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WITH OPEN FACE 
 
WORKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR 
 
 The Parabolic Teaching of Christ: A Sys- 
 tematic and Critical Study of the Parables of 
 our Lord. Sixth Edition. 8vo. Cloth, 12s. 
 
 The Miraculous Element in the Gospels. Third 
 Edition. 8vo. Cloth, 12s. 
 
 The Life of William Denny. With Portrait. 
 Second Edition. 8vo. Cloth, 12s. 
 
 The Chief End of Revelation. Fifth Edition. 
 Crown 8vo. Cloth, 6s. 
 
 The Galilean Gospel. Fourth Edition. Crown 
 8vo. Cloth, 3s. 6d. 
 
 LONDON : HODDER AND STOUGHTON 
 27 Paternoster Row 
 
WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 JESUS MIRRORED IN MATTHEW- 
 MARK, AND LUKE 
 
 ALEXANDER BALMAIN BRUCE, D.D 
 
 PROFESSOR OK APOLOGETICS AND NEW . 
 
 EXL.,1 rosea cullege, ola 
 
 LONDON 
 
 HODDER AND 5TOUGHTON 
 27 PATERNOSTER ROW 
 
 1 8 
 
Edinburgh : T. and A. Constable, Printers to Her Majesty 
 
PREFATORY NOTE 
 
 Of the thirteen chapters contained in this Volume, 
 nine have appeared in The Expositor, in the course 
 of this year. The last four chapters appear now 
 for the first time. 
 
 These popular sketches of the spirit and 
 teaching of our Lord, as exhibited in selected 
 scenes from the Evangelic Records, are the over- 
 flow from severer studies on the first three 
 Gospels, meant to meet the wants of professi.-n.il 
 students of Scripture. In the preparation of the 
 ; work, I have -ecu some things in a fresh 
 
 light, of which I endeavour, in the following 
 genera] readers the benefit. 
 The last chapter is an attempt t<> realise .in 
 
 idea which has been in my mind fof umiv 
 
 forth, for the instruction «-t children, in 
 
vi WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 the form of a historical Catechism, the main 
 facts concerning Jesus. The Christian Primer 
 may be welcome at the present time when the 
 subject of Education is again engaging public 
 attention in England. Should it be received with 
 favour, a larger Catechism on a similar plan may 
 be attempted hereafter. 
 
 A. B. BRUCE. 
 
 Glasgow, September 1896. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 TBI PROPHETIC PICTURE OF MATTHEW. ... I 
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 EALI8TIC PICTURE OF MARK ... 
 
 CHAPTER III 
 i hi: IDEALISED picture OF LUKE 52 
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 I NAGOGU1 MINISTRY 
 
 I HAPTBR V 
 
 ION 10 1 111. PUBLICAHI 107 
 
 CHAPTER vi 
 
 ai 1 DISCI] LH 1 ;i 
 
viii WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 PAGE 
 THE ESCAPES OF JESUS 1 56 
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 YOUR FATHER WHO IS IN HEAVEN . . . l8l 
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 THE WORTH OF MAN 206 
 
 CHAPTER X 
 
 THE MORAL IDEAL 232 
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 
 THE CROSS IN SIGHT 257 
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 
 GETHSEMANE 283 
 
 CHAPTER XIII 
 
 THE CHRISTIAN PRIMER 308 
 
CHAPTER I 
 
 THE PROPHETIC PICTURE OF MATTHEW 
 
 The three first Gospels present essentially the 
 same view of Jesus as a preacher, a teacher, and 
 the uncompromising foe of Pharisaism. Yet on 
 closer study distinctive features reveal themselves 
 in their respective delineations. In Mark, which 
 may with much probability be regarded as the 
 earliest Gospel, Jesus is presented realistically as 
 a man, with marked individuality in experience, 
 speech, manner, and action. In Matthew He is 
 presented as the Christ, in His Messianic dignity, 
 yet as a very human, winsome Messiah. In 
 Luke He appears as the Lord, the exalted Head 
 of the Church ; still a true man, yet bearing the 
 aspect of a saint with an aureole round His 
 head; near us in His grace towards the sinful, 
 yet in some ways wearing a look of remoteness 
 like a distant range of hills softly tinged with 
 blue 
 
 A 
 
2 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 The first Evangelist, as is well known to all 
 readers, loses no opportunity of verifying his 
 thesis : Jesus the Christ. Some of his prophetic 
 citations are unimportant, referring to matters 
 purely external, of no significance for the char- 
 acterisation of Jesus. An extreme example of 
 this class may be found in the closing words 
 of the second chapter : ' He shall be called a 
 Nazarene.' Apologists have busied themselves in 
 trying to discover the Old Testament basis of the 
 reference, and some in their despair have had 
 recourse to the hypothesis of some lost book of 
 prophecy whence the quotation was taken. Their 
 labour is well meant but vain. Far better to 
 confess that this is one of the weakest links in 
 the prophetic chain of argument, and try to make 
 an apologetic point of its weakness. That really 
 can be done. It is obvious that no one would 
 ever have thought of a prophetic reference in the 
 instance before us unless the fact had first been 
 there to put the idea into his mind. If the 
 home of Jesus had not been in Nazareth, who 
 would have dreamt of searching among the 
 Hebrew oracles for a prophetic anticipation? 
 The fact suggested the prophecy, the prophecy 
 did not create the fact. And this remark may 
 
PROPHETIC PICTURE OF MATTHEW 3 
 
 apply to many other instances, where we have 
 not, as in this case, independent means of veri- 
 fying the fact. Sceptics have maintained that 
 not a few of the Gospel incidents were invented 
 to correspond with supposed Messianic pro- 
 phecies. The truth probably is that in by far 
 the greater number of cases the historical data 
 were there to begin with, stimulating believers 
 in Jesus as the Christ to hunt up Old Testament 
 texts fitting into them as key to lock. 
 
 Some of Matthew's quotations reveal delicate 
 tact and fine spiritual insight. Whatever may 
 be their value as proofs that Jesus was the Christ, 
 there can be no doubt at all about their value as 
 indications of what the Evangelist thought of 
 Jesus. These indications are all the more valu- 
 able that they are given unconsciously and without 
 design. The Evangelist's aim in making these 
 citations is to satisfy his first readers that He 
 of whom he wrote was the Great One whose 
 coming all Jews, Christian and non-Christian, 
 led. But in pursuing this design he lets 
 QOW he conceives the character and minis- 
 try of Jesus, and this is really fur Qfl now the 
 permanent religious use of these pTOphetft I 
 
 Three of tin tand out from a: 
 
4 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 the group as specially serviceable for this purpose. 
 The first, quoted from Isaiah ix. i, 2, is introduced 
 in connection with the settlement of Jesus in 
 Capernaum at the commencement of His Galilean 
 ministry. The important part of the quotation 
 lies in the words : ' the people which sat in dark- 
 ness saw a great light.' * Jesus of Nazareth^ the 
 Light of the dark land of Galilee — such is the 
 Evangelist's comprehensive conception of the 
 memorable ministry he is about to narrate. On 
 examining his detailed account we perceive that 
 in his view Jesus exercised His illuminating 
 function both by preaching and by teaching: 
 understanding by the former the proclamation 
 to the people at large of the good news of the 
 kingdom as a kingdom of grace, by the latter 
 the initiation of disciples into the more recondite 
 truths of the kingdom. But it is to be noted as 
 characteristic of the first of our canonical Gos- 
 pels that while the preaching function (kerygmd) 
 of Jesus is carefully recognised, it is to the 
 teaching function (didache) that greatest promin- 
 ence is given. ' Jesus,' we are told, ' went about 
 all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and 
 preaching the Gospel of the kingdom.' 2 But 
 
 1 Matt. iv. 16. 2 Matt. iv. 23. 
 
PROPHETIC PICTURE OF MATTHEW 5 
 
 beyond such general statements little is said 
 concerning the Preaching. On the other hand, 
 of the Teaching, especially that given to disciples, 
 who were indeed its chief recipients, copious 
 samples have been preserved. The ' Sermon on 
 the Mount,' brought in immediately on the back 
 of the general announcement just quoted, belongs 
 distinctively to the Teaching. However many 
 more might be present, disciples were the proper 
 audience, insomuch that the more appropriate 
 name for the discourse would be, not the Sermon 
 on the Mount, but the Teaching on the Hill. 
 There Jesus was the light of the few that they 
 might become the light of the world. And He 
 was their light by being their Rabbi. At the 
 close of the discourse the Evangelist makes the 
 comparison between Jesus and the Scribes given 
 in Mark in connection with the first appearance 
 of Jesus in the synagogue of Capernaum. 1 The 
 comparison implies resemblance as well as con- 
 trast. Jesus in the view of our Evangelist was 
 a Scribe or Rabbi in function, anti- Rabbinical in 
 spirit, and in virtue of both facts the spiritual 
 light of the land. Hecau-c He v. a- a Teacher 
 
 lie might be compared with the other reli 
 
 1 Matt ftt. .. --•. 
 
6 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 teachers of the people whose professed aim it 
 was to communicate to their countrymen the 
 knowledge of God. Because He differed utterly 
 from these teachers in method and spirit, the 
 light He offered was light indeed. For their 
 light the Evangelist believes to be but darkness, 
 the deepest, most ominous phase of the night 
 that brooded over Galilee and other parts of the 
 Holy Land, as he will take pains to show in the 
 course of his story. 
 
 The conception of the Christ as the Light- 
 giver implies that the leading Messianic charism 
 is wisdom. But that the author of the first 
 Gospel took no one-sided view of Messianic 
 equipment, but fully recognised the claims of 
 love, is shown by the prophetic quotation now 
 to be noticed. It also is taken from the Book 
 of Isaiah, and is in these words : ' Himself took 
 our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses.' 1 In 
 his general preliminary description of the Galilean 
 ministry, Matthew gives a prominent place to a 
 healing function : ' healing all manner of sickness 
 and all manner of disease among the people.' 2 
 The words just quoted from the prophet show 
 us the light in which the healing ministry pre- 
 
 1 Matt. viii. 17, from Isa. liii. 2 Matt. iv. 23. 
 
PROPHETIC PICTURE OF MATTHEW 7 
 
 sented itself to his mind. What struck him most 
 was not the marvellous power displayed therein, 
 but the sympathy, the phenomenal compassion. 
 This was not a matter of course ; ordinary people 
 did not so view the remarkable cures which were 
 taking place among them. What gained for 
 Jesus fame among them was, beside the benefit 
 received, the preternatural power evinced by His 
 healing acts. Only a deep glimpse into the heart 
 of Jesus could enable any one to see in these 
 acts something more and better than power, 
 and to find in His curative function a fulfilment 
 of the striking Hebrew oracle. Such a glimpse 
 had the Evangelist. He read truly the inner- 
 most meaning of the acts, some of which he 
 reports, and so laid his finger on the grand dis- 
 tinction of Jesus. And one who saw the central 
 significance of love in the character of Jesus was 
 not likely to suppose that its manifestation was 
 confined to healing acts. lie would expect it 
 . cal itself also in 'gracious words' spoken 
 for the healing of sin-sick souls. And tfa 
 fewer such words are reported in Matthew than 
 we might have desired, there are some that mean 
 much to one who duly considers them. 
 
 By far the most important of OUT three pn> 
 
8 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 phetic oracles is the one remaining to be 
 mentioned. It presents, so to speak, a full- 
 length portrait of Jesus, in prophetic language, 
 which will repay detailed study, feature by feature. 
 This citation, like the other two taken from 
 Isaiah, occurs in Matthew xii. 18-21, and is in 
 these terms : x 
 
 1 Behold, my servant whom I have chosen ; 
 My beloved in whom my soul is well pleased : 
 I will put my Spirit upon Him, 
 And He shall declare judgment to the Gentiles. 
 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, 
 And in His name shall the Gentiles hope.' 
 
 The attractive picture is introduced by the 
 Evangelist at this point in his narrative to show 
 the true Jesus in opposition to the Jesus of 
 Pharisaic imagination — a miscreant deserving to 
 die for Sabbath -breaking and other offences 
 against an artificial religious system. He sees in 
 Jesus the realisation of one of the finest ideal 
 conceptions in Hebrew prophecy — the Servant of 
 God, beloved of God, filled with His Spirit, 
 
 1 I quote the Revised Version. The original is in Isaiah xlii. 1-4. 
 
PROPHETIC PICTURE OF MATTHEW 9 
 
 gentle, peaceable, sympathetic, wise, cosmopolitan, 
 capable of winning the confidence and satisfying 
 the aspirations not of Israelites only but of all 
 mankind. It is the retiring non-contentious 
 disposition of Jesus, manifested in connection 
 with a Sabbatic conflict, that recalls the prophetic 
 ideal of Messiah to his mind. The baffled foes 
 of Jesus had left the scene of strife in a truculent 
 temper, taking counsel ' how they might destroy 
 Him.' Perceiving their threatening mood, Jesus 
 withdrew from the place to avoid giving further 
 offence and precipitating a crisis. In this pro- 
 cedure the Evangelist recognises the Messianic 
 trait : ' He shall not strive, nor cry aloud ; neither 
 shall any one hear His voice in the streets.' But 
 he is not content to quote this one sentence : he 
 reproduces the passage in full. Instead of a 
 single trait he shows us the complete picture. It 
 is not a case of loose quotation without con- 
 sidering whether the quoted matter be relevant 
 or irrelevant. Of set purpose he brings in this fair 
 portrait of JeSUfl just here, skilfully Usingas a foil 
 
 to set off its beauty tin- bideously distorted i«: 
 Him current in the religious world of Judaea. He 
 
 takes into his hand the sketch of the a: 
 
 Hebrew limner, holds it up t.» hi readen . and 
 
io WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 Look on this picture and on that. This is Jesus 
 as I see Him, that is Jesus as Pharisees miscon- 
 ceive Him. Which think you is the true Jesus ? 
 
 How shall we qualify ourselves for judging, 
 what is to be the basis for verification ? Must we 
 confine ourselves to the immediate context, or 
 may we roam over the evangelic narrative from 
 its beginning up to this point? I think the 
 Evangelist himself has the whole foregoing story 
 in view, and that that may be the reason why he 
 quotes at length and does not restrict his citation 
 to the one point apposite to the immediate 
 occasion. If so, then we may travel over the 
 preceding pages, that by broad, large observation 
 we may satisfy ourselves that the prophetic 
 delineation answers to the character of Him 
 whose story has thus far been told. The very 
 position of the picture in the book — in the middle, 
 instead of at the commencement — invites us to 
 use the knowledge we have acquired for this 
 purpose. Another Evangelist, Luke, has also 
 presented to his readers an ideal portrait of Jesus, 
 painted in prophetic colours. But his picture 
 comes in very early, serving as a frontispiece to 
 his book. 1 Matthew's picture stands right in the 
 
 1 Luke iv. 16-30. 
 
PROPHETIC PICTURE OF MATTHEW n 
 
 centre, so that we cannot help asking, Is the 
 painting like the original as we now know Him ? 
 
 Let us then study the goodly image in the 
 light of the history going before. ' Behold My 
 servant ! ' 
 
 The first trait is the Divine complacency resting 
 on the* person whose character is delineated : ' My 
 beloved in whom My soul is well pleased.' The 
 detested of the Pharisees is the beloved of God. 
 A strong thing to say ; what evidence of its truth ? 
 The evangelic historian points in reply to the 
 baptismal scene at the Jordan with the accom- 
 panying voice from heaven : ' Thou art My beloved 
 Son.' * This, of course, would have been no 
 evidence for Pharisees who were not there to hear, 
 and who would not have believed on the report 
 of another that the voice had really been spoken ; 
 even as there are many now to whom it is no 
 evidence because of their unbelief in the mira- 
 culous. For minds of the Pharisaic type no 
 evidence of any sort could avail to show that 
 such an one as Jesus could possibly be the well- 
 beloved of God. Such minds judge men by 
 external tests and by hard and : . with 
 
 the inevitable result that the)' often mistake the 
 1 Matt ni. 17. 
 
12 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 best for the worst, and the worst for the best, and 
 say of one who is a true servant and son of God : 
 ' Thou hast a devil.' Happily there is evidence 
 as to the character of Jesus available for all men 
 of open, honest heart, whether they believe in 
 miracle or not. There is the testimony borne by 
 the unsophisticated spiritual instincts of the soul, 
 which can recognise goodness at sight. Can we 
 not see for ourselves, without voices from heaven, 
 that Jesus of Nazareth, as revealed in His recorded 
 words and acts, is a Son of God, if not in the 
 metaphysical sense of theology, at least in the 
 ethical sense of possessing a God-like spirit? 
 Behold My servant ! Yea, a servant indeed : of 
 God, of truth, of righteousness ; of true truth, of 
 real righteousness, with rare capacity for dis- 
 cerning between genuine and counterfeit — a brave, 
 heroic, prophetic Man, fighting for the Divine in 
 an evil time, when godlessness assumed its most 
 repulsive and formidable form under the guise of 
 a showy, plausible, yet hollow zeal for godliness. 
 Truly, in the words of the Hebrew oracle, God 
 had put His Spirit upon Him. The descent of 
 the Spirit at His baptism, if not an objective fact, 
 was at least a happy symbol of the truth. 
 
 The second trait in the picture is the retiring 
 
PROPHETIC PICTURE OF MATTHEW 13 
 
 disposition of Jesus, described in the words : ' He 
 shall not strive nor cry aloud, neither shall any 
 one hear His voice in the streets.' Interpreted 
 in the light of the immediate situation these words 
 refer to the peaceable spirit of Jesus evinced by 
 His retirement from the scene of recent conflict 
 to avoid further contention, and the intensification 
 of existing animosities likely to result therefrom. 
 But we may give to this part of the picture a 
 larger scope, and find exemplifications in portions 
 of the evangelic history having no direct con- 
 nection with Pharisaic antagonism. May not the 
 Evangelist have in view here the ascent to the 
 mountain top and the teaching there given to an 
 inner circle of disciples? The love for retirement 
 among nature's solitudes and for the special work 
 of a master instructing chosen scholars was 
 characteristic of Jesus. lie did not indeed shun 
 the crowd or the kind of instruction that tells 
 upon, and is appreciated by, the popular mind. 
 His voice was heard in the streets, in the 
 synagogue, from a boat on the lake addressil 
 immense ennvd on the shore. He gave Himself 
 
 with enthusiasm to evangelism, visiting in su 
 sion all the > i of Galilee, and never 
 
 grudging graciOUS .speech to the people uh 
 
i 4 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 they might chance to assemble. Still this was 
 not the work He preferred, nor was He deceived 
 as to its value. ' Much seed little fruit ' was His 
 estimate of it in the Parable of the Sower. He 
 got weary at times of the crush of crowds, and 
 longed for privacy, and made sundry attempts to 
 escape into solitude. He felt the passion of all 
 deep natures for detachment and isolation — to be 
 alone with God, with one's self, with congenial 
 companions capable of receiving truths which do 
 not lie on the surface. 
 
 The retirement to the mountain top was one of 
 these escapes, and the ' Sermon on the Mount,' as 
 it has been called, shows us the kind of thoughts 
 Jesus gave utterance to when His audience was 
 not a street crowd, but a band of susceptible more 
 or less prepared hearers. 'When He had sat 
 down, His disciples came unto Him, and He 
 opened his mouth and taught them.' 1 His first 
 words were the Beatitudes, spoken in tones suited 
 to their import — not shouted after the manner 
 of a street preacher, but uttered gently, quietly, to 
 a few men lying about on the grass, breathing the 
 pure air of the uplands, with eyes upturned 
 towards the blue skies, and with something of 
 1 Matt. v. i, 2. 
 
PROPHETIC PICTURE OF MATTHEW 15 
 
 heaven's peace in their hearts. In these sayings 
 of the hill we see Jesus at His best, all that is 
 within Him finding utterance in the form of 
 thoughts concerning citizenship in the kingdom, 
 the righteousness of the kingdom, and the grace 
 of the Divine King and Father, which are very 
 new in emphasis and felicity of expression, if not 
 altogether new in substance. ' Why,' we are 
 tempted to ask, 'should one capable of saying 
 such things on mountain tops ever go down to 
 the plain below to mingle with the ignorant, 
 stupid mob, not to speak of descending lower 
 still into unwelcome profitless controversy with 
 prejudiced, conceited, malevolent religionists ? ' 
 Hut such a question would reveal ignorance of a 
 very important feature in the character of Jesus ; 
 viz. that He was not a one-sided man — a mere 
 Rabbi, sage, or philosopher, caring only for inti- 
 mate fellowship with the select few — but a man 
 who had also a Saviour-heart, with a passion for 
 recovering to God and goodness lost men and 
 women, hungering therefore for contact with the 
 weak, the ignorant, the sinful ; making the saving 
 of such His main occupation, and seeking in the 
 
 companionship of disciples only His recreation. 
 To this Saviour-aspect of Christ's character the 
 
1 6 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 third trait points : ' A bruised reed shall He not 
 break, and smoking flax shall He not quench.' 
 Broadly interpreted, these words describe the 
 compassion of Jesus. The pathetic emblems 
 denote the objects of that compassion : poor, 
 suffering, sorrow-laden, sinful creatures in whom 
 the flame of life temporal or spiritual burnt low, 
 and who in body or soul resembled bruised reeds, 
 frail at the best, rendered frailer still by grief, 
 pain, or moral shortcoming. The pity of Jesus 
 is expressed in negative terms. It is declared 
 that He will not do what many men are prone to 
 do — crush the weak, blow out the flickering 
 flame. The whole truth about Jesus is that He 
 habitually did the opposite with reference to all 
 forms of weakness represented by the bruised 
 reed and the smoking wick. For verification of 
 the statement we have only to look back over the 
 history. Consider, e.g. the ministry of healing. 
 Think of the multitudes of sick in Capernaum 1 
 and elsewhere cured of diseases of all sorts — fever, 
 leprosy, palsy, blindness, insanity. Miracles or 
 not, these are facts as well attested as anything in 
 the Gospels. And the subjects of these healing 
 acts might very appropriately be described as 
 
 1 Matt. viii. 16, 17. 
 
PROPHETIC PICTURE OF MATTHEW 17 
 
 physically or mentally bruised reeds. Take., e.g. 
 the man sick of palsy borne of four — what a wreck 
 physically ! 1 or the demoniac of Gadara — what a 
 sad tragic wreck mentally ! 2 Of moral wrecks 
 also there is no lack of examples. The palsied 
 man is one ; a wreck morally not less than 
 physically, a man in whose life vice and disease 
 appear to have been closely intertwined. How 
 then did Jesus treat that man ? Did He shun him, 
 or blow out the little flame of goodness that might 
 still be in him, or utterly crush the spirit of hope 
 that was already sorely broken by a hard unfeeling 
 word, or a merciless rebuke ? No ! He healed the 
 wounded conscience and revived the drooping 
 heart by the gracious word cordially spoken : 
 1 Courage, child ; thy sins are forgiven.' Or look 
 in at that large assembly of ' publicans and 
 sinners' in the court of Levi's house at Caper- 
 naum. :; Here is a motley collection of bruised 
 and smoking wicks of all sorts: social out- 
 casts, drunken men, frail women, irrel: 
 profligate, scandalous people. What is to be done 
 with them ? Throw them out into the 
 
 heap to rot, or take them out in boats and 
 drown them in the lake? Such may have 
 1 Ifati 1 - i \. J m • 1 
 
 1: 
 
18 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 the secret thoughts of respectable inhuman people 
 in Capernaum, as such are the thoughts of cynical 
 persons now in reference to similar classes of our 
 modern society. Not such were the thoughts of 
 Jesus. Capable of salvation and worth saving 
 even these, said He. Bruised reeds, yes, but the 
 bruise may be healed ; smoking wicks doubtless, 
 but the flame may be made to burn clear. Was 
 He too sanguine? No. How strong the reed 
 may become witness the story of Zacchaeus, 
 thoroughly credible, though not told in Matthew; 1 
 how bright the dying flame witness the woman in 
 Simon's house with her shower of penitent tears, 
 and her alabaster box of precious ointment. 2 
 ' Much forgiven, much love,' was the hopeful creed 
 of Jesus. His ideas on this subject were very 
 unconventional. Religious people as He saw 
 them appeared to Him very far from God, and 
 not likely ever to come nigh. On the other hand, 
 those who seemed hopelessly given over to im- 
 morality and irreligion He deemed not unlikely 
 subjects for the kingdom. The average modern 
 Christian does not quite understand all this, and 
 perhaps he hopes that Jesus did not altogether 
 mean what He seems plainly to say. But He did 
 
 1 Luke xix. i-io ; vide especially v. 8. 2 Luke vii. 36-50. 
 
PROPHETIC PICTURE OF MATTHEW 19 
 
 mean it, and He acted upon it, and history has 
 justified His belief and policy. 
 
 The last trait in our picture is what may be 
 called the cosmopolitanism, or the universalism, 
 of Jesus. ' In His name shall the Gentiles hope.' 
 That is, He is a Christ not for Jews alone, but for 
 mankind. The Hebrew original, as faithfully 
 rendered in the English Bible, means : ' the isles 
 shall wait for His law.' The two renderings co- 
 incide in sense in so far as they express the 
 universal range of Messiah's functions ; they 
 differ only in so far as they point to varying 
 aspects of 1 1 1 --s work. The one exhibits Him as a 
 universal object of trust, i.e. a universal Saviour ; 
 the other exhibits Him as a universal Legislator : 
 the Saviour of the world, the Lord of the world. 
 let it be noted, JeSUS could be neither unless 
 He pO Intrinsic fitness for these gigantic 
 
 tasks, it is not a question of 'offices 1 in the first 
 
 place, but of character, charisms, endowments. 
 It DOOta not to tell men that JeSUS IS Christ, and 
 that as such He exercises the functions of 
 
 prophet, priest, lawgiver, king, so long as they do 
 
 * that 1 Ic pOSSeS and the 
 
 ary for tl h functional He must 
 
 have it in llim by word, deed. Spirit, experience 
 
2o WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 to inspire trust, and to make men look to Him 
 for law, i.e. for the moral ideal of life. When men 
 are convinced of His power in these respects, they 
 will accept Him as their Christ ; possibly not 
 under that name, for some fastidious disciples 
 may be inclined to discard the title as foreign 
 and antiquated, and unsuited for the vocabulary 
 of a universal and eternal religion. So be it ; it 
 matters not about the name (though it will always 
 have its value for theology and the religious history 
 of the world), the vital matter is what the name 
 signifies. If Jesus can be the spiritual physician, 
 and moral guide of mankind, He is what the 
 people of Israel meant by a Christ, one who 
 satisfies the deepest needs and highest hopes of 
 men. And so the great question is, Can the 
 Jesus of the Gospels do this? The question is 
 not to be settled by authority, or by apologetic 
 evidences based on miracles and prophecies. 
 Trust and moral admiration cannot be produced 
 by such means. Orders to trust are futile, in- 
 junctions under pains and penalties to admire 
 vain ; proofs that a certain person ought to be 
 trusted and admired inept, unless those to whom 
 the commands and arguments are addressed 
 perceive for themselves in the person commended 
 
PROPHETIC PICTURE OF MATTHEW 21 
 
 the qualities that inspire trust and admiration. 
 And if these qualities be there, the best thing one 
 can do for his fellow- men is to let the object of 
 faith and reverence speak for Himself. Hold 
 up the picture, and let men look at it. Set it in a 
 good light, hang it well on the wall, remove from 
 the canvas obscuring dust and cobwebs if such 
 there be ; then stand aside and let men gaze till 
 the Friend of sinners, the Man of sorrow, the 
 great Teacher, begin to reveal Himself to their 
 souls. 
 
 Jesus has so revealed Himself to multitudes in 
 all ages, and of all nationalities ; He continues 
 so to reveal Himself to-day. The success or 
 non-success of His self- revelation ' has no con- 
 nection with race, but only with moral affinity. 
 Jesus came first to His own people, and for the 
 most part they received Him not. The result 
 condemned not Him but them. They had a veil 
 of religious prejudice on their face, and they could 
 not see Him. It needs an open eye and an open 
 heart to see Jesus truly. The open eye and Open 
 heart may be found in an)- quarter of the globe; 
 sometimes in very unlikely quarters ! among 
 
 Barbarians rather than in the great centn 
 
 culture and civilisation. The proud, the vain, 
 
22 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 the greedy, the slaves of fashion, however 
 religious, know nothing about Jesus. Jesus was 
 always on the outlook for the open eye and 
 simple, open, honest heart, and He was greatly 
 delighted when He found them. The classic 
 example of this quest and delight is the story 
 of the centurion of Capernaum, a Pagan, not a 
 Jew, first-fruit of Gentile faith. 1 What beautiful, 
 sublime simplicity in that Roman soldier's trust ! 
 And what a thrill of pleasure it gave Jesus ! ' I 
 have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.' 
 
 Not in Israel, the very people for whose benefit 
 the Messianic portrait was painted in the olden 
 time. Strange that the same people should 
 produce men capable of such splendid artistic 
 work in the sphere of moral delineation, and be 
 so lacking in the power of appreciating the 
 historical realisation of the prophetic ideals. They 
 devoutly, fanatically believed in the Messiah in 
 the abstract, but could not recognise Him in 
 the concrete. We have to thank Jewish blindness 
 for the unearthing of this ancient prophetic 
 picture by a Christian historian, by way of 
 protest against hideous caricatures of Jesus by 
 His religious contemporaries. We have to thank 
 
 1 Matt. viii. 5-13. 
 
PROPHETIC PICTURE OF MATTHEW 23 
 
 Jewish unbelief for the tragic result of these 
 deplorable misunderstandings, the crucifixion. 
 Faith in a Pagan soldier, unbelief in the most 
 religious Jews. Faith where you did not look 
 for it, unbelief where faith should have been. 
 As it was then, so it is still, so probably it always 
 will be. All turns on the state of the heart. 
 The pure heart, the unsophisticated conscience, is 
 implicitly Christian everywhere. The men of 
 impure heart, lacking in moral simplicity, may 
 be very Christian in profession, fiercely on the 
 side of Jesus, yet all the while they are really on 
 the side of the Pharisees. 
 
 Wisdom, sympathy, modesty, gentleness, wide- 
 heartedness, combined, such is the Evangelist's 
 conception of the Christ and of Jesus. Surely 
 a most winsome Jesus and a most acceptable 
 Messiah ! 
 
 ' Behold My servant, whom I uphold,' so runs 
 the oracle in the English version of the Hebrew 
 original. Whom I uphold'. Jehovah backs His 
 servant, ideal Mcs>ianic I>rael, however despised, 
 
 t all comers. So may we Christian 
 
 in reference to OUT Lord JeSUS. We may well 
 
 uphold Him; we may with .1 hold up 
 
 our head 9 ai believers in Him, is men who 
 
24 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 port a good cause. Comparative religion teaches 
 nothing to make us ashamed of Him. The only 
 thing we have cause to be ashamed of is our 
 miserably mean, inadequate presentation of Him 
 in theory, and still more in life. Two things 
 are urgently required of us modern Christians : 
 to see Jesus truly and to show Him just as we 
 see Him. 'Behold My servant.' Try hard to 
 get a fresh sight of Jesus, to behold Him ' with 
 open face.' Then what you have seen show 
 with absolute sincerity, not hiding your light for 
 fear of men who are religious but not Christian. 
 Clear vision, heroic, uncalculating sincerity, how 
 scarce in these days of time-serving ! And what 
 power goes with them ! Give us a few men 
 whose hearts have been kindled with direct 
 heaven-sent insight into the wisdom and grace 
 of Christ, and who must speak what they know 
 and testify what they have seen, and they will 
 bring about a moral revolution, issuing in a 
 Christianised Church and a righteous social state. 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 THE REALISTIC PICTURE OF MARK 
 
 That Mark is the earliest of the first three 
 Gospels might be inferred from its comparative 
 brevity, and also from the fact that it treats 
 only of the public life of our Lord, giving no 
 particulars concerning His birth such as we find 
 in Matthew and Luke. But apart from these 
 considerations this Gospel contains unmistakable 
 internal marks of a relatively early date. These 
 marks are such as suggest an eye and ear witness 
 as the source of many narratives, and a narrator 
 unembarrassed by reverence. This feeling, we 
 know, does come into play in biographical delinea- 
 tions of men whose characters have become 
 
 invested with sacredness, and its influence grows 
 
 with time. The high esteem in which they are 
 held more or less controls biographers, and be- 
 
 ,i tenden< y to leave out humble 
 and tone down traits indicative of pronounced 
 
26 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 individuality, and so to construct a story smooth 
 and commonplace in all that it reports of word or 
 deed, and exhibiting a character free from all pecu- 
 liarities over which the weakest might stumble, 
 and just on that account possessing less interest 
 for all who can discern and value originality and 
 power. It may seem bold even to hint that any 
 such influence can be traced in any of the 
 evangelic memoirs. It would be contrary to 
 fact to say that any of them exhibit the character- 
 istics of biographical writing arising out of the 
 sense of decorum in a highly developed form, 
 though calm investigation may constrain the 
 admission that the rudiments of these are to 
 be found in one of them. What I am concerned 
 at present to point out is, that wherever such 
 characteristics may be discovered in the Gospels, 
 they have no place in Mark's narratives. If, as 
 we have already seen, the presentation of Jesus 
 in the first Gospel is influenced by prophecy 
 going before, and if, as we shall see, the presenta- 
 tion of Jesus in the third Gospel is to a certain 
 extent influenced by reverential faith coming after, 
 it may be said with truth of the second that its 
 picture of Jesus is not coloured by either of these 
 influences. 
 
THE REALISTIC PICTURE OF MARK 27 
 
 Mark is the realist among the Evangelists. It 
 has often been observed concerning his style that 
 it is graphic, vivid, pictorial. The observation 
 is not only not the whole truth, but it is even to 
 some extent misleading. The epithet ' pictorial ' 
 suggests the idea of an author who employs 
 heightening phrases, and introduces unimportant 
 particulars simply for effect. So used it is a 
 doubtful compliment tending to lower rather than 
 increase our respect for a writer. Now the thing 
 to be noted about Mark is not the use of 
 heightened or accumulated phrases so much as the 
 avoidance of toning down, reticence, generalised 
 expression, or euphemistic circumlocution. He 
 states facts as they were, when one might be 
 tempted not to state them at all, or to show them 
 in a subdued light. He describes from the life, 
 while Matthew describes from the view-point of 
 prophecy, and Luke from the view-point of faith. 
 In this respect Mark occupies a place among the 
 
 Gospels somewhat analogous to that of the Vatican 
 
 ( udex, 1 which differs from all other ancient manu- 
 script copies of tlie Greek New Testament by the 
 
 measure in which it has kept free from modifi 
 
 1 Re fe rred to in critical edition! oi thi I nl 
 
 by tli. i< it 1 B. 
 
28 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 tions of the original due to regard for religious 
 edification on the one hand, or to literary tastes 
 on the other. The text of the Vatican Codex has 
 on this account been called ' neutral/ to distinguish 
 it from the paraphrasing type of text current in 
 the West, and from the refining type which had 
 its source in Alexandria. Mark likewise may be 
 called ' neutral,' not, indeed, in the sense in which 
 the term has sometimes been applied to him, as 
 implying a deliberate attitude of neutrality in 
 reference to two conflicting theological tendencies, 1 
 but in the sense that he reproduces the story of 
 Jesus from the life, uninfluenced to any ap- 
 preciable extent either by the prophetic interest 
 of the first Evangelist, or by the delicate sense of 
 decorum characteristic of the third. 
 
 In this neutrality of Mark we have a guarantee 
 of first-hand reports and early redaction not to be 
 despised. The realism of the second Gospel 
 makes for its historicity. It is the index of an 
 . archaic Gospel. Therefore we may have the less 
 hesitation in making this feature prominent by 
 going somewhat into detail. I have tried to make 
 an apologetic point of the occasional weakness of 
 
 1 Such was the view of Dr. Ferdinand Baur and other members 
 of the famous Tubingen school. 
 
THE REALISTIC PICTURE OF MARK 29 
 
 Matthew's prophetic references ; I hope now to 
 make an additional point by the exhibition of 
 Mark's realistic delineations. 
 
 1. I begin with a biographic hint found only 
 in this Gospel concerning the private life of Jesus 
 previous to the commencement of His pubHc 
 career. It is contained in the question of His 
 fellow-townsmen on the occasion of His visit to 
 Nazareth, after He had for some time carried on 
 His work elsewhere : Is not this the Carpenter} 1 
 This is the one fact we learn from the second 
 Evangelist concerning the history of Jesus previous 
 to the eventful day when He left Nazareth fur the 
 scene of the Baptist's ministry. Mark, unlike his 
 brother Evangelists, has no account of Jesus' birth, 
 and no genealogy proving Him to be a lineal 
 descendant of David. ' A son of the hero-king of 
 Israel,' say Matthew and Luke; 'a carpenter,' 
 
 says Mark, with somewhat disenchanting effect 
 
 And yet Mark's solitary realistic contribution to 
 the early history of Jesus is perhaps of more 
 
 importance to the permanent significant 
 
 Christianity than the other fact, which, while 
 1 tlising it in his narratives, he I pains 
 
 to verify, To make good the title ' Son <>i David ' 
 
 1 Maik \i. ;. 
 
3 o WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 as applicable to Jesus was an important function 
 of the apologetic of the apostolic age, especially 
 in a work like that of Matthew, probably written 
 for the benefit of Jewish Christians. But that 
 title, in the literal or physical sense, can hardly be 
 vital to the faith of Gentile believers and of all 
 generations. Our faith that Jesus is the Christ 
 does not depend on our being certain that He 
 was physically descended from David. We may 
 satisfy ourselves on independent grounds that He 
 meets all our spiritual needs, and, therefore is a 
 true Christ for humanity. And when we have 
 done this we will have no difficulty in applying to 
 Him the prophetic promise of a seed to David, 
 at least in a spiritual sense, which in this case, 
 as in the case of the Messianic kingdom, might 
 conceivably be all the fulfilment the promise was 
 to receive. 'If ye are Christ's, then are ye 
 Abraham's seed,' argued St. Paul. 1 So we, 
 following the same style of reasoning, may say : 
 If Jesus be Christ (shown to be such by what He 
 was and did) then was He David's seed, ideally 
 at least, if not physically. 
 
 On the other hand, that Jesus, before He began 
 His prophetic career, occupied the lowly state of 
 
 1 Gal. iii. 29. 
 
THE REALISTIC PICTURE OF MARK 31 
 
 a carpenter, is of universal, permanent, and, one 
 may add, ever-increasing significance as a symbolic 
 revelation of the genius of the Christian religion. 
 It is by no means a merely outward, indifferent 
 fact, too trivial for mention in even the fullest 
 account of the life of so great a Personage. It 
 has distinct and great ethical value, both as a 
 biographical fact, and as a means of propagating 
 Christian faith. How much that humble, yet not 
 ignoble, occupation signifies as an element in the 
 education of Jesus ! What possibilities it provided 
 of keen insight into the heart of human life, and 
 what protection it afforded against the unrealities 
 and insincerities attaching to more favoured social 
 conditions! Let us not rob it of its significance 
 by remarking that to learn a trade was a fashion 
 among Jews irrespective of rank. The artisan 
 experience of Jesus was more than a fashion com- 
 plied with ; it was a social necessity endured. 
 Jesus was a real, not an amateur, carpenter, the 
 difference being as great as between a volunteer 
 soldier and one who engages in actual fighting. 
 Then what a power lies in this one fact, Jesus 
 a carpenter, to enlist for Him the interest of the 
 
 million I The toiling multitude in every land and 
 in every age can say : He is one of ourselv* . He 
 
32 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 knows us, and we know Him and trust Him. He 
 fought a good fight for us, for man stripped of 
 adventitious distinction ; all honour to His name. 
 It was well for all reasons that the Founder of a 
 universal religion came up out of the humbler 
 social levels with guaranteed sympathy for the 
 many. And it is well that the fact has been 
 distinctly stated in at least one Gospel, for ' faith 
 cometh by hearing.' 
 
 2. Our next example of Mark's realism shall 
 be taken from his account of ' The Temptation.' 
 ' The Spirit driveth Him into the wilderness.' 1 
 Note the word driveth, much the strongest to be 
 found in any of the accounts. It points to a 
 powerful force at work, of some kind. And we 
 can have no doubt as to its nature. Of course 
 it was not a physical force exerted to compel a 
 reluctant person to go whither he would not, into 
 the inhospitable regions of a stony desert, where 
 ' wild beasts ' were the only available companions. 
 The force of the Spirit, as the Evangelist con- 
 ceives the matter, is brought to bear inwardly, 
 and acts through thought and feeling. In other 
 words, the driving implies and denotes intense 
 mental preoccupation. Jesus is thinking earnestly, 
 
 1 Mark i. 12. 
 
THE REALISTIC PICTURE OF MARK 33 
 
 passionately, of His new vocation and of the 
 future it will bring, and instinctively, inevitably, 
 as if under an irresistible impulse, He retires into 
 the solitudes of Nature congenial to one in so 
 absorbed a mood. What a flash of light this 
 one realistic word ' driveth ' throws on the spiritual 
 endowment and disposition of Jesus ! A deep 
 thinker, with a profoundly earnest, passionate 
 temper, and a spirit capable of single-hearted, 
 consuming devotion to a great end : this is what 
 we see by aid of this momentary illumination. 
 And the knowledge we have gained is not con- 
 fined to the particular experience to which the 
 word is applied. It gives the key to the whole 
 life in all its leading phases ; therefore to those 
 that already lie behind. It explains the departure 
 from Nazareth, and the baptism in the Jordan. 
 It helps us to understand why, and in what mood, 
 Jesus left the home of His childhood and early 
 youth, and the place and instruments of toil. The 
 Spirit was driving Him then and there also ; fur 
 we must on no account conceive the Spirit as 
 coming upon Him for the first time after His 
 baptism. The descent of the Spirit recorded In- 
 all the Evangelists is rather the objective symbol 
 
 of an antecedent subjective fact, an inner j 
 
 « 
 
34 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 sion reaching far back into the past years, and 
 at last culminating in the resolve to make that 
 eventful journey southwards. The resolutions of 
 deep, strong natures are not formed suddenly. 
 They are the ripe fruit of early dreams, and 
 lengthened brooding, and much wistful solitary 
 thought. But when the crisis comes, purposes 
 are formed with intense decision, and promptly 
 carried into effect. Then the driving, tempestuous 
 action of the spirit begins, when men called to 
 great careers act in a way that surprises all who 
 do not know what silent processes of preparation 
 have gone before. So it was with Jesus when He 
 left Nazareth ; so when He demanded baptism ; 
 so when He retired into the wilderness. These 
 were three consecutive scenes in the first act of 
 the great drama which terminated on Calvary. 
 Jesus passed through all three by Divine con- 
 straint. He must leave Nazareth, He must be 
 baptized, He must bury Himself amid the grim 
 retreats of the wilderness, to master there the 
 abstruse problem of His new vocation, that He 
 may enter on its duties with clear vision, con- 
 firmed will, and pure, devoted heart. 
 
 3. A third example of Mark's manner may be 
 found in his account of the first appearance of 
 
THE REALISTIC PICTURE OF MARK 35 
 
 Jesus in the synagogue of Capernaum. 1 Jesus 
 now appears actually engaged in the work of His 
 high calling, and that account gives a vivid idea 
 of the impression He made immediately upon the 
 people. He did two things on that occasion. He 
 preached, and He cured a man suffering from a 
 disease described as possession by an unclean 
 spirit. By both functions He created astonish- 
 ment, significantly reflected in the comments of 
 those present, as reproduced in the life-like report 
 of the Evangelist. ' What is this ? ' said they to 
 each other, ' What is this ? A new teaching ! 
 With authority He commandeth even the unclean 
 spirits, and they obey Him." 2 They were as- 
 tonished at the immediate cure of the demoniac 
 by an authoritative word, and this is not surpris- 
 ing ; but not at that alone. They were not less 
 astonished at the novel kind of preaching, which 
 ordinary readers of the Gospel, I suspect, fail 
 sufficiently to realise. And yet the Evangelist 
 !iis best to direct our attention to the fact by 
 an observation brought in at an earlier Stage in 
 
 1 Mirk i. 21. 
 
 * v. 27, as in the 1: : liferent 
 
 tliat to which the Aut). 
 :.<!-, KOOOtding tu which the wuiulcr referred uiily t»> the 
 
36 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 his narrative. 1 In that observation he points out 
 the remarkable feature in Christ's preaching. It 
 was the note of authority, he explains, that took 
 the hearers by surprise. Authority, commanding 
 power in word and deed : that was what struck 
 the worshippers in Jesus as He appeared before 
 them that Sabbath day. And yet they had been 
 accustomed to authority in doctrine. They were 
 constantly hearing in the synagogue of what had 
 been said by the ancients. 2 Their Rabbis or scribes 
 were never done quoting the opinions of those 
 who sat in Moses' seat, and interpreted the 
 meaning of the law. But there was a wide 
 difference between this new Rabbi and all the 
 rest. The Evangelist remarks on it : ' Not as 
 the scribes,' and we may take for granted that it 
 had struck the people in the synagogue. Jesus 
 spake not by authority, like the scribes, citing 
 the names of renowned doctors, but with authority 
 — 'as one that had authority.' He quoted no 
 opinions of others ; He simply uttered His own 
 thoughts, and so uttered them that they came 
 home to the minds of listeners with swift, sure 
 effect, producing conviction, admiration, and 
 sudden thrills of pleasure and awe. All this 
 
 1 v. 22. - Matt. V. 21. 
 
THE REALISTIC PICTURE OF MARK 37 
 
 we learn from the simple words, ' a new teaching !' 
 reported by Mark as uttered on the spot. Peter 
 was present. Papias, a Church Father, living 
 about the beginning of the second century, tells 
 us that that apostle was the source from whom 
 Mark derived his information. It looks like it 
 here. That lively exclamation : ' a new teaching !' 
 sounds like the report of one who had been there, 
 and on whom the spontaneous expression of 
 popular admiration had made an indelible im- 
 pression. 
 
 4. A curious and at first puzzling instance of 
 Mark's realism is supplied in his account of what 
 may be called the Flight of Jesus from Capernaum. 
 The story he tells is this : — 
 
 ( And in the morning, a great while before day, He rose 
 up and went out, and departed into a desert place, and there 
 prayed. And Simon and they that were with Him followed 
 after Him : and they found Him, and say unto Him, All 
 are seeking Thee. And He saith unto them, Let us go 
 elsewhere into the next towns, that I may preach there 
 also, for to thi^ end came 1 forth.' 1 
 
 'To this end came I forth,' i.e. from Capernaum 
 
 early that morning. Luke the matter ■ 
 
 different turn. He makes IK) mention of a flight 
 1 Mark i. J5-jS, liom t:. 
 
38 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 at an early hour, and he changes the apology for 
 flight into a statement by Jesus as to the aim of 
 His mission in general. 1 We must not, in the 
 well-meaning but somewhat officious spirit of the 
 harmonists, force the second Evangelist to say 
 the same thing as the third. Mark's version is 
 historical, not theological ; and if we will take it 
 so, we shall get clearer insight into the spirit of 
 Jesus, and the situation in which He was then 
 placed. We assume then that what Jesus said 
 to Peter and the others was, that He had left 
 Capernaum in order that He might preach in 
 other towns. From this we learn that Jesus had 
 formed a plan for a preaching tour in Galilee, 
 and that the appearance in the synagogue of 
 Capernaum on the previous day was simply the 
 beginning of its execution. Having delivered 
 His message there, He desires to visit other 
 Galilean synagogues, that He may speak in them 
 words of similar import. That we now fully 
 understand to be His earnest, deliberate purpose. 
 But why such haste, and why such secrecy ? 
 Why not stay a little longer in Capernaum, where 
 His words and works are so greatly appreciated, 
 say another week ; and why not leave, when He 
 
 1 Luke iv. 42, 43. 
 
THE REALISTIC PICTURE OF MARK 39 
 
 does leave, in open day ? There must be urgent 
 reasons for the haste and the secrecy. The 
 reason for the secrecy is obvious. All were seek- 
 ing Him. The people of Capernaum had not 
 had enough of Him, either of His preaching or 
 of His healing power, and they would do their 
 utmost to prevent His going ; therefore He stole 
 away when they were asleep. But what was the 
 reason of the haste ? It must be found in that 
 which constitutes the penalty of sudden and great 
 popularity — the jealousy, envy, and ill-will of 
 those whose vanity or interest is compromised 
 thereby. Jesus taught not as the scribes. The 
 scribes knew that as well as the people, and even 
 if no comparisons were made by other hi 
 they themselves, such of them as were in the 
 audience, would carefully note the difference, and 
 find in it a source of annoyance. Jesus instinc- 
 tively apprehended danger, and took his measures 
 accordingly. Being earnestly minded to preach 
 in other synagogues He hasted away, fearing that 
 His opportunity might soon be cut off. He could 
 not speak in the synagogues without the o 
 
 of the officials, and who could tell how soon and 
 how far the incipient dislike of the SCrfl 
 
 Capernaum might spread, proving a Lanier in 
 
4 o WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 His way wherever He went. Therefore He said 
 to Himself: ■ I must go at once on this preaching 
 mission, that I may speak in as many synagogues 
 as possible, before there has been time for oppo- 
 sition to be organised.' 
 
 Here was a complicated perplexing situation : 
 immense popularity on the one hand ; ill-will in 
 the professional heart, likely ere long to develop 
 into overt action, on the other. We are not 
 surprised to learn that Jesus spent part of that 
 morning in prayer. He did not pray as a matter 
 of course in pursuance of a habit, engaging as it 
 were in His wonted morning devotions. The 
 prayer was special, in reference to an urgent 
 occasion ; and though no particulars are men- 
 tioned, we can easily imagine its purport. The 
 emergency suggested petitions such as these : 
 that the people in the various places He meant to 
 visit might lend Him a willing ear ; that oppor- 
 tunity might not be too soon cut off by the 
 plotting of evil-minded men ; that He might be 
 able to speak the word of the kingdom sweetly 
 and graciously, unruffled in spirit by opposition 
 experienced or apprehended ; that impressions 
 made on friendly hearers might not run into a 
 merely superficial enthusiasm, or degenerate into 
 
THE REALISTIC PICTURE OF MARK 41 
 
 an interest having its root in a desire for material 
 benefit. How luminous and instructive that 
 puzzling realistic anecdote of Mark's has at length 
 grown ! 
 
 5. Our next instance is the remarkable state- 
 ment peculiar to the second Gospel that the 
 relatives of Jesus at a certain period said of Him : 
 'He is beside Himself.' 1 The passage is some- 
 what obscure partly owing to its brevity, and as a 
 Catholic commentator long ago remarked, 2 it is 
 rendered more difficult than it really is by a 
 piety that will not let itself believe that any one 
 could think of Jesus as seems to be reported. 
 But it is best to look the unpleasant fact fairly in 
 the face, in hope that it will bring to view some 
 new and notable features in the picture of Jesus. 
 
 One thing the fact stated very evidently bears 
 witness to : the moral originality of Jesus. The 
 thought of His relatives simply exemplifies the 
 incapacity of the ordinary man to understand the 
 extraordinary man. Unusual force of mind, or 
 depth of conviction or sincerity in utterance, 
 
 anything out of the common course in conception 
 or in conduct, is a mystery or even an offence to 
 
 the average man. It would be his wisdom to 
 
 1 Mark iii. J I 
 
42 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 stand in silent awe, hat in hand so to speak, 
 before the mystery, as unscientific persons would 
 stand in the presence of a mysterious phenomenon 
 in the physical universe. But men will talk 
 about their moral superiors, they will have their 
 opinions and theories about them, and they have 
 little hesitation in uttering these, however dis- 
 respectful or injurious. And so it came to pass 
 that even the friends of Jesus thought and said 
 that He was out of His senses, thereby bearing 
 involuntary testimony to the exceptional greatness 
 of His personality. 
 
 The rude speech of these stupid friends testifies 
 further to the enthusiasm of Christ's humanity. 
 It was while He was so busily occupied with His 
 usual work among the people, preaching and 
 healing, that He could not find time to take food 
 that the friends arrived on the scene, and, watching 
 His behaviour, came to their sapient conclusion. 
 Much benevolence, they thought, had made Him 
 mad, and in their goodness they desired to rescue 
 Him from the crowd and the excitement, and 
 take Him home to quietness and rest. Let us 
 pardon their stupidity for the sake of their most 
 reliable testimony to the intensity of Christ's 
 devotion to His beneficent toil. The madness 
 
THE REALISTIC PICTURE OF MARK 43 
 
 was only in their imagination, but the benevolence 
 was a great indubitable fact. Here also He was 
 driven by the Spirit. A sacred passion for doing 
 good to others was one of the outstanding char- 
 acteristics of Jesus ; that is what we learn in an 
 emphatic manner from this new instance of Mark's 
 blunt way of telling his story. 
 
 From this same instance we may learn further 
 the extensive and extraordinary character of the 
 healing ministry of Jesus. It was so obtrusive a 
 fact that men found it necessary to invent theories 
 to account for it. The friends of Jesus had their 
 theory ; looking on while He taught and healed, 
 they said to one another, He is suffering from a 
 disordered mind. Theirs was not the only theory 
 broached ; King Herod had his likewise. When 
 he heard of the fame of Jesus as a Healer, he 
 said : It is John the Baptist risen from the dead 
 — just come back to earth from the spirit-world 
 and wielding its mysterious powers. 1 And the 
 scribes and Pharisees had their theory, especially 
 with reference to the cure of demoniacs ; Mark 
 places it side by side with that of the friends as if 
 
 inviting us to compare the two. He casteth out 
 
 devils, .said they, by the prince of devilft. V 
 
 1 M.irk vi. 14. - M.uk 1.. 
 
44 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 unsatisfactory theories all three ; the first stupid, 
 the second grotesque, the third malicious and 
 dishonest. Never mind. They all serve an 
 important purpose, that of showing that the 
 healing ministry was a great fact. Men do not 
 theorise about nothing. When theories arise, 
 something has occurred that arrests attention and 
 demands explanation. 
 
 Before passing from this instance it is due to 
 Mark to say that he has supplied materials which 
 enable us to see how utterly unfounded was the 
 judgment of the ' friends.' It is not to be denied 
 that incessant exciting work among the ' masses,' 
 especially such as makes heavy demands on 
 sympathy, brings dangers both to bodily and 
 to mental health. There is need not only for 
 intervals of rest, but for occupations and interests 
 of a different order to help the mind to maintain 
 its balance, and to keep the spirit in perpetual 
 calm. That these were not wanting in the case 
 of Jesus clearly appears in Mark's narrative. Just 
 before he has shown Jesus occupied with the 
 formation of a disciple-circle, first selecting from 
 the great crowd a larger group of susceptible 
 spirits with whom He retires to the mountain top, 
 and thereafter by a gradual process choosing from 
 
THE REALISTIC PICTURE OF MARK 45 
 
 these a smaller circle of twelve. 1 With these 
 chosen companions He remains up there for some 
 time communicating to them such deep wise 
 thoughts as those preserved in Matthew's Sermon 
 on the Mount, This might be made clearer to the 
 ordinary reader by a different verse-division and 
 a slightly amended translation, the words ' And 
 He cometh into a house' 2 being made an in- 
 dependent verse, and the phrase ' into a house ' 
 being replaced by the one word ' home.' The 
 narrative will then stand thus, — 
 
 V. 19, 'And Judas Iscariot, which also betrayed Him' 
 (the close of the disciple-list). 
 
 V. 20, 'And He cometh home.' 
 
 V. 21, 'And the multitude cometh together again so that 
 they could not so much as eat bread.' 
 
 By leaving a blank space between v. 19 and 
 v. 20 we convey the impression of a considerable 
 interval between the ascent of the mountain (:■. 13) 
 and the return to the plain, or the coming hoi)u\ 
 which of itself implies absence for an appreciable 
 time. The blank is the place at which Mark's 
 report of the Teaching on the Hill would have 
 come in had it entered into his plan to reOOfd it. 
 
 1 M.uk m. 1 ;, \\. ■ Mail. in. m. 
 
46 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 6. Yet another instance of Mark's realistic style 
 must be briefly noticed. It is the tableau of 
 Jesus on the way to Jerusalem and the final crisis, 
 presented in these words : — 
 
 1 And they were in the way, going up to Jerusalem, and 
 Jesus was going before them, and they were amazed, and 
 they that followed were afraid.' * 
 
 Again the same intensity which had filled 
 1 friends ' with astonishment and alarm ! once more 
 driven by the Spirit ! But this time the subject 
 which engrosses the thoughts of Jesus is not His 
 beneficent work among the people, but His own 
 approaching passion. Walking in advance of 
 the twelve and the larger crowd who followed 
 in the rear, He is as solitary in spirit as He is 
 isolated on the ascending path. Emotions agitate 
 His soul in which His fellow-travellers have no 
 part. The inward mood reveals itself in His 
 outward bearing in such a way as to inspire in 
 spectators wonder and fear. How much was in 
 His mind at that hour : the holy supper, the 
 farewell words, Gethsemane, the cross, all there 
 by vivid anticipation ! And how much in His 
 manner as it met the eye : a tragic mood, a 
 hero's air, the step of one going forward to battle ! 
 
 1 Mark x. 32. 
 
THE REALISTIC PICTURE OF MARK 47 
 
 He told the twelve what He was thinking of, but 
 it was not necessary ; they saw it all, and were 
 rilled with awe. And we see it through the 
 Evangelist's vivid, rapid portraiture, in which 
 gesture is made to tell the tale of unspeakable 
 pathos, firm resolve, heroic daring, faithfulness 
 even unto death. 
 
 The foregoing are samples of realistic touches 
 peculiar to Mark, and their number might easily 
 be increased. There are others equally signifi- 
 cant in which he does not stand alone, Matthew 
 having introduced them into his narrative pro- 
 bably from the pages of his brother Evangelist. 
 Among these may be named the realistic descrip- 
 tion of the process of digestion in the discourse 
 concerning that which defileth, 1 the discouraging 
 word to the Syrophenician woman, It is not meet 
 to take the children's bread and cast it to the 
 dogs, 2 and the stern word to Peter, Get thee 
 behind me, Satan, 3 all omitted by Luke, to which 
 may be added in the sphere of action the realistic 
 description of the cleansing of the temple. 4 If 
 anyone desires to know what is meant by realism, 
 let him compare with Mark's account of that 
 
 1 M.uk vii. 19. - M.ak \ 
 
 4 M.uk m. i 
 
48 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 transaction the mild, mitigated report of it given 
 by the third Evangelist. I content myself with 
 a bare reference to these instances, and close with 
 an illustration of Mark's manner taken from the 
 sphere of doctrine. 
 
 7. Mark's account of the teaching of our Lord 
 is, by comparison with that in the other Gospels, 
 very meagre. Yet it is remarkable that two of 
 the most characteristic utterances of Jesus have 
 been preserved by him alone. These are the 
 saying concerning the Sabbath being made for 
 man, 1 and the parable of the Blade, the Green 
 Ear, and the Ripe Corn? The former admirably 
 illustrates the comment on Christ's manner of 
 teaching, 'not as the scribes.' The saying, the 
 Sabbath exists for man not man for the Sabbath, 
 is diametrically opposed to the scribal method 
 of teaching in religious tendency and spirit In 
 effect their doctrine was precisely that man existed 
 for the Sabbath. Originally given, as Jesus hinted 
 in the first part of His saying, for man's benefit, 
 as a resting-day for weary men, a day of emanci- 
 pation from toil and drudgery, they had converted 
 it into a day taken from man by God in an exact- 
 ing spirit, and so established in connection with 
 
 1 Mark ii. 27. 2 Mark iv. 26-29. 
 
THE REALISTIC PICTURE OF MARK 49 
 
 it a new form of bondage — slavish subjection to 
 an institution. A boon turned into a tyranny — 
 such was the Sabbath as enforced by the scribes ; 
 a tyranny restored to a boon — such it became 
 through the redemptive word of Jesus. That 
 word was equally opposed to the scribal method 
 of teaching in manner. No authorities cited, no 
 Rabbi referred to as the first to utter so bold a 
 thought. Jesus speaks in His own name, and 
 on His own authority; a grave word on a vital 
 question, incisive, decisive, final. Once more, 
 that word presents a complete contrast to the 
 teaching of the scribes in its ethical character. 
 The scribal mind moved within the region of 
 positive rules, the more minute and unreasonable 
 the better ; the thoughts of Jesus spurned these 
 narrow limits, and were conversant with great 
 moral principles and ultimate truths in religion. 
 No better voucher for this statement could be 
 offered than the Baying in which He stated the 
 true relation between the Sabbath and man. 
 
 Equally remarkable is the parable of the Blade, 
 the Green Ear, and the Ripe Corn. It States in 
 distinct terms the law of g rowth or gradual de- 
 velopment as a law obtaining in the spiritual 
 world not leal than in the natural. It is the 
 I) 
 
50 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 most precise, indeed I may say the only precise, 
 enunciation of that law, as reigning in the spiritual 
 sphere, to be found in the New Testament. Some 
 have doubted the genuineness of the parable, 
 regarding it as a secondary form of some other 
 parabolic utterance of Jesus. Surely a ground- 
 less doubt ! Who but Jesus could have spoken 
 so felicitous and so philosophical a word ? Not 
 one man known to us in the apostolic age, not 
 even the Apostle Paul. Indeed, so far is the 
 great Master above the attainments of the primi- 
 tive Church in this part of His teaching, that one 
 is thankful the parable has been preserved at 
 all, even in a single Gospel. The same remark 
 applies to the saying concerning the Sabbath. 
 Both utterances were, if I may say so, too deep and 
 too thorough-going for the comprehension and 
 sympathies of average disciples. And it is just 
 on this account that I think they may legitimately 
 be used to illustrate the realism of Mark. He 
 reports, as they were spoken, these striking words, 
 when the temptation was either to omit or to 
 qualify. He did this doubtless on the authority 
 of one who heard them as they fell from the lips of 
 the Master, and who, though he might not under- 
 stand or fully appreciate, could never forget. 
 
THE REALISTIC PICTURE OF MARK 51 
 
 These two invaluable words are a welcome 
 contribution in a Gospel in which Jesus appears 
 chiefly as an energetic original actor. They show 
 that the force of His intellect was equal to the 
 force of His will. They also prove that the 
 impassioned temperament was balanced by a 
 deep imperturbable tranquillity of spirit ; for such 
 great, universal, eternal thoughts visit only minds 
 blessed with perennial repose. 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 THE IDEALISED PICTURE OF LUKE 
 
 Luke is the only one of the synoptical 1 Evan- 
 gelists who takes his readers into his confidence 
 as to the aim and plan which guided him in 
 writing his Gospel. From the statement which 
 he makes in the opening sentence of his work, 
 the following inferences may be drawn : 
 
 1. That he lived late in the day, after many 
 attempts had already been made to give an 
 account more or less complete of the public 
 ministry of Jesus. 
 
 2. That he had not himself been an eye- 
 witness of any part of that ministry, or even had 
 an opportunity of hearing particulars concerning 
 it from any of the men who 'had been with 
 Jesus.' 
 
 3. That his sources of information were mainly 
 
 1 This term is applied to the first three Gospels to denote that 
 they are so like one another in contents and style that they may 
 and ought to be studied together. 
 52 
 
THE IDEALISED PICTURE OF LUKE 53 
 
 books, written accounts, memoirs of the life of 
 Jesus. 
 
 4. That in writing his Gospel he earnestly 
 endeavoured to make a careful, judicious use of 
 these sources. 
 
 5. That his aim in writing was to confirm faith 
 in the evangelic tradition in the mind of the 
 friend whose benefit he had chiefly in view : in 
 his own words, 'that thou mightest know the 
 certainty of those things wherein thou hast been 
 instructed.' 
 
 Luke, we see, had the spirit of research, and 
 desired to base his narrative on the sure ground 
 of historic fact. 
 
 It is quite compatible with this that the Evan- 
 gelist should be to a certain extent controlled in 
 the construction of his story by his own religious 
 feelings, or by the religious feelings of the time 
 III which he lived, or by the spiritual state of his 
 first readers, whether we include in that cat 
 merely the one person named, Theophilus, or a 
 circle in which he was the prominent figure. He 
 
 might have to consider what they were likely to 
 be interested in, what they could understand, 
 
 what they could bear, and his Own tastes and 
 
 sympathies might be very much like their-,. 
 
54 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 Compared with the first two Gospels, the third 
 presents characteristics which answer to this 
 hypothetical state of matters. A large number 
 of particulars can be collected from its pages 
 which, taken together, convey the impression of a 
 story told under the influence of certain precon- 
 ceived ideas or predilections. They are too many 
 to be accidental, and too marked to be the result 
 of the unconscious action of the stream of tradi- 
 tion rolling evangelic incidents down its course, 
 and polishing them into smoothness as it carried 
 them along. One cannot help feeling that there 
 must have been intention at work, at some point, 
 either in our Evangelist, or in those who prepared 
 the sources from which he drew his information. 
 
 The features of the narrative which most 
 plainly bear traces of editorial discretion with a 
 view to edification relate to the person and 
 character of our Lord and also of His apostles. 
 The writer seems never to forget the present 
 position of those of whom he has occasion to 
 speak, as the Risen Lord of the Church, and its 
 earthly heads. The frequent use of the title 
 1 Lord ' and ' Apostles ' where the other two 
 Evangelists say ' Jesus,' and ' disciples ' at once 
 exemplifies and symbolises the reverential 
 
THE IDEALISED PICTURE OF LUKE 55 
 
 attitude. To that attitude it is probably further 
 due that some things related in Matthew and 
 Mark are omitted, some things strongly em- 
 phasised, some things set in a subdued light, and, 
 finally, some things introduced for the first time 
 into the evangelic story : all making for one end, 
 giving prominence to certain aspects of the 
 Saviour's career and character that strongly 
 appeal to faith and love, and throwing into the 
 shade others making severer demands on the 
 power of appreciation. In the sections of the 
 narrative relating to the disciples the apparent 
 tendency is to gentle handling of their weaknesses, 
 while letting it be seen that the weaknesses were 
 there. 
 
 It is in view of such characteristics as those 
 above referred to that I apply the epithet 
 'idealised' to the picture of Jesus presented in 
 the Third Gospel. The term needs to be guarded 
 
 against possible misapprehension. It might 
 
 suggest the idea of a narrative dominated by a 
 theological idea, or by a controversial tendency, 
 say a keen interest in a universal, Gentile, 
 Pauline Christianity. Such a bias has indeed 
 
 been ascribed t<> Luke, but dispassionate investi- 
 gation finds little trace "fit. Th 1 list la 
 
56 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 doubtless Pauline and universalist in his attitude, 
 and it gives him pleasure to record words and 
 acts of Jesus going to prove that He had the 
 Gentiles in view as ultimate participants in the 
 blessings of His gospel. But his interest in such 
 elements of the evangelic tradition is religious, 
 not controversial, and even as such it is by no 
 means keen, absorbing, predominant. If he had 
 been a controversial Paulinist, as imagined by 
 the famous Tubingen school, he would have taken 
 pains to let the Twelve appear in as unfavourable 
 a light as possible, whereas the fact is he ' ever 
 spares ' them. If he had been a keen universalist, 
 he would have reported certain words of our Lord 
 pointing in that direction, given both in Matthew 
 and in Mark, which he nevertheless omits. 1 
 When therefore the picture of Jesus given by 
 Luke is described as ' idealised,' the meaning is 
 that his presentation is dominated, not by theo- 
 logical ideas or controversial tendency, but by 
 religious sentiment having its root either in the 
 personal idiosyncrasy of the writer, or in a 
 considerate regard to the edification of his first 
 readers. 
 
 1 E.g. the remarkable word in Matthew xxvi. 13, Mark xiv. 9: 
 ' Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in all the world,' etc. 
 
THE IDEALISED PICTURE OF LUKE 57 
 
 The character of Christ had heights and depths 
 fitted to test severely the powers of comprehen- 
 sion not merely of crude disciples, but even of 
 experienced, mature Apostles and Evangelists. 
 Two ways of dealing with the harder sayings and 
 doings are conceivable. An Evangelist might 
 relate all he knew as it happened, and leave his 
 story to make its own impression, loyally trusting 
 that the character described, even though it should 
 be in some respects above his own comprehension, 
 would eventually in its every feature commend 
 itself to the minds and consciences of all believers. 
 Or he might, so to speak, take the character of 
 Jesus in charge, and allow nothing to appear 
 which was ' over the head ' of the reporter, or 
 which he feared might prove a stumbling-block 
 to those whose religious benefit he had primarily 
 in view in writing. Which of these two ways of 
 discharging the Evangelist's very responsible 
 function is the wiser, it is needless to discuss ; 
 perhaps both are justifiable in given circum- 
 Anvhow, the fact is that Mark (and 
 Matthew also) has chosen the former way, and 
 
 Luke, so far IS Olie can judge, the latter. At all 
 
 events, the phenomena of his Gospel are such aa 
 
 fit in to that hypothesis. There are many facts 
 
58 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 bearing that complexion, however they are to be 
 explained. I shall exhibit them with some 
 measure of fulness, believing that in this case 
 also a fearless discussion will be found to make 
 for the historicity of the evangelic tradition. 
 And for the more complete inductive verification 
 of Luke's method, I shall briefly note also some 
 instances of his discreet manner of dealing with 
 materials relating to the disciples, though not 
 they, but their Master be our theme. It may 
 be best to dispose of these first. 
 
 Luke, it has been said by a very reverent 
 commentator, 1 'ever spares the twelve.' As a 
 matter of fact his narratives, compared with those 
 of Matthew and Mark, uniformly treat the 
 disciples with considerate gentleness. How true 
 this is, cannot be adequately shown by a cursory 
 reference to illustrative instances ; the passages 
 must be carefully perused and compared with 
 the parallels in the other Gospels. Yet even the 
 hastiest glance will suffice to make a prima facie 
 impression in the direction of our thesis. 
 
 Take then, to begin with, the treatment of 
 Peter. The stern word, 'Get thee behind Me, 
 Satan,' is omitted. But most characteristic is the 
 
 1 Schanz, a Catholic professor in Tubingen. 
 
THE IDEALISED PICTURE OF LUKE 59 
 
 manner in which the most humiliating event in 
 Peter's disciple life, his denial of his Lord, is dealt 
 with. The pre-intimation of the coming fall is 
 most gently handled. The harshness of the 
 announcement, 'thou shalt deny Me thrice,' is 
 softened by a prefatory statement, in which by an 
 allusion to Satan Peter's case is virtually placed 
 beside that of Job, and the experience is likened 
 to a sifting process whereby a saintly character 
 will be purged of its weak, chaff-like elements, 
 the result of all to be that the sifted man shall 
 become the strongest man of the apostolic band, 
 having it for his honourable vocation to succour 
 weaker brethren. 1 And what a benignant under- 
 statement is the account of the denial ! No 
 mention of cursing and swearing. The three 
 denials form an anti-climax, each succeeding one 
 weaker than the one going before. In the first, 
 Peter denies all knowledge of Jesus ; in the 
 second, only intimate knowledge, disciplcsJiip ; 
 and the last, occurring an hour later than the one 
 preceding, is rather an evasion than a denial : A 
 Galilean, say you? Yes, I am, and I don't 
 understand what you are saying. 2 
 
 1 Luke xxii. 31, 32. 
 
 Luke xxii. 55-62; compare wiih Mark \i\. 06-72. 
 
60 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 The whole body of the Twelve are treated with 
 equal consideration. Their faults — ignorance, 
 weak faith, mutual rivalries — while acknowledged 
 in loyalty to truth, are touched with a very 
 sparing hand. Some narratives in which these 
 appear in a glaring manner are conspicuous by 
 their absence. To the omitted incidents belong 
 the conversation concerning the leaven of the 
 Pharisees, in which, as Mark reports it, Jesus 
 complains of the hardness of their hearts, and 
 asks reproachfully, Do not ye yet understand ? 1 
 the ambitious request of the two sons of Zebedee, 
 in which the discord within the disciple-circle 
 appears in its most acute form, 2 and the anointing 
 in Bethany, in which the Twelve show a prosaic 
 incapacity to appreciate the pathetic, poetic deed 
 of Mary. 3 To be noted also in this connection 
 is Luke's silence concerning the flight of the 
 disciples at the apprehension of their Master. 
 Even more instructive than this silence is the 
 mild, delicate way in which the faults of the 
 future Apostles are dealt with by the Evangelist 
 when he is compelled to speak of them. Take, 
 
 1 Mark viii. 11-21 ; for another strong reflection on the ignorance 
 of the disciples, vide chap. vii. 18. 
 
 2 Mark x. 35-45 ; Matt. xx. 20-28. 
 
 3 Mark xiv. 3-9; Matt. xxvi. 6-13. 
 
THE IDEALISED PICTURE OF LUKE 61 
 
 e.g. their weak faith. In the storm on the lake, 
 on the eastward voyage towards Gerasa, as 
 reported by Matthew and Mark, Jesus character- 
 ises the behaviour of His disciples as cowardly, 
 and as exhibiting a lack of faith. 1 In Luke's 
 report, with just the slightest accent of reproach 
 in His tone, He asks, 'Where is your faith ?'* 2 
 Again, at the foot of the hill of Transfiguration, 
 the disciples, in Matthew, ask, Why could not we 
 cast it out? and receive for reply, Because of 
 your little faith ; the Master going on to indicate 
 what mighty deeds could be wrought by the 
 smallest grain of faith, as if to insinuate that they 
 had none at all. 3 This conversation, connected 
 with the case of the epileptic boy, Luke omits. 
 The saying concerning faith as a grain of mustard 
 seed he does report, but in a characteristically 
 different setting. The Apostles say unto their 
 Lord, Increase our faith ; and lie replies, ' If (as 
 is the case) ye have faith as a grain of mustard 
 seed, ye would say unto this sycamore tree, Be 
 thou rooted up and be thou planted in the 
 and it would have obeyed you,' 4 the implied 
 assertion being that they have already enough to 
 
 1 M.iit. vin. jo ; Mark iv. 40. 
 
 - Matt x\u. 19, 20. ' Lui. 
 
62 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 achieve marvels. Note again how the Evangelist 
 disposes of the rivalry among the companions of 
 Jesus. He selects as the place for mentioning 
 it the story of the Last Supper on the eve of 
 the Passion. Truly a most unseemly time for 
 disciples to indulge in ambitious passions ! How 
 then is the outbreak dealt with? Jesus first 
 utters the words of admonition which, according 
 to Matthew and Mark, He spoke on the occasion 
 when James and John made their ambitious 
 request. Then He goes on immediately after to 
 pronounce a generous eulogy on the contending 
 disciples : ' Ye are they which have continued 
 with Me in My temptations ' ; x so, as it were, 
 dwarfing into insignificance the petty fault of 
 temper in comparison with the heroic fidelity. 
 Just one point more I barely mention here : 
 Luke's apology for the failure of the disciples 
 to keep awake when their Master was in 
 Gethsemane. ' Sleeping for sorrow ! ' 2 Doubt- 
 less the fact was so, but he is careful to note 
 it. How true it is that he ever spares the 
 Twelve ! 
 
 But it is with Luke's portraiture of our Lord 
 that we are mainly concerned ; I proceed, there- 
 
 1 Luke xxii. 28. 2 Luke xxii. 45. 
 
THE IDEALISED PICTURE OF LUKE 63 
 
 fore, to indicate some of the things in his Gospel 
 which lend distinctiveness to his picture. 
 
 1. Among these fall to be mentioned some 
 notable omissions, more especially some of the 
 more remarkable words reported by the other 
 Evangelists as having been spoken by Jesus. 
 Some have been referred to already in a previous 
 chapter, such as the realistic word concerning 
 that which defileth, 1 the seemingly harsh word 
 about ' dogs ' spoken to the woman of Canaan, 2 
 and the stern rebuke administered to Peter : ' Get 
 thee behind Me, Satan.' Another very noticeable 
 omission is the saying concerning eunuchism for 
 the kingdom of heaven, for which we are indebted 
 to Matthew. 3 Still more remarkable is the 
 omission of the awful cry of Jesus on the cross : 
 4 My God, My God!' 4 In some respects the 
 most surprising omission of all IS the very 
 important word spoken by Jesus on the occasion 
 of the ambitious request of James and John : 
 'The Son of man came not to be ministered unto, 
 but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for 
 many.' 6 What gives this omission special claims 
 
 tt w. 17, |S; |fa|] Vi:. IS, 19. 
 
 •'.irk vii. 27. 
 itt xix. 12. I xxxii. 46 I Mar'.. x\ jj. 
 
 * Malt. x.x. . 45. 
 
64 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 on our attention is the fact that it seems on first 
 view one of those words which, assuming his 
 acquaintance with it, Luke would have taken 
 pains to preserve. Its omission is a problem to 
 be solved in connection with his Gospel. But 
 this is only a part of the problem. This particular 
 saying is one of four containing Christ's teaching 
 concerning the significance of His death, all of 
 which, with one very doubtful exception, are 
 wanting in the Third Gospel. This is a fact the 
 reason and meaning of which deserve careful 
 consideration, and they will be considered in a 
 future chapter. 1 Meantime I simply note this as 
 one of the peculiarities of Luke, and pass on to 
 a second class of phenomena which make this 
 Evangelist's picture of Jesus so distinctive. 
 
 2. The things which are strongly emphasised. 
 First, let it be remarked in general that there are 
 such phenomena in the Third Gospel. Luke 
 does not always tone down and deal in mitigated 
 statements. He can be as emphatic and realistic 
 as either of his brother Evangelists when it suits 
 his purpose, and this very occasional emphasis 
 gives added significance to the opposite quality of 
 subdued expression observable in some of his 
 
 1 Vidt Chapter xii. 
 
THE IDEALISED PICTURE OF LUKE 65 
 
 narratives. Among the instances in which he 
 does not shrink from strong sayings are his 
 reports of words spoken by our Lord in reference 
 to wealth and its possessors. The hard saying 
 concerning the camel and the needle's eye finds 
 a place in his pages. 1 It is in his Gospel we find 
 the woes pronounced on the rich, the full, and the 
 merry.' 2 In the parables of the Unjust St, 
 and Dives 8 riches almost seem to be in themselves 
 evil, and the bare fact of possessing them appears 
 to be represented as a ground of perdition. It may 
 be only an appearance, but it is there, requiring 
 explanation ; and the thing to be noted is that the 
 Evangelist takes no pains in this case to prevent 
 misapprehension. The fact may be due in part to 
 the nature of his own social sympathies, partly to 
 his knowing that there was no risk of any of his 
 readers stumbling over such sayings of the Lord. 
 
 Luke emphasises whatever tends to bring out 
 into Strong relief the power, the I , and 
 
 the saintliness of JesUS. His desire to make pro- 
 minent the two former of these attributes is 
 apparent in hifl narratives of healing acts. Peter's 
 mother-in-law U ill Oflgrutf fever,' and the leper 
 
 1 Lai - Lai 
 
 3 Lui. * 1 ike j 
 
66 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 is full of leprosy, 1 and in the story of the blind 
 man at Jericho care is taken to make it appear a 
 case of total blindness by representing the sufferer 
 as needing some one to conduct him to the 
 presence of Jesus. 2 There is no good ground for 
 regarding these statements as exaggerations, but 
 it is legitimate to see in them a wish to make the 
 cure effected stand out in the full measure of its 
 marvellousness. The greatness of the benefit 
 conferred, that is, the benevolence of the Healer, 
 is also rendered prominent by many a slight but 
 significant touch. The withered hand restored on 
 a Sabbath is the right* hand, most useful for 
 labour ; the centurion's servant is one dear to 
 him ; 4 the son of the widow of Nain is an only 
 son, 5 and the daughter of Jairus an only daughter; 6 
 the epileptic boy at the foot of the hill of Trans- 
 figuration is also an only child. 7 
 
 The holiness of the Lord Jesus is carefully 
 accentuated in this Gospel. The call of Peter to 
 discipleship, which here assumes larger propor- 
 tions and greater significance than it possesses in 
 Matthew and Mark, is made to contribute to this 
 end. Here Peter is the great disciple, the 
 
 1 Luke v. 12. 2 Luke xviii. 40. 3 Luke vi. 6. 
 
 4 Luke vii. 2. 5 Luke vii. 12. 
 
 6 Luke viii. 42. 7 Luke ix. 38. 
 
THE IDEALISED PICTURE OF LUKE 67 
 
 representative man among the Twelve, therefore 
 his call is related with much circumstantiality, 
 while that of the others, James, John, and 
 Andrew, is thrown into the shade. Yet even he, 
 the pillar-Apostle of future years, in view of the 
 marvellous take of fishes, exclaims, ' Depart from 
 me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.' The fore- 
 most of the disciples feels himself unworthy to 
 join the society of the Holy One. 1 
 
 In every saintly character prayer, a devotional 
 spirit, forms a prominent feature. This trait in 
 the character of the Lord Jesus is accordingly 
 made very prominent in Luke's Gospel. After 
 the healing of the leper Jesus withdraws into 
 lonely spots to pray. 2 The Teaching on the 1 1 ill is 
 inaugurated by a night spent in prayer. 3 Prayer 
 formed the prelude to the momentous communi- 
 cations on the ftfessiahship and the approaching 
 jii; 4 likewise to the mysterious Trans- 
 figuration scene.'"' Sometimes the Master prayed 
 alone, sometimes in the presence of His disciples. 
 Hearing Him pray in B certain place awoke in 
 them a desire for instruction in an art in which 
 
 they felt the Master left them far behind. He 
 1 Lai 3 Luke v. 1 
 
 ' I. ... 12. I I. . ... [& 
 
 " Laki v. 1. 
 
68 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 prayed for them as well as in their hearing ; for 
 Peter, for example, when the hour of his trial 
 was nigh. 1 
 
 3. I pass now to the category of understatement \ 
 things presented in a subdued light Both words 
 and acts of Jesus fall to be noticed here. To the 
 former belong the words spoken at Capernaum in 
 reference to the discussion that had arisen within 
 the disciple-circle on the question : Who is the 
 greatest ? According to the report of Matthew, 
 the Master then spoke two very stern words, one 
 directly addressed to the disciples, the other 
 bearing on the doom due to the man who, in the 
 pursuit of ambitious ends, should cause any little 
 one to stumble. In the former, disciples are 
 threatened with exclusion from the kingdom 
 unless their disposition undergo a change, and 
 ambitious passions give place to a childlike spirit. 
 In the latter, it is intimated that the fate deserved 
 by the offender of the little ones is that a large 
 millstone (literally one driven by an ass, as op- 
 posed to a small one worked by the hand) be 
 hanged about his neck, and that he be drowned 
 in the deepest part of the sea. 2 Words, both, 
 expressive of passionate abhorrence of selfish 
 
 1 Luke xxii. 32. 3 Matt, xviii. 3, 6. 
 
THE IDEALISED PICTURE OF LUKE 69 
 
 ambition and the mischief it works, by the utter- 
 ance of which Jesus commands our admiration 
 and inspires in our hearts holy awe. But Luke 
 has dealt with these solemn sayings in a way 
 which prevents them from having their full effect, 
 toning down the millstone saying so that it loses 
 its note of indignant intensity, 1 and transferring 
 the other to a different occasion, where it loses 
 the personal reference to the disciples, and be- 
 comes a general declaration as to the necessity 
 of childlikeness for admission into the kingdom 
 of heaven. The new setting is furnished by the 
 incident of the mothers bringing their little 
 children to be blessed by Jesus,- which, I may 
 remark in passing, supplies a fresh instance of 
 Luke's habit of sparing the Twelve. Mark tells 
 that Jesus was much displeased with His disciples 
 for trying to keep the children from His presence/ 1 
 Of this the third Evangelist says nothing. The 
 Omission has the same effect as the toning clown 
 of the words under consideration. Both keep the 
 
 indignation of Jesus out of view, and suggest the 
 
 1 Lake wii. 2: The ue-mil] I imilletooe simply, 
 
 •nd *'i 4 'the depth <>t the mm.' Lake 
 
 ->ayin^s in OODDectioO with the Cftpei n.ium 
 
 : e on homilitj . / '/ it 1 ban be. , 
 
 1 Luke xvin. 1517. 14. 
 
7o WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 idea of one who was always calm in temper 
 and passionlessly didactic in speech. Whether 
 this passionlessness entered into the Evangelist's 
 own idea of sanctity, or whether in so reporting 
 the Lord's words he was considering what his 
 readers could bear, it may be difficult to deter- 
 mine. What is certain is that the character of 
 Jesus thus portrayed gains in amiability at the 
 cost of its power and majesty. 
 
 A similar observation is suggested by Luke's 
 treatment of our Lord's anti-Pharisaic protest. 
 Two facts have to be noticed here : extensive 
 omission, and a new setting given to much that is 
 retained. As to the former, so much has been 
 left out that from Luke's Gospel alone it would 
 be quite impossible to obtain any adequate idea 
 of the viciousness of Pharisaic religion, or of the 
 thoroughness and exhaustiveness of the criticism 
 which Jesus directed against it In proof of this 
 statement it will suffice to mention the omission 
 of the great body of the Sermon on the Mount, 
 consisting of an elaborate contrast between right- 
 eousness as conceived by the scribes and the 
 righteousness of the kingdom as conceived by 
 the Preacher, and also of one-half of the great 
 final philippic against Pharisaism as recorded in 
 
THE IDEALISED PICTURE OF LUKE 71 
 
 Matthew xxiii. But it is the setting of what is re- 
 tained that at present concerns us. It strikes me 
 as most characteristic and instructive. The fact 
 here is that much of what Luke reports of our 
 Lord's anti- Pharisaic discourses appears in his 
 Gospel as spoken not merely about Pharisees but 
 to them by Jesus sitting as a guest at their tables. 
 On three distinct occasions Jesus appears in his 
 pages as a guest in the houses of Pharisees, and 
 speaks His mind about their ways with urbanity, 
 though also with freedom. 1 Of such semi-friendly 
 social relations there is no trace in Matthew and 
 Mark, and we might easily take away from their 
 narratives the impression that such relations were 
 impossible. That might be a hasty inference. 
 It may be taken fur granted that Jesus would 
 not refuse such invitations, and that He would be 
 true to Himself wherever He was. On the other 
 hand, it is equally certain that His attitude to- 
 wards Pharisaism was uncompromising, and His 
 speech about it, especially at the end, crushing 
 
 .-ind tremendous. And the thin;.; to be noted 
 about Luke is that he mitigates the SCVeritj 
 
 the sterner utterance by as table-talk 
 
 wh.it in Matthew's Gospel appears as part of a 
 
 Lull HI 7-52 ; xiv. i 
 
72 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 solemn final protest in Jerusalem against the 
 religious guides of Israel and all their ways. 1 
 
 The chief instances of pruned statement con- 
 cerning the actions of Jesus are the narratives of 
 the Cleansing of the Temple and the Agony in 
 the Garden. The latter will fall to be considered 
 at a later stage of these studies ; therefore for 
 the present I content myself with a few words 
 on the former. Of the three synoptical Evan- 
 gelists, Mark describes the scene in the strongest 
 colours, but both Matthew and he tell the story 
 in substantially the same way. In both Jesus 
 not merely speaks in a tone of indignant remon- 
 strance, but acts with a stormy energy that might 
 easily be mistaken for violence, overturning the 
 tables of the money-changers and the seats of 
 them that sold the doves. He makes a clean 
 sweep of the unholy traffic within the sacred 
 precincts, unceremoniously turning out not merely 
 those that sold but also those that bought as 
 art and part in the work of desecration. Of this 
 animated transaction, Luke offers a very reduced 
 and unsensational account, telling how Jesus, 
 entering the temple, began to cast out them 
 that sold, making no mention of the overturned 
 
 1 Vide in chap. xi. 37 ff. 
 
THE IDEALISED PICTURE OF LUKE 73 
 
 tables and seats, adding only the complaint : 
 It is written, And My house shall be a house 
 of prayer, but ye have made it a den of robbers. 1 
 His report gives really no idea of the scene ; the 
 one vivid feature is the comparison of the dese- 
 crated temple to a robbers' den. And yet from 
 that strong utterance one might suspect that 
 there was something behind left unsaid. It 
 seems to be a half-told tale, as if adapted to the 
 capacities of spiritual minors, who would find it 
 difficult to reconcile the strenuous conduct of 
 Jesus with their preconceived ideas of His char- 
 acter. Probably what interested Luke himself 
 was not the drastic action of the Lord Jesus, 
 but the verdict He pronounced on the Holy 
 House as no longer holy, justifying beforehand 
 that still more drastic action of Providence by 
 which the temple at the time he wrote had been 
 turned into a heap of ruins. Whatever the 
 reason, the fact is that in this case, as in others, 
 the third Evangelist presents a picture of Jesus 
 which lacks the element of tragic gTOtuUur. 
 
 .} For this defect Luke Amply compensates 
 
 1 I. like \i\. 45, 40 : the iPOldl 'thOB that bought* have no 
 . khfl I "^t M :.il-iU, and arc 
 
74 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 by the attractive exhibition which he makes of 
 the grace of Jesus, especially in the additions he 
 contributes to the common stock of evangelic 
 traditions. 
 
 Luke's additions, though not exclusively, are 
 predominantly, such as serve this valuable pur- 
 pose. They may for the most part be described 
 by the happy phrase he employs to indicate 
 the character of Christ's address in the synagogue 
 of Nazareth : ' words of grace.' 1 He had evi- 
 dently taken pains to collect material of this 
 kind. There is no reason to doubt the historicity 
 of his collections. The statement in his preface 
 justifies the assumption that for every one of 
 his narratives he had a voucher in oral or in 
 written tradition. Then there is intrinsic pro- 
 bability on the side of his peculiar contributions. 
 Love to the sinful and the social outcasts was 
 unquestionably a most outstanding charism of 
 Jesus. Most authentic sayings of His, such as 
 1 1 came not to call the righteous, but sinners,' 
 and ■ The Son of man came to seek and to save 
 that which was lost,' entitle us to look for illus- 
 trative anecdotes in the memorabilia of His 
 public ministry. Instead of questioning the truth 
 
 1 Luke iv. 22. 
 
THE IDEALISED PICTURE OF LUKE 75 
 
 of those Luke has preserved, we rather wonder 
 at the paucity of such material in the companion 
 Gospels. We feel sure that interesting stories 
 of the relations of Jesus with the sinful, and of 
 His sayings about them, might be forthcoming, 
 if pains were taken to collect them. Luke happily 
 has taken pains, possibly in part because he 
 noticed a lack in Matthew or in Mark, and felt 
 he must set himself to supply it. What he has 
 given by way of supplement is very welcome as 
 well as very credible. The story of the woman 
 in Simon's house 1 is pure evangelic gold. So 
 are the exquisite parables concerning the joy of 
 finding things lost. 2 The same grace-revealing 
 character belongs to the parables of the Good 
 Samaritan, 3 the Great Supper, 4 and the Pharisee 
 and the Publican.' They foster the saving in- 
 stinct, and hold out hope to those who need to 
 ccoured and saved. The last-named is 
 [bed as a parable concerning those who 
 trusted in themselves that they were righteous, 
 and dtspisid others. Its aim is to condemn not 
 merely the self-complacency, but more especially 
 
 the contempt, and to encourage the despised by 
 
 1 Luke \n. - Lul 
 
 4 Luke xi\ . 1 a Luk 
 
76 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 letting them know that they were at least not 
 beyond the sympathies of God. The winsome 
 stories of Zacchaeus 1 and the penitent thief 2 
 worthily crown a collection of gleanings which 
 fully justify the encomium on Luke's Gospel that 
 it is ' the Gospel of the sinful.' 
 
 Little needs to be added by way of summaris- 
 ing the results of the foregoing discussion. The 
 particulars under the four heads of omissions, 
 emphasised statements, under - statements, and 
 additions, all conspire to one end, viz., to exhibit 
 the Lord of the Church divine in Power, Holi- 
 ness, and Goodness. The holiness of Jesus is so 
 zealously guarded that He appears not only 
 without sin but even free from all that bears 
 the most remote resemblance to moral infirmity 
 in temper, word, or action. The result is that 
 the natural individuality of Jesus, so conspicuous 
 in Mark, is seen in Luke only in faded outline. 
 Luke's picture of Jesus is one-sided. The side 
 shown is indeed so attractive that we thank the 
 Evangelist for what he has given rather than 
 blame him for what he has withheld. Yet we 
 ought distinctly to see, and acknowledge to our- 
 selves, that his presentation is defective. We 
 
 1 Luke xix. i-io. 2 Luke xxiii. 39-43. 
 
THE IDEALISED PICTURE OF LUKE 77 
 
 cannot accept as complete a Christ who is simply 
 good and kind. We need a Christ who can be 
 angry, indignant, terrible in passionate abhor- 
 rence of evil ; who can hurl thunder-bolts of 
 denunciation at the ' unwedgeable and gnarled 
 oak ' of powerful, privileged, and plausible iniquity. 
 The love of Jesus to the sinful, as it appears in 
 this Gospel, is beautiful ; but the hatred of Phari- 
 saism which is somewhat thrown into the back- 
 ground is equally indispensable. So likewise is 
 the stern purpose, at all costs, to purge out of 
 the disciples evil elements of temper which, left 
 unchecked, would soon turn the new society of 
 which they were to form the nucleus into a com- 
 munity little better in spirit than that in which 
 the scribes bore sway. Who that considers to 
 what extent Christianity has been wrecked by 
 priestly assumption can regret that the evangelic 
 records have so faithfully shown how contrary 
 that leaven was to the mind of the Lord Jesus ? 
 
 The view I have ventured to present of Luke's 
 treatment of the evangelic tradition, in so far as 
 it concerns the persons of Jesus am iples, 
 
 can be turned to some account for apol 
 
 purposes. It makes u>r the historicity of the 
 Synoptical records. The remark applies even to 
 
78 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 Luke's omissions. These at first view seem to 
 cast a dark shadow of doubt on the historical 
 value of the material omitted. We are inclined 
 to argue : If Luke had known these things, he 
 would have reported them ; and how could a 
 man who took such pains to inform himself fail 
 to know them if they had been actual facts? 
 When the element of intention is introduced, this 
 reasoning falls to the ground. We then perceive 
 that there were classes of facts which the Evan- 
 gelist would not care to preserve. Things not 
 known, therefore presumably not real, become 
 things probably known which the Evangelist did 
 not choose to introduce into his narrative. At 
 the very least, intentional omission, once estab- 
 lished, cancels all presumption against historicity. 
 On the other hand, abridged or qualified reporting 
 bears positive evidence to the reality of the fact 
 reported. Whatever a writer tones down he is 
 tempted to omit. In adopting the course of 
 understating rather than omitting he becomes, 
 so to speak, a reluctant witness to the historicity 
 of the materials so dealt with. Finally, even 
 heightened statements in their own way contribute 
 to the cumulative apologetic argument. If the 
 added elements be the result of fuller information, 
 
THE IDEALISED PICTURE OF LUKE 79 
 
 this is self-evident. Even if they be exaggerations 
 for a purpose, they tend to establish the truth of 
 the basal narrative. They show within what 
 narrow limits editorial discretion was willing to 
 restrict itself. An author who has ideas to 
 embody is tempted to invent when he cannot 
 find. Luke did not invent, but only at most 
 touched up stories given to his hand by a reliable 
 tradition. This is his method in narratives 
 common to his Gospel with those of Matthew 
 and Mark. Noting this, we can well believe it to 
 have been his method all through, even in those 
 portions of his Gospel where he is our sole 
 authority. 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 THE SYNAGOGUE MINISTRY 
 
 The first thing the average reader of the Gospels 
 has to do in reference to this department of our 
 Lord's work is to get it fairly into his mind that 
 there was such a thing as a systematic synagogue 
 ministry. With the exception of the narratives 
 relating to visits made to the two synagogues of 
 Capernaum and Nazareth, the Gospels contain 
 only general statements, such as that in Mark i. 
 39 : ' He preached in their synagogues throughout 
 all Galilee, and cast out devils.' 1 Such summary 
 notices, giving no details, make little impression 
 on the mind. You read the words, pass on, and 
 the fact briefly stated takes no place in your 
 permanent conception of Christ's evangelistic 
 activities. Even when we pause to reflect for a 
 moment on what these general statements say, 
 we are apt to think that they are not to be taken 
 
 1 Vide also in Matthew iv. 23. 
 
THE SYNAGOGUE MINISTRY 81 
 
 in earnest, as pointing to a deliberately planned, 
 persistent, extensive effort to bring to the ears 
 of the men of Galilee, through the convenient 
 medium of the synagogue, the good news of the 
 Kingdom of God. 
 
 The clearest evidence that this is a mistaken 
 view is contained in Mark i. 38, where Jesus is 
 represented as giving such a preconceived plan as 
 His reason for leaving Capernaum. ' Let us go 
 into the next towns, that I may preach there also ; 
 for therefore came I forth.' He has addressed 
 a Sabbath audience in one synagogue, and He 
 desires to do the same elsewhere. The manner 
 of His departure lends emphasis to the purpose. 
 It was hasty, because He feared that the time of 
 His Galilajan ministry might be cut short, and 
 His preaching mission interrupted, by the enmity 
 of the scribes. A synagogue ministry, as distinct 
 from a street ministry, depended on the goodwill 
 of others, and Jesus understood that it must begin 
 at once if it was to be at all. The departure was 
 secret, before the dawn, while men slept, because 
 He feared detention by a people valuing His 
 
 ace for the healing power displayed 011 10 
 
 splendid a scale Oil the previous Sabbath evening. 
 
 Evidently very much in earnest about 
 
 I 
 
82 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 that preaching tour. It is not an afterthought, or 
 a pretext, but a fixed purpose ; one of the main 
 lines along which He means to conduct His work 
 as the Light of Galilee. The prayer with which 
 He ushered in the day on the eventful morning of 
 that flight from Capernaum shows the same thing. 
 In the life of Jesus, protracted solitary prayer was 
 ever the prelude of important undertakings. 
 
 The plan was a large one. ' In their synagogues 
 throughout all Galilee': that meant many sermons. 
 In the time of our Lord there were many towns 
 in that province large enough to have at least one 
 synagogue. Josephus gives the number at 204, 
 the smallest of them having 15,000 inhabitants. 1 
 Even supposing, with many modern scholars, that 
 there is some mistake or exaggeration in the 
 statement, it witnesses indubitably to a very 
 thickly-peopled country. What a time it would 
 take to go over all these towns, even if advantage 
 were taken of the week-day meetings on Mondays 
 and Fridays, as well as of the more solemn 
 assemblies for worship on the Sabbaths. The 
 scheme would assume more manageable dimen- 
 sions if the purpose was to visit chiefly the 
 smaller towns. This is suggested by the Greek 
 
 1 Vide his Vita, chap, xlv., and B. J. iii. 3. 2. 
 
THE SYNAGOGUE MINISTRY 83 
 
 phrase for which the English equivalent in the 
 Authorised Version is ' next towns,' the literal 
 meaning being the next village-towns. 1 It is not 
 improbable that Jesus, knowing that a selection 
 must be made, resolved to visit, in the first place, 
 the lesser centres of population having possibly 
 only a single synagogue. He might be led to 
 adopt this course by various considerations : His 
 deep yearning to preach the gospel to the poor, 
 the likelihood of greater receptivity to His message 
 among villagers ; the hope that much good work 
 might thus be done quietly, with smaller risk 
 of attracting the sinister attention of the religious 
 authorities. 
 
 How far did Jesus succeed in carrying out His 
 beneficent plan? The expression 'all Galilee,' 
 used by the Evangelists, would seem to point to 
 complete execution. But perhaps we ought not 
 to press the 'all,' but take the fact to be that a 
 very considerable number of places were visited 
 in succession so as to justify such a colloquial 
 exaggeration. This speaks to an interval of 
 months between the time of Christ's departure 
 from Capernaum to that of His return. From 
 Mark ii. 1 indeed we might infer that the period 
 
84 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 consisted of only a few days. But a slightly 
 altered grouping of the words does away with 
 that impression. Instead of the rendering in the 
 Authorised Version : ' And again He entered into 
 Capernaum after some days, and it was noised 
 that He was in the house/ we may substitute : 
 'And He entered again into Capernaum, and 
 after some days the report went abroad : He is 
 home.' The situation is easily conceivable. Jesus 
 returns almost as quietly as He went away. He 
 is some days in the town before they know. 
 But when they know, what lively interest in the 
 fact ! The memory of events now some months 
 old revives : the marvellous address in the syna- 
 gogue, followed by an equally marvellous cure ; 
 the marvels of the day crowned and eclipsed by 
 the wholesale healing ministry of the evening. 
 They say to one another: The great Preacher 
 and Healer is back among us again. ' He is 
 home.' 
 
 Yes ! home and welcome to most, but not to 
 all. The situation is altered somewhat. The 
 scribes are on the alert. So when the crowd 
 gathers around the newly returned Master, some 
 of them are present to watch what goes on. And 
 when a poor paralysed man, physically and 
 
THE SYNAGOGUE MINISTRY 85 
 
 morally a wreck, is brought to be healed, and 
 Jesus, going to the root of the evil and aiming 
 at reviving the smoking wick of hope in the 
 poor sufferer's breast, says in cordial tones : 
 1 Courage, child ! thy sins are forgiven/ the 
 scribes, by look if not by audible word, say : 
 1 Why does this person thus speak ? he blas- 
 phemeth.' Here at last is the mischief Jesus 
 instinctively feared from the first, the well- 
 grounded dread making Him anxious to start 
 on the preaching tour as quickly as possible, 
 in hope to get over a considerable amount of 
 ground before the latent antagonism began to 
 reveal itself in active attempts at frustration. 
 What if such attempts have brought Him back 
 to Capernaum sooner than He otherwise would 
 have come ? What if secret correspondence 
 between the scribes of Capernaum and the rulers 
 of synagogues in other towns have resulted in 
 closed doors, opportunities of speech refused, a 
 beneficent plan broken off half executed ? It is 
 DOt unlikely. Reading between the lines, we 
 get tfaJfl as a DOt Improbable version of the 
 story : JeSUfl meant to evan;.;eh\e all Galilee, and 
 He did actually preach in not a !< 
 
 but ecclesiastical wire-pulling interrupted His 
 
86 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 work ; the scribes compelled Him to return 
 prematurely home, and they were there to watch 
 Him on His return. 
 
 Concerning the synagogue ministry, we have, 
 as already indicated, little definite information. 
 Yet we are not so entirely in the dark as to its 
 nature as we might at first imagine. We know 
 the general features of that ministry, the estimates 
 formed of it by the people and by the evangelists, 
 and at least the text of one of the addresses. 
 
 i. The general features were preaching, teaching, 
 and healing according to Matthew, preaching and 
 casting out devils according to Mark. By preach- 
 ing as distinct from teaching may be understood 
 the proclamation of the elementary truths con- 
 cerning the kingdom of God as a kingdom of 
 grace : the paternal love of God, the hope that 
 is in His mercy for the most sinful, the worth 
 of man to God even at the worst, the duty of 
 repentance, and the possibilities of sanctity for 
 the penitent. By teaching, on the other hand, 
 is denoted instruction in the theory, so to speak, 
 of the kingdom : its absolute worth, its imperial 
 claims, its moral ideal in itself and in contrast 
 to current conceptions. From the nature of the 
 case, and from the omission by Mark of any 
 
THE SYNAGOGUE MINISTRY 87 
 
 separate mention of teaching, it is probable 
 that preaching was the staple element in our 
 Lord's synagogue discourses. Teaching was for 
 disciples, preaching for the people. That healing 
 acts were a frequent accompaniment of the 
 preaching goes without saying. For even if 
 Jesus did not start on His Galilean mission 
 with a set purpose to heal, He was always 
 willing to give succour on demand. And as 
 disease is everywhere, and the desire for healing 
 is not less universal, it may be taken for granted 
 that there were few of the village towns where 
 something similar to the incident in the Caper- 
 naum synagogue did not happen : demoniacal 
 possession or some other human ailment cured 
 by the Preacher to the astonishment of all. 
 The story of Christ's visit to the synagogue in 
 Capernaum may be taken as a sample of what 
 occurred all over Galilee. One exception indeed 
 is specified, and it may be viewed as an exception 
 which proves the rule. Jesus, it is recorded, did 
 no mighty work in NazOtttk ; ' not for want of 
 sick people, nor for want of power, but because 
 
 the villagers would not give Him the chance. 
 They were 10 chagrined at a fellow-townsman 
 
 ... V 
 
88 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 being so distinguished that they would rather 
 let their diseased relatives die than give Him 
 an opportunity of showing His greatness. So 
 far can prejudice go. 1 
 
 2. The reported estimates of the synagogue 
 ministry are various. That of the people, as is 
 their way, was merely emotional, an expression 
 of honest and intense admiration : What is this ? 
 A new teaching! and an unheard-of kind of 
 power ! That of the evangelists gives us some 
 insight into the quality of the preaching which 
 immediately created popular surprise. Mark uses 
 the method of comparison : He taught not as 
 the scribes — they by authority citing Rabbis of 
 reputation in support of their dogmas ; He with 
 authority, citing nobody, speaking out the intui- 
 tions of the soul, and leaving these to commend 
 themselves to the minds of ingenuous hearers. 
 Luke comes nearest to the heart of the matter 
 when he employs the expression ' words of grace ' 
 to characterise the utterance of Christ in the 
 synagogue of Nazareth. I believe we shall not 
 go far wrong if we take that phrase as applicable 
 
 1 Euthymius Zigabenus, a Greek monk of the twelfth century, 
 author of a fine commentary on the Gospels, remarks : ' It was 
 not for Jesus to benefit them against their will ' (ow Ihei fiialcds 
 evepyereiv avTOijs). 
 
THE SYNAGOGUE MINISTRY 89 
 
 not merely to that particular discourse, but to 
 the synagogue discourses generally, and view it 
 as referring not chiefly to graceful diction, but 
 rather to gracious thought — to matter rather than 
 to manner. Gracious thought concerning the 
 loving-kindness of God, sweetly and winsomely 
 spoken, that in Nazareth and everywhere was 
 the burden of Christ's synagogue sermons. Not 
 that the Preacher is a man of one idea. He 
 has many thoughts about the Kingdom, some 
 of them deep and abstruse, fit only for the 
 disciplined ear of the few, some of them severe 
 and exacting, some of them stern in their bearing 
 on the teaching and practice of the scribes and 
 Pharisees ; all of which He utters on due occasion. 
 Put the grace of God is His favourite theme. The 
 Gospel of Divine love runs like a sweet melody 
 through the rich, varied, sublime harmonies of 
 His religious teaching. That God is good, that 
 II<- is a Father, that He shows His goodwill 
 to all in manifold ways in His ordinary provi- 
 dence ; that He eareth for the weak, the lowly, 
 and even the low; that in Him is plenteous 
 redemption, even for those whom men despair 
 
 of: rach were the things He delighted • 
 
 said to all He met, and wished to say mice 
 
9o WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 at least in the hearing of all to whom He could 
 gain access. Therefore, while there was doubt- 
 less endless variety in the colouring and contents 
 of His synagogue addresses, there would be a 
 certain pervading similarity, perhaps some ideas 
 deliberately repeated in unvarying forms of 
 language ; for all great teachers who have some 
 very decided message to deliver are apt to repeat 
 themselves, not in helplessness, but because they 
 cannot satisfy themselves without saying, and 
 saying again and again. 
 
 3. The text of the address in the synagogue of 
 Nazareth beginning, 'The Spirit of the Lord is 
 upon Me,' happily preserved by Luke, supplied 
 the best possible keynote for such gracious 
 discourse. That it is historical I doubt not, 
 but it is also typical. It is the land of text 
 Jesus would choose for a popular sermon. The 
 Scripture He was to preach from might not 
 always be in His power. He might oftenest have 
 to take His theme from the fixed lesson for the 
 day in the Law or in the Prophets. Nothing, 
 however, could come wrong to Him, for He knew 
 His Bible intimately, and had some deep spiritual 
 thought in His mind associated with every im- 
 portant passage, which He could utter in fitting 
 
THE SYNAGOGUE MINISTRY 91 
 
 language on the spur of the moment. Think, for 
 example, what He brought out impromptu from 
 the superficially unpromising words : ' I am the 
 God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the 
 God of Jacob.' 1 From the greater number of Old 
 Testament texts, whether selected by Himself or 
 given to His hand, He would have no difficulty 
 in eliciting the veritable Gospel of the Kingdom 
 under one or another of its aspects by most 
 legitimate exegesis. For no one knows till he 
 has examined into the matter how much that is 
 truly evangelic in spirit is to be found in the 
 Hebrew Scriptures : in Genesis, in Deuteronomy, 
 in the Psalter, and in the Prophets ; how much 
 that is in full sympathy with the splendid text 
 from Isaiah which formed the theme of the 
 Nazareth discourse concerning the anointing of 
 Messiah to preach good tidings to the meek and 
 to bind up the broken-hearted. One of the causes 
 of admiration in our Lord's synagogue audiences 
 would be the ease and naturalness with which He 
 drew from familiar words precious truths which 
 they had never seen there before, turning what 
 had appeared ' flint into a fountain of waters.' 2 
 And when the word even to the popular view was 
 
 1 Matt. xxii. 32; Mark xii. 27; Luke xx. 38. - !'.->. cxiv. B, 
 
92 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 manifestly not flint but fountain, another cause of 
 admiration would be the happy manner in which, 
 as if by a spell, He cleared the fountain of pollut- 
 ing, choking matter, so that its waters appeared 
 pellucid as crystal, inviting the thirsty to drink 
 from a pure well of salvation. ' Let us make man 
 in our image ' ; ' I have surely seen the affliction 
 of My people which are in Egypt ' ; ' The earth is 
 full of the goodness of the Lord ' ; ' With Him is 
 plenteous redemption ' ; ' Thou, O Lord, art our 
 Father ' ; ' In Thee the fatherless findeth mercy ' ; 
 1 Is Ephraim my dear son ? is he a pleasant child ? 
 for since I spake against him I do earnestly 
 remember him still ' ; ' I will put My law in their 
 inward parts ' — what thrilling, gracious, unforget- 
 table words Jesus could speak on such texts, 
 making the hearts of His hearers burn as He 
 talked to them on the Sabbath days! The 
 synagogue teaching of the scribes was dry-as-dust 
 even when they stumbled on oracles like these, 
 but that was their fault, not the fault of the sacred 
 words. It was their unhappy way to choke all 
 the wells with the rubbish of Rabbinical theology, 
 and part of Christ's mission was to remove the 
 rubbish, and restore the intuition of the perennial 
 sense of the Holy Writings. 
 
THE SYNAGOGUE MINISTRY 93 
 
 More of the words and deeds of Jesus than we 
 know may really have belonged originally to the 
 synagogue ministry, though the connection is 
 not indicated in the evangelic records. Some 
 have tried to construct an inaugural synagogue 
 discourse out of materials now forming part of 
 Matthew's Sermon on the Mount, piecing together, 
 e.g., the counsel against care, the lesson on prayer, 
 the warning against judging, the law of reciprocity, 
 and the closing parable of the wise and foolish 
 builders, and offering the composition as a sample 
 of what Jesus was likely to say in a concio ad 
 populum} This is purely conjectural, and not 
 very probable conjecture either ; for what we 
 have been accustomed to call the Sermon on the 
 Mount is in all probability rather a summary 
 of disciple-teaching on various topics carried on 
 perhaps for a week, during a season of retreat on 
 the mountain plateau overlooking the Galila-an 
 lake. We have something more to support 
 the Supposition that certain parables in the 
 evangelic collections, and some also of the re- 
 corded miracles, had their primary place in the 
 synagogue ministry. Luke give* the parabl 
 Tki Grain O) Mustard Siid and 77/, . 
 1 Bo Kcim in hi* well-known woik on the 1. 
 
94 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 pendants to a synagogue incident, 1 suggesting the 
 inference that they were spoken in a synagogue 
 discourse. They happily illustrate a truth not too 
 recondite for popular apprehension — that great 
 things may grow out of very insignificant begin- 
 nings ; and by their simplicity and brevity are well 
 fitted for preaching to the million. The same 
 remark applies to another pair of parables — The 
 Hidden Treasure and The Precious Pearl? The 
 one pair would aptly clinch the moral of an 
 address whose import was : Despise not the king- 
 dom I bring nigh to you because it seems a 
 small, humble thing ; the other with equal felicity 
 would enforce the lesson : count the kingdom the 
 chief good, joyfully secure it at all costs. That 
 Jesus did use similitudes in these popular ad- 
 dresses may be taken for granted. 'Without a 
 parable spake He not unto them,' observes Mark, 
 with reference to our Lord's manner of speaking 
 to the multitude. 3 How could He fail to employ 
 that method of instruction, having personally such 
 a taste and talent for it, speaking to people 
 accustomed to it, and knowing full well the power 
 of the parables to entertain, to lodge truth perma- 
 nently in the mind, and to make the meaning 
 
 1 Luke xiii. 18-21. 2 Matt. xiii. 31-33. 3 Mark iv. 34. 
 
THE SYNAGOGUE MINISTRY 95 
 
 clear? To make the meaning clear, I say, for 
 undoubtedly that was the real aim of the para- 
 bolic method ; not, as one might hastily infer from 
 certain words reported by Mark as spoken by 
 Jesus in connection with the parable of The 
 Sower, to hide truth from the eyes of the people, 
 and tickle their ears with words to which they 
 attached no rational sense. 1 Of such an inhuman 
 purpose Jesus was (need it be said ?) utterly 
 incapable. 
 
 Two miracles certainly, and one most probably, 
 belong to the synagogue ministry. The first of 
 the three is the cure of the demoniac in the 
 synagogue of Capernaum, reported by Mark and 
 Luke ; 2 the second is the cure of the woman who 
 had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, reported 
 by Luke only ; 3 and the third is the cure of the 
 leper, reported by all the three Evangelists. 4 
 Mark brings it in immediately after his general 
 statement concerning the preaching of Jesus in 
 the synagogues of Galilee, and the inference is 
 natural that it owes its place to its being regarded 
 
 by the .m anecdote of that ministry 
 
 1 M.irk iv. 12. 
 
 I Lake i\. 51-37. 
 3 Lake \in. 1 
 
 1 5 ; Lake v. . 
 
96 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 In point of varied interest the last-mentioned 
 healing act eclipses the other two, especially as 
 reported by Mark, whose version of the leper-story 
 is a good instance of his realism. Common to all 
 the three narratives is the leper's ' If Thou wilt, 
 Thou canst/ and Christ's peremptory injunction to 
 the healed man, ' Go, show thyself to the priest' 
 Both features are interesting : the former as show- 
 ing how completely even at this early period faith 
 in Christ's power to heal any form of disease had 
 taken hold of the popular mind, and how the 
 more difficult faith in His loving will lagged 
 behind ; the latter as evincing a desire on Christ's 
 part at once to make the benefit complete by 
 adding to the physical cure social restoration, and 
 to act in a respectful, conciliatory spirit towards 
 existing institutions and established authority. 
 That recognition of the priest's place and function 
 gains added meaning if, as I have supposed, Jesus 
 already feared the interference of the scribes. It 
 assumes in that case the aspect of a policy of 
 conciliation adopted in the interest of the mission, 
 in hope to make a favourable impression on syn- 
 agogue magnates and retain their goodwill as 
 long as possible. 
 
 To these common elements of the story Mark 
 
THE SYNAGOGUE MINISTRY 97 
 
 adds the compassion of Jesus, and the assumption 
 after the cure of an imperative, threatening 
 manner to ensure that the healed man shall go 
 away at once and report himself to the priest, 
 instead of remaining content with merely being 
 whole. The addition of these traits is not an 
 affair of mere word-painting. Both are valuable 
 contributions to a vivid reproduction of the 
 situation as observed by an eye-witness. Christ's 
 compassion was a very noticeable feature to an 
 impressionable onlooker like Peter, and one 
 cannot wonder that he laid emphasis on it in 
 reporting the incident. The pity of Jesus is a 
 commonplace to us, but it was not such to the 
 Galikean villagers. It takes men little accustomed 
 to anything in the world but callous indifference 
 towards other people's woes some time to believe 
 in exceptional, unique, phenomenal love like that 
 of Jesus. They can more easily believe in 
 miraculous power than in miraculous love. They 
 are able to say ' Thou canst' before they are able 
 to say ' Thou wilt.' Mark's addition, therefore, 
 only shows that he understood perfectly the 
 situation, ur at least that he is a faithful reporter 
 Of the wolds Of one who did. The other parti- 
 cular peculiar to Mark is equally deservin 
 G 
 
98 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 appreciation. It reveals another phase of Christ's 
 love, in which it puts on an aspect of anger in its 
 determination that the healed leper shall get the 
 whole and not merely the half of the possible 
 benefit. Jesus frowns, speaks imperatively and 
 impatiently, and even thrusts the man out as it 
 were by the shoulders, with an order to go at 
 once. How lifelike ! how beautiful this subtle 
 play of feeling, this sudden transition from one 
 mood of love to another, from pity to impatience, 
 from the softly spoken ' I will ' to the masterful 
 * Thou must ' ! 
 
 What now was the result of this ministry 
 whereof so scanty a crop of incidents has been 
 preserved to us ? It may be stated in a sentence : 
 Great temporary popularity, little permanent 
 fruit. Of the popularity we find a trace even 
 in the descriptions of the crowds that afterwards 
 gathered around Jesus. Matthew follows up his 
 general account of the synagogue ministry with 
 a brief notice of the rising tide of enthusiasm 
 in which Galilee occupies a prominent place. 
 1 There followed Him great multitudes of people 
 from Galilee, and Decapolis, and Jerusalem, and 
 Judaea, and from beyond Jordan.' 1 In the 
 
 1 Matt. iv. 25. 
 
THE SYNAGOGUE MINISTRY 99 
 
 corresponding statement of Mark, Galilee is even 
 more pointedly indicated as the main contri- 
 butor to the vast assembly. The second Evan- 
 gelist distinguishes two crowds, a very large one 
 coming from Galilee, and a considerable but by 
 no means so great one coming from various other 
 parts. What he says is this : * A great multitude 
 from Galilee followed ; and from Judaea, and from 
 Jerusalem, and from Idumaea, and beyond Jordan, 
 and about Tyre and Sidon, a multitude great' 1 — 
 the epithet 'great' following the noun in the 
 second case, as if to say ' large also, but not so 
 large.' Galilee sends a larger contingent than all 
 the rest of the country. This is what the 
 synagogue sermons and the cures have come to. 
 The Galilaeans cannot part with the Preacher 
 and Healer. They are as unwilling to lose Him 
 
 ere the people of Capernaum when He 
 suddenly left them after that memorable Sabbath 
 evening. Therefore they followed Him in vast 
 numbers from the various towns He had visited, 
 
 ling around Him, jostling Him, knocking 
 t Him, in hope even in that rude way to 
 
 obtain a cure for their ailments, 1 Insomuch thai 
 
 it wz wry to have .1 boat in readiness 
 
 1 M.irk in 
 
ioo WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 wherewith to escape seawards in case the 
 pressure became utterly unbearable. 1 
 
 Altogether a phenomenal popularity ; yet, 
 Jesus Himself being witness, the abiding spiritual 
 outcome seems to have been inconsiderable. The 
 evidence for this is twofold — the parable of The 
 Sower? and the complaint against the three cities, 
 Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum. 3 The 
 parable is in reality a critical review of Christ's 
 past Galilaean ministry. Probably all the parables 
 spoken from the boat on the day on which The 
 Sower was uttered were of this character, though 
 Matthew's collection contains some of a different 
 type. Jesus was in the mood to tell the people 
 who followed Him and admired Him what He 
 thought of them, and what value He set on their 
 discipleship. His estimate as given in The Sower 
 is very depressing. In effect it amounts to this : 
 much seed sown, little fruit. The word of the 
 kingdom, that is to say, scattered with a free 
 hand in the synagogues of Galilee, and, for one 
 reason or another, in most instances no crop 
 visible after sufficient time had elapsed to test the 
 movement by results. The parable hints at some 
 
 1 Mark iii. 9. 2 Matt. xiii. 3 ; Mark iv. 3 ; Luke viii. 4. 
 
 3 Matt. xi. 20; Luke x. 13. 
 
THE SYNAGOGUE MINISTRY 101 
 
 of the reasons of this unfruitfulness in its descrip- 
 tion of the various sorts of ground on which the 
 seed chanced to fall. The beaten footpath, the 
 shallow soil — a thin layer of earth on a bed of 
 rock — and the land foul with seeds or roots of 
 thorns, represent types of men with whom all 
 religious teachers are familiar : the thoughtless, 
 the superficial, and the men who are not destitute 
 of mental power or spiritual depth, but whose 
 great lack is purity and singleness of heart. 
 There were men in Galilee answering to all these 
 types ; some with whom the Preacher had not a 
 chance, some on whom He soon and easily made 
 an impression, some whose capacity and serious- 
 ness gave promise of something more than 
 temporary interest, even of permanent disciple- 
 ship, yet destined to disappoint expectation 
 through lack of moral simplicity. The fewest 
 were those whose minds resembled a soil at once 
 soft, deep, and clean — men of honest and good 
 hearts, sincerely regarding the kingdom of God 
 
 SJ the chief end, and seeking it with generous 
 
 devotion. It was altogether a disenchanting, 
 
 bitter experience. It made JeSUfl feel, like the 
 
 prophet [saiah, BJ if He had been sent to the 
 
 I of Galilee not lor recovery of sight 
 
102 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 by the blind, and of hearing by the deaf, but 
 rather to make blind men blinder, and deaf men 
 deafer than ever — as if this were the chief effect 
 of His preaching as a whole, and of the parabolic 
 pictures in particular, with which His addresses 
 were enriched, and which seemed to His hearers 
 their main attraction. If intention were to be 
 judged by result, one might say that Jesus had 
 gone on that preaching tour for the very purpose 
 of shutting eyes and ears ; but, of course, that 
 would be a grievous, fatal misunderstanding of 
 His spirit. 
 
 The disappointment connected with the syn- 
 agogue ministry led to a change in the plan of 
 Jesus. He resolved, henceforth, to devote more 
 attention to the select few who showed intellectual 
 and spiritual capacity for discipleship. From the 
 great multitude he chose a limited number of 
 susceptible hearers, and from these again an 
 inner circle of twelve. In this small field He 
 hoped in due season to reap a rich harvest of 
 thirty, sixty, and an hundred fold. 
 
 The complaint against the Galilaean towns is 
 informing as well as saddening. It gives us a 
 momentary glimpse of an extensive ministry 
 whereof very scanty memorials have been pre- 
 
THE SYNAGOGUE MINISTRY 103 
 
 served. Chorazin, one of the towns named, is 
 nowhere mentioned except in this reproachful 
 word. It is supposed to have been situated on 
 the highway to Tyre from Capernaum on the 
 western side of the upper Jordan. It was, doubt- 
 less, one of the many towns Jesus visited in 
 connection with His synagogue ministry, where 
 He had not only preached but wrought some 
 remarkable cures. For another thing noticeable 
 in this complaint is that the emphasis of its 
 lament lies not on fruitless preaching, but rather 
 on fruitless mighty works. From this we learn 
 that healing acts, often remarkable, like the cure 
 of the leper, were a common if not constant 
 accompaniment of the preaching ministry in 
 Galilee. We are not to suppose, however, that 
 ] Himself laid chief stress on them. He 
 
 looks at the matter from the point of view of 
 His Galikean hearers. He is aware that what 
 they most admired and valued was the cures 
 wrought on the sick, and what He says of them 
 and to them is, in effect, this : ' Ye heard Me in 
 >'<air I] \ and, what is more important in 
 
 your eyes, ye saw My works with astonishment 
 
 and thankfulness at the time. And what has 
 been the result? No change B1 spirit Of in life: 
 
104 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 ye remain as ye were, as thoughtless, shallow, and 
 preoccupied as ever.' ' They repented not.' 
 
 No change noticeable in the life of Chorazin, 
 Bethsaida, and Capernaum, selected to represent 
 the many Galilaean cities visited in connection 
 with the synagogue ministry, — such is the melan- 
 choly verdict of the Preacher. The reference to 
 Tyre and Sidon suggests that these three towns 
 are named not merely because they had been 
 exceptionally privileged, but because of their com- 
 mercial importance. If so, then we get this result, 
 that the commercial section of Jewish society was 
 as inappreciative in its attitude towards Jesus as 
 the religious section. Differing widely on the 
 surface, they were at one in this, that neither 
 sought the kingdom of God and the righteousness 
 of God as the chief good of life. 
 
 Truly a sad account of a people with such a 
 spiritual history behind it. How depressing to 
 think that One anointed by the Spirit of the 
 Father for an evangelistic mission should have 
 no better report to give at the close ! Alas ! it 
 is more or less the report and the burden of all 
 high ministries in this world. Yet it is best not 
 to say too much about it, or to brood over it, or 
 to allow ourselves to be driven into pessimism by 
 
THE SYNAGOGUE MINISTRY 105 
 
 it. Keep cheerful and hopeful always, and preach 
 a real, acceptable gospel, telling men not merely 
 that iniquities prevail against them, but that as 
 for their transgressions God can and will purge 
 them away. There is quite enough pessimism in 
 the world without bringing it into the pulpit 
 Surely it is out of place there ! And what good 
 can it do? Men are saved by hope, not by 
 despair ; and if the preacher would make others 
 hope, he must be hopeful himself. In spite of 
 all disappointment, go on speaking sweetly and 
 reasonably, now and then embodying truth in a 
 parable, and leave the word to work like a charm. 
 If that way fails, nothing else will succeed. So 
 Jesus continued to do His work, while occasionally 
 making His complaint. He was no pessimist. 
 He was simply, as has been remarked, the one 
 great religious Optimist who cannot be accused of 
 shallowness, or of shutting His eyes tu the evil 
 that is in the world. 
 
 It is an interesting question in what relation 
 the mission of the twelve disciples stood to the 
 synagogue ministry of their Blaster. It may have 
 Intended in part to supplement it by spread- 
 ing the gOOd new.-, in Galilee mote completely 
 than Jesilfl had been able to do. Hut the mission 
 
io6 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 of the disciples was not to preach in the syn- 
 agogues : for that they were not yet fit. Theirs 
 was a house ministry, not a synagogue ministry. 
 They were to enter into the houses of such 
 as were willing to receive them, and to stay 
 there as long as they remained in any particular 
 place, talking to the family and to such neighbours 
 as dropped in concerning the Kingdom and its 
 King. Of the Kingdom they could say little 
 beyond the most elementary statement of God's 
 goodwill to the penitent, but concerning the King 
 they would have more to tell. Probably the main 
 part of their conversation consisted of anecdotes 
 about their Master, recollections of what He had 
 said or done during His preaching tour ; now a 
 parable, anon a healing act reported for the enter- 
 tainment and benefit of their hearers. Such com- 
 munications would in most cases ensure for them 
 a welcome, though in His instructions to the 
 apprentice missioners Jesus contemplated the 
 possibility of an opposite reception : ' Whosoever 
 shall not receive you.' 1 The words may express 
 a fear suggested by personal experience of work 
 frustrated or interrupted by religious prejudice 
 in His own early effort to evangelise Galilee. 
 
 1 Matt. x. 14; Mark vi. II. 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 THE MISSION TO THE PUBLICAN- 
 
 Of this part of our Lord's work, not less than of 
 the synagogue ministry, the ordinary reader of the 
 Gospels has a most inadequate idea. It amounts 
 to this, that Jesus happened on one occasion to be 
 present as a guest at a social entertainment given 
 by one of His disciples, named Matthew or Levi, 
 to associates of the publican class to which he had 
 himself previously belonged ; and being present, 
 ate with them without hesitation, and doubtless 
 also addressed to His fellow-guests some gracious 
 words, indicating that the door of the Kingdom 
 was open even to them. Not a few careful 
 students of the Evangelic Records have been 
 content with this meagre conception. Vet if we 
 could only shake off the trammels of custom, 10 
 be able to take a fresh view of the matter, 
 a little reflection would suffice to convince us that 
 what baa JUSt been stated cannot be the whole 
 
108 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 truth, or even the principal part of it. From the 
 nature of the case, Jesus cannot have been merely 
 passive in the matter, in the sense in which 
 persons invited to an ordinary festive gathering 
 are passive, each one going because he has received 
 an invitation from the host, and without knowing 
 whom he is to meet. The newly called disciple 
 would not have ventured to invite his Master to 
 eat with publicans without first ascertaining that 
 He was willing to meet them. Nay, one may go 
 further, and say that the publican-disciple would 
 never have thought of or hinted at such a meeting 
 unless he had been given to understand that the 
 Master was not only willing but desirous to have 
 social intercourse with the outcast classes of 
 Capernaum. The initiative must really have 
 been with Jesus. The whole plan must have been 
 His. He must have had in His mind a deliberate 
 intention to come into close fraternal contact with 
 the * publicans and sinners.' Of this design the 
 Evangelists say nothing ; they simply report very 
 briefly the main events : Matthew's call and the 
 ensuing feast. But once we have got the idea of 
 such a design into our minds, we recognise in these 
 two events simply the working out of the plan — 
 the method employed by Jesus to give effect to 
 
THE MISSION TO THE PUBLICANS 109 
 
 His gracious purpose. First He calls to disciple- 
 ship a publican, doubtless with a view to ulterior 
 service as an apostle, but likewise with a view to 
 immediate service as an intermediary between 
 Himself and the publicans of Capernaum. Then, 
 through Matthew as His agent, He calls together 
 the class to which the new disciple belonged, that 
 He may eat with them and speak to them the 
 good news of the Kingdom. 1 
 
 That Jesus would entertain such a plan was to 
 be expected. We have seen how much in earnest 
 lie was about a systematic synagogue ministry. 
 But His earnestness was not one-sided. He 
 desired to do His duty as the Herald of the 
 lom, impartially, to all classes of Jewish 
 society. In this connection we may distinguish 
 four classes. First, the religious leaders of Israel ; 
 secondly, the respectable synagogue-frequenting 
 body of the people; thirdly, the hidden minority 
 
 of devout men and women who had spiritual 
 
 affinity for the New Teaching; lastly, the 
 
 pariahs. Now that Jesus performed the function 
 
 called for in re feren ce to the first three- of these 
 
 four 1 sufficiently evident from the 
 
 He criticised faithfully and thoroughly 
 
 1 M.iM. ix. , : 
 
no WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 scribes and Pharisees, that being what they needed. 
 He went the round of the synagogues of Galilee 
 and preached in them in turn, at least in as many 
 of them as possible. He was constantly on the 
 outlook for persons of special spiritual suscepti- 
 bility and promise, and gradually formed them 
 into a disciple-circle for the purpose of careful 
 instruction. In view of these familiar facts, who 
 can doubt that He did not neglect the lowest 
 pariah class, that He was equally conscientious 
 and thorough in regard to them, that He cared 
 for their spiritual interest in no casual, haphazard, 
 or half-hearted way, but systematically, persis- 
 tently, and very cordially ? Neglect the publicans! 
 One would say that, whatever class was to be 
 overlooked, it would not be they. Neglect the 
 ' sinners,' neglect the neglected and despised ! 
 Impossible for such a one as Jesus. 
 
 It might be supposed, however, that there was 
 no need for a special mission to the 'publicans and 
 sinners/ that their interests would be sufficiently 
 provided for, e.g. by the synagogue ministry. 
 But the fact was not so. The publicans were 
 practically, if not formally, excommunicated. They 
 were as heathens in the esteem of religious Jews. 
 A learned writer on this subject states that publi- 
 
THE MISSION TO THE PUBLICANS ill 
 
 cans were not reckoned in religious society, 
 quoting from the Talmud words to this effect : a 
 religious person who becomes a publican must 
 be driven out of religious company. 1 ' No money 
 known to come from them was received into the 
 alms-box of the synagogue or the corban of the 
 Temple.' 2 Such being the state of feeling, it is 
 evident that few, if any, publicans would have an 
 opportunity of hearing any of Christ's synagogue 
 discourses. They would probably not have been 
 admitted even if they had sought entrance, and 
 they were not likely to do that, for men all the 
 world over avoid places of worship where they 
 know they arc not welcome. There was just one 
 chance for the publicans. They might join the 
 crowds that gathered about Jesus wherever He 
 went, and get the benefit of His open-air preach- 
 ing. That the)- seem to have done to some 
 extent, for in his report of Levi's feast Mark 
 
 that the\- (the publicans) were many, and 
 that the)' followed Jesus/* That was so far well. 
 
 lit content the publicans, but it would not 
 content the sinners' Friend He would desire 
 
 556. 
 
 ! .i/lu.U),' III SIM.'.'!. 
 
 3 Muik 11. 15. 
 
ii2 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 closer contact and more direct intercourse. In 
 the interest they were showing He saw His 
 opportunity, and Matthew's call and the feast 
 following were the result. 
 
 In the development of His plans our Lord 
 followed the leadings of Providence. He began 
 with a synagogue ministry, because, as that de- 
 pended on the goodwill of others, it was important 
 that it should be started at once and pushed on 
 vigorously before the suspicions of the scribes 
 were aroused. The mission to the publicans was 
 undertaken after the return to Capernaum from 
 the preaching tour in the synagogues of Galilee. 
 It was the natural second step. They were a 
 class whom the synagogue ministry, for reasons 
 already indicated, had not reached, and their 
 presence in the crowds that followed Jesus along 
 the lake-shore showed that they were not beyond 
 reach. An evangelising experiment among them 
 was worth trying. So Matthew was called, and 
 through him the festive gathering convened. The 
 call of a publican to discipleship would immedi- 
 ately create expectation. It would at once be 
 felt that He who took that bold step meant to do 
 more, and that an event was impending that 
 would create a sensation. 
 
THE MISSION TO THE PUBLICANS 113 
 
 It was a great event. That is plainly indicated 
 by all the three Evangelists ; but readers of the 
 narratives, pre-occupied with the notion of a 
 private dinner party, readily fail to notice the 
 fact. In each of the reports it is distinctly stated 
 that ■ many ' were present. That itself ought to 
 open our eyes to the significance of the occasion, 
 and make us think of a congregation embracing 
 hundreds, rather than of a private entertainment 
 to say a score of guests ; meeting not in the 
 dining-chamber of a house, but in the large open 
 court around which the apartments of an Eastern 
 house of the better class are built. 1 
 
 Of course it was not a merely festive gathering. 
 To eat and drink was not the sole or even the 
 chief end of the meeting. Jesus from the first 
 meant to speak to that remarkable assembly of 
 social pariahs and moral nondescripts. The eating 
 llbservient to that as the ultimate aim, a 
 means of establishing cordial relations between 
 
 Speaker and hearers, and opening a way for His 
 
 into their hearts. Hut in that re sp ect 
 
 it was all-important ; hence the prominence given 
 
 1 Forrer, author ,>f a delightful i>o..k on Palestine (H 
 
 1 
 
 II 
 
ii 4 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 to it in the narratives. The Evangelists say 
 nothing about the speaking ; that they take for 
 granted. They assume it will be understood by 
 all their readers that Jesus would not meet with 
 such a large company, and especially with a 
 company of so peculiar a quality, without having 
 something memorable and uniquely impressive to 
 say to them concerning the Kingdom. As a 
 matter of course He would tell them the good 
 news of God. As a matter of course accordingly 
 it is treated, a thing not needing to be mentioned. 
 But of the eating careful note is taken, and for an 
 obvious reason. It was the speciality, the thing 
 that would create surprise on all sides — in fellow- 
 guests and in outsiders ; the thing that was sure 
 to be extensively talked about and that would 
 inevitably make a powerful impression of one sort 
 or another, winning publicans, shocking scribes 
 and Pharisees. In giving such prominence to the 
 social aspect of the function the Evangelists only 
 show their full comprehension and appreciation of 
 the situation. 
 
 The thing of importance to note, however, is 
 that Jesus understood the situation. He knew 
 perfectly what He was doing. He knew that His 
 line of action would create scandal, and in all 
 
THE MISSION TO THE PUBLICANS 115 
 
 likelihood provoke malevolent misconstruction. 
 But He felt that He must take the risk. He knew 
 that no half-measures would do with the people 
 He was trying to benefit. He must either be 
 their friend, their comrade, out and out, or let 
 them alone. If He could not, or would not, eat 
 with them, out of a regard to social proprieties, 
 the instinctive swift inference of the classes con- 
 cerned would be : ' He too is at heart a Pharisee. 
 He cares a little for us, mildly pities us, would 
 like to talk to us about religion ; but He dare not 
 sit down at the same table with us ; He fears the 
 censure of the virtuous, the tongue of the pious, 
 the frown of those that pass for good.' All this 
 Jesus clearly perceived ; therefore he pursued 
 the policy of radical, fearless, thorough-going, 
 comradeship, lUit He did not so act from policy. 
 
 He acted spontaneously, without calculation, and 
 with« Hit effort, at the bidding of a loving heart. 
 Phenomenal miraculous love was at the bottom of 
 the whole proceeding. Mere wisdom would not 
 
 have been equal to the em ergency. Nothing but 
 love unexampled in Capernaum or anywhere else 
 
 COUld have had the originality to conceive the 
 
 plan.t e to adopt it, and the tact to carry 
 
 it through. What 1 :iven- 
 
n6 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 tional proprieties or evil tongues ? It leaps the 
 fence, however high ; it overflows the most care- 
 fully constructed embankments of social custom ; 
 it will have its way, and it is prepared to take the 
 consequences. 
 
 Sure enough there were consequences to be 
 reckoned with. That also the Evangelists are 
 careful to record. He is a very simple man who 
 fancies that he can indulge in the moral originality 
 of Jesus, taking counsel only with love, and escape 
 unpleasant consequences. All things new and 
 original, in thought, and still more in action, are 
 inevitably blamed. The best things, before men 
 get accustomed to them, are treated as if they 
 were the worst. So it came to pass that the con- 
 duct of Jesus provoked the question, ' Why eateth 
 your Master with the publicans and sinners ? ' 
 Nor was that the end or the worst of the matter. 
 It came at last to hideous, horrible calumny. 
 They said in effect : He associates with the repro- 
 bates because He is a reprobate — a drunkard, a 
 glutton, and what not. 1 
 
 So deplorable a result almost tempts the ques- 
 tion : Was that well-meant movement not after 
 all a mistake? Has a man any right to throw 
 
 1 Matt. xi. 19. 
 
THE MISSION TO THE PUBLICANS 117 
 
 away his good name in trying to do good to 
 others ? This is a question of casuistry that is 
 not likely often to arise, for few have love enough 
 to expose them to any danger. If any one feels 
 inclined to raise the question in connection with 
 our Lord's action in reference to the publicans, it 
 will be well that he first of all make an effort to 
 understand the alternatives. There were, as has 
 been already hinted, only two courses open : either 
 to go the full length in comradeship or to let the 
 publicans and sinners alone. A middle course in 
 the circumstances was not possible. Therefore, 
 taking care of His good name would have simply 
 meant for Jesus treating the outcasts with the 
 usual indifference. Now once for all that was 
 simply impossible for Him. The one thing He 
 could not do was to let people alone in their sin 
 and misery. Surely a noble, honourable, blessed 
 inability ! And observe what the let-alone policy 
 would have involved. It could not be limited to 
 the case of the publicans ; it must be carried 
 through. If Jesus must neglect them to save His 
 good name, how much more lie would have to 
 Ctl He would have to shun the cross to 
 6 the .shame. And what would that have 
 
 to? Saving Himself and failing to 
 
n8 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 others. Nay, failing ultimately even to save 
 Himself. If Jesus Christ had made it His chief 
 business to adapt His conduct to local and con- 
 temporary ideas, instead of being the Saviour of 
 the world He would have been a Nobody. That 
 is the penalty men pay who are too desirous to 
 please their own time. In their anxiety to con- 
 ciliate the prejudices of to-day they do nothing 
 for the future, and are soon forgotten. 
 
 In the Capernaum movement in behalf of the 
 publicans Jesus emphatically worked for the 
 future. No part of His public ministry possesses 
 a deeper or more abiding significance. As a 
 revelation of His spirit and a promise of great 
 things to come, it stands on a much higher level 
 than the synagogue-ministry. That was a good 
 work which had to be done some time, and which 
 was most fitly done at the commencement. But in 
 it the activity of our Lord ran in the channel of 
 a purely Jewish institution. The new wine was 
 put into an old vessel. In that preaching tour 
 among the synagogues of Galilee Jesus was simply 
 a Minister of God to Israel. But in the mission 
 to the publicans it was otherwise. The new wine 
 was put into a new vessel. The new spirit found 
 for itself at once a new sphere and a new method 
 
THE MISSION TO THE PUBLICANS 119 
 
 of working. Jesus then began to be a Servant 
 of the Kingdom for the world. To the Jew a 
 publican was as a heathen man. He is entitled 
 to the honour as well as the dishonour of that 
 identification, and to be regarded as the represen- 
 tative of the Gentiles, as a recipient of the good 
 News. The Capernaum movement was the fore- 
 runner of Gentile Christianity. A man of pro- 
 phetic vision watching its progress might have 
 said : ' Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted 
 repentance unto life.' 
 
 There was more than universalism latent in that 
 mission. It was the cradle of Christian civilisation, 
 which has for its goal a humanised society from 
 whose rights and privileges no class shall be 
 hopelessly and finally excluded. It was a protest 
 in the name of God, who made of one blood all 
 the nations and classes, against all artificial or 
 superficial cleavages of race, colour, descent, 
 occupation, or even of character, as of small 
 account in comparison with that which is common 
 to all — the human soul, with its grand, solemn 
 >ilities. It was an appeal to the conscience 
 of the world to put an end to barbarous alienations 
 and heartless neglects, and social < 
 cruelties, and tyrannies ; BO making way I 
 
i2o WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 brotherhood in which 'sinners/ 'publicans,' and 
 1 Pharisees ' should recognise one another as 
 fellow -men and as sons of the one Father in 
 heaven. 
 
 But it may be asked : If that movement was so 
 important, why did the Evangelists give so in- 
 adequate an account of it ? why, above all, did 
 they not report what Jesus said on the occasion, 
 which must have been extremely well worth 
 recording, both in substance and in form ? I will 
 deal with this complaint before I am done, but 
 meantime I remark that such as lament the lack 
 ought at least to make the most of what the 
 Evangelists have actually given us. They report 
 one word Christ uttered on this occasion on no 
 account to be overlooked ; not spoken indeed to 
 the publicans, but to men who blamed Him for 
 associating with them. It is : ' They that be 
 whole need not a physician, but they that are 
 sick : I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.' 
 The saying consists of two parts, each of which 
 serves a distinct purpose. The first part recog- 
 nises the claims of the weak on the strong ; the 
 second proclaims a policy pursued in the interest 
 of the Divine Kingdom. ' Sinners,' therefore, to 
 be shunned you think? Nay, that is just the 
 
THE MISSION TO THE PUBLICANS 121 
 
 reason why they should be sought after, even as 
 it is the sick whom the physician visits. Sinners, 
 therefore, not worth caring about ? Nay, to care 
 for them is not only a duty imposed by love, but 
 a policy dictated by wisdom. Of just such as 
 these recovered from the error of their ways is the 
 Kingdom of Heaven, whose best citizens are 
 drawn not from those who pride themselves on 
 their virtue, but from those who repent of their 
 folly. A commonplace now, thanks to the 
 teaching and example of Christ, but a startling 
 doctrine in an age when it was thought that the 
 one thing a man had to do was to be good himself 
 without trying to make others good, and when it 
 was taken for granted that a man with a mission, 
 the founder of a new religion, the originator of a 
 new society, would gather about him the best 
 people he could find, and form them into a select, 
 exclusive circle of superior persons. The world 
 to thank Jesufl Christ that He came to 
 attempt a more heroic task, to gather around 
 Him the erring, the ignorant, the weak, that He 
 
 might make- them temperate, pure, thoughtful, 
 Strong. By undertaking this high mission He 
 
 inaugurated a new era— the era of/nH* 
 
 Returning now to the unrecorded address, two 
 
122 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 questions may be asked regarding it: Have we 
 no clew to its drift ? Is it quite certain that its 
 most essential part has not been preserved ? 
 
 I. The action of Jesus speaks. It speaks to us ; 
 it would speak even more impressively to the 
 publicans and sinners. His presence there as a 
 fellow-guest on equal terms, not as a patron but 
 as a comrade, told its own story. All understood 
 instinctively that religion, God, man, must be 
 something quite different for this new Teacher 
 from what they were for Pharisees and scribes. 
 1 He does not hate us ; He does not despise us. 
 Holiness for Him does not mean keeping virtu- 
 ously aloof from the unholy. Bad as we are, He 
 seems to find in us some common element that 
 He can love, some touch of nature that makes us 
 kin, far apart though we be in our ways. In 
 spite of our unpopular occupations and evil deeds, 
 we are still at least men and women to Him, and 
 apparently not without possibilities of becoming 
 good men and good women. What kind of a 
 God can He believe in ? Surely not the God of 
 the scribes ! The God of the scribes, like the 
 scribes themselves, looks askance on the like of us. 
 The God of this Teacher must be a kindly Being 
 like Himself, — One who would not be ashamed to 
 
THE MISSION TO THE PUBLICANS 123 
 
 be called even our God, and who would own us as 
 His children, though men have cast us off.' Such 
 were the thoughts which in the form of dim 
 feeling, if not in distinctly formulated conception, 
 passed through the minds of the motley audience 
 even before Jesus began to speak, suggested by 
 the mere fact of His being there. By eating 
 with them He silently preached a veritable Gospel 
 in a symbolic sacramental act. 
 
 And when Jesus began to speak, what else 
 could He do than express in word what he had 
 already expressed in deed ? His line of thought 
 was dictated by the impression which, as He 
 well understood, His presence was making upon 
 His audience. lie could only put into words 
 what was in the mind of all. One needs only 
 to realise the situation to be able to reconstruct 
 the address, at least in outline. It would state 
 in simple language the truth about God and 
 His bearing towards erring men. It would hold 
 out hope of a better future for the worst, declaring 
 that past sin was no inevitable doom, and that 
 
 by repentance every man might pass from de- 
 pravity and miser)- into purity and blessedness. 
 It WOtlld .strive to cure the doubt latent in every 
 heart in that assembly as to the :y of 
 
i2 4 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 either God or man really caring for the like of 
 them, a doubt too well justified by the contemp- 
 tuous indifference with which they were treated 
 on every hand. ' He seems to care for us, else 
 why is He here? But how can it be? What 
 should make Him in this so utterly unlike all 
 other men we have known? And as for God, 
 is it credible He can be like this Man, and so 
 utterly unlike all we have been taught to believe 
 by our religious instructors?' Such was the 
 state of mind with which the Speaker had to 
 reckon ; and if He dealt with it after His wonted 
 manner, He would use some happy parable to 
 make the difficult in the spiritual sphere clear 
 by a familiar story taken from natural life. 
 
 2. This brings me to my second question. Is 
 it quite certain that the essential part of the 
 address of Jesus to the publicans has not been 
 preserved? On the contrary, it is highly pro- 
 bable that we ought to discover the kernel of 
 the address in the parables concerning finding 
 things lost contained in the fifteenth chapter of 
 Luke's Gospel. They suit exactly the require- 
 ments of the case as above indicated. And from 
 Luke's introductory statement we learn that the 
 parables grew out of a gathering of 'publicans 
 
THE MISSION TO THE PUBLICANS 125 
 
 and sinners ' to hear Jesus, at which He not only 
 spoke to them, but ate with them. This at once 
 suggests the Capernaum assembly as the real 
 historical occasion. True, in Luke's account, the 
 parables are represented as spoken not to the 
 publicans, but to the Pharisaic fault-finders. But 
 this fact creates no serious difficulty. In them- 
 selves the three parables, in their essential parts, 
 might have been spoken to any audience, to a 
 congregation in a synagogue, to a meeting of 
 social pariahs, to disciples, to Pharisees. They 
 would simply require a little modification to fit 
 them to the particular audience. Quite possibly 
 they were uttered again and again to all sorts 
 of audiences. Matthew gives the first of the 
 three, 'The Lost Sheep,' as a word spoken to 
 the Twelve in the Capernaum lesson on humility. 1 
 This is perfectly credible. And it is still more 
 credible that not only the first, but the whole 
 three, were spoken to the publicans. No more 
 appropriate audience could be imagined, and no 
 one knew that better than Jesus. It may be 
 matter of regret that these parables have not 
 come down to us in the form of a sermon to a 
 publican audience. Hut that the tradition 
 1 M.iii. x\i.. IS, 
 
i26 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 fault here is not surprising. The primitive Chris- 
 tian society cared much more for the words of 
 the Master than for the exact historical occasions. 
 Therefore we need not wonder if, in the book of 
 the Oracles of the Lord, compiled, according to 
 the testimony of Papias, by Matthew, these 
 golden words were faithfully preserved without 
 clear indication of their historical connection. 
 And we have the remedy in our own hands. 
 We are not bound by the connection assigned 
 to them by Luke or by the author of the first 
 Gospel. We can give them the setting that is 
 most fitting, and that brings out their full pathos, 
 and claim them for the festive gathering in the 
 court of the house of Levi, as the core of the 
 address spoken by Jesus that day. It is no sin 
 against true reverence to reproduce them here 
 adapted to the circumstances by needful modifi- 
 cation and brief preface. 
 
 Jesus, then, may have spoken after this manner : 
 1 Men and women, I love you. I am your 
 Brother. God, my Father and your Father, 
 loves you, and will welcome you returning 
 to Him in penitence. You doubt this, can- 
 not think it possible. I wonder not, knowing 
 how you have been spurned by your fellow- 
 
THE MISSION TO THE PUBLICANS 127 
 
 townsmen. Yet it is simple when you think 
 of it. Your Father in heaven, and I your 
 Brother on earth, only share the joy common 
 to all who find things lost. Hear a parable : 
 1 " A certain man had a hundred sheep, and 
 having lost one of them, left the ninety 
 and nine in the wilderness and went 
 after that which was lost until he 
 found it. And when he found it 
 he laid it on his shoulders with 
 joy. And when he came home, he 
 told his neighbours, and they were all 
 glad that he had found the lost sheep." 
 1 Does the joy of the shepherd and his neigh- 
 bours seem strange to you ? Such joy 
 would I, would my Father in heaven, have 
 in any of you turning from evil to good. 
 1 Not only the owner of a flock of sheep, but 
 the poorest among you may know the joy 
 of finding things lost. Hear another parable : 
 1 " A certain woman had ten pieces of silver, 
 and lost one of them. She lighted a 
 lamp, .swept the house, and sought 
 till she found it. In her joy she 
 told her neighbours, and tlie>- all re- 
 joiced with 1, 
 
128 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 1 Think not there may be joy in the finding 
 of a sheep or a coin, but no joy in finding 
 a lost man. There may be more joy over 
 a man found than over the finding of any 
 lost thing. Hear yet another parable : 
 1 " A certain man had two sons, and the 
 younger of them said to his father, 
 Father, give me the portion that falleth 
 to me. And he divided unto them 
 his living. And not many days after 
 the younger son gathered all together, 
 and took his journey into a far country, 
 and there he wasted his substance with 
 riotous living. And when he had spent 
 all, there arose a mighty famine in 
 that country, and he began to be in 
 want. And he went and joined him- 
 self to one of the citizens of that 
 country ; and he sent him into his 
 fields to feed swine. And he longed 
 to eat of the pods which were the 
 swine's food, and no man gave unto 
 him. But when he came to himself, 
 he said : How many hired servants 
 of my father have bread beyond their 
 need, and I perish here with hunger. 
 
THE MISSION TO THE PUBLICANS 129 
 
 I will arise, and go to my father, 
 and will say unto him, Father, I have 
 sinned against heaven, and in thy 
 sight. I am no more worthy to be 
 called thy son ; make me as one of 
 thy hired servants. And he arose, 
 and came to his father. And when 
 he was still at a great distance from 
 home his father saw him, and was 
 touched with pity, and running to- 
 wards him, he fell on his neck and 
 fervently kissed him. And the son 
 said : Father, I have sinned against 
 heaven and before thee ; I am no 
 more worth}- to be called thy son. 
 Hut the father said to the servants, 
 Bring forth quickly the best robe, 
 and put it on him, and put a ring 
 on his hand, and shoes on his feet, 
 Bfl becometh a son, and bring the 
 fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat 
 and make merry. Fur this my son 
 was dead and is alive again ; he W*3 
 lust and is found.'" l 
 
 emiag the elda 1 1 
 
i 3 o WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 When we think of this parable as spoken to 
 the publicans in the house of Levi, we perceive 
 that the festivities of that day explain the parable, 
 and that the parable explains the festivities. 
 
 What success Jesus had among the publicans 
 we do not know, though I think that the story of 
 the woman in Simon's house 1 may be taken as an 
 illustrative example of the effect produced. She 
 may have been there ; let us suppose she was. 
 That day she saw Jesus and heard Him speak. 
 She went home and thought of what He had said. 
 And this was the result : repentance, a gush of 
 grateful emotion, permanent change of life. 
 
 The method of Jesus deserved success. Nothing 
 but His deep, unfeigned love, going the whole 
 way, will win men. Patronising philanthropy 
 will not do. Those who practise it have nothing 
 in common with Jesus. ' He was no patron ; He 
 never acted in a condescending manner. He was 
 the friend in the most genuine sense, even of 
 publicans and harlots. His Kingdom cannot 
 make progress through patronage, however kindly 
 intentioned.' 2 * 
 
 1 Luke vii. 36-50. 
 
 2 The Spirit in Literature and in Life, by Dr. Coyle. Houghton, 
 Mifflin and Company : The Rand Lectures in Iowa, 1894. A 
 thoughtful, suggestive book. 
 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 JESUS LONGING FOR AIT DISCIPLES 
 
 It has been customary to call the remarkable 
 utterance preserved in Matthew xi. 28-30 the 
 Gracious Invitation. It has been gradually dawn- 
 ing on my mind that, without prejudice to the 
 truth underlying that title, the saying might with 
 
 even greater appropriateness be- described as the 
 pium (Usiderium of the Great Master for apt 
 scholars. Its setting in the Gospel narrative 
 
 StS this view. It forms the suitable do 
 a chap • burden is disillusumiHtnt. JesOS 
 
 appears in this chapter as a disappointed, though 
 
 not di 1 or utterly forlorn, 'readier. No- 
 
 where has He found the reception He might 
 nably have looked for. The Galilaeans In 
 ues He has preached, the people 
 
 nrhom He lit and healed wherever they 
 
 gathei 
 
 even John the Baptist -one and all have I 
 
132 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 to satisfy His desire for sincere, intelligent, 
 sympathetic discipleship. He finds consolation 
 in the honest attachment of some humble persons 
 whom He calls 'babes.' Yet 'babes/ while a 
 comfort, can hardly give complete contentment. 
 Something higher is easily conceivable — a class 
 of disciples who are babes and more, combining 
 the simplicity of children with the understanding 
 and experience of men. That were the ideal ; it 
 is for that Jesus here sighs. 
 
 If this sigh of the Lord Jesus be placed in its 
 proper historical environment in the eleventh 
 chapter of Matthew, its date is approximately 
 fixed by the various allusions to contemporary 
 opinions contained therein. That the synagogue 
 ministry is past, is shown by the complaint 
 against the three cities. 1 The later mission to 
 the publicans lies far enough behind to give time 
 for the coining of slanderous epithets and sneering 
 nicknames. 2 The fame of Jesus as a popular 
 Preacher and Healer has spread far and wide till 
 it has even reached the ears of the illustrious 
 prisoner in Machserus, provoking that doubting 
 message, Art thou the Coming One? 3 The 
 hostility of the scribes has had ample space to 
 
 1 w. 20-24. 2 v. 19. 3 v. 3. 
 
JESUS LONGING FOR APT DISCIPLES 133 
 
 develop itself, so as to make it manifest that 
 nothing but contempt or bitter opposition is to be 
 looked for from the ( wise and prudent.' ■ 
 
 The situation thus defined suits such an utter- 
 ance as that contained in Matthew xi. 25-30. 
 The word and the environment fit into each other 
 so well as to leave little doubt that the Evangelist 
 has given that word its true position in his story, 
 and as little that we may legitimately interpret 
 it in the light of its context In that case its 
 general character is at once fixed. It is the 
 utterance of One who is profoundly conscious of 
 isolation, and who is driven in upon Himself and 
 upon God, yet is full of peace and hope because 
 I le is assured that His Father knows and approves 
 Him, and will not leave Him forlorn. Herein 
 ul of Jesus goes first up to God in resignation 
 and trust,-' then out in eager longing towards an 
 ideal discipleship not actually there, perhaps not 
 
 to be found then anywhere within the bound* of 
 Palestine, but existing for the prophetic eye in 
 
 the womb of the future, and to be born in due 
 
 Surprise has often been expressed that Luke 
 should have failed to preserve this precious Oracle, 
 
 -•S-30. 
 
134 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 giving only the outpouring of Christ's spirit 
 towards God, and omitting what seems to suit 
 his pages so well, the outgoing of His loving 
 heart towards the labouring and heavy-laden. Of 
 this hereafter. Meantime I remark that what is 
 most to be wondered at is that any part of the 
 utterance has been preserved ; for it is really a 
 soliloquy, a devotional meditation of our Lord by 
 Himself apart, not a prayer spoken in the hearing 
 of disciples. Even the part which concerns men, 
 the sigh for true disciples, was not meant for 
 human ears ; it was simply a private breathing in 
 which the weary heart of the Master unburdened 
 itself. How then did it become known to any ? 
 True reverence perhaps would be best shown by 
 abstaining from conjecture, but a simple sugges- 
 tion may be pardoned. A ray of light seems to 
 come to us from the fact that, on the testimony 
 of Papias, the original reporter of our Lord's 
 words was the Apostle Matthew, a publican, and 
 in virtue of that occupation also a scribe. We 
 have already seen that in calling a publican Jesus 
 had an eye to service in connection with His 
 mission to the class to which Matthew belonged. 
 May He not also have had in view service with 
 the pen by the same disciple, acting as a kind of 
 
JESUS LONGING FOR APT DISCIPLES 135 
 
 secretary ? How was it possible for Matthew, 
 years after the Master left the world, to compile 
 that book of Logia, i.e. Oracles of the Lord ? 
 Did he draw simply on a retentive memory? Is 
 it not more likely that he had at command 
 memoranda written in bygone disciple days ? 
 Would not the instinct or habit that led him 
 to write the Logia lead him to take notes at the 
 time ? and may the desire that this should be 
 done not have been one of the reasons of his call ? 
 But, granting the reasonableness of this suggestion 
 with reference to such sayings as those which 
 constitute the Sermon on the Mount, it may be 
 asked, What has all this to do with a soliloquy of 
 1 that under consideration? How 
 
 should even a private secr et a ry know that his 
 r had thought or spoken so? Who can 
 tell? Would it surprise you if the one disciple 
 who h to the Master at such a solemn 
 
 hour was just the publican ; the last first, the 
 one privileged to be the confidant of 
 
 I too very 
 
 relations He had 
 
 into with th* which that 
 
 When Jesus uttered this 
 \\ a kind of minor I 
 
136 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 At the hour of the greater agony He desired to 
 have three disciples near Him. What wonder if 
 He chose one to be with Him at the earlier crisis, 
 and just the one most fitted by his own previous 
 experience to understand the Master's mood ? 
 
 Not doubting that in the closing part of a 
 precious leaf from the private prayer-book of 
 Jesus, though preserved in the first Gospel alone, 
 we have a true word of the Lord, let us try still 
 further to penetrate into its inmost meaning. 
 
 In the utterance beginning with ' I thank Thee, 
 O Father,' and ending with ' My yoke is easy and 
 my burden is light/ there is a mixture of con- 
 flicting feelings — of satisfaction and longing, of 
 thankfulness for babe-disciples, and intense desire 
 for disciples who are 'babes' and something 
 more. The babes include the Twelve, though not 
 them alone. Therefore Christ's feeling even 
 about them is of a mixed character. He is 
 pleased to have these simple Galilaeans about 
 Him, and yet they do not fill His heart. He is 
 conscious of isolation in their company. They 
 love Him, but they do not understand Him. He 
 has many thoughts in His mind, which He must 
 speak if He is to fulfil His mission, and make 
 known to the world the vision of the Kingdom 
 
JESUS LONGING FOR APT DISCIPLES 137 
 
 which lies before His spiritual eye. But to whom 
 are they to be spoken ? To these babes ? Yes, 
 if no better audience can be had. They possess 
 one fundamental requirement of discipleship — 
 moral sympathy with the Teacher. They are 
 ready to hear what He has to say, and they 
 implicitly trust in His wisdom. To such hearers 
 it is not idle to speak ; revelation of the things 
 of the Kingdom to the like of them, to some 
 extent at least, is possible. But ' these things ' 
 can be shown to such only in part. They cannot 
 understand them fully now, perhaps never. The 
 natural limitation of their thinking power- 
 more the limitations of their experience in the 
 past or in the future, may present an insurmount- 
 able barrier to complete comprehension of the 
 of their Master. It is possible that there is 
 not one among them who has it in him to attain 
 full insight into the Christianity of Christ, or to 
 become so completely possessed by the Master's 
 mind as to be fit for the role of a thoroughly 
 competent enthusiastic interpreter, It may be 
 Stain that not all, or even the 
 
 majority, of them posses- any such capacity. 
 
 But to the presence or absence in his disciple- 
 
 l with Mich capabilities 
 
138 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 no great teacher or religious initiator can be 
 indifferent. He will make the powers of his 
 scholars a subject of frequent study. He will 
 often consider what they severally are good for, 
 what part this one or that one is fitted to play. 
 And if among them all, after due consideration, he 
 find no one able to receive or effectively reproduce 
 his scheme of thought, whatever pleasure he may 
 have in their society, he will certainly not be free 
 from a haunting sense of loneliness and sadness. 
 
 It is in some such mood and for such reasons, 
 it appears to me, that Jesus here speaks. With 
 longing heart He looks over the heads of the 
 actual disciple-circle, with wistful eye, in quest of 
 an ideal discipleship. 
 
 But how is the ideal to be defined ? What are 
 the marks of the perfectly apt disciple? Jesus, 
 we observe, addresses Himself to the ' labouring 
 and heavy laden.' Is that the kind of description 
 we should look for, assuming that an ideal 
 discipleship is in view? To answer the question, 
 one must have some sort of a priori conception 
 of the ideal. How then are we to conceive it? 
 Somewhat after this manner : — 
 
 i. The ideal disciple will, of course, possess in 
 a high degree the disciple- spirit : desiring wisdom 
 
JESUS LONGING FOR APT DISCIPLES 139 
 
 above all things, with a single mind and a pure 
 heart. 
 
 2. He will feel profoundly that he has not yet 
 attained. Xo one comes to the school of the 
 wise who is self-satisfied — who thinks he knows 
 all and can himself teach other-. 
 
 The first of these qualities differentiates the 
 disciple from the ordinary frequenter of syna- 
 gogues, or the average hearer in a street crowd. 
 The second differentiates the disciple from the 
 ' wise and prudent.' Both qualities were possessed 
 by the Twelve, and therein their Master had 
 cause for satisfaction. But there is a third 
 quality, which they probably all lacked. 
 
 3. The ideal disciple is one who has been 
 prepared for receiving the instruction of a new 
 master by disappointing trial of other masters. I [e 
 
 ;ied in the quest of wisdom and has failed. 
 He comes to the new school a weary man, longing 
 for tlie re^t which the revelation of truth satisfying 
 to the whole inner being brings. He comes 
 
 thoroughly qualified to applet iate the lessons he 
 is to be taught by knowledge of other doctrines 
 
 with which lie can compare- them. Fot nun 
 living in Palestine in the time of our Lord this 
 
 mean acquaintance with the teach, 
 
i 4 o WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 the Rabbis, and the discovery by earnest experi- 
 ment of its unsatisfactory character. It would 
 mean, in other words, an experience similar to that 
 of Saul of Tarsus, who was first an enthusiastic 
 disciple of, and then a convert from, Rabbinism. 
 Saul's soul-history in those years was a very 
 tragic business — a sore toil of the spirit, ending in 
 vexation and heaviness of heart. What if he had 
 met Jesus while He was on earth, become one of 
 His disciples and heard His golden words, and 
 seen His gracious deeds from day to day, instead 
 of being ' one born out of due time ' ? 1 It might 
 have made some difference in his conception of 
 the Christian religion, and in the colour of his 
 writings. But be this as it may, what I wish to 
 say now is that it was for such disciples as he 
 that Jesus craved ; for men who were not merely 
 simple, sincere, and honest-hearted, but also in 
 possession of spiritual senses exercised to discern 
 between good and evil ; that is to say, not only 
 between the obviously good and evil, but between 
 the really and the reputedly good, and between 
 the really and the reputedly evil. To that the 
 Twelve had not attained. Possibly there was not 
 a single man living in Palestine at that time that 
 1 i Cor. xv. 8. 
 
JESUS LONGING FOR APT DISCIPLES 141 
 
 had attained. The man who came inquiring 
 concerning eternal life was on the way to the 
 attainment ; hence the interest he created in the 
 mind of Jesus, who saw in him a possible Paul or 
 Barnabas, and may, for ought we know, have 
 thought of him as a substitute for a false disciple 
 already suspected of treason. But he had the 
 fatal defect of insufficient earnestness. He knew 
 more than he was prepared to put in practice. 
 
 Is the ideal disciple, as just described, properly 
 designated by the epithets ' labouring and heavy 
 laden ' ? Yes, if we take the words, as they surely 
 ought to be taken, in a spiritual sense. There is 
 no toil so arduous as the quest of the sumnium 
 bonum when carried on in the spirit of a Paul or 
 a Buddha, and no burden so heavy as that of the 
 heart which has long sought, and not yet found it. 
 Those who have passed through the experience 
 know the truth of this statement, though to others 
 it may seem a great exaggeration. Christ com- 
 prehended the labour and the burden, and pitied 
 the sufferer, and yearned to give him relief. Let 
 us not be deceived by the simple terms in which 
 idresscs him into the prosaic idea that it is 
 purely physical toil and weariness lie has in view, 
 
 and that in a spirit ofdisgUSted reaction He turns 
 
i 4 2 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 from the disdainful scribe to the illiterate peasant 
 for satisfying discipleship. Bodily labour and 
 fatigue simply serve the purpose of an emblem. 
 The toil present to His mind is not that which 
 has for its object the meat that perisheth, but that 
 which has for its aim the meat that endureth unto 
 everlasting life. So understood, the words of 
 Jesus necessarily point to the highest type of 
 religious experience, that which is heroic in effort 
 and temper and tragic in career. Nothing short 
 of that deserves to be so characterised. Feeble 
 desire for the eternal is not labour, and failure to 
 obtain the object of such desire is no burden. 
 
 When we know who are meant by the ' labour- 
 ing and heavy laden ' we understand why Jesus 
 describes Himself as ' meek and lowly in heart.' 
 Till we perceive who are addressed, we fail to 
 discern any fitness in the allusion. Might not 
 the Teacher with equal appropriateness have 
 specified some other characteristics? Probably 
 many a student of the Gospels, while drawn to 
 this oracle by its inexpressible charm, has had 
 such a feeling, though hardly willing to avow it to 
 himself. The feeling disappears when we have de- 
 fined the ideal disciple. The underlying thought 
 is then seen to be that the moods of Master and 
 
JESUS LONGING FOR APT DISCIPLES 143 
 
 scholar correspond. The weary seeker after 
 wisdom, or the knowledge of the Highest Good, 
 is meek and lowly. He is as one whose heart 
 has been broken aud his spirit bruised. His 
 heart is not haughty, nor his eyes lofty. His 
 soul is even as a weaned child. He needs one 
 who can speak tenderly as well as wisely, fully 
 acquainted with his case, and sympathetic in his 
 attitude towards both his aspirations and his 
 disappointments. As such an one Jesus offers 
 Himself. To the labouring and heavy laden He 
 in effect says : ' The Lord God hath given Me the 
 tongue of the learned, that I should know how 
 to Speak a word in season to him that is weary.' 
 And how has He acquired this supreme talent? 
 1 experience of disappointment answering 
 to that of those whom He invites to His school. 
 tinted in their teachers, 
 
 He has been disappointed in His scholars. In 
 
 street crowd, among the disciples 
 
 of the RabblS, and even in His own disciple-circle, 
 -perience has been disenchanting: limited 
 
 tivity at the best, not infrequently a 
 
 eptivity. So the ideal disciple and 
 He need one another, and suit OOe another. He 
 
 them to fill Hi they 
 
i 4 4 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 need Him to satisfy the hunger of their souls. 
 And there is mutual sympathy as well as mutual 
 need. Similarity in experience has produced 
 congeniality of temper. 
 
 When such a Teacher and such scholars meet, 
 one can predict what will happen. They will 
 find solace in each other's company. Of that 
 also Jesus speaks, though only on one side of 
 the joint experience. Of the solace the disciple 
 will bring to Him, He makes no mention ; but 
 to the solace He will communicate He does 
 refer in these words : ■ And ye shall find rest to 
 your souls.' There will be at least the rest that 
 comes from the sense of being perfectly under- 
 stood and fully sympathised with. But that is 
 not all that is needed. There must be instruction 
 as well as sympathy. The Teacher must be able 
 to give what the scholar has hitherto sought in 
 vain : a word of eternal life that shall bring 
 contentment to the whole inner being — mind, 
 heart, conscience. Jesus recognises this when He 
 speaks of His 'yoke.' The taking of the yoke 
 means coming to His school, and the invitation 
 to come is an acknowledgment of obligation on 
 His part to perform the Teacher's role. He must 
 teach, and teach satisfactorily, so that the pupil 
 
JESUS LONGING FOR APT DISCIPLES 145 
 
 shall not need to leave Him, as he has left 
 others, and go in quest of a new teacher. And 
 accordingly He promises satisfaction by charac- 
 terising His yoke as 'easy.' A teacher's yoke 
 is easy when his doctrine commends itself to 
 reason and conscience. An easy yoke does not 
 necessarily imply a low, accommodating ideal of 
 life. On the contrary, the teacher's ideal may 
 be lofty, exacting, apparently unattainable, yet 
 the reverse of burdensome because sweetly 
 reasonable and true to the deepest instincts of 
 the soul. Such, as we shall see, was the moral 
 ideal of Jesus as set forth in His recorded 
 words : high and difficult, yet not grievous ; 
 awakening enthusiasm, therefore no burden to 
 the spirit. What a contrast to the yoke of the 
 Rabbi, ! 
 
 In the light of the foregoing interpretation of 
 Christ's statement concerning Himself, we cm 
 
 see clearly how feeble is the argument which has 
 
 been based upon it against the authenticity of the 
 saying 'Come unto Mr.' Christ, it is arj 
 could not have said'] am meek and lowly 'just 
 becau e He was meek and lowly, Self-eul 
 even in soliloquy, is incompatible with humility. 1 
 
 my .//V. t > y.". 
 K 
 
146 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 Various things might be said in reply to this 
 ethical canon of criticism. But the simplest 
 way to dispose of it is to point out that what 
 we have in the words objected to is, properly 
 speaking, not self-eulogy but self-description. 
 They describe a mood rather than lay claim to 
 a virtue. If it was not egotism in the prophet 
 to represent himself as one whom God had 
 trained to speak a word in season to him that 
 was weary, as little was it egotism in Jesus to 
 use a form of words which in effect means the 
 same thing. If a Psalmist in the Divine Presence 
 might say, ' My heart is not haughty,' why 
 might not Jesus say, ' I am meek and lowly ' 
 without prejudice to His humility? Prophet, 
 Psalmist, and Jesus all speak out of the same 
 mood, not in a spirit of boasting, rather in a 
 tone of self-humiliation. Their utterances are 
 the devout breathings of a broken and contrite 
 heart too familiar with the vanity of life while 
 still able to hope in God. 
 
 The view here presented as to the import of 
 the saying ' Come unto Me,' and the mood which 
 it expresses, helps us moreover to understand its 
 omission by Luke, assuming that he was not 
 unacquainted with it, but knew perfectly well 
 
JESUS LONGING FOR APT DISCIPLES 147 
 
 that it formed a part of a larger whole, the former 
 portion of which he has preserved. We have 
 seen that it is the way of this Evangelist to 
 exercise editorial discretion in reference to what- 
 ever affects the character of the Lord Jesus or of 
 His apostles, omitting, pruning, strongly stating, 
 as the case might require. This idiosyncrasy 
 comes into play here, giving rise to modification 
 of what has been retained, and to the omission 
 of what could not be modified. The modification 
 consists in the altered mood out of which the 
 utterance is made to spring. In Luke's account 
 ] speaks at a moment of exulting gladness, 
 
 occasioned by the glowing reports of the Seventy 
 just returned from their evangelistic mi 
 
 The historical setting there assigned to the 
 devotional outpouring is intrinsically improbable 
 as compared to that given to it in Matthew, 
 
 and the exultant mood ascribed to Jesus is 
 
 hardly what we should have expected from Him 
 
 even in such a connection as Lukes narrative 
 postulates. That ti. Via iter had all 
 
 found His own ministry disappointing is fc> 
 
 doubt. Is it likely that the result^ of the minor 
 the Twelve «>r of the Seventy, hoi 
 1 Lai 1 
 
i 4 8 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 gratifying so far as they went, would move Him 
 to ecstatic joy, and to passionate outpouring of 
 His soul in devout thanksgiving ? The situation 
 and the mood, as conceived by Luke, are wholly 
 inadequate to the quality of the utterance. It 
 is another instance illustrating his inability to 
 do justice to the tragic element in our Lord's 
 character and experience. 
 
 The omission of the second part is due in some 
 measure to the same inability. Luke apparently 
 did not know what to make of it. He felt 
 instinctively that it did not fit in to the supposed 
 situation and mood. Two things would give him 
 this feeling : the unmistakable tone of sadness 
 pervading the words, and the description of the 
 persons addressed as labouring and heavy laden. 
 1 I am meek and lowly in heart.' Luke under- 
 stood better than some modern critics that these 
 words were the description of a mood, not a piece 
 of self-eulogy ; and taking them so, he perceived 
 their unsuitableness to a moment of triumphant 
 gladness. That was one reason for omission. 
 Another was the inapplicability of the epithets 
 ' labouring and heavy laden ' to the case of the 
 Seventy or the Twelve. There need, indeed, 
 have been no difficulty on that score if the words, 
 
JESUS LONGING FOR APT DISCIPLES 149 
 
 as Resch supposes, 1 referred to the fatigue con- 
 nected with the recent mission, and, as employed 
 by Jesus, meant : Come, ye tired and weary 
 evangelists, and I will give you a recreative 
 holiday. But I do not think it possible that an 
 idea so utterly prosaic could ever have entered 
 Luke's head. He knew enough of Christ's intel- 
 lectual habitudes to be aware that the labour and 
 the burden must be symbols of spiritual experi- 
 ences. And just there lay his perplexity. He 
 could not imagine the members of the disciple- 
 circle as the subject of any such experiences. 
 Were they not rather happy men in possession 
 of enviable privileges and powers ? Why should 
 they be asked to come to Christ's school ? Had 
 they not been there for some time already, and 
 had they not made some progress in the lore 
 which brought light and peace and contentment 
 to the spirit ' J There was nothing for it but to 
 omit the words SO long as they were supposed t<> 
 
 to the disciple-circle. They might have 
 
 been preserved as words spoken to other persons, 
 
 . desire for a discipleship of a more 
 
 J and satisfying character. But that course 
 
 1 In 
 
 1 ;-• 
 
150 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 was not open to Luke, who was ever anxious to 
 spare the Twelve. So viewed, the ' Come unto 
 Me' would indicate dissatisfaction with all actual 
 disciples ; therefore, even with them. Words 
 bearing such a meaning Luke would certainly not 
 report. 
 
 Yet one other argument against the authenticity 
 of this famous saying remains to be disposed of; 
 that, viz., based on an alleged literary resemblance 
 between it and the Prayer of Jesus the Son of 
 Struck, in the last chapter of the Old Testament 
 Apocryphal book which bears the name of the 
 Wisdom of Struck. That a certain resemblance 
 does exist, I am not disposed to deny. There is 
 just enough to have led me years ago, in reading 
 the book, to note in the margin a reference to 
 Matthew xi. 28-30. It will be best to reproduce 
 the passage in which the likeness appears, so that 
 readers may judge for themselves. In the version 
 of the Apocrypha, recently published by the 
 Revisers of the Authorised Version of the Old 
 and New Testaments, it stands thus : — 
 
 Chap. li. 23. Druw neur unto me, ye unlearned, 
 and lodge in the house of in- 
 struction. 
 24. Say wherefore are ye lacking in 
 
JESUS LONGING FOR APT DISCIPLES 151 
 
 these things, and your souls arc 
 very thirsty. 
 I opened my mouth and spake : 
 get her for yourselves without 
 money. 
 
 26. Put your neck under the yoke and 
 
 let your soul receive instruction ; 
 she is hard at hand to find. 
 
 27. Behold with your eyes how that I 
 
 laboured but a little and found 
 for myself much rest. 
 
 28. Get you instruction with a great 
 
 sum of silver and gain much 
 gold by her. 
 
 29. May your soul rejoice in His 
 
 mercy, and may ye not be put 
 to shame in praising Him. 
 }0. Work your work before the time 
 cometh, and in Mis time He 
 
 will give you your reward. 
 The resemblance is in the passage I have 
 
 marked in italics, and it I 
 
 Far from wishing to deny this, I am rather 
 tempted to ite the extent of the lik< 
 
 because if it were certain that the author of the 
 word in the Gospel, whoever he wa^, had tin- 
 
152 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 Prayer of the Son of Sirach in his view, an argu- 
 ment might thence be drawn for the unity of the 
 whole passage (Matt. xi. 25-30). For Sirach's 
 prayer, like this evangelic section, begins with a 
 prayer and ends with an invitation, and the first 
 word of both prayers is the same. 1 If the 
 utterance of the later Jesus be a composition 
 based on the devout outpouring of the earlier, 
 then Matthew has preserved the whole of it, and 
 Luke has given only a fragment. It is worth 
 noting a literary affinity which has any chance of 
 yielding so satisfactory a result. But it may be 
 feared that what we gain in one direction we lose 
 in another. In other words, the question readily 
 suggests itself, Does the literary affinity, once 
 recognised, not compel the admission that Matthew 
 xi. 25-30 is not a genuine utterance of our Lord, 
 but a composition by the Evangelist, or by some 
 one from whom he has borrowed ? Without 
 hesitation I say, by no means. Why should not 
 the resemblance in question be the result of an 
 acquaintance on the part of Jesus Himself with 
 the Wisdom of Sirach, an acquaintance dating 
 possibly from boyhood, and leaving its traces in 
 
 1 'I will give thanks to Thee,' in Sirach; 'I thank Thee,' in 
 the Gospel. 
 
JESUS LONGING FOR APT DISCIPLES 153 
 
 phrases which perhaps unconsciously colour the 
 style of His address to ideal disciples? How 
 far, as a matter of fact, acquaintance with an 
 Apocryphal book such as Sirach was likely to be 
 possessed by non-professional Galila^ans in the 
 time of Christ, I do not know. But on the hypo- 
 thesis we are considering some one belonging to 
 the early Christian Church knew the book ; and 
 if that was possible for him, why not also for 
 Jesus? And if the book was within His reach, I 
 do not think He would have any scruple about 
 perusing it. lie might read it as a good book 
 though not canonical ; and though abstaining in 
 the time of His public ministry from citing it as 
 authoritative Scripture, He might not think it 
 aiy to be anxiously on His guard against 
 allowing its phrases to find an occasional faint 
 echo in I [is own style. 
 
 All this is merely hypothetical reasoning. 
 Whether the resemblance between the two devo- 
 tional utU i more than an accident, I am 
 not prepared confidently to determine, it 
 slight that it might quite well be an utterly iro- 
 ned coincidence, it co n cer ns the expre ssi on 
 
 Chiefly, hardly at all the thought, in rCSp 
 
 which the utterance of tin- Lord is incomparably 
 
154 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 superior. Even in the matter of style the words 
 of the earlier Jesus are poor by comparison. How 
 artificial and stilted its diction compared with the 
 simplicity, felicity, and spontaneity of the ■ Come 
 unto Me ' ! This has taken its place among 
 the golden words of the religious literature of 
 mankind. The ' Draw near unto me ' of Sirach 
 has nothing in it to ensure even temporary fame, 
 not to speak of immortality. It is redolent of the 
 lamp rather than of Divine inspiration. I owe an 
 apology to devout Christian people for placing 
 the two prayers side by side even for a moment. 
 My excuse must be that modern critics have 
 compelled me. 
 
 The unity of Matthew xi. 25-30 justifies an 
 important inference as to the central truth the 
 great Master is to communicate to His ideal 
 disciples. It is that God is a Father. In the 
 first part of the devotional soliloquy He has 
 spoken of that truth as a secret which it is His 
 exclusive prerogative to reveal. It must be 
 supposed to be present to His mind when He 
 proceeds to invite the labouring and heavy laden. 
 That truth He will be pleased to reveal to them. 
 The revelation He expects to give them deep 
 satisfaction. As the Revealer of that truth, they 
 
JESUS LONGING FOR APT DISCIPLES 155 
 
 will recognise in Him a Teacher standing in sharp 
 contrast to their other masters, and One whose 
 yoke is easy because the truth He teaches sets free 
 from everything in religion that imposes fetters 
 on the spirit. Nothing but a true doctrine of God 
 can meet the requirements of the case. The vital 
 thing in religion and in life is how we conceive 
 God. On the idea we cherish of the Divine 
 Being it depends whether our religion is to be 
 a bane or a blessing, emancipating or enslaving, 
 in moral tendency elevating or degrading. Come 
 then to Christ's school, all ye who desire the true 
 knowledge of God. Learn of Him how to think 
 of God, man, and their relations. His doctrine 
 all vital problems : the problems of past 
 Sin, of p resen t duty, and of future destiny. 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 THE ESCAPES OF JESUS 
 
 OUR main source of information for what I 
 venture to call 'the Escapes of Jesus' is Mark's 
 Gospel. The narrative of the second evangelist 
 contains sundry intimations of the desire of our 
 Lord to get away from crowds into retreats where 
 quiet intercourse with His disciples was possible. 
 For hints are not wanting that this was the 
 leading aim of these acts of retirement. As a 
 sample may be cited these words : ' They de- 
 parted thence and passed through Galilee, and 
 He would not that any man should know it, for 
 He was teaching His disciples.' 1 Of the instruc- 
 tion communicated to the Twelve, Mark has 
 preserved comparatively little, but he more than 
 any other of the evangelists has made apparent 
 how much they needed it. One of his realistic 
 touches is a question he represents the Master 
 
 1 Mark ix. 30, 31. 
 
THE ESCAPES OF JESUS 157 
 
 as addressing to His disciples, How do ye not 
 understand ? x The disappointment, bordering 
 on impatience, to which that question gave 
 occasional expression was, it is to be feared, a 
 chronic feeling in Christ's mind in reference to 
 the men whom He had chosen. They were far 
 enough from being ideal scholars, and Mark of 
 all the evangelists takes least pains to hide the 
 fact. That they did not understand is patent in 
 his pages, and that their Master sought oppor- 
 tunities for dispelling their ignorance is equally 
 so. Thus witness is indirectly borne in this 
 Gospel to extensive instruction, unreported in its 
 pages, which we arc prepared to find in fuller 
 reports of our Lord's ministry. It is noticeable 
 that Mark, as if conscious of the defect of his 
 Gospel on the didactic side, tries to compensate 
 for the lack of detail by general statements as to 
 activity in teaching, where Matthew, gg t strong 
 in the <li<l.i< tu element, represents our Lord as 
 
 occupied in a healing ministry. Instances may 
 
 be found in Mark x. 1, xi. lS, compared with 
 Matthew xix. 2, xxi. l.{. 
 
 I .1" Je.sii^ took place in all dire< 
 
 dons po ible i"i one whose work had for its 
 
 ' rk \ni. j 1 
 
158 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 geographical area the western margin of the sea 
 of Galilee. He might retreat to the hill-country 
 behind, or to the eastern shore of the lake, or to 
 the northern borderland. He made His escape 
 successively in each of these directions ; first 
 once to the hill, then twice to the Eastern shore, 
 then twice (apparently) northwards, making five 
 attempts in all to withdraw into congenial 
 solitude. The first three were escapes from the 
 people gathered in immense crowds, the last two 
 were escapes not entirely from the people, but 
 also from their religious leaders. 
 
 i. The Escape to the Hill. ' He goeth up into 
 the mountain.' 1 That this movement was of the 
 nature of an escape becomes clear when we 
 attentively consider all the circumstances. Very 
 significant, in the first place, is the fact stated just 
 before, that Jesus instructed His disciples to have 
 a boat waiting 'because of the crowd, lest they 
 should throng Him.' 2 A boat, of course, could be 
 of no use for an ascent to the hill-tops ; but the 
 point to be noted is the desire and intention to 
 escape somehow, and in some direction, when the 
 crowd became inconveniently large and eager. 
 Such a crowd, it is next to be observed, had 
 
 1 Mark iii. 13. 2 Mark iii. 9. 
 
THE ESCAPES 01 JESUS 159 
 
 gathered around Jesus, at the time when He 
 made the ascent ; a motley company of diseased 
 persons, elbowing their way towards Him, and 
 pressing in upon Him from every side, that they 
 might touch His body, and so get rid — as they 
 hoped — of their ailments ; while demoniacs on 
 their knees screamed in hideous chorus, ' Thou 
 art the Son of God.' It was a disorderly scramble 
 for a cure, threatening danger to the person of 
 the Healer, and distasteful to His spirit through 
 the superstition it revealed ; and it is no wonder 
 that with all His 'enthusiasm of humanity' He 
 wished Himself well out of it. The ascent of the 
 mountain was the expedient He adopted for self- 
 extrication ; and the next significant circum- 
 stance to be noted i-> that He goes not alone, but 
 accompanied by a band of men, whom, in a 
 manner not indicated, He picks out of the crowd, 
 as a kind of body-guard. They are 
 
 doubt) :i with an eye, not merely to this 
 
 imme >f protection, but to pn 
 
 tive discipleship ; .1 first of which, 
 
 • lue acquaintance in the hill r 
 
 will be made Sufficient with tl: rfously 
 
 Called t<> make up the inner c ircle "t the- Tv.elw. 
 Hut .: t the mob tl: nit, in 
 
i6o WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 the first place, to be, so implying a resolute 
 purpose to secure for a season relief from an 
 overwhelming embarrassing popularity. That the 
 device succeeded appears from the fact that the 
 multitude is represented as reassembling on 
 learning that Jesus had descended from the 
 mountain. They had not followed, they had 
 dispersed to their homes ; but on the report 
 spreading ' He is back again,' the scarcely lulled 
 enthusiasm easily revived. 
 
 How was Jesus occupied on the hill-top? 
 Mark is silent on the point, but one cannot 
 hesitate as to the answer. What could He be 
 doing but teaching His disciples, considering 
 their need of instruction, the extreme difficulty of 
 finding leisure for this important work, and the 
 welcome recreation that would come from so 
 congenial a change of occupation ? And seeing 
 that the ascent of the mountain was of the nature 
 of an escape from a too importunate crowd, the 
 probability is that the sojourn up there was pro- 
 longed so as to give time for the vast gathering 
 to disperse, and lasted for at least some days, 
 during which a considerable body of instruction 
 could be given in separate lessons, each day 
 having its own theme. In short, all points to this 
 
THE ESCAPES OF JESUS 161 
 
 as the occasion on which the so-called Sermon on 
 the Mount was delivered. That sermon, as reported 
 in Matthew, is probably the summary of a week's 
 instruction in a summer school at which the 
 recently selected body of disciples, including the 
 Twelve, were the audience. Instead of the 
 1 Sermon on the Mount,' it might, as suggested 
 in the first chapter, be more appropriately called 
 the Teaching on the Hill. For it is teaching, not 
 preaching, and the persons addressed are not a 
 large miscellaneous crowd, but a select band of 
 men with some aptitude for disciple-lore. This 
 distinction between sermon and teaching, people 
 and disciples, while not without justification in 
 Matthew's narrative, is by no means firmly 
 adhered to there, and all traces of it have dis- 
 LTCd in Luke's version, where the famous 
 if Olir Lord assumes the character of an 
 address to B lai nobly, such as that from 
 
 which in Mark's narrative He is represented as 
 a; <\ Yet the circumstances as 
 
 bed in the second Gospel ; the probability 
 
 that t! mentioned was the occasion 
 
 on which the discourse was delivered ; and last, 
 hut not least, the nature of its contents, compel 
 
 tile COnclu ion that a limited body of disciples, 
 
 I. 
 
1 62 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 not a miscellaneous assembly, constituted the 
 audience. 
 
 Why has Mark not reported any of that 
 memorable teaching ? Possibly because he was 
 not able. Such a body of deep thought could 
 not be treasured up for long years in the memory 
 of any disciple however attentive or intelligent ; 
 therefore Peter, Mark's apostolic source, could not 
 repeat it from memory in his preaching. In all 
 probability it would have been lost to the world 
 unless some disciple, Matthew e.g., had made 
 written memoranda at the time. These memor- 
 anda, we must suppose, found a place in the 
 Oracles of the Lord, which, according to Papias, 
 that disciple compiled, and thence passed in 
 diverse versions to the pages of our first and 
 third Gospels. But why could not Mark also 
 have got them from the same source ? Probably 
 for the simple reason that he did not know it. The 
 contrary view indeed has been very confidently 
 maintained by some scholars, very specially by 
 Dr. Bernhard Weiss. While acknowledging the 
 ingenuity of that able theologian's reasoning, I 
 think the point very doubtful, and one of my 
 reasons for doing so is just this, that Mark is so 
 utterly silent about the Teaching on the Hill. 
 
THE ESCAPES OF JESUS 163 
 
 2. TJie first Escape over the lake to the Eastern 
 Shore. — This took place, according to Mark, on 
 the day of the Parabolic Discourse, and that it 
 was indeed of the nature of an escape is very 
 clear from his narrative. On the same day, at 
 eventide, when He had ended His address from 
 the boat to the vast multitude on the shore, 
 Jesus abruptly says to His disciples, ' Let us 
 cross over to the other side.' l Whereupon, leav- 
 ing the multitude where they were (not ' sending 
 them away/ as the Authorised Version has it), 
 the disciples take Him as He was, i.e. without 
 delay and without any preparations for a journey, 
 along with them in the boat eastward as directed. 2 
 It was an escape along the only possible line of 
 it, landing on the western shore being im- 
 possible owing to the vastness of the crowd. To 
 even seawards was not easy, other 
 boats having gathered around that in which Jesus 
 
 foil of people eager to get near the Sp 
 that they might hear Him distinctly. 3 These 
 apparently trivial particulars. n in the 
 
 I Gospel, are obviously realistic reminis- 
 
 , and when duly con- 
 sidered call up a vivid picture of the situation. 
 
 1 Mark iv. 35. 
 
1 64 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 Jesus, weary with talking, and with the excite- 
 ment of a great assembly (so weary that He falls 
 asleep as soon as the boat begins to move), 
 desires quiet and rest, and at a glance perceives 
 that there is only one way of obtaining them, 
 and gives orders accordingly. His disciples, 
 gathering His wish from word, tone, and gesture, 
 with the promptitude of experts move off at once, 
 without a thought of where precisely they are 
 going, or what is to be done in the matter of 
 food and lodgings. Possibly their impression is 
 that the voyage eastwards is simply a round- 
 about way of getting to the western shore, and 
 so home, after the people have dispersed in the 
 evening twilight. In that case the movement 
 would have been simply an escape without an 
 ulterior object. But it is probable that Jesus 
 had more in view — the obtainment of a time 
 of leisure in a region where He was unknown, 
 during which He might discuss with the disciples 
 the incidents of the day and the lessons to be 
 gathered from them. For the parabolic dis- 
 course, and especially the utterance of the parable 
 of the Sower, was an important event which 
 meant much for the people, for Jesus, and for 
 the Twelve. 
 
THE ESCAPES OF JESUS 165 
 
 From all the synoptical accounts it is clear that 
 the parabolic discourse, and especially the main 
 parable, formed the subject of a conversation 
 between Jesus and His disciples. Over the time, 
 the place, and the precise details of the con- 
 versation, a certain amount of obscurity hangs, 
 but some points are clear : that the disciples 
 desired to know why their Master had spoken 
 to the people so, that He gave them explana- 
 tions on that point, and that He further took 
 pains to impress on them their responsibilities 
 as disciples. 1 
 
 As to the first, what the Twelve desired to know 
 
 was probably, not why their Master spoke to the 
 
 people in parables, but why He spoke to them in 
 
 such parables. That I Ee spoke to them in parables 
 
 could be ik; surprise, for He had been doing that 
 
 all along, in every synagogue and wayside t\is- 
 
 But in parables like the Sower there 
 
 the disciples felt, a new element: a tone of 
 
 pointment audible, a spirit of criticism 
 
 They perceived, of course, that 
 - iiti< al parables grew out of the Ifa 
 
 rience, and at bottom what they 
 wanted to know was, why lie was dissatisfied 
 
1 66 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 And His reply in substance was that for various 
 reasons hinted at in the Sower, and further 
 explained afterwards, in very many cases His 
 efforts had been vain. The word had not fruc- 
 tified, the hearer had not heard to profit. 
 
 From reflections on this depressing topic the 
 transition would be easy to the subject of disciple- 
 responsibility. The moral of the parable discourse, 
 so far as the Twelve were concerned, was, If the 
 word fail of effect in so many instances, see that there 
 be no failure in your case. The Master was saying 
 to them indirectly, You are my hope ; you specially, 
 if not exclusively, are my good soil, soft, deep, and 
 clean ; see that ye bring forth fruit abundant and 
 mature. This He said to them directly afterwards 
 in private intercourse, when He exhorted them to 
 take heed how they heard so that they might under- 
 stand, indicated that intelligence would be in pro- 
 portion to attention, and imposed on them the duty 
 of communicating knowledge thus attained ; in 
 parabolic language, the duty of placing the lamp on 
 the stand. 1 By the choice parable of the Blade, the 
 Ear, and the Ripe Corn, 2 He gave them to under- 
 stand that He did not expect them to realise His 
 ideal in a day. He would give them time, and be 
 
 1 Mark iv. 21-25. 2 Mark iv. 26-29. 
 
THE ESCAPES OF JESUS 167 
 
 content if they brought forth the ripe fruit of their 
 schooling eventually as the result of a law of 
 gradual growth. 
 
 3. The next escape also took the shape of a 
 voyage across the lake, this time in a north- 
 easterly direction. It occurred shortly after the 
 return of the Twelve from their house-mission in 
 Galilee. 1 Its character as an escape is distinctly 
 revealed in the terms in which the proposal was 
 introduced by Jesus. Its ostensible aim, as 
 therein represented, was to secure an interval of 
 rest for the disciples ; not, as one might naturally 
 imagine, from the fatigues of the mission, but 
 from the incessant demands created by a constant 
 stream of people coming and going, not leaving 
 even so much leisure as was needful for taking 
 The attempt to get away from the excited 
 CfOwd in this case, as in the former, proved a 
 failure, thougfa not for the same reason. In the 
 former instance the plan was frustrated through 
 an unexpe Winter with a madman; this 
 
 time defeat was due t<> the enthusiasm of a 
 
 multitude determined not t<> lie baulked, who, 
 
 that the Master ami His disciples were 
 making for the head of the lake, started off at a 
 
 1 Mark rL 10-31. ' irk ri. 31. 
 
1 68 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 run, and made such speed as to be on the ground 
 before them. 1 In both cases Jesus had to do what 
 He had not intended — perform a wonderful work ; 
 on the earlier occasion curing a demoniac who 
 imagined himself possessed by a legion of devils, 
 on the later feeding thousands of hungry people 
 in a desert. 
 
 There is a mystery about this third flight from 
 the people. One cannot but suspect that more 
 than mere physical rest was aimed at. What was 
 the meaning of sending the Twelve away alone, 
 after the feeding, back to the western shore ? 2 It 
 looks as if there was something going on which 
 made their absence desirable. And what did that 
 coming and going of the people on the other side, 
 before the eastward voyage, signify ? No mention 
 is made of sick being brought to be healed. 
 Something else seems to be in the people's minds 
 for the moment. What can it be? The fourth 
 Gospel here gives us a clew in the remarkable 
 statement that the people whom Jesus fed in the 
 desert desired perforce to make Him a King. 3 If 
 that was really the fact, the idea did not come 
 into their heads then for the first time. The 
 project then only reached its crisis. That was 
 
 1 Mark vi. 33. a Mark vi. 45. 3 John vi. 15. 
 
THE ESCAPES OF JESUS 169 
 
 what the coming and going had been about, and 
 it was to the disciples rather than to the Master 
 that the stream of visitors came, finding them not 
 unsympathetic. The movement, congenial to the 
 spirit of Galilaeans, and too easily put into their 
 minds, may have sprung out of the house-mission. 
 The Twelve had been only too successful. They 
 had talked about the Kingdom, and this was 
 what came of it — a political scheme. Wild as it 
 may seem to us, it would appear perfectly natural 
 to them. What was to be the issue of that 
 immense enthusiasm ? Was it to end in smoke? 
 Was not the inevitable consummation to make 
 the marvellous Teacher and Healer the actual 
 head of a reformed .state? 
 
 No better explanation can be given of Christ's 
 manifest d -:>arate His disciples from the 
 
 people than the supposition that the Galileans 
 entert a ined Mich a project, and that the Twelve 
 more or lesi Sympathised with it at the time of 
 
 return from their mission. Assuming this 
 
 to be the fact, we understand what kind of 'rest ' 
 
 Jmed at It n from /'////- 
 
 from the level of i h enthtu i 
 
 from mental excitement over .1 fond scheme 
 
 which, it not resolutely opposed, would cm\ in 
 
17© WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 disaster. Such rest Jesus must at all hazards 
 secure for His disciples if they are to be of any 
 use to Him, to help and not frustrate His plans. 
 The time has come when the question, Whither ? 
 must be dealt with. The Master knows the true 
 answer to the question, but the disciples do not. 
 A false issue is in their view. The first thing to 
 be done, therefore, is peremptorily to negate the 
 issue they contemplate. To accomplish this was 
 the real motive of the voyage towards the north- 
 eastern shore. The next task will be to make 
 known the true issue. To secure leisure for 
 explanations on this momentous topic was a 
 leading motive for the two flights remaining to 
 be mentioned. 
 
 4. The Escape in the direction of Tyre and 
 Sidon} — Some Biblical scholars are of opinion 
 that there was only one excursion to the northern 
 confines of Palestine, which in the Gospel narra- 
 tives has, through some confusion in the tradition, 
 got broken up into two, a longer one into the 
 territories of Tyre and Sidon, and a later, shorter 
 one to the neighbourhood of Caesarea Philippi. 
 This question may be left on one side, all the 
 more that, even if there were, as I believe, two 
 
 1 Mark vii. 24. 
 
THE ESCAPES OF JESUS 171 
 
 distinct journeys, they were one in general aim. 
 The common purpose of both was to get away 
 for a season, completely and securely, at once 
 from enthusiastic but foolish crowds, from well- 
 meant but futile political plots, and from the 
 recently manifested ill-will of religious leaders, 
 more to be feared than anything, 1 that in solitude 
 and silence Jesus might brace His own spirit for 
 the fatal crisis which from concurrent signs He 
 knew to be approaching, and at the same time 
 prepare His disciples for an issue of which they 
 little dreamt. That He went so far away, this 
 time, needs no explanation. The reason simply 
 was that not otherwise could He attain His end. 
 The previous attempt to escape had failed, be- 
 cause the place of retreat was too near the scenes 
 of labour. The new movement of retirement, 
 therefore, must be towards regions so remote that 
 pursuit was not to be apprehended And it must 
 
 be northwards, not southwards, 1. ■■ iphical 
 
 and fur moral reasons. The northern boundary lay 
 
 nearest Galilee, and the time had not come tor the 
 southern journey. Jesus will go to Jerusalem to 
 
 dii , I le mil t go t<> the north \OpnfOT$ to die. 
 
172 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 The first of the two northerly excursions seems 
 to have been of considerable extent. Mark names 
 in connection with it Tyre, Sidon, Decapolis, and 
 the sea of Galilee. Connecting these points we 
 get a journey, first northwards to and through 
 the above-named maritime countries, then east- 
 wards over the Lebanon range to the neigh- 
 bourhood of Damascus, 1 then southwards and 
 westwards through the region of the ten cities, 
 and finally over the Jordan and back through 
 Galilee to the original point of departure. If this 
 was the route, it would occupy a considerable 
 time. How were the days of that eventful 
 pilgrimage filled up? The Gospel records here 
 are very meagre. Mark tells us most, but even 
 he reports only a couple of incidents — the 
 encounter with the woman of Canaan, and the 
 cure of a deaf-mute, apparently at some point on 
 the route through Decapolis. In both cases he 
 takes pains to show how much Jesus desired 
 privacy. In connection with the earlier incident 
 he remarks that Jesus ' would have no man know ' 
 where He was ; 2 and in connection with the later 
 he carefully notes that Jesus took the deaf-mute 
 
 1 Pliny includes Damascus in Decapolis {H.N. cap. v. 16). 
 
 2 Mark vii. 24. 
 
THE ESCAPES OF JESUS 173 
 
 1 aside from the multitude privately,' and after the 
 cure charged all who witnessed it to ' tell no 
 man.' 1 The second evangelist stands alone in 
 the emphasis with which he brings out this fact 
 in reference to the later period of our Lord's life, 
 though even he fails to explain fully its rationale. 
 That, happily, with due reflection on the data 
 supplied, we are able to do for ourselves. 
 
 Both the incidents reported by Mark possess 
 their own distinctive points of interest. The 
 prominent feature in the earlier occurrence is the 
 seeming reluctance of Jesus to grant the succour 
 craved by a distressed mother for her suffering 
 daughter. In the later, while still bent on 
 privacy, He made no objection to working the 
 cure asked, though in this case also the sufferer 
 was nut improbably a Gentile. What did that 
 reluctance mean? In Matthew's narrative Jesus 
 is reported to have pleaded as an excuse fur it 
 
 that His mission wras t<> the lost sheep of [sraeL 
 Tlie plea might have provoked the rejoinder, Why 
 then are you here? Israel's Saviour a fugitive 
 
 from Israel's land: Perhaps tli.it was just what 
 
 1 t the moment, 
 
 and also 11 hat 1 le u ished Hi 
 
174 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 on. His position as a fugitive was fitted of itself 
 to raise in His mind the question as to the 
 ultimate destination of His Gospel. In the cir- 
 cumstances, the coincidence of the Syrophenician 
 woman's request, in spite of His desire to remain 
 unknown, would readily assume the significance 
 of an omen. An isolated case might thus be 
 transformed into a representative instance, the 
 whole Gentile world in the person of that Syrian 
 mother saying in beseeching tones, ' Come over 
 and help us ! ' On that hypothesis the reluctance 
 to heal becomes very intelligible. In other 
 circumstances Jesus might have granted the 
 request without hesitation and without remark, 
 viewing the case as a mere exception involving 
 no principle. But in the actual situation He has 
 to realise for Himself the serious import of what 
 He is asked to do, and also, if possible, make it 
 apparent to His disciples. To Himself He has 
 to say : ' My mission was to Israel ; is this a new 
 call ? ' To His disciples : ' You sympathised with 
 the wish of the Galilaeans to make Me King of a 
 reformed Israel ; do you know what the request 
 of this woman, which you seem inclined to back, 
 really signifies? It portends the transference of 
 the Kingdom of God from Jewish to Gentile soil.' 
 
THE ESCAPES OF JESUS 175 
 
 What Jesus said to the woman may be interpreted 
 in the light of the same hypothesis. ' It is not 
 permissible (or it is not meet) to take the children's 
 bread and to cast it to the dogs,' said He with 
 apparent harshness. Had she known the whole 
 facts of the case, she might have replied : ' True, 
 Master, but have the children not already got 
 their bread, and have they not themselves thrown 
 it to the dogs ? Is that not the reason of your 
 being here ? ' That would have been an argument 
 difficult to answer ; yet her actual reply to Christ's 
 objection served her purpose even better, revealing 
 as it did a humble faith which went straight to 
 His heart and suggested the thought : the Pagans 
 after all are not dogs, but children. 
 
 Jesus, it seems to me, used the case of the 
 Syrophenician woman to give His disciples an 
 object-lesson on the claims of the Gentile world. 
 
 And the whole of that circular journey in Gentile 
 lands would be an education to them on that 
 subject, and probably was intended by their 
 
 that purpose, What lie said to 
 
 them we know not, but we can conceive what 
 
 the world itself would say: 'The sun shines here 
 
 ■s well as in Galilee; why may not the gracious 
 
 t the Father in Heaven be here sJso?' Or 
 
176 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 was that too abstruse a lesson in theology for 
 them as yet to comprehend ? 
 
 The leading feature in the later incident of this 
 journey is the curious details regarding the manner 
 in which our Lord effected the cure of the deaf- 
 mute. These are probably not to be regarded as 
 an indication of Christ's habitual method of work- 
 ing cures, but rather as something peculiar to the 
 individual case, and on that account deemed 
 worthy of note by the evangelist, or the original 
 reporter. The acts specified, putting a finger into 
 each ear, and touching the tongue, were not means, 
 but symbols of cure ; and perhaps we should find 
 in their use on this occasion a hint that the disease 
 itself had for the mind of the healer a symbolic 
 significance : physical deafness and dumbness an 
 emblem of the spiritual condition of Israel, or 
 possibly of the Gentile world. Thus may be 
 explained the sigh which Jesus heaved in working 
 the cure. It was a sigh not over the physical 
 malady of an individual, but over the spiritual 
 malady of a people, — in Israel's case, alas ! not 
 curable. 
 
 5. The Escape towards Ccesarea Philippi} — The 
 
 1 Matt. xvi. 13 ; Mark viii. 27 ; Luke ix. 18. There is no 
 indication of locality in Luke. 
 
THE ESCAPES OF JESUS 177 
 
 immediate occasion of this new journey towards 
 the north was the demand for a sign on the part 
 of the Pharisees, which to our Lord appeared a 
 thing of very evil omen. 1 As to its pedagogic 
 purpose in reference to the disciples, there is no 
 room for doubt. If, on the earlier journey, by the 
 way of Tyre, Sidon, and Decapolis, Jesus sought to 
 familiarise His disciples with the thought that the 
 Kingdom for whose coming they ardently longed 
 might eventually pass away from Israel, during this 
 later one His aim was to initiate them into the 
 mystery of His own ignominious fate. The two 
 subjects were closely connected. The events in- 
 volved were related to each other as cause and 
 effect. The rejection of Jesus would have for its 
 ary consequence the forfeiture by Israel of her 
 privilege, the passing of the vineyard into other 
 hands. Logical 1>', therefore, the fate awaiting 
 their Master should have been the first subject of 
 instruction for the disciples. Hut it was by far 
 the harder theme, therefore it formed the subject 
 of the later lei Oft It was a wide theme, with 
 many 11 as a hard one, and there is 
 
 -round for believing that during the weeks taken 
 
 up with the ( [on it formed the 
 
 1 M.nt. wi. 1 ; llmrk \ni. 1 1. 
 M 
 
178 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 leading topic of many an earnest conversation. 
 With reference to a certain stage of the journey, 
 Mark states that Jesus was teaching His disciples, 
 and was saying to them : ' The Son of Man is 
 delivered up into the hands of men, and they shall 
 kill Him.' * There was not merely an announce- 
 ment, but a course of instruction. The fact was 
 stated again and again, and made the subject of 
 explanatory discourse, in which it was pointed out 
 what causes were at work inevitably leading up 
 to such a catastrophe, and how well the event 
 predicted would correspond with Old Testament 
 prophetic anticipations. The leaven of the scribes, 
 of which the Master had bid His disciples beware, 2 
 would afford matter for much talk, as supplying 
 in its evil nature a sufficient answer to the 
 question, Why take so gloomy a view of the 
 future? And the prophetic delineations of the 
 sufferings of God's servants would receive their 
 due share of attention, as showing how likely 
 moral fidelity and tribulation are to go together 
 in this world. No fear of conversation flagging 
 in the Jesus-circle in those eventful weeks. 
 
 1 Mark ix. 31. The verbs represented in English by 'was 
 teaching ' and ' was saying ' are in the imperfect, implying con- 
 tinuous action. 
 
 2 Matt. xvi. 6; Mark viii. 15. 
 
THE ESCAPES OF JESUS 179 
 
 The subject was first introduced on the way 
 northwards towards Caesarea Philippi, 1 and very 
 appositely, by a question which had, and was 
 probably intended to have, the effect of eliciting 
 from the disciples a declaration of their faith 
 in the Messiahship of their Master. This faith 
 was not the birth of the moment ; it was really 
 involved in the sympathy evinced by the disciples 
 with the project to make Jesus King. Jesus 
 desired now to draw them into a confession of 
 their faith that He might set it in a new order of 
 ideas. Hitherto their logical position has been : the 
 Christ (shown to be such by word, deed, and spirit), 
 therefore worthy to be Israel's glorious crowned 
 King. The logic of the scribes, on the contrary, 
 has been : deserving by His conduct to die, there- 
 fore His Christhood incredible. Jesus wishes His 
 disciples to know that neither their logic nor that 
 Of th< is sound, and that the truth lies 
 
 in the antinomy: the Christ, yet doomed to an 
 ainiotlS death. What an abstruse lesson for 
 fishermen and publicans! No wonder 
 
 they 1 dnst the goad But there was no 
 
 lu-lp for it. Both mem b er s of the antinomy were 
 
 true, and neither could be seen in its full truth 
 1 Mark vn.. 
 
180 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 except in company with the other. What a 
 tragic event the death of Jesus became when it 
 was seen to be the death of a Messiah ; and what 
 a fierce light was thrown on the nature of 
 Messianic dignities and functions when it was 
 made clear that the destiny of a true Christ is to 
 be crucified by and for the world ! It is not sur- 
 prising that Jesus took great pains to indoctrinate 
 His followers in these high matters, making them 
 the absorbing theme of conversation from this 
 time onward. Only by much iteration could they 
 be made intelligible. After all His pains, the 
 disciples had not learnt their lesson when the end 
 came. But one thing they did understand then : 
 that what had happened was what their Master 
 had again and again said would happen ; and this 
 helped to bring them safely through the crisis. ' 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 YOUR FATHER WHO IS IN HEAVEN 
 
 WE return to the first Escape and to the Teach- 
 ing on the Hill. Up there on the mountain-top 
 Jesus is alone with His chosen disciples, enjoying 
 a welcome season of recreation away from the 
 sweltering heat and the crowds of the lake- 
 margin, and finding rest in a change of occupa- 
 tion. The Preacher and Healer now becomes 
 the Teacher, initiating His scholars into the 
 mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven. Heaven's 
 peace reigns in the hearts of Master and scholars 
 alike the while. It is for all a sacred blessed 
 holiday. The holiday mood is traceable through- 
 out the recorded sayings of the Master during 
 
 this season of repose, the tranquillity of the 
 
 uplands, the neighbourhood of the skies. In 
 
 parts of the discourse especial!}-, i .,". the 
 
 and the admonition against care, 
 
 there fa a divine simplicity, a lyric beauty, a 
 
1 82 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 light-hearted buoyancy that charm us, and tend 
 for the moment to transform us into citizens of 
 the Kingdom, and elevate us into the upper 
 regions of celestial tranquillity. Here we have 
 a chance of seeing into the very heart of Jesus. 
 Of course, it is but a glimpse that is now attain- 
 able. For an elaborate study of the Teaching 
 on the Hill this is not the place. But we may 
 form a slight acquaintance with the Master's 
 thoughts concerning God, man, and the true life 
 of man. The first of these three related topics 
 will engage our attention in this chapter. 
 
 Christ introduced into the language of religion 
 a way of speaking concerning God which was 
 new, if not absolutely, at least in emphasis and 
 import. He called God Father. 'Your Father 
 which is in heaven.' But He did not, as perhaps 
 we might have wished, offer any formal definition 
 of the sense in which He used the name. He 
 defined simply by discriminating nse, employing 
 the name in connections of thought which in- 
 vested it with special significance. He used the 
 title in this way sufficiently often to invest it for 
 the minds of His disciples with a rich network 
 of associated qualities, furnishing a firm support 
 to religious faith and a powerful stimulus to 
 
YOUR FATHER WHO IS IX HEAVEN 183 
 
 right conduct. It occurs some fifteen times in 
 the Sermon on the Mount as reported by Matthew, 
 so that by the end of the Sermon hearers must 
 have come to the conclusion that the Speaker 
 did not employ the term 'Father' mechanically 
 as a customary expression, but of set purpose 
 and with conscious deliberate preference. It 
 would be instructive to study exhaustively the 
 settings of the name in the various places where 
 it occurs. This cannot be done now. It must 
 suffice to indicate briefly what can be learned 
 concerning the Father in heaven from the most 
 representative texts. 
 
 Two very outstanding texts occur in the fifth 
 chapter, verses 16 and 45. In both the name 
 is introduced to suggest a motive to conduct 
 inculcated upon disciples. ■ Let your light shine,' 
 because thereby your Father will be glorified. 
 1 Love your enemies,' because by so doing you 
 will be like your Father, who blesses all, evil and 
 good, jOSt and unjust. In this use of the name 
 the nature of the Livine Fatherhood is supported 
 known. Hut the same texts may be 
 utilised afl an aid to the better knowlei! 
 the Fatherhood. While the name suggests the 
 motives, the motives in turn throw light on the 
 
i8 4 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 name. It is the light so thrown we are con- 
 cerned with now. 
 
 In the first of the two texts the motive 
 suggested implies that God values the honour 
 brought to Him by those who let their light 
 shine. No man can act on the motive unless 
 he believes that God is not a being indifferent 
 to conduct, but rather one who takes an earnest 
 interest in the moral behaviour of men. This, 
 then, is one thing Jesus would teach when He 
 calls God Father. It is His fundamental lesson 
 connected with His first recorded use of the 
 name in His public ministry. He says in effect: 
 1 God is your Father, you are His sons, and your 
 Father would have you behave worthily as His 
 sons. He taketh pleasure in such behaviour, not 
 merely because of the honour it brings to Him 
 through its influence on the minds of other men, 
 but for its own sake. His eye rests with com- 
 placency on all who acquit themselves in the 
 world as true children of God.' This doctrine 
 is consonant to the relation between father and 
 son. A father expects honour from a son, and 
 is deeply disappointed when he does not receive 
 it. ' If I be a Father, where is mine honour?' 1 
 
 1 Mai. i. 6. 
 
YOUR FATHER WHO IS IN HEAVEN 185 
 
 And the honour every right-minded father most 
 values is right conduct. Filial courtesies are 
 well in their way, but it is character, a life true, 
 pure, earnest, manly, noble, that can alone satisfy 
 the paternal heart. Of a son living such a life 
 every father worthy of the name is proud. 
 
 To this statement the Father in heaven is no 
 exception. He delights in all who, in the sense 
 of the preacher, let their light shine. Who then 
 are they? They are men of heroic temper ; men 
 who love truth with passion and will speak it, 
 come what may, and hunger after righteousness, 
 and will do it at all hazards. That means that 
 they are men who have anything but an easy time 
 of it in this world, whose temptation therefore 
 is to hide their light and suppress their convic- 
 tions to escape toil and trouble. It is, indeed, by 
 way of warning against yielding to this very 
 temptation that Jesus utters the counsel, 'Let 
 your light shine.' He has just spoken in a 
 parabolic way of what men do with natural 
 ' Neither do men light a lamp and put 
 it under the bushel,' thereby hinting to disciples : 
 
 ' Put ye not your light under cover, set it rather 
 
 on the Stand, where it tan be seen. 1 Men arc 
 tem p ted tO hide their light when letting it be 
 
1 86 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 seen exposes them to danger, to loss of name, 
 property, or life. It is easy to show our light 
 when it will bring honour and profit to ourselves. 
 It is when there is neither profit nor honour 
 going, at least for ourselves, that we are sorely 
 tempted to suppress conviction and comply 
 tamely with evil custom. And the most powerful 
 aid to resistance of the temptation lies in the 
 knowledge that in yielding to it we miss the 
 opportunity of glorifying our Father in heaven. 
 For the fact is even so. It is one of the sure 
 laws of the moral order of the world that glorify- 
 ing God and self-glorification are mutually 
 exclusive. The circumstances which give you the 
 golden opportunity of glorifying God are just 
 those which afford the least chance of obtaining 
 immediate glory and advantage to yourself. 
 Contrariwise when you are pursuing eagerly your 
 own honour and interest and succeeding very 
 well, be sure that the amount of honour you 
 bring to God is very insignificant. It matters 
 not that your work is within the technically 
 religious sphere, and that you pretend to be very 
 zealous for God's glory. 
 
 The moral heroes of human history, the 
 pioneers of good causes, the warriors who fight 
 
YOUR FATHER WHO IS IN HEAVEN 187 
 
 a good fight for truth and justice, risking limb 
 and life in the battle, the prophets, the martyrs, 
 the confessors, — these are the men who let their 
 light shine. These are the sons of God. These 
 are the glorifiers of the Father's name, and in 
 these the Father glories. Such are the men the 
 Teacher on the Hill has in view throughout His 
 discourse ; the men who have been persecuted 
 for righteousness' sake (v. 10) ; the companions 
 of persecuted prophets (v. 12); the men who, 
 through no faults of theirs, have enemies to love, 
 and persecutors to pray for (v. 44). And by 
 using the name Father for God for the first time 
 in this connection, He throws an important 
 light on the nature of the Divine Fatherhood, 
 thereby teaching that God delights in moral 
 heroes, and regards them par excellence as His 
 children. 
 
 This is a very noteworthy doctrine. It i 
 far in advance of that taught by Jewish doctors 
 of the law, who set forth God to their disciples 
 as one whose approval rested on those who 
 Studied well and carefully kept all tin- 
 traditions. What a difference between the Father 
 
 God of Jesus ami the laW-glVing God i>f the 
 
 Rabbis! The God of the Rabbis demands 
 
1 88 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 justice, the God of Jesus delights in magnanimity, 
 going far beyond what can be legally claimed. 
 The model man of legalism is one who in respect 
 of the commandments great and small (especially 
 the small) is blameless. The model man of the 
 Teaching on the Hill is one who not only lives 
 correctly, but is ready to sacrifice himself for 
 the good of others, however thankless the task. 
 Blessed of God, said the Rabbi, is the faultless 
 man. Blessed of the Father in heaven, said Jesus, 
 is the self-sacrificing, devoted, heroic man. Note 
 further how far this doctrine rises above the 
 vulgar notion that God's favour is revealed by 
 outward prosperity. That view would oblige us 
 to regard the noblest men that ever lived, the 
 sages, prophets, apostles, and saviours of the 
 race, as men accursed of God. Jesus has taught 
 us a worthier way of thinking. ' These,' He says, 
 'are the sons of God in whom He delights. A 
 curse indeed rests on their life ; but it is the curse 
 not of God, but of a world which in its ignorance 
 and wickedness shuns the light and resents all 
 earnest attempts to establish the reign of right- 
 eousness. This curse rests on My own life, as will 
 more and more clearly appear ; but because I 
 willingly bear it for the world's good, therefore 
 
YOUR FATHER WHO IS IN HEAVEN 189 
 
 doth My Father love Me and account Me His 
 well-beloved Son.' 
 
 Passing to the second text, we find the Father- 
 hood of God referred to in it as a motive to 
 magnanimity. Here again the motive throws 
 light on the name. Our inference is that 
 magnanimity is a characteristic of God. But we 
 are not left to infer this. That God deals 
 magnanimously with men is expressly declared 
 when it is said that ' He maketh His sun to rise 
 on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain 
 on the just and on the unjust.' This magnanimity 
 is an essential feature of the Divine Fatherhood. 
 It is as a Father that God dispenses benefits to 
 good and evil alike, treating good and evil, just 
 and unjust, as His children. It is fatherlike 
 thus to act. Many earthly fathers, certainly the 
 best of them, so deal with their children. They 
 give good gifts to all their children, not merely 
 to the more exemplary with whom they are well 
 pleased No father deals with his children on 
 the principle of strict justice. Every good father 
 
 more lor all his children than tin \ 
 claim, much more than unworthy children deserve. 
 
 It is therefore only in accordance with analogy 
 that the Father In heaven should so act That 
 
i 9 o WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 He does so act is familiar to us all. We can 
 all testify : ' He hath not dealt with us after our 
 sins.' 1 The least worthy have the best reason to 
 know this. How much good they have received ; 
 how little they have deserved ! 
 
 Thus far as to the general import of this 
 second saying containing the name ' Father.' A 
 little analysis may help us to a clearer view of 
 its full significance. It contains, we observe, a 
 statement of fact and a certain construction put 
 on the fact. 
 
 The fact stated is that, to a large extent, good 
 comes to all irrespective of character. Sun and 
 shower represent that common good. How much 
 they cover ! From sunshine and rain duly mixed 
 come good crops, food for man and beast in 
 abundance. That means general well-being, all 
 that one could wish for a community in the way 
 of material prosperity. 
 
 That the fact is as Jesus stated it is to us 
 self-evident. But it was by no means a matter 
 of course that a Jewish teacher should have seen 
 the fact so clearly and stated it so broadly. The 
 tendency of the Hebrew mind was to think 
 differently, and to regard God solely as a moral 
 
 1 Ps. ciii. 10. 
 
YOUR FATHER WHO IS IN HEAVEN 191 
 
 Governor rendering to every man according to 
 his works. For men holding this view there was 
 a strong temptation to force facts to square with 
 the theory. Strictly carried out, that would mean 
 the sun shining only on the good, the rain falling 
 only on the just, or the evil and unjust getting 
 more sunshine and rain than is meet, bringing 
 dearths and deluges to punish them for their sins. 
 1 Who,' asked Eliphaz boldly, ' who ever perished, 
 being innocent, or when were the righteous cut 
 off? Even as I have seen, they that plow iniquity 
 and sow wickedness, reap the same.' 1 That was 
 the old theory in its baldest form. The hero of 
 the poem is represented as doubting its truth. 
 'Very natural, very desirable perhaps,' replied he 
 in effect, ' but unhappily the facts do not bear 
 your theory out.' Jesus is on the side of Job. 
 lie breaks with the traditional theory, and He 
 does so because IK- has discarded the traditional 
 legal conception of God as a mere Governor 
 dealing with men according to strict justice. 
 His mind was not dominated by current Opinions 
 
 or theories however venerable ; and among the 
 notions Hi- repudiated was this one that 
 
 or ill in lot Is a suiv index of good or ill in 
 1 Job .v. ; . 
 
192 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 character. He saw and said that this view was 
 contradicted by two classes of facts — by tribula- 
 tions endured by good men for righteousness' 
 sake, and by temporal prosperity enjoyed by 
 many unworthy men not less, often even more, 
 than by the worthy. The statement in the text 
 about the sun and the rain is therefore not to be 
 taken as a mere truism which any one might 
 have spoken. It is rather the original utterance 
 of one endowed with an unbiassed mind, a clear 
 vision, and an unfettered tongue ; who saw things 
 as they were, and fearlessly said what He saw. 
 
 Note next the construction put upon the fact, 
 which is even more characteristic. The fact 
 being that to a large extent all things come alike 
 to all, the question naturally obtrudes itself, what 
 is the meaning of it ? Some might say : that 
 there is no real Providence ; that all things 
 happen by general law, acting without design or 
 consciousness ; that the natural order of the 
 universe is perfectly indifferent to moral interests. 
 It certainly seems so, insomuch -that no man who 
 holds this view can be easily argued out of it by 
 an appeal to facts, though there are facts of 
 human history patent to a wide observation 
 which go to show that there is indeed a Power 
 
YOUR FATHER WHO IS IN HEAVEN 193 
 
 other than ourselves in the world making for 
 righteousness. But besides this Agnostic con- 
 struction there is another which may be put on 
 the facts, one harmonising with a firm faith in 
 a living God and in an intelligent Providence. 
 We may see in the universal boons of sun and 
 shower the magnanimity of a Father treating all 
 His children to a certain extent alike. 
 
 Such was Christ's reading of the facts. As to 
 the facts themselves, He is at one with the un- 
 believer. The difference is wholly one of inter- 
 pretation. But how wide the difference there ! 
 In the same facts the Agnostic finds no God and 
 no Providence, while Jesus finds a gracious 
 God and a benignant "magnanimous Providence. 
 Extremes meet. No God or the highest kind of 
 God, a Father ; no Providence, or a Providence 
 good to all. 
 
 These two sayings of Jesus' combined give a 
 balanced view of the Divine Fatherhood. Each 
 is complementary of the other. The one teaches 
 that God hath a special paternal delight in the 
 morally faithful, the other that He exerc: 
 
 n ant Providence OVef all, doing good even 
 
 to the morally unfaithful, His wayward and dis- 
 obedient children. The former implies decided 
 
 N 
 
i 9 4 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 moral preference, the latter a sphere of action 
 within which moral distinctions are overlooked. 
 Either without the other is liable to run into 
 excess. Moral preference tends to exclusiveness, 
 universal benevolence to indirTerentism. Combine 
 the two, and both defects are eliminated. Not 
 only so, the two contrasted qualities inter- 
 penetrate and aid each other. God's moral 
 preferences lend emphasis to His magnanimity, 
 making it appear a thing of grace and not a 
 thing of course. On the other hand, the Divine 
 magnanimity viewed as unmerited favour is seen 
 to signify a desire that the unworthy may become 
 true sons of God, objects of His complacent re- 
 gard ; an invitation to those who are in the outer 
 circle of sonship to press into the inner circle. 
 
 Most of the other texts in the Sermon con- 
 taining the title ' Father ' bear on two topics : 
 simplicity in religion, and freedom from care on 
 the part of those who have made the Kingdom 
 their chief end. They occur in the sixth chapter 
 of Matthew. Spurious religion appears invested 
 with two evil qualities : ostentation, the vice of 
 Pharisaism, and superstition, the vice of heathen- 
 ism. The religion of the Pharisee, as manifested 
 in almsgiving, praying, and fasting, is in relation 
 
YOUR FATHER WHO IS IN HEAVEN 195 
 
 to men a display, in relation to God a form. 
 The religion of the Pagan has for its root un- 
 belief in the goodwill of the gods — fear. There- 
 fore when he prays he indulges in vain repetition, 
 thinking that he shall be heard for his much 
 speaking, by his battology compelling his god to 
 lend a reluctant ear. The cure for both vices is 
 a filial conception of God as Father. So Jesus 
 hints to His disciples by the frequent introduction 
 of the paternal title in this part of His discourse. 
 And on reflection we perceive the truth of the 
 doctrine. The relation of father and son, like all 
 ultimate relations, demands, in the first place, 
 sincere, real affection. Every true son cares 
 more for the esteem of his father than for that 
 of the outside world. In the sphere of religion 
 this means that a true thought of God as Father 
 gives the deathblow to religious ostentation. 
 The filial worshipper does not care about 
 appearing devout to men ; he seeks above all the 
 ap proval of his heavenly Father. Then it will 
 
 be impossible for him to mock his Father by a 
 
 formal routine service in which there is no heart. 
 
 rorship in which thought 
 
 and feeling find utterance: an <. rship, 
 
 'herein all that is icitliD: 
 
196 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 Faith in the Divine Father is the cure for 
 everything savouring of Pagan superstition in 
 religion not less than for Pharisaic ostentation 
 and formalism. Who can indulge in vain repeti- 
 tion in prayer who believes in a Father's willing 
 ear? More generally, what place for elaborate 
 ritual of any sort in a religion which has for its 
 object of worship a Father ? Simplicity is 
 congenial to the filial spirit. And by using the 
 name Father in connection with the inculcation 
 of simplicity in prayer Jesus would have His 
 disciples understand that God loves simplicity. 
 Such love pertains to the paternal relation. 
 There is a place for ceremonial in the public 
 functions of a King, but in the bosom of his 
 own family the most august monarch gladly 
 makes his escape from pomp and state. In this 
 connection we perceive the significance of another 
 Father-saying not contained in the Sermon on 
 the Mount, but kindred in spirit to those now 
 under consideration. ' Every plant which My 
 heavenly Father hath not planted shall be rooted 
 up.' 1 The particular plant referred to was the 
 tradition of the elders respecting ceremonial 
 ablutions. The implied doctrine is that a Father 
 
 1 Matt. xv. 13. 
 
YOUR FATHER WHO IS IN HEAVEN 197 
 
 God could have no hand in planting such an 
 institution. His characteristic function rather is 
 to eradicate everything of the kind which strikes 
 its roots into the soil of man's religious nature. 
 And the effectual uprooter is just the new way 
 of thinking concerning God as Father. That 
 was one of Christ's reasons for giving the new 
 name so prominent a place in His religious 
 vocabulary. He believed that just in proportion 
 as His disciples got accustomed to a filial mode 
 of conceiving God would Rabbinical and even 
 Levitical ritual lose its hold on their minds, and 
 leave them free to worship the leather in spirit 
 and in truth. Would that the Church in all ages 
 had been more abundantly baptized into the new 
 Divine name ! Then the portent of Sacramen- 
 tarianism, with all that goes along with it, had 
 never made its appearance in Christendom. For 
 that also is a plant which our heavenly Father 
 
 hath DOt planted. 
 
 'Care not, your Father cares fur you,' said 
 JeSUS in effect to J lis disciples in that part u( 
 
 His discourse which is directed against earthly 
 
 anxieties. 1 It is assumed that thoSC who are 
 
 thus admonished are making the Kingdom of 
 1 Matt fi 
 
1 98 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 God their chief end, and the aim is to set them 
 free from distraction arising out of concern about 
 food and raiment. The appositeness of the title 
 1 Father ' applied to God in this connection is 
 obvious. It is a father's part to provide for his 
 children. By calling God Father in an exhorta- 
 tion against care, Jesus in effect teaches that 
 God's Fatherliness includes providence among its 
 attributes and functions. And if disciples but 
 thoroughly believed this, it would certainly trans- 
 port them into that care-free region of feeling in 
 which their Master desired them to dwell. He 
 lived habitually up there Himself without 
 effort, because He had an undoubting faith in a 
 Paternal Providence which with unsleeping solici- 
 tude looked after the interests of those who, with 
 singleness of heart, gave themselves to the service 
 of the Kingdom. How perfect was the peace 
 that through this faith reigned in His bosom this 
 very admonition against care suffices to show. 
 What divine serenity it breathes ! And what 
 simple delight in the world of nature finds 
 expression in it ! The careworn are so moody 
 and gloomy that they have no eye for the wild- 
 flowers, and no ear for the song of birds, or for 
 the music of rippling brooks or autumn winds. 
 
YOUR FATHER WHO IS IX HEAVEN 199 
 
 But Jesus had an eye and an ear for all sights 
 and sounds of nature. ' I say unto you that even 
 Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like 
 one of these.' Inquire not curiously of what 
 flower He spoke, as if it must needs have been 
 some exceptionally lovely flower of gorgeous hue 
 that called forth such an encomium. Jesus, I 
 believe, would have said the same thing about 
 the simplest wild - flower that grows in the 
 meadow or by the wayside — the snowdrop, the 
 primrose, or the daisy. 
 
 The peace Jesus Himself enjoyed He desired 
 His disciples to attain, and for that end He plied 
 them with arguments fitted to aid weak faith. 
 Noteworthy arc two drawn from human experi- 
 ence, and put in the form of questions : ' Is not 
 the life more than meat?' and 'Which of you by 
 taking thought can add one cubit unto his 
 stature?' Both questions suggest an argument 
 from what God has done to what He may be 
 bed to da What He baa done is in both 
 install what 1 [e has yet to 
 
 do, the less. God has given to all lift, a g r c at ei 
 
 than the mean-, of life, food and raiment. 
 
 The argument is •. if God has ab 
 
 on 11a the greater boon, why doubt ai to Hii 
 
20o WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 continuing to give us the less — the means of 
 sustaining that life He has conferred on all as 
 an unsought blessing ? The point of the second 
 question is not so obvious. It seems to hint at 
 a form of anxiety which no human being ever 
 was absurd enough to cherish. Who ever thought 
 of adding to his stature one cubit ? Pressed by 
 the surface difficulty, many recent commentators 
 have adopted the view that the question refers 
 not to increase of bodily stature, but to lengthen- 
 ing of life. The use of measures of length in 
 space as symbols of length in time is not un- 
 exampled in Scripture. We have an instance of 
 it in Psalm xxxix. 5, where, speaking of the 
 brevity of life, the Psalmist says : ' Behold, Thou 
 hast made my days as an handbreadth.' It is 
 therefore quite conceivable that our Lord asked 
 anxious-minded persons : ' Which of you by any 
 amount of care can add to his days a period of 
 time corresponding in length to a cubit ? ' It 
 would have been a very pertinent question, for 
 the tendency of care is not to lengthen our days, 
 but rather to shorten them. Yet I am persuaded 
 that this was not the thought Jesus meant to 
 convey. His question refers to stature, and its 
 aim is to remind the anxious that God has done 
 
YOUR FATHER WHO IS IN HEAVEN 201 
 
 for every man arrived at maturity what no man 
 by any amount of thinking or wishing can do 
 for himself. Every grown man is more than a 
 cubit taller than he was as a child. The 
 addition to his stature is the effect of a gradual 
 growth going on insensibly for years. How un- 
 obtrusively the marvellous result was achieved, 
 the process incessantly going on, but from day 
 to day unobservable, perceptible only after the 
 lapse of large intervals of time. The boy 
 measures himself against the wall to-day, and 
 this time next year he will repeat the process, and 
 find to his delight that he has grown one or two 
 inches. But he had no hand in producing that 
 growth save by taking the food provided for him 
 by his parents, and indulging with boyish glee 
 in the sports which promote growth, but have not 
 growth for their conscious aim. The cubit is 
 added in the care-free time of life. The boy 
 sports and grows, and reaches manhood with one 
 cubit or two, or even three, added to his stature, 
 not by him, but by the laws of nature, or as 
 Christ WOllld have said, by the kindness of His 
 heavenly Father. And Christ'* argument is: 
 
 'If God baa done that greater thing for yon, 
 rearing you from Infancy tu the itature of man- 
 
202 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 hood, providing all the time the food necessary 
 for growth, why doubt His readiness and power 
 to find for you the needful sustenance now ? You 
 did well by God's help when you were boys and 
 girls undistracted by care. Why not carry a 
 little of the spirit of boyhood into your mature 
 life, and, if possible, remain young-hearted all 
 your days ? ' 
 
 We have now learned these four things re- 
 garding the Divine Fatherhood as defined by 
 discriminating use in the hill teaching of our 
 Lord : It implies delight in the noble conduct 
 of heroic men ; magnanimous treatment of the 
 unworthy ; intimate relations between God and 
 men, demanding from the latter sincere, simple- 
 hearted religious affections ; and effective pro- 
 vision for the temporal wants of all who devote 
 themselves to the higher concerns of life. This 
 is much, but it is not all. We miss a cheering 
 word about the pardon of sin and aid in the fight 
 with evil. The magnanimity ascribed to the 
 Divine Father might indeed be held to cover 
 these needs, and it does inferentially ; yet the 
 express reference of that attribute, as spoken of 
 in the Sermon, is to the sunshine and the showers. 
 Inference in connection with such vital matters 
 
YOUR FATHER WHO IS IN HEAVEN 203 
 
 is not enough ; we need positive assurance. And 
 we have it in two petitions of the Pater Noster : 
 1 Forgive us our debts,' ' Deliver us from evil.' 
 By putting these petitions into the mouths of 
 disciples, in a prayer addressed to the Father in 
 heaven, Jesus gave them to understand that 
 pardon of their moral shortcomings and power 
 to live well were boons to be confidently expected 
 from one standing to them in the relation of 
 Father. His doctrine at this point also is con- 
 gruous to the nature of fatherhood. Every true 
 father forgives his children not once, but many 
 times. He deals not with them after their sins. 
 He also gives them all the aid he can to do what 
 ,ht ; by prayer, wise counsel, and good 
 example striving to keep their feet from evil 
 If God be indeed a Father, He may be 
 expected to do likewise : not coming behind good 
 earthly fathers, rather doing more for His erring 
 children than an earthly parent has either the 
 will or the power to do. A father on earth must 
 .sometime-* stop BhOll at mere desire. He cannot 
 give his child .1 good Spirit, or a hoi)- bias, or 
 write the law of duty on his heart. But the 
 
 Divine Father la both able and wilting. Often 
 
 earthly fathers are lacking even in re.sj 
 
2o 4 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 goodwill. How many of them readily conclude 
 that the waywardness of a disobedient son has 
 exceeded the limits of the forgivable, and harden 
 their hearts against him ? He is a rare father, 
 of phenomenally tender heart, who can fitly 
 represent in his parental conduct the mercy of 
 God. Jesus has drawn his picture in the parable 
 of the Prodigal Son. Why does that picture 
 affect us so powerfully? Because it tells us 
 fathers what we ought to be, but are not. It is 
 a poetic ideal far transcending the reality of 
 ordinary family life. Jesus drew that pathetic 
 picture that we might know that what for many 
 of us is merely ideal is real for God. ' God,' He 
 would teach, 'behaves so towards His returning 
 prodigal children. Judge Him not by yourselves. 
 His ways are not your ways.' In that beautiful 
 parable the doctrine of Jesus concerning the 
 Fatherhood of God in the moral sphere reaches 
 its climax. It is the best concrete commentary 
 on the abstract general petition : ■ Forgive us 
 our debts.' Who without such a pictorial repre- 
 sentation of Divine forgiveness would have the 
 courage to think that even God could pardon in 
 that magnificent way ? 
 
 And yet there is greater magnificence behind 
 
YOUR FATHER WHO IS IN HEAVEN 205 
 
 all that. Nothing more generous and handsome 
 can be conceived than the reception given by the 
 father to the prodigal on his arrival. But what 
 if he had gone in quest of the wanderer as the 
 shepherd went in quest of the straying sheep, 
 enduring the hardships of the long way, and the 
 miseries of the famine-stricken land, and, finding 
 the lost one there, had claimed him as his son, 
 and by moving entreaties induced him to return 
 home ? That would have been a deeper depth of 
 pity, and a pardon costing the pardoner more. 
 It is no fault of the parable that it leaves this 
 phase of fatherly love out of the picture. Room 
 had to be made for the free-play of penitonw the 
 U)8t one in this case being not a sheep but a hhui. 
 For in the human sphere finding means self- 
 finding, coming to one's self in contrite reflection. 
 Btlt the seeking and the suffering connected 
 therewith have their place here also. The Son 
 of Man came to seek the lost. In Him, if lie 
 
 Divine, the Father came to seek the lu.^t. 
 Patripassianism is not wholly a heresy. 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 THE WORTH OF MAN 
 
 JESUS believed in the absolute infinite worth of 
 man, taken even at the lowest and meanest. But 
 He did not express His faith in philosophical terms 
 like infinite and absolute. He used the method 
 of comparison. Once He employed a compari- 
 son which adequately embodied His idea. ' What 
 is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world 
 and lose his own soul ? Or what shall a man 
 give in exchange for his soul ? ' * ' Christ's 
 maxim is — One soul outweighs the world.' But 
 usually He dealt in comparisons which seem 
 utterly inadequate, as when in the admonition 
 against care He asked anxious disciples : ' Are 
 ye not much better than they?' i.e. than the 
 fowls of the air. 2 Similarly, in a discourse on 
 apostolic tribulations, to keep the Twelve in good 
 heart, He said : ' Fear ye not therefore, ye are 
 
 1 Matt. xvi. 26. 2 Matt. vi. 26. 
 
 206 
 
THE WORTH OF MAN 207 
 
 of more value than many sparrows.' 1 Compari- 
 sons at the best can never express absolute truth. 
 To say that one thing is better than another, 
 however good the latter may be, does not amount 
 to saying that it is the best possible. But when 
 the object whose value is being estimated is com- 
 pared with something of recognised standard 
 worth, ' better ' practically means ' best.' So, for 
 example, in the Epistle to the Hebrews. There 
 also the method of comparison is used to set 
 forth the excellence of the Christian religion. 
 The writer's position really is : Christianity the 
 best possible religion, the absolutely perfect, 
 therefore the final, form of man's relation with 
 God. But he puts that position in this way : 
 Christianity better than the Old Testament re- 
 
 with all its agents and agencies of revela- 
 tion and redemption. Practically it amounted 
 to the same thi: for the Hebrew Chris- 
 
 tians for whose benefit the comparison was made 
 the ancient religion of the Jewish people, with 
 and Aaron and Lcvitical rites, v. 
 
 I divine institution. But 'of more value 
 
 than many sparrows/ which have almost do 
 
 Worth at all, — that much ! 
 
 1 ftfl 
 
208 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 Yet in the very inadequacy of the comparison 
 lies its pathos and its power as addressed to 
 men who have a depressing sense of their own 
 insignificance. Persons in this state of mind 
 need such humble estimates to help them to 
 rise to higher faith and bolder self-respect ; and 
 the use of them by Jesus is signal proof of His 
 deep sympathy, as of His poetic tact and felicity. 
 I value greatly these simple naive questions of 
 Jesus preserved for us in the Synoptic Gospels 
 as a contribution to His doctrine of man. There 
 is nothing like them elsewhere in the New Testa- 
 ment ; nothing so expressive and impressive, so 
 suggestive, so humanely sympathetic, so quietly 
 yet severely condemnatory of all low unloving 
 estimates of human worth. Compare with these 
 questions of Jesus St. Paul's ' Doth God take 
 care for oxen?' 1 Jesus could not have asked 
 that question with an implied negative in His 
 mind. His doctrine was : ' God does take care 
 even for oxen, but for men more.' 
 
 These simple kindly comparisons by which our 
 Lord sought to indoctrinate His disciples in the 
 worth of man to God suggest more than they 
 say, and provoke far-reaching reflections. Better 
 
 1 I Cor. ix. io. 
 
THE WORTH OF MAN 209 
 
 than sparrows, than all fowls of the air, than a 
 sheep, 1 or an ox. 2 How ? Not in all respects. 
 Man cannot fly like the birds, or sing like the 
 lark, or furnish material that can be manufac- 
 tured into cloth like the sheep, or bear heavy 
 burdens like the ox. The ground of his superio- 
 rity is not physical but spiritual. He can think 
 and love and act with freedom. In these respects 
 he is unique, simply incomparable with 'birds and 
 fourfooted beasts,' and not merely with them, but 
 with the entire sub-rational universe. The prin- 
 ciple involved in our Lord's question, 'Are ye not 
 much better than they?' is that man as a rational 
 being and moral personality is of more value than 
 the whole inanimate and lower animate world. 
 This is an essential principle in the Christian 
 . of the universe. And it is a principle 
 which the most recent science amply justifies. 
 Tin- evolutionary conception of the process by 
 
 which the world as it now is came into being 
 
 man at the bead of the creation. It 
 
 9 him this position just in proportion as 
 
 it brings Ins whole nature-, on it^ spiritual not 
 
 .an on its phy within the 
 
 evolutionary law. When I I Man 
 
 1 M.iu. x 
 
210 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 in his intellect and in his moral nature, as well 
 as in his body, has been evolved, he declares in 
 effect that man in his composite being is the 
 crown and climax of the grand movement by 
 which the present universe, with its endless 
 variety of existences, has slowly emerged out of 
 the primitive chaos of homogeneous matter. That 
 being so, it follows of necessity that man is a 
 being of unique significance. He is the key to 
 the meaning of the universe and to the nature of its 
 Maker. He is the end the Creator had in view 
 in making the world. Till man arrives on the 
 scene one feels tempted to ask, To what purpose 
 these stars, mountains, rocks, rivers, plains, and 
 plants and animals of all sorts and sizes ? When 
 he makes his appearance one begins to see that it 
 was worth while to make a world. And one also 
 begins to understand the nature of the Maker. 
 He is, we see, one who has been working all 
 through the ages towards the production of 
 rational and moral beings. And hence we infer 
 that He is Himself rational and moral. And as 
 the Maker of the world had man in view as the 
 raison detre of world-making, it stands to reason 
 that He will care for man after He has in the 
 fulness of the time brought him into existence. 
 
THE WORTH OF MAX 211 
 
 He will see to it that all the rational and moral 
 possibilities of this new type of being shall be 
 realised, and will make all nature's laws and all 
 events co-operate towards this end. In other 
 words, A Kingdom of God, with good men for its 
 citizens, will be God's own chief end, directing and 
 controlling the whole course of His providence. 
 
 This is a great bold thought which the hand of 
 even strong faith cannot at first grasp without 
 trembling. Yet it is easier to believe that God 
 thinks thus highly of man than for man himself to 
 cherish such thoughts of his kind. Rather I should 
 say that the main cause of unbelief in God's care 
 for man is the low estimate men form of human 
 nature in themselves and in others. Contempt of 
 the human, u hencesoever arising, is a fruitful cause 
 of practical Atheism. Who can believe that 
 God careth for men who does not himself believe 
 that a man is better than a sheep? And who are 
 they who are guilty of scepticism so radical ? 
 Well, various sorts of people, l'hilosophei 
 
 like Celsus, who deliberately maintained that man 
 
 is no better than a beast, and that he is snip 
 
 me animals even in I morality and 
 
 amercial men also, who m< 
 
 the worth of all things by their value as property 
 
212 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 My sheep belongs to me, and I can sell it for so 
 much, but that drunken good-for-nothing, what 
 have I to do with him ? He is not my slave, and 
 even if he were, nobody would buy him. Even 
 religious men have needed to be reminded of the 
 worth of man as man. ' How much is a man 
 better than a sheep?' was a question addressed 
 by our Lord to Pharisees. They really did not 
 believe anything of the kind. They had got into 
 a way of setting the human and the divine in 
 antagonism. They made man the slave of the 
 Sabbath law in zeal for the supposed honour of 
 the Divine Lawgiver. A sheep was a creature to 
 be envied by comparison, as in virtue of its very 
 irrationality lying outside the scope of the vexa- 
 tious statute. For an analogous reason they 
 would not feel the force of the parable of the Lost 
 Sheep. Yes, they would say within themselves, 
 we can understand a shepherd going after a 
 strayed sheep and rejoicing when he found it. 
 It belonged to him, and moreover it was blame- 
 less. But these publicans and sinners belong 
 neither to you nor to us, and if they are lost it is 
 their own fault ; let them take the consequences. 
 
 In view of this inhuman type of religion then 
 prevalent in Palestine, one can appreciate the 
 
THE WORTH OF MAN 213 
 
 startling significance of Christ's own bearing 
 towards the neglected classes. It was nothing 
 short of revolutionary. It would stimulate thought 
 on the question, 'What is the worth of man even at 
 the worst?' far more powerfully than any number 
 of mild suggestions as to man being better than 
 this or that member of the lower animal creation. 
 These might provoke from unsympathetic hearers 
 a sceptical smile ; but the mission to the outcasts 
 of Capernaum provoked indignation, as against 
 one who had committed a wanton outrage on 
 the moral feelings of a God-fearing community. 
 1 Think of such scandalous people being treated 
 even as fellow- wr//, not to say as comrades ad- 
 mitted to social privilege on equal terms ! ' The 
 rude shock to the sense of propriety is the 
 measure of the innovation inaugurated, and of the 
 extent to which the contemporary world needed 
 education in the elementary rights and claims of 
 man. As the teacher of a new doctrine on this 
 subject Je.Mis could not get past that Capernaum 
 
 ffl and all that went along with it. 
 hoi)- rage of religionists was no doubt a regrettable 
 circumstance; but, unfortunately, radical reforms 
 
 cannot be broi lit in this world without 
 
 rude initial shocks to prejudice. 'Woe unto the 
 
2i 4 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 world because of offences,' : but blessing also 
 comes through them. Outrage to rooted caste 
 pride first, and it may be fierce war in defence of 
 cherished prerogative, then ultimate acceptance 
 of a beneficent moral axiom which to disinterested 
 wise humane men was self-evident from the first. 
 Thank God for the men who bring this kind 
 of offences. They are the world's benefactors 
 and saviours, at a great cost to themselves. For 
 woe is to that man by whom even the beneficent 
 offence cometh. The world calls him evil names, 
 and is not content till it has got rid of him. But 
 he leaves his blessing behind him in the form of 
 a truth that upsets partition walls, fills up gulfs 
 of social cleavage, banishes the kingdoms of 
 the wild beast type, and ushers in the kingdom 
 of the human. 
 
 So did Jesus Christ teach His new doctrine 
 concerning the worth of man by quaint pathetic 
 comparisons, and by aggressive action which 
 compelled all to take note that in His judgment 
 a man was a man, even though a publican and 
 a ' sinner.' He crowned the doctrine by the name 
 He assumed for Himself: Son of Man. This 
 name Jesus nowhere formally defines, any more 
 
 1 Matt, xviii. 7. 
 
THE WORTH OF MAX 215 
 
 than He defines the name He gave to God. In 
 this case, as in that, He defines only by dis- 
 criminating use. We must listen attentively as 
 He calls Himself ' Son of Man,' and strive to 
 catch the sense of the title from the tone and 
 accent of the Speaker. To do this successfully 
 needs a sensitive sympathetic ear, unfilled with 
 other sounds that blunt its perceptive faculty. 
 Lacking such an ear, men may get very false 
 impressions and read all sorts of meanings into 
 the simple phrase, collected perhaps from Old 
 Testament texts, or suggested by systems of 
 theology. To my ear the title speaks of one 
 who is sympathetic and unpretentious, loves men, 
 and advances no ambitious claims. He may be 
 great, so to speak, in spite of Himself, by gifts 
 and graces even unique, but these must speak for 
 themselves. lie will not take pains to point 
 them out, or advertise His importance as their 
 possessor. The Son of Man wears no grand airs, 
 but is meek and lowly. He is simply the J/,///, 
 
 the brother of men, loving humanity with a 
 
 mate love which fits Him to be the world's 
 
 Christ; but His personal attitude is that of one 
 
 'Di cover what i.s deepest in Me, and 
 draw your OWTJ inl 
 
216 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 Specially instructive is the earliest instance of 
 the use of this title by our Lord, occurring in the 
 first Gospel. Matthew introduces it for the first 
 time in connection with the offer of a scribe to 
 become a disciple. 1 The incident is recorded 
 both by Matthew and by Luke, 2 but in neither 
 Gospel is there any clear indication of its true 
 historical setting. We may assume that it 
 happened after the attitude of the class to which 
 the aspirant belonged, towards Jesus, had been 
 made manifest, and that the reception given to 
 the would-be disciple was influenced by Christ's 
 practical acquaintance with that class. Were we 
 to take as our guide Luke, who introduces the 
 aspirant simply as a certain person, we should, of 
 course, lay no stress on the indication of his pro- 
 fession given in the narrative of Matthew. But 
 that a scribe should offer to become a disciple 
 was so unlikely, that no reason can be assigned 
 for its place in the tradition save that it was a 
 fact. And just because it was unlikely we are 
 entitled to treat the fact as important, and to 
 interpret in the light of it both the name Jesus 
 gave Himself and the repellent word He addressed 
 to the candidate for discipleship. 
 
 1 Matt. viii. 19, 20. 2 Luke ix. 57, 58. 
 
THE WORTH OF MAN 217 
 
 Taking the latter first, when we remember to 
 whom Jesus is speaking, it becomes probable that 
 the saying, ' Foxes have holes, and the birds of 
 the air have lodging-places, but the Son of Man 
 hath not where to lay His head,' is to be taken 
 parabolically. That is to say, it refers to Christ's 
 spiritual situation as one who has no home for 
 His soul in the religion of the time, rather than 
 to His physical condition as one at the moment 
 without any certain dwelling-place. Though this 
 view suggested itself to my mind only recently, 
 I confess that I have always felt a certain mea- 
 sure of dissatisfaction with the current conception 
 of our Lord's meaning. I have never been able 
 • any special aptitude of the saying, so 
 understood, to the case of the person addiv 
 nor have I been able to get rid of the feeling 
 that the word taken in the literal sense is not 
 without a certain tone of exaggerated sentiment, 
 according ill with the known character of JeSU& 
 There da in to have been any 
 
 hardship in the physical aspect <>f the life of our 
 Lord and lli^ disciples, SUCfa afl m ; away 
 
 any one the least inclined to disciple-life. And 
 
 Suppose tfa ^;it had been admitted to the 
 
 ranks of discipleship, would lie not have 
 
218 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 one more added to the number of followers pos- 
 sessing means sufficient to make the daily life 
 of the Jesus-circle not without a due measure of 
 comfort ? * On these grounds the suggestion that 
 the saying about the foxes and the birds is to 
 be interpreted parabolically came to my mind 
 as a relief. Looked at in this light, it is seen 
 to be at once very true, and very apposite. How 
 thoroughly true that Jesus was spiritually an alien, 
 without a home in the religion of the time ! Re- 
 call all that quite probably had happened before 
 this incident took place : the charge of blasphemy 
 in connection with the healing of the palsied man, 
 the offence taken at the festive meeting with the 
 publicans, and the scandalous charges that grew 
 out of that event, the numerous conflicts respect- 
 ing Sabbath-keeping, fasting, ritual ablutions and 
 the like, the infamous suggestion that the cure 
 of demoniacs was wrought by the aid of Beelze- 
 bub, and so on. If the whole, or even a part, 
 of these experiences lay behind Him when He 
 uttered this word, with what truth and pathos 
 Jesus might say, the foxes and the birds of the 
 
 1 Vide Luke viii. 1-3, which Wendt regards as a kind of intro- 
 duction to the passage about the three aspirants, Luke ix. 57-62, 
 as it stood in the book of Logia. 
 
THE WORTH OF MAX 219 
 
 air are better off than I am, so far as a home for 
 the soul is concerned. Then with what point 
 and pungency He might say this to a scribe ! 
 For was it not the class the aspirant belonged 
 to that made Him homeless ? Whether viewed 
 as an excuse for reluctance to receive him as a 
 disciple, or as a summons to deliberate considera- 
 tion of what was involved in the step he was 
 proposing to take, the word was altogether 
 seasonable. In the one case it meant : You need 
 not wonder if I give not a prompt, warm wel- 
 come to you, remembering all that has passed 
 between Me and the class you belong to. In 
 the other case it means : Consider how it is with 
 Me ; I am a religious outlaw, suspected, hated, 
 a fugitive from those who seek My life. Are you 
 really able to break with your class in opinion, 
 feeling, and interest, and to bear the obloquy 
 and ill-will that will inevitably come upon you 
 as My disciple ? 
 
 Let us turn now to this title 'Son of Man,' 
 which we meet with here fur the first time in 
 Matthew's Gospel, and Inquire what view of its 
 
 imp";' naturally 1 by the situa- 
 
 tion 1 I ' as parabolically described, and by 
 the religious connections of the party addn 
 
220 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 We may assume that as in all cases probably 
 more or less, so very specially in this case, the 
 title was used significantly, and not merely from 
 custom. It served, that is to say, as a symbol 
 of the religious attitude of Jesus, and as a protest 
 against the antagonistic attitude of the scribes. 
 Wherein, then, did the difference between the two 
 attitudes lie? It might be summed up in these 
 two particulars. First, the religion of the scribes 
 was inhuman ; it posited an artificial false anti- 
 thesis between the divine and the human interest. 
 Second, it was ambitious. The spirit of pride 
 and self-importance pervaded it throughout. This 
 spirit found expression in the Messianic idea of 
 the scribes as in all other parts of their system. 
 Only a Messiah coming with worldly pomp would 
 please them. He must come as the Son of some 
 great one, and be in all things like His descent. 
 We quite understand how when Jesus asked the 
 Pharisees (in spirit identical with the scribes), 
 'What think ye concerning the Christ? Whose 
 Son is He ? ' they were so ready with the answer, 
 'The Son of David' 1 That was the essential point 
 for them. Davidic descent before all things, every- 
 thing else subordinate and conforming thereto. 
 
 1 Matt. xxii. 42. 
 
THE WORTH OF MAX 22] 
 
 At both points Jesus stood in irreconcilable 
 antagonism to the scribes. He was emphatically, 
 passionately huvian, and He was humble. In His 
 whole public career, by every word and act, He 
 was ever saying in effect : ' I stand for the human, 
 not as opposed to the divine, but as ultimately 
 identical with it. I am jealous for God's honour, 
 and just on that account I champion the interest 
 of man. For I find in this land among those 
 who make themselves prominent in religion a 
 spurious zeal for the divine whose practical 
 issue is immorality and inhumanity. They 
 encourage men to say " Corban," and so excuse 
 themselves for neglecting the duties of filial 
 piety. 1 They interpret the Sabbath law of rest 
 so strictly as to make it wrong for a man to 
 satisfy hunger by rubbing a few ears of corn in 
 his hand-,' or to heal a sick man on the seventh 
 day, so bringing the Fourth Commandment into 
 needless conflict with the higher law of mercy. 
 Therefore I make it My business to emphasise 
 the neglected interest, not in a onesided way, or 
 in the spirit of mere reaction, but as the best way 
 that very divine interest of which 
 
 they have constituted themselves the pat 
 
 I Mali. xv. 5. 
 
222 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 The contrast in the other respect was not less 
 glaring. The scribes loved titles of honour. 
 They desired to be called of men Rabbi. 1 It 
 gratified their vanity and proclaimed their impor- 
 tance as men who knew the law and the tradi- 
 tional interpretation of it current in the schools. 
 Jesus had nothing in common with them here. 
 He set no value on complimentary epithets, or 
 on any expressions of respect towards Himself, 
 except in so far as they represented intelligent 
 and sincere conviction. He declined even to be 
 called ' good ' in the way of compliment by one 
 who came to Him inquiring the way to Eternal 
 Life. 2 His aversion to everything savouring of 
 vanity, ostentation, self-importance, and self- 
 advertisement was austere and unconquerable. 
 He prayed not at the street corner, but amid the 
 solitude of the mountains when men were asleep. 
 He withdrew into the wilderness from popular 
 admiration. He enjoined on His disciples to tell 
 no man that He was the Christ. 
 
 The title ' Son of Man,' as used in the reply to 
 the scribe, was a compendious proclamation of 
 this twofold antagonism. It said these two 
 things : Son of man in My religious tendency, 
 
 1 Matt, xxiii. 7. - Mark x. 17. 
 
THE WORTH OF MAN 223 
 
 zealous for the human ; Son of man in My esti- 
 mate of Myself, as opposed to Son of David, the 
 attractive title for those who desire a Messiah 
 harmonising with vain thoughts. Charged with 
 such significance, it set very fully before the 
 scribe the grave import of the step he proposed 
 to take in becoming a disciple. That, we now 
 clearly understand, did not lie in entering on a 
 life of physical hardship. It rather lay in this, 
 that the aspirant to discipleship was called upon 
 to abandon for ever Rabbinical ways of thinking, 
 and to adopt as his leader one who could make 
 no response to current Messianic hopes. What 
 happened ? We are not told, but we are apt to 
 take for granted that of course the scribe turned 
 away from a Master who seemed so cynically 
 indifferent to his approaches. Indeed, we are 
 inclined to wonder how a scribe could ever think 
 of becoming a disciple of Jesus, even if he pos- 
 sessed only a moderate acquaintance with His 
 character, and are tempted to suspect that in 
 
 connecting the aspirant with this class the Evan- 
 gelic tradition is at fault But it has to be 
 remembered that the claa -spirit does not 
 
 dominate all the member ol .1 fraternity to ■ 
 uniform extent, and that Mark tells ol .1 
 
224 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 who had considerable sympathy with the ideas 
 of Jesus, and whom Jesus regarded with much 
 interest as one not far from the Kingdom of 
 God. 1 It takes time for a human soul to be made 
 an abject willing slave of a pernicious religious 
 system ; and in the case of not a few young men 
 of ingenuous spirit and somewhat robust moral 
 sentiments, the process is a species of martyrdom. 
 There were doubtless among the scholars of the 
 scribes some whose better nature revolted against 
 the doctrines they were being taught. Such mal- 
 contents would steal away now and then from 
 the school to hear the new Preacher, as young 
 men and women in our cities now steal away 
 from orthodox churches to hear some charming 
 heretic. And, of course, these runaways felt the 
 spell of Him who taught 'not as the scribes.' 
 What wonder if one at least bethought himself 
 of breaking away from their dominion, and join- 
 ing the society of the Great Proscribed ? 
 
 I have discussed at some length this first text 
 in Matthew's Gospel containing the title ' Son of 
 Man,' because of the light which, in virtue of its 
 setting there, it throws on the strong convictions 
 of our Lord concerning the significance of man. 
 
 1 Mark xii. 28-34. 
 
THE WORTH OF MAN 
 
 My present aim is not to discuss the import of 
 the title for its own sake, but simply in con- 
 nection with what I regard as a wider and more 
 important question : What Jesus thought of the 
 race with which He so emphatically identified 
 Himself. But I may say that I regard it as a 
 happy circumstance that just this particular text 
 is the first containing the title which we encounter 
 in perusing the records of our Lord's ministry. 
 For it is not only the first but the most luminous. 
 The title scribe given to the aspirant furnishes the 
 key to the title So)i of Man assumed by the 
 Master. And the meaning struck out of the 
 latter, like a spark out of steel by the stroke of a 
 flint, is in turn the key to its meaning in some 
 other texts where its sense is often misappre- 
 hended For example in the text, ' The Son 
 of Man i.-> Lord even of the Sabbath day.' 1 The 
 title here is not to be charged with all sort> of 
 theological meanings, Mich as the 'ideal Man,' or 
 the Man who while human is more, even Divine, 
 
 or the Messiah invested with full Messianic pre- 
 rogative. It ir> not yet become a stereotyped 
 phrase *nata ; it fa a phrase whose meaning 
 
 is fluid, used with coi ficance and with 
 
 1 v 
 p 
 
226 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 strict relevance to the context. And the con- 
 nection requires that, as in the text we have so 
 fully considered, it should be taken as meaning, 
 ' The Man who stands for the human interest 
 as distinct from the supposed Divine interest' 
 Christ's whole thought is : ' The Sabbath was 
 made for man, not (as you think) man for the 
 Sabbath ; therefore I who make it My business 
 to vindicate the claims of the neglected human 
 am the best judge of how the Sabbath is to be 
 observed. I have no desire to set it aside, for as 
 God meant it, it is a beneficent institution ; but 
 I wish and intend to restore to it its true place 
 and function, as having for its end man's good.' 
 So again in the text, i Whosoever speaketh a word 
 against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven ; but 
 whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it 
 shall not be forgiven him.' 1 The idea is not : 
 blasphemy against the Son of Man comes next 
 to blasphemy against the Holy Ghost in heinous- 
 ness, and therefore is barely forgivable. So 
 understood it takes its place in a climax thus : 
 blasphemy against ordinary men forgivable of 
 course, blasphemy against the extraordinary ideal 
 man barely forgivable, blasphemy against the 
 
 1 Matt. xii. 32. 
 
THE WORTH OF MAN 227 
 
 Holy Ghost not forgivable at all. The meaning 
 rather is : blasphemy against the Son of Man 
 shall be forgiven, just as blasphemous words 
 against any son of man may be forgiven. If it 
 be asked why the Son of Man and sons of men in 
 general are put on a level, we shall get light by 
 reflecting on the source of the blasphemy against 
 the Son of Man. The main source of the blas- 
 phemies against the Son of Man in matter of fact 
 was just that He stood so stoutly for tJic human. 
 He identified Himself with neglected, outraged 
 human interests, and He suffered in name and 
 fame in consequence, and He was content to do 
 so, and took it all as a matter of course, and 
 regarded it as in most cases the result of a very- 
 pardonable misunderstanding. He associated 
 with publicans and sinners, and they called Him 
 
 a drunkard, a glutton, and a philo-publican. 1 He 
 healed on the Sabbath day, and they called Him 
 a Sabbath-breaker. He cheered the heart of the 
 
 palsied man by proclaiming tlie forgiveness of 
 
 and tlie>' called Him a blasphemer.- He 
 allowed a sinful woman tu touch lli^ person, and 
 
 it vras Inferred that ii H< <ud man lie al 
 
 all events COUld not be a prophet lie pitied 
 1 Matt D. I". - Matt. i\. 2, j. - 1 
 
228 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 the poor demoniacs and restored them to health 
 and sanity, and they said, ' He is in league with 
 Beelzebub.' It is true that in this last instance 
 He did not take the blasphemy as a matter of 
 course, but made it the subject of grave animad- 
 version, as if it bordered on the unpardonable. 
 But why so? Simply because He found it im- 
 possible to believe that in this case, as in most of 
 the others just enumerated, it was the result of a 
 pardonable misunderstanding. He did not at all 
 wonder that men misjudged Him when they saw 
 Him associating with the social pariahs. Fellow- 
 ship with such for their moral rescue was so new 
 a thing, and fellowship with them from love of 
 their evil ways so much the rule, that miscon- 
 ception could hardly fail to arise. The calum- 
 niated one even in that case might have his own 
 suspicions as to the real sources of the calumny, 
 but the presumption was against Him, and He 
 was silent. It was the penalty He had to pay 
 for doing a daring thing at the bidding of an 
 unexampled love and value for man even at the 
 worst. But in the case of the Beelzebub-hypo- 
 thesis the position was different. The demoniacs 
 were not regarded with moral aversion like the 
 publicans and 'sinners.' They were not immoral, 
 
THE WORTH OF MAX 229 
 
 but simply unhappy sufferers under some super- 
 natural influence of a malignant type. Men 
 regarded them with feelings kindred to those we 
 cherish towards the insane. Pity for them there- 
 fore, even if unusual in degree, offered no occasion 
 for sinister remark. That one tried to cure them 
 could not legitimately expose to suspicion, for 
 such attempts were not uncommon in unsuspected 
 quarters. The offence of Jesus in this instance 
 was not His pity, nor His effort to succour, but 
 His signal success. That made Him famous and 
 popular, therefore it had to be explained away, 
 or, if the fact could not be denied, its character 
 had to be somehow blackened. The Beelzebub- 
 hypothesis was invented for this purpose. The 
 inventors had no faith in it themselves ; they 
 simply hoped that it would throw dust in the 
 eyes of an admiring populace. And that was 
 why their sin appeared to Jesus so serious. It 
 was not in His view a sin of misunderstanding 
 against the Son of Man arising out of His 
 identifying Himself with novel or unpopular 
 humanities, but a sin again st knowledge com- 
 mitted by men who would say and do anything 
 rather than admit that any good v. a ■ to be found 
 in H 
 
2 3 o WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 I do not forget that the title ' Son of Man ' 
 has another side, an apocalyptic sense connecting 
 it with the visions of Daniel and with the glories 
 of the Second Advent. But even on that side it 
 is not divorced from the radical sense of standing 
 for the human. Daniel's kingdom of one like 
 unto a Son of man is a kingdom of the human 
 as distinct from kingdoms of the brutal type 
 symbolised by wild beasts — lion, bear, leopard, 
 or other unnamed monster more hideous and 
 ferocious than the rest. The kingdom of the 
 human came to its rights in the teaching and 
 ministry of Jesus, and this constitutes His best 
 claim to be the Christ, not mere physical descent 
 from David, though that, as the genealogies 
 attest, may have been a fact. And whatever 
 apocalyptic glories may be in store for the Son 
 of Man, they will never be such as to put Him 
 out of conceit with the humanities He inaugurated, 
 or divorce His celestial life from His life on 
 earth. The Son of Man who returns to this 
 world, accompanied by a royal escort of angels, 
 to take His seat as judge of men, does not forget 
 His state of humiliation or the classes of which 
 that state made Him a fellow. He judges men 
 by the way in which they treat the classes who 
 
THE WORTH OF MAN 231 
 
 are lightly esteemed, and whom He still accounts 
 His brethren. The glorified Son of Man, in the 
 teaching of Jesus, is still the man who stands 
 for the human, whose heart burns with the 
 'enthusiasm of humanity,' and His decisive test 
 of character is the relation in which men stand 
 to that sacred passion. Does it burn in their 
 hearts, then they are the children of the Father. 
 Are they inhuman, then their place cannot be in 
 the Kingdom prepared by the Father for those 
 who with heart and soul have practised the 
 humanities. 1 
 
 Christ's doctrine of man is grand, and still at 
 the end of nineteen centuries stands above 
 Christendom a lofty unreached ideal. And what 
 shall we say of Him who taught it not by word 
 only, but still more emphatically by deed ? 
 Surely that He has earned the eternal honour 
 of all who seek the good of their kind. With 
 open face we see 'the Saviour and the Friend of 
 man,' and His teaching and I lis example are the 
 inspiration of all who desire to leave the world 
 better than they f<Hind it. 
 
 1 Matt. xxv. 31 40 
 
CHAPTER X 
 
 THE MORAL IDEAL 
 
 On the subject of the worth of man, which 
 occupied our attention in last chapter, the Teach- 
 ing on the Hill gave us rather our keynote or 
 starting-point than full materials for a detailed 
 statement. ' Are ye not much better than they?' 
 was its solitary but most suggestive contribution. 
 It is otherwise with the present topic, the doctrine 
 of the moral ideal, or of the true righteousness 
 of the Kingdom. That may be said to be the 
 theme of the instruction communicated to dis- 
 ciples on the mountain-top. From beginning to 
 end the Teacher is engaged in answering the 
 question : ' How do you conceive human conduct 
 in relation to God and men, how, e.g., in com- 
 parison with Rabbinical or Pharisaic teachers 
 whom we have heard you occasionally criticise ? 
 If they are wrong, what is right? That was a 
 question sure to be asked by disciples of the 
 
THE MORAL IDEAL 233 
 
 'labouring and heavy-laden' type; and even if 
 there were none such in the actual disciple-circle, 
 the Master would find it necessary, in order to 
 do justice to His own conception of the true 
 life, to take an opportunity of dealing with the 
 problem, time and place being convenient. N 
 better time can be thought of than in the middle 
 period of our Lord's public career after the 
 synagogue ministry in Galilee was over, and 
 before the last months when the final crisis was 
 in view and self-sacrifice became the pressing 
 topic of the hour, and no better place than a 
 mountain retreat affording the necessary detach- 
 ment, and favourable to the didactic mood. 
 
 In Matthew's report of Christ's Teaching on 
 the Hill His doctrine of righteousness is cast 
 into the form of a contrast between His own 
 ideas on the subject and those current among 
 'the scribes and Pharisees.' This was the most 
 natural method to employ in the circumstam 
 The righteousness of the scribes was an obtrusive 
 fact familiar to all. It had IcOQed with 
 
 by one propo :vr a course of instruction 
 
 in religion and morals; and a teacher could most 
 fly and clearly communicate to his schoU 
 
 Ol his own view < >n the <• | 
 
234 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 by collating them with a conflicting system 
 widely prevalent. This polemic, the larger part 
 of the discourse, disappears in the pages of Luke, 
 where the Teaching on the Hill assumes the form 
 of a sermon to an ideal Christian congregation 
 mainly Gentile in its composition, and therefore 
 supposed to have no practical interest in con- 
 troversial references to the opinions of the Jewish 
 contemporaries of the Saviour. This omission 
 was perfectly natural however it came about, 
 whether through a gradual transformation in the 
 tradition before it reached Luke's hands, or by 
 the exercise of editorial discretion on the part 
 of the Evangelist himself. But it would be a 
 great mistake to suppose that those Christians 
 who knew the Teaching on the Hill only through 
 Luke's narrative lost nothing of permanent did- 
 actic value. For in truth the large section 
 omitted, while polemical in form, is essentially a 
 body of most valuable positive instruction as to 
 the nature of true righteousness. Even the 
 polemical element is not to be despised as of 
 purely antiquarian character, or at best as pos- 
 sessing merely historical interest in so far as it 
 gives us some information concerning the re- 
 ligious opinions and practices of the scribes and 
 
THE MORAL IDEAL 135 
 
 Pharisees. It contains Christ's negative doctrine 
 of righteousness, setting forth in very explicit 
 terms what righteousness is not. But if the 
 polemical form be distasteful to us, we can easily 
 strip it off, which done, there will still remain an 
 unmutilated, perennially valid account of what, 
 in the mind of our Lord Jesus, true righteousness 
 really is. 
 
 Our Lord's doctrine of righteousness here, as 
 throughout the evangelic records, is dominated 
 by the conception of God as Father. The right- 
 eousness inculcated is distinctively filial. In 
 Christ's system of religious thought there were 
 three ideas of cardinal importance, and so related 
 to each other that once you are acquainted with 
 any one of them you can determine for yourself 
 the import of the other two. The three ideas 
 were represented by the three great words : 
 (om l Father t Righteousness. Suppose you 
 begin your studies with the word l Father,' and 
 tain by an inductive examination of the 
 
 various texts in which it occurs what it signified 
 criminatingly used by Jesus, then you can 
 mine almost without detailed inquiry, by 
 
 deduction, what 'Kingdom' and 
 
 on His lips must mean The Kingdom will 
 
236 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 signify: God obtaining sovereign influence over 
 human hearts by paternal love, in virtue of which 
 He calls all men, even the basest, His sons, freely 
 pardons their offences, and invites them to parti- 
 cipate in fullest family privilege and fellowship. 
 And the righteousness of the Kingdom will be 
 that of men who stand to God in the relation 
 of sons, and to fellow-men in the relation of 
 brethren. The whole doctrine of righteousness 
 will be capable of being summarily comprehended 
 in these two precepts : be to God all that a son 
 should be to a father ; treat fellow-men as 
 brethren. As a matter of fact, all the special 
 injunctions contained in the Sermon on the 
 Mount can easily be brought under one or other 
 of these heads. It may be worth while to take 
 a cursory glance at the legislative programme by 
 way of verifying this statement. 
 
 The first precept of the Master is, ' Let your 
 light shine.' That means, as we have already 
 ascertained, seek your Father's honour. Picking 
 out the precepts in the sequel belonging to the 
 same category, viz., duty to God, we come next 
 to that contained in chap. v. 45-48, the gist of 
 which is : imitate the character of the Divine 
 Father, even in its most sublime virtues, such as 
 
THE MORAL IDEAL 237 
 
 magnanimity. Passing into the sixth chapter, we 
 meet with an admonition to shun vulgar ostenta- 
 tion, religious parade in almsgiving, fasting, 
 praying, with insatiable appetite for the good 
 opinion of men ; which translated into non-con- 
 troversial terms means : value supremely, if not 
 solely, the judgment of the Father in heaven, 
 who looks into the heart of things, and not merely 
 at the surface. 1 Then follows a counsel concern- 
 ing prayer, whose import is : cherish towards 
 God as your Father sincere reverence, manifest- 
 ing itself in devout adoration and lowly yet 
 confiding petitions.- Then, finally, in the close of 
 the same chapter comes the injunction to make 
 the Kingdom of the Father, the Divine interest 
 in the world, the chief end of life, with single- 
 hearted devotion, and with absolute freedom from 
 care about personal concerns, trusting implicitly 
 in the heavenl)' Father's ever-watchful and faith- 
 ful Providence.- 
 
 Turning now to those precepts which come 
 under the second general category — duty to men. 
 we find firtt a precept attaching itself to the 
 
 sixth commandment: 'Thou shall not kill.' 
 
 1 y 
 
23S WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 Christ's injunction virtually is : be not content 
 with merely not killing a fellow-man ; cherish 
 towards him as a brother a love which shall make 
 it impossible to hate him or despise him. 1 At 
 this point the doctrine of the Master is full of 
 local colouring, with Hebrew words such as Raca, 
 and references to Jewish tribunals, investing it 
 with a foreign far-off aspect, and depriving it 
 apparently of universal value. But it is only the 
 shell that is temporary, the kernel is perennial. 
 Nothing is more characteristic of the great Master 
 than the way in which He classes the degrees of 
 guilt in connection with the various offences 
 against the law of brotherly love. He treats 
 sins seemingly trivial, such as calling a man 
 names, as more heinous than offences committed 
 in a passion of rage. The reason is that the 
 former imply cold contempt, more inhuman than 
 anger, which prompts to acts often bitterly 
 regretted as soon as the hot temper cools down. 
 Raca expresses contempt for a man's head = you 
 stupid ! More, fool, contempt for his heart or 
 character=you scoundrel. Very notable likewise 
 is the counsel to the man who is at variance with 
 a brother to give the work of reconciliation pre- 
 
 1 Matt. v. 21-24. 
 
THE MORAL IDEAL 239 
 
 cedence of sacrifice. Whether it formed part of 
 the Teaching on the Hill is a question of minor 
 moment ; it is at any rate an unmistakable and 
 precious element of Christ's doctrine of morals. 
 Note first the general thesis : ethics before 
 religion. This was fundamental in our Lord's 
 teaching, enforced with much emphasis and due 
 iteration. Placability before sacrifice, mercy 
 before sacrifice, filial affection versus Corban ; 
 doctrine most wholesome, and urgently needed 
 then and always. Note next the peremptory 
 terms in which the special injunction is enforced. 
 The man who has a variance is supposed to be 
 standing by the altar when he remembers the 
 matter between him and his brother. A few 
 minutes will suffice for presenting duly his ofTer- 
 
 ()f course, then, the counsel is: despatch 
 quickly your religious business, and hasten back 
 
 ir alienated brother. Urged on to tin 
 of reconciliation by the solemn feelings awakened 
 by the sacrificial service. No! but rather, leave 
 thy gift before the altar, and go thy way ; first 
 be recOffc iled to thy brother, and then come and 
 
 offer thy gift, The counsel n 
 
 to criticism. Does it D4 • • more 
 
 Importance on the low due to .1 brother man 
 
2 4 o WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 than on the honour due to the Father in heaven, 
 and place the second great commandment before 
 the first! It may seem so, but disciples will be 
 more profitably occupied in laying duly to heart 
 the intense ethicalism of the Master's teaching 
 than in criticising His strong way of putting 
 things. 
 
 Next comes a precept based on the seventh 
 commandment : ' Ye have heard that it was said 
 by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit 
 adultery : but I say unto you, That whosoever 
 looketh on a woman to lust after her hath com- 
 mitted adultery with her already in his heart ! ; l 
 which may be thus paraphrased : ' Be not satis- 
 fied with abstaining from acts of impurity towards 
 a woman ; regard her as a sister whose honour 
 shall be for thyself inviolable, and in reference to 
 others an object of jealous defence.' For it is 
 obvious that only such a way of regarding a 
 woman can effectually exclude evil desire. To- 
 wards a sister no one but a monster could cherish 
 lustful thought Let every woman get a sister's 
 place, and she is safe from the heart that lusteth 
 and the member that offendeth. But what 
 delicate, tender, generous love is needful for 
 1 Matt. v. 2-. rf 
 
THE MORAL IDEAL 241 
 
 that ! Perhaps only One bearing our common 
 human nature ever loved so, even He who spake 
 the words I now comment on. He was tempted, 
 we are taught, in all respects as we are. But 
 every woman He saw was as a mother, a 
 daughter, a sister, a sacred object of tender 
 respect through the mighty power of a pure, holy 
 love. 
 
 Worthy of all acceptation and honour is the 
 doctrine Jesus taught on the kindred topic of 
 divorce} Jewish women had from of old been 
 subject to grievous wrong in connection with the 
 married state. They were regarded as the pro- 
 perty of their husbands, and they were liable to 
 be put away for any cause at the caprice of their 
 lords, without redress, except that secured by an 
 ancient statute, which ordained that a wife when 
 put away should be furnished with a document 
 certifying the fact of her divorcement, so that she 
 might be free from her former husband, and at 
 liberty to marry another. The scribes in our 
 Lord'fl time busied themselves about getting the 
 bill of Separation into due legal form. They did 
 
 nothing t<> restrain the unjust caprice of husfa 
 
 but rather opened a wider door to licence. SofBC 
 
242 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 of them recognised the most whimsical dislikes, 
 even a wandering fancy for a fairer woman, as a 
 sufficient reason for putting away. But they 
 were duly zealous to have the bill of divorcement 
 even in such an outrageous case in proper form, 
 and they may have flattered themselves that by 
 such action they were defending the rights of 
 women. What a contrast between these pedants 
 and Jesus ! He raised the previous question, and 
 asserted a more radical right of woman — the 
 right not to be put away except when she put 
 herself away by her own misconduct. He revived 
 the old heroic prophetic cry, ' I hate putting 
 away/ 1 so performing an act of humanity of 
 immense importance for Christian civilisation, 
 and exhibiting courage as one fighting single- 
 handed against long-established evil custom. 
 
 The Teacher on the hill made a most valuable 
 contribution to the illustration of the law of 
 brotherly love in connection with the old legal 
 rule of retaliation : ' An eye for an eye, and a 
 tooth for a tooth.' 2 What He said on this subject 
 amounted to this : Be not the slave of legal 
 claims. Assert your moral rights by renouncing 
 your legal ones, and refuse to be provoked into 
 
 1 Mai. ii. 15. - Matt. v. 38. 
 
THE MORAL IDEAL 243 
 
 retaliation by any amount of injustice or un- 
 brotherliness. The concrete forms under which 
 this general precept is presented are Eastern in 
 their costume, and some of them require a word 
 of explanation for modern and Western readers. 
 The coat and the cloak are the two principal 
 pieces of man's apparel ; the former being the 
 under-garment, or tunic ; the latter the upper 
 garment, or mantle, the more valuable article, and 
 serving as bed-clothing by night as well as the 
 purposes of dress by day. The counsel thus is : 
 If any man claims as his legal right thy less 
 valuable undcr-garment, dispute not his claim, let 
 him have what he demands, and over and 
 above thy more costly upper robe. The instance 
 of compulsion to go a mile refers probably to 
 military requisitions. The word rendered 'com- 
 pel,' was originally Persian, and vras subsequently 
 introduced into the Greek and Latin languages. 
 
 It denoted primarily to requisition men, I 
 
 or con tem; then, under 
 
 of the Persians in the East, and 
 the Roman Empire, If lied to the 
 
 military by the in 
 
 habit wintry through which troop 
 
 Doubtless the Jewish 
 
244 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 time of our Lord had experience of this system, 
 sometimes in an oppressive form. An instance 
 of compulsory service under military authority 
 is supplied in the Gospel narratives of the Cruci- 
 fixion — Simon of Cyrene forced by the soldiers to 
 carry the Cross of Jesus. 1 The counsel of Him 
 who was one day to get that accidental benefit 
 of an evil system to disciples gathered about 
 Him on the hill was this : ' Take the sting out of 
 the compulsion by rendering the service demanded 
 freely, and make your freedom conspicuous by 
 doubling the service. If required to carry 
 soldiers' baggage one mile, carry it two, no man 
 compelling.' How wise this teaching if hard to 
 carry into practice ! Yea, and how easy too, if 
 only we had the requisite moral dignity and 
 the needful amount of love ! What an infinite 
 amount of annoyance men escape who obey these 
 evangelic precepts, and to what an extent they 
 contribute towards the humanising of the world ! 
 Doubtless there are men, many, who would 
 victimise such gentleness, yet on a broad view of 
 things, it remains true that the meek shall inherit 
 the earth. Christ's precepts about turning the 
 other cheek, and giving the mantle into the 
 
 1 Matt, xxvii. 32 ; Mark xv. 21 ; Luke xxiii. 26. 
 
THE MORAL IDEAL 245 
 
 bargain, are not to be turned into obligatory 
 rules. But the spirit they embody is that which 
 alone can bring about the desirable consumma- 
 tion, a universal brotherhood. 
 
 After these examples of the Teacher's lofty 
 ethical doctrine, breathing throughout the spirit 
 of brotherly love, the final instance of the new 
 way of thinking as opposed to the traditional 
 does not come upon us as a surprise. We are 
 prepared to receive it simply as the crown of the 
 foregoing discourse : ' It hath been said, Thou 
 shalt love thy neighbour and hate thine enemy. 
 But I say unto you, Love your enemies.' 1 Luke, 
 who omits so much, is careful to retain this 
 precept, of course with the controversial reference 
 left out. Indeed, he nut only retains but gives 
 it twice, using it in the first instance as a caption 
 under wiiic h to collect the moral sentences which, 
 in Matthew 'fl version, serve to illustrate our Lord's 
 
 doctrine concerning the Ux ta/sonis, along with 
 
 the law of reciprocity.'-' One cannot but feel that 
 I version at this point is secondary and 
 
 somewhat artificial, and that the discourse ha- 
 
 undergone manipulation at the hands either of 
 rangeliat 1 »i of those wh I the tradi- 
 
 ' Malt. v. 44. 1 L«| 
 
246 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 tion he uses. But be that as it may, the author 
 of the third Gospel has the merit of perceiving 
 that the precept ' Love your enemies ' was the 
 most characteristic and important feature in the 
 Teaching on the Hill. And the device of iteration 
 to which he resorts serves the double purpose of 
 compensating for what is omitted, and emphasising 
 what is retained. Another contrivance for the 
 same purpose may be found in the introductory 
 phrase, ' But I say unto you who hear.' This, 
 coming in immediately after the initial Beatitudes 
 and Woes, means : ' Now, my hearers, having 
 spoken these opening sentences, let me declare 
 to you what is the great fundamental duty 
 incumbent on every disciple of mine : Love ; love 
 even your enemies! 
 
 Coming back to Matthew's form, wherein we 
 find both thesis and antithesis, the gist of the 
 great law of love as therein proclaimed is : 
 1 Acquiesce in no conventional classification of 
 men as friends and foes, neighbours and enemies ; 
 let all be friends and neighbours, or let foes and 
 strangers be distinguished as the objects of a 
 more chivalrous love, so overcoming evil with an 
 absolutely invincible good.' This new teaching 
 on its positive side would probably commend 
 
THE MORAL IDEAL 247 
 
 itself immediately and for the moment to the 
 consciences of all hearers ; but if there were any 
 present who cherished friendly feelings towards 
 the scribes, they might be inclined to question 
 the accuracy and fairness of the representation 
 given of their teaching. Had any scribe or 
 Rabbi ever taught in so many words that men 
 should love their neighbour and hate their 
 enemy ? Perhaps not, especially if we under- 
 stand by neighbours and enemies private or 
 personal friends and foes. Vet our Lord's state- 
 ment truly reflects the spirit which characterised 
 the teaching of the Jewish schools. The tendency 
 of Israel's election from the first had been to 
 aversion to the outside nations, and from 
 the time of E/ra the spirit of Judaism had been 
 one ol hostility to the Gentiles. Witness 
 
 the E ther. And Jesus knew well that 
 
 the average Jew was only too ready to follow 
 
 [UidanOC of the scribes ; and while cherishing 
 
 a tribal affection for his countrymen, to 1 
 
 with racial and religious abhorrence all beyond 
 the pale. 
 
 paraphrastic clauses added to the main 
 
 your enemies,' in Matthew's 
 narrative, luced in our Auth< 
 
248 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 sion, are an importation from Luke. In the 
 best texts there is only a single addition : pray 
 for those who persecute you. It applies the 
 general counsel to the case of those whom it is 
 most difficult to love, those, viz., whose enmity 
 has its origin in religion. There is no hatred so 
 bitter or so hard to bear. Of such hatred the 
 followers of Jesus were destined to have ample 
 experience in later days ; and it is very credible 
 that, with prescience of what was in store for 
 them, He strove betimes to imbue them with 
 the Christian temper of forbearance and of return- 
 ing good for evil. It is possible, indeed, that all 
 these added clauses in Luke, including the one 
 in Matthew, are interpretative glosses, and that 
 all that the Master said was ' Love your enemies,' 
 leaving His disciples to expand the counsel for 
 themselves. In that case they proved skilful 
 commentators ; for the love of enemies when 
 genuine will just mean blessing them that curse 
 you, doing good to them that hate you, and 
 praying for them that despitefully use you and 
 persecute you. And they were skilled inter- 
 preters, because they were faithful doers of their 
 Master's will. Their comments are simply a 
 transcript of their conduct. So they behaved, 
 
THE MORAL IDEAL 249 
 
 and so therefore they represented the Master 
 as teaching them to behave. The heroic temper 
 of the apostles, their benignant bearing towards 
 foes, is a signal illustration of what even common 
 men can attain to through the inspiring influence 
 of cherished memories, of lofty teaching reinforced 
 by an equally lofty example. ' They had been 
 with Jesus.' 
 
 Having laid down the new law, Jesus added 
 characteristically lofty inducements to keep it : 
 likeness to God (ver. 45), moral distinction among 
 men (vers. 46, 47). ' Cultivate,' said the Master, 
 4 the magnanimity of the Father in heaven ; rise 
 superior to average human morality.' Enough 
 has been said on the former part of the admoni- 
 tion in another chapter ; ■ a little comment on 
 the latter part may here be offered. Very note- 
 worthy is Christ*! desire that His disciples should 
 
 be morally distinguished : 'If ye salute your 
 brethren Only, what do ye more than Otl 
 
 the right and proper thing were 
 that they should do more. What do ye more. 
 
 or wl: . 1 exceptionally 
 
 .'.ill not have Eiil men be moral 
 
 with a virtue nut beyond 
 
 Mil 
 
250 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 the reach of publicans and Pagans, who are 
 credited with readiness to love those that love 
 them, and be kindly affectioned towards kins- 
 folk. His expectations are great, His demands 
 high ; on the first blush, one might say, merci- 
 lessly high. Hear what He says to these dis- 
 ciples on the hill : ' Have nothing in common 
 with scribes and Pharisees, their righteousness 
 is naught ; do all that the average publican and 
 Pagan does in the way of reciprocity, and a great 
 deal more ; let neither the religious, nor the 
 irreligious Jew, nor the best of Gentiles, be your 
 model. If ye will have a standard, let it be 
 God. Be ye perfect, as your Father in heaven 
 is perfect.' Too high to be attainable, do you 
 say — too high to be even taken seriously ? Nay, 
 the loftiness of this moral ideal is its charm 
 and its power. It is vulgar, low-pitched moral 
 ideals that fail. They do not command respect ; 
 they make their appeal to the lower side of our 
 nature, to self-interest and prudence ; they lack 
 the power to awaken enthusiasm in any human 
 being. The lofty, unearthly ideal of Jesus Christ, 
 on the other hand, makes its appeal distinctly, 
 exclusively, and confidently to the heroic element 
 that slumbers in every man. It speaks to us in 
 
THE MORAL IDEAL 251 
 
 words charged with the subtle charm of poetry, 
 or with the spirit-stirring power of military music. 
 It arouses enthusiasm ; it transforms timid men 
 into brave soldiers, ready to fight without thought 
 of fear ; it makes sinful men partakers of the 
 Divine nature, capable of morality, Godlike in 
 quality, if not perfect in degree. And wherein 
 lies the personal power of the Lord Jesus to 
 bind human hearts to Him in devoted love and 
 heroic service? In this, that He realised His 
 own ideal. He was indeed perfect, as God is 
 perfect, and in being this He left all His disciples, 
 even such an one as St. Paul, hopelessly behind. 
 But the Divine loftiness of His character does 
 not remove Him beyond reach of our sympathy. 
 We do not lose interest in Him because He is 
 so much better than we are. On the contrary, 
 it is by His excellence, by the ri Trepiaaov, that 
 He draws us. He is to our hearts the imitable 
 Inimitable, holding us at once by aspiration and 
 by admiration. 
 
 Among the things which Luke has retained 
 in his report of the hill discourse, otherwise 
 
 greatly curtailed, are the law of reciprocity, 1 the 
 
 framing against judging and the precept to 
 
 1 l. Lake ri 37. 
 
252 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 forgive. 1 Doubtless they owe their preservation 
 in his pages to their perceived affinity with the 
 royal law of love. The golden rule finds its 
 strongest expression in Matthew's version : ' There- 
 fore all things whatsoever ye would that men 
 should do to you, do ye even so to them.' 2 But 
 even in the weakened form of Luke : 'As ye 
 would that men should do to you, do ye also 
 to them likewise,' the rule preserves its unique- 
 ness as compared with any similar apophthegm 
 in the religious literature of the world. For the 
 peculiarity of Christ's form of the rule is that 
 it is expressed in positive, not in negative terms, 
 as in all other known instances. Rabbi Hillel 
 quoted with approval, as summing up the whole 
 law, this sentiment from the Book of Tobit : ' Do 
 to no one what you hate.' Confucius, the Chinese 
 sage, living six centuries before Christ, said : ' Do 
 not to others what you would not wish done to 
 yourself.' These and the like negative maxims 
 move in the region of justice. But the positive 
 counsel of our Lord takes us into the wider region 
 of generosity. 'Whatsoever ye would that men 
 should do to you' is capable of a very wide 
 range of application. We may desire men to 
 1 Luke vi. 37. 2 Matt. vii. 12. 
 
THE MORAL IDEAL 253 
 
 do for us, ex gratia, many things which we cannot 
 legally demand : to stretch out a helping hand 
 to us at a severe, perilous crisis in our lives, to 
 speak a word for us when we are misunderstood 
 and maligned, to give us food and harbour when 
 we are fleeing for our lives — a Claverhouse, per- 
 chance, on our track. In short, the golden rule, 
 as Jesus put it, prescribes not merely just, but 
 magnanimous, benignant, heroic behaviour towards 
 our fellow-men after the pattern set by Himself. 
 
 The counsel ' Judge not ' Luke might have been 
 tempted to omit as a remnant of the anti-Phari- 
 saic polemic ; for the Pharisees were prone to the 
 vice of censoriousness, and there was doubtless 
 a mental reference to them in the admonition 
 as originally given. But he knew, doubtless, 
 that judging was not confined to Pharisees, but 
 was apt to make its appearance even in Christian 
 brotherhoods, as James also knew when he wrote : 
 4 Speak not evil one of another, brethren. lie 
 that spcaketh evil of his brother, and ju 
 his brother, speaketh evil of the law.' 1 This 
 vicr has played a portentous, baleful part ill 
 the Church's history, and made the religion of 
 
 Exhibited by many, wear tin- .. 
 
 1 J. HIP W J I 
 
254 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 Pharisaism redivivus. Even within the bosom 
 of - reformed ' churches there has now and then, 
 here and there, appeared a conceited pietism 
 which has been very conscious of its own superior 
 goodness, and prone not only to judge others 
 to be irregenerate, but even to separate from 
 the common herd of Christians as not worthy 
 to associate with the people of God. And, alas, 
 the members of the self-constituted coteries of 
 spiritual exquisites are too often not by any 
 means so holy as they pretend. The judgers 
 are found out, and justly judged in turn : per- 
 ceived by the healthy conscience of the Christian 
 community to be pretenders who have a beam 
 in their own eye, while they busy themselves 
 with detecting motes in the eye of a brother. 
 This censoriousness of a morbid, self-deceived 
 piety is often a characteristic of crude inexperi- 
 enced religious profession, and as such it is to 
 be borne with. But in no case is it to be tamely 
 submitted to as if those who practise the vice 
 were privileged persons who must be allowed to 
 say and do what they please. The pretensions 
 of such should be treated as ridiculous, as a blot 
 on the Christian name, as utterly alien from the 
 spirit of Christ. Judging is one of the chief 
 
THE MORAL IDEAL 
 
 offences against the law of brotherly love, all 
 the more heinous that it is committed in the 
 name of religion and under the supposed guid- 
 ance of the Holy Ghost. 
 
 ' Forgive, and ye shall be forgiven,' adds Luke, 
 or, as it stands in the Revised Version : ' Release, 
 and ye shall be released.' Presumably the re- 
 ference is to moral offences, and the counsel in 
 question is Luke's equivalent for the comment 
 appended to the fifth petition of the Lord's 
 Prayer in Matthew's version: 'If ye forgive 
 men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will 
 also forgive you.' * The principle involved is 
 obviously a strong buttress to the law of brotherly 
 love. And Christians concerned for their own 
 spiritual wellbeing will do wisely to lay the prin- 
 ciple to heart, and to take it in its broad plain 
 sense, without theological refinements. So also 
 with kindred moral sentences, such as : 'Judge not, 
 and ye shall not be judged,' ' or that of St Paul : 
 1 If we would judge ourselves, we should not be 
 Of that other Baying of our Lord : ' lie 
 that humbleth himself shall be exalted. 1 ' Take 
 all these scriptural sentiments as broad enum ia 
 
 1 Matt v.. 15. Ifttt mi. 1 
 
 1 I 1 ;i 
 
256 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 tions of great laws of the moral world, operating 
 as surely as the law of gravitation in the physical 
 world. If this be indeed so, how much we have 
 in our power ! Judge not others, judge yourself, 
 humble yourself, be ready to forgive, and your 
 own pardon and salvation are sure. You are a 
 child of God, a true son of the Father in heaven, 
 a genuine disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ. It 
 will be well with you here and in all worlds, now 
 and for evermore ! 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 
 THE CROSS IX SIGHT 
 
 FROM the didactic calm of the mountain retreat 
 to the mental tension and moral pathos of the 
 northern wandering it is a long way. At the 
 earlier time many themes engaged the attention 
 of the Master and I lis disciples, themes kindred, 
 doubtless, yet distinct — God, Man, Righteousness, 
 Prayer. Now one topic fills the mind of the 
 .Master at least, if not of His followers : the- | 
 clearly visible to Him above the spiritual horizon, 
 and never henceforth out of His view. And the 
 mood and mode of speech vary with the alt 
 situation. Then JesUS was the Teacher in His 
 
 school, wearing a contemplative look, handling 
 
 all subject-, as matters of theory, disci: • 
 
 the ri| ess of the scribes and Pharisees 
 
 ither than in a controversial 
 Now He is the Prophet with a vision of doom 
 Him in the face, and filling His soul with 
 solemn time 
 
 R 
 
258 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 is short to men whom He would prepare for a 
 final crisis in tones thrilling with emotion. 
 
 The disciples never could forget the time and 
 place when and where their Master began first 
 to speak to them in plain unmistakable terms 
 concerning His death. The vividness of their 
 recollection has left its mark on the evangelic 
 tradition. The Evangelists are not uniformly 
 careful to indicate the localities of the incidents 
 they relate, but two of them distinctly mention 
 whereabouts it was that Jesus first spoke the 
 fateful word : ' The Son of Man must suffer 
 many things.' 1 There was no affinity between the 
 topic and the town, but it was near Caesarea Philippi 
 that the beloved Master began so to speak, and 
 therefore the fact must be mentioned ; everyfeature 
 in the scene indelibly imprinted on the memory 
 must be faithfully reproduced. So Peter would 
 feel when he had occasion to tell the pathetic 
 story, and the realism of the eye-witness has been 
 faithfully preserved in the pages of Mark, whence 
 it found its way into Matthew. The omission of the 
 name in the third Gospel is one of several indica- 
 tions of the secondary character of his account. 2 
 
 An announcement like that, which gave a shock 
 
 1 Matt. xvi. 13; Mark viii. 27. - Luke ix. 18. 
 
THE CROSS IN SIGHT 259 
 
 of surprise to the Twelve as they journeyed to- 
 wards Caesarea Philippi was not likely to be 
 made once only. If we may say so with rever- 
 ence, Jesus could not help speaking again and 
 again of a matter which lay so near His heart. 
 Then iteration was necessary for the sake of the 
 disciples. A wise master repeats his lessons even 
 when the truths communicated are of a theoretical 
 nature ; how much more will he deem repetition 
 needful when the subject of instruction is a fact 
 which must vitally affect conduct ! A crisis is 
 at hand which, for good or for evil, will form 
 the turning-point in the lives of these men ; how 
 necessary to impress the fact upon them in good 
 time by all possible means, even if it were by 
 monotonous re-statement over and over and over 
 again. Jesus did not hesitate to have recourse 
 to this device, and that circumstance also im- 
 :d itself indelibly on the minds of Peter 
 and his companions, as the evangelic records show. 
 several predictions of the Passion .1: 
 
 I by the Kv.i: Luke, who 
 
 lids repetition of incidents. 1 
 
 .i. 31, Luke ix. 21 ; thr 
 in Malt. x\ 11 
 
 third in 
 
2 6o WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 is relieved by new features introduced into each 
 successive announcement, as the picture became 
 clearer to the Prophet's eye, or with prudent 
 regard to what the disciples could bear. First, 
 the general announcement is made that the Son 
 of Man must go to Jerusalem to suffer many 
 things at the hands of the rulers of Israel, and be 
 killed ; next, the ominous hint is given that He 
 is to be betrayed into the hands of His murderers ; 
 then finally some harrowing details are added as 
 to the ' many things ' to be endured, with an 
 accompanying intimation that the Gentile autho- 
 rities are to have a hand in the tragedy. 
 
 But more than announcement was necessary ; 
 instruction, to help men to whom the harsh in- 
 tolerable fact was bluntly stated to comprehend 
 and in some measure to accept the awful situa- 
 tion. It may be taken for granted that Jesus 
 did everything that was possible for this purpose, 
 not contenting Himself with stating on His pro- 
 phetic authority, so it shall be, but endeavouring 
 to make it clear by all available lines of thought 
 why it so must be ; thus adding teaching to pro- 
 phesying. From the evangelic records we gather 
 that teaching and prophesying were combined 
 from the first. Jesus, they report, 'began to 
 
THE CROSS IN SIGHT 261 
 
 teach them that the Son of Man must suffer.' 1 
 This ' must ' (Bel) covers much more than the 
 fact : its inevitableness, as the unavoidable natural 
 effect of causes that were actually at work, its 
 correspondence to what Old Testament history 
 and prophecy might lead one to expect, its con- 
 gruity with the laws of the spiritual world or its 
 fitness as an event taking its place in the moral 
 order of the universe under the Providence of 
 God. That all these points of view were present 
 to Christ's own mind we cannot doubt. Whether 
 He would discuss them all with Mis disciples 
 would depend on I lis estimate of their capacity 
 to understand. The probability is that while 
 some of His thoughts He made no attempt to 
 communicate, there were others bearing on each 
 aspect of the 'must' which He deemed it ex- 
 pedient to utter. On the leaven of the scribes, 
 against which He had warned His disciples at 
 
 the starting of the memorable journey, He might 
 expatiate with hope of being understood, referring 
 
 t experiences in illustration of its malignant 
 
 in the Old 
 
 endured by th< 
 
 I le might allude, with reasonable expectation that 
 
 1 M... 
 
262 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 they would enable the disciples to perceive that 
 tribulation overtaking one who had not deserved ill 
 at men's hands was after all no strange unheard-of 
 thing. On these aspects of the subject, therefore, it 
 may be assumed that He spoke, though the records 
 contain very scanty indications of the fact. 1 The 
 ethical rationale of the Passion, the bearing of 
 the 'must' on the moral order of the world, is 
 much the most abstruse phase of the problem, 
 and it would not have surprised us if the Gospel 
 had not contained a single saying of Jesus bear- 
 ing on that recondite topic. And yet, on the 
 other hand, if we find in their pages words 
 touching thereon, reported as spoken by Jesus 
 to His disciples in these last days, we do not 
 receive their report incredulously ; for, as already 
 said, the presumption is that the Master would 
 do all in His power to make His followers com- 
 prehend the situation on all its sides. 
 
 Two sayings bearing on the rationale of the 
 Passion are reported as having been uttered by 
 Jesus, one in connection with the first announce- 
 ment of its approach, the other in connection 
 with the sons-of-Zebedee incident which followed 
 closely on the third. On the former occasion, 
 
 1 Vide Luke xxiv. 24-27. 
 
THE CROSS IN SIGHT 263 
 
 Jesus, according to the accounts of Matthew and 
 Mark, having in view the opposition of Peter, said 
 to all present, including the Twelve, ' Whosoever 
 will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take 
 up his cross, and follow Me.' In the circum- 
 stances, the word meant that His predicted 
 suffering, so far from being an improbable or 
 absurd suggestion, the bare mention of which 
 was an outrage on right feeling, was simply the 
 exemplification of a universal law applicable to 
 all who were minded as He was to devote them- 
 selves with singleness of heart to the Divine 
 interest. Thus interpreted, the saying was not 
 fitted to make the coming fate of the Master 
 greatly more bearable to disciples as a matter of 
 experience, for there is not much comfort in the 
 thought, I must suffer, and you, if loyal, must all 
 suffer along with me. But it did tend in some 
 ire to make the Master's sufferings more 
 intelligible as a matter of theory. It is always 
 a satisfaction to the intellect when a fact is taken 
 out of a position of isolation, and brought under 
 the sway of B general principle. That the dis- 
 ciples fully comprehended the SCOpC of the 
 
 I likely, but they would not fail 
 
 to be struck with it, and it IS not at all surprising 
 
264 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 that they remembered it long after. There is not 
 the least ground for doubting the authenticity of 
 the saying. The reference to the cross is no 
 reason for suspicion, for the mode of punishment 
 it represented would be familiar to all Jews then 
 living, and it might be referred to by Jesus, even 
 without prescience of the manner in which He 
 Himself was to suffer death, simply as the emblem 
 of a cruel and humiliating experience. It makes 
 for the historicity of the saying that the idea it 
 embodies is ethical, not theological. One can 
 understand people living in the apostolic age, 
 and especially such as were familiar with Pauline 
 doctrine, imputing to the Lord Jesus words 
 expressive of the theological significance of His 
 death, as a unique event demanding an explana- 
 tion peculiar to itself. Such was the way in 
 which the apostle Paul viewed the matter. But 
 such is not the view embodied in the Logion in 
 question. The event to be explained is not 
 regarded as isolated, and the theory under which 
 it and the whole class of events to which it 
 belongs is brought, moves in the region of ethics, 
 not of theology. In effect the doctrine taught is 
 that all the godly must suffer persecution. That 
 doctrine the Apostolic Church understood, but it 
 
THE CROSS IN SIGHT 265 
 
 was not in terms of it that believers were wont 
 to express their thought concerning the meaning 
 of Christ's death. The saying now under con- 
 sideration, therefore, was not an importation into 
 the Gospels, but a genuine reminiscence of the 
 first lesson taught by the Lord concerning the 
 significance of His Passion. 
 
 It is a very important lesson, which must form 
 the broad ethical foundation of all theological 
 superstructures that aspire to abiding validity. 
 There may be some respects in which the death 
 of Christ is singular, but there are also respects 
 in which it belongs to a class of facts in the moral 
 world. These common aspects cannot be over- 
 looked without vitiating effect on theological 
 theory. To the category belongs suffering 
 
 ■iess sake. That Jesus so suffered is 
 certain, and that in this He has had man)- com- 
 panions is not less so. To see the likeness, 
 however, it is necessary to keep before our minds 
 the most salient instances. With : to 
 
 many disciples of the Great Master it seems an 
 
 exaggeration to say that their lot i ir a 
 
 e worthy of the name. \ 
 t think of the exceptionally faithful men, the 
 
 moral heroes "t history, the propfa ties, 
 
266 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 martyrs, and confessors, to be fully convinced 
 of the sober truth of the doctrine taught at 
 Csesarea Philippi. If you take it as applying to 
 all who at any distance follow Christ, then you 
 must either view it as an over-statement, or you 
 must conceive the cross, not as the emblem of 
 great critical tribulations, but rather as the symbol 
 of the petty troubles that constantly befall those 
 who try, however imperfectly, to live a good life. 
 
 The latter alternative was adopted by Luke. 
 The introduction into the saying of the word 
 'daily' 1 makes all the difference. Luke's version 
 of the first lesson is manifestly secondary in this 
 respect, and indeed in all respects. His omission 
 of the opposition and consequent rebuke of Peter 
 removes the link connecting the cross of the 
 Master with the cross of the disciple as belonging 
 to the same moral category. In representing the 
 word of the cross as spoken to all, he suggests 
 the experience of the many rather than that 
 of the few as the sphere of its verification. In 
 representing cross-bearing as a daily business, 
 he withdraws our attention from those rare and 
 capital instances of suffering on account of right- 
 eousness which justify the term 'cross,' and 
 
 1 Luke ix. 23. 
 
THE CROSS IN SIGHT 267 
 
 broadly exemplify the truth of the law. In 
 keeping with this treatment of Christ's memor- 
 able word to His disciples is his manner of 
 dealing with the whole incident of which it forms 
 a part. His narrative, up to the point at which 
 he introduces it, does not prepare us for so 
 solemn a declaration. We see no reason why- 
 Jesus should just then begin to speak about His 
 Passion. Luke's omissions, e.g. of the encounter 
 with the Pharisees in respect to ceremonial ablu- 
 tions, and of their demand for a sign, hide from 
 readers the causes that were steadily working 
 towards a tragic issue. Therefore the intimation 
 that such an issue was inevitable comes upon us 
 as a surprise almost as much as it came upon the 
 disciples. In Luke's conception of the Bel the 
 view of our Lord's death as the effect of c 
 that were in operation all through His public 
 career had little or no place. lie seems to 
 have thought chiefly if not exclusively of the 
 
 ity that old Testament prophecy should 
 
 More remarkable, because exni 
 
 familiar thought, is the second contribution 
 made towards a theory <>t tin- Passion: 'Thi 
 
 (»] Man came QOt t0 be ministered unto, but to 
 
268 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 minister, and to give His life a ransom for many.' 1 
 It sets the approaching event in a new and 
 brighter light, as not merely a disaster overtaking 
 Jesus because His public conduct, however loyal 
 to God, has aroused deadly hostility among the 
 religious leaders of Israel, but as a source of 
 benefit to many men. Jesus here conceives His 
 death not as a fate, but as a service, the supreme 
 illustration of the truth that the Son of Man 
 came not to be served but to serve. From the 
 connection in which the thought is introduced, 
 indeed, it is clear that the Speaker expects ulti- 
 mate benefit to Himself from this extraordinary 
 service. It is the way He takes to the place of 
 sovereign. By lowly service He expects to 
 become the greatest. But it is a round-about 
 way. The many will serve Him because they 
 are conscious He has made them His debtors 
 by His ministering life and death. 
 
 There is no reason to doubt the genuineness of 
 this great word. It fits the situation, and admir- 
 ably crowns the discourse of Jesus to His dis- 
 ciples concerning the true way to greatness. Its 
 originality and grandeur guarantee its authen- 
 ticity. Then it was to be expected that Jesus 
 
 1 Matt xx. 28 ; Mark x. 45. 
 
THE CROSS IN SIGHT 269 
 
 would, both for His own comfort, and for the 
 consolation of His disciples, do His utmost to 
 invest the harsh fact of His death with 'poetic, 
 mystic, spiritual meanings,' to put a bright optim- 
 istic face on a dark pessimistic outlook. This 
 had been His way all along; His doctrine of the 
 Divine Fatherhood was a signal example of His 
 will and power to introduce sunshine into the 
 darkest experiences of life. It may be taken for 
 granted that the happy habit of mind which 
 asserted itself so triumphantly in the admonition 
 against care in the Hill Teaching would not 
 desert Him when His own hour of trial came. 
 He would know how to transmute a supreme evil 
 into a supreme good, and to deck His cross with 
 flowers. We see Him engaged in this very work 
 at this time when He gives to His approaching 
 sufferings the poetic names of a cup and a bap- 
 tism. Why should He not also call it a ransom? 
 That word doubtless has to our ear a theol 
 rather than a poetic sound, and may Suggest the 
 doubt, Have we not in this term, and in the whole 
 
 in which it 01 f the 
 
 tit into the mouth »>t JeSUS r The 
 
 from Lu 
 whu h tlu- whol incident has no 
 
2 7 o WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 place, might be cited in justification of the doubt. 
 It is such a use of the third Evangelist's omissions 
 that induces me to take pains to point out 
 what I conceive to be the true characteristics 
 of the presentation of the evangelic story. I 
 maintain that when these are properly under- 
 stood, this particular omission ceases to have any 
 value as an argument against the historicity of 
 the Ransom-Logion. And to make this as clear 
 as possible, I here remark that Luke's Gospel is 
 by comparison with the other two Synoptists very 
 deficient in material bearing on the significance of 
 Christ's death. The first lesson on the subject 
 already considered is so altered by him that we 
 hardly recognise it as a lesson. The second, con- 
 tained in the Ransom-Logion, is wholly omitted. 
 The third lesson also, that taught in connection 
 with Mary's vase of ointment, by the suggestion 
 that her act in anointing Jesus, and His act in 
 dying, were to be for ever associated together as 
 of kindred nature 1 — this too is wanting in the 
 third Gospel, the whole story being passed over. 
 The only thing that remains is the fourth lesson, 
 contained in the words spoken by Jesus at the 
 institution of the Supper, ' This cup is the New 
 
 1 Matt. xxvi. 13; Mark xiv. 9. 
 
THE CROSS IN SIGHT 271 
 
 Testament in My blood, which is sJicd for you! 
 In the judgment of experts in New Testament 
 criticism it is very doubtful whether even these 
 words had any place in the true text of Luke. 
 In their edition of the Greek Testament, Westcott 
 and Hort enclose within double brackets all that 
 follows 'This is My body,' in Luke xxii. 19, 
 with the whole of the following verse, ending 
 with the words above quoted. Other well-known 
 scholars agree with them in thinking that Codex 
 Bezaj, which omits the passage, here preserves 
 the original text, and that the words left out in 
 that Codex were introduced by another hand 
 from St. Paul's account of the institution of the 
 Supper in his First Epistle to the Corinthians. 
 Into this critical question I cannot here enter, 
 nor have I any desire to pronounce a confi- 
 dent opinion upon it. I simply remark that 
 the omission of the Ransom- Logion, and of the 
 saying concerning Mary of Bethany, makes the 
 ion of the bracketed clauses in Luke's report 
 of the institution of the Supper less improbable 
 
 than it might otherwise appear. Supposing they 
 
 .hat would be the result? This 
 rather Startling one, that Li. < . pel would 
 
 not contain word oi Jesus that could be 
 
272 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 regarded as a contribution towards explaining 
 the moral or theological significance of His death. 
 The Acts, a companion work to the third Gospel, 
 contains little or no theology of the cross. Hence 
 on the hypothesis in question the state of the 
 case as regards Luke would be this : that through- 
 out his writings there is no trace of St. Paul's 
 theory of atonement, though there is abundant 
 evidence of warm sympathy with the apostle's 
 Christian universalism. 1 This is a phenomenon 
 which calls for more consideration than it has 
 yet received. 
 
 Thus far of the prejudice against the historicity 
 of this saying arising from its omission by Luke. 
 It remains to offer a few remarks on a similar 
 prejudice created by its apparently theological 
 character. Is it credible, one may ask, that so 
 definite and developed a theological theory as to 
 the significance of our Lord's death could come 
 from the lips of the Lord Himself? By way of 
 reply the previous question might reasonably be 
 raised : Have we here developed theology, or 
 even theology at all ? Is the word ' ransom ' 
 necessarily used in a technical theological sense 
 
 1 The words, 'which He purchased with His blood,' in St. Paul's 
 speech to the elders of Ephesus (Acts xx. 28), contain the nearest 
 approach to a definite theological theory. 
 
THE CROSS IN SIGHT 273 
 
 exclusively applicable to the death of Christ ? 
 May it not be employed in a general ethical sense 
 applicable to all whose lives are sacrificed in a 
 good cause with more or less beneficent effect ? 
 In a recently published commentary I find this 
 comment on the passage : ' All that is required 
 by the statement, not in the way of minimising 
 it, but to fill out its meaning, is that His life be- 
 comes the price by which men are freed from 
 their bondage. The soldiers in the American 
 Civil War gave their lives as a Xvrpov for the 
 slaves, and every martyr's death is a Xvrpov. 
 There may be more than this involved in the 
 death of the Redeemer, but more than this is 
 not involved in His words here.' 1 To men accus- 
 tomed to the developed theories of dogmatic 
 theology this may seem a very meagre inter- 
 pretation, but it is a perfectly legitimate one, 
 and the idea it finds in the text is true as far 
 as it goes, and apposite to the connection of 
 thought And when the historicity of the say- 
 in question, we are neither bound nor 
 
 entitled to charge its terms with a plethora of 
 
 Gould, 
 S. T.D.| Intel . published by 
 
 M 1. 1 : 
 
 s 
 
274 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 theological meaning ; we may and must under- 
 stand them as used in a natural, spontaneous, 
 non-technical, fluid sense, as expressing a great 
 broad truth relating to the moral order of the 
 world. Such a truth would be this, that the 
 moral and spiritual progress of the world is 
 never signally advanced without sacrifice, and 
 that those whose lot it is to make the needful 
 sacrifice may in an intelligible sense be said to 
 lay down their lives a ransom for many. The 
 question may, of course, be raised, What is the 
 ultimate reason of this unquestionable fact? 
 Why is it that moral progress on the great scale 
 is so costly, and by what categories of thought 
 can the cost be best estimated and understood? 
 This is a problem for theologians and philo- 
 sophers. The saying ascribed to our Lord sets 
 the problem, but there is nothing to show that 
 He meant His words to be a contribution to- 
 wards its solution. 
 
 From the faithful narratives of the Evangelists 
 it appears that the words of the Master, taken 
 even in their broadest and most obvious sense, 
 made little impression at the time on the minds 
 of His disciples. They soon recovered from the 
 depression caused by sombre anticipations, and 
 
THE CROSS IN SIGHT 275 
 
 with the buoyancy of children rebounded to 
 congenial light-mindedness. That a crisis was 
 coming they believed, but they hoped it would 
 be very different from that pointed at by their 
 Master's gloomy forebodings. While He spake of 
 a cross, they dreamt of crowns, and vain thoughts 
 awoke ambitious passions which ended in un- 
 seemly wranglings. Hence, Jesus had two tasks 
 to perform in these last months : to expound under 
 its varied aspects the doctrine of sacrifice, and to 
 discipline the unruly tempers of His followers. 
 
 Of the efforts made by our Lord in this 
 second direction the Gospels give some inter- 
 esting accounts. The memorable words to which 
 the saying last considered belongs — wherein the 
 great law, Distinction to be attained by service, 
 was enunciated, — is a precious sample of the sub- 
 lime schooling to which the Master subjected 
 lli cholars. Thanks to James and John and 
 their mother for creating, through their foolish 
 aspiration, a fitting opportunity for the utterance 
 
 of such never-to-be-forgotten thoughts. 
 
 This was not the first leSSOH of the kind the 
 
 disciples had received. They had been to 
 
 y in Capernaum just after their return from 
 
 Kcursfon to Csesarea Philippi For on tin: 
 
276 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 way home they had been disputing on the ques- 
 tion, Who is the greatest ? and their Master had 
 felt that no time must be lost in dealing with 
 the new spirit of ambition that had appeared 
 among them. Mark's account reproduces the 
 scene very vividly before us. Jesus, he tells us, 
 'sat down and called the twelve,' 1 both actions 
 betokening a resolute purpose to school the dis- 
 ciples in humility. The Master takes His seat, 
 the teacher's posture, calls His scholars with a 
 magisterial tone, calls them as the twelve destined 
 to an important vocation, and needing thorough 
 discipline to be of service in it. Everything 
 points to a great effort, lasting probably for a con- 
 siderable time, hours, during which Jesus doubt- 
 less gave expression to many weighty thoughts, 
 all serving the same general purpose, such 
 thoughts as we find reported with greatest ful- 
 ness in Matthew's Gospel. 2 It is conceivable 
 that the first Evangelist, in this part of his narra- 
 tive, follows his usual method of grouping words 
 of kindred import irrespective of their historical 
 connection. But there is nothing in the chapter 
 which might not have been spoken on the occa- 
 sion indicated in the opening verse. Full as 
 
 1 Mark ix. 35. 2 Matt, xviii. 
 
THE CROSS IN SIGHT 277 
 
 Matthew's report is, even he has not given all. 
 Luke contributes nothing peculiar to him, his 
 account being very meagre. Mark, however, 
 has preserved a very remarkable saying, not 
 found in Matthew's record, which commends 
 itself at once as an integral part of the Caper- 
 naum admonition. It is the Logion concerning 
 salting} Part of it — ' Salt is good, but if the 
 salt have lost his saltness, wherewith will ye 
 season it ? ' — is found in other connections in 
 Matthew and Luke (in Matthew v. 13 and in 
 Luke xiv. 34, 35), but the remainder is peculiar 
 to the second Gospel. The passage has its diffi- 
 culties, critical and exegetical, but the general 
 sense is plain. The drift is: 'salting in some 
 form is inevitable ; in the form of self-discipline 
 it is indispensable. Every man must be salted 
 somehow, either with the unquenchable fire of 
 Gehenna, or with the fire of severe self-sacrifice. 
 Wise is he who chooses the latter alternative. 
 Without salting in the sense of self-discipline no 
 in perform the function of being ■ salt to 
 
 the world. The morally undisciplined, subject 
 to ambitious desires, arc a salt without a savour. 
 1 .able thing 
 
 1 Maik ix. 4 
 
278 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 to say to men whose vocation was to be apostles 
 of the Christian religion. It pointed to a char- 
 acter thoroughly purged from selfish passions as 
 an indispensable condition of future usefulness 
 in the exercise of apostolic functions. And there 
 was another word needed for the present con- 
 ditions of the disciple-circle distracted by internal 
 jealousies, its harmony disturbed by the dispute 
 about places of distinction. They could not 
 afford to be at war among themselves, a small 
 band facing a hostile world. Peace was indis- 
 pensable. How was it to be restored and main- 
 tained ? The prescription is again salting. ' Have 
 salt in yourselves, and be at peace one with 
 another.' In the first place, the disciples are 
 thought of as themselves salt for the world, but 
 now they are viewed as the subjects of the salting 
 process. They are summoned to see to it that 
 their own inward man be duly salted, in order 
 that they may be able to live at peace among 
 themselves, and avoid further unseemly wrangling. 
 And as it was ambition that led to a breach of 
 the peace, so the salting will consist in getting 
 rid of that evil spirit at all hazards, even though 
 it should mean excision of an offending member. 
 This salting is not to be confounded with the 
 
THE CROSS IN SIGHT 279 
 
 cross-bearing of faithful disciples of which Jesus 
 had spoken on a previous occasion. Cross-bearing 
 is the tribulation that comes on all who follow 
 closely in the footsteps of Christ. Salting is the 
 discipline of self-denial necessary to make a man 
 a follower of Christ worthy of the name. 
 
 When we think of all the stern words spoken 
 by our Lord at this time to His chosen com- 
 panions, we are as profoundly impressed with the 
 intense moral earnestness of the Master as we 
 were with the wisdom of the Teacher while 
 studying the doctrine taught on the mountain 
 top. The Teaching on the Hill opened with a 
 series of sentences setting forth the kind of men 
 who are the true citizens of the Kingdom, and 
 partakers of its blessedness. Taken in the 
 abstract, the Beatitudes present a beautiful object 
 of mental contemplation, a poetic ideal whose 
 charm is unfading. But one might expect even 
 the Divine Artist who drew the fair picture to 
 Qtent with Something .short of the ideal in 
 practice, especially in the ca.se of His own 
 followers. Yet He was nut. He meant it 
 ■eriously, and expected all who were about Him 
 • it not lc !y. To 1 
 
 Hid, loan ambitious 
 
2 8o WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 men striving for prominence, become as the 
 children, ye shall not even enter the Kingdom, 
 not to speak of being great there. 1 If any man, 
 even if it be one of you, in his pride and selfish 
 pursuit of his own advancement, despise or 
 trample under foot a " little one," his appropriate 
 doom will be to be thrown with a heavy mill- 
 stone round his neck into the deepest part of the 
 sea. 2 If ye be not placable, ready to forgive 
 from the heart a brother who has offended, My 
 heavenly Father will treat you as the king in 
 the parable treats the unmerciful servant.' 3 How 
 uncompromising ! What a passion for moral 
 purity ! How profound the conviction in the 
 mind of the Lord Jesus that without a disciplined 
 spirit thoroughly schooled into the virtue of the 
 Kingdom these men can be of no use, and that 
 a society of such men can only be a corrupt, 
 worthless community, on which the eye of the 
 Divine Father cannot rest with satisfaction. Alas! 
 organised Christianity has at all times borne too 
 close a resemblance to the disciple-circle at this 
 period. Church History gives tragic emphasis 
 to the counsel, ' Have salt in yourselves, and have 
 peace one with another' — scandals, offences, 
 
 1 Matt, xviii. 3. 2 Ibid, xviii. 6. 3 Ibid, xviii. 35. 
 
THE CROSS IN SIGHT 281 
 
 quarrels, divisions innumerable, all for lack of 
 salt. But let us turn from the humbling story, 
 and fix our eyes on a more edifying subject of 
 contemplation. Let the weakness of disciples 
 serve as a foil to the moral strength of their 
 Master. The inner history of the Jesus-circle in 
 those weeks is disenchanting enough. There is 
 a traitor in the camp who, having laid the Master's 
 foreboding of danger more to heart than the rest, 
 meditates escape from an ill-fated brotherhood 
 by playing false to its Head. Three have been 
 favoured by being chosen for special companion- 
 ship with the Master during a season of retire- 
 ment, and either they grow vain, or their brother 
 disciples become jealous. Two try to snatch 
 the first places for themselves, and the ten are 
 indignant. While the Master inculcates kindness 
 to the little ones, His scholars have to confess 
 an act of arrogance and intolerance committed 
 against one who had given no just cause of 
 offence. 1 How JeSUfl towers in moral grandeur 
 
 above these little men whom He condescends to 
 
 mala- companion-,! Incapable of disloyalty, He 
 
 marches straight towards His doom. The glories 
 of the hill oi Transfiguration do not dazzle His 
 
 1 M.uk i \. jS ; Lukfl i)L 
 
282 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 eyes : ' Tell no man of the vision.' Primacy, 
 greatness, is not His watchword, but service even 
 unto death. Monopoly receives no countenance 
 from Him : ' Forbid him not ! ' Here is the moral 
 sublime, not merely touched for a moment, but 
 consistently sustained. Christians ! bow in lowly 
 reverence before that transcendent character, and 
 remember that ye are worthy of your name in 
 proportion as the mind, the ethical spirit, of Jesus 
 dwells in you. That spirit is the true salt which 
 promotes peace and conditions power. The moral 
 tone of a Church is the measure of its Christianity 
 and of its spiritual influence. 
 
CHAPTER XII 
 GETHSEMANE 
 
 Tin: experience of our Lord in the Garden was 
 a rehearsal of the Passion. In that hour of agony 
 He realised in thought and feeling all that He 
 was about to suffer. Privacy is the privilege of 
 such as pass through deep waters of soul-trouble, 
 and reverence raises a monitory finger protesting 
 against intrusion. But Jesus took three with 
 Him into the sacred enclosure, and through them 
 all the world has been made acquainted with the 
 solemn scene. The Sufferer did not desire to 
 screen Himself from observation. He would 
 have Hi.^ followers .see Him in His weakin 
 well as in 1 1 i -> strength. He was nut ashamed of 
 
 His human infirmity, nor guided by a false pride 
 
 whispering, Let no mortal man see Me with a 
 
 trembled countenance, lb- counselled and prac- 
 tised secrecy when publicity would give t«> coo- 
 duct the .i theatrical performance meant 
 
284 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 to win applause, but not when it was more likely 
 to bring reproach than praise. ' Hide your good 
 deeds,' He said to His disciples ; ' hide tears ; on 
 no account allow the woman in you to appear/ 
 He did not say. Nor did He act on this stoical 
 maxim. 'Jesus wept' at the grave of Lazarus. 
 He let it be known that His soul was ' exceeding 
 sorrowful even unto death.' Sentimentality, 
 effeminacy, had no place in His nature, but 
 womanliness had. There was a soft tender 
 woman in Him, as well as a brave heroic man, 
 and He was content that all that was in Him 
 should be known. In this unreserved self-mani- 
 festation lies the truth and charm of His character. 
 He has nothing to hide, He can afford to be seen 
 through and through ; the exposure of that which 
 men are tempted to hide only heightens our 
 admiration and our love. Therefore we may 
 not hesitate to consider what is recorded of our 
 beloved Lord's experience in Gethsemane. It is 
 part of the picture presented to our view in the 
 mirror of the Gospels, and it completes the 
 portraiture. We have seen Jesus in His zeal as 
 an Evangelist, in His benevolence as a Healer, in 
 His wisdom as a Teacher, in His faithfulness as 
 a Master, in His courage as the foe and critic of 
 
GETHSEMANE 285 
 
 a false but pretentious and tyrannical pietism ; it 
 is well that we see Him finally when His strength 
 seems to have gone from Him, and He is become 
 like any other man. It will help us to realise 
 that our Saviour was indeed ' in all points tempted 
 like as we are, yet without sin.' 
 
 Another view of the matter is of course possible. 
 The infirmity of Christ's humanity is wholly free 
 from sin in reality, and for such as can under- 
 stand it. But apparently, and for such as have 
 not the necessary spiritual insight to appreciate 
 its true character? Is there not a risk of such 
 an experience as that in the garden being mis- 
 understood ? Were it not good, therefore, to 
 throw a veil over it by total omission or qualified 
 report ~ j Let the agony be a holy mystery, known, 
 if at all, only to the initiated. Peter, James, and 
 John may be there, but let them keep what they 
 see and hear to themselves. 
 
 Some such feeling seems to have prevailed in 
 certain parts of the primitive Church. Indica- 
 
 are not wanting that Luke's account of the 
 mddent t iapc under the influence of a 
 
 prudent reserve. These will be pointed out in 
 i\ur course. Meantime our attention must be 
 given to the narratives of Matthew and Mark, 
 
286 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 which betray the influence of the other view, viz., 
 that there was something tending to edification 
 to be learned from a frank recital of what befell 
 Jesus during the hour preceding His apprehen- 
 sion. The general features of the story are the 
 same in both ; Mark's version is, on the whole, 
 the most realistic. 
 
 The essential features of the incident, as re- 
 ported in the first two Gospels, 1 are these : From 
 the supper-chamber in Jerusalem Jesus goes forth 
 towards the Mount of Olives accompanied by His 
 disciples. On the way the shadow of the cross 
 begins to fall on His spirit, and He begins to 
 speak to the disciples of the panic which is about 
 to overtake them. They arrive at an enclosed 
 property called Gethsemane, probably because it 
 contained an oil-press. He bids the outer circle 
 of eight sit down there and wait His return, then 
 enters the garden, taking with Him the inner 
 circle of three, Peter, James, and John, bidding 
 them halt at a certain point, and asking them 
 not merely to wait, but to watch ; ' with Me/ 
 Matthew adds, suggesting a desire on their 
 Master's part for their sympathy to sustain Him 
 through the crisis. While giving them this direc- 
 
 1 Matt. xxvi. 36-45 ; Mark xiv. 32-41. 
 
GETHSEMAXE 287 
 
 tion He makes a full confession of His mental 
 distress : ' My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even 
 unto death.' The access of this soul-sorrow is 
 indicated in these terms : ' He began to be 
 sorrowful and very heavy-hearted.' He began. 
 Jesus had long known, and had often with real- 
 istic plainness spoken of what was to befall Him. 
 Yet the vivid sense of what it all meant came 
 upon Him at this time as an appalling revelation. 
 The beginning referred to by the Evangelists 
 probably points to the moment at which distress 
 became visible. The inward beginning came 
 earlier, but was concealed till the following had 
 been reduced to three, when Jesus allowed His 
 inward state to appear to those who, He hoped, 
 might be able to bear the revelation and 
 Him a little sympathy. Marks description of 
 the oncoming of the eclipse is very strong. He 
 uses three descriptive words for Matthew's two, 
 one being peculiar to him. Jesus is represented 
 as not only sorrowful and heavy-hearted, but 
 
 amazed 
 
 18 then advances further into tin- garden, 
 
 (alia all Ili^ length on the ground, and begins to 
 pray. Both E re tin- wrord 
 
 with Blight variations, Mark prefixing an indica- 
 
288 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 tion of its gist, viz., that ' if it were possible the 
 hour might pass from Him.' There are three 
 successive acts of prayer, all having the same 
 burden : if it be possible, let the cup pass. 
 Between the acts Jesus comes back to the three 
 disciples, hoping to find them sympathetically 
 watchful. Instead, He finds them asleep the 
 first time, and again the second time, in spite of 
 His reproachful words and earnest admonition to 
 watch and pray for themselves, lest they be over- 
 taken by sudden temptation. Returning the 
 third time He bids them sleep on now and rest, 
 adding, according to Mark, ' It is enough.' He 
 knew, for He immediately went on to state that 
 the moment for His apprehension was at hand, 
 so giving to the permission to sleep an ironical 
 meaning. And yet it was not mere irony. It 
 meant, ' You may sleep on now without interrup- 
 tion so far as I am concerned. I no longer need 
 your sympathetic watchfulness. I have con- 
 quered in the struggle. I am prepared to meet 
 the hour and drink the cup.' 
 
 The struggle had been very real while it lasted. 
 All signs point to an even tremendous conflict : 
 the craving for sympathy, the confession of mental 
 distress, the prostrate attitude, the thrice-repeated 
 
GETHSEMANE 2S9 
 
 prayer, the pressing importunate ' if it be possible.' 
 Yet what room for struggle in a mind already- 
 made up ? How can the suppliant conceive as 
 even abstractly possible escape from a doom 
 which months ago He clearly perceived and 
 openly declared to be inevitable ? It must be (Bel) 
 He had said again and again to His disciples. 
 And had He not taken pains to explain to them 
 the grounds of the ' must,' enlarging now on the 
 malice of the scribes, anon on the predictions of 
 ancient psalmists and prophets, at another time 
 on the facts and laws of the: moral world? I la- 
 the wise Teacher forgot His own instructions? 
 No, but it is one thing to teach, another to apply 
 the lesson to your own case when the dark 
 hour of trial comes. The 'must' proclaimed at 
 rea Phillppi, and often reiterated, might be 
 rooted in the wicked purpose of the scribes, in 
 ancient prophecy, and in the moral order of the 
 universe, but it was contrary t<> the Order i>{ 
 human nature, which rose in rebelli* 
 
 that triple necessity, Sctib 
 
 moral laws might cry 'must, 1 and the in; 
 
 and the conscience ackn< ' • truth of their 
 
 cry, but the flesh and tl tive human soul 
 itrate, and in 
 
290 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 can but exclaim, If it be possible ! And this is 
 not the first time He has felt the painful internal 
 conflict, though it is the first time He has allowed 
 it to appear. That stern word to Peter, ' Get 
 thee behind me, Satan,' shows that the struggle 
 was on Him even at Caesarea Philippi. The 
 disciple's ' this shall not be unto Thee ' had voiced 
 the instinctive recoil of His own heart. The 
 agony in the garden is but the final conflict with 
 a weakness of which the Faithful One has been 
 conscious all along. 
 
 No wonder the conflict was keen. The cup 
 Jesus had to drink was full of bitter ingredients : 
 Death, death in youth, death by injustice, death by 
 violence, death in a form horrible to think of, death 
 brought about by conspiracy between a false dis- 
 ciple and unprincipled priests, death as a victim of 
 human sin under all its varied aspects, death in 
 utter loneliness, deserted by all His chosen com- 
 panions. But God, His Father, was He not with 
 Him, and was His presence not enough to sweeten 
 the cup, or at least to mitigate greatly its bitter- 
 ness ? Yes, the Father was with Him, and He 
 realised the fact all through the hour of trial. 
 From first to last the filial consciousness was in the 
 ascendant. The key-note of filial trust was struck 
 
GETHSEMANE 291 
 
 in the first act of prayer, in its opening phrase : 
 1 O my Father.' His Father's heart is His place 
 of refuge in this hour of dire distress. His Father's 
 love, and his Father's wisdom and power, and the 
 boundless possibilities at His command for extri- 
 cating those who trust in Him and serve Him 
 from the most desperate situations. Xo way of 
 escape had appeared open to His own view, all 
 things had seemed to unite in saying, it must be ; 
 but, ■ all things are possible unto thee, O Father.' 
 Jesus addresses His Father not as the appointer 
 of the cup, but rather as the only being in all the 
 world who is able to take it away. And yet, with 
 His habitual view of Divine Providence, He could 
 not conceive of His Father's relation to the cup as 
 
 merely permissive. He knew that unless the 
 Father had put the cup into His hand it would 
 not have been there. 'The cup which my Father 
 
 iven me, shall I nut drink it?' 1 Thus the 
 doctrine of the Divine Fatherhood which he had 
 taught His disciples becomes to Himself now a 
 
 source at once of perplexity 
 
 and of consolation. This bitter cup, : 
 
 1 John wiii. u. The ■ .tic. ill lh.it rcinaii. 
 
 They intlicatr thr 
 ilt of an uni 
 ..1 the 1 
 
292 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 hath put it into my hand, and that adds to its 
 bitterness. Not merely men, friends and foes, are 
 against me, but my God, my Father, seems to for- 
 sake me. Yet in the mere fact that my Father 
 wills it I find sweet comfort, for all He does is well. 
 Here is an antinomy solved by faith, not insoluble 
 even for thought. Piety always contrives to solve 
 such antinomies, but the reflective thought of those 
 who are confronted with them is not always able to 
 suggest adequate theoretical solutions. The pro- 
 phets of Israel were in this position. They believed 
 that God was righteous and in their experience 
 He appeared to them most unrighteous. They 
 held on to faith in the Divine righteousness, but 
 they could not explain the conflicting phenomena 
 of Providence ; these remained for them an inscrut- 
 able mystery. Was it so with our Lord Jesus? 
 No ; by thought as well by faith He surmounted 
 the antinomy. He understood that it was a law 
 and not an accident that the righteous suffer in 
 this world. He understood moreover that it was 
 a beneficent law : that the sufferings of the right- 
 eous issued in good even to the unrighteous ; that 
 the death of the Just is a ransom for the souls of 
 the unjust. Doubtless He understood also, though 
 this does not appear from the Gospel records, that 
 
GETHSEMAXE 293 
 
 the sufferer himself gains from His hard experience. 
 1 Perfected by suffering/ is the formula offered by 
 the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews to justify 
 the thesis : It became Him, for whom are all 
 things, and by whom are all things, to subject the 
 Captain of Salvation to a painful and humbling 
 experience. 1 It is a true, beautiful, and helpful 
 thought which has not received from systematic 
 theology so full a recognition as it deserves. It 
 means that by His curriculum of temptation and 
 suffering Jesus was perfected for the office and 
 function of Captain of Salvation, because thereby 
 He was subjected to an experience which called 
 into play the virtues of faith, patience, obedience, 
 and sympathy, qualifying Him to be a merciful 
 High Priest worthy of, and winning, the unhesi- 
 tating trust of sinful men. 
 
 The victory of our Lord in Gethsemane con- 
 sisted not merely in submission to tlie will of His 
 Father, but in the intelligent acceptance of that 
 
 will as good, wise, well-grounded That was what 
 He had achieved by the threefold act of prayer. 
 
 That three distinct devotional acts were nee 
 
 is no ground of reproach. Complete mast 
 
 it and feeling in SU of temptation 
 
 1 IK! . ii. 10. 
 
294 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 comes to no man without prolonged effort. It is 
 the result of a process with distinguishable stages. 
 It is not to be supposed that in the three acts 
 words and mood were absolutely identical. We 
 might infer that they were from the statements of 
 the Evangelists, especially from that of Mark, but 
 the inference would be hasty. Neither they, nor 
 the three disciples who were the ultimate source 
 of information, were able to tell precisely all that 
 happened. Peter, James, and John, heard a few 
 words in which the name ' Father ' was most 
 distinct, and they gathered that the burden of all 
 their Master said was ' Help me to say, Thy will 
 be done.' Each act doubtless had its distinctive 
 character, by each in succession a step in advance 
 was taken. In the first, nature found relief by 
 unreserved utterance 'with strong crying and 
 tears/ of all it had to say against the ' cup.' When 
 this wave of emotion had dashed itself against the 
 shore, there would come a moment of calm during 
 which the sufferer would naturally go back to the 
 three, seeking a little comfort in the presence of 
 loved ones. Then another wave began to raise its 
 head : the mood of wrestling and the need of 
 solitude returned. Again prostration and lifting 
 up of the soul to God ; but this time not in mere 
 
GETHSEMANE 295 
 
 passionate outpouring of nature's revolt. Rather 
 an endeavour to collect thought and summon into 
 consciousness all that helped to see that the cup 
 must be drunk, and that however bitter it was 
 wholesome. Of this change in tone there is a per- 
 ceptible trace in the words which Matthew makes 
 our Lord utterin His second prayer : ' O My Father, 
 if this cup may not pass away from me, except I 
 drink it, Thy will be done.' It was first, O that 
 the cup might pass ! but now it is, I perceive it 
 cannot though it be bitter bitter. Again an inter- 
 lude of calm after clear insight attained, and a 
 second visit to the three. And the final stage? 
 It is, Thy will be done, I will drink the cup. I 
 see it must be, and I see that it is well. I resist 
 no more. 
 
 The thrice-repeated prayer in Gethsemane, thus 
 viewed, is manifestly not chargeable with that 
 battology against which Jesus had warned His 
 disciple^. It is not a case of vain repetition in 
 hope to be heard through much speaking. It i^ 
 the case of an earnest SOU] wrestling with it 
 
 the pi riwill is never 
 
 doubted, and making Stead) | 
 
 quest . first exhaustii n, thin 
 
 into play, ami finally with .1 
 
296 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 is within saying, Amen, God's good will be done. 
 In his fine exposition of the Gethsemane incident 
 Calvin rebuts the charge of battology by the 
 remark that ' Christ teaches us by His example 
 that we ought not to be discouraged or become 
 weary of praying when we do not at once obtain 
 our desires.' The moral is good but not apposite. 
 When Jesus taught His disciples by parables to 
 persevere in prayer He meant them to persist in 
 asking the same thing, surely believed to be a 
 thing God was willing to grant, eg. the Holy 
 Spirit, aye and until they at length obtained it, 
 though it should not be till after the lapse of years. 
 But in the prayers of Gethsemane Jesus did not 
 repeat Himself. He began with one thing and 
 ended with another. What he sought at first was 
 deliverance from death, what He at length obtained 
 was deliverance from the fear of death.' The 
 lesson to be learned, therefore, is rather to bring 
 our trouble into the presence of God and to remain 
 there till the dark cloud lifts and the sunshine 
 returns. 
 
 Thus far of the solemn scene in the garden as 
 it is described in the pages of Matthew and Mark. 
 Let us turn now to the narrative in Luke. From 
 it, as it stands in the Authorised Version, comes 
 
GETHSEMANE 
 
 the traditional name for this sore trial of our 
 Lor\l, the ' agony,' but if we omit the part of the 
 narrative in which that word occurs, verses 43 
 and 44, what remains gives us no adequate con- 
 ception of an experience to which such a term 
 could be fitly applied. Leaving out these verses 
 the report contained in the third Gospel is as 
 follows : 
 
 Chap. xxii. 39. And he came out, and went, as 
 He was wont, to the Mount of 
 Olives; and His disciples also 
 followed Him. 
 
 40. And when I [e was at the place. 
 
 He said unto them, Pray that 
 ye enter not into temptation. 
 
 41. And He was withdrawn from 
 
 them about a stone's cast, and 
 kneeled down, and prayed, 
 
 42. Saying, Father, if Thou be willing, 
 
 remove this cup from Me 
 nevertheless not My will, but 
 Thine, be done. 
 45. And when He rose up from 
 
 prayer, and was come to Ili^ 
 disciples, 1 le found them 
 in^ for sorrow 
 
298 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 46. And He said unto them, Why 
 sleep ye ? rise and pray, lest ye 
 enter into temptation. 
 The differences between this account and the 
 companion narratives are obvious, and their com- 
 bined effect is to present a very subdued view of 
 the occurrence. Among the more important 
 variations are these : First, the introduction of the 
 expression ' as He was wont,' the effect of which 
 is to deprive this particular visit to the garden of 
 special significance. Had we only Luke's report 
 it would not occur to us that anything very re- 
 markable was going to happen. Next, in so far 
 as any particular interest attaches to the occasion, 
 it seems to centre in the disciples rather than in 
 their Master. In the other two Gospels Jesus 
 says : Sit ye here while I go and pray yonder ; 
 here He bids the disciples pray with the view of 
 warding off temptation, as if the need for prayer 
 were on their side only. Then the Master retires 
 about a stone's cast, not merely from the greater 
 number but from them all ; for here there is no 
 mention of Jesus taking the three along with Him 
 into the interior recesses of the garden. They were 
 taken to be sympathetic company, but as Christ's 
 need of sympathy has not been indicated, that 
 
GETHSEMANE 299 
 
 feature, in Luke's narrative, naturally falls away. 
 With it disappears also the unreserved confession 
 of mental distress made to the three. There is 
 nothing in Luke corresponding to the ' My soul 
 is exceeding sorrowful even unto death,' of 
 Matthew and Mark. In harmony with this 
 omission is the manner in which the praying of 
 Jesus is dealt with. It is not passed over, but it 
 is slightly touched on. The Master's wrestling in 
 prayer is not the outstanding fact ; He simply 
 prays as well as His disciples. The gesture is 
 kneeling, not as in Matthew and Mark self-pro- 
 stration on the ground. And there is only a single 
 act of prayer. Having calmly uttered the petition, 
 ' Father, if Thou be willing, remove this cup from 
 Me : nevertheless not My will, but Thine 
 Jesus rises from I lis prayer and returns to I lis 
 disciples, whom He finds sleeping 'for sorrow.' 
 And what He- says to them is in keeping with the 
 whole preccdin itation of the event as 
 
 constituting a crisis for the disciples rather than 
 
 for their Blaster. Not ;i word of complaint be- 
 
 they had failed to waU h ; only .1 
 
 minder that it was not ;i time I ut for 
 
 pra> : • : temptation. 
 
 1 unt all i 
 
300 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 together, presenting a perfectly coherent story, and 
 making a quite definite impression, viz., that the 
 Gethsemane experience was indeed a crisis, but a 
 crisis for the twelve rather than for Jesus. Turn- 
 ing now to the two omitted verses, what shall we 
 say of them ? That they are out of keeping with 
 their context, and intrude themselves into an in- 
 congruous narrative like a vein of igneous rock 
 piercing through a stratified formation. They 
 are, as is well known to critics, of very doubtful 
 genuineness tested by documentary evidence, 
 being omitted by some most important manu- 
 scripts of the Greek Testament, and by many 
 ancient versions. The external evidence against 
 them is admittedly strong, but stronger still in my 
 judgment is the internal evidence arising from 
 the manifest incongruity between the picture they 
 suggest, and that presented in the rest of the 
 narrative. Here we have an agony, or desperate 
 struggle, a mortal weakness demanding and re- 
 ceiving supernatural aid, a bloody sweat falling 
 in great drops from the forehead to the ground ; 
 there no signs of distress, weakness, fear, or ex- 
 hausting combat, but throughout calmness, com- 
 posure, self-mastery. The question, observe, is not 
 as to the historic truth of the added particulars. 
 
GETHSEMANE 301 
 
 They may form a genuine element of the evan- 
 gelic tradition as to what befell our Lord in 
 Gethsemane. The point insisted on is that the 
 sentences containing those details have no proper 
 place in Luke's account. They did not come 
 from his hand ; they do not harmonise with the 
 general spirit and tendency of his Gospel as a 
 whole, and of this particular part of his narrative. 
 They have been added by another hand with 
 a view to supplement, I might even say to correct 
 his account. The note of correction may be 
 detected in the expression, ■ He prayed more 
 earnestly.' It betrays a feeling that the praying 
 of Jesus as previously described lacks intensity. 
 The feeling was well founded There is no trace 
 of intensity in the reported behaviour of Jesus up 
 to this point ; all witnesses rather to calm self- 
 control. But from Luke's point of view that was 
 not a defect, therefore it is not from him that the 
 notice of an altered tone emanates, but from one 
 
 who knew that the experience in the garden was 
 
 a much more serious matter than it appeared in 
 
 the original narrative. The foreign origin of the 
 tion i betrayed by it-, coming in too late. 
 The intensity should have come in at the I 
 
 ! • rob ible that the | 
 
302 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 of Jesus was languid and half-hearted at first and 
 that He grew earnest as He went on. That is 
 the way often with us, but it would be far other- 
 wise with our Lord at that tremendous hour : 
 first an unrestrained outburst of passionate resist- 
 ance, then, and then only, tranquil submission 
 attained through resolute struggle. 
 
 On these grounds I regard it as certain that 
 verses 43-44 formed no part of the third Gospel as 
 it came from Luke's hand. And I do not think 
 it serves any good purpose to disguise the fact by 
 retaining it as part of the text against the best 
 critical judgment, as has been done in the Revised 
 Version. It simply tends to prevent readers from 
 observing the peculiar characteristics of Luke's 
 account as compared with the versions of Matthew 
 and Mark. To make these prominent, doubtless, 
 may in some measure conflict with the aims of 
 those whose supreme concern is to harmonise the 
 Evangelists. But the pressing interest of our time is 
 historicity not harmony. That the sense of histori- 
 city may be strengthened by the critical ascertain- 
 ment of what may be called the personal equation 
 of each Evangelist I have already endeavoured to 
 show. 1 The general statement then made is not 
 
 1 Vide Chapter iii. towards the close. 
 
GETHSEMANE 303 
 
 without application to the case before us. Luke's 
 account of the 'agony' in the garden, in which 
 there is no trace of agony, shows that in certain 
 circles within the church of the apostolic or sub- 
 apostolic age a tone of feeling prevailed to which it 
 would have appeared unfit that Jesus should be 
 represented as afraid to die, or as passionately 
 recoiling from the awful ordeal through which He 
 was about to pass. Where this feeling was so 
 strong, that to disregard it might involve the risk 
 of shaking faith in the Saviour's devotion to His 
 redeeming work, the task of a historian, concerned 
 equally for truth and for edification, became a 
 delicate one. The resultant of the two forces 
 counterworking each other could hardly fail to 
 be, either a subdued report of the experience in 
 irden such as we have in the authentic 
 narrative of Luke, or a bare Statement of the 
 triumphant result of an unrecorded .struggle such 
 as we have in John ; in the words 'the cup which 
 My Father hath given Mi-, shall I not drink it?' 
 
 And a gain to tin- interest of historicit) 
 distinctly a m carefully noting these two 
 
 of treatin nt in our Lord's earthly 
 
 life in deference to l< 
 
 thereby where to look for th 
 
3 o 4 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 objective historic fact ; even to the narratives of 
 Evangelists exempt from the pressure under which 
 the companion accounts were compiled. If you 
 want to know what really befell our Lord in the 
 garden read first Mark and Matthew, then read 
 Luke, clearly understanding that you have to do 
 with a subdued account, then finally take up John, 
 and learn from him the resolute mind with which 
 Jesus issued from Gethsemane. 
 
 That the narratives of the third and fourth 
 Gospels took shape under a religious influence of 
 the kind described is a hypothesis suggested to 
 explain certain characteristics observable in them. 
 It must be taken for what it is worth. Assuming 
 its truth, I do not call in question the legitimacy 
 of the methods by which Evangelists sought to 
 meet local and temporary religious needs. I only 
 remark that it is well for the permanent, uni- 
 versal needs of the Church that four Gospels, and 
 not merely two, have been preserved ; for we 
 should have lost much if the weakness of Christ 
 as He passed through the valley of the shadow of 
 death had remained unknown ; if He had appeared 
 in the evangelic tradition as one who prayed 
 only once concerning the ' cup,' or as one who did 
 not need to pray at all. Preternatural divine 
 
GETHSEMANE 305 
 
 superiority to fear and to suffering is sublime 
 and imposing, but a Jesus acquainted with a very 
 real fear, and soul distress even unto death is 
 very human, and a veritable Brother. A weak- 
 human Christ has religious value as well as a 
 strong Divine Christ. That we see, but not we 
 only. There were those even in the first Christian 
 age who understood it well. Witness the author 
 of the Epistle to the Hebrews. How strongly he 
 asserts the infirmity of Jesus in connection with 
 the scene in Gethsemane, representing Him as 
 offering up prayers and supplications with strong 
 and tears unto Him that was able to save 
 Him from death. 1 The interest in which He 
 does this is that he ma)- thereby prove how far 
 Jesus was from being a usurper of the priestly 
 office. Instead of taking this honour to Himself, 
 He was rather in that Gethsemane experience, 
 as Viewed by the writer, saying in effect, nolo pon- 
 
 tif ex fieri \ saying it not pro forma, in mock 
 humility, but with tremendous earnestness and 
 
 unmistaka ty. It is a fine thought, one 
 
 of many in the Epistle evincii 
 
 t and the moral glory of Christ's earthly 
 humiliation That grasp the writer did not 
 1 1 1 
 u 
 
306 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 with his readers. They saw in the humiliation 
 of Jesus, viewed as the Christ and the Son of 
 God, simply a stumbling-block to their faith, 
 whence arose an imperious necessity for one who 
 wished to aid them to do his best to set that 
 aspect of our Lord's earthly life in its true light. 
 From the Gospel of Luke and the Epistle to the 
 Hebrews taken together it may be inferred that 
 inability to understand the religious significance 
 of the humiliation prevailed extensively in the 
 early church. One may wonder why the two 
 writers adopted such different methods of dealing 
 with the situation ; the Evangelist succumbing to 
 it, so to speak, the author of the Epistle manfully 
 grappling with it in hope of communicating to 
 his readers a new view of the whole matter. The 
 explanation may in part be that the former pos- 
 sessed a less degree of insight than the latter. 
 But it must also be remembered that the tasks of 
 the two writers determined the paths they must 
 respectively take. Luke was writing a history, 
 the unknown author of Hebrews was writing an 
 Epistle. Luke could only relate, the author of 
 Hebrews had a free hand and could argue and 
 explain. He could state the fact strongly, because 
 the more strongly it was put the better it proved 
 
GETHSEMANE 507 
 
 his thesis. Where the fact could not be explained 
 or connected with a theory, and yet was thought 
 to stand very much in need of explanation, the 
 alternative left was to state it weakly or omit it 
 altogether. 
 
 The writer of Hebrews not only states the fact 
 of Christ's struggle strongly, but points its moral 
 clearly. He saw in that tragic experience a son 
 learning obedience to the will of His Father, which 
 appointed that through suffering He should be- 
 come the Author of Eternal Salvation. Let us 
 bow in lowly reverence before Him who so loyally 
 learnt the hard lesson ! And may God give us 
 grace to obey Him as lie obeyed 1 1 is Father, 
 that we may be of the grand army which the 
 great Captain leads to glory ! Amen. 
 
CHAPTER XIII 
 
 THE CHRISTIAN PRIMER 
 
 ' Suffer the children to come unto me,' said Jesus. 
 It is with a view to fulfil this command that I 
 write this concluding chapter. It is my desire 
 that the children also may see Jesus ' with open 
 face.' Existing catechisms do not accomplish this 
 good object. In them Jesus is seen only through 
 the somewhat opaque veil of theology. I do not 
 quarrel with theology, but it should come last not 
 first. Theology is for full-grown men, not for 
 children. The Jesus of the Gospels is for all. 
 There is indeed much in the Gospels also that is 
 beyond the comprehension of early years. But 
 they contain much suited to young capacities, 
 quite enough to enable children to know Jesus 
 well and to love Him with all their hearts. To 
 gather out of the Gospels, this Gospel for the 
 children, is my present aim. If I include in my 
 Primer some things young people cannot fully 
 
THE CHRISTIAN PRIMER 309 
 
 understand, I trust there will be found nothing in 
 it to which they can attach no meaning. I arrange 
 the material in Catechetical form. 
 
 1. Who was Jesus ? 
 
 He was the Son of Mary of Nazareth in Galilee, 
 whose husband, Joseph, was a Carpenter. 
 
 2. What is the meaning of the name Jesus ? 
 
 It means ' Saviour,' for the mission of Jesus was 
 to save men from their sins. 
 
 3. What happened to Jesus when He was 
 twelve years old ? 
 
 He went up to Jerusalem to the passover with 
 His parents, found His way into the temple where 
 the doctors taught, and was there when His parents 
 left to go home. 
 
 4. What did He say to His mother when she 
 found Him ? 
 
 1 I low is it that ye sought me ? Wist ye w >t that 
 I must be in my Father's house?' — Luke ii. 49 
 
 5. What was the early occupation of JCSU 
 When He grew up to manhood He bee,;: 
 
 < "arpenter. 
 
 6. Why did He leave tills occupation ? 
 
 Because the Spirit of God told Him He 1 
 
 . enter Upon 11: fa a re!i /:'■ 
 
 her 
 
3io WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 7. How did He enter upon His higher work ? 
 He left Nazareth and went southwards towards 
 
 the mouth of the Jordan, to be baptized by a 
 prophet named John. 
 
 8. What happened to Jesus after His baptism ? 
 He saw the heavens cleft and the Spirit of God 
 
 as a dove descending upon Him. He also heard 
 a voice out of heaven, saying : ' Thou art my 
 beloved Son, in Thee I am well pleased.' 
 
 9. Where did Jesus go after His baptism ? 
 
 He returned to Galilee to begin teaching, and 
 thus a ' people which sat in darkness saw a great 
 Light.' — Matthew iv. 16. 
 
 10. Where did Jesus preach? 
 
 In the Synagogues in which pious Jews met to 
 worship God on the Sabbath-days. 
 
 11. Did Jesus preach often there? 
 
 Yes. ' He went into their Synagogues through- 
 out all Galilee preaching.' — Mark i. 39. 
 
 12. What was His text in the Synagogue of 
 Nazareth ? 
 
 It was taken from Isaiah lxi., and these were 
 the words : — 
 
 ' The Spirit of the Lord is upon me : because 
 He anointed me to preach good tidings to the 
 
THE CHRISTIAN PRIMER 311 
 
 poor : He hath sent me to proclaim release to the 
 captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to 
 set at liberty them that are bruised, to proclaim 
 the acceptable year of the Lord.' — Luke iv. 18, 19. 
 
 13. What impression did His discourse make 
 on the hearers ? 
 
 They all marvelled, for the words He spoke 
 then, as in all the Synagogues, were ■ words of 
 grace.' — Luke iv. 22. 
 
 14. Did Jesus preach only in the Synagogues? 
 Xo. He preached in the Synagogues at the 
 
 beginning, but afterwards in the street-, on the 
 highways, or in any place where men gathered to 
 to hear Him. 
 
 15. Did many come to hear Him? 
 
 ¥es, very many, for the common people loved 
 to hear Him, and He not only preached to them 
 but healed their sick. 
 
 16. Did He heal many ? 
 
 wry man}', and of all manner of dil 
 
 In Capernaunij one Sabbath evening, 
 
 the)' brought unto Him all that were sick and He 
 healed them all. — Mark i. 32, }$. 
 
 17. I He able t 
 
 'The power Of the Lord was with Him to 
 — Luke \ 17. 
 
3 i2 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 ii. What ancient oracle was fulfilled by this 
 healing ministry ? 
 
 1 Himself took our infirmities and bare our 
 diseases.' — Matthew viii. 17. 
 
 19. Who were the publicans? 
 
 They were the men who collected the taxes for 
 the Roman Government. They were much dis- 
 liked, because they were often unjust, and because 
 they were the servants of a foreign power from 
 which the Jews longed to be free. 
 
 20. Did Jesus dislike the publicans? 
 
 No, He pitied them, preached to them also, and 
 even ate with them, and with people whom good 
 folks called ' the Sinners.' 
 
 21. Did other religious teachers treat publicans 
 and sinners so ? 
 
 No, they shrank from them with abhorrence. 
 
 22. Why did Jesus differ so from other teachers 
 and religious people ? 
 
 Because He had a marvellously loving heart. 
 
 23. What did the religious people of Caper- 
 naum say when they saw Jesus meeting and eating 
 with the publicans and sinners ? 
 
 They asked, ' How is it that He eateth and 
 drinketh with publicans and sinners ? ' — Mark 
 ii. 16. 
 
THE CHRISTIAN PRIMER 313 
 
 24. What answer did Jesus give to their question? 
 He said, ' They that are whole have no need of 
 
 the physician, but they that are sick : I came not 
 to call the righteous, but sinners.' — Mark ii. 17. 
 
 25. What else did He say in His defence? 
 
 At another time He said, ' To whom little is 
 forgiven, the same loveth little.' — Luke vii. 47. 
 
 26. What did He mean by this ? 
 
 He meant that a great sinner, like the woman 
 who came into Simon's house to anoint His feet 
 with precious oil, when pardoned, loves the Saviour 
 much, and that one who like Simon thinks him- 
 self a little sinner, loves the Saviour little. 
 
 27. Did He make any other defence for being 
 kind to the sinful ? 
 
 Yes, lie once said, by means of parables, What 
 joy there is in finding things lost I 
 
 parable? 
 It is a .story of common life made up to teach 
 a truth of the Spiritual life. 
 
 2<j. What parables did Jesus make to teach the 
 joy of finding thin 
 
 lie made three parables : one about a lost 
 
 another about a lost coin, a third about . 
 
 30. What is the Parable of the I 
 
 \ certain man had a hundred sheep, and h.iv 
 Ol them left tin- ninety ami nine in the 
 
3M WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 wilderness, and went after the lost one till he 
 found it. And when he found it he laid it on his 
 shoulders with joy. And when he came home he 
 told his neighbours, and they were all pleased that 
 he had found the lost sheep. — Luke xv. 3-7. 
 
 31. What is the parable of the Lost Coin ? 
 
 A very poor woman had ten small pieces of 
 silver money, and lost one of them. She lit a 
 lamp, swept the house, and sought till she found 
 it. In her joy she told her neighbours, and they 
 all rejoiced with her. — Luke xv. 8-10. 
 
 32. What is the parable of the Lost Son? 
 
 It is a much longer story, too long to tell. But 
 it was about a son who got money from his father 
 and went away and wasted it in a distant land, 
 and so became poor as a beggar, and in his misery 
 thought he had better go back to his father's house. 
 He did, and his father, who had missed him much, 
 saw him coming, and ran to meet him, and wept 
 with joy when he had him in his arms, and said — 
 1 Quick ! bring forth the best robe, and put it 
 on him, and put a ring on his hand and shoes on 
 his feet, and bring the fatted calf and kill it, and 
 let us eat and be merry, for this my son was dead 
 and is alive again, he was lost and is found.' — 
 Luke xv. 1 1 -24. 
 
THE CHRISTIAN PRIMER 315 
 
 33. Had Jesus any companions as He went 
 about preaching and healing ? 
 
 Yes, He was attended by men whom He called 
 disciples. 
 
 34. What is a disciple ? He is a person who 
 joins himself to a great teacher to get instruction 
 from him. 
 
 35. How many disciples had Jesus? 
 
 A goodly number followed Him, both men and 
 women, but there were twelve men whom He 
 regarded as disciples more than others. 
 
 36. Whom did Jesus first call to be disciples? 
 He first called four men who lived by fishing 
 
 in the sea of Galilee : Peter and Andrew, brothers ; 
 James and John, also brothers. 
 
 IJ. What did Jesus say to them when He 
 called them ? 
 
 He said : 4 Come ye after me and I will make 
 you fishers of men. — Matthew iv. 19; Mark i. 17. 
 
 38. Was Jesiis very desirous to have disciples? 
 (1 to have about 1 lim men who 
 loved wisdom more than anything else, and who 
 could understand and value His teaching. 
 
 yj. By what word- did lie how this desil 
 
 He aid: ' Come unto me, all ye that labour 
 and arc heavy-laden, and 1 will 
 
3 i 6 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me ; for I 
 am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find 
 rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and 
 my burden is light' — Matthew xi. 28-30. 
 
 40. Who are those that ' labour and are heavy- 
 laden ' ? 
 
 Jesus was very willing to have as disciples those 
 who earned their bread with the sweat of their 
 brows, but He meant chiefly those who had 
 earnestly sought the Knowledge of God and of 
 Salvation, and had not found it. 
 
 41. When did Jesus instruct His disciples? 
 Chiefly in seasons of retirement when He escaped 
 
 from the crowds who constantly followed Him. 
 
 42. Can you name one of the places to which 
 Jesus retired with His disciples ? 
 
 The top of the hills on the west side of the 
 sea of Galilee. 
 
 43. What were the subjects of the teaching 
 Jesus gave to His disciples on the hill-top ? 
 
 They were God, the Kingdom of God, and the 
 Righteousness of God. 
 
 44. What did Jesus say concerning God ? 
 
 He called God ' Father : ' ' your Father who is 
 in Heaven.' 
 
 45. What did Jesus mean by that name ? 
 
THE CHRISTIAN PRIMER 317 
 
 He never exactly explained what He meant. 
 
 46. How then did the disciples know what 
 Jesus meant? 
 
 They guessed His meaning from what they 
 knew of their own fathers. 
 
 47. Are earthly fathers in all respects like the 
 Father who is in Heaven ? 
 
 No, they sometimes give evil gifts, or refuse 
 good gifts, to their children, but the Father in 
 Heaven, Jesus told His disciples, always gives 
 good gifts to them that ask Him. 
 
 48. What surer means had the disciples of 
 knowing the spirit of the Father in Heaven? 
 
 They knew by the way in which Jesus used the 
 name. 
 
 49. Can you give an example? 
 
 Jesus said : l Let your Light so shine before men 
 that they may see your good works, and glorify 
 your Father who is in Heaven.' — Matthew \ 
 
 50. What might disciples learn from this? 
 That God as their Father •• llted when 
 
 I [is sons, behaved in a bravi 
 
 manner, and were not afraid to Speak the truth 
 
 and do the right even when it was dangerous, 
 
 51. Can you give another example? 
 
 In the T< 1 the Hill, Jesu 
 
3 i8 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 ing the Father in Heaven, that ' He maketh His 
 sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and 
 sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.' — 
 Matthew v. 45. 
 
 51. What might disciples learn from this? 
 That their Father in Heaven was great-minded, 
 
 doing kind deeds even to His unworthy children, 
 and that He desired His sons to be like Him in 
 this. 
 
 52. In what terms did Jesus teach His disciples 
 to be like their Father in this respect ? 
 
 He said : ' Love your enemies, and pray for 
 them that persecute you.' — Matthew v. 44. 
 
 53. Can you give yet another example? 
 
 In the Teaching on the Hill Jesus said : ' Behold 
 the birds of the air : they sow not, neither do they 
 reap, nor gather into barns, and your Heavenly 
 Father feedeth them. Are ye not of more value 
 than they ? ' — Matthew vi. 26. 
 
 54. What might disciples learn from this ? 
 That God, our Father, careth for every living 
 
 creature, but more especially for human beings, 
 who are of more value in His eyes than birds, or 
 beasts like sheep and oxen, and most of all for 
 men and women who make it their chief business 
 in this world to do good. 
 
THE CHRISTIAN PRIMER 319 
 
 55. What did Jesus say concerning the Kingdom 
 of God ? 
 
 He explained its nature by telling who were its 
 citizens. 
 
 56. In what sayings did Jesus describe the 
 citizens of the Kingdom ? 
 
 In the sayings called the Beatitudes which all 
 begin with the word ' Blessed.' 
 
 57. What are these sayings ? 
 
 In the Teaching on the Hill Jesus spake these 
 words : 
 
 'Blessed are the poor in spirit: lor theii 
 
 the Kingdom of Heaven. 
 Blessed are they that mourn : for they shall 
 
 be comforted. 
 Blessed are the meek : for they shall inherit 
 the earth. 
 
 Blessed are they that hunger and thirst a 
 
 right for they shall be filled. 
 
 Blessed arc the merciful: for they shall obtain 
 
 mercy. 
 Blessed are the pure in heart : for they shall 
 
 ( rod 
 
 ed arc- the 1 for they shall 
 
 be called son 1 of ( rod 
 Ble they that bai e been pei ecuted 
 
32o WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 for righteousness' sake : for theirs is the 
 Kingdom of Heaven.' — Matthew v. 3-10. 
 
 58. How would Jesus have us regard the 
 Kingdom of God ? 
 
 As the highest good, to be desired above food 
 and raiment, and all earthly good. 
 
 59. In what words did He teach this ? 
 
 Seek ye first the Kingdom and the Righteous- 
 ness of your Father, and all these things shall be 
 added unto you. — Matthew vi. 33. 
 
 60. To what precious things did Jesus liken the 
 Kingdom of God ? 
 
 In two parables He likened it to a treasure 
 hid in a field, and to a costly pearl. 
 
 61. What is the parable of the Treasure hid 
 in a Field ? 
 
 ' The Kingdom of Heaven is like unto a 
 treasure hid in the field ; which a man found and 
 hid again ; and in his joy he goeth and selleth all 
 that he hath, and buyeth that field.'— Matthew 
 xiii. 44. 
 
 62. What is the parable of the Costly Pearl ? 
 
 ' The Kingdom of Heaven is like unto a 
 merchant man seeking goodly pearls, who, when 
 he had found one pearl of great price, went and 
 sold all that he had and bought it.' 
 
THE CHRISTIAN PRIMER pi 
 
 63. What did Jesus teach concerning righteous- 
 ness? 
 
 What Jesus taught concerning righteousness 
 may be summed up in these two precepts : Be 
 unto God all that a son should be to a father ; 
 treat fellow-men as brethren. 
 
 64. In what words did Jesus express these two 
 precepts ? 
 
 4 Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy 
 heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy 
 mind. This is the first and great commandment. 
 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love 
 thy neighbour as thyself.' — Matthew xxii. 37-391 
 
 65. In what other words did Jesus express the 
 second of these commandments ? 
 
 'All things whatsoever ye would that men 
 should do to you, do ye even so to them.'— 
 Matthew vii. 12, 
 
 66. What did He add to these words? 
 'This is the Law and the Prophets.' 
 
 67. What did He mean thereby? 
 
 1 [c meant that the 1 lebrew Scriptures, called the 
 Old Testament, teach in effect the same thing. 
 1 I<>\\ C&n we shOW our love to God ? 
 
 By doing His will, by trusting Him, and bj 
 asking of Him such things u we need. 
 
322 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 69. Where do you learn God's will ? 
 In the Ten Commandments. 
 
 70. What are the Ten Commandments ? 
 They are these : 
 
 1. Thou shalt have no other Gods before me. 
 
 2. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven 
 
 image. 
 
 3. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord 
 
 thy God in vain. 
 
 4. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. 
 
 5. Honour thy father and thy mother. 
 
 6. Thou shalt not kill. 
 
 7. Thou shalt not commit adultery. 
 
 8. Thou shalt not steal. 
 
 9. Thou shalt not bear false witness against 
 
 thy neighbour. 
 
 10. Thou shalt not covet anything that is thy 
 
 neighbour's. 
 
 71. What did Jesus say concerning the third 
 Commandment? 
 
 He said : ■ Swear not at all, but let your speech 
 be yea, yea ; nay, nay.' — Matthew v. 34, 37. 
 
 74. What did Jesus say concerning the Fourth 
 Commandment. 
 
 He said : * The Sabbath was made for man, and 
 not man for the Sabbath.' — Mark ii. 27. 
 
THE CHRISTIAN PRIMER j»j 
 
 73. What did He mean by this ? 
 
 He meant that God made the Sabbath for man's 
 benefit, and that the day must be so kept that 
 God's end shall be reached. 
 
 74. What else did He teach concerning the 
 Sabbath ? 
 
 He taught that acts of kindness and things 
 which are necessary may be done on the day of 
 holy rest. 
 
 75. With what words did He teach that acts of 
 kindness may be done on the Sabbath ? 
 
 He said: 'It is lawful to do good on the 
 Sabbath day.' — Matthew xii. 12. 
 
 76. What doctrine was taught in the Jewish 
 schools concerning the Fifth Commandment? 
 
 They said: make gifts to the temple even it 
 your father and mother should starve. 
 
 jy. What did Jesus teach? 
 
 He taught that we must honour, and if net 
 aid, OUT parents first. — Matthew xv. 4-6 ; 
 vii. 10-12. 
 
 What did JeSUfl Say concerning the Sixth 
 Commandment ? 
 
 IK- said: far from killing thy brother thou 
 must not even be angry with 1. I him 
 
 fool.— Matthew 
 
324 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 79. What did Jesus say concerning the Seventh 
 Commandment? 
 
 He forbade evil desire as well as evil acts. 
 
 80. What did Jesus say concerning the Eighth 
 Commandment? 
 
 He taught that far from taking from another 
 that which is his, we should be willing to let 
 another take from us wrongfully that which is 
 ours. — Matthew v. 40. 
 
 81. How did Jesus teach trust in God as our 
 Father ? 
 
 He spake to His disciples these words : 
 1 Take no thought 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 the 
 meat, and the body than the clothing. Behold 
 the birds of the air ! they sow not, neither do they 
 reap, nor gather into barns, and your heavenly 
 Father feedeth them. Are ye not of much more 
 value than they? And which of you by taking 
 thought can add one cubit unto his stature ? And 
 why take ye thought for raiment ? Consider the 
 lilies of the field how they grow ; they toil not, 
 neither do they spin : Yet I say unto you that 
 even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed 
 like one of these. But if God so clothe the grass 
 
THE CHRISTIAN PRIMER 325 
 
 of the field, which to-day is, and to-morrow is cast 
 into the oven, shall He not much more clothe you, 
 O ye of little faith?' — Matthew vi. 25-31. 
 
 82. How would Jesus have us pray ? 
 
 In secret rather than before men, in simple 
 words, and believing that God our Father is ever 
 ready to grant what we ask if it be good for us to 
 receive it. 
 
 83. How did He teach secrecy in prayer? 
 
 He said : ' When thou prayest, enter into thy 
 closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to 
 thy Father which is in secret.' — Matthew vi. 6. 
 
 84. How did He teach simplicity in prayer? 
 He gave His disciples an example, commonly 
 
 called 'the Lord's Prayer.' 
 
 85. What is the Lord's Prayer ? 
 
 The Lord's Prayer is as follows : — 
 
 'Our Father who art in heaven! Hall>». 
 
 be thy name. 
 Thy Kingdom come. 
 
 Thy will be done <>n earth a! it i in heaven 
 (jive us this da)' our dally bread. 
 And fol "in 
 
 debtors. 
 
 And lead us not into temptation, but deliwi 
 US from evil.' Mattln .. 
 
326 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 86. How did Jesus teach trust in prayer? 
 He said : 
 
 ' 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. 
 
 Or what man is there of you, who, if his son 
 shall ask him for a loaf, will give him a 
 stone ; or if he shall ask for a fish, will 
 give him a serpent ? 
 
 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good 
 gifts unto your children, how much more 
 shall your Father who is in heaven give 
 good things to them that ask Him ! ' — Matt, 
 vii. 7-12. 
 
 87. Who were the scribes ? 
 
 They were men who studied the law of Moses, 
 explained it, and added to it many rules. 
 
 88. Who were the Pharisees ? 
 
 They were religious people who very strictly 
 kept all the rules of the scribes. 
 
 89. Did any of the scribes, or of the Pharisees, 
 become disciples of Jesus ? 
 
THE CHRISTIAN PRIMER 527 
 
 One scribe offered to follow Jesus, but He did 
 not wish to have him for a disciple. 
 
 90. What did Jesus say to him ? 
 
 ' The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air 
 have lodging-places, but the Son of Man hath not 
 where to lay His head.' — Matthew viii. 20. 
 
 91. Whom did Jesus mean by the Son of Man ? 
 He meant Himself. 
 
 92. Why did He call Himself by that name ? 
 
 Because He was humble and humane; He pre- 
 ferred the title ' Son of Man ' to the title ' Son of 
 David,' and He very much loved men. 
 
 93. Why did He not wish to have the scribe for 
 a disciple? 
 
 Because lie feared that in heart lie was like the 
 other scribes. 
 
 94. What was the character of the scribes ? 
 They were proud, and they were hard-hearted : 
 
 they wished to have an anointed one, a Christ who 
 should beagreat king,of whom they could boast, and 
 they laid heavy legal burdens on men's shoulders. 
 
 95. Why did the scribes and l'hari-ees dislike 
 Jesus ? 
 
 rase He would not be ■ Christ racfa as they 
 
 desired, and becaUM II 1 the bill 
 
 they laid on men's shod 
 
328 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 96. What names did they call Jesus ? 
 
 They once called Him a ' blasphemer ' because 
 He told a palsied man that his sins were forgiven. 
 — Matthew ix. 3. 
 
 97. What other names did they call Jesus ? 
 They called him a drunkard, and a glutton. — 
 
 Matthew xi. 19. 
 
 98. Why did they give Jesus these evil names ? 
 Because He was kind to the poor publicans and 
 
 sinners. 
 
 99. What did Jesus say when they spoke evil 
 of Him ? 
 
 He said : 'Whosoever shall speak a word against 
 the Son of Man it shall be forgiven him.' — Matt, 
 xii. 31. 
 
 100. Did the meekness of Jesus soften the 
 scribes and Pharisees ? 
 
 No, they continued to dislike Him more and 
 more, till at length they wanted to kill Him. 
 
 101. Did Jesus know of their wicked purpose? 
 Yes ; He knew, and He told His disciples that 
 
 ere long they would put Him to death. 
 
 102. What did Jesus do when He saw what His 
 enemies were aiming at ? 
 
 He went out of their way that they might not 
 kill Him before the due time. 
 
THE CHRISTIAN PRIMER 329 
 
 103. Where did He go? 
 
 To and beyond the northern boundary of Galilee. 
 
 104. How was He occupied there ? 
 
 In preparing His disciples for the end. 
 
 105. How did He do this? 
 
 By telling them plainly that He was to suffer 
 death, and by striving to make them resigned to 
 what was coming. 
 
 106. What means did He use for this purpose? 
 He told them that all who serve God faithfully 
 
 in this world must suffer, that I lis sufferings would 
 be for the good of the world, and that after His 
 death lie would rise again. 
 
 107. In what words did Jesus teach that the 
 faithful must suffer? 
 
 1 If any man would come after Me let him deny 
 himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.' — 
 Matthew xvi. 24. 
 
 IG\S. In what words did Jesus teach that Ili^ 
 sufferings would be for the good of the world? 
 
 'The Son Df Man came not to be mini 
 UntO, but to minister, and to give His Hi 
 for man)'.' — Matthew xx. 28 ; Mark \ 
 
 109. Were the dfcclpleS read)' I thi^ 
 
 teat l) : 
 
 they were slow of heart to u I it. 
 
 \ 
 
33o WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 no. Did they believe that disaster Wc':S" about 
 to overtake their Master ? 
 
 No, they expected rather that He would scl n 
 be placed on a glorious throne as the anointed, or 
 1 Messianic,' Son of David, promised by the pro- 
 phets of Israel, and expected by the Jews. 
 
 in. What did they expect for themselves ? 
 
 They expected that they would all, as the com- 
 panions of Jesus, be great, and they disputed 
 among themselves who should be greatest. 
 
 H2. How did Jesus feel when He saw this? 
 
 He was grieved by their vain thoughts, and 
 sought to correct them. 
 
 113. What did He do for this purpose ? 
 
 He took a child into His arms and said : ' Un- 
 less ye be like this child, ye cannot be great in the 
 Kingdom of Heaven, ye cannot even enter it at 
 all.' — Matthew xviii. 2-4, Mark ix. 36, 37. 
 
 1 14. Did Jesus love children ? 
 
 Yes. Once when mothers brought their children 
 to be blessed by Him, and the disciples tried to 
 keep them away, He said : ' Suffer the little chil- 
 dren to come unto me ; forbid them not, for of 
 such is the Kingdom of God.' — Mark x. 14. 
 
 115. What happened to Jesus in Bethany a 
 few days before His death ? 
 
THE CHRISTIAN PRIMER 331 
 
 A woman, by name Mary, poured a vase of 
 precious ointment on His head while He sat at 
 table. 
 
 1 16. What did Jesus say concerning this action? 
 ' Wheresoever this Gospel shall be preached in 
 
 the whole world, there shall also this that thi* 
 woman hath done be spoken of for a memorial 
 of her.' — Matthew xxvi. 13, Mark xiv. 9. 
 
 117. Why did He say this ? 
 
 Because Mary's act, though blamed as waste by 
 the disciples, was noble, and because her act in 
 breaking the alabaster vase and shedding its 
 contents, was like 1 1 is own in yielding Himself to 
 be crucified. Both were acts of generous ! 
 
 1 i . What solemn transaction took place on the 
 night before J< rucified ? 
 
 JeSUS took bread, blessed it, brake it, gave it to 
 Ilis disciples, and said: 'Take, cat. this 
 body.' Then lie took a cup of wiiu. 
 
 ave it to the di 
 m)- bl< n ><;, bed i' >r ma 
 1 17. What did this action 
 
 pitied that tin- death ol I I last 
 
 at hand, and that it ua-- not t< » be 6n ; 
 
 I - the 
 world. 
 
332 WITH OPEN FACE 
 
 120. How are we to regard the death of Jesus? 
 He died the Just One for the unjust that He 
 
 might bring them to God. 
 
 121. What affections should we cherish towards 
 Him who died for the sinful ? 
 
 We should love Him with all our hearts as our 
 Saviour, and worship Him and serve Him as our 
 Lord. 
 
 122. Where is Jesus now ? 
 
 He is in the house of His Father in heaven, 
 where He is preparing a place for all who bear 
 His name and walk in His footsteps. 
 
 Printed by T. and A. Constable, Printers to Her Majesty 
 at the Edinburgh University Press