 

§  c.  Har.  ii.  22,  5. 

II  I  am  bound,  however,  to  note,  though  with  surprise,  that  Bishop  Wcstcott 
seems  to  consider  such  an  opinion  possible.  He  says  (ad  loc),  "  However 
strange  it  may  appear,  some  such  a  view  is  not  inconsistent  with  the  only  fixed 
historic  dates  which  we  have  with  regard  to  the  Lord's  life,  the  date  of  the 
birth,  His  baptism,  and  the  banishment  of  Pilate." 


EVENTS   IN   OUR   LORD'S    LIFE.     339 

round  number  for  complete  manhood.*  Hippolytus  was  a  pu- 
pil of  Iran^eus,  yet  even  he  mentions  thirty-three  as  the  age  at 
which  our  Lord  died;  and  Eusebius,  Theodoret,  Jerome,  and 
other  Fathers  agree  with  him.f 

The  main  elements  on  which  we  must  decide  what  was  the 
length  of  our  Lord's  ministry  are  derived  from  St.  John,  who 
groups  his  entire  narrative  round  the  Jewish  festivals,  to  which 
he  makes  six  allusions. 

1.  "  The  Passover  of  the  Jews  "  (xi.  13). 

2.  "  A  [or  the]  Feast  of  the  Jews  "  (v.  i). 

3.  "  The  Passover,  the  Feast  of  the  Jews  "  (vi.  4).$ 

4.  "  The  Feast  of  the  Jews,  the  Tabernacles  "  (vii.  2). 

5.  "The  Feast  of  the  Dedication"  (The  Encania)   (x,  :22), 

6.  "  The  Passover  of  the  Jews  "  (xi.  55). 

It  may,  then,  be  regarded  as  certain  that  St.  John  mentions 
three  Passovers.  This  necessarily  implies  a  ministry  of  two 
years;  and  if  (as  seems  probable)  there  was  one  Passover  dur- 
ing the  ministry  which  our  Lord  did  not  attend,  or  if  the  un- 
named  feast  of  John  v.  i  was  this  Passover,  we  should  have 
clear  proof  that  the  ministry  lasted  three  years  at  least. §  But 
as  St.  John  distinctly  mentions  the  Great  Feasts  by  name,  it  is 
unlikely  that  he  should  not  have  called  this  Feast  by  its  name  if 
it  was  either  the  Passover  or  the  Feast  of  Tabernacles.  It  was 
possibly  the  Feast  of  the  Purim,  which  he  would  not  be  likely 
to  mention  by  name,  as  it  was  (unlike  the  Enccrnia)  unfamiliar 

*The  Levites  were  to  serve  in  the  Temple  "from  thirty  years  old  and 
upwards,  even  until  fifty  years  old  "  (Num.  iv.  3). 

f  Euseb.  If.  E.  i.  10.     See  Wordsworth  ad  loc. 

\  Although  TO  'Ko.axn  is  conjecturally  doubted  by  some,  and  even  by  Westcott 
and  Hort  {Greek  Testament,  pp.  77-81)  it  is  unquestionably  genuine,  for  it  is 
found  "  in  every  known  MS.,  whether  of  the  original  Greek  or  of  the  versions." 
I  have  not  dwelt  on  the  arguments  drawn  from  incidental  notices  like  John  iv. 
35,  vi.  10  ;  Mark  vi.  39,  etc.  As  to  the  years  A.  D.  no  conclusion  can  as  yet  be 
regarded  as  at  all  proven. 

§  In  John  v.  i  there  is  another  reading,  "  the  Feast  "  (which  would  mean  the 
Passover  or  the  Tabernacles),  which  was  found  in  MSS.  as  early  as  the  second 
century,  and  is  the  reading  of  N  C,  L,  but  as  it  is  not  found  in  A,  B,  D,  in 
Origen,  and  in  many  later  copies,  it  is  probably  spurious. 


340  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

to  the  Greeks.  This  is  inferred  by  many  commentators  from  a 
comparison  of  John  iv.  35 :  "  Say  ye  not,  There  are  yet  four 
months,  and  then  cometh  harvest?"  with  vi.  4:  "Now  the 
Passover,  a  feast  of  the  Jews,  was  nigh."  Bishop  Westcott, 
however,  thinks  that  St.  John  meant  the  Feast  of  Trumpets, 
which  was  held  on  the  new  moon  of  September,  the  beginning 
of  the  Jewish  civil  year.  It  was  suggestive  of  thoughts  which 
might  seem  to  be  reflected  in  the  subsequent  discourses,  and  we 
know  from  the  incidents  at  the  Feast  of  Tabernacles — when 
the  discourse  on  the  Living  Water  was  suggested  by  the  Feast 
of  Drawing  Water  from  Siloam,  and  that  on  the  Light  of  the 
World  by  the  illumination  of  the  Temple  with  great  candel- 
abra— that  Christ  often  drew  the  colouring  of  His  addresses 
from  the  sourrounding  circumstances. 

These  details  do  not,  perhaps,  admit  of  a  certain  interpreta- 
tion ;  nevertheless  the  Gospels  do  give  us  a  clear  picture  of  the 
main  outlines  and  divisions  of  Christ's  public  ministry. 

We  know  the  events  of  His  infancy.  The  birth  in  the  man- 
ger was  followed  by  the  circumcision  on  the  eighth  day  after 
the  birth ;  by  the  purification  and  presentation  in  the  Temple ; 
by  the  visit  of  the  Magi ;  the  massacre  of  the  Innocents ;  the 
flight  into  Egypt ;  the  return ;  and  the  settlement  of  the  Holy 
Family  in  Nazareth  of  Galilee. 

Of  His  childhood  we  have  no  record  beyond  the  statement 
that  "  He  grew,  and  was  waxing  strong,  becoming  full  of  wis- 
dom, and  the  grace  of  God  was  upon  Him."  Of  His  boyhood 
nothing  is  recorded  but  the  visit  to  the  Temple  at  the  first  Pass- 
over, and  the  fact  that  on  His  return  to  Nazareth  He  lived  in 
humble  submissiveness  to  His  parents,  and  advanced  in  wis- 
dom, and  age,  and  in  favour  with  God  and  man. 

Of  His  youth  and  early  manhood,  as  has  been  shown,  we 
know  nothing  except  that  He  worked  in  Nazareth  as  a  village 
carpenter,  living  in  the  humble  abode  with  His  mother,  and 
with  those  who  were  always  regarded  as  his  brethren  and 
sisters. 

Then,  when  He  was  about  thirty  years  old.  He  began  his 
public  life  by  going  to  the  Jordan,  and  accepting  the  Baptism 


EVENTS    IN    OUR    LORD'S    LIFE.     341 

of  John,  and  receiving  the  Heavenly  Sign  that  his  time  was 
come.  Immediately  afterwards  He  went,  under  the  influence 
of  the  Spirit,  into  the  wilderness,  to  be  tempted  of  the  Devil  for 
forty  days. 

From  this  point  begins  His  active  ministry ;  and,  amid  all  dif- 
ficulties of  detail,  we  see  that  it  falls  into  four  periods.  The 
first  was  that  of  initial  work ;  the  second  was  the  period  of  suc- 
cessful preaching,  which  has  been  called  "  the  happy  blossom- 
ing-time in  Galilee  " ;  the  third  was  the  period  of  struggle  and 
opposition,  culminating  in  flight  into  heathen  regions,  and  in- 
cluding a  slow  progress  to  Jerusalem,  followed  by  a  time  of 
deep  retirement ;  the  fourth  includes  the  journey  to  the  last 
Passover,  the  final  discourses  in  the  Temple,  the  Last  Supper, 
betrayal,  trial,  and  Crucifixion.  The  precise  arrangement  of 
all  details  in  the  varying  order  adopted  by  the  Evangelist  is  im- 
possible, but  the  broad  outlines  of  the  ministry  as  thus  ar- 
ranged are  now  generally  accepted. 

FIRST    PERIOD. 

On  His  return  from  His  victorious  resistance  to  temptation, 
Jesus  stayed  for  a  short  time  in  the  district  about  the  trans- 
Jordanic  Bethany,  where  John  was  baptising.  He  there  at- 
tracted round  Him  the  first  little  group  of  five  disciples — An- 
drew, John,  Simon,  Philip,  and  Nathanael.  With  them  He 
took  his  departure  to  the  marriage  festival  at  Cana  of  Galilee, 
where  He  wrought  His  first  sign — the  turning  of  the  water  into 
wine — which  was  not  only  a  work  of  gracious  kindness,  but 
also  a  symbol  and  a  prophecy  of  the  New  Dispensation  which 
was  now  dawning  on  the  world. 

From  Cana,  accompanied  by  His  mother,  His  brethren,  and 
His  disciples,  Jesus  went  down  to  Capernaum,  on  the  shores 
of  the  Lake  of  Gennesareth,  where  He  stayed  not  many  days. 
From  thence  He  went  to  the  Passover  at  Jerusalem.  It  was 
on  this  occasion  that  He  cleansed  the  Temple  of  the  crowd  of 
huckstering  profaners  of  its  sanctity,*  and  startled  the  Jewish 

*  On  the  kermatistai  who  gave  small  change,  and  the  kolhtbistai  who  gave 
the  Temple  shekel  for  heathen  money,  charging  five  per  cent,  (and  as  much 


342  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

authorities  by  His  enigmatic  words,  "  Destroy  this  Temple,  and 
in  three  days  I  will  raise  it  up."  The  saying  was  treasured  up 
against  Him,  but  even  the  disciples  did  not  understand  that 
"  He  spake  of  the  sanctuary  of  His  body  "  until  after  He  had 
risen  from  tlic  dead.  The  only  other  event  recorded  of  this 
visit  is  the  night  interview  with  the  eminent  Sanhedrist,  Nico- 
demus. 

But  though  there  is  no  other  account  of  what  occurred  dur- 
ing this  part  of  His  ministry,  there  are  indications  that  Jesus 
had  been  met  by  a  stolid  and  watchful  hostility.*  He  there- 
fore retired  into  Judaea,  and  there  permitted  His  disciples  to 
baptise,  though  He  Himself  never  performed  the  rite.  John 
the  Baptist  was  at  yEnon.f  on  the  borders  of  Galilee  and  Sam- 
aria. The  baptism  by  the  disciples  of  Jesus  was  carried  on  at 
some  part  of  the  Jordan  valley  which  belonged  to  Judaea. 
Some  unknown  Jew  seems  to  have  gone  from  this  scene  to 
JEnon,  and  there  to  have  raised  a  question  with  John's  disciples 
"  about  purifying  " — perhaps  about  the  relative  significance  of 
the  baptisms  of  John  and  of  Jesus.  The  Baptist's  disciples,  with 
.something  of  bitterness  and  jealousy  for  their  Master,  came 
to  John  and  said,  "  Ral)bi,  He  that  was  with  thee  beyond  Jor- 
dan, to  whom  thou  hast  borne  witness,  behold  the  same  bap- 
tiseth,  and  all  men  conic  to  Him."  They  only  elicited  from  the 
Baptist  the  noble  answer  that  he  was  not  the  Bridegroom,  but 
only  the  friend  of  the  Bridegroom ;  that  *'  He  must  increase, 
but  I  must  decrease." 

But  tliis  successful  inauguration  of  His  ministry  on  the  banks 
of  the  Jordan  had  other  effects.  It  kindled  still  more  the  ani- 
mosity of  the  Pharisees,  to  which  sect  "  the  Jew  "  who  had  dis- 
puted with  John's  disciples  may  have  belonged.  Further  than 
this,  the  news   reached  Jesus   that   Herod   Antipas   had  now 

more  as  they  could  get)  by  way  of  kolbon  or  agio,  see  T.iglitfoot,  Hor.  Hebr.  in 
Matt.  xxi.  12.  These  noisy  traders  were  truly  as  "  the  Canaanite  {Targ-Jon, 
'  trader'^,  in  the  House  of  the  Lord,"  who,  as  Zechariah  said  (xiv.  2i),  should 
be  there  no  more. 

*  John  iv.  I. 

f  John  iii.  23.     Now  Ayttum,  not  far  from  Nablous. 


EVENTS    IN    OUR    LORD'S    LIFE.     343 

seized  John,  and  cast  him  into  his  dungeon  at  Machserus.*  It 
was,  therefore,  obviously  wise  to  avoid  unnecessary  peril,  and 
He  left  Judzea,  and  departed  through  Samaria  into  Galilee.  It 
was  during  this  journey  that  He  had  the  memorable  conversa- 
tion with  the  Samaritan  woman  by  Jacob's  well,  in  which  He 
first  clearly  announced  His  own  Messiahship.  At  the  earnest 
request  of  the  Samaritans  of  Shechem  He  stayed  with  them 
two  days,  and  won  many  disciples.  He  then  made  His  way  to 
Galilee,  and  first  visited  Cana,  where  His  healing  of  the  cour- 
tier's son  by  a  word  filled  the  mouths  of  all  men  with  his  fame.f 
The  Galileans  had  seen  what  He  had  done  at  Jerusalem,  and 
received  Him  with  enthusiasm  as  He  taught  in  their  syna- 
gogues, journeying  towards  His  native  town  of  Nazareth.  But 
"  He  Himself  testified  that  a  Prophet  hath  no  honour  in  his  own 
country,"  and  at  Nazareth  He  was  not  only  received  with  jeal- 
ousy and  hatred,  but  the  inhabitants,  stung  by  his  reproach, 
tried  to  hurl  Him  over  the  brow  of  the  hill  on  which  their  city 
was  built.  They  were,  however,  overawed  by  the  calm  majesty 
of  His  bearing,  and  he  left  them,  perhaps  never  to  return. 
Henceforth  Capernaum  by  the  silver  waves  of  Galilee  became 
His  home,  so  far  as  we  can  speak  of  the  home  of  One  who  often 
had  not  where  to  lay  his  head. J 

SECOND    PERIOD. 

His  main  work  in  Galilee  now  began.  It  was  by  far  the 
brightest  and  most  triumphant  part  of  His  ministry,  and  in  its 
radiant  hopefulness  and  beneficence  has  been  called  "  the  Gali- 
lean Spring."  He  called  Peter  and  Andrew,  James  and  John, 
to  a  closer  relation  to  Himself,  and  a  more  continuous  ministry 
of  self-sacrifice,  astonishing  their  minds  by  the  miraculous 
draught  of  fishes,  and  promising  to  make  them  fishers  of  men. 

*  Matt.  iv.  12  ;  Mark  i.  14,  vi.  17. 

f  John  iv.  46.  The  fiaai?.iKbg,  or  "courtier,"  was  perhaps  Chuzas,  the 
steward  of  Herod  Antipas  (Luke  viii.  3).  This  is  probably  not  the  same 
event  as  the  healing  of  the  centurion's  servant  (Matt.  viii.  5),  which  seems  to 
have  taken  place  later. 

^  "  His  own  city  "  (Matt.  ix.  i.    Comp.  iv.  13,  16,  xi.  23,  xvii.  24). 


344  THE    LIFE    OF   LIVES. 

His  first  Sabbath  at  Capernaum  was  a  memorable  day.  He 
preached  in  the  synagogue,  amazed  the  Hsteners  by  His  wis- 
dom and  authority,  and  healed  the  demoniac.  He  went  thence 
to  the  house  of  Peter,  and  healed  his  mother,  who  was  lying 
ill  of  a  fever.  In  the  evening  the  people  of  the  city  thronged 
densely  round  Peter's  house,  bringing  their  demoniacs  and  their 
diseased.  He  "  who  bore  our  griefs  and  carried  our  sorrows  " 
moved  among  them,  pitied  them,  and  healed  them.  After  this 
He  went  away  to  a  secluded  place  to  spend  the  night  in  quiet 
prayer;  but  the  multitudes  searched  for  Him,  and  Simon  with 
his  friends  almost  "  hunted  "  for  Him,*  and  sought  with  gentle 
force  to  detain  Him  in  their  midst.  He  may  have  spent  one 
more  day  with  them,  preaching  perhaps  from  the  little  boat 
upon  the  shore;  after  which  He  went  around  the  villages  of 
Galilee  in  circle.  It  was  soon  after  this  that  He  selected  His 
Twelve  Apostles  for  their  great  work,  and  promulgated  the 
laws  of  his  new  kingdom  in  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount.  As  He 
descended  from  the  Mount  of  Beatitudes  He  healed  the  leper. 
His  fame  had  now  grown  so  great,  and  He  appeared  to  be  im- 
mersed in  a  life  of  such  incessant  work  and  excitement,  that 
even  his  kinsmen,  influenced  probably  by  the  instigations  of 
Priests  and  Pharisees,  made  a  too  bold  and  irreverent  attempt 
to  interfere  with  and  restrain  His  movements. 

It  was  this  year  of  His  Galilean  ministry  which  was  mainly 
marked  by  a  succession  of  miracles :  such  were  the  healing  of 
the  centurion's  servant ;  the  opening  of  the  lips  of  the  dumb, 
and  the  ears  of  the  deaf;  the  raising  of  the  widow's  son  at 
Nain ;  and  the  miracles  performed  on  those  whom  He  cured  in 
order  to  strengthen  the  overclouded  faith  of  the  imprisoned 
Baptist.  One  great  section  of  this  part  of  his  life  circles  round 
the  feast  given  to  Him  by  Matthew,  one  of  the  hated  toll-col- 
lectors whom  He  summoned  to  be  His  apostle. f  He  healed  the 
paralytic  let  down  to  Him  from  the  roof,  raised  the  daughter 
of  Jairus,  and  healed  the  blind  men  and  the  woman  with  the 
issue  of  blood.  Another  great  phase  of  work  commences  with 
the  sermon  in  the  boat  to  the  multitude  on  the  shore,  when  He 

*  Luke  iv.  42,  kne^^Tow.     Mark  i.  36,  Karediu^av  avrdv.         j  Matt.  ix.  I-34. 


EVENTS    IN    OUR    LORD'S    LIFE.     345 

delivered  the  Parable  of  the  Sower,  and  began  His  parabolic 
teaching.  After  this,  in  the  urgent  desire  for  rest,  He  set  sail 
for  the  more  lonely  Eastern  shore,  and  on  the  way  had  brief 
interviews  with  the  three  imperfect  aspirants  for  discipleship.* 
Then  followed  the  stilling  of  the  storm  on  the  lake,  which  had 
risen  while  He  lay  sleeping  the  sleep  of  deep  weariness  on  the 
steersman's  ciishion.f  After  He  had  landed  He  healed  the  wild 
naked  demoniac  of  Gergesa,  and  at  the  request  of  the  Ger- 
gesenes,  who  were  terrified  by  the  loss  of  their  swine,  He  re- 
turned to  Capernaum. 

But  the  burning  enthusiasm  of  the  Galilean  multitudes  was 
gradually  cooled  by  the  open  opposition  and  secret  machina- 
tions of  the  Pharisees,  and  was  beginning  to  be  replaced  in  the 
hearts  of  many  by  suspicion,  dislike,  and  even  hostility.  It  was 
perhaps  towards  the  close  of  His  first  year  of  ministry  that 
Jesus  heard  the  terrible  news  that  John  had  been  beheaded  in 
prison.  A  deputation  of  religious  spies  from  Jerusalem  began 
to  watch  his  conduct  and  dog  His  footsteps.  Nevertheless 
His  work  had  produced  deep  results,  and  about  this  time  He 
personally  traversed  the  cities  and  villages  in  Galilee,  in  deep 
pity  for  the  multitude,  whom  He  regarded  as  sheep  harassed 
by  wolves,  and  lying  in  the  fields  thirsty  and  neglected  because 
they  had  no  shepherd.  At  the  close  of  these  journeys  He  des- 
patched the  Twelve  Apostles,  two  and  two,  with  a  special  com- 
mission to  heal  and  teach.  During  their  absence  He  seems  to 
have  continued  His  work  nearly  alone,  perhaps  as  He  slowly 
made  His  way  to  the  unnamed  Feast  at  Jerusalem  which  is 
mentioned  in  John  v.  i.  This,  as  we  have  seen,  was  probably 
the  Feast  of  Purim,  and  it  is  quite  possible  that  our  Lord's  visit 
to  the  Holy  City  was  mainly  with  reference  to  the  Passover 
which  occurred  a  month  later. 

But  that  Passover  He  never  attended.  For  at  the  pool  of 
Bethesda.t  by  the  sheep  gate.  He  performed  the  miracle  of  the 

*  See  Luke  ix.  57-62.  f  Mark  iv.  38,  ent  to  npocKEclxHaiov. 

I  Possihlv  the  Fountain  of  the  Virgin  in  the  Wady  Kidron  Bethesda  may 
mean  "  House  of  Mercy  "  or  "  House  of  the  Portico,"  or,  if  it  be  a  corruption 
of  Bethzatha,  "  House  of  the  Olive."     See  Dalman,  Die  Worie  Jesu,  p.  6. 


346  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

healing  of  the  impotent  man,  which,  having  been  done  on  the 
Sabbath,  roused  the  still  more  furious  hostility  of  the  Phari- 
sees. Their  rage  was  goaded  to  fury  by  tlie  lofty  rebukes 
which  He  addressed  to  their  materialism  and  ignorance.  His 
discourse  created  such  bitter  exasperation  that  they  began  a 
systematic  persecution,  and  persistently  sought  an  opportunity 
to  kill  Him,*  on  the  double  charge  that  He  was  a  breaker  of  the 
Sabbath  and  a  blasphemer  against  God,  whom  "  He  had  called 
His  Father,  making  Himself  equal  with  God." 

So  dangerous  a  plot  compelled  Him  to  return  to  Galilee  with- 
out waiting  for  the  celebration  of  the  Passover.  In  Galilee  He 
seems  to  have  ministered  again  to  eager  multitudes,!  until  He 
retired  once  more  in  order  to  secure  rest  for  Himself  and  His 
Apostles  in  "a  desert  place"  near  Bethsaida  Julias,  at  the  north- 
eastern corner  of  the  lake.  P)Ut  His  departure  had  been  ob- 
served, and  thousands  of  Galileans,  and  others  who  were  on 
their  way  to  the  Passover  at  Jerusalem,  went  round  the  end  of 
the  lake  on  foot  and  awaited  the  arrival  of  His  little  vessel.  He 
taught  them  all  day  long,  and,  in  the  evening,  compassionating 
their  hunger,  He  fed  the  five  thousand  with  the  five  barley 
loaves  and  two  small  fishes.  Then  He  dismissed  them  and  His 
disciples,  and  went  up  alone  to  the  mountain  to  pray.  A  great 
storm  followed,  and  He  came  to  them  walking  on  the  sea,  and 
arrived  with  them  at  Capernaum  once  more. 

The  next  day  He  delivered  the  great  discourse  on  the  Bread 
of  Life,  in  the  synagogue  at  Capernaum. $  This  led  to  a  decis- 
ive crisis  in  His  career.  It  caused  many  who  had  hitherto  been 
His  disciples  to  abandon  Him,  and  it  alienated  the  multitude 
by  His  refusal  to  grant  them  the  sign  which  they  had  been  in- 
stigated to  demand.  Had  they  been  in  the  least  degree  sin- 
cere, it  would  have  been  easy  for  them,  to  understand  that  the 

*  John  V.  i6,  i8. 

f  St.  Jolni  says  that  "  a  great  multitude  was  following  Him  "  (vi.  2). 

X  Perhaps  the  pot  of  manna  carved  on  the  tympanum  of  the  entrance  door 
may  have  suggested  to  some  of  those  present  the  remark  (John  vi.  31),  "  Our 
/aikers  ate  the  manna  in  the  wilderness,  as  it  is  written,  He  gave  them  bread 
out  of  heaven  to  eat." 


EVENTS   IN    OUR   LORD'S    LIFE.     347 

words  of  Christ  were  merely  descriptive  of  the  full  spiritual 
appropriation  of  His  life  and  of  His  death.  The  offence  they 
chose  to  take  was  wilful.  The  metaphor,  "  Except  ye  eat  the 
flesh  of  the  Son  of  Man,  and  drink  His  blood,  ye  have  not  life 
in  yourselves,"  had  been  used  centuries  before  in  their  own  sa- 
cred writings  to  imply  the  fulness  of  acceptance,  and  incorpora- 
tion.* "  Crcdc  ct  manducasti,"  said  St.  Augustine.  Truly 
and  wisely  to  believe,  is  to  eat.  Christ  removed  all  excuse  for 
coarse  materialism  when  He  uttered  the  words,  "  The  iiesh 
proHth  nothing ;  the  words  which  I  have  spoken  unto  you  are 
spirit  and  are  life." 

From  this  time  the  clouds  gathered  more  and  more  densely 
around  Him.  Many  of  His  disciples,  St.  John  tells  us,  walked 
no  more  with  Him.  In  spite  of  His  works  of  miraculous  heal- 
ing, He  was  more  and  more  pressed  with  criticism  and  calum- 
nies. He  had  given  deep  offence  by  saying  to  the  paralytic  and 
others,  "  Thy  sins  be  forgiven  thee,"  and  was  charged  with 
arrogating  to  Himself  the  attributes  of  God.  Because  He  and 
His  disciples  fasted  not,  they  called  Him  "  a  gluttonous  man 
and  a  wine-bibber,"  as  well  as  "  a  friend  of  publicans  and  sin- 
ners."    His   Sabbath  healings.   His   defence   of   His   hungry 

*  John  iv.  32,  34.  Compare  Ps.  xix.  lo,  cxix.  3  ;  Is.  iii.  i  ;  Prov.  ix.  5  ; 
Ezek.  ii.  8,  9,  etc.  In  the  Midrath  Koheleth  (188,  4)  we  read,  "  Every  eating 
and  drinking  in  the  Book  of  Ecclesiastes  is  to  be  understood  of  good  works."  "  I 
have  food  to  eat  that  ye  know  not  of."  "  Thy  words  were  found,  and  I  did  eat 
them  "  (Jer.  xv.  16  ;  comp.  Ezek.  ii.  8,  iii.  1-3).  "  He  that  eateth  me  (Wis- 
dom) shall  even  live  by  me"  (Wisd.).  "The  just  eat  of  the  glory  of  the 
Shechinah  "  (a  Rabbinic  saying).  Moses  on  Sinai  was  fed  by  the  music  of  the 
spheres  (Philo,.(/i?  Somn.  i,  6).  "Prayer  shall  be  my  meat  attd  drink"  (Gos- 
pel of  St.  James).  There  is  not  the  least  excuse  for  the  coarse  and  fetish-wor- 
shipping materialism  which  has  corrupted  the  pure  spiritual  sacrament  of  the 
Lord's  Supper.  "  The  Law,"  said  the  Rabbis,  "  speaks  to  us  with  the  tongue 
of  the  sons  of  men  "  ;  and  so  does  the  Gospel.  This  is  no  more  excuse  for 
taking  literally  the  words,  "  This  is  my  body''  than  for  taking  literally,  "  I  am 
the  water  of  life,"  or  "  I  am  the  Door."  The  notion  of  drinking  the  blood  of 
Christ  (in  any  material  sense  whatever)  would  have  been  naturally  abhorrent  to 
them,  and  the  drinking  of  blood  had  been  imperatively  denounced  again  and 
again  in  the  Old  Testament  (Gen.  ix.  4  ;  I^ev.  iii.  17,  vii.  26,  27,  xvii.  10-14, 
xix.  26  ;  Deut.  xii.  16,  23,  24,  xv.  23;  i  Sam.  xiv.  32,  33  ;  Ezek.  xxxiii.  25, 
Comp,  Acts  XV.  29). 


348  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

Apostles  for  plucking  the  ears  of  the  corn  on  the  Sabbath  and 
rubbing  them  in  their  hands,  made  the  Judsean  spies  denounce 
Him  as  an  open  violator  of  the  Law.  His  neglect  of  ceremonial 
ablutions  led  them  to  brand  Him  as  one  who  openly  ignored 
"  the  traditions  of  the  Elders."  His  persistent  enemies  ex- 
plained His  casting  out  of  demons  by  calling  Him  an  ally  of 
Beelzebul,  prince  of  the  demons.  He  continued  His  dis- 
courses and  His  parables,  but  the  Pharisaic  spies  were  always 
able  to  interrupt  Him  with  their  "  Master,  we  would  see  a  sign 
from  Thee."  At  last,  on  one  great  day  of  incessant  conflict, 
when  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees  openly  threw  off  the  mask  and 
began  shamefully  "  to  press  on,  and  worry  him,"  *  He  was 
troubled  in  spirit,  and  when  the  myriads  gathered  suddenly 
about  the  door  for  His  protection,  He  went  out  to  them  and 
strongly  denounced  the  hypocrisy  of  the  Pharisees  before  the 
agitated  multitude. f 

THIRD    PERIOD. 

Thus  did  the  Galilean  ministry,  which  had  begun  so  brightly, 
end  in  clouds  and  darkness,  and  Jesus  went  forth  with  His 
Apostles  to  wander  for  months  of  flight  in  heathen  and  semi- 
heathen  lands  as  far  as  the  coasts  of  Tyre  and  Sidon.  Of  His 
works  and  teaching  during  this  period  we  are  told  but  little. 
His  main  miracle  was  performed  to  reward  the  heroic  faith  of 
the  poor  Syro-Phoenician  woman. $  It  is  probable  that  He  was 
occupied  almost  wholly  in  the  training  of  His  Apostles  for  their 
mighty  mission  in  the  world. 

On  his  return  to  Decapolis  He  healed  the  deaf  and  dumb 
man,  and  being  once  more  received  by  multitudes,  Jews  and 
Greeks,  who  had  flocked  and  stayed  to  hear  His  words,  He 

*  Luke  xi.  53.  f  Luke  xii.  i. 

:j:We  may  note  that  the  rebuff,  "  It  is  not  meet  to  take  the  children's  bread 
and  cast  it  to  the  dogs,"  does  not  sound  harsh  (i)  if  used  to  call  out  a  victorious 
faith  ;  or  (2)  if  regarded  merely  as  a  current  proverb,  like  "  Charity  begins  at 
home."  Further  (3),  Kvvdpia,  "little  household  dogs,"  is  a  much  less  severe 
term  than  Kweg.  See  Dean  Plumtre  on  Matt.  xv.  26  in  EUicott's  JVew  Testa- 
ment Commentary. 


EVENTS    IN    OUR    LORD'S    LIFE.     349 

performed  His  second  miracle  of  feeding  a  multitude  by  dis- 
tributing the  seven  loaves  and  a  few  fishes  among  the  four 
thousand. 

He  then  returned  to  Galilee,  but  being  once  more  met  by  the 
hostile  emissaries  from  Jerusalem,  with  their  demand  for  "  a 
sign  from  heaven,"  He  sailed  away.  After  healing  a  blind 
man  at  Bethsaida  Julias,  He  went  towards  Csesarea  Philippi. 
It  was  during  this  journey  that  He  put  to  His  Apostles  the  mo- 
mentous question,  "  Who  say  ye  that  I  am?  "  and  heard  from 
Peter  the  answer  which  showed  that  now  His  main  work  was 
accomplished,  "  Thou  art  the  Christ,  the  Holy  One  of  God."  * 
Then  first  He  began  plainly  to  tell  them  of  His  coming  death, 
and  uttered  His  terrible  rebuke  to  Peter  for  trying  to  put  a 
stumbling-block  on  the  destined  path  of  His  humiliation.  This 
was  one  of  the  most  decisive  events  in  the  whole  ministry.  It 
was  the  full  relisation  and  acceptance  of  the  fact  that  the  path 
of  His  glorification  and  the  redemption  of  men  led  through  the 
awful  valley  of  the  shadow,  and  that  by  the  endurance  of  shame 
and  death  He  must  overcome  the  powers  of  death.  He  had 
prepared  His  disciples  for  some  great  manifestation  by  telling 
them  that  "  some  of  them  should  not  taste  of  death  till  they  had 
seen  the  Son  of  Man  coming  in  His  kingdom."  Ascending 
Mount  Hermon  with  Peter,  James,  and  John,  He  was  trans- 
figured before  them.  On  their  descent  from  the  scene  of  this 
vision  of  glory.  He  healed  the  demoniac  boy.  Perhaps  the 
sense  that  something  great  had  happened  f  kindled  the  selfish 
ambition  of  the  disciples,  and  caused  that  unseemly  dispute  as 
to  "  which  was  the  greatest  "  %  which  He  reproved  by  setting 
the  little  child  in  the  midst  of  them,  and  telling  them  that  the 
highest  place  in  the  kingdom  should  be  the  reward,  not  of  soar- 
ing ambition,  but  of  humility,  love,  and  unselfish  service.     It 

*  This  is  the  reading  of  K.  B,  C,  D,  L,  in  John  vi.  6g. 

f  His  appearance — perhaps  some  lingering  traces  (as  Theophylact  thought) 
of  the  Transfiguration  glory — amazed  the  multitudes. 

X  Mark  ix.  3  ;  Luke  ix.  46,  xxii.  24.  The  dispute  was  not  "  which  of  them 
should  be,"  but  "which  of  them  is  accounted  to  be  greater,"  or,  "  who  ivas  the 
greater." 


350  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

may  have  been  during  a  brief  rest  at  Capernaum  that  the  inci- 
dent occurred  of  His  payment  of  the  Temple  tribute. 

After  this — setting  aside  the  intrusive  advice  of  His  too 
presumptuous  brethren — He  went  privately  to  Jerusalem  to  the 
Feast  of  Tabernacles.  Here  again  He  encountered  a  most 
deadly  opposition.  The  Pharisees  scornfully  represented  Him 
as  an  ignoramus — not  a  Chaber,  who  had  attended  the  schools 
of  the  Rabbis,  but  an  Am  ha-arets,  who  had  never  learnt  "  let- 
ters "  in  their  sense ; — a  "  mesith  "  who  was  leading  the  multi- 
tude astray.*  To  His  mention  of  the  fact  that  some  of  them 
were  going  about  to  kill  Him,  they  answered  that  "  He  had  a 
demon."  They  again  engaged  Him  in  acrimonious  Sabbath 
disputes,  and  it  was  constantly  on  their  lips  that  He  was  "  a 
Samaritan  "  and  a  demoniac.  Yet  He  went  on  teaching  as  He 
sat  in  the  Treasury,  the  most  frequented  part  of  the  Temple. 
With  reference  to  two  great  events  in  the  Feast,  the  joy  of  the 
Festival  of  Drawing  Water,  and  the  illumination  of  the  Temple 
with  great  golden  candelabra — which  originally  commemorated 
the  smitten  rock  and  the  pillar  of  fire — He  uttered  His  memor- 
able discourses  on  the  Living  Water  and  the  Light  of  the 
World.t  It  was  at  this  feast  that  the  incident  occurred  of  the 
dragging  into  His  presence  of  the  woman  taken  in  adultery, $ 
after  which  His  enemies  were  so  roused  to  fury  by  His  re- 
proaches, and  revelations  of  His  Eternal  Being,  that  they  took 
up  stones  to  stone  Him.  Shortly  after  this  He  opened  the  eyes 
of  the  man  born  blind,  who,  as  a  result  of  his  faith  in,  and  grati- 
tude to,  One  whom  they  denounced  as  a  sinner,  incurred  the 
ban  of  their  excommunication. 

From  Jerusalem  He  returned  to  Galilee.  Before  He  bade 
His  last  sad  farewell  to  the  cities  and  country  which  had  heard 
His  sermons  and  parables  and  witnessed  most  of  His  wonder- 

*  John  vii.  12,  ■n'kavn,  49. 

f  See  Ex.  xvii.  6  ;  Num.  xx.  11  ;  Is.  Iviii.  11  ;  Zech.  xiv.  8  ;  and,  for  the 
metaphor  of  Light,  Is.  xlii.  6,  xlix.  6  ;  Mai.  iv.  2  :  Luke  ii.  32. 

\  An  undoubtedly  authentic  incident,  though,  perhaps,  taken  from  Papias, 
and  not  a  part  of  the  original  Gospel.  It  was  in  the  Gospel  ace.  to  the 
Hebrews  (Euseb.  //.  E.  iii.  40).  It  differs  in  many  particulars  from  the  style 
of  St.  John,  and  is  absent  from  the  oldest  MSS.,  and  obelised  in  others. 


EVENTS    IN    OUR    LORD'S    LIFE.     351 

fill  works,  He  uttered  the  "  woe  "  on  Chorazin,  Bethsaida,  and 
Capernaum,  which  was  afterwards  so  terribly  fulfilled.*  It 
seems  to  have  been  at  this  time  that  He  sent  the  Seventy  on 
their  mission. 

The  Pharisees  warned  Him  of  a  pretended  design  of  Herod 
Antipas  to  seize  Him,  but  He  saw  through  their  machinations. 
He  then  set  out  on  His  journey  to  Jerusalem,  and  the  greater 
part  of  the  two  months  between  the  Feast  of  Tabernacles  and 
that  of  Dedication  seems  to  have  been  occupied  with  that  slow 
journey  of  which  the  details  are  furnished  to  us  only  by  St. 
Luke.  He  had  meant  to  go  through  Samaria,  but  was 
churlishly  refused  hospitality  by  the  Samaritans  of  En  Gan- 
nim,  where  He  rebuked  the  vengeful  wrath  of  the  Sons  of 
Thunder.  Turning  to  the  road  which  led  by  the  other  route  to 
Jerusalem,  through  Peraea,  He  cleansed  the  ten  lepers,  of 
whom  one  only — and  he  a  Samaritan — returned  to  express  his 
gratitude.  During  this  journey  He  preached  in  various  syna- 
gogues, healed  the  bowed  woman,  and  the  man  with  the  dropsy, 
and  once  again  refuted  the  ignorant  and  self-satisfied  Sabba- 
tarianism of  small-minded  local  officials.  It  was  perhaps  dur- 
ing this  journey  that  He  "  exulted  in  spirit,"  cheered  by  the  re- 
turn of  the  Seventy  from  their  mission ;  and  amid  deep  dis- 
courses and  solemn  warnings  He  enshrined  some  of  His  most 
solemn  parables — such  as  the  Parables  of  the  Good  Samaritan, 
Dives  and  Lazarus,  and  the  Prodigal  Son. 

At  the  close  of  His  progress  through  Persea,  v/e  find  Jesus 
domiciled  at  Bethany,  in  the  quiet  home  which  was  very  dear 
to  Him,  the  house  of  Martha  and  Mary,  and  Lazarus  whom  he 
loved.  It  was  here  that  He  taught  to  the  eager,  busy  Martha 
that  "  one  thing  is  needful  " ;  and  it  was  from  this  house  that 
He  walked  over  the  Mount  of  Olives  to  the  Temple,  to  be 
present  at  the  Feast  of  the  Dedication,  which  was  kept  about 
December  20.     It  was  during  this  visit  that  He  spoke  the  alle- 

*  See  the  terrible  description  of  the  state  of  stench,  pestilence,  shipwreck,  and 
desolation  to  which  Galilee  was  reduced — a  state  so  awful  as  even  to  stir  the 
commiseration  of  those  who  had  caused  it.  In  Jos.,  B.  J.,  iii.  lO,  8.  See, 
too,  Renan,  L Antichrist,  p.  277. 


352  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

gory  of  the  Fair  Shepherd,  who  would  protect  not  only  His 
own  sheep,  but  also  those  other  sheep  which  were  not  "  of  His 
fold,"  {avX?}),  but  which  should  nevertheless  be  united  here- 
after into  "  one  flock  "  {TToijLtvTf).  Here,  as  He  paced  up  and 
down  the  splendid  eastern  porch  of  the  Temple,  the  Pharisaic 
party  and  their  leaders  suddenly  surrounded  Him,  and  imperi- 
ously demanded  of  Him  whether  He  was  the  Messiah  or  not. 
In  reply  He  referred  them  to  His  teaching  and  His  works ;  and 
in  the  course  of  his  address  used  the  words,  "  I  and  My  Father 
are  one."  *  The  result  was  a  burst  of  fury,  and  they  took  up 
some  of  the  heavy  stones  which  were  scattered  about  for  the 
yet  unfinished  restoration  of  the  Temple,  that  they  might  stone 
Him  to  death.  But  they  were  overawed  by  the  calm  majesty 
with  which  He  continued  His  appeals  and  arguments ;  and, 
alone  and  defenceless  though  He  was,  they  did  not  even  dare 
to  seize  Him.  He  now  felt  that  it  was  useless  to  continue  His 
words  to  men  who  only  glared  upon  him  wath  fierce  hatred  on 
their  scowling  faces.  He  retired  therefore  into  comparative 
seclusion,  to  the  Bethany  beyond  Jordan,  where  John  once  bap- 
tised, and  where  many  accepted  His  teaching.f 

It  was  perhaps  during,  or  just  before,  this  last  stay  in  Persea 
that  the  touching  incident  took  place  of  "  the  great  refusal  " 
made  by  the  eager  young  ruler  who  had  sought  for  something 
higher  and  more  heroical  in  religion  than  the  current  religion- 
ism offered,  but  who  failed  to  meet  the  test  which  he  had  sought. 
In  the  deep  discourses  which  followed  this  scene,  and  in  an- 
swer to  the  question  of  Peter,  "  Lo,  we  have  forsaken  all  and 
followed  Thee ;  what  shall  we  have,  therefore  ?  "  He  told  the 
Parable  of  the  Labourers  in  the  Vineyard. 

While  he  was  still  living  in  semi-retirement  at  the  Per^ean 
Bethany,  He  received  from  the  sisters  at  the  other  Bethany  the 
urgent  message,  "  Lord,  he  whom  Thou  lovest  is  sick."  Then 
followed  the  memorable  scenes  and  revelations  in  connection 
with  the  raising  of  Lazarus  from  the  dead,  described  by  St.  John 

*Lit.  "one  thing"  (ei^),  i.  e.,  of  one  substance. 

f  John  X.  41,  42.  "  So  the  narrative  of  the  Lord's  ministry  closes  on  the 
spot  where  it  began," — Westcott. 


EVENTS    IN    OUR    LORD'S   LIFE.     353 

with  such  characteristic  vividness.  The  rumours  of  so  stupen- 
dous a  miracle  fanned  into  white  heat  the  jealous  rage  of  the 
Sadducees,  and  at  a  private  meeting-  of  Sanhedrists,  the  High 
Priest,  Joseph  Caiaphas,  son-in-law  of  Annas — a  thorough 
Sadducee,  who  had  gained  his  High-Priesthood  by  bribery — 
propounded  the  hideous  suggestion  of  political  expediency  that 
Jesus  must  at  all  hazards  be  seized  and  slain.  This  secret  fiat 
became  known,  and  thenceforth  He  was  living  with  a  price 
upon  His  head.  He  again  retired  into  the  still  deeper  se- 
crecy of  a  little  obscure  town  called  Ephraim,  on  the  edge  of 
the  wilderness,  and  there  He  stayed  till  His  last  Passover.* 

FOURTH    PERIOD. 

Jesus  knew  that  His  only  chance  of  even  temporary  protection 
from  the  hierarchs  at  Jerusalem  lay  in  the  presence  of  the  num- 
erous Galilean  pilgrims,  of  whom  so  many  loved  and  believed 
on  Him.  When,  therefore,  from  the  hill  of  Ephraim.  He  saw 
them  streaming  down  the  Jordan  valley  on  their  way  to  the 
Holy  City,  He  set  forth  to  join  them,  walking  before  His  dis- 
ciples in  such  a  Transfiguration  of  self-sacrifice  as  to  fill  them 
with  terror  and  amazement,  especially  when,  for  the  first  time, 
He  revealed  to  them  the  crowning  horror  that  He  was  not  only 
to  be  rejected  and  put  to  death,  but  that  He  was  to  be  crucified. 
This  they  could  not  or  would  not  understand ;  but — perhaps 
led  into  earthly  hopes  of  a  speedily  coming  Messianic  splendour 
— James  and  John,  with  their  mother  Salome,  chose  this  most 
inopportune  moment  to  ask  for  thrones  on  His  right  hand  and 
His  left  hand  in  His  kingdom.  This  gave  Him  the  opportunity 
to  impress  yet  more  deeply  on  the  minds  of  the  throne-seekers, 
and  of  the  Apostles  who  were  indignant  with  them  for  their  for- 
wardness, the  eternal  rewards  of  humility  and  love. 

So  they  advanced  to  the  environs  of  Jericho,  the  city  of  roses 
and  palms  and  balsam  gardens.     Here  Jesus  healed  blind  Bar- 

*Ephri»m  is,  perhaps,  Et  Taiyibeh,  twenty  miles  from  Jerusalem,  not  far 
from  Bethel,  called  Ophrah  in  Josh,  xviii.  23  ;  2  Chron.  xiii.  19  ;  i  Sam.  xiii. 
17,  iv.  9  (Robinson,  Bibl.  Researches,  i.  444). 


354  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

timaeus,  and  with  a  few  words  of  mercy  transformed  Zacchaeus 
from  a  greedy  publican  into  a  true  and  generous  son  of  Abra- 
ham. During  the  progress  towards  Bethany  the  sight  of  the 
splendid  Herodian  palace  built  by  Archelaus  led  Him,  as  we 
have  seen,  to  weave  some  incidents  in  the  history  of  that  worth- 
less tyrant  into  the  Parable  of  the  Pounds. 


CHAPTER  XXXIII. 

THE   CLOSING   DAYS. 

"  Greater  love  hath  no  man  than  this,  that  a  man  lay  down  his  life  for 
his  friends." — John  xv.  13. 

The  records  which  follow  the  arrival  of  Christ  at  Bethany- 
are  devoted  to  the  history  of  the  closing  scenes  in  the  life  of 
Christ,  which  occupy  so  large  a  space  in  the  collective  records  of 
the  Gospels. 

Jesus  and  His  Apostles,  escorted  by  large  numbers  of  Gali- 
lean pilgrims,  reached  Bethany  probably  on  the  evening  of 
Thursday,  Nisan  7,  or  Friday,  Nisan  8  (March  31,  a.  d.  30), 
six  days  before  the  beginning  of  the  Passover.*  He  spent  the 
Sabbath  in  quiet,  and  in  the  evening  they  made  Him  a  supper, 
at  which  Mary  anointed  His  head  and  feet  with  the  precious 
spikenard,  which  she  had  perhaps  reserved  from  her  brother's 
funeral.  Jesus  protected  her  from  the  murmurs  of  the  disciples 
who,  instigated  by  Judas,  denounced  this  act  of  loving  gener- 
osity as  a  meaningless  waste. 

How  marvellously  has  His  promise  been  fulfilled,  that  the 
act  of  love  performed  at  a  humble  feast  in  an  obscure  Judjean 
village  should  be  commemorated  ever  afterwards  through  all 
the  world !  We  may  say  of  Mary  of  Bethany,  "  Because  of  the 
perfume  of  thy  sweet  ointments  thv  name  is  as  ointment  poured 
forth." 

This,  as  I  have  said,  was  the  turning-point  in  the  career  of 
Judas,  because  it  goaded  into  terrible  force  his  besetting  sin. 
Obviously  his  chances  of  gain  were  over,  for  Jesus  spoke  of 

*  Nothing  certain  can  be  affirmed  as  to  the  exact  date.  It  has  already  been 
shown  that  those  who  have  examined  the  chronology  with  the  minutest  care 
have  arrived  at  widely  different  conclusions.  It  forms  no  part  of  my  object  in 
this  book  to  enter  into  minute  discussions  of  uncertainties, 

355 


356  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

His  approaching"  burial,  and  this  was  the  death-blow  to  all  pos- 
sibility of  earthly  Messianic  hopes.  Thus  did  "  the  tempting 
opportunity  "  meet  "  the  susceptible  disposition." 

It  was  on  the  next  day — Palm  Sunday — that  Jesus,  mounted 
on  the  ass's  colt,  rode  in  the  humble  procession  of  which  the 
exultant  joy  was  over-shadowed  when  He  paused  at  the  turn- 
ing of  the  road  to  wail  aloud  over  Jerusalem  and  its  coming 
doom.  Once  more  He  cleansed  the  Temple  courts  of  the  noisy 
traffickers ;  *  defended  the  Levitic  choir  boys,  with  whose  Ho- 
sannas  the  Pharisees  were  displeased ;  and  probably  admitted 
to  an  interview  the  Greeks  who  had  gone  to  Philip  desiring  to 
see  Him.  Then  He  heard,  for  the  third  time,  the  Voice  from 
Heaven,  which  uplifted  and  cheered  His  soul.f  He  explained 
its  significance  to  the  people  who  did  not  dare  to  confess  Him, 
because  to  do  so  was  to  face  the  ban  of  the  Sanhedrin.  In  the 
evening  He  left  the  Holy  City,  and  went  to  bivouac  with  His 
disciples  somewhere  under  the  shadows  of  the  Mount  of  Olives. 

The  Monday  of  Passion  week  was  a  day  of  parables.  In  the 
morning  took  place  the  acted  parable  of  the  barren  fig-tree.  He 
met  the  challenge  of  the  Priests  as  to  His  authority  by  His 
counter-question  as  to  the  mission  of  John,  and  during  the 
course  of  the  day  addressed  to  the  listening  multitudes  the  Par- 
ables of  the  Two  Sons ;  of  the  Rebellious  Husbandmen ;  of  the 
Rejected  Corner-stone;  and  of  the  Marriage  of  the  King's  Son. 
The  obvious  import  of  these  parables  filled  His  enemies  with 
madness,  and  they  would  gladly  have  seized  Him  then  and  there; 
but  they  were  still  afraid  of  the  multitude,  and  Jesus  once  more 
retired  unmolested  to  the  Mount  of  Olives. 

The  next  day  (Tuesday  in  Passion  week)  was  the  day  of 
temptations — the  last,  and  in  some  respects  the  most  memora- 
ble, day  in  the  earthly  ministry  of  Christ.  On  the  previous 
evening  various  machinations,  in  the  form  of  dangerous  and 
entangling  questions,  had  been  secretly  contrived  against  Him 

*  See  Zech.  xiv.  2i,  where  the  Targum  of  Jonathan  reads,  "  There  shall  be 
no  more  the  trader  in  the  House  of  the  Lord," 

f  At  His  Baptism,  Matt.  iii.  17  ;  at  the  Transfiguration,  Matt.  xvii.  5  ;  and 
jiow,  John  xii.  28. 


THE   CLOSING   DAYS.  357 

by  each  main  class  of  His  enemies.  First  came  the  plot  of  the 
Herodians  to  entrap  Him  by  the  question  about  the  lawfulness 
of  paying  tribute  money  to  Caesar.*  Then  followed  the  poor, 
casuistical  question  of  the  Sadducees  about  the  seven-fold 
widow.  The  sovereign  wisdom  with  which  He  defeated  these 
subtle  conspiracies,  and  the  divine  lessons  which  He  appended 
to  His  demonstration  of  the  errors  of  His  enemies,  won  the 
admiration  even  of  some  of  the  Scribes.  One  of  them,  how- 
ever, wishing  to  test  Him  further,  asked  Him  the  common 
Rabbinic  question :  "  Master,  which  is  the  great  command- 
ment of  the  Law?"  Our  Lord  needed  only  to  remind  the 
questioner  of  the  passages  transcribed  in  his  own  phylacteries, 
which  summed  up  the  whole  essence  of  the  Law  in  love  to 
God  and  love  to  our  neighbour.  The  Scribe  so  fully  acknowl- 
edged the  justice  and  wisdom  of  the  answer  that  Jesus  said 
to  him :    "  Thou  are  not  far  from  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven." 

But  now,  to  show  the  Pharisees  how  little  they  were  en- 
dowed with  wisdom,  He  convicted  them  of  being  "  blind  leaders 
of  the  blind,"  by  exposing  their  inability  to  answer  the  ques- 
tion, "  How  He  whom  David  called  his  Lord  could  be  his 
Son?"  And  then,  "since  Love  had  played  her  part  in  vain. 
Vengeance  leaped  upon  the  stage,"  and  He  uttered  against  the 
Scribes  and  Pharisees,  hypocrites.  His  eight-fold  "  woe."  His 
spirit  must  have  been  terribly  agitated  by  hours  of  such  man- 
ifold excitement,  but  the  last  incident  and  the  last  words  in  the 
Temple  were  peaceful.  He  saw  the  rich  ostentatiously  casting 
their  ofterings  into  the  Shopharoth,  or  trumpet-shaped  alms- 
boxes, f  and  among  them  came  one  poor  widow  who  had  noth- 
ing to  give  but  two  mites,  which  make  one  farthing.  This,  He 
said,  was  the  true  charity,  for  out  of  her  penury  she  "  had  cast 
in  all  that  she  had." 

After  this  He  left  the  Temple ;  and  when  the  disciples  called 
His  attention  to  its  stateliness  and  splendour,  He  prophesied 

*  It  is  probable  that  the  Roman  poll-tax  could  only  be  paid  in  denarii,  which 
were  current  in  Palestine  (Matt.  xx.  2),  and  this  was  a  decisive  proof  that  the 
land  acknowledged  Csesar  as  its  ruler. 

\Yoma,  f.  55,  2. 


358  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

that  not  one  stone  of  it  should  be  left  upon  another.  As  they 
sat  on  the  Mount  of  Olives  they  asked  Him,  "  When  shall  these 
things  be,  and  what  shall  be  the  sign  of  Thy  coming,  and  of 
the  end  of  the  world  ?  "  In  answer  to  this  question  He  delivered 
His  great  eschatological  discourse,  dealing  first  with  the  de- 
struction of  Jerusalem,  and  the  awful  catastrophes  with  which 
the  Old  Dispensation  should  come  to  an  end,  and  glancing  be- 
yond it  to  the  close  of  "  the  coming  age,"  and  the  final  end  of 
the  world.  To  deepen  their  sense  of  the  need  of  watchfulness, 
He  told  them  the  exquisite  Parables  of  the  Ten  Virgins  and  of 
the  Talents,  and  ended  by  warning  them  that  "  after  two  days 
was  the  Passover,  and  the  Son  of  Man  is  betrayed  to  be  cruci- 
fied." Such  were  the  thoughts  which  occupied  our  Lord  and 
His  disciples  on  that  last  sad  walk  towards  Bethany. 

The  Wednesday  in  Passion  week  was  evidently  spent  by  our 
Lord  in  seclusion  from  the  world,  in  company  with  His  chosen 
•Apostles.  Alike  His  friends  and  His  enemies  may  have  ex- 
pected to  see  Him  as  usual  teacliing  in  the  Temple  courts,  and 
doubtless  the  Priests  and  Sadducees  had  hatched  fresh  plots 
of  their  own,  in  conjunction  with  Judas.  But  Jesus  came  not. 
It  was  necessary  for  Him  to  prepare  His  soul  for  the  awful 
baptism  of  blood ;  and  doubtless  He  rejoiced  to  be  for  one  day 
at  peace,  unassailed  by  the  tempting  questions  and  subtly  dan- 
gerous malignities  of  priestly  hypocrites.  Who  can  say  what 
infinite  peace  and  refreshment  He  gained  from  that  day  of  holy 
intercourse  with  His  Father  in  Heaven,  and  in  the  society  of 
those  whom  He  could  trust  and  love? 

On  the  morning  of  Thursday — "  Green  Thursday,"  as  it 
used  to  be  called — His  disciples  asked  Him  where  they  should 
prepare  for  Him  the  Paschal  Feast,  and  He  gave  them  a  secret 
and  mysterious  sign  which  would  lead  them  to  the  house  (as 
has  been  conjectured)  of  the  father  of  St.  Mark,  who  was 
probably  a  secret  disciple.  Thither  they  would  go  after  sunset, 
when  the  shadows  of  the  evening  began  to  fall ;  and  there  (so 
far  as  they  knew  and  expected)  after  the  evening  meal  of  that 
day — known  as  the  CJwgigah,  or  "  Thanksgiving,"  to  which 
a  quasi-Paschal  character  was  given — they  could  the  next  day 


THE    CLOSING   DAYS.  359 

eat  of  the  real  Passover,  and  sacrifice  the  Paschal  Lamb.*  But 
it  was  not  so  to  be.  It  was  written  in  the  decrees  of  Eternal 
Providence  that  our  Lord  was  not  to  eat  the  Paschal  Lamb, 
but  Himself  to  be  sacrificed,  "  that  the  reality  might  correspond 
to  the  figure,  and  the  true  Lamb  might  be  slain  on  the  same 
day  as  the  lamb  which  was  His  antitype."  f 

*  "  May  we  not  then  suppose  that  the  preparation,  which  the  disciples  may 
have  destined  for  the  next  day,  was  made  the  preparation  for  an  immediate 
meal,  7vhich  became  the  Paschal  meal  of  that  year  when  the  events  of  the 
following  morning  rendered  the  regular  Passover  impossible.^' — Westcott, 
Introd.,  p.  344. 

•j-  Maldonatus.  Comp.  i  Cor.  v.  7,  xi.  23.  I  have  entered  fully  elsewhere 
(see  Exc.  X.  in  my  Life  of  Christ)  into  the  question  whether  the  Last  Supper 
was  the  real  Paschal  meal  or  only  an  anticipated  Passover  to  which  our  Lord 
knowing  the  doom  which  immediately  hung  over  Him,  gave  a  quasi-Paschal 
character.  The  Chronicon  Paschale  says  distinctly,  "  He  did  not  eat  the 
Paschal  Lamb,  but  was  Himself  the  Genuine  Lamb."  Additional  and 
repeated  study  convinces  me  that — as  seems  to  be  so  indubitably  indicated  by 
St.  John  (xviii.  28,  xix.  14,  31,  42) — it  was  not  the  Passover  that  was  eaten  on 
the  night  previous  to  that  feast ;  and  that  the  allusions  of  the  Synoptists,  which 
seem  to  indicate  that  it  was  the  Passover,  are  partly  due  to  certain  Jewish  cus- 
toms and  expressions  and  partly  counterbalanced  by  other  indications  (Mark 
XV.,  21,  46;  Luke  xxii.  52,  55,  xxiii.  26,  56).  Each  of  the  Evangelists  says 
that  our  Lord  suffered  on  the  day  which  they  call  "  a"  or  "  the  Preparation  " 
(napaaKEVTj,  Matt,  xxvii.  62  ;  Mark  xv.  42  ;  Luke  xxiii.  54  ;  John  xix.  31),  and 
the  word  Paraskeue  undoubtedly  means  "  Friday,"  which  in  that  year  was  the 
day  on  the  evening  of  which  the  actual  Passover  was  observed,  as  St.  John 
expressly  says  (xix.  14  :  comp.  xix.  38,  42)  ;  and  with  this,  Jewish  tradition 
agrees.  Moreover,  "  early  Christian  tradition  is  almost  unanimous  in  fixing 
the  Crucifixion  on  Nisan  14,  and  in  distinguishing  the  Last  Supper  from  the 
Legal  Passover"  (Routh,  Rell.  Sacr.  i.  168  ;  Westcott,  Lntrod.  to  the  Gospels, 
p.  343).  For  many  more  proofs  of  the  position  I  have  taken  I  may  refer  to 
my  Life  of  Christ, 


CHAPTER  XXXIV. 


THE    LAST    SUPPER. 


"  No  longer  do  I  call  you  servants  .  .  .  but  I  have  called  you 
friends." — John  xv.  15. 

On  that  Thursday  evening  they  met  in  the  upper  room — 
probably  the  same  which  was  afterwards  the  scene  of  Pente- 
cost. To  us  it  might  seem  almost  incredible  that,  when  they 
began  to  recline  for  the  feast,  a  dispute  should  arise  among  the 
Apostles  about  precedence.  We  can  only  account  for  it  by  the 
fact  that,  though  a  deep  gloom  seemed  to  overshadow  them, 
because  they  were  all  conscious  that  some  awful  crisis  was  at 
hand,  they  yet  cherished  the  conviction  that,  however  that  crisis 
might  end  for  the  moment,  it  could  not  but  finally  issue  in  that 
promised  glory  when,  in  figurative  language,  they  should  sit 
on  twelve  thrones  judging  the  Twelve  Tribes  of  Israel.  Per- 
haps with  the  more  reprehensible  self-seeking  was  mingled  a 
longing,  in  the  heart  of  each  of  them,  to  be  as  near  as  possible 
to  his  Lord.  But  Jesus  rebuked  their  murmured  jealousies  by 
the  loveliest  of  acted  parables.  "  Though  He  knew  that  the 
Father  had  given  all  things  into  His  hands,  and  that  He  came 
from  God,  and  was  going  to  God,"  He  arose  from  supper,  and, 
"  taking  upon  Him  the  form  of  a  slave,"  laid  aside  His  upper 
garments,  the  simchah  and  cetoneth,  girt  Himself  round  the 
waist  with  a  slave's  apron,  and  kneeling  down  began  without 
a  word  to  wash  His  disciples'  feet,  and  wipe  them  with  the 
towel  wherewith  He  was  girded.  He  washed — oh,  unfathomable 
love  and  compassion ! — even  the  traitor's  feet ;  and  explained 
to  the  impetuous  Peter  that  if  He  washed  not  his  feet,  he  had 

360 


THE    LAST   SUPPER.  361 

no  share  in  Him,*  but  that  "  he  that  hath  been  bathed  needeth 
not  save  to  wash  his  feet."  f 

The  story  of  that  Last  Supper  is  one  of  the  divinest  and  most 
tender  of  all  human  records.  Pages  of  more  moving  and  ex- 
quisite instructiveness  were  never  written  than  St.  John's  nar- 
rative of  its  incidents,  and  of  those  discourses  "  so  rarely  mixed 
of  sorrows  and  joys,  and  studded  with  mysteries  as  with 
emeralds."  The  declaration  that  one  of  them  should  betray 
Him ;  the  eager,  passionate  questions,  "  Lord,  is  it  I  ?  "  fol- 
lowed by  the  cold,  formal  "  Is  it  I,  Rabbi?"  of  the  betrayer; 
the  whispered  questions  of  Peter  to  John ;  the  quick  change 
of  attitude  of  the  young  disciple  whom  Jesus  loved,  and  who 
was  at  the  right  of  Jesus,  reclining  with  his  head  upon  His 
breast ;  i.  the  giving  of  the  sop  to  Judas,  and  his  stepping  forth 
into  the  night — were  incidents  which  occurred  in  quick  suc- 
cession. No  sooner  was  Judas  gone  than  the  spirits  of  all  the 
little  band  seemed  to  be  freed  from  a  terrible  incubus.  Calling 
them  His  "  little  children,"  §  Jesus  founded  the  Lord's  Supper 
as  a  continual  memorial  of  His  death  and  passion  by  a  par- 
ticipation in  what  St.  Paul  calls  "  spiritual  food  "  and  "  spiritual 
drink."  Then  He  began  to  give  them  His  last  revelations.  He 
bade  them  love  one  another ;  and  trust  in  his  and  His  Father's 
ever-present  love.||  He  assured  them  that  by  His  Holy  Spirit 
He  would  be  with  them  always,  "  even  to  the  end  of  the  world." 
The  golden  stream  of  His  utterance  was  broken  by  an  occa- 
sional question  from  one  or  other  of  the  disciples.     "  Lord, 

*  How  powerfully  this  act  of  lowliness  affected  the  mind  of  St.  Peter  we  see 
from  his  indirect  reference  to  it  many  years  later,  in  the  words,  syKofipucaaQe 
Ttjv  Taneivo(ppoavvr}v,  Tie  humility  of  mind  round  you  like  a  slave's  api'on  fastened 
with  knots  {Komboma),  i  Pet.  v.  5.     Kdfi^og  means  "  a  band,"  or  "  girth." 

\  John  xiii.  10. 

:j:John  xiii.  22,  25.  As  the  guests  rested  at  table  on  the  left  arm,  John's 
head  would  rest  on  Christ's  robe  ;  and  when  he  suddenly  moved  to  speak  to 
Jesus,  his  head  was  touching  Christ's  breast. 

§  TsKvla.     Only  in  John  xiii.  33.     In  xxi.  5  it  is  TvaiSia. 

\  John  xiii.  34,  xiv.  21.  Judas  seems  to  have  been  present  at  the  distribu- 
tion of  the  bread  (Luke  xxii.  19),  but  not  (perhaps)  at  the  blessing  of  the 
sacramental  cup. 


362  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

whither  goest  thou?"  asked  St.  Peter,  and  "Why  cannot  I 
follow  Thee  now  ?  "  *  and  in  answer  he  received  a  warning 
of  the  deepest  solemnity,  yet  also  of  the  most  loving  tender- 
ness. To  the  last  the  Apostles  often  mistook  the  real  force  of 
His  words,  as  they  showed  by  the  ignorant  literalism  of  their 
remark,  "  Lord,  here  are  two  swords."  "  Lord,  we  know  not 
whither  Thou  goest,  and  how  can  we  know  the  way?  "  asked  the 
perplexed  and  despondent  Thomas. t  "  Lord,  show  us  the 
Father,  and  it  sufficeth  us,"  said  Philip. |  Judas  Lebbaeus 
evinced  his  perplexity  by  the  question,  "  Lord,  how  it  is  that 
Thou  wilt  manifest  Thyself  unto  us,  and  not  unto  the  world?  "§ 
When  the  Lord  had  answered  these  questions,  and  dwelt  on 
the  further  thoughts  which  they  suggested,  He  said,  "  Arise, 
let  us  go  hence."  Before  starting  they  joined  in  singing  a 
hymn,  probably  a  part  of  the  Great  Hallel  (Ps.  136).  Per- 
haps the  allegory  of  the  True  Vine  was  spoken  on  the  way  to 
the  Kidron,  and  suggested  by  the  vineyards  through  which  they 
were  passing;  or,  as  some  conjecture,  the  little  band  went  to 
the  Temple,  which  at  the  Passover  was  opened  at  midnight,  and 
the  allegory  may  have  been  pointed  by  the  sight  of  the  Golden 
Vine  over  the  Temple  door.  After  speaking  to  them  of  union 
with  Him,  and  of  the  Promised  Comforter,  and  of  the  issue  of 
sorrow  in  joy  and  of  defeat  in  victory.  He  received  the  expres- 
sion of  their  earnest  thankfulness.  At  first  they  could  not  un- 
derstand all  He  said,  and  were  afraid  to  ask  Him;  but  as  He 
clothed  His  revelations  in  clearer  and  clearer  form,  He  called 
forth  their  gratitude  in  the  words,  "  Lord,  now  speakest  Thou 
plainly,  and  speakest  no  proverb.  Now  know  we  that  Thou 
knowest  all  things,  and  needest  not  that  any  man  should  ask 
Thee;  by  this  we  believe  that  Thou  camest  forth  from  God." 
Alas !  did  they  indeed  now  believe  ?  He  asked.  The  hour  was 
close  at  hand  when  they  should  all  abandon  Him.  Yet  He  had 
spoken  to  them  that  in  Him  they  might  have  peace,  and  though 
in  the  world  they  should  have  tribulations,  let  them  be  of  good 
cheer,  for  He  had  overcome  the  world. 

*John  xiii.  36-38.  f  John  xiv.  5-7. 

X  John  xiv.  8-14.  §  John  xiv.  22-24. 


THE    LAST   SUPPER.  363 

Then  Jesus  lifted  up  His  eyes  to  heaven,  and  uttered  the 
great  High-Priestly  prayer  for  Himself,  and  His  loved  ones, 
and  for  all  who  should  believe  through  their  word.  After  that 
they  walked  on  under  the  moonlight,  and  followed  Him  under 
the  moonlit-silvered  leaves  of  the  olives  with  an  awful  dread 
brooding  over  their  spirits,  as  He  walked  before  them  with 
bowed  head  on  the  way  to  the  Garden  of  Gethsemane.* 

*  Luke   xxii.  39,   40,  roTrof ;  John  xviii.    i,  /c^Trof;  Matt.  xxvi.  36,   ;twp/ov. 
Gethsemane  means  "  oil-press." 


CHAPTER   XXXV. 

GETHSEMANE, 

"  Is  it  nothing  to  you,  all  ye  that  pass  by  ?     Behold  and  see  if  there 
be  any  sorrow  like  unto  my  sorrow." — Lam.  i.  12. 

And  now  the  night  deepened,  and  Jesus  knew  that  the  awful 
hour  was  close  at  hand.  He  told  the  majority  of  the  Apostles 
to  sit  down  in  the  garden  while  He  Himself  withdrew  for 
prayer.  They  sank  into  sleep,  weary  with  the  burdens  and  trials 
of  the  day ;  but  He  had  slept  His  last  sleep  on  earth.  He  took 
with  Him  the  three  nearest  and  dearest  of  His  chosen  followers 
— Peter  and  James  and  John — because  His  awfully  agitated  hu- 
man spirit  felt  in  that  supreme  hour  the  need  for  human  sym- 
pathy. He  bade  them  to  watch  and  pray  for  Him.  But  now 
the  flood-tide  of  unspeakable  anguish  began  to  roll  its  waves 
over  His  soul.  Even  the  presence  of  the  three  was  more  than 
He  could  bear,  and,  telling  them  that  His  soul  was  very  heavy, 
even  unto  death,  He  tore  Himself  away  from  them,  and  again 
urging  them  to  watch  and  pray,  went  about  a  stone's  throw 
from  them,  and  falling  upon  His  knees,  and  then  upon  His 
face,  prayed  in  an  awful  intensity  of  suffering  that,  if  it  were 
His  Father's  will,  the  cup  might  pass  from  Him.  And  in  the 
passion  of  His  emotion  the  sweat  poured  down  from  His  up- 
lifted countenance  as  in  great  gouts  of  blood.*  Thrice  He 
prayed  thus,  and  thrice  going  back  to  the  most  chosen  of  His 
chosen.  He  found  them  sleeping  from  grief  and  utter  weari- 
ness. He  might  have  cried  in  the  words  of  the  Psalmist :  "  Thy 
rebuke  hath  broken  My  heart,  I  am  full  of  heaviness ;  I  looked 

*  It  should,  however,  be  noticed  that  the  verse  about  the  "bloodlike  sweat  " 
and  the  angel  (Luke  xxii.  43,  44)  are  not  certainly  genuine,  since  they  are  not 
found  in  MSS.  X  A,  B,  etc.  They  are  doubly  bracketed  in  Westcott  and 
Hort's  New  Testament. 

364 


GETHSEMANE.  365 

for  some  to  have  pity  upon  Me,  but  there  was  no  man ;  neither 
found  I  any  to  comfort  Me."  An  angel  from  heaven  strength- 
ened Him.  Ere  long  the  pov^er  of  His  willing  self-sacrifice,  of 
His  absolute  acquiescence  in  His  Heavenly  Father's  will,  won 
the  complete  and  final  victory  over  the  tornadoes  of  His  agony, 
and  when  He  returned  to  His  disciples  it  was  to  tell  them,  with 
a  perfect  and  untroubled  calm,  which  remained  undisturbed 
until  the  end,  that  now  His  hour  had  come,  and  the  betrayer 
was  at  hand. 

The  light  of  many  torches  and  lanterns  began  to  twinkle 
through  the  olive  grove ;  the  tramp  of  soldiers  echoed  along  the 
rocky  paths ;  there  was  a  clank  of  swords  and  of  armour,  and 
the  hoarse  murmur  of  an  advancing  crowd.  Judas  had  dis- 
covered where  He  was ;  the  High  Priest  had  ordered  the  at- 
tendance of  the  Captain  of  the  Temple  *  and  his  myrmidons ; 
Pilate — warned  that  there  might  be  a  tumult — had  lent  some  of 
his  soldiers  from  Fort  Antonia,  under  their  Chiliarch  or  Trib- 
une.! They  were  now  near  at  hand — both  Jews  and  Gentiles. 
Judas  hurried  forward  with  the  words,  *'  Rabbi,  Rabbi !  "  % 
and  saluted  Jesus  with  fervent  and  over-acted  kisses.  "  Com- 
rade ! "  said  Jesus  sternly ;  "  that  for  which  thou  art 
come  .  .  ."  §  Then  followed  the  rash  blow  of  Peter;  the 
supernatural  terror  of  the  crowd ;  the  seizing,  the  binding,  and 
leading  away  of  Jesus ;  ||  the  flight  of  all  His  disciples,  and  of 
the  young  man — probably  St.  Mark — who  fled  away  naked 
when  the  captors  took  hold  of  the  sindon  which  he  had  thrown 
loosely  over  his  shoulders. 

But  Jesus  had  won  His  final  triumph  over  the  hour  and 
power  of  darkness.    He  had  only  a  few  more  hours  to  live,  but 

*  Known  as  the  Ish  har  ha-Beit,  "  the  man  of  the  mount  of  the  house,"  or 
Sar  ha-birah  (2  Mace.  iii.  4). 

•j-  If  anelpa  means  "  a  maniple,"  that  was  200  men,  the  third  part  of  a  cohort. 
But  probably  the  word  is  used  quite  generally. 

X  Mark  xiv.  45. 

§  Matt.  xxvi.  50,  kraipe,  "companion";  not  (pike,  "friend."  The  sentence, 
£(f  b  napei  .  .  .  seems  to  be  left  unfinished.  It  does  not  seem  to  be  %. 
question. 

I  John  alone  mentions  the  binding  (John  xviii.  12). 


366  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

from  this  moment  no  brutalism  of  insult,  no  refinement  of 
mockery,  no  outburst  of  rage  and  scorn,  no  complication  of  tor- 
ture and  agony,  ruffled  for  one  instant  the  divine  serenity  of 
that  majesty  which,  in  spite  of  themselves,  sensibly  overawed 
and  impressed  even  the  most  recklessly  unscrupulous  of  His 
enemies.  The  complicated  intensities  of  His  sufferings  only 
served  to  bring  into  more  supernatural  lustre  the  unapproach- 
able brightness  of  His  glory. 


CHAPTER  XXXVI. 

THE  TRIALS   BEFORE  THE  JEWS. 

"  I  gave  My  back  to  the  smiters,  and  My  cheeks  to  them  that  plucked 
off  the  hair ;  I  hid  not  My  face  from  shame  and  spitting." — Is.  1.  i6. 

"  It  cannot  be  that  a  Prophet  perish  out  of  Jerusalem," — Luke 
xiii.  33. 

I  HAVE,  elsewhere,  minutely  followed  and  endeavoured  to  il- 
lustrate, from  history  and  from  other  sources,  the  full  and  four- 
fold narratives  of  the  Gospels  respecting  the  various  phases  of 
the  trials  of  Christ  before  the  High  Priests  and  Sanhedrin,  and 
before  the  Roman  Procurator.  I  shall  here  only  endeavour  to 
summarise  and  to  point  the  significance  of  the  events  recorded. 

We  are  struck  first  with  the  monstrous  illegality  of  the  mock 
trials  as  they  were  carried  out  by  Annas  and  Caiaphas  and  the 
chief  Priests,  by  the  Sudducean  priestly  party  in  general,  and 
by  the  Pharisees,  who,  though  they  no  longer  took  a  prominent 
part  in  the  proceedings,  yet  must  have  consented  to  them,  since 
they,  at  this  time,  constituted  the  majority  of  the  Sanhedrin.* 
We  know  of  two  only — Nicodemus  and  Joseph  of  Arimathaea 
— "  who  had  not  consented  to  the  will  and  deed  of  them."  Even 
Rabban  Gamaliel,  the  famous  grandson  of  the  great  Hillel,  must 
have  been  among  those  who  allowed  complicated  irregularities 
to  proceed  without  any  public  protest  against  them. 

One  of  the  awful  warnings  to  be  derived  from  this  most  ter- 
rible event  in  the  history  of  mankind  is  the  blindness,  the  van- 
ity, the  capability  of  unutterable  wickedness  which  may  co-exist 
with  the  pretentious  scrupulosities  of  an  external  religionism. 
The  Priests  and  Pharisees  had  sunk  into  hypocrisy  so  deep  and 
habitual  that  it  had  become  half-unconscious,  because  it  had 

*  Hence  we  read  in  John  xi.  47  that  "  the  chief  Priests  and  the  Pharisees'^ 
gathered  the  Council  at  which  it  was  decided  to  put  Him  to  death. 

367 


368  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

narcotised  and  all  but  paralysed  the  moral  sense.  They  were 
infinitely  i)articular  about  peddling  littlenesses,  but,  with  a  hid- 
eous cruelty  and  a  hateful  indifference  to  all  their  highest  duties 
to  God  and  man,  they  murdered  on  false  charges  the  Lord  of 
Glory.  A  vile  self-interest — the  determination  at  all  costs  to 
maintain  their  own  prerogatives,  and  to  prevent  all  questioning 
of  their  own  traditional  system — had  swallowed  up  every  other 
consideration  in  the  minds  of  men  whose  very  religion  had  be- 
come a  thing  of  rites  and  ceremonies,  and  had  lost  all  power  to 
touch  the  heart,  or  to  inspire  the  moral  sense.  "  The  religion  of 
Israel,"  it  has  been  said,  "  falsified  by  priests,  perverted  from 
the  service  of  the  Living  God  into  a  sensuous  worship — where 
the  symbol  superseded  the  reality,  the  Temple  over-shadowed 
the  God,  and  the  hierarchy  supplanted  His  law — could  find  no 
love  in  its  heart,  no  reverence  in  its  will,  for  the  holiest  Person 
of  its  race ;  met  Him  not  as  the  fruition  of  its  hopes,  and  the 
end  of  its  being,  but  as  the  last  calamity  of  its  life,  a  Being 
who  must  perish  that  it  might  live."  * 

How  many  of  the  nominal  Pontiffs  who,  at  the  will  of  the 
Romans  and  the  Herods,  had  "  passed  the  chair  "  of  the  High 
Priesthood,  and  may  have  taken  part  in  the  trial  of  Jesus, 
we  do  not  know.f  Besides  Annas  and  Caiaphas,  there  may 
have  been  present  Ishmael  ben  Phabi;  Eleazar  (a  son  of  An- 
nas) ;  Simon  ben  Kamhith ;  and  of  those  who  subsequently  be- 
came High  Priests,  Jonathan,  Theophilus,  and  Matthias  (sons 
of  Annas),  Simon  Kantheras,  Joseph  ben  Kamhith,  and  others. 
Even  among  the  Jews,  as  we  have  already  seen  from  the  Tal- 
mud, the  names  of  these  worldly  and  avaricious  Pontiffs  were 
held  in  detestation. 

Annas  and  his  son-in-law,  Caiaphas,  were  the  leading  spirits 
in  this  evil  conclave.  Josephus,  in  one  passage,  calls  Annas 
the  most  fortunate  of  men  because  "  he  had  five  sons  who  had 

*Fairbairn,  Studies,  p.  307. 

f  Josephus  tells  us  {Anlt.  xx.  10,  i)  that  there  had  been  twenty-eight  of  these 
avaricious,  simoniacal,  and  unworthy  desecrators  of  the  priesthood  in  100 
years. 


THE   TRIALS    BEFORE   THE   JEWS.     369 

all  held  the  office  of  High  Priest,*  as  well  as  Caiaphas,  his  son- 
in-law."  t 

He  had  been  appointed  High  Priest  a.  d.  6  by  Quirinius, 
and  deposed  in  a.  d.  15  by  Valerius  Gratus.  His  youngest  son, 
Annas  the  second,  was  the  murderer  of  James,  the  Lord's 
brother.  For  this  crime — impudently  committed  during  the 
interregnum  between  two  procuratorships — Albinius  deposed 
him.  Later  on,  the  long-delayed  vengeance  fell  on  him.  Dur- 
ing the  Jewish  war  the  house  of  Annas  was  destroyed  by  a  fu- 
rious mob,  this  last  son  of  the  house  was  scourged  and  beaten 
to  his  place  of  murder,  and  his  dead  body  flung  out  naked  to 
be  the  food  of  dogs  and  wild  beasts.J 

The  name  of  Hanan  (Annas)  means  "  merciful  " — the  exact 
opposite  of  the  man's  real  nature.  The  High  Priest  who  bore  it 
has  left  a  disastrous  record  of  himself  and  his  family.  The 
Sadducees  as  a  body  were  notorious  for  their  cruel  severity,  and 
this  family  was  among  the  worst.§  Though  now  an  old  man, 
Annas  was  an  astute,  avaricious  worldling.  j|  Josephus  tells  us 
that  there  was,  in  this  age,  a  sedition  between  the  High  Priests 
and  the  chief  leaders  of  the  people.  Each  party  had  violent  ad- 
herents who  often  interchanged  not  only  reproachful  words,  but 
showers  of  stones,  and  produced  an  epoch  of  misrule  in  Jerusa- 
lem. "  And  such,"  he  says,  "  was  the  impudence  and  boldness 
that  had  seized  on  the  High  Priests,  that  they  had  the  hardness 
to  send  their  servants  to  the  threshing  floors  to  seize  tithes  due 
to  priests,  so  that  the  poorer  sort  of  priests  died  for  want."  If 
the  priests  resisted,  they  beat  them.lj     Besides  these  acts  of  au- 

*0n  Annas  see  Jos.,  Antt.  xx.  9,  i.  His  sons  were;  Eleazar  A.  D.  16  ; 
Jonathan  A.  D.  36  ;  Theophilus  A.  D,  37  ;  Matthias  A.  D.  42-43  ;  Annas  the 
younger  A.  D.  62. 

f  Joseph  Caiaphas  (another  form  of  Cephas)  A.  D.  18-36.  He  was  deposed 
by  Vitellius  A.  D.  37.     He  continued  to  persecute  Christians  (Acts  iv,  6), 

tjos.  B.J.  iv.  5,  2. 

§  Jos.  Antt.  XX.  g,  i.  Trept  rdf  Kpiaeig  ufiol  napa  navrag  roiig  'lovdaiovg  (speak- 
ing of  the  trial  of  James).  Josephus  also  calls  them  anTjvelq  Koi  ovk  avEKTol 
TzTiifiecLV  {Antt.  xviii.  i,  4).  He  speaks  of  the  son  of  Annas,  who  executed 
James,  as  unnsually  audacious  and  turbulent  {Antt.  xx.  9,  1). 

I  Antt.  XX.  viii.  8.     Josephus  calls  him  Ananus.  ^Antt.  xx.  9,  2. 


370  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

dacious  tyranny,  the  members  of  the  house  of  Annas  were  uni- 
versally condemned  for  g^reed.*  Wealthy  as  they  were,  they 
had  set  up  four  booths  {Chaniiyoth)  on  the  Mount  of  Olives 
for  the  sale  of  materials  for  sacrifice,  and  especially  for  the  sale 
of  doves — the  offerings  of  the  poor — from  which  they  extracted 
great  gain.  It  is  said  that  the  Sanhedrin,  after  ceasing  to  meet 
in  the  Lishcath  Haggacith,  or  "  tlall  of  Square-stones,"  f  used 
to  hold  their  assemblies  in  these  Channyoth,  whence — after  the 
"  booths  "  had  been  destroyed  at  the  time  of  the  murder  of  the 
younger  Annas — they  returned  to  Jerusalem.^  The  house  of 
Annas  as  the  most  influential  Sadducean  and  High-Priestly 
family  was  mainly  responsible  for  the  invasion  of  the  Temple 
courts  by  the  greedy  traffickers  whom  Christ  drove  forth  both 
at  the  beginning  and  at  the  end  of  His  ministry. 

I. THE   TRIAL    BEFORE   ANNAS. 

It  was  into  the  presence  of  this  cunning  and  powerful  hier- 
arch  that  our  Lord  was  first  taken  after  the  night  arrest.  Al- 
though Annas  had  ceased  to  be  High  Priest  de  facto,  he  was 
still  regarded  by  strict  Jews  as  High  Priest  de  jure,  as  it  was 
only  by  the  Roman  Governor  that  he  had  been  deprived  of  his 
oflfice.  Whether  he  still  held  any  oflficial  position  in  the  Sanhe- 
drin— such  as  Nasi  (in  the  High  Priest's  absence),  or  Chakain, 
or  Ab-beth  Din — is  uncertain,  but  in  any  case  his  influence  was 
predominant,  since  all  the  highest  functions  were  still  carried  on 
by  his  nearest  relatives.  Everything,  therefore,  depended  on 
the  view  which  Annas  would  take,  and  the  course  which  he 
would  approve,  after  his  preliminary  investigation  of  the  charge 
against  Jesus. 

The  minor  details  are  not  narrated  by  the  four  Evangelists 
with  sufficient  precision  to  enable  us  to  arrive  at  certainty ;  but 

*/d.  vii.  8.  f  Sanhedrin,  f.  88,  2. 

X  Rosh  Hashanah,  3,  i,  6  ;  Taanith,  iv.  8.  There  is,  however,  much  uncer- 
tainty about  these  Chauuydth.  Derenbourg  {Palestine,  p.  465)  accepts  tlie 
view  that  they  were  (at  any  rate  originally)  on  the  Mount  of  Olives.  They  are 
said  to  have  been  destroyed  three  years  before  the  Fall  of  Jerusalem,  id.  p. 
468. 


THE    TRIALS    BEFORE    THE   JEWS.     371 

the  majority  of  those  who  have  written  since  the  pubHcation  of 
my  Life  of  Christ  have  come  in  the  main  to  the  same  view 
as  is  there  presented.  Annas,  who  seems  to  be  alluded  to  as 
"  the  High  Priest  "  in  St.  John  xviii.  19/''  asked  Jesus  about 
His  disciples  and  His  doctrine.  In  thus  acting  he  was  adopting 
a  course  which  was  flagrantly  illegal.  He  was  acting  as  a  sole 
Judge,  though  the  Jewish  rule  was,  "  Be  not  a  sole  judge,  for 
there  is  no  sole  judge  but  One  " ;  f  he  was  conducting  a  private 
investigation,  whereas  Hebrew  justice  demanded  the  utmost 
publicity ;  he  was  trying  to  entrap  the  Accused  by  his  own  ad- 
missions, in  spite  of  the  distinct  requirement  that  "  one  man 
shall  not  rise  up  against  a  man  for  any  iniquity."  |  It  was 
against  these  gross  violations  of  the  lav/  that  our  Lord  made 
His  calm  and  majestic  protest,  in  return  for  which  an  insolent 
menial,  unreproved  by  his  vile  superiors,  first  profaned  with 
a  blow  of  his  brutal  hand  the  face  on  which  angels  desire  to 
look.§  From  this  circumstance  Jesus  saw  that  the  whole  pro- 
ceeding was  to  be  one  glaring  travesty  of  justice,  and  to  these 
Jewish  Priests  and  Sanhedrists,  until  adjured  by  the  name  of 
God,  He  uttered  no  further  word.  This  preliminary  examina- 
tion was  probably  held  between  two  and  three  o'clock  at  night. 

II. THE  TRIAL  BEFORE  CAIAPHAS. 

No  law  was  more  stringent  than  the  Jewish  as  to  the  neces- 
sity of  assuming  innocence  until  guilt  was  proved;  yet,  as 
though  Jesus  had  been  a  legally  convicted  criminal,  Annas  sent 
Him  bound  to  Caiaphas.  Another  night  examination,  in  defi- 
ance of  Hebrew  law,  ensued ;  and  it  is  probable  that  Caiaphas 
was  supported  by  at  least  a  committee  of  Sanhedrists. ||  These 
unjust  judges,  instead  of  waiting  till  witnesses  spontaneously 
came  forward,  deliberately  sought  for  witness,  and  even  for 

*  Comp.  John  xviii.  23,  24.  \  Pirqe  Avoth,  iv.  8. 

J  Deut.  xvii.  6,  xix.  15  ;  Num.  xxxv.  30. 

§The  Talmud  complains  of  these  Priests  that  "  their  servants  strike  the  peo- 
ple with  their  rods  "  {Pesachim,  57). 

I  Not  the  "  Sanhedrin  gedolah,"  or  "great  Sanhedrin "  of  70,  but  the 
"  Sanhedrin  kethannah"  or  "  smaller  Sanhedrin  "  of  23. 


372  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

false  zvitncss,  aj^ainst  their  victim.  Yet,  eaj^er  as  they  were  to 
fix  on  Him  some  charge  of  blasphemy,  the  witnesses  broke 
down.  Their  testimony  did  not  agree.  It  was  too  flagrantly 
loose,  discordant,  and  invalid  to  be  used  even  by  men  bent  on 
injustice  and  murder.  At  last  false  witnesses  came  whose  tes- 
timony might  seem  to  be  more  available.  But  the  only  definite 
charge  which  they  could  bring  against  Him  was  the  "  sign  " 
which  He  had  offered  to  His  questioners  in  the  first  year  of 
His  ministry  about  rebuilding  the  Temple  in  three  days.  Some 
witnesses  declared  that  He  had  said,  "  /  will  destroy  this  Tem- 
ple." Others,  that  He  had  said,  "  /  am  able_  to  destroy  this 
Temple."  In  point  of  fact,  He  had  used  neither  of  these  in- 
criminated phrases,  but  had  said,  "  Destroy  ye  this  Temple, 
and  I  will  raise  it  up  in  three  days"  ;  in  other  words.  Consum- 
mate your  work,  and  I  will  accomplish  Mine.'''  No  other  charge 
was  brought  against  Him,  and  justice  was  again  defied,  since 
they  called  no  witnesses  in  His  favour.  Still  the  accusation, 
indirect  as  it  was,  had  broken  down.  Nor  could  they  in  any 
way  establish  the  charge  that  Jesus  was  a  Mesith — a  "  seducer  " 
or  "  misleader  "  of  the  people.  Caiaphas  and  his  party  began  to 
feel  that,  after  all,  their  enemy  might  escape  from  their  clutches, 
in  spite  of  their  determination — in  the  cause,  not  of  right,  but 
of  that  "  expediency  "  which  they  interpreted  to  be  the  main- 
tenance of  their  own  imhallowed  predominance  and  vile  gains 
— to  put  Him  to  death.  Moreover,  they  were  perplexed  and 
overawed  by  the  majestic  silence  which  Jesus  maintained.  They 
felt  that  His  silence  was  their  condemnation ;  that  the  Accused 
was  justly  sitting  in  judgment  on  His  own  unjust  judges.  Yet 
they  knew  that  His  teaching,  even  if  they  could  not  bring  it 
under  the  charge  of  constructive  blasphemy,  had  involved 
claims  of  supernatural,  though  of  purely  spiritual,  pre-emi- 
nence. What  was  to  be  done?  How  was  the  awful  silence  of 
the  Accused,  which  shamed  and  overawed  their  souls,  to  be 
goaded  into  speech  ?  There  was  but  one  wav.  It  was  disgrace- 
fully unfair,  disgracefully  illegal.     But  did  that  matter,  when 

*  AvauTE  Tuv  vnhv  tovtov  (yolin  ii.  19).     Ye  have  liegiiii  to  desecrate  and  under- 
mine the  Temple  by  your  greed  and  profanity.     Complete  your  work  i 


THE    TRIALS    BEFORE   THE   JEWS.     373 

the  night  trial,  and  the  private  examination  before  Annas,  and 
the  seeking  for  false  witnesses,  and  the  suppression  of  any  one 
to  support  the  cause  of  the  Accused,  and  every  other  feature  in 
the  entire  proceeding,  were  equally  unjust?  The  hard,  worldly, 
unscrupulous  High  Priest  came  to  their  rescue.  Defying  the 
most  initial  principle  of  Hebrew  Law — which  was  that  no  one 
was  to  be  condemned  to  death  on  his  own  confession  * — he 
made  to  Jesus  a  tremendous  appeal.  "  I  adjure  Thee  by  the 
Living  God,"  he  cried,  "  that  Thou  tell  us  whether  Thou  be  the 
Christ,  the  Son  of  God."  So  adjured,  our  Lord  could  not  re- 
fuse to  answer.  He  replied  :  "  Thou  hast  said  :  and  hereafter 
ye  shall  see  the  Son  of  Man  sitting  at  the  right  hand  of  Power 
and  coming  in  the  clouds  of  heaven."  Then  the  High  Priest, 
in  well-acted  mock  agitation,  cried,  "  Blasphemy !  "  and  rent  his 
priestly  Ketoncth  of  fine  linen,  and  the  assembly  shouted,  "  He 
is  Ish  Maveth!"  (a  man  of  death).  Then  followed  the  deris- 
ion by  the  menials  of  the  Sanhedrin,  during  the  time  that 
elapsed  before  the  morning  of  Friday  when  the  full  Sanhedrin 
could  legally  meet.  But  even  this  meeting  was  again  illegal, 
for,  after  a  preliminary  condemnation,  the  Law  required  that 
a  whole  day  should  intervene  before  the  final  judgment. 

III. — THE  TRIAL  BEFORE  THE  SANHEDRIN. 

At  earliest  dawn  Christ  was  led  before  this  full  assembly 
of  seventy  members,  assembled  in  the  Beth  Din,  or  House  of 
Judgment. t  He  was  set  before  them  as  a  condemned  criminal. 
There  a  similar  scene  occurred.  The  Sanhedrin  desired  to  con- 
demn Him  out  of  His  own  mouth ;  and  His  most  determined 
and  unscrupulous  enemies  kept  urging  Him  with  the  furious 
question,  "Art  Thou  the  Christ?  tell  us."  He  answered  not. 
But  at  last,  to  end  the  unholy  farce.  He  said,  "  If  I  tell  you  ye 
will  not  believe.    And  if  I  also  ask  you  " — if  I  question  you  as 

*  Mislina  Sanhedr.  vi.  2.  The  Jewish  historian  Jost  admits  that  all  the  legal 
forms  were  disgracefully  violated  by  these  priests  {Gesch.  Jtidenth.  i.  283,  403). 

f  The  Lishcath  Haggazith,  or  Hall  of  Squares,  seems  to  have  been  abandoned. 
They  may  have  met  in  the  Beth  Midrash  on  the  Ckel  or  partition  wall ;  or  in 
the  Booths  (See  ante,  p.  370).     The  details  must  remain  uncertain. 


374  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

to  your  authority  for  these  proceedings — if  I  press  you  also 
with  questions — "  ye  will  not  answer  Me."  And  they  all  said : 
"Art  Thou  then  the  Son  of  God?"  And  He  said  unto  them, 
"  Ye  say  that  I  am."  After  that,  He  was  once  more  formally 
condemned  to  death ;  and  as  He  had  been  derided  and  misused 
by  knaves  and  menials,  so  now — which  was  harder  to  bear — 
He  was  coarsely  insulted  by  Priests  and  Pharisees.*  Although 
the  merciful  custom  was  to  regard  a  condemnation  to  death 
by  the  Sanhedrin  as  a  deplorable  event,  even  when  justice  re- 
quired it. — and  so  deplorable  that  after  such  a  verdict  the  day 
should  be  spent  in  fasting  f — they  could  not  repress  their  sav- 
age delight  at  having  at  last  got  into  their  power  the  Prophet 
wdiom,  again  and  again,  they  had  vainly  endeavoured  to  seize 
and  slay.  "  How  is  the  faithful  city  become  an  harlot !  She 
that  was  full  of  justice!  Righteousness  lodged  in  her:  but  now 
murderers."  i 

So  ended  this  shameful  mockery  of  justice,  illegal  at  almost 
every  stage  and  in  almost  every  particular.  It  was  illegal  (i) 
because  it  was  conducted  by  night;  (2)  because  the  Hebrew 
Law  required  that  every  effort  should  be  used  to  secure  the 
acquittal  of  a  prisoner,  whereas  every  effort  had  here  been  used 
to  secure  his  condemnation;  (3)  because  witnesses  had  been 
sought  for  the  accusation,  and  none  called  for  the  defence ;  (4) 
because  after  the  witnesses  had  broken  down — which  ought  to 
have  been  followed  by  the  immediate  acquittal  of  the  Accused 
— Jesus  had  been  adjured,  by  the  name  of  God,  to  answer  a 
question  which  might  give  the  false  judges  an  opportunity  to 
condemn  Him  out  of  His  own  mouth;  (5)  because  a  claim 
which — setting  aside  its  truth — was  not  blasphemy,  or  only 
constructive  blasphemy — was  treated  as  a  capital  offence;  (6) 
because  no  proper  interval  of  a  full  day  was  allowed  to  inter- 
vene between  the  hasty,  illegal,  night-condemnation  before  the 
Committee  of  Sanhedrists  and  the  formal  condemnation  before 

*  Matt.  xxvi.  67.     The    word  tKfivKTTjpi^u,  subsannare,  naso   suspendere,  is 
expressive  of  the  extremest  scorn, 
f  Bah  Sanhedr.,  f.  63,  I. 
X  Is.  i.  21  ;  I  Thess.  ii.  15. 


THE    TRIALS    BEFORE    THE   JEWS.     375 

the  Sanhedrin  as  a  body;*  (7)  because  the  Victim  had  been 
misused,  smitten,  insulted,  without  any  interference,  by  the 
lacqueys  of  the  Priests  and  by  the  Priests  and  Sanhedrists 
themselves;  (8)  because  Jesus  was  tried  on  a  capital  charge  on 
a  Friday,  not  only  on  the  day  before  the  Sabbath  (which  was 
unlawful),  but  before  a  Sabbath  which,  as  being  at  the  be- 
ginning of  the  Passover,  was  in  an  unusually  sacred  sense  a 
High  Day.f 

*  Sanhedrin,  iv.  i,  v.  5  ;    Schiirer,  ii.  I,  p.  194.  f  John  xix,  31. 


CHAPTER  XXXVII. 

THE    TRIAL    BEFORE    PILATE. 

"  Auctor  nominis  ejus,  Christus,  Tiberio  imperitante,  per  Procura- 
torem  PcMitium  Pilatum  supplicio  affectus  erat." — Tac.  Arm,  xv.  44. 

The  account  of  the  trial  of  Christ  before  Pilate,  especially 
as  given  by  St.  John — brief  though  it  is — is  unparalleled  in  the 
whole  world's  literature  for  its  vividness  and  verisimilitude.  I 
shall  not  relate  it  at  length,  but  only  indicate  its  varying  phases. 
How  varied  and  agitating  those  phases  were,  and  how  power- 
fully the  presence  of  Jesus,  in  His  sleeplessness  and  misery,  af- 
fected even  so  hard  a  heart  as  that  of  Pilate,  may  be  seen  from 
the  fact  that  the  Procurator,  no  less  than  three  times,  entered 
into  the  Pr?storium  to  question  Jesus  apart  from  His  enemies 
(xviii.  33-37,  xix.  1-3,  8-1 1),  and  made  four  or  five  strong 
and  separate  attempts  to  rescue  One  whom  he  recognised  to  be 
incomparably  truer,  nobler,  and  more  innocent  than  the  crowd 
of  lying  Priests,  and  the  multitude  whom  they  hounded  to  His 
destruction. 

The  Jews  had  condemned  our  Lord  to  death,  but,  according 
to  the  best  historic  authorities,  had  no  power  to  carry  into 
execution  their  own  decree.  A  tumultuary  murder,  like  that 
of  St.  Stephen,  might,  indeed,  have  been  overlooked  by  the  con- 
tempt of  Roman  insouciance,  especially  in  a  matter  which  the 
haughty  Gentile  rulers  might  despise  as  one  of  words,  and 
names,  and  of  Jewish  law.*  But  the  Priestly  party  could  not 
have  stoned  Christ  without  many  difficulties  and  dangers ;  and, 
further,  they  desired  to  inflict  on  Him  the  most  abject  and 
awful  form  of  death,  which  could  only  be  sanctioned  by  the 
Romans.  They  wished  also  to  overawe  those  whom  they  re- 
garded as  His  violent  but  deluded  Galilean  followers,  by  show- 

*Acts  xviii.  15. 
376 


THE    TRIAL    BEFORE    PILATE.      ^^'^ 

ing  that  He  was  condemned  by  their  Roman  governors  as  well 
as  by  their  religious  authorities.  Their  object  was  to  inflict 
upon  Him  an  accumulation  of  shame  and  horrible  agony  which 
should  be  witnessed  by  the  whole  multitude  assembled  to  keep 
the  Passover.  They  thought  that  such  a  fate  would  finally  ex- 
tinguish every  attempt  to  represent  Him  as  a  Divine  Teacher. 
And,  as  is  always  the  case,  they  most  effectually  carried  out  the 
purposes  of  God  by  the  human  wickedness  with  which  they 
strove  to  render  them  impossible. 

Besides  all  this,  the  matter  was  not  one  which  could  be  hastily 
hushed  up.  It  is  evident  that  it  had  already  come  under  the 
cognisance  of  Pilate,  since  otherwise  they  could  not  have  used 
the  Roman  tribune  and  part  of  his  cohort  as  agents  in  the  ar- 
rest. 

I.  While  it  was  still  early  morning,  therefore,  the  imposing 
body  of  High  Priests,  Priests,  and  Sanhedrists,  headed  doubt- 
less by  Annas  and  Caiaphas,  accompanied  Jesus  to  the  tribunal 
of  the  Procurator.  He  was  led — a  bound  and  weary  prisoner, 
after  so  many  hours  of  sleepless  anguish  and  excitement — 
across  the  bridge  which  spanned  the  Valley  of  the  Tyropoeon, 
to  the  splendid  Herodian  palace  now  occupied  by  the  Procura- 
tor.* Greatly  as  they  feared  and  detested  the  Roman  knight 
who  had  thrice  been  involved  in  deadly  conflict  with  them  and 
their  nation,!  they  assumed  that  they  would  easily  overawe 
him  by  the  pomp  of  their  sacred  authority.  They  thought  noth- 
ing of  the  guilt  of  shedding  innocent  blood ;  but  since  they 
meant  that  evening  to  keep  the  Passover,  their  religious  scru- 
ples prevented  them  from  facing  the  ceremonial  uncleanness 
involved  in  entering  a  house  from  which  leaven  had  not  been 
removed.  In  scornful  condescension  Pilate  came  out  to  them 
from  the  Prsetorium.     But  he  was  clad  in  all  the  stupendous 

*It  is,  however,  possible  that  Pilate  may  have  been  residing  in  Fort  Antonia. 

f  At  an  earlier  time  the  Procurators  only  ruled  for  a  year  or  two.  Tiberius 
thought  it  safer,  and  kinder  to  the  subject  races,  to  employ  them  for  a  longer 
period  (Tac.  Ami.  i.  80;  Suet.  Tiber.  32  ;  Jos.  Anit.  xviii.  6,  5).  Valerius 
Gratus  had  held  office  for  eleven  years  (A.  D.  14-25)  ;  Pontius  Pilate  ruled  for 
ten  years  (a.  d.  26-36). 


Z^Z  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

power  of  the  Roman  Empire,  being  a  direct  representative  of 
Tiberius  Caesar,  and  he  had,  amid  all  his  crimes,  the  stern 
sense  of  Roman  justice  which  made  him  disdain  to  condemn  to 
death  a  man  in  whose  trial  he  had  had  no  share.  He  knew  what 
sort  of  men  the  Priests  were,  and  had  not  the  smallest  respect 
for  their  profession  of  integ'rity.  He  asked  them,  "  What  ac- 
cusation bring  ye  against  this  man?  "  This  took  them  by  sur- 
prise. They  did  not  want  a  fresh  trial ;  they  only  wanted  Pilate 
to  crucify  One  whom  they  had  brought  to  him  as  "  a  male- 
factor." When  they  sullenly  told  him  that  they  had  a  law,  and 
by  their  law  He  ought  to  die,  Pilate's  contemptuous  reply  was, 
"  Then  deal  with  Him  yourselves."  They  reminded  him  that 
they  had  no  power  to  put  a  man  to  death,  and  since  the  charge 
of  "  blasphemy,"  on  which  they  had  condemned  Him,  was  one 
which  Pilate  would  have  disdainfully  refused  to  examine,  they 
heaped  up  a  mass  of  false  accusations,  in  which  three  are  spe- 
cifically discernible,  namely,  that — 

(i.)  He  was  a  ringleader  of  sedition — a  Mcsith,  or  "  de- 
ceiver," who  was  seducing  and  perverting  the  nation. 

That  charge  broke  down  totally  and  ipso  facto,  for  Pilate 
was  perfectly  well  aware  that  there  had  been  no  tumults  or 
signs  of  insurrection  connected  with  the  name  of  Jesus.  He 
also  knew  well  that  none  of  the  political  rulers — not  even  the 
suspicious  Antipas,  who  lived  close  beside  the  central  scene  of 
the  ministry  of  Jesus — had  ever  made  the  slightest  complaint 
against  Him. 

(ii.)  He  had  (they  said)  forbidden  the  people  to  give  tribute 
to  Caesar. 

This  charge  was  a  most  flagrant  falsehood,  and  w^as  in  fact 
the  very  reverse  of  the  truth,  since  Jesus  only  two  days  before, 
when  an  attempt  was  made  to  entrap  Him  in  the  Temple,  had 
openly  said,  "  Render  unto  Caesar  the  things  that  are  Caesar's." 
It  was  also  grossly  hypocritical ;  for  they  themselves  abhorred 
the  indignity  of  paying  tribute  to  Caesar,  and  would  have  hailed 
any  chance  of  throwing  ofif  the  Imperial  yoke.  Pilate  saw 
through  their  falsity,  and  it  deepened  his  utter  contempt  for 
them. 


THE    TRIAL    BEFORE   PILATE.       379 

(iii.)   He  had  said  that  "  He  Himself  is  Christ,  a  King." 
This  charge  might  be  regarded  as  true  in  a  sense,  although, 

as  they  were  well  aware,  it  was  not  true  in  the  sense  in  which 

they  wished  it  to  be  understood ;  and 

"  A  lie  that  is  half  a  truth  is  ever  the  greatest  of  lies." 

They  intended  Pilate  to  understand  the  charge  in  a  seditious 
and  temporal  sense,  though  they  knew  that  Christ's  Kingdom 
was  "  not  of  this  world,"  and  had  no  bearing  on  Roman  do- 
minion. If,  however,  they  could  get  Pilate  to  accept  unex- 
amined this  accusation  of  Iccsa  niajestas,  they  felt  that  it  was 
the  most  deadly  which  they  could  possibly  bring. 

But  Pilate  was  a  Roman,  and  the  Romans  knew  what  justice 
meant.  He  would  not  hand  Jesus  over  to  death  untried  and 
uncondemned,  and  ordered  Him  to  be  led  into  the  palace  to 
be  questioned,  for  he  was  amazed  that  He  should  have  stood  in 
calm  silence  amid  these  storms  of  furious  false  witness.  He 
therefore  put  to  Him  the  question,  "Art  Thou  the  King  of  the 
Jews  ?  "  He  received  an  answer  such  as  confirmed  the  feeling, 
which  became  deeper  in  his  mind  every  moment,  that  this  was 
no  ordinary  prisoner,  but  a  man  of  transcendent  innocence, 
about  whom  some  awful  shadow  of  the  Unknown  seemed  to 
hang.  He  heard  from  the  lips  of  Jesus  a  gentle  and  courteous 
explanation  as  to  the  true  nature  of  the  Kingdom  which  He 
claimed.  Pilate  did,  indeed,  brush  aside,  with  the  hard,  prac- 
tical shrewdness  of  a  commonplace  intellect,  the  allusion  which 
Christ  had  made  to  "  the  Truth."  This  he  probably  regarded 
as  a  piece  of  harmless  transcendentalism,  with  which  he,  a  Ro- 
man Governor,  had  nothing  to  do ;  but,  filled  with  the  convic- 
tion that  the  detested  Jews  were  hounding  to  death  One  who 
was  infinitely  nobler  than  themselves,  he  strode  out  of  the  pal- 
ace again,  and  emphatically  pronounced  to  the  raging  hierarchs 
his  conviction  that  the  Victim  for  whose  blood  they  thirsted 
was  absolutely  innocent. 

2.  Amid  the  roar  of  denunciations  which  this  acquittal  pro- 
voked, he  heard  the  name  "  Galilee,"  and,  catching  at  any  straw 
to  get  rid  of  this  bad  business,  inquired  "  if  the  man  were  a 


38o  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

Galilean  ?  "  Being  informed  that  He  was,  he  sent  Jesus  to 
Herod.  The  Sanhedrists  accompanied  Him  to  the  old  As- 
monaean  Palace  in  which  Herod  Antipas  was  living,  and  re- 
newed their  vehement  denunciations : — but  there  also  Jesus 
maintained  His  unbroken  silence.  Why  should  He  waste  words 
on  "  that  fox  "?  *  How  could  an  adulterer,  a  coward,  a  slug- 
gish and  cunning  parasite,  a  murderer  of  the  Prophets,  com- 
prehend anything"  that  He  could  say? 

Antipas  could  make  nothing  of  Him,  but  evidently  saw  and 
knew  enough  to  convince  him  that  the  whole  accusation  was  a 
conspiracy  based  on  lies.  In  his  petulant  vexation  that  Jesus 
would  say  nothing  to  him,  he  allowed  his  myrmidons  to  mock 
the  Prisoner,  but  sent  Him  back  to  Pilate  practically  acquitted. 

3.  The  tumult,  however,  continued,  and  the  guilty  conscience 
and  agitated  career  of  Pilate  made  him  anxious,  if  he  could, 
while  saving  Jesus  from  death,  to  make  some  concession  to  this 
raging  crowd  of  Jews  hounded  on  by  their  religious  leaders. 
He  came  out  on  the  Bona,  and  again  emphatically  told  the  Chief 
Priests  that  both  he  and  Herod  saw  clearly  that  they  were  try- 
ing to  destroy  an  innocent  man.  Pilate — of  whom  it  is  a  re- 
markable fact  that  the  Evangelists  speak  far  more  moderately 
than  Jewish  writers  like  Philo  and  Josephus  f — was,  as  Ter- 
tullian  says,  "  jam  pro  conscientia  sua  Christiamis."  Neverthe- 
less he  was  willing  to  scourge  Jesus ;  to  make  Him  no  longer 
dangerous  by  so  agonising  and  shameful  a  humiliation,  and 
then  to  set  Him  free. 

4.  This  concession  His  enemies  angrily  rejected ;  and  then, 
perhaps,  he  clutched  at  some  suggestion  that  they  might  con- 
sent to  set  Jesus  free  in  accordance  with  the  annual  act  of  grace 
by  which  he  released  a  prisoner  to  them  at  the  Passover.  This 
was  "  the  first  step  in  that  downward  course  of  weakness  which 
the  world  knows  so  well ; — a  course  which,  beginning  with  inde- 

*Luke  xiii.  32  ;  Jos.  Antt.  xviii.  7. 

f  Philo  and  Josephus  are  very  severe  (Jos.  Antt.  xviii.  3,  4  ;  B.J.  ii.  9  ; 
Philo  Leg.  ad  Caiatn.  §  38).  Christian  legends  represent  the  ultimate  suicide 
of  Pilate  as  the  result  of  his  remorse.  The  Gospel  of  Nicodemus  (ii.  13)  goes 
so  far  as  to  speak  of  him  as  already  "  circumcised  in  heart." 


THE    TRIAL    BEFORE    PILATE.       381 

cision  and  complaisance,  passed  through  all  the  phases  of  alter- 
nate bluster,  subserviency,  persuasion,  suasion,  protest,-  com- 
promise, superstitious  dread,  conscientious  reluctance,  cautious 
duplicity,  and  other  moral  cowardice,  until  this  Roman  remains 
photographed  for  ever  as  the  perfect  feature  of  the  unjust 
judge,  deciding 

"  Against  his  better  knowledge,  not  deceived."  * 

The  Jews,  however,  shouted  in  favour  of  his  releasing  a  no- 
torious criminal  named  Jesus  Barabbas,  a  rebel  and  murderer, 
who  had  been  guilty  of  the  very  crimes  of  which  they  were 
falsely  accusing  Jesus,  and  of  crimes  much  more  flagrant !  Pi- 
late, by  his  guilty  and  cowardly  concessions,  had  only  involved 
himself  in  more  hopeless  difficulties.  He  was  still  deeply  un- 
willing to  sacrifice  an  innocent  man,  who  had  inspired  his  cal- 
lous mind  with  a  sensation  of  awe  such  as  he  had  never  felt 
before.  This  awe  was  intensified  by  the  message  brought  to 
him  on  the  tribunal  from  his  wife,  Claudia  Procula,  that  "  he 
was  to  have  nothing  to  do  with  that  Just  Man,  since  she  had, 
that  night,  suffered  many  things  in  a  dream  because  of  Him."  f 
What  justice  required  he  had  not  a  moment's  doubt ;  but  per- 
sonal fear,  and  the  consciousness  that  serious  charges  might 
be  made  against  him  by  the  Jews,  hung  over  him,  and  tempted 
him  to  the  unwilling  sacrifice  of  all  that  yet  remained  to  him 
of  nobler  principle.  He  had  publicly  proclaimed  that  Jesus 
was  innocent,  yet — Roman  as  he  was — in  dread  of  the  yelling 
conspirators,  he  degraded  himself  to  the  iniquity  of  handing 
Him  over  to  death  as  guilty. 

At  last  the  cry,  "If  thou  let  this  man  go,  thou  are  not  Ccrsar's 
friend,"  decided  him.  He  dared  not  face  the  deadly  jealousies 
and  awful  cruelty  of  the  gloomy  Emperor  Tiberius,  a  man  who, 
surrounded  by  the  unscrupulous  informers  whom  he  encour- 
aged, was  torn  to  pieces  by  mad  and  reckless  suspicion. ij:  Dread- 

*  Taylor  Innes,  T^e  Trial  of  Jesus  Christ,  p.  93. 

fThe  name  of  Pilate's  wife  is  given  in  Nicephortis  i.  30,  and  in  the  spurious 
Gospel  of  Nicodemus. 

\  The  charge  of  lasa  majestas  was  frightfully  perilous.  Tac.  Ann.  iii.  38  ; 
Suet.  Tib.  61. 


382  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

ing  a  delation  of  himself  to  this  horrible  tyrant,  Pilate  set  Bar- 
abbas  free,  and  ordered  Jesus  to  be  scourged.  This  scourging 
was  a  recognised  preliminary  to  crucifixion,  not  an  attempt  to 
get  Jesus  spared  out  of  pity ;  though  after  it  had  been  in- 
flicted, Pilate  seized  one  more  chance  of  getting  the  prisoner 
released,  out  of  sheer  compassion  for  an  agony  worse  than 
death.* 

5.  From  that  awful  scourging,  Jesus  came  forth  mangled, 
bleeding,  agonised,  wearing  the  crown  of  torturing  thorns,  and 
clad  in  the  war  cloak  of  faded  scarlet  in  which  the  soldiers  had 
mocked  Him;  but  still  so  unsurpassable  in  His  majesty  that 
even  this  hardened  Roman  general  could  only  exclaim,  "  Be- 
hold the  Man!"  But  the  unmoved  Jews  were  still  yelling 
"  Crucify !  "  "  Crucify  Him  yourselves,"  said  Pilate,  "  for  / 
find  no  fault  in  Him."  "  By  our  law,"  they  shouted,  "  He  ought 
to  die,  because  He  made  Himself  a  Son  of  God." 

6.  Here  was  a  new  and  startling  allegation  !  Pilate  could  not 
but  make  one  final  effort.  He  caused  Jesus  to  be  led  into  the 
Judgment  Hall  of  the  palace  once  more,  and  asked  Him  in  awe 
and  amazement,  "Whence  art  Thou?"  Jesus  answered  not, 
but  when  Pilate,  driven  to  anger,  reminded  Him  that  the  power 
of  life  and  death  was  in  his  hands,  Jesus  gently  told  him  that 
"  he  could  have  no  power  if  it  were  not  given  him  from  above ;  " 
— then,  half  acquitting  his  own  judge,  He  added,  "  therefore  he 
that  betrayed  Me  to  thee  hath  the  greater  sin."  Was  it  possi- 
ble that  the  multitude  could  still  remain  unaffected  by  the  awful 
pathos  of  such  moral  and  spiritual  grandeur  involved  in  such 
horrible  misery?  Pilate  thought  not.  He  led  Him  forth,  and 
as  he  sat  in  his  seat  of  judgment  on  the  shining  pavement,  said, 
with  awestruck  accents : 

"  Behold  your  King !  " 

The  answer  was  a  fresh  clamour  of  "  Crucify !  Crucify !  " 
"  Shall  I  crucify  your  King?  "  asked  Pilate.  Then  came  the 
fatal  and  apostate  shout  which  terrified  him  from  pity  and  from 

*  All  the  allusions  in  the  classics  (Hor.  Ep.  i.  16,  17  ;  Sat.  i.  3,  119  ;  Juv.  vi. 
478  ;  Cic.  Verr.  v.  54,  66  ;  Val.  Max.  i.  7,  etc.,  show  the  inconceivable  horror 
of  this  cruel  infliction,  which  frequently  caused  death  (Plut.  Coriol.  24,  etc.). 


THE    TRIAL    BEFORE    PILATE.       383 

justice,  "  We  have  no  king  but  Cccsar!"  At  that  cry  the  last 
barriers  of  the  Procurator's  conscience  were  swept  away.  In 
vain  pretence  of  shifting  the  responsibihty,  he  washed  his 
hands  as  he  sat  on  tlie  tribunal  before  the  people,  and  said,  "  / 
am  innocent  of  the  blood  of  this  Just  Person !  See  ye  to  it." 
Would  whole  oceans  have  washed  away  his  guilt  ?  Would  not 
his  hands  rather  have  "  incarnadined  the  multitudinous  seas?  " 

"  Ah  nimium  faciles  qui  tristia  crimina  casdis 
Fluminea  tolli  posse  putatis  aqua."  * 

They  cried^  "  His  blood  be  on  us  and  on  our  children !  "  Then 
Pilate  uttered  the  awful  final  words,  "  Ibis  ad  crucem.  I  miles 
expedi  criiccm." 

Pilate  himself  must  have  deeply  felt  the  disgrace  of  being 
driven  by  personal  cowardice  into  a  flagrant  and  admitted  vio- 
lation of  that  sense  of  the  sacredness  of  justice  which  was  the 
strongest  moral  conviction  in  the  mind  of  every  genuine  Ro- 
man.   He  had  tried  every  device  he  could.    He  had  said : 

"Take  ye  Him,  and  judge  Him  "  (John  xviii.  31). 

"  I  find  t)i  Him  710  fault  at  all"  (xviii.  38). 

*'  Will  ye  that  I  release  unto  you  the  King  of  the  Jews  }  "  (xviii.  39). 

"Behold  I  bring  Him  forth  unto  you  that  ye  may  know  that  I  find 
in  Him  no  fatilt "  (xix.  4). 

"  Behold  the  man  !  "  (5). 

"  I  find  no  fault  in  Him  "  (6). 

"  Behold  your  King  !"  (14). 

"  Shall  I  crucify  your  King.?  "  (15). 

"  I  am  innocent  of  the  blood  of  this  Just  Person.  See  ye  to  it  " 
(Matt,  xxvii.  24). 

Yet,  after  all  these  declarations,  a  mere  desire  for  personal 
safety — which  proved  to  be  perfectly  useless ! — made  him  con- 
descend to  the  infamy  of  rending  asunder  every  dictate  of  his 
own  conscience,  and  of  giving  up  to  death  One  whose  perfect 
innocence  he  had  so  repeatedly  declared. 

*Ovid.  Fast.  ii.  45.     Comp.  Deut.  xxi.  6,  7. 


CHAPTER    XXXVIIL 

THE    SUFFERINGS    OF    JESUS. 

'E(iaai?ievaev  [aKo  rov  fvAor.]. — Ps.  xcvi.  lo. 

"  Crudelissimum  tasterrimuque  supplicium." — CiC.  Verr.  v.  64. 

"  Nomen  ipsuni  Crucis  absit  non  modo  a  corpore  civium  Romanorum, 
sed  etiam  a  cognitione,  oculis,  auribus." — CiC.  />ro  Rab.  5. 

"  Quid  dicam  in  crucem  tolli  ?  Verbo  satis  digno  tam  nefaria  res 
appellari  nullo  modo  potest." — CiC.  Verr.  v.  66. 

To  TrdQof  ;fp«oroii  I'lftuv  airoBeia  ianv,  Kal  6  Odvarog  avTov  y/iuv  aBavaaia. — 
Athanas.,  Be  Incarfi. 

It  is  difficult  adequately  to  realise  the  multitude  and  variety 
of  the  forms  of  spiritual  distress  and  mental  an.s^uish,  of  scorn, 
and  torture,  to  which  the  sinless  Son  of  Man  was  continuously 
subjected  from  the  time  that  He  left  the  Mount  of  Olives  to 
enter  Jerusalem  for  the  Last  Supper.* 

1.  At  the  Last  Svipper  He  had  the  heavy  sorrow  of  reading 
the  heart  of  the  traitor,  and  of  uttering  His  last  farewells — 
mingled  with  prophecies  of  persecution  as  the  path  to  final 
triumph — to  those  whom  He  loved  best  on  earth. 

2.  Then  came  the  agony  in  the  garden,  which  filled  Him  with 
speechless  amazement  and  shuddering,  until  He  had  to  fling 
Himself  with  His  face  to  the  earth  in  the  tense  absorption  of 

*  I  will  not  again  re-enter  on  the  highly  disputed  questions  which  do  not  bear 
directly  on  my  subject.  I  still,  however,  remain  unshaken  in  the  conviction 
that  St.  John  rightly  represents  our  Lord  as  crucified  on  Friday,  Nisan  14, 
the  day  before  the  actual  Passover.  It  is  impossible  to  believe  that  all  the  wild 
and  hurried  events  of  the  trials  and  crucifixion  took  place  on  a  feast  day  of 
special  solemnity.  To  what  I  have  said  on  an  earlier  page  (p.  359,  footnote)  I 
will  only  add  that  Mr.  Wright  {Some  New  Testament  Problems)  concludes  that, 
as  to  the  date,  "  certainty  is  unattainable,  but  unless  the  ministry  lasted  about 
ten  years,  the  most  probable  date  of  the  Crucifixion  is  9  a.  m.  to  3  p.  m.  on 
Friday,  Nisan  14,  A.  d.  29,  and  Nisan  14  probably  fell  on  March  18." 

384 


THE    SUFFERINGS    OF   JESUS.       385 

prayer,  and  His  sweat  was  like  great  gouts  of  blood  streaming 
to  the  ground. 

3.  Then  the  horror  of  Judas's  over-acted  traitor-kiss,  the  seiz- 
ure, the  binding,  the  leading  away,  the  desertion  of  Him  by  all 
His  disciples  in  His  hour  of  need. 

4.  Then  the  long  trials  which,  only  broken  by  insult,  lasted 
the  whole  night  through ;  the  sense  of  utter  injustice;  the  proof 
that  all  those  hierophants  who  should  have  been  the  very  first 
to  welcome  Him  with  humble  yet  triumphant  gladness,  were 
fiercely  bent  on  destroying  Him  by  any  means,  however  foul. 

5.  Then  the  insolent  blow  in  the  face  from  one  of  the  serv- 
ants.* 

6.  Then  the  hearing  His  chief  Apostle  deny  Him  with  oaths 
and  curses. 

7.  Then  the  night  trial  before  Caiaphas  and  his  most  confi- 
dential adherents,  with  all  its  agitating  incidents,  its  tumult  of 
sneering  voices,  its  dreadful  adjuration,  and  the  sentence  on 
Him  as  "  a  Man  of  Death  "  by  the  "  spiritual "  court. 

8.  Then  the  accumulations  of  brutal  insult  as  the  crowd  of 
vile  underlings  mocked  Him,t  and  slapped  and  beat  Him,:]:  and 
spat  in  his  face,§  and,  bandaging  His  eyes,||  bade  Him  name 
the  wretches  who  had  smitten  Him. 

9.  Then  the  early  morning  trial  before  the  whole  Sanhedrin, 
with  its  continuance  of  agitating  appeals,  and  the  final  proof 
that  "  He  had  come  unto  His  own  possessions,  and  His  people 
received  Him  not." 

10.  Then,  if  we  read  the  record  rightly,  another  derision  by 
the  Priests  and  Sanhedrists. 

11.  Then  the  long  and  thrilling  scenes  of  the  trial  before 
Pilate,  as  He  stood  in  the  centre  of  a  crowd  thirsting  for  His 

*  John  xviii.  22.  The  word  pdma/xa  is  used  both  for  a  blow  with  the  fist  and 
a  blow  with  a  rod. 

\  Luke  xxii.  63,  ivETrai^ov  avru  Sepovrog. 

:|:  Luke  xxii.  63-65,  SepovTsc  .  .  .  6  iraiaag ;  Mark  xiv.  65,  Kola(l>ii;eiv;  Matt, 
xxvi.  67,  EKoXdcjuaav  .  .   .  epdniaav. 

§  Matt.  xxvi.  67,  tvenrvaav  elg  to  npoaunov. 

J  Luke  xxii.  64,  TrepmTivipavTEg  avTov  ;  Matt,  xxv.  67, 


386  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

blood,  yelling  for  His  crucifixion;  heaping  lies  and  insults  upon 
Him;  preferring  to  Him  the  robber  and  the  murderer;  defeat- 
ing, by  their  ferocious  pertinacity,  the  obvious  desire  of  the 
Roman  Governor  to  set  Him  free. 

12.  Then  the  leading  through  the  city  to  Herod,  and  the 
vain  attempt  of  that  despicable  prince  to  wring  some  answer 
or  some  sign  from  Him. 

13.  Then  the  coarse  derision  of  Herod's  myrmidons  *  as,  in 
mock  homage,  they  stripped  Him  of  His  own  garments  and  ar- 
rayed Him  in  a  shining  robe,  with  every  accumulation  of  dis- 
dainful insolence  and  cruelty. 

14.  Then  the  final  sentence  of  crucifixion,  pronounced  by 
Pilate  after  vain  appeals  and  efforts  to  overcome  the  furious 
animosity  of  His  accusers. 

15.  Then  the  brutal  mockery  by  the  whole  band  of  Roman 
soldiers  as  He  stood  helpless  among  them.  These  coarse  le- 
gionaries were  only  too  much  rejoiced  to  pour  on  Him  the  con- 
tempt and  detestation  which  they  felt  for  all  Jews,!  and  seized 
the  opportunity  to  vent  their  callous  savagery  on  One  who,  as 
they  were  taught  to  believe,  had  claimed  to  be  a  King.  This 
King  should  have  the  insignia  of  royalty — a  cast-off  military 
sagum  of  scarlet  ;J:  a  crown — only  twisted  of  torturing  thorns  ;§ 
a  sceptre — a  reed  which  they  could  every  now  and  then  snatch 
out  of  His  tied  hands,  and  beat  Him  with  it  as  well  as  with 
rods ;  the  mock  homage  of  bended  knees  varied  by  execrable 
spitting,  1 1  and  blows  on  the  head,  and  slaps  on  the  face  with  the 
open  palm,  and  words  of  uttermost  contempt. 

16.  Then  He  was  mangled  and  lacerated  almost  to  death  by 
the  horrible  and  excruciating  ■ftagclluni,  inflicted  by  execution- 
ers who  had  no  sense  of  pity,  with  scourges  loaded  with  balls 
of  lead  and  sharp-pointed  bones.^ 

*Luke  xxiii.  II,  tfoj;0ev7/CTaf  .   .  .  ifnrat^ac  .   .  .  irepc^aluv  laOf/Ta  ^afinpdv. 

f  See  Jos.  B./.  II,  12,  v.  II  ;  Anii.  xix,  9. 

X  Matt,  xxvii.  28,  ;i;/la/i{it5a  KOKKtvr/v. 

§  Matt,  xxvii.  2g,  aricpavov  ff  uKnvQuv. 

I  Matt,  xxvii.  30;  Mark  xv.  19.  This  was  regarded  by  the  Jews  with  special 
loathing  (Num.  xii.  14  ;  Deut.  xxv.  9  ;  Is.  1.  6). 

T[  John  xix.  I  ;  Luke  xxiii.  16  ;  Matt,  xxvii.  26.  Ilor,  Sai.  i,  3,  119  ;  Apul. 
Metam.  viii. 


THE    SUFFERINGS   OF   JESUS.       387 

17.  Then  came  the  stripping  bare  of  the  robes,  and  the  bend- 
ing under  the  load  of  the  cross — or  rather,  of  its  patibuliim — 
the  transverse  beam  of  the  cross,  which  He  was  too  much  ex- 
hausted to  carry,  while  the  herald  went  before  Him  proclaim- 
ing the  supposed  crime  for  which  He  was  condemned. 

18.  Then  the  sight  of  the  weeping  and  wailing  daughters  of 
Jerusalem.* 

19.  Then  the  driving  of  the  lacerating,  crushing  nails 
through  His  feet,  and  through  either  hand,  and  the  uplifting  on 
the  cross,  that  "  servile,"  "  infame''  "  crudclissinium,"  "  tceterri- 
mum,"  "  extremum"  "  supplicium." 

20.  Then  the  sight  of  all  the  world's  worst  vileness  flowing 
beneath  His  eyes  in  its  noisy  stream,  as  the  Elders,  in  their 
heartlessness,  wagged  their  heads  at  Him,  and  jeered,  and  blas- 
phemed ;  t  and  the  soldiers  mocked,  and  the  crowd  howled  their 
insults,  and  the  two  wretched  robbers  who  shared  with  Him 
that  hour  of  shame — though  they  were  guilty  and  He  was  in- 
nocent— joined  in  the  continuous  pitiless  reviling.:]: 

21.  Then  the  sight  of  His  mother  in  her  unspeakable  desola- 
tion. 

22.  Then  the  darkening  by  anguish  of  His  human  soul, 
which  wrung  from  Him  the  cry,  "  My  God,  My  God,  why  hast 
Thou  forsaken  Me  ?  " 

Yet,  amid  all  these  accumulations  of  anguish,  only  one  word 
of  physical  pain  was  wrung  from  Him — the  cry,  "  /  thirst "  § 
— and  so  deep  was  the  impression  caused  by  His  majestic  pa- 
tience, as  well  as  by  the  portents  which  followed,  that  the  whole 
crowd  was  overawed  and  hushed,  and  returned  to  Jerusalem 
beating  their  breasts,  and  saying,  "  Truly,  this  was  a  righteous 

*  Luke  xxiii.  27. 

f  To  what  awful  depths  of  decadence  these  formalising  hierarchs  must  have 
sunk  before  they  could  be  capable  of  conduct  so  execrable  may  be  illustrated 
by  the  fact  that  King  Alexander  Jannasus  met  with  universal  reprobation  from 
the  Jews  when  he  adopted  crucifixion  as  a  mode  of  punishment  (Jos.  B.  J. 
i-  4.  5). 

X  Mark  xv.  29  ;  Luke  xxiii.  35  ;  Matt,  xxvii.  44. 

§  He  had  refused  to  drink  the  stupefying  potion  offered  to  Him  before  His 
crucifixion  (Matt,  xxvii.  34 ;  Mark  xv.  23  ;  Ps,  Ixix.  21). 


388  THE    LIFE   OF    LIVES. 

man ;  "  and  the  penitent  robber  implored  Him  to  receive  him 
into  His  Kingdom ;  and  even  the  Pagan  Roman  centurion  spoke 
of  Him  as  "  a  Son  of  God."* 

The  uttermost  depth  of  superhuman  woe  seems  to  be  re- 
vealed by  His  cry,  "  My  God,  My  God,  why  hast 
Than  forsaken  Mc? "  But  it  has  often  been  pressed 
to  unwarrantable  conclusions.  The  twenty-second  Psalm 
was  doubtless  present  to  his  mind  as  a  zvhole,  when 
He  hung  in  the  extremity  of  His  lonely  anguish ;  and 
it  should  never  be  forgotten  that  David's  cry  of  despair 
is  but  the  brief  human  prelude  to  the  expression  of  utter- 
most trust,  and  to  the  outpouring  of  confident  hope  and  tri- 
umphant praise,  li  in  the  "  burning  fiery  furnace  "  of  Nebu- 
chadnezzar the  Spirit  of  God  was  to  the  Three  Children  as  "  a 
moist  whistling  wind,"  we  are  not  warranted  in  pressing  the 
quotation  by  our  Lord  of  one  sad  verse  of  a  Psalm  of  which  the 
gladness  and  trust  no  less  than  the  sorrow  must  have  been  pres- 
ent to  His  mind,  though  He  only  uttered  aloud  the  first  verse 
of  it.  Nor  must  it  be  overlooked  that,  if  one  of  the  seven  ut- 
terances from  the  Cross  expressed  spiritual  anguish,  and  an- 
other the  extreme  of  physical  torment,  all  the  other  five  were 
words  of  love,  of  forgiveness,  and  of  triumph.  The  first  was 
the  prayer  for  His  murderers ;  the  second  was  the  promise  to 
the  pardoned  penitent;  the  third,  the  tender  provision  for  the 
future  of  His  mother :  then  came  the  "  Why  dost  thou  forsake 
me?  "  and  "  I  thirst ;"  but  they  were  followed  by  the  one  loud, 
triumphant  word,  "  rsWAf crorz,"  "  It  is  over  for  ever !  "  and 
the  ejaculation,  "  Father,  into  Thy  hands  I  commend  My 
Spirit,"  with  which  He  bowed  His  head,  and  yielded  up  His 
human  life.*  "  With  a  word,"  says  Tertullian,  "  He  volun- 
tarily gave  up  His  Spirit,  anticipating  the  duty  of  the  execu- 
tioner."    "  He  died,"  says  St.  Augustine,  "  because  He  willed 

*  In  Luke  xxiii.  47  it  is  "  Certainly  this  was  a  righteous  man."  This  in  any 
case  was  the  meaning  of  the  centurion's  exclamation.     See  Wisd.  ii.  18. 

f  The  words  TrapiSuKev  to  nvev/ia  (John  xix.  30),  a<p^Kev  to  nvevfia  (Matt, 
xxvii.  50),  E^ETTvevaev  (Mark  xv.  37),  seem  to  imply  a  voluntary  yielding  up  of 
His  life.     See  Bishop  Westcott  on  John  xix.  30. 


THE    SUFFERINGS   OF   JESUS.       389 

it,  when  He  willed,  as  He  willed."  The  blood  and  water 
which  burst  from  His  riven  side  did,  indeed,  constitute  a  proof 
of  death,  but  were  a  symbol  of  life  and  regeneration — of  "  the 
cleansing  from  sin  and  the  quickening  by  the  Spirit  which  are 
both  consequent  on  the  death  of  Christ." 


CHAPTER  XXXIX. 

THE  RIGHT  VIEW  OF  CHRIST's  SUFFERINGS. 
"  The  Fair  Shepherd  layeth  down  His  life  for  the  sheep." — John  x.  ii. 

It  must  be  admitted  that  the  Church — not,  indeed,  the  Early 
Christian  Church,  but  the  Church  after  some  six  or  seven  cen- 
turies had  elapsed,  and  most  of  all  amid  the  dense  and  ever- 
deepening  superstitions  and  aberrations  of  the  Middle  Ages — 
has  no  Scriptural  or  primitive  warrant  for  its  deification  of 
pain  for  its  own  sake.  That  was  an  outcome  of  Eastern 
Manichseism.  "  Suso,"  we  are  told,  "  used  to  lie  in  a  miserable 
hole,  on  an  old  door  for  a  bed,  and  in  the  depth  of  winter 
thought  it  a  sin  to  approach  the  stove  for  warmth."  He  used 
to  tear  himself  with  iron  tags  for  scourges ;  and  "  though  filled 
with  a  feverish  thirst,  with  the  waters  of  the  Lake  Constance 
sparkling  on  all  sides  round  his  monastery,  he  would  often  pass 
the  whole  day  without  suffering  a  drop  to  moisten  his  lips." 
One  of  the  sayings  of  "  John  of  the  Cross,"  was,  "  Whatever 
you  find  pleasant  to  soul  or  body,  abandon.  Whatsoever  is 
painful,  embrace  it."  Such  examples  and  such  precepts  are 
founded  in  absolute  error,  and  are  totally  alien  from  the  teach- 
ing of  Christ  and  His  Apostles.  They  are  a  distortion  of  the 
true  meaning  of  self-denial  and  self-conquest,  and  have  often 
led  to  results  the  exact  opposite  of  those  which  they  were  sup- 
posed to  promote.  Such  examples  do  not,  after  all,  represent 
a  self-torture  and  self-maceration  so  severe  as  those  which  are 
inflicted  on  themselves  by  many  a  brainless  idolator.  They  are 
alien  importations  into  true  Christianity.  They  are  utterly  un- 
like the  example  set  by  Christ.  They  represent  an  ordinance- 
ridden  will-worship  which  becomes  a  direct  intensification  alike 
of  bodilv  and  mental  temptations.  "  Have  not  the  loosest  of 
men,"  asks  Dean  Milman,  "  been  often  found  with  the  rough- 

390 


RIGHT  VIEW  OF  HIS  SUFFERINGS.     391 

est  sackcloth  swathing  their  limbs ;  the  proudest  with  bare  feet, 
and  the  cord  around  their  loins ;  the  most  cruel  among  those 
who  have  most  severely  mortified  their  own  bodies?  Monks 
have  ever  been  the  most  ready  and  remorseless  executioners 
of  persecution.  Quench  the  habitual  affections,  in  the  long 
run  you  quench  humanity."  * 

The  anguish  which  Christ  endured  for  our  sakes  was  not 
self-sought.  Though  voluntarily  endured  as  an  inevitable  por- 
tion of  His  great  self-sacrifice,  it  was  inflicted  on  Him  by  the 
wickedness  of  men,  and  could  not  have  been  avoided  except  at 
the  impossible  cost  of  swerving  from  the  path  of  duty  or 
righteousness.  Under  such  conditions  our  Lord  showed  us 
by  His  example  that  any  accumulation  of  anguish  is  to  be  pre- 
ferred to  the  slightest  abandonment  of  the  cause  of  true  holi- 
ness. But  neither  was  any  portion  of  his  sufferings  self-in- 
flicted, nor  (as  we  have  seen)  did  it  involve  a  lifetime  of  self- 
maceration. 

The  notion  that  mirth  and  pleasure  are  in  themselves  sinful 
is  an  idle  superstition.  The  cross  which  we  are  to  take  up  is 
not  one  of  our  own  devising,  but  only  the  cross  which  God 
may  see  fit  to  lay  upon  us.  Nor  must  we  forget  that  all  sorrow 
which  is  not  self-sought  and  not  self-inflicted  has  its  own 
boundless  and  eternal  consolations — as  it  had  so  abundantly  for 
our  Blessed  Lord. 

It  is  again  a  serious  error  to  separate,  or  rather  to  isolate, 
the  death  of  Christ  from  all  His  life,  as  though  on  His  death 
alone,  and  not  on  His  Incarnation  and  his  whole  life,  depended 
the  work  of  our  salvation.  "  Non  hoc  prcccipnum  amicorum 
munus  est,"  admirably  said  the  dying  Germanicus,  "prosequi 
deftinctum  ignavo  qnccstn,  sed  qucr  volucrit  meminisse, 
qucc  mandaverit  exsequi."  f     True  sorrow  for  our  lost  ones  is 

*  "  The  ascetic  theory  of  Christian  virtue,"  says  Dr.  Bruce,  "  which  so  soon 
began  to  prevail  in  the  Church,  has  been  tested  by  time  and  proved  to  be  a 
huge  and  mischievous  mistake.  The  verdict  of  history  is  conclusive,  and  to 
return  to  an  exploded  error,  as  some  are  disposed  to  do,  virould  be  an  utter 
ioWy"  {Training  of  the  Twelve,  1^.  2^()).  See  Isaac  Ta,y\ox's  Ancient  Chris- 
tianity. 

\  Tac.  Ann.  ii.  71. 


392  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

best  shown,  not  by  idle  wailings,  but  by  active  accomplishment 
of  their  wishes  and  continuance  of  their  work. 

Most  of  the  erroneous  notions  which  have  been  thrust  into 
the  forefront  of  the  religion  of  erring  Churches  have  been  built 
on  the  isolation  from  their  context  of  separate  texts  or  phrases, 
which  thus  are  robbed  of  their  proper  historic  meaning.  In  fa- 
vour of  lives  of  ascetic  self-torture,  some  have  quoted  the  words 
of  our  Lord,  "  Whosoever  shall  seek  to  gain  his  life  shall  lose 
it,  but  whosoever  shall  lose  his  life  shall  preserve  it,"  or  "  bring 
it  to  a  new  birth."  How  important  this  utterance  was  is 
proved  by  the  fact  that  our  Lord  repeated  it  on  four  separate 
occasions,  and  that  it  is  (alone  of  all  his  sayings)  recorded  by 
all  four  Evangelists.  The  words  involve  the  duty  of  absolute 
self-sacrifice  when  it  is  required  in  the  cause  of  God;  the  duty 
of  bearing  and  of  braving  all  that  God  sends  to  us  when  we  are 
walking  in  the  paths  of  His  service.  To  interpret  them  of  self- 
inflicted  miseries  and  macerations  is  to  wrest  them  from  their 
context ;  to  rob  them  of  their  real  and  deep  meaning ;  to  di- 
vorce them  from  the  example  personally  set  to  us  by  Christ's 
own  life ;  and  to  make  them  the  basis  of  false  systems.  What- 
ever God  sends  or  requires  we  must  gladly  bear ;  He  will  send 
all  that  is  necessary  to  train  and  ennoble  us :  it  is  nothing  but  a 
faithless  folly  to  invent  needless  miseries  for  ourselves.* 

An  isolated  phrase,  or  emotional  expression,  unless  it  har- 
monise with  the  whole  body  of  sacred  teaching,  is  misused  and 
perverted  when  it  is  treated  as  though  it  were  a  complete  reve- 
lation. Now  in  the  New  Testament  the  death  of  Christ  is 
never  thrust  into  exclusive  prominence.  "  It  is  Christ  that 
died,"  says  St.  Paul,  "  yea,  rather,  that  was  raised  from  the 
dead,  who  is  at  the  right  hand  of  God,  who  also  maketh  inter- 
cession for  us."  "  Non  Mors,  sed  voluntas  placuit  sponte  mori- 
entis,"  said  St.  Bernard.  "  Christ's  death,"  says  Dr.  Little- 
dale,  "  in  ancient  Christian  theology,  did  not  pervade  by  any 
means  so  much  space  as  it  has  done  for  several  centuries  past ; 
but  it  was  regarded  as  a  single  incident — of  transcendent  im- 
portance indeed,  but  still  only  a  single  incident — in  the  great 
*  Matt.  X.  39,  .xvi.  25  ;   Luke  xvii.  33  ;    John  xii.  24,  25. 


RIGHT  VIEW  OF  HIS  SUFFERINGS.     393 

chain  of  events  from  the  Incarnation  to  the  Ascension.  Suffer- 
ing in  itself  is  valueless  and  works  no  deliverance."  The  suf- 
ferings of  Christ  on  the  Cross,  which  could  barely  wring  one 
cry  of  anguish  from  the  Sufferer,  were  necessary  because  of 
man's  vileness,  selfishness,  and  sin,  and  were  caused  by  the 
most  awful  object  lesson  which  could  have  been  given  of  the 
perversity  of  false  religion.  But  they  were  a  revelation  not  of 
defeat,  but  of  victorious  majesty.  They  indicate  "  the  measure 
of  our  need,  and  of  Christ's  sympathy;  the  destruction  of  the 
selfishness  of  man,  the  consummation  of  the  counsel  of  God." 
The  Italian  poet  and  ecclesiastic  Tomaso  Campanella  (as  trans- 
lated by  John  Addington  Symonds)  writes — 

"  If  Christ  was  only  six  hours  crucified, 
After  few  years  of  toil  and  misery, 
Which  for  mankind  He  suffered  willingly, 
While  Heaven  was  won  for  ever  when  He  died  ; 
Why  should  He  still  be  shown  on  every  side, 
Painted  and  preached  in  nought  but  agony. 
Whose  pains  were  light,  matched  with  His  victory, 
When  the  world's  power  to  harm  Him  was  defied  ? 
Why  rather  speak  and  write  not  of  the  realm 
He  rules  in  Heaven,  and  soon  will  bring  below, 
Unto  the  praise  and  glory  of  His  name? 
Ah  !  foolish  crowd  !     This  world's  thick  vapours  whelm 
Your  eyes,  unworthy  of  that  glorious  show, 
Blind  to  His  splendour,  bent  upon  His  shame." 

Campanella  here  wrote  in  strictest  accordance  with  the  views 
of  primitive  Christianity,  and  indeed  of  all  the  purest  Chris- 
tain  thought  for  many  centuries.  All  early  Christian  art  is 
joyous.  There  is  not  a  single  Latin  cross,  much  less  a  repre- 
sentation of  the  crucifixion,  before  the  days  of  Constantine. 
The  earliest  known  Latin  cross  is  on  the  tomb  of  Galla  Placidia 
at  Ravenna,  a.  d.  451.  The  early  Christians  would  have  re- 
garded a  crucifix  as  an  audacious  profanation  of  the  awful 
majesty  of  Him  who  now  sitteth  for  ever,  as  Eternal  God,  on 
the  throne  of  His  glory.  Even  St.  Gregory,  when  He  sent  to 
Queen  Theodolinda  an  ampulla  on  which  was  painted  the  scene 
of  Golgotha,  had  the  two  robbers  represented  nailed  to  their 


394  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

crosses;  but  by  the  side  of  the  cross  of  Christ  kneel  two  an- 
gels, and  the  cross  is  empty,  zvhile  over  it  is  the  image  of  Christ 
in  glory.*  But  in  ancient  art,  for  six  centuries  after  Christ, 
painters  did  not  venture  to  go  so  far  even  as  this.  In  the 
Church  of  St.  Apolhnaris  at  Ravenna  are  painted  consecutive 
scenes  of  the  Life  of  Christ ;  but  they  end  with  Pilate  washing 
his  hands,  and  from  that  scene  they  pass — as  they  do  on  many 
sarcophagi — at  once  to  the  Resurrection.  "  It  may  well  be 
doubted,"  says  Bishop  Westcott,  whose  authority  as  a  theolo- 
gian none  will  question,  "  whether  the  Crucifixion  is,  in  any 
immediate  shape,  a  proper  subject  for  art.  The  image  of  the 
dead  Christ  is  foreign  to  Scripture.  Even  in  the  record  of  the 
Passion  death  is  swallowed  up  in  victory.  And  the  material 
representations  of  what  St.  John  shows  to  have  been  life 
through  death,  perpetuate  thoughts  foreign  to  the  Gospel."  f 
And  again  he  writes,  "  We  must  not  for  one  moment  rest  in  the 
images  of  outward  dissolution.  We  must  keep  together  in 
closest  union  the  Resurrection  and  the  Passion ;  Easter  Day  and 
Good  Friday,  Life  and  Death.  The  Crucifix  and  the  Dead 
Christ  obscures  our  faith.  Our  thoughts  rest  not  upon  a  dead, 
but  upon  a  living  Christ.  The  closed  eye  and  the  bowed  head 
are  not  the  true  marks  of  Him  who  reigns  from  the  Cross,  who 
teaches  us  to  see  through  every  sign  of  weakness  the  fulfilment 
of  His  own  words,  '  /,  if  I  be  lifted  xip,  zvill  draw  all  men  unto 
Myself.'  X  The  Cross  is  a  revelation  not  of  humiliation  but  of 
majesty."  One  reading  of  Ps.  xcvi.  lo  was  efSaffilsvffsv  arro 
Tov  ^vXov,  Regnavit  a  ligno.^ 

*An  early  Christian  gem  in  the  British  Museum  represents  across  which  has 
become  a  living  Tree,  with  a  clove  resting  upon  it, 

■j-  Victories  of  the  Cross,  p.  96  ff. 

X  In  support  of  the  parallel  revelation  of  glory  and  suffering  he  refers  to  John 
vi.  14  and  60-71  ;  Matt.  xvi.  13  ff.,  21  ff..  xvii.  24  ff.,  xx.  17-29,  xxi.;  Luke  xix. 
17  ff.;  John  xiii.  31,  xvi.  33,  xviii.  6  ff.,  xx.  9;  Luke  xxiv.  17  ff.  See,  too, 
Religious  Thought  in  the  West,  p.  338.  "  It  was  felt  that  the  realistic  treat- 
ment of  Christ's  Person  could  not  but  endanger  the  living  sense  of  the  Majesty 
which  the  Church  had  learnt  to  realise."  On  the  early  Christian  sarcophagi,  as  in 
many  of  the  pictures  drawn  by  Christians  in  the  catacombs,  Christ  is  ideally  and 
symbolically  represented,  not  as  a  livid  and  distorted  sufferer,  but  as  a  radiant  boy. 

gjust.  Mart.  Dial  c.  Tryph.  §  73. 


RIGHT  VIEW  OF  HIS  SUFFERINGS.     395 

Utterly  vain  and  futile  is  the  wailing  over  the  brief  hours 
of  physical  sufferings  which  were  but  the  episode  of  an  Eternity 
of  Glory.  The  Cross  was  Christ's  throne.  He  speaks  of  His 
Crucifixion  as  His  glorification.  "  The  hour  is  come  that  the 
Son  of  Man  should  be  glorified."  In  answer  to  His  prayer, 
"  Father,  glorify  Thy  name/'  came  a  Voice  from  heaven,  "  I 
have  both  glorified  it,  and  will  glorify  it  again."  And  when 
Judas  went  out  to  betray  Him,  He  said,  "  Now  is  the  Son  of 
Man  glorified,  and  God  is  glorified  in  Him ;  and  God  shall 
glorify  Him  in  Himself,  and  straightway  shall  He  glorify 
Him."  It  was  thus  that  He  overcame  the  world  and  will  draw 
all  men  unto  Him. 

Centuries  ago  so  true  a  saint  as  St.  Bernard — monk  and 
ascetic  as  he  was — warned  men,  though  in  vain,  of  "  the  error 
and  the  danger  of  extending  the  sufferings  of  Christ  either  in 
body  or  mind  into  the  reign  of  His  glory."  Any  contempla- 
tion of  the  Cross  which  inspires  us  to  do  all  and  bear  all  for 
His  sake  who  died  for  us  and  rose  again,  is  right ;  but  the  arti- 
ficial heresy  of  "  sobbing  over  the  five  wounds  of  the  crucifix 
by  way  of  Pity  for  the  Eternal  God  is  not  in  accordance  with 
anything  in  Scripture."  Those  who  lived  nearest  to  the  day 
of  the  Crucifixion,  those  who  saw  the  Risen  Lord  with  the 
marks  of  His  wounds  upon  Him — did  not  indulge  themselves 
by  moaning  in  abject  sorrow  over  His  recent  anguish.  On  the 
contrary — recognising  that  the  revelation  of  suffering  was  co- 
incident with  the  revelation  of  redemption,  they  were  filled 
with  a  constant  and  superabounding  joy.  And  why?  Be- 
cause "  His  loneliness  is  the  breaking  up  of  our  solitude ;  His 
mourning  our  comfort ;  His  thirst  our  supply ;  His  weakness 
our  strength.  If  we  want  power,  we  have  the  power  of  the 
Cross ;  if  wisdom,  we  have  the  wisdom ;  if  peace,  we  have  the 
peace  of  His  Cross.  Thus  is  Christ  crucified  a  treasure  to  His 
Church,  full  of  all-sufficient  provision  both  for  its  necessity  and 
delight."  * 

♦Bishop  Reynolds,  A.  D.  1639.  Meditations  on  the  Sacrament,  pp.  25-33. 
See  on  this  subject  Hausrath  ii.  250  ff. ;  Wendt  ii.  225,  233  ff.  Schiirer  II.  ii, 
184-187. 


CHAPTER  XL. 

THE    ATONEMENT. 

"My  mystery  is  for  Me,  and  for  the  sons  of  My  house." — Unwrt'lien 
Sayittg  of  Christ.     Clem.  Alex.  Strom,  v.  lo,  64. 

"  Learn  to  say,  I  do  not  know." — Rabbinic  Saying. 

"  '  Cur'  et  '  quomodo  '  exitiales  voculai." — LuTHER. 

Many  and  serious  are  the  misapprehensions,  or  purely  one- 
sided views,  respecting  the  whole  doctrine  of  the  Atonement. 

(i)  How  false,  for  instance,  and  not  only  iw-scriptural  but 
a«//-scriptural,  is  the  teaching  which  represents  the  supposed 
wrath  of  God  the  Father  as  only  averted  by  the  mercy  of  God 
the  Son — a  view  represented  in  such  lines  as  those  of  Sir  Henry 
Wotton — 

"  One  rosy  drop  from  Jesus's  heart 
Was  worlds  of  seas  to  qtccncJi  God's  ire" ; 

or  of  Dr.  Watts — 

"  Rich  were  the  drops  of  Jesu's  blood 
That  calmed  God's  frowning  face  ; 
That  sprinkled  o'er  the  burning  throne, 
And  turned  the  wrath  to  grace." 

No  epithet  but  ''  deplorable  "  can  be  given  to  the  sort  of 
theology  which  thus  disintegrated  the  entire  conception  of  the 
Trinity,  and  regarded  the  Father  and  the  Son  as  actuated  by 
antithetic  impulses. 

(ii.)  How  unwarranted,  again,  is  such  anthropomorphism 
as  was  habitually  used  till  very  recent  times  in  the  crude  and 
ignorant  language  of  many  sermons.  As  Dr.  Campbell  rightly 
said,  "  The  Scriptures  do  not  represent  the  love  of  God  to  man 
as  the  effect,  and  the  Atonement  as  the  cause,  but  just  the  con- 
trary; the  love  of  God  as  the  cause,  and  the  Atonement  as  the 

396 


THE    ATONEMENT.  397 

effect."  ]\Icn  have  made  themselves  "  enemies  of  God  "  (Rom. 
V.  10),  but  the  attitude  of  God  to  man  even  in  his  worst  aber- 
ration and  lowest  fall  is  always  described  as  an  attitude  of  for- 
bearance and  tenderest  love.  It  is  not  "  Perish,  as  you  deserve, 
under  the  fury  of  My  hatred  " ;  but  it  is  "  Turn  ye,  why  will  ye 
die  ?  "  Nor  is  it  said,  as  in  the  erroneous  rendering  of  our  Au- 
thorised Version,  that  God  forgave  us  "  for  Christ's  sake,"  but 
— which  is  indefinitely  more  blessed — that  "  God  in  Christ  " 
forgave  us  our  sins.  "  There  was  no  wrath  in  God  which  was 
not  in  Christ ;  and  no  mercy  in  Christ  which  is  not  in  God." 

(iii.)  Again,  what  entirely  false  conceptions  have  been 
mixed  up  with  the  notion  of  what  is  called  "  vicarious  suffer- 
ing." How  alien  from  true  theology  are  the  juristic  and  for- 
ensic theories  introduced  by  St.  Anselm,  though  he  substituted 
them  for  the  preposterous,  age-long  perversion  that  God  had 
paid  the  ransom  of  Christ's  sufferings  to  the  Devil !  Anselm 
only  introduced  a  fresh  error  in  representing  that  Christ  suf- 
fered, as  our  substitute,  in  order  to  reconcile  God's  justice  zvith 
His  compassion — as  though  they  were  conflicting  elements  in 
the  mind  of  God !  The  Bible  never  and  nowhere  represents 
the  Death  of  Christ  as  effecting  any  change  in  the  mind  of  God. 
"  One  is  the  kindness  of  their  mercy  as  the  sentence  of  their 
justice,"  said  the  Pope  St.  Leo  the  Great,  "  nor  is  there  any 
division  in  action  where  there  is  no  diversity  in  will."  Its  doc- 
trine is  one  of  free  forgiveness,  not  of  vicarious  punishment, 
nor  does  it  once  use  the  popular  phrases  of  "  vicarious,"  "  sub- 
stitution," "  satisfaction,"  "  expiation,"  or  "  imputed  right- 
eousness " ;  nor  does  it  ever  say  that  Christ  saved  us  from  the 
penalty  due  to  our  sins ;  nor  that  His  death  was  a  penalty  at  all. 
It  is  only  by  a  wooden  literalism  ;  by  turning  rhetoric  into  logic ; 
by  mistaking  the  impassioned  utterances  of  emotion  for  the 
formal  statements  of  rigid  reasoning;  by  extorting  boundless 
conclusions  out  of  isolated  metaphors  which  only  touch  the 
subject  at  a  single  point;  and  by  building  inverted  pyramids  of 
system  on  the  narrow  apex  of  single  texts,  that  the  whole  mean- 
ing of  the  Atonement  has  been  radically  obscured. 

(iv.)  Fully  admitting,  and  believing,  all  tlie  mysteries,  vj/bifib 


398  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

may  lie  under  the  word  "  propitiation,"  we  yet  see  that,  as  re- 
gards God  the  Father,  the  sufferings  of  Christ,  who  was  Him- 
self Very  God  of  Very  God,  are  beyond  our  apprehension.  If 
we  pretend  to  explain  them,  we  shall 

"  Find  no  end,  in  wandering  mazes  lost." 

But  when  we  think  of  the  suffering  and  death  of  Christ,  in  their 
relation  to  men,  we  shall  find  them  the  source  of  hope,  of  joy, 
and  of  deliverance.  Among  many  theories  on  the  subject, 
som,e  have  regarded  the  sufferings  of  Christ  as  "  simply  inci- 
dental to  His  prophetic  office."  *  Some  theologians  regard 
them  as  mainly  expressive  of  Christ's  sympathy  as  a  revelation 
of  divine  self-sacrifice  to  win  the  hearts  of  men.f  Some  look 
on  the  death  simply  as  the  crown  of  a  life  of  obedience,  and 
unbroken  fellowship  with  the  Father,  set  forth  as  an  example.^ 
More  common  than  these  is  the  theory  of  "  equivalent  substitu- 
tion," which  is  based  on  the  futile  desire  to  give  logical  dis- 
tinctness to  anthropomorphic  metaphor.  It  should  be  enough 
to  say,  without  any  attempt  "  to  soar  up  into  the  secrets  of  the 
Deity  on  the  waxen  wings  of  the  senses,"  that  Christ  offered 
for  us  all  one  sacrifice  for  sins  for  ever,  by  the  perfect  ex- 
ample of  self-surrender  to  the  Divine  will  which  He  gave  as 
the  representative  of  our  race ;  and  that  thus,  in  a  way  far  be- 
yond our  power  to  explain.  He  became  "  the  propitiation  for 
our  sins,  and  not  for  ours  only,  but  also  for  the  whole  world."  § 
"  The  doctrine  of  the  Atonement,"  says  Prof.  Mozley,  "  parts 
company  with  the  gross  and  irrational  conception  of  mere 
naked  material  substitution  of  one  term  for  another,  and  it 
takes  its  stand  upon  the  power  of  love." 

We  must,  then,  be  content  to  accept  the  death  of  Christ  as  a 
transcendent  fact  which  we  cannot  categorise  under  syste- 
matically logical  forms.  It  is  set  forth  in  varying  metaphors 
which  admit  of  varying  interpretations,  and  which  indicate  its 

*Socinus,  Robertson,  Ritschl.     I  borrow  the  brief  summary  from  Bruce» 
T/ie  Htimiliaiion  of  Christ,  p.  350. 
f  Abelard,  Bushnell. 

X  Some  of  the  Fathers.     Also  Schleiermacher,  Irving,  Maurice. 
§  I  John  ii.  2. 


THE    ATONEMENT.  399 

results  as  regards  us  men  and  our  salvation,  not  the  incompre- 
hensible mystery  of  its  exact  place  in  the  Divine  councils. 
These  metaphors  are  diverse,  and  cannot  be  rigidly  harmon- 
ised with  each  other.  They  cannot  be  treated  as  "  literal 
equivalents  of  spiritual  truth."  The  author  of  the  Epistle  to 
the  Hebrews  writes  much  about  sacrifices  ;  but  all  that  he  thinks 
it  reverent  to  say  when  he  comes  to  speak  of  the  death  of 
Christ  is  that  "  it  became  God  " — it  was  fitting  that  God — ''  in 
bringing  many  sons  to  glory  should  make  the  author  of  their 
salvation  perfect  through  sufferings  " ;  *  and  that,  as  every 
Jewish  High  Priest  offered  gifts  and  sacrifices,  "  it  is  necessary 
that  this  High  Priest  also  have  somewhat  to  offer."  f  But  not 
once  in  the  New  Testament  are  we  told  that  Christ  saved  us 
from  the  punishment  due  to  iniquity,  or  that  His  death  was  **  a 
punishment "  at  all.  The  metaphors  of  Is.  liii.  are  applied  by 
St.  Matthew  to  His  healings  of  the  sick.  "  In  the  whole  Jew- 
ish ritual,"  says  Archdeacon  Norris,  "  there  is  no  trace  of  the 
idea  that  sacrifices  were  meant  to  reconcile  the  offender  to 
God  by  the  death  of  the  Innocent  in  the  place  of  the  guilty." 
By  the  "  blood  "  of  Christ  is  meant  always  the  essential  life  of 
Christ.t  It  would  be  well  if  theologians  would  bear  in  mind 
the  warning  of  Bishop  Butler  that  "  all  conjectures  "  about  the 
manner  of  Christ's  Atonement  "  must  be,  if  not  evidently  ab- 
surd, at  least  uncertain." 

In  conclusion,  then — passing  over  the  monstrous  errors  of 
nearly  a  thousand  years  from  Irenseus  to  St.  Anselm,  and  from 
St.  Anselm  to  the  present  day,  when  the  Atonement  has  been 
represented  as  a  forensic  transaction  between  the  Father  and 
the  Son — we  must  say  that  Scripture  describes  the  Atonement, 
not  in  its  inmost  essence,  which  surpasses  our  powers  of  appre- 
hension, but  in  its  effects.  Ignorando  cognoscitur.  "  Scrip- 
ture," says  Bishop  Butler,  "  has  left  this  matter  of  the 
satisfaction  of  Christ  mysterious,  left  somewhat  in  it  un- 
revealed."  Let  it  be  enough  for  us  that  "  God  was  in  Christ, 
reconciling  the  world  unto  Himself  "  (2  Cor.  v.  19)  ;  and  that, 

*  Heb.  ii.  lo.  f  Heb.  viii.  3. 

\  Comp.  Bishop  Westcott  on  i  John  i.  7,  and  Ef.  to  th(  Hebrews,  p.  287, 


400  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

as  regards  its  results,  "  God  set  forth  Christ  to  be  a  propitia- 
tion "  (Rom.  iii.  25).  The  three  great  ereeds  of  Christendom 
carefully  avoid  all  attempts  to  express  the  significance  of  the 
Atonement  by  any  rigid  formulae  of  explanation ;  they  do  not 
build  figurative  illustrations  into  huge  edifices  of  dogmatic  the- 
ology.* They  arc  content  to  indicate  that  "  after  a  certain  ad- 
mirable manner  " — but  hozv,  we  are  unable  to  define — the  Life 
and  Death  of  Christ,  as  one  great  eternal  whole,  were  "  a  full, 
perfect,  and  sufficient  redemption,  propitiation,  and  satisfaction 
for  all  the  sins  of  the  whole  world  " ;  and  that  "  there  is  none 
other  satisfaction  for  sin  but  that  alone."  In  this  sense  we 
may  say  with  Hooker,t  "  Let  it  be  counted  folly  or  fury,  or 
phrensy,  or  whatsoever,  it  is  our  wisdom  and  our  comfort ;  we 
care  for  no  knowledge  in  the  world  but  this,  that  man  hath 
sinned  and  God  hath  suffered ;  that  God  hath  made  Himself  the 
sin  of  men.  and  that  men  are  made  the  righteousness  of  God." 

*  The  variety  of  the  expressions  used  to  i-idicate  the  effects  of  Christ's  death 
(«arfl/l/laj'7,  Ivrpov,  IXaoTr/piov,  ITiaofidg)  shows  that  the  mode  of  our  deliverance 
is  left  undefined  apart  from  its  results.  This  will  appear  more  plainly  if  any 
one  will  search  out  the  Old  Testament  for  the  uses  of  the  term  of  which  these 
Greek  words  are  the  rendering — namely  "IM  (Ex.  xxi.  30,  xxix.  36,  xxxii, 
30;  Lev.  i.  4,  iv.  20;  Num.  xvi.  46,  xxv.  13;  2  Chr.  xxx.  18  ;  Ezek.  xlv. 
15).    rilQS    "  the  mercy  seat "  (Lev.  xvii.  11). 

f  Serm.  ii.  6.  For  a  fuller  and  closer  examination  of  the  doctrine  of  the 
Atonement,  I  must  refer  to  my  papers  in  "  The  Atonement :  a  Clerical  Sym- 
posiwn;"  and  in  The  Christian  World  oi  November  16,  1899. 


CHAPTER  XLI. 

THE   RESURRECTION. 

"  Yet  though  we  have  known  Christ  after  the  flesh,  yet  now  know  we 
Him  so  no  more." — 2  Cor.  v.  16. 

"  Christ  is  risen  !     Christ  is  risen  ! 
He  hath  left  the  cloudy  prison, 
And  the  white-robed  angels  glimmer  mid  the  cerements 
of  His  grave : 
He  hath  smiten  with  His  thunder 
All  the  gates  of  brass  asunder, 
He  hath  burst  the  iron  fetters,  irresistible  to  save  ! " 

— F.  W.  F. 

The  history  of  Christianity  proves  that  it  is  far  from  being 
so  easy  as  it  might  seem  to  keep  "  the  due  proportion  "  of  the 
faith.  If  we  would  know  Clirist  aright  we  must  not  isolate 
me  part  of  His  teaching  to  the  exclusion  of  the  rest,  nor  must 
we  emphasise  one  part  of  His  life  and  work  in  such  a  manner 
as  to  exclude  the  due  significance  of  the  whole.  To  do  this 
is,  as  I  have  said,  to  make  the  same  mistake  as  is  committed  by 
so  many  when  they  fix  on  a  single  text  or  even  word  of  Scrip- 
ture, and  use  it  in  such  a  way  as  to  nullify  its  meaning  as  well 
as  the  meaning  of  all  the  rest  of  Scripture.  The  New  Testa- 
ment, I  must  once  more  urge,  does  not  teach  us  to  look  at 
Christ's  death  only,  but  always  to  regard  it  in  due  connexion 
with  His  Incarnation,  His  revelation  by  His  life,  and  words, 
and  works.  His  Resurrection,  His  Ascension,  His  eternal  exul- 
tation at  the  right  hand  of  God.  The  one-sidedness  of  party- 
systems  of  theology  has  partly  arisen  from  failure  to  catch  the 
due  shade  of  meaning  in  St.  Paul's  words,  "  For  I  determined 
not  to  know  anything  among  you,  save  Jesus  Christ,  and  Him 
crucified.'"^     The  emphasis  of  the  statement  lies  in  the  words 

*  I  Cor.  ii.  2  ;  Phil.  ill.  8. 
401 


402  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

"  Jesus  Christ " :  the  words  "  and  Him  crucified  "  are  added 
because  the  crucifixion  was  to  the  Jews  a  stumbhng-block  and 
to  Gentiles  foohshness,  as  it  was  to  all  "  the  perishing."  It  was 
necessary,  therefore,  to  insist  on  the  truth  that  the  very  Christ, 
in  all  "  the  glory  of  the  only  begotten  of  the  Father,"  was  none 
other  than  the  man  Christ  Jesus,  whom  Priests  and  Romans 
had  nailed  to  the  Cross,  so  that  the  Crucified  Teacher  was  one 
with  the  Risen  Saviour,  the  power  and  wisdom  of  God.*  St. 
Paul's  own  practice  shows  that,  rightly  as  he  gloried  in  the 
Cross  of  Christ,  he  did  not  make  it  the  sum-total  of  his  teach- 
ing, nor  did  he  identify  man's  Atonement  with  the  death  of 
Christ  only,  but  with  all  that  He  was,  and  all  that  He  did. 

Our  Lord  Himself  taught  the  devoted,  impassioned  Mag- 
dalene, in  the  first  great  lesson  which  He  uttered  after  His  Res- 
urrection, that  the  time  for  the  ecstasies  of  human  affection  was 
over.  He  said  to  her,  "  Cling  not  to  Me."  If  the  Scriptures 
had  been  duly  studied  and  understood,  those  words  alone  ought 
to  have  sufficed  to  condemn  the  emotional  sensuousness — un- 
scriptural,  unprimitive,  uncatholic — of  going  on  hands  and 
knees  to  kiss  crucifixes,  and  adoring  the  five  wounds.  St.  Paul 
expressed  this  lesson  with  almost  startling  plainness  when  he 
said,  "  From  henceforth  I  know  no  man  after  the  flesh.  Yea, 
though  I  have  knozvn  Christ  after  the  flesh,  yet  henceforth  knozv 
I  Him  no  more."  In  other  words,  the  Christ  of  St.  Paul  was 
no  longer  an  agonised  victim,  but  an  Eternal  King,  requiring 
our  love  and  service,  but  exalted  infinitely  above  all  need  of,  or 
desire  for,  our  compassion.  "  What  do  you  mean  by  a  likeness 
of  Christ  ?  "  wrote  Eusebius  of  Caesarea  to  the  Empress  Con- 
stantia.  "  Not  of  course  the  image  of  Him  as  He  is,  truly  and 
substantially ;  nor  yet  of  His  human  nature  as  it  has  been  glo- 
rified, of  which  the  Transfiguration  in  its  overpowering  splen- 
dour offered  some  pledge  or  likeness.  .  .  .  Since  we  con- 
fess that  our  Saviour  is  God,  and  Lord,  we  prepare  and  purify 
our  hearts  to  see  Him.  And  if,  before  that  Vision  which  shall 
be  face  to  face,  you  value  likenesses  of  the  Saviour,  what  better 
artist  can  there  be  than  the  God-Word  Himself  ?  " 

*  I  Cor.  i.  24,  ii.  8. 


THE    RESURRECTION.  403 

In  point  of  fact,  the  Resurrection  holds  a  place  at  least  as 
prominent  as  the  Crucifixion  in  the  teaching  of  the  Apostles  and  I 
Evangelists.  St.  Matthew  dwells  on  its  glorious  majesty;  St.( 
Mark  on  its  reality ;  St.  Luke  on  its  spiritual  necessity ;  St.  John: 
on  its  influence  over  men.  They  are  careful  never  to  let 
Christ's  sufferings  absorb  the  thoughts  of  Christians  in  such 
a  way,  or  to  such  an  extent,  as  to  obscure  the  sense  that, 
though  for  our  sakes  He  passed  through  the  brief  moment 
of  suffering  and  death.  He  desires  not  our  pity,  but  our 
endless  adoration,  as  the  Divine  King,  seated  on  the 
throne  of  His  Eternal  Glory.  Christ  had  taught  them  that 
"  they  who  are  accounted  worthy  to  attain  the  world  to  come 
are  sons  of  God,  being  sons  of  the  Resurrection."  *  He  had 
said,  "  /  am  the  Resurrection  and  the  Life."  f  It  was  the  con- 
dition of  the  Apostolate  to  have  been  a  witness  of  the  Resur- 
rection.$  The  cause  of  the  first  persecution  by  the  Priests  and 
Sadducees  was  that  the  Apostles  "  proclaimed  in  Jesus  the  res- 
urrection from  the  dead."  §  St.  Paul  woke  the  ridicule  of  the 
Stoics  and  Epicureans  at  Athens  because  he  preached  "  Jesus 
and  the  resurrection."  \\  When  he  was  seized  and  imprisoned 
at  Jerusalem,  it  was  "  concerning  the  resurrection  of  the  dead  " 
that  he  was  called  in  question,  and  because  he  had  preached 
"  that  the  Christ  must  suffer,  and  how  that  He  first  by  the  res- 
urrection of  the  dead  should  proclaim  light  both  to  the  people 
and  the  Gentiles."  ]|  He  began  his  Epistle  to  the  Romans  by 
the  declaration  "  that  Christ  Jesus  was  declared  to  be  the  Son 
of  God  with  power  by  the  resurrection  of  the  dead."  **  In  one 
of  the  most  glorious  chapters  of  all  his  Epistles,  he  based  man's 
hope  of  resurrection  exclusively  on  the  resurrection  of  Christ.f  f 
He  tells  the  beloved  Philippians  that  his  own  desire  is  "to 
know  Him,  and  the  power  of  His  resurrection,  and  the  fellow- 
ship of  His  sufferings,  becoming  conformed  until  His  death,  if 
by  any   means   we   may   attain   unto   the   resurrection   of   the 

*  Luke  XX.  34-36.  f  John  xi.  25. 

X  Acts  i.  22.  §  Acts  iv.  2. 

II  Acts  xii.  18.  ^  Acts  xxiii.  6,  xxiv.  21,  xxvi.  23. 

**Rom.  i.  4.  ff  I  Cor.  xv. 


404  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

dead."*  When  he  says  (Rom.  viii.  34),  "  It  is  Christ  Jesus 
that  died,  yea  rather,  that  was  raised  from  the  dead,  who  is  at 
the  right  hand  of  God,  zvho  also  maketh  intercession  for  us," 
it  is  ahnost  as  if  he  foresaw,  and  wished  to  correct,  any  partial 
onesidedness  in  our  conception  of  Christ.  The  whole  Epistle 
to  the  Ephesians  had  been  rightly  described  as  "  the  Epistle  of 
the  Heavenlies,"  the  Epistle  of  the  Resurrection ;  and  to  the 
Corinthians  he  said,  "  If  Christ  hath  not  been  raised,  your  faith 
is  vain."  t  St.  Peter's  first  utterance  to  the  Elect  of  the  Dis- 
persion is  to  thank  "  the  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who 
beget  us  again  unto  a  living  hope  by  the  resurrection  of  Jesus 
Christ  from  the  dead."  $  The  predominant  thought  of  all  the 
early  Christian  teachers  was  "Jesus,  zvhom  God  raised  up." 
It  was  the  stupendous  fact  of  the  Resurrection  of  Christ  by 
His  own  Divine  Power — a  fact  which  the  Jews  regarded  as 
impossible — which  changed  the  whole  character  of  the  Apostles, 
and  uplifted  them  from  what  they  had  been — timid,  and  dull, 
and  even  half  faithless — to  what  they  became  as  the  inspired 
teachers  and  converters  of  the  world ;  the  heralds  of  the  world's 
last  seon ;  the  proclaimers  and  appointed  founders  of  the  king- 
dom which  shall  have  no  end.  The  Resurrection,  as  we  have 
seen,  was  "  no  mere  accessory  of  their  message,  but  the  sum  and 
the  centre  of  the  message  itself."  They  grasped,  if  millions  of 
Christians  have  failed  to  do  so,  the  meaning  of  the  angel  mes- 
sage, "  Why  seek  ye  the  Living  among  the  dead?  He  is  not 
here;  He  is  risen,  as  He  said."  They  did  not  preach  a  dead 
Christ,  but  rather  a  Risen  Christ ;  not  a  lost  Christ,  but  a  Christ 
ever  Present;  not  one  who  was  habitually  to  be  regarded  as  a 
tortured  and  agonising  sufferer,  but  one  who  liveth  for  ever- 
more, and  imparts  to  us  His  life  and  His  joy,  so  that  in  the 
midst  of  death,  we  are  still  in  life.  They  had  been  but  as  chil- 
dren, full  of  wavering  misapprehension  and  timidity,  because 

*Phil.  iii.  10,  II. 

f  See  Acts  ii.  24,  iii.  15,  26,  iv.  10,  v.  30,  x.  40,  xiii.  30,  33,  34,  37,  xvii.  31; 
Rom.  iv.  24,  25,  vi.  4,  9,  vii.  4,  viii.  il  ;  i  Cor.  vi.  14,  xv.  passim  ;  2  Cor.  iv. 
14  ;  Col.  ii.  12,  iii.  i  ;  Gal.  i.  i  ;  Eph.  i.  20  ;  i  Thess.  i.  10  ;  i  Pet.  i.  21. 

X  I  Pet.  i.  3. 


THE    RESURRECTION.  405 

"  as  yet  they  knew  not  the  Scripture  that  He  must  rise  again 
from  the  dead."  *  After  the  Resurrection  they  sprang  into  the 
full  stature  of  men,  because  then  first  they  began  fully  to  ap- 
prehend all  that  Jesus  was  as  "  the  only  name  under  heaven, 
given  among  men  whereby  we  must  be  saved."  When  Jesus 
finally  parted  from  them  at  the  Ascension  they  returned  to  Jeru- 
salem "  zvith  great  joy."f  All  things  had  become  new  to  them. 
They  saw  that  the  awful  humiliation  of  apparent  defeat  was 
but  the  work  of  a  self-sacrifice  infinitely  fruitful ;  that  the  death 
of  Christ,  immediately  followed  by  His  resurrection,  was  the 
inauguration  of  a  new  and  the  final  seon  in  the  world's  history, 
in  which  God  would  not  only  be  among  them,  but  dwell  in 
them,  and  walk  in  them.  It  was  in  this  conviction  that  they 
went  forth  in  Christ's  name,  conquering  and  to  conquer. 

Hence  the  Resurrection,  together  with  the  Incarnation,  forms 
the  most  central  event  in  the  history  of  the  world.  It  was  the 
glorious  consummation  of  all  the  past,  the  splendid  inaugura- 
tion of  all  that  was  most  precious  in  all  the  future.  And  it 
should  be  noted  that  not  only  is  it  said  that  "  God  raised  Christ 
from  the  dead  "  (Gal.  i.  i),  but  also  that  Christ  did  not  hesitate 
to  attribute  it  also  to  His  own  divine  power.  "  Destroy  ye  this 
Temple,  and  in  three  days  I  will  raise  it  up." 

St.  Paul  clearly  saw,  and  decisively  argued,  that  man  can 
have  no  pledge  of  his  immortality  apart  from  the  resurrection  of 
Christ.  If  Christ  has  not  risen,  zve  shall  not  rise.  Life  be- 
comes not  worth  living  if  it  be  but  a  term  of  affliction,  and  pro- 
gressive decay,  and  constant  sorrow,  which  ends  with  itself,  and 
brings  no  hope  whatever  of  a  purer  and  happier  existence  be- 
yond the  grave.  Life  then  becoms  frail  and  futile,  and  there 
is  no  hope  of  redress.  The  terrible  picture  of  the  poet  would 
then  be  no  exaggeration — 

"  Lo  !  'tis  a  gala  night, 

Within  the  lonesome  latter  years! 
An  angel  throng,  bewinged,  bedight 
In  veils,  and  drowned  in  tears, 

*  John  XX.  9.  f  Luke  xxiv.  52. 


4o6  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

Sit  in  a  theatre,  to  see 

A  play  of  hopes  and  fears, 
While  the  orchestra  breathes  fitfully 

The  music  of  the  spheres. 

"  Mimes,  in  the  form  God  on  high. 

Mutter  and  mumble  low  ; 
And  hither  and  thither  fly — 

Mere  puppets  they,  who  come  and  go 
At  bidding  of  vast  formless  things, 

That  shift  the  scenery  to  and  fro, 
Flapping  from  out  their  condor  wings 

Invisible  woe  ! 

"  But  see,  amid  the  mimic  rout, 

A  crawling  shape  intrude — 
A  blood-red  thing  that  writhes  from  out 

The  scenic  solitude  ! 
It  writhes  !  it  writhes  !     With  mortal  pangs 

The  mimes  become  its  food, 
And  the  angels  sob  at  vermin  fangs 

In  human  gore  imbued. 

"  Out — out  are  the  lights  ! — out  all ! 

And  over  each  quivering  form 
The  curtain,  a  funeral  pall, 

Comes  down  with  the  rush  of  a  storm  ! 
And  the  angels,  all  pallid  and  wan. 

Uprising,  unveiling,  afifirm 
That  the  play  is  the  tragedy  Man, 

And  its  hero  the  Conqueror  Worm." 

If  Christ  never  rose  from  the  dead,  this  awful  vision  would 
have  elements  of  deep  reality.  If  Christ  be  not  risen  from  the 
dead,  and  we  are  yet  in  our  sins,  our  faith  is  vain,  and  they  that 
have  fallen  asleep  in  Christ  have  perished.  All  that  is  most 
gloriotis,  most  beautiful,  most  inspiring,  most  holy  in  the 
thought  and  progress  of  the  world  has  risen,  directly  or  indi- 
rectly, from  faith  in  Christ.  If  He  was  crucified  and  did  not 
rise,  the  Apostles  were  false  witnesses  of  God,  and  the  world's 
loftiest  hopes  were  impossibly  built  upon  a  delusion,  and  all 


THE    RESURRECTION.  407 

that  is  best  slips  from  us  into  dust  and  ashes,  and  Time  be- 
comes 

"  A  maniac  scattering  dust, 
And  life  a  fury  slinging  flame." 

Had  it  not  been  for  the  Resurrection,  no  defeat  of  all  that  is 
divine  in  the  life  of  man  could  have  been  more  complete  than 
was  involved  in  the  Crucifixion ;  and  therefore  the  evidences  of 
the  Resurrection  were,  by  God's  mercy,  made  overwhelming. 
There  was  not  in  all  the  world's  history — there  was  not  even 
in  the  age-long  history  of  the  Jewish  people — the  slightest  an- 
ticipation of  such  a  possibility  as  that  One  who  had  died,  could 
win  the  complete  victory  over  death,  and  say  to  the  world,  "  I 
am  He  that  liveth,  and  was  dead,  and  behold  I  am  alive  for 
evermore."  Jesus  had  foretold  to  His  disciples  that  He  would 
thus  rise ;  but  they  did  not  receive  or  understand  His  prophecy. 
It  did  not  touch  their  "  unbelief  and  hardness  of  heart."  In 
spite  of  such  prophecies  they  had  not  the  faintest  expectation 
that  any  such  thing  would  take  place.  Nay,  when  the  women 
and  Mary  Magdalene  reported  that  they  had  seen  Him,  they 
regarded  such  statements  as  mere  women's  talk.*  Not  till  they 
had  gone  into  the  empty  sepulchre  did  any  gleam  of  hope  enter 
into  the  hearts  of  their  leaders,  Peter  and  John.  When  He 
had  appeared  to  all  the  Apostles  except  Thomas,  Thomas  still 
refused  to  believe.  Not  till  He  had  opened  their  eyes — not  till 
they  had  again  seen,  and  heard,  and  their  hands  had  handled 
the  Word  of  Life — not  till  "  He  showed  Himself  alive  to  them 
by  many  infallible  proofs,  being  seen  of  them  and  speaking  of 
the  things  pertaining  to  the  kingdom  of  God  "  f  did  they  begin 
to  apprehend  that  their  Lord  had  broken  the  bonds  of  death, 
"  because  He  could  not  be  holden  of  it."  Then,  indeed,  they 
were  taught  to  see  that  the  Resurrection,  so  far  from  standing 
alone,  was  the  crowning  event  of  the  history  of  all  the  past ; 
the  opening  of  the  history  of  all  the  future  even  to  the  con- 
summation of  the  ages ;  the  sole  hope  of  the  life  of  all  the 

*  KrjpoQ,  "  babble,"  Luke  xxiv.  ii.     The  word  occurs  here  alone  in  the  New 
Testament. 
•j-  Acts  i.  3. 


4o8  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

world ;  and  the  sole  explanation  of  all  its  mysteries.  Absolutely 
and  finally  convinced,  they  became  the  irresistible  heralds  of  the 
last  Dispensation,  and  before  thirty  years  had  elapsed  they 
had  everywhere  proclaimed  Jesus,  and  the  mystery  of  His 
death,  and  the  Power  of  His  resurrection  as  the  Power  of  an 
endless  Life. 

Could  anything  short  of  so  immense  a  divine  interposition  as 
the  Resurrection,  and  the  subsequent  outpouring  of  the  Spirit, 
have  accounted  for  the  faith  which  overcame  the  world ;  the 
faith  by  virtue  of  which  the  Jewish  Dispensation,  now  that  it 
had  waxed  old,  was  swept  away;  the  faith  on  which  has  been 
founded  for  ever  that  Universal  Church  of  Christ  which  is  "  the 
blessed  company  of  all  faithful  people ;  "  the  faith  which  gave 
a  wholly  new  glory  and  meaning  to  human  life ;  the  faith  on 
which  was  founded  the  perpetuity  of  the  Christian  sacraments, 
and  the  observance  of  the  Lord's  Day ;  the  faith  which  wrought 
righteousness,  subdued  kingdoms,  stopped  the  mouths  of  lions, 
quenched  the  violence  of  fire ;  the  faith  which  so  transformed 
the  nature  of  man  by  the  constraining  love  of  Christ,  that  when 
the  Pagan  mobs  yelled  "  Christianos  ad  Iconcs  "  the  weakest 
boy  could  answer  with  exultation  Christianus  sum;  the  faith 
which  was  in  no  wise  affected  by  the  earthquakes  which  shook 
the  Roman  Empire  to  the  dust ;  the  faith  which  converted  and 
swayed  the  wild  hordes  of  northern  barbarians,  and  inspired 
them  with  the  thoughts  and  aims  which  have  achieved  all  that 
is  greatest  in  modern  civilisation;  that  faith  which  even,  most 
marvellous  of  all,  has  survived  the  gross  falsities  which  have 
been  taught,  and  the  hideous  crimes  which  have  for  centuries 
been  committed,  in  its  name;  which  has  succeeded  in  bursting 
out  of  the  foul  dungeon  in  which  it  had  been  imprisoned  by 
priestly  usurpers ;  which  has  shaken  off  the  influence  of  cen- 
turies of  mediaeval  impostures,  ignorance,  and  corruption ; 
which  has  even  outlined  the  infamies  of  the  Inquisition,  and 
of  the  Moloch  fires  kindled  in  the  name  of  Christianity  by  its 
falsest  representatives  in  spite  of  its  plainest  teachings,  to 
sicken  into  loathing  the  hearts  of  all  who  worshipped  Christ  in 
sincerity  and  truth? 


THE    RESURRECTION.  409 

Hence  we  see  that  the  recorded  evidences  of  the  Resurrection 
do  not  stand  alone.  St.  Paul,  within  a  few  years  of  the  death 
of  Jesus  on  Calvary,  tells  us  how  He  was  seen  of  Cephas;  of 
the  Twelve;  of  about  five  hundred  brethren  at  once,  of  whom 
the  majority  were  living  when  he  wrote ;  of  James ;  of  all  the 
Apostles ;  and,  last  of  all,  of  him  also  as  of  the  abortive-born 
of  the  Apostolic  band.*  The  Evangelists  narrate  to  us  how 
He  appeared  to  the  women  at  the  Sepulchre,  and  to  Mary  Mag- 
dalene, and  to  the  Ten  Apostles,  and  to  other  disciples  with 
them,  to  all  of  whom  He  gave  His  great  Commission ;  and  to 
the  Eleven  Apostles  when  Thomas  was  with  them ;  and  to  the 
two  disciples  on  their  way  to  Emmaus ;  and  to  Peter,  John, 
Andrew,  Philip,  and  Bartholomew,  on  the  old  familiar  shore 
of  the  sea  of  Galilee ;  and  to  the  Eleven  on  the  mountain  in  Gal- 
ilee; and,  possibly  at  the  same  time,  to  a  multitude  of  more 
than  five  hundred  disciples  when  He  bade  them  go  and  make 
disciples  of  all  the  nations.  Besides  these  eleven  recorded  ap- 
pearances, He  appeared  doubtless  on  other  occasions  "  by  the 
space  of  forty  days,"  and  (apart  from  the  visions  seen  by  St. 
Stephen  and  St.  Paul)  Pie  showed  Himself  last  of  all  to  the 
assembled  disciples  when  He  parted  from  them  to  continue  His 
visible  intercourse  with  them  on  earth  no  more. 

This,  surely,  is  distinct,  decisive,  and  varied  evidence ;  yet 
it  acquires  a  thousandfold  greater  force  from  the  fact  that,  so 
far  from  standing  alone,  it  is  charged  with  the  deepest  moral 
significance ;  that  it  is  only  the  fraction  of  a  vast  whole ;  that  it 
corresponds  with  all  that  we  know  of  the  nature  and  purposes 
of  God ;  that  it  accords  with  our  faith  in  all  God's  workings  in 
the  past  which  found  their  completion  in  the  Incarnation ;  that, 
apart  from  it,  all  which  has  followed  for  well-nigh  two  thou- 
sand years  would  be  inexplicable;  that  it  is  our  sole  positive 
pledge  of  the  immortality  which  makes  us  instinctively  feel 
that  we  were  not  born  to  die  for  ever ;  that  it  transfigured  the 
whole  nature  of  the  Apostles,  and  alone  rendered  possible  that 
work  which  has  issued  in  the  potential,  and  zvill  issue  in  the 
final,  regeneration  of  the  world ;  that  it  has  visibly  affected  all 

*  I  Cor.  XV.  5-8. 


4IO  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

the  subsequent  destinies  of  the  human  race ;  that  in  it  alone  does 
the  whole  meaning-  of  Christ's  mission  find  its  accomplishment 
and  the  secret  and  the  explanation  of  its  universal  triumph. 

It  is  evident  that  our  thoughts  are  turned  exclusively  to  the 
reality,  not  to  the  modes  or  details  of  this  mighty  consumma- 
tion of  our  Lord's  work.  No  eye  witnessed  the  Resurrection. 
The  earthquake,  and  the  vision  of  a  white-robed  angel  with 
countenance  like  lightning  who  had  come  and  rolled  away  the 
stone,  and  sat  upon  it,  had  terrified  the  guards,  and  made  them 
as  dead  men ;  but  neither  they,  nor  any  believer,  saw  the  Christ 
Himself  rise  out  of  the  sepulchre.  The  angel  told  the  women 
that  He  had  already  risen,  and  invited  them  to  see  the  place 
where  the  Lord  lay.  Particulars  and  incidents  of  the  actual 
miracle  were  wisely — let  us  say,  rather,  under  the  guidance  of 
the  Holy  Spirit — left  undescribed  by  the  Evangelists.  They  did 
not  admit  of  description.  But  the  brief  and  reverent  records 
show  us  that  the  mortal  body  of  Christ  was  already  changed, 
and  was  no  longer  subjected  to  the  limitations  of  ordinary  hu- 
manity. The  Resurrection  was  something  wholly  different 
from  other  "  raisings  from  the  dead,"  like  that  of  Lazarus.  It 
was  a  Resurrection  which,  by  Christ's  inherent  Godhead,  finally 
overcame  death,  and  him  who,  in  one  sense,  has  the  power  of 
death — that  is  the  Devil.* 

The  Resurrection-body  of  the  Lord  had  been  in  some  way 
transformed.*  He  was  not  immediately  recognisable  by  Mary 
or  by  His  disciples  on  the  way  to  Emmaus,  until  by  His  voice 
or  His  action  He  made  Himself  known  to  them.  When  the  as- 
sembled Apostles  first  saw  Him  they  were  terrified,  and  thought 
they  saw  a  Spirit.  Even  when  He  appeared  to  the  five  hundred 
or  more  brethren  on  the  mountain  in  Galilee,  "  some  doubted." 
Nor  was  His  body  any  longer  subject  to  the  ordinary  laws  of 
nature.  He  appeared  and  disappeared.  He  passes  through  the 
closed  door  and  suddenly  stands  in  the  midst  of  them.     The 

*  Heb.  ii.  14  (comp.  Rom.  v.  12  ;  John  viii.  44).  In  Wisdom  ii.  24,  we 
read,  "  Through  envy  of  the  Devil  came  death  unto  the  vvrorld."  The  Devil  is 
identified  with  the  Serpent  of  Paradise. 

f  Mark  xvi.  12,  e^avepw^T/  iv  iTepa  /J-opf^, 


THE    RESURRECTION.  411 

forty  days  of  His  earthly  manifestations  were,  so  to  speak,  an 
initial  form  of  the  ascended  life.  He  was  something  more  than 
He  who,  wont  to  stray, 

"  A  pilgrim  in  the  world's  highway, 
Oppressed  by  power  and  mocked  by  pride — 
The  Nazarene,  the  Crucified." 

"  Cling-  not  to  Me/'  He  said,  "  for  I  have  not  yet  ascended 
to  the  Father;  btit  go  to  My  brethren  and  say  to  them,  I  am 
ascending  to  My  Father  and  your  Father,  and  to  My  God  and 
your  God."  "  /  am  ascending  "{ava/Sdiroi)) ;  the  passing  into 
the  Father's  presence,  there  to  reign  with  Him,  world  without 
end,  had  already  in  one  sense  begun. 


CHAPTER  XLII. 

THE    ASCENSION. 

The  Ascension  was  the  natural  and  necessary  completion  of 
the  Resurrection,  but  there  are  two  different  points  of  view  from 
which  it  may  be  regarded. 

That  Christ  "  ascended  into  the  heavens  "  is,  of  course,  the 
belief  of  all  Christians.  Our  Lord  had  asked,  "  What  and  if  ye 
shall  see  the  Son  of  Man  ascending  where  He  was  before?  "  * 
Almost  the  earliest  words  of  the  Risen  Christ  were,  "  I  have 
not  yet  ascended  to  the  Father ;  I  am  ascending  to  My  Father 
and  your  Father,  and  My  God  and  your  God."  St.  Paul,  in 
the  Epistle  to  the  Ephesians,  speaks  of  Him  as  "  He  that  as- 
cended far  above  all  the  heavens ;  "  t  and  says  "  that  He  was 
received  up  in  glory."  %  The  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  describes 
Him  as  "  having  passed  through  the  heavens,"  and  "  having  be- 
come loftier  than  the  heavens."  §  But  this  language  is  neces- 
sarily anthropomorphic,  seeing  that  heaven  is  no  more  physi- 
cally above  our  heads  than  it  is  beneath  our  feet.  Heaven  is  a 
state,  not  a  locality.    It  has 

"  No  limits,  nor  is  circumscribed 
In  one  self  place." 

It  is  the  abode  of  the  Omnipresent  God,  who  has  neither 
body,  parts,  nor  passions,  but  is  everywhere,  and  filleth  all 
things  with  all  things.  When  we  speak  therefore  of  Christ's 
Ascension,  we  mean  primarily  that  He  withdrew  Himself  from 
physical  manifestations  to  His  servants  on  earth,  in  order  to 
bestow  on  them  that  nearer,  more  intense,  more  spiritual  pres- 
ence— that  indwelling  which  was  more  blessed  and  more  ex- 
pedient for  them — which  began  with  the  promised  gift  at  Pen- 
tecost.   Since  that  time  Christ  is  with  us  even  to  the  end  of  the 

*John  vi.  62.  fEph.  iv.  lO. 

\  I  Tim.  iii.  16.  §  Heb.  iv.  14,  and  vii.  26. 

412 


THE   ASCENSION.  413 

world.  God's  temple  on  earth  is  no  longer  a  material  structure 
in  Jerusalem,  nor  is  it  the  human  body  of  His  Incarnate  Son : 
it  is' the  heart  of  all  true  believers.*  This  is,  henceforth,  the 
earthly  abode  of  Him  who  loves, 

"  Before  all  temples,  the  upright  heart  and  pure." 

Besides  this  belief  in  the  Ascension,  it  is  regarded,  by  many, 
as  the  termination  of  Christ's  ministry  by  the  visible  rising 
from  earth  upwards  through  the  air  in  the  presence  of  His  dis- 
ciples. So  the  scene  is  often  represented  in  Christian  Art,  and 
most  notably  in  the  famous  picture  of  Raphael.  It  is  doubtful 
whether  this  view  is  correct,  or  whether  the  Ascension  can  be 
properly  represented  by  Art.  That  the  special  mode  in  which 
Christ  left  the  earth  was  not  meant  to  occupy  a  prominent  place 
in  our  thoughts  is  proved  by  the  fact  that  it  is  scarcely  alluded 
to  in  the  Gospels.  St.  Matthew  does  not  mention  it.  In  St. 
Mark  it  only  occurs  in  the  spurious  addition  made  to  the  Gos- 
pel, whether  by  Aristion  or  another,  and  there  it  is  only  al- 
luded to  in  a  mixed  quotation  from  2  Kings  ii.  11,  "  He  was 
received  into  heaven ;  "  and  Psalm  ex.  i,  "  and  sat  on  the  right 
hand  of  God :  " — an  allusion  which  does  not  bear  at  all  on 
any  visible  rising  through  the  air.  There  is  no  narration  of 
the  event  in  St.  John,  but  only  the  general  references  which  I 
have  quoted.  The  sole  authority  for  the  material  scene  is  St. 
Luke,  and  even  in  St.  Luke  the  reference  is  vague  and  very 
brief.  He  merely  says  that,  after  the  last  farewells  of  Jesus  to 
His  beloved  followers,  "He  stood  apart  from  them."  The 
words  which  follow,  "  and  was  borne  up  into  heaven,"  are  al- 
most certainly  spurious,  as  they  are  not  found  in  the  best  and 
earliest  manuscripts. 

The  only  other  reference  is  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  where 
we  are  told  that,  after  His  last  words,  "  He  was  taken  up,  and 
while  they  were  looking  on,  a  cloud  received  Him  out  of  their 
sight."  If  we  interpret  the  first  word  {inj^p^rf)  in  the  general 
sense,  and  combine  it  with  the  "  stood  apart  from  them  "  of  the 
Gospel,  we  might  suppose  that  Christ  simply  vanished  from 
the  presence  of  His  loved  ones  into  an  overshadowing  and  shin- 
*  I.  Cor.  iii.  i6,  vi.  19  ;  2  Cor.  vi.  16  ;  Eph.  ii.  21,  22. 


414  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

ing  cloud.  They  all  understood  that  it  was  the  final  parting, 
the  end  of  earthly  companionship ;  but  as  they  stood  with  faces 
upturned  towards  the  sky,  which  they  regarded  as  the  Throne 
of  God,  the  Angel  said  to  them,  "  Ye  men  of  Galilee,  why  stand 
ye  gazing  up  into  heaven?  "  He  whom  "  a  cloud  had  received 
out  of  their  sight  "  should  return  in  the  clouds  of  heaven,  in 
the  human  form  which  he  had  for  ever  united  to  His  Godhead. 
All  authority  was  given  unto  Him  in  heaven  and  on  earth, 
and  now  they  were  to  go  and  make  disciples  of  all  nations,  bap- 
tising them  into  the  name  of  the  Father,  an^l  of  the  Son,  and 
of  the  Holy  Ghost ;  "  teaching  them  to  observe  all  things  what- 
soever He  had  commanded  them ;  "  and  "  lo.  He  would  be  with 
them  all  the  days  even  unto  the  consummation  of  the  age." 
Thenceforth  grace  was  given  "  unto  each  one  of  us  according  to 
the  measure  of  the  gift  of  Christ ;  wherefore  He  saith — 

"  When  He  ascended  on  high,  He  led  captivity  captive. 
And  gave  gifts  unto  men." 

Wc  have  seen,  then,  that  the  manner  of  the  Ascension  is 
barely  more  than  referred  to,  and  only  in  general  terms,  by  a 
single  Evangelist.  Similarly,  in  the  Epistles  the  actual  rising 
heavenwards  is  nowhere  narrated,  and  the  references  are  all  to 
the  heavenly  super-exaltation.*  But  the  fact  of  the  Ascension 
of  Christ  "  far  above  all  heavens ;  " — the  fact  that  having  left 
the  earthly  life,  He  is  seated  for  ever  at  the  right  hand  of  the 
Majesty  on  High; — underlies  the  whole  Christian  revelation. 
It  is  the  basis  of  all  our  faith  and  all  our  hope. 

"  The  very  God  !— think,  Al^ib  !— dost  thou  thinlv  ? 
So  the  All-Great  were  the  All-Loving  too — 
So,  through  the  thunder  comes  a  human  voice, 
Saying,  '  O  heart  I  made,  a  heart  beats  here  ! 
Face,  My  hands  fashioned,  see  it  in  Myself. 
Thou  hast  no  power,  nor  may'st  conceive  of  Mine ; 
But  Love  I  gave  thee,  with  Myself  to  love. 
And  thou  must  love  Me,  who  have  died  for  thee.'  "  f 

*Eph.  iv.  8-IO  ;  Heb.  iv.  14,  vii.  26  ;  i  Pet.  iii.  22  ;  i  Tim.  iii.  16.  "  In 
itself,"  says  Prof.  Dewar,  "the  Ascension  is  no  more  than  a  point  of 
transition." 

f  Browning,  Men  and  Women  (Ep.  of  Karshish). 


CHAPTER  XLIII. 

THE  FINAL  ISSUES. 

"  Securus  judical  orbis  terrarum." 

"  The  World  was  only  created  for  the  Messiah." — Sanhedrin. 
f.  98,  2. 

"  '0  Bav/udaag  Paailevaei  /cat  6  ^aaiXevaag  avanarjaETai. — Clem.  Alex.  Strom. 
ii.  9,  45. 

"  Amem  Te  plusquam  me,  nee  me  nisi  propter  Te." — Imitatio 
Christi. 

"  In  Him  was  Yea." — 2  Cor.  i.  19. 

"  If  this  counsel  or  this  work  be  of  men  it  will  be  overthrown  ;  but  if 
't  is  of  God  ye  will  not  be  able  to  overthrow  it  ;  lest  haply  ye  be  found 
even  to  be  fighting  against  God." — Acts  v.  39. 

How  little  did  the  Sadducean  hierarchy  and  the  Pharisaic 
externaHsts  grasp  the  real  significance  of  the  deadly  crime 
which  they  had  committed !  How  little  did  they  recognise  that 
this  deed  of  theirs,  designed  to  maintain  their  party  falsities, 
was  the  beginning  of  the  awful  end  of  the  whole  Jewish  dis- 
pensation !  Very  shortly  after  the  Death  of  Christ  Caiaphas 
was  deposed.  Pilate  was  recalled,  banished,  and  overwhelmed 
with  disaster,  dying  at  last  by  his  own  hand  at  Vienne  in  Gaul.* 
Antipas  was  deposed,  and  condemned  and  banished.  The  Em- 
peror Tiberius  died  with  a  soul  haunted  by  the  demons  of  crime 
and  misery.  In  the  lifetime  of  many  who  had  taken  part  in  the 
awful  tragedy,  the  House  of  Annas  was  destroyed,  and  his  last 
son  murdered.  Jerusalem  was  besieged  and  went  through 
spasms  of  inconceivable  horror.  It  sank  into  a  hell — a  city  of 
despairing  madmen  and  raging  cannibals. f  The  Temple  was 
desecrated  and  burned  into  a  blackened  ruin ;  the  Jews  were 

*  TToiKtTiaig  nepnreauv  av/xipopai^,  Euseb.  Chron.  p.  78  ;  H.  E.  li.  7. 
f  See  Jos.  B.J.  v.  6,  vi.  10  ;  Renan,  L'Antechrist,  p.  506. 


4i6  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

crucified  in  such  thousands  that  wood  failed  to  provide  crosses 
for  them;  the  Holy  City  became  a  frightful  desolation,  unrec- 
ognisable by  those  who  visited  it ;  the  Jewish  system  of  religion 
vv^as  obliterated  for  ever. 

"  Vengeance  !  thy  fiery  wing  their  race  pursued, 
Thy  thirsty  poniard  blushed  with  infant  blood, 
Roused  at  thy  call,  and  panting  still  for  game, 
The  bird  of  war,  the  Latian  eagle  came. 

"  Then  Judah  raged  by  ruffian  discord  led. 
Drunk  with  the  steamy  carnage  of  the  dead  ; 
She  saw  her  sons  by  dubious  slaughter  fall, 
And  war  without,  and  death  within  the  wall. 
Wide-wasting  Plague,  gaunt  Famine,  mad  Despair, 
And  dire  debate,  and  clamorous  strife  were  there. 
Love,  strong  as  Death,  retain'd  his  might  no  more, 
And  the  pale  parent  drank  her  children's  gore. 

Ah,  fruitful  now  no  more  !  an  empty  coast. 
She  mourn'd  her  sons  enslav'd,  her  glories  lost  : 
In  her  wide  streets  the  lonely  raven  bred. 
There  barked  the  wolf,  and  dire  hyaenas  fed." 

Yes!  from  the  hour  when  the  Priests  and  Rabbis  of  a  cor- 
rupted and  hypocritic  religion,  consisting  of  outward  forms 
and  inward  falsity,  had  achieved  their  crowning  iniquity,  began 
"  the  long,  endless,  hopeless  history  of  Jewish  decadence,  and 
the  historic  and  terrible  corruption  which,  under  the  co-oper- 
ation of  tyrannous  emperors,  puppet  kings,  carnal  patriots,  and 
spiritually  festering  masses  of  the  people,  lasted  for  a  genera- 
tion, only  to  close  with  the  frightful  coup  dc  grace  given  by 
Titus's  destruction  of  Jerusalem."  The  death  of  Christ  was  the 
close  of  an  age-long  Dispensation : — it  was  "  the  consummation 
of  the  age :  " — the  close  of  all  the  previous  aeons  of  the  world's 
history ;  the  beginning  of  the  last  aeon,  and  of  the  end  of  the 
world. 

If  ever  God  by  the  whole  course  of  human  history  has  set 
the  seal  to  the  truth  of  a  Divine  Revelation,  it  is  in  the  progress 
of  all  the  ages  since  Christ  died.     The  history  of  Christianity 


THE    FINAL    ISSUES.  417 

has  been  a  history  of  advancing  victories.  It  has  brought  new 
Hfe  into  a  weary  world.  It  has  been  as  a  regenerative  force, 
not  only  to  multitudes  of  men  of  the  loftiest  minds,  but  to 
Paganism  in  all  its  forms.  "  Old  things  have  passed  away;  be- 
hold, they  have  become  new."  Christ  has  revealed  such  a 
knowledge  of  God  as  was  wholly  unknown  to  the  earlier  world. 
What  word  of  His  has  failed  ?  God  has  granted  to  mankind  a 
new  Life,  and  "  that  life  "  is — not  in  systems,  or  shibboleths, 
or  churches,  or  priesthoods,  but  only  "  in  His  Son."  "  Neither 
is  there  salvation  in  any  other ;  but  in  every  nation  he  that  fear- 
eth  God  and  doeth  righteousness  is  accepted  of  Him." 

Even  those  who  do  not  unreservedly  accept  the  belief  in 
Christ's  Godhead,  yet  confess  that  "  with  reference  to  religion, 
He  remains  to  us  the  highest  we  know  and  are  able  to  con- 
ceive ;  "  that  "  in  the  domain  of  the  inner  relations  of  Godhead 
and  Humanity  He  has  reached  the  extreme  and  unsurpassable 
stage  of  union ;  "  that  "  the  anxious  inquiry  after  something 
higher  in  achievement  and  personal  character  must  be  relegated 
to  silence  as  a  Dream,  and  as  a  subtlety  unworthy  of  a  reasonable 
being;  "  that  "  the  prejudices  and  the  weakness  of  thousands  of 
years  fell  into  ruins  before  His  masterwork ;  "  that  "  the  relig- 
ious consciousness  reached  its  acme  and  high  personal  great- 
ness in  the  Founder  of  Christianity."  *  History  has  given 
decisive  proofs,  to  repeat  words  cited  earlier  in  this  volume, 
that  "  Christianity  is  the  crown  of  all  the  revelations  of  God, 
and  that  Jesus  is  the  chosen  of  God,  God's  image,  and  best-be- 
loved, and  master-workman,  and  world-shaper  in  the  history  of 
mankind."  f 

How  could  the  Almighty  have  given  more  decisively  the 
Witness  of  History  to  Christ  ?  How  could  He  have  shown  more 
finally  "  that  it  was  the  good  pleasure  of  the  Father  that  in  Him 
should  all  the  fulness  dwell,"  and  "  through  Him  to  reconcile 
all  things  unto  Himself,  having  made  peace  through  the  blood 
of  His  Cross;  through  Him  I  say,  whether  things  upon  the 
earth,  or  things  in  the  heavens  "  ?  |  How  could  God  more  de- 
cisively have  evinced  to  man  that  "  He  is  our  peace,  who  hath 
*  E,  Zeller,  f  Keim,  vi.  426-436,  |  Col.  i.  19,  20, 


4i8  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

made  both  one,  and  brake  down  the  middle  wall  of  partition, 
having  abolished  in  His  flesh  the  enmity,  even  the  law  of  com- 
mandments contained  in  ordinances  "  ?  *  When  we  try  to  ex- 
plain and  formulate  the  exact  zvay  in  which  Christ's  life  and 
death  procured  our  deliverance,  we  pass  far  beyond  the  region 
of  human  logic ;  yet  it  may  be  given  to  every  one  of  us  to  know 
and  feel,  with  a  reality  which  passeth  knowledge,  that  Christ 
has  "  blotted  out  the  bond  that  was  against  us  by  its  ordinances, 
which  was  contrary  to  us ;  and  He  hath  taken  it  out  of  the  \vay, 
nailing  it  to  the  Cross :  "  and  that  "  having  put  off  from  Him- 
self His  body.  He  made  a  show  of  the  principalities,  and  the 
powers,  triumphing  over  them  in  it."  y 

Those  verses  represent,  in  the  language  of  Scripture,  the 
blessedness  of  personal  salvation.  The  progressive  conse- 
quences of  the  Life  and  Death  of  Christ  over  all  the  world  are 
written  plainly  in  "  all  the  volumes  vast "  of  Human  History. 
Since  His  Resurrection,  and  as  its  direct  consequence, 

"  A  new  created  world 
Springs  up  at  God's  command." 

The  conception  of  "  Holiness,"  unknown  to  the  ancient  world 
of  Paganism,  became  thenceforth  a  conception  familiar  to  man- 
kind. Read  all  the  literature  of  the  ancient  heathen  world,  and 
though  here  and  there  you  find  a  noble  and  righteous  man,  it 
would  be  difficult  to  find  even  one  in  the  long  ages  of  the  story 
of  Greece  and  Rome  to  whom  you  could  apply  the  epithet 
"  holy."  Noiv  we  may  trust  that  there  is  scarcely  a  village, 
scarcely  a  family,  which  has  not  been  blessed  by  visible  fulfil- 
ments of  this  divine  ideal.  In  ancient  days  life  was  but  a  brief 
vision  haunted  by  the  grim  spectre  of  death.  The  cry  of  de- 
spair rose  from,  innumerable  hearts.  Man  seemed  to  be  but 
ffKiaS  ovap,t\\e  dream  of  a  shadow.  The  future  life  was  but 
the  dim  guess  of  a  few.    Shakespeare  asks — 

"  Who  would  these  fardels  bear, 
To  grunt  and  sweat  under  a  weary  life, 
But  that  the  dread  of  something  after  death — 

*Eph.  ii.  14,  15.  fCol.  ii.  15. 


THE    FINAL    ISSUES.  419 

That  undiscovered  country  from  whose  bourn 
No  traveller  returns— puzzles  the  will, 
And  makes  us  rather  bear  those  ills  we  have 
Than  fly  to  others  that  we  know  not  of !  " 

But  that  dread  of  death  has  an  effect  most  salutary,  for  it 
teaches  us  that  Hfe  is  a  thing  too  solemn  and  sacred  to  be  dese- 
crated by  vile  pleasures,  or  frittered  away  in  frivolous  pur- 
suits. And  when  Life,  in  the  realisation  of  its  immortal  dig- 
nity, is  devoted  to  high  and  worthy  ends,  it  reflects  a  light  from 
heaven — a  "  light  that  never  was  on  sea  or  land."  It  is  transfig- 
ured by  the  thought  that,  as  we  have  been  planted  in  the  like- 
ness of  Christ's  death,  so  shall  we  be  also  in  the  likeness  of 
His  Resurrection.  These  convictions  have  made  the  humblest 
human  life  blessed  and  precious.  The  common  conviction  of 
antiquity  was  that  life  was  not  worth  living,  and  many  a  senti- 
ment of  ancient  philosophers  might  be  summed  up  in  the  lines 
of  the  unhappy  poet — 

"  ICnow  that,  whatever  thou  hast  been, 
'Tis  something  better  not  to  be." 

But,  in  place  of  the  natural  apathy  and  utter  hopelessness 
even  of  Stoicism,  Christianity  has  taught  us,  day  by  day,  to 
thank  God  for  our  creation  and  preservation,  as  well  as  for  all 
the  blessings  of  this  life.  And  therefore  Christ  says  (Luke  xii. 
29)to  us  all,  even  amid  life's  wildest  storms,  Mrj iJ.er6copiS,eff^E, 
"  Be  not  of  doubtful  mind  " — be  not  like  ships  which  toss  in 
the  stormy  offing,  instead  of  clinging  to  the  anchor  sure  and 
steadfast  which  keeps  them  safe  in  the  harbour's  mouth. 

The  sinlessness  of  Jesus  has  been  our  example — an  "  under- 
wr'iimg" {vTtoy pa fiiA-Ov)'-  over  which  the  best  of  the  saints  have 
striven  faintly  to  trace  their  lives.  He  has  been  to  the  world, 
as  is  said  in  the  Epistle  to  Diognetus,  "  a  Nurturer,  a  Father, 
a  Teacher,  a  Counsellor,  a  Physician,  the  mind,  light,  honour, 
strength,  glory  "  of  all  who  have  received  and  trusted  in  Him. 
The  Cross  was  to  the  Jews  a  stumbling-block,  and  to  the  Greeks 
foolishness ;  but  "  the  foolishness  of  God  is  wiser  than  men, 
and  the  weakness  of  God  is  stronger  than  men."  f    The  faith 

*  I  Pet,  ii.  21.  f  I  Cor.  i.  25. 


420  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

of  Christ  came  of  God,  and  therefore  men  cannot  overthrow 
it.*  No  small  part  of  the  deadly  hatred  which  Christians  in- 
curred was  due  to  their  hostility  to  the  worst  vices — the  impu- 
rities and  the  cruelties — of  Paganism. f  They  would  have  noth- 
ing to  do  with  "  the  madness  of  the  circus,  the  lewdness  of  the 
theatre,  the  heartlessness  of  the  arena,  or  the  vanity  of  the 
xystus  " :  $  and  because  they  would  not  be  present  at  such 
spectacles,  the  heathen  sneered  and  railed  at  them  as  "  pallid, 
pitiful,  stupid,  wretched  creatures  ;"§  '*  a  lurking  and  light- 
shunning  people,  mute  in  public,  and  garrulous  in  corners ;  " 
"  unlearned,  rude,  unpolished,  rustic,  barbarous,  madmen,  non- 
descripts— of  trivial  and  sordid  speech."  ||  Yet  unaided  by  any, 
opposed  by  all,  Christianity  conquered  the  world.  "  We  are  but 
of  yesterday,"  says  Tertullian,  "  yet  we  have  filled  all  that  be- 
longs to  you,  your  cities,  your  islands,  your  fortresses,  your  free 
towns,  your  council  chambers,  your  camps,  tribes,  decuries,  the 
Palace,  the  very  Senate ;  we  leave  to  you  your  Temples  only."  |[ 

To  Christianity  alone  belongs  the  full  conception  of  ayaTirf, 
or  brotherly  love.  In  classical  Greek  the  word  in  that  sense 
does  not  exist,  and  "  Charity  "  in  the  Christian  sense  has  risen 
far  above  the  narrow  connotation  of  the  Latin  caritas.  Humil- 
ity, again,  is  a  word  which  owes  all  its  loveliness  to  Christianity ; 
in  Latin  it  is  a  term  of  contempt  and  means  abjectness !  The 
Greek  word,  raTteivocppoffwrj,  was  regarded  as  a  synonym  of 
poor-spirited  baseness.  St.  Peter,  thinking  how  Christ  girded 
himself  with  a  towel,  and  washed  the  disciples'  feet,  bids  Chris- 
tians tie  humble-mindedness  round  them  with  knots  like  a 
slave's  apron.**  Humanitas  meant  in  Latin  "  human  nature," 
or  "  refined  culture ;  "  in  Christian  language  it  means  love  to  the 
whole  brotherhood  of  man.  Well  may  the  author  of  the  Epistle 
to  Diognetus  say,  "  What  the  soul  is  to  the  body,  that  Christi- 
anity is  to  the  world." 

Here,  perhaps,  I  may  be  allowed  to  repeat  words  which  I 

*  Acts  V.  39.  t  Aug.  De  Civ.  Dei.  ii.  20. 

X  Tert.  Apol.  38.  §  Minuc.  Fel.  Oct.  8,  12. 

\  Arnob.  c.  Gentes  i.  28,  29,  ii.  5,  58,  59.     ^  Tert.  Apol.  37. 
**  I  Pet.  V.  5. 


THE    FINAL    ISSUES.  421 

have  used  before,  and  to  say  that  the  effects  of  the  work  of 
Christ  are,  even  to  the  unbehever,  indisputable  and  historical. 
It  expelled  cruelty,  it  curbed  passion,  it  branded  suicide ;  it  pun- 
ished and  suppressed  an  execrable,  yet  all  but  universal,  infanti- 
cide; it  drove  the  naked  shamelessness  of  heathen  impurities 
into  a  congenial  darkness.  There  was  hardly  a  class  whose 
wrongs  it  did  not  remedy.  It  rescued  the  gladiator;  it  freed 
the  slave ;  it  protected  the  captive ;  it  nursed  the  sick ;  it  shel- 
tered the  orphan ;  it  elevated  the  woman ;  it  shrouded  as  with  a 
halo  of  sacred  innocence  the  tender  years  of  the  child.  In  every 
region  of  life  its  ameliorating  influence  was  felt.  It  changed 
pity  from  "  a  vice  of  the  mind  "  to  a  holy  virtue.  It  elevated 
poverty  from  a  curse  into  a  beatitude.  It  ennobled  labour  from 
a  vulgarity  into  a  dignity  and  a  duty.  It  sanctified  marriage 
from  little  more  than  a  burdensome  convention  to  little  less  than 
a  blessed  sacrament.  It  revealed  the  angelic  beauty  of  a  purity 
of  which  men  had  despaired,  and  of  a  meekness  at  which  they 
scoffed.  It  created  the  very  conception  of  charity,  and  broad- 
ened the  limits  of  its  obligation  from  the  "  slightly  expanded 
egotism  "  of  the  family  to  the  broadest  horizon  of  the  race.  It 
evolved  the  Idea  of  Humanity  as  a  common  brotherhood,  and 
cleansed  the  life  and  elevated  the  soul  of  each  individual  man. 
Mankind  lay  among  the  pots,  and  it  clad  them  as  it  were  with 
the  wings  of  a  dove  which  is  covered  with  silver  wings  and 
her  feathers  like  gold.  Christianity  inspired  into  its  weakest 
children  a  splendid  heroism.  "  Call  us  sarmenticii  and  semaxii," 
exclaims  Tertullian,  "  names  derived  from  the  wood  wherewith 
we  are  burned,  and  the  stakes  to  which  we  are  bound;  this  is 
the  garment  of  our  victory,  our  embroidered  robe,  our  triumphal 
chariot."  *  "  The  nearer  I  am  to  the  sword,"  said  Ignatius, 
"  the  nearer  am  I  to  God."  f  "  We  were  condemned  to  the 
wild  beasts,"  said  St.  Perpetua,  "  and  with  hearts  full  of  joy 
returned  to  our  prison."  Whence  came  this  rapture  in  the  very 
face  of  doom  ?    It  came  from  the  constraining  love  of  Christ. 

At  last,  finding  that  they  had  to  do  with  a  host  of  Scaevolas, 
"  the  proudest  of  earthly  powers,  arrayed  in  the  plenitude  of 
*  Tert.  Apol.  50.  f  Ignat.  Ep.  ad  Smyrn. 


422  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

material  resources,  humbled  herself  before  a  power  founded 
on  a  mere  sense  of  the  Unseen."  *  The  Instans  Tyrannus, 
strivMig^  in  vain  to  crush  or  undermine  his  humble  opponents, 
was  forced  to  exclaim — 

"  When  sudden — how  think  ye  the  end  ? 
Did  I  say  '  without  friend  '  ? 
Say  rather  from  marge  to  the  blue  marge 
The  whole  heaven  grew  his  targe, 
With  the  sun's  self  for  visible  boss, 
While  an  arm  ran  across 

Wiiich  the  earth  heaved  beneath  like  a  breast — 
When  the  wretch  was  safe  pressed  ! 
Do  you  see  ?     Just  my  vengence  complete. 
The  man  sprang  to  his  feet, 

Stood  erect,  caught  at  God's  skirt,  and  prayed  : — 
So  I  was  afraid  !  " 

And  having  subdued  and  won  the  Empire,  Christianity,  by 
its  nobleness  and  sympathv,  subdued  and  won  the  wild  horde 
of  Northern  barbarism.  Gibbon  is  a  most  unprejudiced  wit- 
ness, and  he  says,  "  The  progress  of  Christianity  has  been 
marked  by  two  glorious  and  decisive  victories,  over  the  learned 
and  luxurious  civilisation  of  the  Roman  Empire,  and  even  the 
warlike  barbarians  of  Scythia  and  Germany,  who  subverted 
the  Empire  and  embraced  the  religion  of  the  Romans."  f  At- 
tila  the  Hun  was  overawed  by  Pope  Leo  III.  at  Ponte  Molino, 
and  Genseric  the  Vandal  at  the  gates  of  Rome.  Totila  listened 
humbly  to  the  rebukes  and  predictions  of  Benedict.  The  bishops 
of  the  Church  won  the  title  of  Defcnsorcs  Civitatis,  and  as  Mr. 
J.  S.  Mill  says,  "  treated  with  the  conquerors  in  the  name  of 
the  natives.  It  was  their  adhesion  which  guaranteed  the  gen- 
eral obedience;  and  after  the  conversion  of  the  conquerors  it 
was  to  their  sacred  character  that  the  conquered  were  indebted 
for  whatever  mitigation  they  experienced  of  the  fury  of  con- 
quest."'|  Thus  did  the  Church  preserve  "the  real  property  of 
the  past  amid  the  trembling  destinies  of  the  future."  §    Christian 

*  Grammar  of  Assent,  472.  f  Gibbon,  iii.  258  (ed.  Milman). 

X  Dissertatiovs.  ii.  263. 

§  Ozanam,  Hist,  of  Civilisation  in  the  Fifth  Century,  i.  14  (comp.  ii.  6). 


THE    FINAL    ISSUES.  423 

missionaries  converted  and  thereby  civilised  the  world.  Ulfila 
converted  the  Goths;  St.  Anskar  the  Scandinavians;  St.  Boni- 
face the  Germans ;  St.  Patrick  the  Irish ;  St.  Columba  the 
Northern  Britons ;  St.  Aidan  the  Northumbrians ;  St.  Remigius 
the  Franks ;  St.  Augustine,  of  Canterbury,  the  English.  Two 
nations,  England  and  Spain,  owed  their  conversion  to  Gregory 
the  Great.  The  heralds  of  the  Cross  went  forth  into  every 
region  conquering  and  to  conquer.  To  prove  how  the  tide  of 
Christianity  is  ever  advancing,  it  may  suffice  to  say  that  if  at 
the  end  of  the  third  century  the  whole  race  of  mankind  had 
passed  by  in  long  procession,  not  more  than  one  in  one  hundred 
and  twenty  would  have  been  a  Christian.  Had  they  passed 
by  fifty  years  ago,  not  more  than  one  in  five ;  but  were  they  at 
this  moment  to  pass  one  by  one  before  our  eyes,  it  is  probable 
that  one  in  three  would  have  heard  the  name  and  accepted  the 
faith  of  Christ.  The  Faith  of  Mankind  has  not  been  dimmed 
but  rather  brightened  by  the  long  progress  of  the  centuries; 
and  while  we  sing 

"  Waft,  waft,  ye  winds  the  story, 

And  you  ye  waters  roll. 
Till  like  a  sea  of  glory 

It  spreads  from  pole  to  pole  : 
Till  o'er  our  ransomed  nature 

The  Lamb  for  sinners  slain, 
Redeemer,  King,  Creator," 

Returns  in  bliss  to  reign," 

we  may  feel  an  ever-deepening  confidence  that  now  the  time 
is  not  far  distant  when  He  who  was  lifted  on  the  Cross  will 
draw  all  men  unto  Him. 

Perhaps  the  divinest  gift  of  Christ  to  the  Human  Race  has 
been  that  it  has  enabled  every  one  of  them — by  the  imitation 
of  His  example ;  by  the  gift  of  His  grace ;  by  the  Holy  Spirit ; 
Who  will  make  a  temple  of  the  mortal  bodies  of  all  who  do  not 
drive  Him  forth  by  self -chosen  slavery  to  their  own  lowest 
desires  and  passions — to  be  true  men,  to  be  all  that  they  may 
be  and  that  God  intended  them  to  be. 

Yes — and  even  if  we  accept  the  old  sad  Greek  proverb  that 


424  THE    LIFE    OF    LIVES. 

"  most  men  are  bad  " — let  us  not  be  blinded  to  the  fact  that 
Christ  has  immeasurably  elevated  the  standard  of  human  life  in 
millions  of  individuals;  that  He  has  ameliorated  the  abjectness 
even  of  many  who  are  bad ;  that  he  has  bestowed  on  all  alike 
the  possibility  of  an  infinitely  blessed  and  ever-advancing  holi- 
ness, and  even  to  the  fallen  has  extended  the  grace  which  ex- 
tinguishes a  fearful  despair.  The  world  is  still  infinitely  far 
from  perfect;  but  yet,  to  countless  myriads  more  than  in  the 
Pagan  world  or  the  ancient  Dispensation,  God  has  granted  the 
fulfilment  of  the  promise,  "  Thou  shalt  tread  upon  the  lion  and 
the  adder;  the  young  lion  and  the  dragon  shalt  thou  trample 
under  thy  feet."  The  Christian  Dispensation  is,  in  comparison 
with  all  others  which  preceded  it,  "  as  sunlight  to  moonlight," 
and  in  spite  of  many  causes  for  anxiety  and  discouragement, 
it  still  advances,  and  holds  out  to  all  human  souls  the  means 
of  ennoblement,  the  path  of  repentance,  the  hope  full  of  immor- 
tality. 

"  Askest  thou  in  exultation 

What  the  Cross  of  Christ  has  done  ? 
Ask  the  splendours  of  creation 

If  they  feel  the  noonday  Sun  ; 
Ask  reviving  vegetation, 

Rushing  forth  on  joyous  wing, 
If  it  feels  the  inspiration 

Of  the  breath-enchanting  Spring." 

Since  Christ  lived,  and  died,  and  rose  again  for  us  men  and 
our  salvation,  no  soul  of  man  need  lie  in  the  dark  depths  of 
despair ;  and  all  of  the  multitude  without  number  who  love  and 
fear  His  name,  in  every  clime,  may  say  to  one  another  with 
humble  exultation,  "  Beloved,  now  are  we  the  sons  of  God,  and 
it  doth  not  yet  appear  what  we  shall  be  ;  but  we  know  that  when 
He  shall  appear  we  shall  be  like  Him,  for  we  shall  see  Him  as 

He  is." 

"  Haste  then,  and  wheel  away  a  shattered  world, 
Ye  slow-revolving  seasons  !  We  would  see 
A  world  which  does  not  dread  or  hate  Christ's  laws, 
Where  Violence  shall  never  lift  the  sword, 
Nor  Cunning  justify  the  proud  man's  wrong, 
Leaving  the  poor  no  remedy  but  tears  !  " 


THE    FINAL   ISSUES.  425 

"  Terrena  ccElestibus  cedunt."  *  What  Christ  has  done  is  a 
pledge  of  what  He  will  do ;  and  the  fact  that  His  name  is  now 
known  and  worshipped  by  at  least  one-third  of  all  the  Race  of 
Man  is  a  prophecy  to  us  that  ere  long  "  the  glory  of  the  Lord 
shall  cover  the  earth  as  the  waters  cover  the  sea."  If  there  be 
not  this  hope  for  the  human  race,  there  is  assuredly  no  other. 
And  therefore  we  pray  with  all  our  hearts,  "  Oh,  Lord,  hasten 
Thy  Kingdom!  Put  on  Thy  royal  robes,  oh,  Prince  of  the 
Kings  of  all  the  world,  for  now  Thy  Church  calleth  Thee,  and 
all  nations  sigh  to  be  redeemed." 

*  Tert.  D^  Oral.  2. 


INDEX. 


Abba  Bar-Eshera,  Rabbi,  273 

Abiathar,  Christ's  reference  to,  236 

Abraham,  Character  of,  35 

Akiba,  Rabbi,  37-38 

Alexandra,  mother  of  Mariamne,  133 

Ananeel,  appointed  High  Priest,  150 

Andrew,  St.,  317,  318,  319 

Annas,  the  High  Priest,  86,  368  ; 
Christ's  trial  before,  370-371 

Aphorisms  in  Jewish  literature,  216  ; 
Christ's  use  of,  216-218 

Apocryphal  Gospels,  52-53 

Apollonius  of  Tyana,  30 

Apostles,  The,  testimony  of,  to  Christ's 
sinlessness,  58  ;  their  general  char- 
acteristics, 314-317  ;  division  of 
into  tetrads,  317-318  ;  our  ignorance 
of  the  majority  of,  319-320 ;  the 
secret  of  their  mighty  work,  320- 
322  ;  Christ's  commission  to,  332- 
336  ;  the  power  to  forgive  sins 
conferred  on  the  disciples  generally, 
and  not  only  upon  them,  334-336 

Apostolic  commission.  The,  see 
Apostles 

Arnold,  Matthew,  Testimony  of,  to 
Christ,  43 

Art,  Witness  of,  to  Christ,  8-9 

Ascension,  The,  412-414  ;  manner  or 
mode  of,  413-414 

Aspect,  Christ's  human,  121-122 

Assonance,  Christ's  use  of,  in  teach- 
ing, 220-221 

Atonement,  The,  false  and  true  views 
of,  396-400 

Avoda  Zara,    The,  and  the  Gentiles, 

259 
"Avoth"  and  "Toldoth,"  283,286, 
287 


B 


Bacon,  Francis,  on  Parables,  227 
Baptism  of  Christ,  181 


Baptist,  John  the,  see  John 
Barabbas  preferred  to  Jesus,  3S1 
Bar-Cochba,  overthrow  of,  168 
Bartholomew,  St.,  318,  320 
Beatitudes,  Christ's,  241 
Bethany,  213,  352,  355 
Bethany  beyond  Jordan,  200,  352 
Bethsaida  Julias,  132  ;  site  of,  205 
Birth  of  Christ,  4-17  ;  St.  Matthew's 

narrative  of  the,  71 
"  Bread  of  Life,  the,"  63 
Brethren   of  Christ,    The,    71  ;    who 
they  were,  in  ;  their  relationship  to 
Christ,    112-115  ;  their   opinion  of 
Christ's  mission,  116;  character  of , 
116-117 
Brother,  Christ  the  Elder,  254 
Brotherhood  of  man,  Christ  and  the, 

251-268 
Buddha,    The,    and   Buddhism,  com- 
pared with  Christ  and  Christianity, 
20-22 


Cresar,  Julius,   a  friend  of  the  Jews, 

135 
Caiaphas,  368  ;  the  trial  before,  371 
Caligula,  Golden  statue  of,  169 
Cana,  The  miracle  at,  117 
Capernaum,  Christ  goes  to,  20I  ;  site 

of,    205  ;     description     of,      206  ; 

Christ's  home  at,  213 
Carpenter,  Christ  the,  92 
Cato,  Imperfections  of,  29-30 
Centurion,  The  Roman,  a  witness  to 

Christ's  sinlessness,  61 
Ceremonial  purifications  of  the  Phari- 
sees, 274-277 
Channing,  Testimony  of,  to  Christ,  43 
Children,  The    teaching  of,  according 

to  the  Mosaic  and  I.evitic  Law,  75  ; 

Christ  and,  266-268 
Chorazin,  site  of,  204 
Chosen    One,  The,  a  title  of  Christ, 

251 


428 


INDEX. 


Christ,  Supernatural  birth  of,  4-17  ; 
witness  of  history  to,  6 ;  great 
rulers  as  witnesses  to,  6-7  ;  poets  as 
witnesses  to,  7-8  ;  philosophers  as 
witnesses  to,  8  ;  witness  of  art  to, 
8-9  ;  witness  of  science  to,  9-10  ; 
witness  to  of  men  eminent  for  their 
goodness,  10-13;  unique  supremacy 
of,  18-40  ;  sinlessness  of,  19  ;  su- 
periority of  to  other  founders  of 
religions,  19-25  ;  to  ancient  philoso- 
phers, 25-32 ;  to  patriarchs  and 
saints,  34-39  ;  testimony  of  sceptics 
and  free  enquirers  to,  41-45  ;  a 
Perfect  Man,  54  ;  testimony  to  the 
sinlessness  of,  55-62  ;  claims  of, 
63-69  ;  human  education  of,  70-79  ; 
first  Passover  of ,  80-91  ;  unrecorded 
years  of,  92-106 ;  home  of,  at 
Nazareth,  107-109  ;  a  descendant  of 
David,  no  ;  brethren  of,  111-116  ; 
mother  of,  117-121  ;  human  aspect 
of,  121-122  ;  lessons  involved  in 
His  years  of  obscure  labor,  123-125; 
not  an  Essene,  146  ;  and  the  Hero- 
dians,  151  ;  and  the  Pharisees,  154; 
baptised  by  John  the  Baptist,  181- 
183  ;  temptation  of,  1S6-199  ; 
scenes  of  His  ministry,  200-209  ; 
His  methods  of  teaching,  210-214  ; 
form  of  His  teaching,  215-234  ; 
His  illustrations  drawn  from  famil- 
iar occurrences,  216  ;  aphorisms  of, 
217  ;  His  use  of  "  exceptionless 
principles,"  218-219;  His  use  of 
assonances  and  plays  upon  words, 
220-221  ;  poetry  and  parallelism  of, 
221-223  ;  parables  of,  224-234  ; 
the  substance  of  His  teaching,  235- 
240  ;  uniqueness  of  His  teaching, 
241-250  ;  His  scorn  of  the  idolatry 
of  symbols,  242  ;  essence  of  His 
teaching,  242-243  ;  His  parable  of 
the  prodigal  son,  246-248  ;  His 
summing  up  of  the  Ten  Command- 
ments in  two,  248  ;  the  titles  He 
gave  Himself,  251-255  ;  and  the 
Samaritans,  256-258  ;  and  the 
Gentiles,  258-259 ;  and  the  "com- 
mon people,"  259-261  ;  and  the 
publicans,  261-264  !  His  attitude 
towards  women  and  children,  264- 
267;  His  condemnation  of  Phari- 
saic religionism,  269-281  ;  and  the 
Sabbath,  282-292;  and  the  "  Scribes 
of   the    Pharisees,"    289 ;    and   the 


Pharisees,  289-291  ;  His  miracles, 
293-300  ;  His  gladness  and  sorrow, 
301-313  ;  His  pity,  307-308  ;  His 
wonder  or  surprise,  308  ;  His  grief 
and  anger,  309  ;  His  indignation, 
309  ;  His  self-restraint,  310  ;  His 
groaning,  310  ;  His  tears,  311  ;  His 
wailing,  311-313;  and  the  Apostles, 
314-315,  316  ;  His  mission  to  es- 
tablish a  kingdom,  333  ;  order  of 
events  in  His  life,  337-354  ;  length 
of  His  ministry,  337-340  ;  begin- 
ning of  His  ministry,  341  ;  its  first 
period,  341-343  ;  its  second  period, 
343-348  ;  its  third  period,  348-353; 
its  fourth  period,  353-354  ;  His 
closing  days,  355-359  ;  at  the  Last 
Supper,  360-363  ;  in  Gethsemane, 
364-365  ;  His  trial  before  Annas, 
370-371  ;  His  trial  before  Caia- 
phas,  371-373  ;  His  trial  before  the 
Sanhedrin,  373-375  ;  His  trial  be- 
fore Pilate,  376-383  ;  His  scourg- 
ing, 382  ;  His  sufferings,  384-389  ; 
how  they  should  be  regarded,  390- 
395  ;  His  Resurrection,  401-41 1  ; 
His  Ascension,  412-414  ;  His  death 
the  close  of  an  age-long  Dispensa- 
tion, 416-417  ;  His  sinlessness  our 
example,  419  ;  the  effects  of  His 
work,  420-425 
Christianity,  its  history  a  history  of 
victory,  416-419  ;  its  full  concep- 
tion of  brotherly  love,  420  ;  its 
humility,  ih.\  its  "humanity,"  420; 
its  effects,  420-425 
"  Church,"  term  only  once  used  by 

Christ,  333 
Cicero  on  perfect  wisdom,  27 
Claims   and   promises  of  Christ,  the, 

63-69 
Claudia  Procula  and  Jesus,  60 
Claudius  expels  the  Jews  from  Rome, 

135 
"  Clean    and   unclean,"  according  to 

the  Pharisees,  276-277 
Closing   days   of   Christ's   life,    The, 

355-359 
Condition  of  the  world  at  the  time  of 

Christ's  appearance,  125-143 
Confucius  and  his  religion,  compared 

with  Christ  and  Christianity,  22-23 
Congreve,      Dr.,  Testimony     of,    to 

Christ,  43 
Cordus,  Cremutius,  Suicide  of,  128 
Covenant,  Christ  a  son  of  the,  74 


INDEX. 


429 


Crucifixion,  The  mother  of  Jesus  at 
the,  119,  3S7-389 


D 


Damascus,   The  commercial  road  to, 

204 
David,  Character  of,  35 
David,  Son  of,  a  title  of  Christ,  251 
David  and  Abiathar,  236 
Day  of  Tempations,  The,  356 
Deutsch,     Dr.    Emmanuel,    on      the 

Pharisees,  163-164 
Diogenes,  and  his  quest   for  a   man, 

171-172 
Dispersion,  Jews  of  the,  at  the  time  of 

Christ's  appearance,  134-136 


E 


Eagle,  The    golden,    at  the    Temple 

gate,  144,  167 
Education  of  Christ,  The  human,  70- 

Education,  Jewish,  76-77 
Effects  of  Christ's  work,  420-425 
Eleazar,  grandson  of  Judas  the  Gali- 
lean, 142 
Eliashib,   and  Tobiah  the  Ammonite, 

149 
Elijah,  Character  of,  35 
Enquirers,     Free,    testimony     of    to 

Christ,  41-45 
Entry  into  Jerusalem,  The,  356 
Epictetus,  moral  elevation  of,  29 
Epistle  of  St.  James,  character  of  the, 

114 

Essenes,  The,  derivation  of  their 
name,  145  ;  their  tenets,  145 

Evangelisation,  Christ's  methods  of, 
210-214 

Evangelists,  The  simple   truthfulness 

of,  46-53,  94  _  , 
"  Exceptionless  Principles,"    Christ's 

adoption  of,  218-219 
Exegesis,    Rabbinic,  Christ's  disdain 

of,  279-281 


Fasting,    according   to  the    Pharisaic 

law,  277-279 
Form  of  Christ's  teaching,  215-234 
Formality  of  religious  systems,  235 
Founders  of   religions  compared  witl^ 

Christ,  19-25 


Fourth  Gospel,  The,  51-52 

Frankl,  Dr.,  at  Samaria,  140  ;  on  the 

Pharisees,  290 
Fringes,  Mosaic   rule  as  to  wearing 

157-158 


Galileans,  their  qualities,  126,  142  ; 
contempt  of  other  Jews  for,  142-143 

Galilee,  126-141  ;  Christ's  ministry 
in,  201-207 

Gemara,  The,  272,  273 

Gennesareth,  Christ's  works  and 
teaching  in  the  Plain  of,  201-207 

Gentile  world.  Corruption  of,  at  the 
time  of  Christ's  appearance,  127-131 

Gentiles,  Christ  and  the,  258  ;  the 
Jews  and  the,  259 

Gerizim,  Temple  on  Mount,  137  ;  the 
"  Mount  of  151essing,"  138  ;  destruc- 
tion of  the  Temple  on,  138 

Gethsemane,  364-365 

Gladness  and  sorrow  of  Christ,  The, 
301-313 

God,  Son    of,  a  title  of  Christ,  251 

Goebel,  his  classification  of  the  para- 
bles, 232 

Goethe,  Testimony  of,  to  Christ,  42 

Gospel  of  St.  John,  332 

Gospel  of  St.  Luke,  332 

Gospel  of  St.  Mark,  332 

Gospel  of  St.  Matthew,  332 

Gospels,   simple   truthfulness  of,  46- 

51 
Greek  race,  the,  Failure  of  to  produce 

anyone  worthy  of  comparison  with 

Christ,  25-28 
"Grief"    and    "anger"    of    Christ, 

The,  309 
"  Groaning  "  of  Christ,  The,  310,  311 


H 


Halachah,  The,  272 
Hanan,  see  Annas 
Hausrath,  on  the  Sadducees,  151 
Healing  on  the  Sabbath,  284-285 
Hebrew  poetry,  221 
Hebrew  saints   and  prophets.  Inferi- 
ority of,  to  Christ,  34-38 
Hellenism  in  Palestine,  133 
Herod  Antipas  at  Tiberias,  141 
Herod   Philip,  tetrarch,  of   Jtursea,  a 
heathen,  132,  133 


430 


INDEX. 


Herod  the  Great,  a  patron  of  idolatry, 

132  ;  his  reign,  132  ;  an  Hellenist, 

133  ;  and  the  Sadducees,  147 
Herodians,  The,  151  ;  and  Christ,  200 
High  Priests,  chosen  from  a  few  fami- 
lies,   150  ;  their   ceremonial  strict- 
ness, 150 

Hillel,  36-37  ;  the  rules  of,  244 
History,  Witness  of,  to  Christ.  6-7 
Horace,  his  picture  of  his  times,  129 
Human  aspect   of  Christ,  The,  121- 
122 


■"I  Am's,"  The  seven,  63-65 
Indignation  of  Christ,  The,  309 
Infanticide  in  the  ancient  world,  127 
Iscariot,  Judas,  Jtv  Judas  Iscariot 
Ituraa,  Herod  Philip,  tetrarchof,  132, 
133 

J 

James,  St.,  "the  Lord's  brother," 
113;  Epistle  of,  114;  Bishop  of 
Jerusalem,   116 

James,  St.,  the   brother  of  John,  315, 

317,  31S 
JannKUS,  Alexander,  joins  the  Saddu- 
cees    149-150  ;    on   the    Pharisees, 
164 
Jeremiah,  Character  of,  35 
Jerome,  St..  on  phylacteries,  159 
Jerusalem,  Christ's  first  journey  to,  80; 
the    Passover   at,  82  ;  the    Romans 
in,  132  ;  the    Samaritans'   sacrilege 
at,'  139  ;  visits  of  Christ  to,  345-346, 
350,   351,  353.  356  ff  ;  destruction 

of,  415 

Jesus,  see  Christ 

Jews,  Testimony  of,  to  Christ's  sin- 
lessness,  59  ;  their  care  for  the  edu- 
cation of  children,  74-75  ;  their  sys- 
tem of  education,  75-78  ;  simplicity 
of  their  worship.  79  ;  their  religious 
condition  in  Christ's  day,  131-134, 
144-164  ;  their  relation  towards  the 
Samaritans,  137,  138  ;  their  con- 
tempt for  the  Galileans,  142-143  ; 
their  conception  of  the  Messiah, 
166-167  ;  their  love  for  symbols  and 
ceremonies,  239  ;  consequences  to 
them  of  the  death  of  Christ,  415-416; 
see  also  Dispersion,  Jevys  of  tl;c 

Job,  Character  of,  35 


John,  St.,  character  of  his  gospel,  51- 
52  ;  his  silence  as  to  the  early  years 
of  Jesus,  72  ;  at  the  Crucifixion,  iig, 
314,  315,  317,  323  ;  his  character, 
326-327 

John  the  Baptist,  Testimony  of,  to 
Christ's  sinlessness,  58  ;  not  an 
Essene,  146  ;  birth  of ,  173  ;  mission 
of,  173  ;  appearance  of ,  173  ;  teach- 
ing of,  174  ;  baptism  of,  174  ; 
effect  of  the  preaching  of,  175  ; 
character  of  his  message,  175-176  ; 
sought  after  by  the  people,  177  ;  his 
fate  that  of  many  otlier  prophets 
and  saints,  178  ;  baptises  Christ, 
181  ;  decrease  of  the  power  of, 
183-184;  failure  of  the  faith  of,  184; 
Christ's  eulogy  of,  184  ;  at  Bethany, 
200 

Joseph,  husband  of  Mary,  iio-lil 

Joseplius,  silence  of  concerning  Jesus, 
54-55  ;  on  the  Jews,  134;  his  ac- 
count of  the  Essenes,  145  ;  his  de- 
scription of  the  Sea  of  Galilee,  203  ; 
on  the  Galilean  revolt,  142  ;  his 
opinion  of  the  Galileans,  143  ;  his 
description  of  the  Herodians,  151  ; 
his  expectation  of  the  Messiah,  167 

Judah  Bar-Pari,  Rabbi,  273 

Judaism,  see  Jews,  the 

Judas  the  Galilean,  142  ;  family  of, 
142 

Judas  Iscariot,  59-60,  31S  ;  his  char- 
acter, 327-331  ;   his   destiny,  330- 

331 
Jude,  St.,  the  brother  of  James,  114  ; 

Epistle   of,    114-115  ;    descendants 

of,  116-117 
Jude,  the  Apostle,  318 
Julias,  name  given  to  Bethsaida,  132 
Juvenal,  on  his  times,  129 


K 


Kant,  Testimony  of,  to  Christ,  42 
Keim,  Testimony  of,  to  Christ,  43 
Kung-foo-tsze,  see  Confucius 


Languages  spoken  by  Christ,  75 
Last  Supper,  The,  360-363 
Legge,  Dr.,  on  Confucius,  22-23 
Lepers  sent  to  the  priests  by  Christ, 

236 
Lessing,  Testimony  of,  to  Christ,  4Z 


INDEX. 


431 


Levitic  syslem,  The,  273 

Light  of  the  World,  Christ  the,  64 

Logos,  see  Word 

Luke,  St.,  50  ;   his   Gospel  the   sole 

source  of  our  knowledge  of  Christ's 

infancy,     73-74 ;     sources    of     his 

Gospel,  73 
Luther,  on  the  saints  compared  with 

Christ,  40 


M 


Malefactor,   The  crucified,  a  witness 

to  Christ's  sinlessness,  61 
Man,  Son  of,  a  title  of  Christ,  253 
Manual  toil,  Christ's,  99-100 
Marcus  Aurelius,  moral  elevation  of, 

3° 
"  Mariolatry  "  alien  from  the  teaching 

of  the  Gospel,  118-119 

Mark,  St.,  his  gospel  written  for 
Roman  readers,  50  ;  his  account  of 
Christ's  ministry,  71 

Martineau,  Dr.,  Testimony  of  to 
Christ,  43 

Mary,  our  Lord's  mother,  silence  of 
as  to  His  early  years,  71  ;  doctrine 
of  the  perpetual  virginity  of,  m  ; 
Christ's  attitude  towards,  117-I18  ; 
death  of,  120 

Mary,  the  sister  of  the  Virgin,  112 

Matthew,  St.,  probably  the  first  to 
write  a  gospel,  49  ;  his  goepel  prob- 
ably a  composite  one,  50 ;  his 
narrative  of  the  birth  and  early 
years  of  Christ,  71,  31S,  319 

Menahem,  an  Herodian,  151 

Messiah,  The,  passionate  longing  for 
at  the  time  of  Christ's  appearance, 
165  ;  various  conceptions  of,  166- 
168  ;  the  heathen  world  a  sharer  in 
the  expectation  of,  168-169  ;  a  title 
which  Christ  claimed,  251 

Metatron,  The  intermediary  between 
God  and  man,  252 

Mill,  J.  S.,  Testimony  of,  to  Christ, 
43 

Ministry,  Christ's  scenes  of,  200-209  '< 
length  of,  337-338,  341  ;  first  period 
of,  341  ;  second  period  of,  343;  third 
period  of,  348  ;    fourth   period  of, 

353 
Miracles  the  outcome  of  natural  law, 

3-4 
Miracles   of    Christ,    The,    293-300 ; 
the  different  terms  for  them  in  the 


Scriptures,  294-295  ;    wrought    on 

nature,   296-297  ;    on  man,  ib.;  on 

the  spirit  world,  297-298 
Miraculous  birth  of  Christ,  the,  4-17 
Mishnah,  The,  272,  273,  et passim 
Mohammed  and  Islamism,  compared 

with  Christ  and  Christianity,  23-25 
Moses,    character    of,    35  ;    and    the 

wearing  of  phylacteries,  159 


N 


Nazareth,  Christ's  unrecorded  years  at, 
92-102  ;  scenery  round,  102-106  ; 
His  home  at,  107 ;  the  town  of, 
107  ;  a  contemporary  carpenter's 
shop  at,  108 ;  view  from,  126 ; 
Christ's  departure  from,  201 

New  teaching  of  Christ,  Tlie,  243 

Nirvana  and  Buddhism,  21 

Noah,  Character  of,  34 


O 


Obscurity  of  Christ's  early  life,  97-99 
Oral  law  of  the  Pharisees,  272 
Order  of  events  in  Christ's  life,  337- 
354 


Paganism,  The  issue  of,  31-32  ;  cor- 
ruption ^of,  127-128 ;  in  Pales- 
tine, 132 

Palestine,  Roman  soldiers  in,  132  ; 
Hellenism  in,  133  ;  state  of  religion 
in,  at  the  time  of  Christ's  appear- 
ance, 144-164 

Parables,  meaning  of  the  word,  224  ; 
different  kinds  of,  225-226  ;  of  the 
Old  Testament,  '226  ;  of  Christ, 
226  ;  His  reason  for  adopting  this 
form  of  teaching  ;  sometimes  sug- 
gested to  Him  by  passing  events 
227-228  ;  classifications  of  Christ's, 
229-232 

Paraclete,  The,  a  title  of  Christ,  252 

Parallelism  in  Hebrew  poetry  and  in 
Christ's  teaching,  221-223 

Farcies,  The  Rabbinic,  244 

Parker,  Theodore,  Testimony  of,  to 
Christ,  43 

Passover,  Christ's  first,  80-91  ;  the 
Samaritans'  sacrilege  in  connection 
with  the,  139 

Passover  crowd,  A,  127 


432 


INDEX. 


Tatriarchs,  The,  compared  with 
Christ,  35-40 

Paul,  St..  confession  of  his  wretched- 
ness, 38  ;  on  Pagan  wickedness, 
131  ;  on  the  condition  of  the  Jews, 
133-136 

Peter,  St.,  his  confession  of  sinful- 
ness, 38  ;  his  home,  213,  314,  317  ; 
his  character,  323-324  ;  the  sense 
in  which  he  was  a  "  rock,"  325-326 

Pharisaic  religionism,  Christ's  con- 
demnation of,  269-281.  See  also 
Pharisees 

Pharisees,  The  origin  of  their  name, 
151  ;  main  characteristic  of,  152  ; 
nearer  to  Christianity  than  the  Sad- 
ducees,  152  ;  effeteness  of  their 
system,  153  ;  the  prophets  antithetic 
to  their  system,  154-156;  Christ 
and,  157-159 ;  their  phylacteries, 
159-161  ;  the  eight  sects  of,  162  ; 
condemnation  of,  in  the  Talmud, 
162-164  ;  Christ's  condemnation  of 
their  system,  269-292 

Philanthropists  and  saints,  Christ  the 
inspiration  of,  10-13 

Philip,  the  Apostle,  315,  318,  319 

Philo,  his  account  of  the  Essenes, 
145  ;  on  the  coming  of  the  Messiah, 
167 

Philosophy,  Witness  of,   to  Christ,  8 

Philosophers,  Ancient,  compared 
with  Christ,  25-32 

Phoenix,  The,  rumored  appearance  of, 
in  Egypt,  169 

Phylacteries,  did  Christ  wear  them? 
93  ;  the  nature  of,  159 

Pilate,  finds  Christ  innocent,  61  ;  the 
trial  before,  376-383 

"  Pity"  of  Christ,  The,  307 

Places  actually  visited  by  Christ,  208- 
209 

Plato,  inferiority  of,  to  Christ,  27 

Pliny  the  elder,  his  account  of  the 
Essenes,  145 

Plummer,  Dr.,  on  Christ's  Beauti- 
tudes,  241 

Poetry,  Witness  of,  to  Christ,  7-8  ; 
Eastern  and  Hebrew,  221 

Poor,  Christ  and  the,  259-261 

Poppoea,  possibly   a  Jewish  convert, 

135.  169 
Pounds,  Parable  of  the,  228 
Poverty  of  Christ,  The,  95-9?^ 
"  Powers,"  a  term  for  Christ's  mira- 
cles, 294 


Preparation  for  His  work,  Christ's, 
95,  122-123 

"  Presence,  Angel  of  the,"  252 

Priests,  Christ  and  the,  236 

Procula,  Claudia,  a  witness  to  Christ's 
innocence,  60 

Prodigal  Son,  Parable  of  the,  231, 
2461-248 

Prophecies  of  the  Messiah,  166 

Prophets,  The,  an  antithesis  to  Phari- 
saism, 154 

Publicans,  Christ  and  the,  261-264 

Purifications  of  the  Pharisees,  Cere- 
monial, 274-277 


R 


Rabbinism  and  the  moral  law,  243 

Rabbis,  The,  152 

Rashi,  and  the  wearing  of  fringes,  158 

Renan,  Testimony  of,  to  Christ,  43 

"  Resurrection  and  the  Life,  The," 
64 

Resurrection,  The,  401-41 1  ;  its  place 
in  the  teaching  of  the  Apostles  and 
Evangelists,  403  ;  the  most  central 
event  in  the  history  of  the  world, 
405  ;  evidences  for,  409-411 

Roman  race.  The,  Failure  of,  to  pro- 
duce a  man  worthy  of  comparison 
with  Christ,  28-29 

Rome,  Jews  in.  134-136 

Rousseau,  Testimony  of,  to  Christ,  42 

Rulers  as  witnesses  to  Christ,  Great, 
6,7 


Sabbath,  Christ  and  the,  282-285 
Sabbatic  year,  Law  of  the,  280-281 
Sadducees,  The  power  of,  147  ;  origin 
of  the  party,  147  ;  meaning  of  their 
name,    148  ;    an  aristocratic   party, 
149  ;  their  power  under  Herod  the 
Great,  150;  dominated  in  the  San- 
hedrin  by  the  Pharisees,  151  ;  con- 
demnation of,  in  the  Talmud,  161- 
162 
Saints,     Christian,     compared     with 
Christ,  35-40  ;  confessions  of  their 
imperfections,  39 
Sakya    Muni,    see   Buddha,    the,    and 

Buddhism 
Samaria,   Christ  and  the  woman   of, 

139.  257  .  ,  ^ 

Samaritans,  The,  conditjon  of,  at  the 


INDEX. 


433 


time  of  Christ's  appearance,    137- 
140  ;  Christ  and  the,  256 
Sanhedrin,  Ciirist's   trial    before  the, 

373-375 
Sanhedrists,  unconscious  testimony  of, 

to  the  innocence  of  Jesus,  60 
Scenes  of  Christ's  ministry,  200-209 
Sceptics,  Testimony  of,  to  Christ,  41- 

45 
Schelling,  his  witness  to  Christ,  42 
Schiirer,  on  Judaic  philosophy,    216- 

217  ;  on  Pharisaic  ceremonies,  273 
Science,  Witness  of,  to  Christ,  9-10 
Scribes,  The,   152  ;  and  phylacteries, 

159  ;  Christ  and  the,  289 
Sea  of  Galiee,  see  Galilee 
Seneca,  on  the  vices  of  his  age,  28  ; 

his  ideal,  30  ;  on  suicide,  132 
Sepphoris,  like  a  Roman  city,  141 
Sermon  on  the  Mount,  The,  239 
Shema,  The,  273 
"  Signs,"  a  term  applied  to  Christ's 

miracles,  294 
Simon  Ben  Lakdeh,  Rabbi,  272 
Simon  the  Zealot,  318-319 
Sinlessness  of  Christ,  19,  55-63 
Sirach,  The  Son  of,  description  of  the 

Scribes,  152 
Socrates,  Inferiority  of,  to  Christ,  26- 

27 
Son  of  David,  Christ,  the,  251 
Son  of  God,  Christ,  the,  251 
Son  of  Man,  Christ,  the.  253-256 
Sorrow  of  Christ,  The,  304-313 
Spinoza,  Testimony  of,  to  Christ,  42 
Strauss,  Testimony  of,  to  Christ,  42 
Substance   of  Christ's  teaching,  235- 

240 
Suetonius,     and    the    coming    of    the 

Messiah,  16S 
Sufferings   of   Jesus,    The,    3S4-389 ; 

wrong  and  right  views  of,  390-395 
Suicide,  Commonness  of,  in|the  ancient 

world,  131 
Supernatural,  Reasonableness  of  belief 

in  the,  1-4 
Supernatural  Religion,  Author  of,  his 

testimony  to  Christ,  44 
Supremacy  of  Christ,  The  unique,  18- 

40 
Symbolism,  212  ;  Jewish  love  for,  239; 

Christ's  view  of,  242 
Synagogue   school,   Christ    taught   in 

the,  78 
Synagogues,      Jewish,      79  ;      Christ 

teaches  in  the,  207 


Synoptist,  The,  49-5 1  ;  see  also  Mat- 
thew, Mark,  Luke 


Tabernacles,  The  Feast  of,  Christ  on, 

211-212 
Tacitus,  Reference  of,  to  Christ,  54  ; 

his  picture  of  his  times,  128  ;    and 

the  expectation  of  a  Messiah,  169 
Talmud,  Description  of  the,  152  ;  on 

the  wearing  of  fringes,  15S  ;  on  the 

Sadducees,  161-162  ;  on  the  Phari- 
sees, 162-163  ;  Emmanuel  Deutsch 

on,  163.     Et  passim 
Talmudists,  The,  on  Christ,  54 
Teaching,  Christ's  form  of,  215-234  ; 

substance  of,   235-240  ;  uniqueness 

of,  241-250 
Tears  of  Christ,  The,  311 
Temple  at  Jerusalem,  Description  of 

the,  82  ;    Christ's  first  visit  to,  82  ; 

Christ    with    the    doctors   in,    87  ; 

Christ  teaching  in  the,  211-212 
Temptations  of  Clirist,  56  ;   narrative 

of,  in  the  Gospels,  and  the  lessons 

they  teach,  1S6-199 
Tephillin,  see  Phylacteries 
Thief  on  the  cross.  The  penitent,  a 

witness  to  the  innocence  of  Jesus, 

61 
Thomas,  the  Apostle,  315,  318,  320 
Thorah,  The,  272 
"  Thunder,  Sons  of,"  257 
Tiberias,  Herod  Antipas  at,  141,  204 
Tiberius  at  Caprea:,  130  ;  an  oppressor 

of  the  Jews,  135 
Titles  of  Jesus,  251-255,  267-268 
"  Toldoih  Jeshu,"  the  lampoon  against 

Christ,  55 
Trials  before  the  Jews,  Christ's,  367- 

375 


U 


Unique  supremacy  of  Christ,  18-40 
Uniqueness  of  Christ's  teaching,  241- 

250 
Unrecorded  years.  Lessons  of  Christ's, 

92-106 


"  Vine,  The  True,"  65 
Virgin-birth  of  Christ,  5-1 8 


434 


INDEX. 


w 


"  Wailing  "  of  Christ,  The,  311-312 
"  Way,    the    Truth,    and    the    Life," 

The.  65 
Westcott,  Bishop,  his  classification  of 
the  Parables,  232  ;  on  Christ's  mira- 
cles, 296  ;  on  self-inflicted  suffering, 
303  ;  on  the  Crucifixion  as  a  subject 
for  art,  394 
Wilderness  of  the  Temptation,  188 
"  Wisdom,"  Personification  of,  252 
Witnesses  to  Christ,  6-13,   16 
Woman,  Christ  and  the  position  of, 
264-265 


"Wonder,"  or  "surprise"  of  Christ, 

The,  30S 
"  Wonders,"  a  term  applied  to  Christ's 

miracles,  294 
Word,  The,  a  title  of  Christ,  252-253 
"  Works,"  a  term  applied  to  Christ's 

miracles,  295 
World,  Condition    of  at  the  time  of 

Christ's  appearance,  126-143 


Zadok,  High  Priest,  149 
Zealots,  The,   142  ;    their  fanaticism, 
144 


PASSAGES  OF  SCRIPTURE  QUOTED  OR 
REFERRED   TO. 


THE  OLD  TESTAMENT. 


Genesis. 

ii.     7  P-   56 

iii.  21  272 

viii.  21  56 

ix.     4  347 

xii.     7  138 

xiv.   17  138 

xxxii.  24  252 


Exodus. 

ii. 

2 

149 

xiii. 

I- 

16 

159 

9 

159 

xvi. 

29 

282 

xvii. 

6 

350 

XX. 

5 

319 

xxi. 

13 

282 

18 

275 

30 

400 

32 

330 

xxiii. 

27 

286 

xxviii. 

2 

317 

36 

327 

xxix. 

4 

182 

36 

400 

xxxii. 

30 

400 

x.xxiii. 

12 

252 

xxxiv. 

27 

272 

Levi 

TICUS. 

i. 

4 

400 

iii. 

17 

347 

iv. 

20 

400 

vii. 

26, 

27 

347 

viii. 

I- 

■30 

1S2 

xiv. 

8 

182 

xvi. 

8, 

10,  20 

189 

29 

277 

Leviticus  (cont.). 

xvii.   10-14    P-  347 

II  400 

xviii.  30  272 

xix.  26  347 

xxii.   10  288 

xxiv.     9  288 

xxvi.  40  175 

Numbers. 

iv-     3  339 

xii.   14  386 

XV.   37-41  77 

37,  38  158 

38  157 

39  158 
xvi.  46  400 

XX.   II  350 

xxiii.     7  225 

19-22         254 

XXV.   13  400 

xxviii.     9  287 

xxix.     7  277 

XXXV,   30  371 

Deuteronomy. 

iii.   17  202 

iv.     I,  2  194 

29  175 

40  194 
v.   29-33          194 

vi.     4-9     77,  159 

5  271 

16  196 

viii.     3  194 

X.   12,  13         154 

xi.   13-21    77,  159 

29       127,  138 

435 


Deuteronomy  (conl.). 


Xll. 

16 

P- 

347 

23, 

24 

347 

XV. 

23 

347 

xvii. 

6 

371 

xviii. 

15 

166 

xix. 

15 

371 

xxi. 

6. 

7 

383 

xxii. 

12 

158 

xxiii. 

3, 

4 

149 

XXV. 

9 

386 

xxvii. 

4 

138 

12 

138 

XXX, 

2 

175 

14 

185 

xxxii. 

4 

325 

18 

325 

II 

254 

xxxiv. 

5- 

6 

272 

JOSIIUA. 

xi. 

2 

202 

XV. 

25 

319 

Judges. 

V. 

18 

142 

ix. 

7- 

■15 

226 

] 

:.  Samuel 

. 

iv. 

9 

353 

X. 

19 

225 

xiii. 

17 

353 

xiv. 

32, 

33 

347 

XV. 

22 

154 

xvi. 

7 

271 

xix. 

21 

290 

xxi. 

6 

288 

xxiv. 

14 

225 

36 

INDEX 

- 

II.  Samuel 

Psalms  (con/.). 

ECCLESI 

ASTES. 

xii.     1-6      p. 

226 

vii.   10 

p- 

271 

ii.     5 

p.  82 

xvi.   lo 

118 

II 

310 

X.     8 

273 

xix.    22 

118 

viii.     3 

254 

XV.      I,  2 

155 

Isaiah. 

I.   Kings. 

xviii.     2,31, 

46 

325 

xix.    10 

347 

i.  10 

271 

:\.  32 

225 

xxiv.     I 

198 

II 

155 

vii.  46 

19 

3-5 

^55 

16,  r 

7        155 

viii.  46 

36 

4 

271 

16 

175,  181 

xiv.     6 

316 

xxxiv.   18 

155 

21 

374 

xvii.   18 

118 

xiv.     3 

122 

iii.     I 

347 

xix.   10 

178 

7,8 

302 

24 

173 

13 

215 

V.      1-6 

226 

xlviii,  13 

81 

vii.   14 

4,  251 

II.  Kings. 

xlix.     2 

254 

ix.     I 

108,  200 

i.     2       298, 
8 
iii.   13 

317 
173 
118 

4 
1.     8 
li.   12 

225 
271 
271 

6 

xi.     I 

2 

295 
108 
182 
183 

189 

325 
310 

iv.     9,  10 
xviii.     9 

12-24 
XXV.     4         82, 

226 
137 
137 
137 

16,  17 
18 
Iv.     6 
Ixii.    II 

155 
271 

182 
279 

xiii.     9 
21 

xvii.   10 
13 

Ixix.     8 

"3 

xxii.   22 

333 

I.  Chronicles. 

21 

387 

xxix.    13 

155 
189 

Ixx. 

299 

xxxiv.   13-15 

xii.  28 

149 

Ixxiii.   25 

6 

xiii.     2,  3 

95 

Ixxviii.      2 

225 

6 

350 

II.  Chronicles. 

Ixxxiv.   II,  12 
xci.     I 

155 
195 

24 
xliii.   10 

175 
252 

xiii.  19 

353 

6 

299 

xlvi.     5 

18 

xvi.  10 

178 

II 

195 

xlix.     6 

350 

xxiv.  21 

178 

13 

186 

1.     6 

367, 386 

xxx.   18 

400 

xcvi.   ID 

384 

li.     I 

325 

cxvi.   II 

3" 

12 

254 

Ezra. 

cxix.     3 

347 

Iii.    15 

182 

103 

194 

liii. 

200 

iv. 

138 

cxxii.     4 

81 

2 

92 

cxxxiv.     2 

276 

4 

301 

Nehemiah 

cxxxix.   23 

271 

Ivi.     3 

155 

cxlii.     2 

19 

Iviii.     I 

271 

}'}}■  ^5 

82 

cxlvi.     3 

254 

3-6 

277 

xiii.      7 

149 

4 

275 

28 

138 

6,  7 
II 

155 
350 

Job. 

Proverbs, 

Ixi.     2 

338 

Ixiii.     9 

252 

V.  22,  23 

189 

Ixiv.     1-3 

183 

xiv.   16 

252 

i.     6 

225 

6 

19 

xviii.   20 

3" 

iii.     3 

159 

Ixv.     5 

269 

XXV.     6 

254 

iv. 
viii.   10 

90 
219 

Ixvi.     I 

271 

Psalms. 

ix.     5 
XX.     9 

347 
36 

Jeremiah. 

ii.     2-4 

290 

XXV.     II 

224 

v.     1-9 

172 

iv.     3 

254 

xxx.    12 

269 

vi.  20 

271 

Jeremiah  (conL). 


vii. 

21 

?• 

,  271 

21- 

23 

237 

22, 

23 

156 

viii. 

22 

219 

XV. 

l6 

194, 

.  347 

xvii. 

lO 

271 

xxiii. 

5 

108 

29 

37 

xxvi. 

8 

178 

23 

178 

xxxi. 

20 

254 

32 

271 

xlv. 

5 

98 

Lamentations. 

i. 

12 

364 

ii. 

6 

310 

EZEKIEL. 

ii. 

I 

254 

3 

254 

8 

347 

8, 

9 

347 

iii. 

I- 

■3 

347 

viii. 

3 

188 

xii. 

22 

225 

XX. 

25 

148 

xxxiii. 

31 

156 

xxxiv. 

4 

263 

xxxvi. 

25 

iSi, 

1S2 

INDEX. 


EZEKIEL    {cont.). 

xi.  46  p.  149 

xliv.     2  113 

xlv.   15  400 

Daniel. 

vi.   10  84 

vii.    13         252,  254 
ix.  27  313 

HOSEA. 

vi.     6  255 

xii.     4  252 

xiii.   13  1C8 

xiv.     9  227 


Joel. 


u.   12 
13 


175 
2ig 


Amos. 


V.  21  271 

21-24  155,  277 

MiCAH. 

vi.     6  271 

6,  8    156,277 


437 

Habakkuk. 
ii.     4  P-  156 

Zephaniah. 
i.   14  183 

Haggai. 
i.     8  84 

Zechariah. 


1.  20 

93 

iii.     8 

108 

vii.      9 

156 

viii.      1-14 

277 

16,  17 

156 

19 

277 

23 

158 

xiii.     I      181, 

,  182 

4 

173 

xiv.     8 

350 

21      341, 

356 

Malachi. 

ii.     8 

289 

iii.      1-3 

174 

^7 

255 

iv.     2 

350 

5 

166 

THE  NEW  TESTAMENT. 


Matthew. 

ii.  33  p.  108 

iii.     7  173 

9  221 

11  182 
14  181 

16  182 

17  356 
iv.     3,  6          251 

7  196 

12  343 
13,  16        343 

18  316 
23  208 

V.     I  214 


Matthew  {cont.). 

11  p.  178 

12  301,  320 

13  316 

14  217 

17  255 

18  79 
21-23  238 
22  75 

39  218 

40  176 
vi.     7  290 

19-20  96,  222 
19-21  329 
19,  25        216 


Matthew  {cont.). 

23  p.  217 

24  223 

25  97 
27  105 
33  243 

vii.         I  218 

1-23  269 

3  105 
6      216,  223 

7,  8  223 

9-1 I  125 

10  255 

12  157 

14  249 


438 


INDEX. 


Matthew  {coni.).  Matthew  (coni.).  Matthew  (cont.). 

19  p.  217  27  p.  251,267  23p.  190, 315 

21  157,  268  28  62  25  222,  392 
24-27        105  28,  29         65               xvii,     I     214,  318 

28  122  29         90,  99  5     252,  356 
viii.     2                66                  xii.     3  79  18              220 

4               236  5               286  21               278 

8               206  7              255  24      343,  394 

10  25S,  308  9               208  24,  25        324 

12  258  10  285  25  225 
14,  26  316  19,  20  95  26  268 
17  301  23  251  35  268 
27      294  25      328      xviii.  I  316 

29  251  27      298  1-4    266 
ix.  I   205,  343  31,  32   222  1-6     266 

8      294  34      173  1-35    314 

13  218,  219  43      189  2   266,  315 

255  46   115,  118  3      185 

14  184  50   157,  268  6      216 

16  105       xiii.  I,  2    213  10-14   266 

17  105,  220  10      227  lo      268 

20  157  13      227  14      268 

22  264  22, 23  329  17  261,  325 
27      251  30      323  18   333,  335 

29  297  33      105  35      268 

30  310  46  58  xix,  4  79 
33      294  52   79,  333  12      216 

35  208,  213  54   122,  208    .  13      206 

36  300       xiv.  8-12    178  13-15  91 
X.  2      316  13      213  13-18    266 

4  316  14      300  25      122 

16  182,  217  14,  15    308  26      211 

320  22      234  27      324 

16,  22   320  27,  31   316  28      317 

17  208  33   66,  252        XX.  1-16    234 

20  268  XV.  1-20  269  2  357 
29  103  8,  9  161  16  218 
34-39  222  9  160  17-29  394 
35      216  13   105,  268  20,  26   316 

37  220  14      217  22      315 

39  392  16      316  24      309 

40  221  21-28   258  30      251 
xi.  2      295  22      251  34  297,  300 

4.  5    297  29      214  308 

5  210  30      297       xxi.  9  251 

6  183  31  294  12  83,  342 
8      216  32      308  14      297 

11  184  xvi.  6  217  15  309 
14   171,  184  9      316  16,  42    79 

16  91  13   253,  394  32   173,  184 

17  266  14  166  xxii.  16  151 
20,  21  294  16  251,  268  24  79 
20-24    258  324  32      217 

21  204  19      333  38      157 

23  343  21      394      xxiii.  1-36   290 


Matthew  {coni.). 


xxiii.  S    p, 

.  251 

9 

268 

15 

271 

24 

225 

25 

274 

33 

173 

xxiv.  3-14 

128 

5 

251 

8 

16S 

24 

294 

2S 

225 

35 

67 

XXV.  29 

218 

67 

385 

xxvi.  8 

309 

13 

67 

36 

363 

36,  37 

324 

37 

318 

38  309. 

311 

40 

316 

49 

330 

50 

365 

53 

293 

63,  64 

251 

67  374, 

385 

6g-73 

108 

73 

142 

xxvii.  24 

3S3 

26 

386 

28 

386 

29 

386 

30 

386 

34   "3 

,387 

43 

251 

44 

387 

46 

75 

50 

388 

54 

251 

56 

III 

62 

359 

Sxviii.  19   252 

,258 

Mark. 

i.  I 

252 

10  182 

,  188 

14 

343 

21 

206 

21-34 

300 

23-26 

285 

27 

241 

29 

206 

30,  31 

285 

INDEX. 

Mark 

{cont.). 

i.  36 

p.  344 

41 

300,  308 

43 

310 

ii.  I 

205,  206 

2x3 

8 

328 

10, 

II   294 

II 

286 

12 

294 

13 

213 

14 

319 

16 

152,  289 

17 

217,  218 

221,  225 

18 

278 

21 

225 

26 

236,  288 

28 

284 

iii.  5 

309 

6 

151 

16 

317 

19 

317 

20 

213 

21 

58,  III 

22 

29S 

27 

225 

31 

III,  115 

31- 

35    118 

iv.  13 

315 

21 

225 

38 

345 

40 

315 

V.  7 

251 

37 

318 

vi.  2 

79 

3 

92 

4 

115 

6 

309 

7 

317 

15 

166 

17 

343 

30 

316 

34 

308 

34, 

35   213 

52 

315 

55 

286 

56 

213 

vii.  2 

213 

3 

275 

4 

274 

5- 

13    280 

9 

225 

18- 

■23   277 

19 

237 

439 


Mark 

{cont. 

.)• 

vii.  27 

P- 

217 

34 

300, 

311 

viii.  2 

308 

12 

3" 

17 

315 

18 

315 

22 

49 

23 

297 

26 

315 

29 

324 

31 

251 

33 

315 

35 

222 

37 

253 

ix.  3 

349 

6- 

19 

315 

12 

174 

13 

167 

15 

122 

19 

315 

22 

308 

29 

278 

32 

315 

33- 

50 

314 

34 

266, 

315 

36 

266 

38 

326 

41 

251 

50 

217 

X.  12 

71 

13. 

14 

206 

13- 

16 

206 

14 

266, 

309 

21, 

22 

211 

24 

315 

25 

225, 

1  329 

27 

211 

29- 

30 

178 

32 

315 

35 

315 

35- 

■45 

326 

42 

251 

47 

167, 

,  251 

xi.  10 

167, 

<  251 

15 

83 

xii.  13 

151 

15 

328 

29, 

30 

75 

33 

157 

34 

248 

35 

167, 

,  252 

37 

252 

40 

290 

42 

71 

440  INDEX. 

I.UKE  {cont. ) .  Luke  {cont.). 

23  p.  206,  225  17  p.  191 
42  344  20  302 

44  208  21  302 
V.  1-3  213  21,  22  251 

i-ii  297  22   66,  267 

14  236  28-37  258 

24  286  32  14S 
26  294  38  213 

33  184  xi.  I  213 

36  225  27  118 

37  213  39-43  289 
vi.   1-7  288  45  152 

3-5  284  46-52  289 

4  236  53.  54  291 

9  284  53  348 

14  317  xii.  I   214,  348 

16   317,  327  4  316 

22,  23  178  6  103 

23  301  14  251 
26  178  15  329 

34  216  2g  98 

38  105  32  316 

39  225  41  324 
48,  49  105  41,  42  333 

vii.  I  206  45  105 

8  206  xiii.  7,  8  338 

9  308  II  285 
13  300,  308  14  309 
22  297  22  213 
30  152  26  213 
32  266  28,  29  258 
41,  42  221  32  267,  380 
44-47  223  33  367 

viii.  3  343  xiv.  2  285 

19   58,  115  7-"  232 

45  214  II  221 
51  318  12-14  218 

ix.  3  256  26   218,  219 

10  213  XV.  8  105 

18  253  xvi.  II  329 

24  222  13  225 

35  252  14  290 

46  349  31  296 
46-50  314  xvii.  10  19 
51  139  1^  257 

53  139  18  309 

54  326  20,  21  185 

55  257  31  225 
55.  56  315  ...  33  392 
57-62  345  xviit.  10-12  270 
60  217  15  266 

X.  8  277  15-17206,266 

10  213  17  266 

13  204  xix,  10  66 


M 

ARIC 

{conl. 

)■ 

xiii. 

3 

P- 

319 

8 

168 

22 

294 

32 

251 

xiv. 

4 

309. 

310 

33 

309 

34 

309 

40 

315 

45 

365 

61 

251 

61- 

64 

167 

65 

385 

70 

142 

XV. 

I 

71 

19 

66, 

386 

21 

359 

23 

387 

29 

387 

37 

388 

39 

251 

40 

III, 

1  319 

42 

359 

43 

167 

46 

359 

xvi. 

12 

542 

14 

48 

Luke. 

i. 

35 

251 

36 

112 

46- 

55 

165 

ii. 

7 

III 

25 

165, 

167 

28 

167 

32 

350 

34 

44 

35 

"3 

40 

70,  73 

43 

80,  87 

44 

112 

47 

122 

48 

89 

iii. 

I, 

2 

337 

7 

173 

15 

167, 

,  180 

21 

181 

22 

182 

23 

237 

iv. 

13 

198 

15 

208 

15. 

16 

214 

17 

79 

SO 

208 

INDEX.  441 

Luke  [coni.).  John  {cent.).                       John  {cont.). 

xix,  11-27   P-  228  i.  43p.  319,  328                 vi.  26  p.  294 

17              394  44  317.  319  27  218,  219 

45                83  46  108  28  295 

48              230  48  328  30  193 

XX.  34-36        403  50  251  31  346 

47              290  ii.     4  117  35  63,  193 

xxi.   10-28         128  12  III  37  66 

37                75  13  337  38  90 

xxii.  19      361  14  83  40  251 

24   266,  349  IS  83  42  79 

24-26    325  17  113  60-71    394 

28  190  ig  372  62  412 
31   216,  315  20  337  63  206 

324  22  332  64  328 

35  329  25  328  69  167,  251 

36  146  iii.  8  224  324 
39,  40   363  22-36   201  70  328,  329 
43,  44   364  23  342       vii.  2  339 
52      359  35,3666,251  2-8  III 

55  359  36  156  3  115 
61      211  iv.  I  342  3-5  108 

63  385  9  139  5  58,  115 

64  385  14  63  10  58,  115 
xxiii.  II      387  18  137  12  350 

16  386  20  138  14  115 
26,  56  359  21  118  15  79 
27  387  27  264  20  115 
31  105,  225  32  347  21  295 
35   252,  290  34  62,  90  37  63,  66 

387  347  38  63,  207 

47      388  35  339.  340  42  251 

54      359  35-38    224  49  47,  I34 

56  359  37  225  52  108 
xxiv.  10      III  46  206,  343       viii.  11  265 

II      407  48  294  12  64 

17  394  V.  I  339,  345  14  218 
19  256  8,  9  285  18  90 
47  334  10  286  29  62,  196 
52      66  16  2S6,  346  35  251 

17  284  40  256 

John  18  346  44  410 

20  251  46  62 

i.  5      221  26  251  48  257 

II      313  30  62,  90  50  98 

16      251  31  218  50-54    67 

18  251,  252  36  294        ix.  6  297 

19  148  44  98  16  286 
21      166  47  284  24  286 

29  182  vi.  2  346  35  251 

30  256  4  339,  340  35-38  66 
34      251  8  317  39  218 

40  317,  319  10  339        X.  6  225 

41  324  14  166,  394  7  64 

42  .    323  22-71  206,294  9  64,  66 


23  334 

24-29  320 

27  3'5 

31      252,  2(j4 


442  INDEX. 

John  (conL).                       John  (con/.).  John  (coni.). 

X.  II  p.  64,  3go       xiv.  S-14  p.  362  XX.  2  p  326 

14  64,  314  9  62,  65  3  ^  326 
22  339  315  9  332,  304 
25  295  II  295  i|  1^8 

27  223  13  251  15  J18 

28  223  21  361  I-  268 
30  62  22  319 

32  295  22-24  362 
36  251  26  252 
38  295  30  187,  198 

41  352  199  xxi.  1-23'   297 

42  352  31  62  2  31S,  320 
XI.  13  339        XV.  I  65  5  35j 

15  294  6  62  16  323 

16  318,  320  13  355  iQ_23     325 

25  64,  403  14  316  22  323 

27  251  15  316 

33  302,  310  26  252  Acts 
35  311  27  62 

45  296       xvi.  II  198  i.  3  407 

46  296  22  302  15  324 

47  298,  367  25  225  ii.  7  loS,  182 
55  339  29  225  14  324 

xii.  6  329  33  62,  394  22  295 

16  332       xvii.  I  251  24  404 

19  299  3  66  26  302 

20  258  4  62,  67  29  no 
20-22  319  12  330  46  279 
22  317  14  178  iii.  14  59 

24  224,  392  19  62  15  404 

27  1S7,  310      xviii.  I  363  26  404 

311  6  394  iv,  6  369 

28  67,  356  12  365  8  324 
31  187  15  326  10  404 

34  167  20  208  13  47,  314 

35  217  22  385  V.  17  149 

36  316  23,  24   371  29  324 

37  296  26  112  30  404 
xiii.  7  332  28  259,  359  37  142 

10  361  31  3S3  39  415 

21  310  38  383  41  178 

22  361  39  383  vii.  52  178 

23  326       xix.  I  386  56  253 

25  361  4  383  viii.  32  200 
27  187  5  211  35  59 
31  198,  394  6  383  39  188 

33  316,  361  14  359,  383  x.  28  259 

34  361  15  383  35  21 
36-38    362  19  108  40  404 

xiv.  5  320  25  III  xi.  18  259 

5-7  362  26  118,  326  xii.  2  323 

6  65,  235  31  359,  375  xiii.  30  404 

7  332  38  359  33,  34   404 

8  319  42  359  37  404 


INDEX. 


443 


Acts  (con/.) 

1. 

xiii. 

38. 

39  p.  66 

45 

259 

XV. 

14 

323 

19 

334 

29 

347 

xvi. 

31 

66 

xvii. 

18 

403 

28 

16 

31 

256, 

404 

xviii. 

15 

376 

25 

179 

xix. 

3 

179 

32 

325 

41 

325 

xxii. 

14 

59 

xxiii. 

6 

403 

8 

150 

xxiv. 

5 

44 

21 

403 

xxvi. 

8, 

26 

32 

23 

403 

Romans. 

i. 

3 

no, 

,251 

4 

403 

22 

28 

ii. 

17 

134 

17- 

29 

136 

iii. 

10 

19 

25 

400 

iv. 

23 

66 

24, 

25 

404 

V. 

3 

178 

12 

410 

vi. 

4, 

9 

404 

vii. 

4 

404 

viii. 

II 

404 

23 

311 

26 

255 

29 

268 

ix. 

3 

184 

X. 

3 

172 

10 

16 

xiv. 

17 

iSs 

22, 

23 

288 

XV, 

,  6 

268 

xvi, 

•  7 

316 

I.  1 

Corinthians. 

i. 

17 

219 

23 

44 

25 

419 

27, 

28 

321 

I.  Corinthians  {coni.). 


Ephesians. 


11. 

2 

P- 

401 

8 

402 

14 

17 

iii. 

II 

325 

16 

413 

vi. 

14 

404 

19 

413 

vii. 

5 

278 

viii. 

I 

288 

x. 

4 

194. 

.  325 

20 

297 

25 

277 

,  passim 

403, 

404 

XV. 

3- 

8 

53 

7 

116 

9 

39 

10 

219 

45 

251 

II,  Corinthians. 

i.  19  415 

ii.  17  53 

iii.  6  206 

iv.  2  53 

8,  9,  10  306 

14  404 

17  304 

V.  2  311 

4  3" 

16  401 

19  399 

20  332 

21  59 
vi.  12  307 

16  413 

xi.  5  325 

xii.  U  325 

Galatians, 

i.  I  404 

ii,  9  318,  325 

II  325 

16  156 

iii.  II  156 

13  66 

22  66 
iv.  4  16 

9  269 

V.  I  269 

21  219 


1.  20 

p.  404 

22 

182 

ii,  21 

413 

iii.  8 

39 

10 

215 

iv.  S-io 

414 

10 

412 

vi,  12 

197 

Philippians, 

i.  8 

307 

ii.  6-11 

253 

7 

I,  73 

25 

316 

iii.  8 

401 

9 

269 

10,  II 

404 

12-14 

38 

COLOSSIANS. 

i.  14 

66 

19 

295 

19,  20 

417 

ii,  12 

404 

22 

160 

23 

270 

iii.  I 

404 

12 

307 

iv.  10 

112 

Thessalonians, 

I.  10 

404 

14, 15 

178 

14-16 

259 

ii.  15  I 

36,  259 

374 

21 

134 

I.  Timothy, 

i-  5 

256 

15 

39 

11.  9 

219 

iii.  16 

59.  412 

414 

vi.  8 

92 

10 

97 

II.  Timothy. 

ii,  8 

no 

iv,  2 

234 

444  INDEX. 

James.  I.  John. 


Philemon 

7   P 

.  307 

12 

307 

20 

307 

Hebrews. 

i.  I 

215 

9 

302 

ii.  ID 

399 

II 

268 

14 

410 

17 

187 

i8 

186 

iii.  I 

316 

15 

187 

iv.  14  412, 

414 

15 

186 

vii.  n 

219 

14 

JIG 

26 

414 

viii.  3 

399 

ix.  9 

226 

28 

301 

X.  22 

181 

38 

156 

xi.  36-38 

I7S 

37 

173 

xii.  27 

54 

xiii.  13 

178 

1.  21 

p.  114 

iv.  5 

255 

I.  Peter. 

i.  3 

404 

6 

302 

8 

302 

21 

404 

ii.  4 

252 

21 

59,  419 

24 

66 

iii.  14 

178 

18 

59 

22 

414 

iv.  12 

178 

13 

302 

16 

178 

V.  5 

361 

6 

420 

II.  Peter. 

i.  16 

53 

ii.  22 

225 

i.  8- 

10 

p.  36 

ii.  I 

59.  252 

29 

59 

iii.  5 

59 

7 

59 

8 

191 

9 

17 

17 

307 

V.  10 

16 

Jude. 


6 

"5 

8-23 

"5 

9 

115 

14 

115 

24 

302 

Revelation, 

i.  8 

1S2 

II 

182 

13-20 

253 

iii.  7 

333 

xix.  7 

302 

xxi.  6 

182 

14 

317 

xxii.  13 

182 

I 


Date  Due 

»^^SS  >4i 

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^h    ' 

4 

Al   '■ 

■L-\. 

Mr  '. 

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txry^-^ 

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