How TO Understand Words of Christ A PRACTICAL HANDBOOK FOR TEACHERS AND BIBLE STUDENTS Class d5?4\^ Book_JEllfL__ Copyright }I° COPYRIGHT DEPOSn; HOW TO UNDERSTAND THE WORDS OF CHRIST A PRACTICAL HANDBOOK FOR TEACHERS AND BIBLE STUDENTS BY , ALFORD A. BUTLER, D.D. FORMER WARDEN, AND PROFESSOR IN SEABURY DIVINITY SCHOOL AUTHOR OF "HOW TO STUDY THE LIFE OF CHRIST" NEW YORK THOMAS WHITTAKER, INC. PUBLISHERS c^^ Copyright, 1909, By THOMAS WHITTAKER, Inc. |CI,A25281I -3 « i PREFACE This Handbook is a twin volume to " How to Study the Life of Christ." Like that volume it has grown out of the author's many years of happy work with young men. With devout thankfulness for the kindly and continued welcome given the former volume, this book is sent forth with ^he earnest prayer that it also may prove a helpful guide to all who sincerely desire to understand the words of Him, who is our Light, our Way, and our Truth. CONTENTS PA6B I. What is Truth ? 7 Sources of Christian Dis-Unity. — Ignoring Historical Condi- tions. —Ignoring the Limitations of Language. — Ignoring the Purpose of Christ.— The Greatest Difficulty of all. II. Our Lord's Answer 17 The Claims and Challenge of Christ. — Our Fundamental Principle of Interpretation.— The Perfect Unity of Christ's Life and Teaching. III. Our Lord's Principles of Interpretation 23 The Principles and Methods of the Master. — The Supremacy of Fundamental Truths. — The Progressiveness of Revela- tion. — The Master's Interpretive Principles. IV. Our Lord's Words ai^d the Teachings op his Age 34 Jewish Conditions from Malachi to St. John Baptist. — Condi- tions Created by the Sadducees. — Conditions Created by the Pharisees. — The Methods of the Divine Master. — The Basis of the Master's Teaching. V. Our Lord's Teaching and Old Testament Truth 43 The Mission of St. John Baptist.— The Threefold Revelation at the Jordan. — The Absolute Loyalty of the Son. — The Destructive Power of Truth. VI. Teaching in the Period of Preparation 51 First Words in Wilderness, and Temple. — First Private In- structions. — First Teaching by Miracles and Social Activity. — First Rejection, at Nazareth. — The Master's Essential Message in this Period. VII. Teaching in the Period op Organization 66 Constructive Unity of theMaster's Word and Deed. — Strange- ness of the Master's Words and Methods. — Spiritual Free- dom of the Kingdom. — Spiritual Nature of the Kingdom. — Outward Organization of the Kingdom. — Spiritual Law and Life in the Kingdom. — The Human Mission of the Kingdom. — The Divine Bread of the Kingdom. 5 6 CONTENTS. CHAPTER PAGE VIII. Parables in the Period op Organization 82 The Place and Purpose of the Parable. — The Master's Prin- ciples of Interpretation, — The Nature and Growth of the Kingdom. — The Priceless Value of the Kingdom. IX. The Period of Self -Revelation 94 Relation of the New Kingdom and the Old Church. — The Training of the Twelve. — The Kingdom Calling and Reject- ing. — The Divine Nature of the King. X. Early Parables in the Period of Self-Revelation Ill The Order of Parabolic Teaching. — Imagery of the Parables of this Period. — Duties of Neighbors in the Kingdom. — Duties of Brothers in the Kingdom. — Responsibilities of Trustees in the Kingdom. XI. Later Parables in the Period op Self-Manifest ation. . 124 The Rewards of the Kingdom. — The Final Judgment of the Kingdom. XII. The Period op the Passion 136 The Master Prepares the Apostles for His Cross. — His Words before Death. — His Words after Death. — The Great Forty- Days. XIII. Miracles as an Educational Method 149 Perfect Unity of the Master's Word and Work. — The Public Miracles of Christ. — Public Miracles with Private Instruc- tion, — The Private Miracles of Christ. — Private Miracles for Private Training. XrV. The Teaching of Divine Silence 162 The Silence of Divine Certainty. — The Silence that Approves or Permits. — The Silence that Gives Moral Freedom, — The Silence that Creates Hope. — The Silence of Providential Care. — The Silence of Divine Tuition. XV. How Christ Reveals God to Man 173 Man's Most Perfect Vision of God, — Man's Vision of God the Creator, — Man's Vision of God the Lover, — Man's Vision of God the Forgiver. — Man's Vision of God the Comforter. How to Understand the Words of Christ, CHAPTEE I. WHAT IS TRUTH? Everyone who says ** I am a Christian/' confesses his faith in the life and teaching of Jesus Christ. Christians are in perfect agreement as to the Person of Jesus Christ, His human and divine nature, the historic facts of His in- carnation, ministry, and death. And (what is more im- portant) all Christians are in essential agreement as to the spiritual significance of His life and death. It is only when they attempt to explain the teaching of Christ, that they begin to disagree, and to contradict. The Source of Christian Dis-unity is not in the words of Christ, but in our interpretation of them. It is easy for us to agree in saying, Every word spoken by Christ is a word of divine truth, is our light, and our inspiration. But the real question, the one which creates and perpetuates our unchristian divisions, is left untouched. For that question is: What does Christ teach? What- is the true meaning of His words ? The sword that has sundered the unity of Christ's people in the past, and is dividing His people to-day, is not ^^ The sword of the Spu'it, which is the Word of God," but the 7 8 HOW TO UNDERSTAND THE WORDS OF CHRIST. sword of doctrinal interpretation, which is the word of man. If Christians were as united on the Master's teaching as they are on His life, the whole world would be conquered for Christ before the close of the present century. The Discovery of Truth is always Difficult. This ap- plies both to physical and spiritual truth. We are familiar with controversies over what is truth in art and science, in education, ethics, and medicine. It would be very strange if men who cannot agree about earthly knowledge, should have no difficulty in finding heavenly truth. It would be much more strange if the man who did not desire to know the truth should find it. The source of our difficulty is twofold. It is found in the method by which truth is re- vealed, and still more in the mind that is seeking it ; or (more is the pity) seeking to avoid it. Difficulties from the Method of Revelation. The Gospels are brief. At best they are only an outline, the bare essentials of the Master's teaching. They took form under conditions which made a record of details and par- ticulars impossible ; and this was the will of the Master. Christ never committed His teachings to writing. He never sought to give them a fixed verbal form. His most wonder- ful sayings were often uttered to some wayside questioner. His inimitable parables were spoken to small groups of common-folk by the seaside. Had He purposed to for- mulate rules for daily conduct, or a system of religious philosophy, or to answer the problems of ethical speculation, He would have chosen a very different method of instruc- tion. The Master's aim was to print His Gospel upon the hearts of His disciples, to inspire their lives by making them partakers of the living truth, i. e. Himself. This could not be done by the method of the Scribes or Rabbis. WHAT IS TRUTH? 9 Ignoring Historical Conditions. The Master's words were spoken to oriental ears, His striking comparisons were drawn from oriental life. His vivid pictures, and par- adoxical sayings were addressed to oriental minds. His method of teaching was perfectly adapted to His hearers. But to our occidental minds they present many a difficulty which can be removed only by careful study. Eemember also that what the Oriental received was a living picture of truth. Too often you and I see only black letters on a printed page. ^N'aturally the reader (more than the hearer) thinks overmuch of words and phrases, and too little of the great historic truth behind them. But the same word often stands for different ideas in different lands, even at different historic periods in the same land. If, for example, one reads The Light of Asia thinking that such words as ' ' right- eousness, " * * purity, " < ' sin, " ' * death, " ^ ' heaven ' ' stand for the same ideas that they do in Christian lands he is only enjoying a delightful delusion. In the Bible itself such words occurring in the Old Testament do not express the identical meaning that they do in the Gospels, nor did they convey to the Hebrew the measure of spiritual truth they convey to us. Again, some earnest readers of the Gospel seem to think that the Jewish Church ended when the ministry of Christ began, and that the men to whom the Master spoke had the same religious ideas and spiritual standards that we have to-day. The facts are just the opposite. There was no Christian Church either at the beginning or end of the period covered by the Gospels. In all the multitude that listened to the words of the Master there was not one Christian man or woman. There was not one able to understand His spiritual teaching in the same measure that 10 HOW TO UNDERSTAND THE WORDS OF CHRIST. you and I can understand it. The Christian Church came into being with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles at Pentecost. During the whole period of our Lord's teaching there was but one Christian on the earth, the man Christ Jesus. These facts had much to do with shaping the Master's words and the methods of His teach- ing. The Limitations of Language must also be taken into account. Every advance in human knowledge demands new words in which to accurately express new facts. Science is adding thousands of words to the English language every few years. The new terminology of one science alone, fills an octavo dictionary. Electricians were compelled to coin these new words in order to accurately communicate their discoveries to the world. Yet when Jesus Christ came to earth with a revelation from God, He was com- pelled to speak in the earth-bound language of man. It is because He was bound by the limitations of human knowledge that He is constantly telling His hearers what His Father is ' ' like. ' ' What the Kingdom of Heaven is ' ' like, ' ' what the Holy Spirit is ' ' like. ' ' In limited human speech it was impossible for Him to convey to man all that God is, or all that spiritual realities are. Do you always remember this as you study His words? Moreover, human speech never conveys to human ears all that it stands for in the mind of the speaker. And this basic principle governs your understanding or misunder- standing of this page, and this book. The truth, exactly as it stands in my mind, cannot be transferred to the mind of another. ISTo matter what words I select they will not mean to you exactly what they mean to me ; and there- fore they cannot convey to you the exact idea in my mind. WHAT IS TRUTH? 11 If your experience in the study of man and truth is larger than mine, then you will pass over the inadequateness of my words, and grasp a truth larger than mine. If your experience is more limited than mine, then to you my words will convey less than I am trying to express. In every case each reader will receive what he has educated himself to receive. It is impossible that the words of life spoken by Christ should convey to His hearers the whole truth. IS^o two hearers ever received exactly the same truth, or the same amount of truth. That hearer received the most of the divine message whose own Life was lived on a plane nearest to that on which Christ lived. The particular part of the truth which each hearer received was decided by his own mind and heart. (Study S. Jn. 12 : 23-30.) Ignoring the purpose of Christ. Christ taught for all men in all ages. ' ' Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my word shall not pass away. ' ' All men included aU those to whom He was speaking. ISTaturally they asked Him to explain His principles, and apply His words to the problems of their own lives. He did so. But these words, so help- ful to the men of His own age, are the stumbling-blocks of men to-day. Why? Because we ignore the difference be- tween di. principle of action, and a rule of action; between unchanging truth, and its temporary, local, or individual application. Because Christ said to one particular man who needed it, Give aU you possess to the poor, some have taught that every man must do the same. The Gospels record Christ's principles of life. These principles if honestly and sincerely studied will teach us, amid the ever changing conditions of human life, to form such personal rules of conduct as will enable us to walk in 12 HOW TO UNDERSTAKD THE WORDS OF CHRIST. His footsteps. But the spiritually lazy man wants some- thing easier. He seeks exact rules of conduct for every possible, or imaginary situation of life. The Gospel of the Kingdom is not a pocket dictionary of ethical rules for deciding the right or wrong of — '' Backgammon, " *' Bil- liards," «' Cards," '« Church Fairs," ^ ' Dancing, "* ^ Free Trade," <«Golf," ^'Grab Bags," ''Operas," ''Prohibi- tion, " " Theatergoing, ' ' and ' ' Woman' s Suffrage. ' ' Even more blinding to one who would know the freedom of truth, is the practice of treating the Gospel record as if it were an astrologer's dreambook or a fortune-teller's oracle. Yet some try to decide the problems of life by a chance opening of the Gospels. The first word to meet their gaze being accepted as a heaven-sent message. Shall I speak to one who has injured me? The chance opening of the inspired record reads, "I know not the man! " I am ill, shall I attend church? The Gospel falls open at " That I may go and worship Him." I am asked to read a certain book, shall I? The eye chances to see " This man blasphemeth," ; and the seeker acts according to the chance vision. Yet the first text is the inspired record of a lie, the second records the hypocritical words of a murderer, and the third text records a blasphemous contradiction of Christ. The purpose of Christ was not to utter oracular formulas for the superstitious, rigid rules for the spiritually indolent, nor theological dogmas for the intellectually pugnacious. The supreme purpose of the Divine Teacher was to inspire the heart, and quicken the spiritual life of man. It is ours to hear, read, mark, learn, and spiritually understand the words of Christ, and this we cannot do unless we give them intelligent and prayerful study. WHAT IS TRUTH ? 13 The Greatest Difficulty of all arises not from the method of revelation, the language of the Master nor the nature of truth ; it arises from the nature of man. The difficulties in the Gospel are not to be compared with the difficulties to be found in the mind of its readers. Our greatest stum- bling-block is ourself , our own uneducated minds or (what is worse) perverse hearts. The untrained reader does not realize that what we call ^< words" are only arbitrary sounds, or printed symbols. Whatever a word means to him to-day, he vainly supposes it meant in Christ's day. He cannot picture civil, social, or religious conditions dif- ferent from his own ; and so unconsciously reads into the Gospel the religious conditions of to-day. Yet the un- learned if he reads with an honest and prayerful heart, comparing Scripture with Scripture, will gradually educate himself to understand spiritually, and so get at the heart of Christ's teaching in a way that puts to shame the educated but perverse student. It is one of the striking facts of the Gospel story that the ignorant penitents of Christ's day understood His words better than the learned Scribes or the self-satisfied Pharisees. The open mind and the receptive heart is the best of all aids in Bible study. Dr. Jewett, Kegius Professor of Greek in the University of Oxford (and author of several commen- taries), says — '* Anyone who would learn the sacred writings by heart, and paraphrase them in English, would probably make a nearer approach to their true meaning than he would gather from any commentary. ' ' A young truth-seeker asked the President of Magdalen College, Oxford, for direction in study. The aged theologian (over ninety), after silent thought, said : ' ' Were I you, sir, I would first of all read the Gospel of St. Matthew (silence). Then the Gospel of St. 14 HOW TO UNDERSTAND THE WORDS OF CHRIST. Mark (pause). Then go on to St. Luke (longer silence). Then 1 would certainly read the Gospel according to St. John." Another trainer of Bible students, the President of Crozer Theological Seminary, said to a teacher trainer : '' Get your students to study less about the Bible, and to take the Book as its own best interpreter, its best explanation, its best ar- gument, its best defence. I have been studying it con- stantly these seventy years, and teaching it almost as long. Give me all the commentaries that have been written in English, and I will take my one hour with the Bible alone, in preference to the rest of the day with commentaries and helps." My own thirty years* experience as teacher, teacher trainer, and theological professor, moves me to add, — these testimonies are true. It is the ignorant reader who thinks himself wise, that becomes a blind leader of the blind. I recall a Bible teacher (?) I chanced to hear interpret a passage in a manner that offended her better read hearers. On their appealing to me, I mildly suggested that other passages of Holy Scripture on the same subject should be taken into account. I was quickly silenced by, ' ' I have studied this question for years, and have received a special revelation on the subject. ' ' When honest ignorance sincerely believes that its errors are a revelation from God, no human power can enlighten it. Unconscious bias often blinds us to the meaning of Christ's words. We think we are carefully studying and applying our best judgment to Holy Scripture, when in fact we are being led by some obscure personal motive, or prejudice. It is not easy to discover the truth. The path is full of dif- ficulties most of which are older than we are. The man who does not sincerely desire to know the truth certainly WHAT IS TRUTH? 15 will never find it. If we are conscious that we are being led by our prejudices, and are too proud to confess, and cor- rect our fault, then the situation develops a serious moral responsibility. There are no perversions of Holy Scripture worse than those which are the fruit of self-interest, partisanship, or sectarian pride. The man who wills to see in Holy Scrip- ture only what he wants to see, and tries to make others see only what he desires them to see, is an immoral man, and a perverter of God's Word. But far short of this it is ours to stop and ask ourselves, ' < Am I studying the Gospels to find out what they teach, or what I want them to teach ? ' ' To sum up all we have said : The main difficulty in un- derstanding the words of Christ comes from the self we bring to His teaching. We may earnestly desire to know the truth, yet some of us find it hard to believe that any in- terpretation can be correct if it contradicts our personal opinions, or our own pet theories. In other words the dis- covery of truth is made difficult just in proportion as the factor of self-interest becomes a part of it. Plainly then our success or failure in the discovery of the truth is de- cided by the factor of self. If I love myself more than I love the truth I shall not find it. If I allow self in any measure to become my standard of truth I shall in that same measure fail to discover it. Someone, however, may ask, if the principle be correct that we are obliged to interpret what we see and what we hear by our own experience, how will it ever be possible for us to discover the truth? By getting away from our own selfish experience, by entering into a larger, more generous, and more loving experience, by losing ourselves in that higher and nobler Self which is not our own. ' ' Eepent 16 HOW TO UNDERSTAND THE WORDS OF CHRIST. ye, and believe the Gospel. ' ' For many men a change of mind and heart, the renouncing of selfish desire and selfish purpose must jprecede the discovery of the truth as it is in Christ Jesus. CONSTRUCTIVE STUDIES. No one can find all that there is in any book simply by reading it. This is superlatively true of a book based on the Gospels. The reader who carefully and prayerfully studies the words of Our Lord, using this volume only as a guide, will obtain fourfold the benefit that comes to a mere reader. I do not desire you to accept my interpretation of any word of Christ. I do most devoutly desire that you obey the admonition of the Divine Teacher: — " Search the Scriptures, for * * they are they which testify of Me." Read carefully St. John 18 : 38-38. Study each word of Christ in vss. 36-38. What does Christ claim is His relation to the truth V Is Truth to be said, or done ? Study St. John 3 : 21. 8 : 12-18. 8 : 42-47. 14:6. Make notes of what you have learned of Christ's relation to Truth. CHAPTEK II. OUR LORD'S ANSWER. '^ What is Truth? " The man who asked that question stood face to face with Jesus Christ. He was a man of the world, a keen politician, a powerful Governor, and it was his knowledge of his own world and his own associates, that caused him to make his question a hopeless sneer, and to turn his back upon the Christ without an answer. Yet, what is equally significant, although he was sure that *' truth" was a sham, and the cloak of cowards, never- theless he believed in the sincerity of the man before him and tried to save Him from being murdered by self-righteous hypocrites. Are we prepared to answer Pilate's question? Can a par- agraph answer it? Or a chapter, or a volume, or even a library? Think you that if the Christ could have answered the Roman Governor's question with words (few or many) He would have given his whole life to its revelation? The answer of Pilate's question is too large to be contained in any verbal statement. Truth is not found in written rules but in living principles. Truth is not a formula but a life. Men have attempted to put into a few words the truth which God's Son spent thirty years in revealing, — and then left to be completed by the Holy Spirit. Nevertheless, before we begin our study of the words of the Master, we must have a standard of truth by which to interpret them, one that shall satisfy our own conscience and appeal to our pupils as reasonable. Such a standard cannot 17 18 HOW TO UNDERSTAND THE WORDS OF CHRIST. be found in ourselves. We are convinced that the intrusion of self is the factor mainly responsible for the misinterpre- tations which have divided the Body of Christ. What is the Universal Test of Truth? By what do we measure the words of the merchant, the neighbor, or the friend? Is it not by his deeds? And if what he says, and what he does are not the same, are we not quick to note it, and to withdraw our confidence? And will any reiteration of statement, or positiveness of assertion restore our confi- dence so long as the man's words and deeds fail to agree? * ' Actions speak louder than words. ' ' We measure every man's words by his deeds. Jesus of JS^azareth was a man among men. He claimed no exception from the moral ob- ligations of men. As they measured the words of others so He expected them to measure His words. Nay, more, as they measured other men so He demanded to be measured by them. "The works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me. If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not. ' ' It is easy for a learned teacher to shut himself in his study and write a long and brilliant theory of conduct, but what is it worth? The path of human progress is littered with the wrecks of systems of truth elaborated by great theorists. Why? Because Truth expressed in words only, truth pre- sented as something separate, and apart from the struggle of human life is worthless. A deaf and dumb boy practising obedience to God will teach more truth in one hour than a mere theorist can in a year. Christ was the greatest of all teachers. Yet He was a man who went about doing things, overcoming evil, doing good. His deeds far outweigh His words. He lived in the open. He was found daily in the market-place, the synagogue, and the fishing- boat, among OUR LORD'S ANSWER. 19 blind beggars, outcasts, publicans and sinners ; and in every- place where there were souls that needed Him. Jesus was indeed a teacher, but no other teacher had the same right as He, to point to His deeds as proof of the truthfulness of His teaching. The Claims and Challenge of Christ. This Teacher who lived in perfect touch with the common people, who was the companion of outcasts and the friend of sinners, claims for Himself, and demands from His followers, unhesitating obe- dience to the highest possible moral and spiritual standards. His teaching is positive, absolute, aggressive. Eight only is right, truth only is truth, and they must be followed with- out quibbling or evasion of any sort. His standards admit of no compromise, no exceptions, no accommodation to appe- tites, passions or weaknesses. The aggressiveness of His teaching repelled the easy- going, and offended the rich. His condemnation of the immoral casuistry of the Scribes, and quibbling evasions of the Pharisees aroused their opposition and their hate. They denounced His words, and would gladly have denied His deeds if they could. But exalted as were the standards of the Master, He practised all that He taught. His most watchful enemies could find no divergence between His words and His deeds. His teaching and His daily life were in perfect accord. Was any other proof necessary? Other proof was not necessary, and yet Christ Himself demanded that His words should be put to a severer test. Confident of His own faultless integrity, perfect purity of heart and sincerity of soul, Christ turned to those Jews who were seeking not only to destroy His teaching, but to destroy His life, and said, — '^ Because I tell you the truth ye believe me not. Which of you convinceth me of sin? " 20 HOW TO UNDERSTAND THE WORDS OF CHRIST. It was a challenge to His bitterest enemies ; but they dared not accept it. Then to them Christ put the heart-searching question — " If I say the truth, why do ye not believe me? " Can more be asked of any teacher than this, that his very heart and soul shall be as perfect as his teaching? When Pontius Pilate asked his half-sneering, half-des- pairing question, ''What is truth?" Our Lord made no direct answer. To do so was impossible. Yet His reply is a wonderfully significant one, in the light of our study of His words to the Jews. Our Lord's words to Pilate are : ' ' To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth." Uttered almost at the foot of the Cross, He declared that the end for which He was born, the end for which He had lived, and the end for which He was about to die, is to bear witness to the truth. Christ referred Pontius Pilate to His life. He refused to consider truth apart from human life, Llis truth apart from His own life. For all His teaching He claimed that " The words I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life." Yea, "lam the Way, the Truth, and the Life." What would you think of the sincerity, or sanity of any man who dared to make that claim to-day? None save the Son of Man has ever dared to face the question, "What is truth? and answer, " I AM THE TRUTH." We have made our quest. What have we found? We have found the one certain standard of truth. And this standard is not a verbal statement, but a living Person ; the Life of Him who is Truth. We have found that Christ Himself refused to allow His words to be considered apart from His deeds, His teaching separate from His life. His words are a part of Himself. Yet, they are not the greater, OUR LORD'S ANSWER. 21 but the lesser part of His teaching: for His words must always be measured and interpreted by the Person behind them. Our Fundamental Principle of Interpretation, the one that is to be our guide in all our study, has been found. We must interpret Our Lord^s words hy Our Lord^s Life, The mere statement of this basic principle makes clearer our vision and plainer our path. It eliminates self, the greatest of all difficulty-making factors. It transfers our standard of truth from the selfish experience of man to the self-sacrificing experience of man's Saviour. It exalts the sublime character of Our Teacher. In St. Paul's letters there is a greater revelation of truth than in his life, but in the Person of Christ is found a far greater revelation of truth than in all His words. The Perfect Unity of Christ's Life and Teaching. The Master's words are many. His life is one. A vivid vision of His Person will lead us into the heart of His teaching. His Manger, His Cross, His vacant Sepulchre teach the spiritual realities of His Incarnation, His Atonement, His Kesurrection with a power beyond that of words. "What the Son of Man is, not what He said, must ever be to us the matter of supreme importance. The sublime words of the Gospel without the sublime Life behind them — what would they be to a heart-hungry soul? But now, having found Christ's own point of view, we see in every saying of the Master a line of autobiography, a flash of light from that divine life lived in the bosom of His Father, or a word of love out of that perf ecth^ human life lived in the homes and hearts of men. All that Christ taught he lived. All that He demanded of others He is. The standard of spotless perfection which 22 HOW TO UNDERSTAND THE WORDS OF CHRIST. He held up before men is the mirror of His own spotless soul. His teaching and His living are inseparable, they are part of one divine harmony. The one true and certain in- terpretation of His words is found in His own flawless and radiant life. CONSTKUCTIVE STUDIES. Read St. Matt. 22 : 34-40. Study the passage witli this question in mind. What does this teach about Biblical interpretation ? Some think every word of Scripture equally important. What did the lawyer think ? What did Christ think ? Did Christ argue ? What did He take for granted ? Why did he not name one commandment as the lawyer desired ? Is there any principle of interpretation involved ? What is the First Commandment ? What the second ? Which is more important ? What did the Jews think ? What did Our Lord say ? Study St. Luke 6:6-11. Compare St. Matt. 3 : 15 and St. John 16 :12. Do they help interpret St. Matt. 10:5-6, and St. Matt. 28: 16-20 ? Study St. Mark 12 : 18-27. What did the questioners believe ? What said Our Lord ? When did Abraham die ? Date of God's speaking to Moses ? What bearing has this on vs. 27 ? on Biblical interpretation ? Make notes of your studies. CHAPTER III. OUR LORD'S PRINCIPLES OF INTERPRETATION. Our Lord is the Great Interpreter. Much of His minis- try was devoted to answering questions. He was asked about the prophets and teachers, the saints and sinners of the Old Covenant; about their words and their deeds, about what was sin, righteousness, and truth in the moral twilight in which they lived. He was asked concerning the world to come, and the destiny of man ; asked to decide between the conflicting words and moral standards of the teachers of His own day. Moreover, in our day we need to apply His teaching to the multitudinous (and frequently con- flicting) duties of life in a complex civilization, and we are often at a loss, to know how to act. In all these matters we need definite guidance in order to discern and apply the truth. Does not our Lord's life help us in these matters ? There is no path or duty of man where Christ's life is not our light and our guide. It is true that some matters just mentioned may be outside of the personal life of Jesus, but so far as principles are concerned, nothing can come into our lives which did not come into the earthly career of the Son of Man. There are no questions concerning human life and duty that have not been answered either by His words, His principles or His life. Let us then study the methods of Christ in answering the questions, meeting the moral problems, and solving the interpretative difficulties of His own age, and if we do it 24 HOW TO UNDERSTAND THE WORDS OF CHRIST. with a sincere desire to know the truth, we shall surely dis- cover the basic principles underlying His varying methods and applications. In all His ministry no question asked the Master, was more important than that asked Him by a Pharisaic lawyer. (Matt. 22:35), *' Master, which is the great command- ment in the Law? " It was a question concerning God's nature, and man's duty. It was also a question concerning Christ's principles of interpretation. We often meet people who think that every statement in the Bible is of equal im- portance, and that all Christ's teaching is on the same level ; that Grod gave no great commandments, nor minor com- mandments, but that every inspired truth is equally important. The lawyer thought differently. He took it for granted that there were great laws and lesser laws, and conse- quently, greater duties and lesser duties. Did our Lord con- tradict him? On the contrary He accepted the position of the lawyer as correct, and at once selected and recited a commandment which He placed above all others, save one. This decision of Christ is one of far-reaching importance. It establishes for all time a principle of interpretation. All parts of an inspired book, chapter, or even of a paragraph, are not of equal importance. The fact that Christ fed 5,000 Galileans is on one level. The fact that ^ ' there was much grass in the place " is on another, and very different level. We have our Lord's authority for holding as a fundamental principle for the interpretation of the words of the Old Covenant, and for the understanding of His words in the Gospels, this truth : All insjpired truth is not of equal irrvportance. But this first principle of Christ cannot stand alone. If OUR LORD'S PRINCIPLES OF INTERPRETATION. 25 all spiritual truth is not on the same level, if some laws are more important than others, then we need some standard, some principle of interpretation by which we can separate the greater from the less. To rely upon self, to make our own judgment the standard, is to fall back into past dis- agreements, and past strife. Let us turn again to Christ. The lawyer's question took one thing for granted. The answer of our Lord takes several things for granted ; and they are the most important things that are found in the Christian Eeligion. Indeed as we study Christ's words we shall see that He does here what He is doing constantly. Christ never argues about the basic truths of religion. He takes them for granted. He did so in this case. JS'ote His answer : ' ' Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind." Here the Son of Man takes for granted (a) the first and most fundamental of all truths — the existence of God. He had come from the bosom of the Father. It was impossible for Him not to assume the existence of His own Father. He takes it for granted (b) that man was created in the moral and spiritual image of his Creator, and therefore is endowed with mental and moral freedom. He takes for granted (c) that these gifts from God made man accountable to God, and places upon him a personal responsibility to acknowledge that accountability in life and conduct. Having thus taken for granted the great fundamental truths on which all religion is based, Jesus says to the law- yer. The highest possible form in which a man can express his obligation to God is not obedience, nor labor, nor worship, nor righteousness. It is in love. For true obedience, and righteousness, and labor, and worship are 26 HOW TO UNDERSTAND THE WORDS OF CHRIST. the expression of love. Therefore, ' ' Thou shall 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 Command- ment. And the second is like unto it. Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. ' ' In what Christ takes for granted, and in the summary of God's law which he uttered, we find the second of our Lord's principles of interpretation, — the standard we must have to enable us to understand the relative greatness of the truth of God. The most fundamental of all truths are those which reveal (a) the Person of God^ (h) the Nature of Ma/n (g) Man^s relation to God, and (d) Man''s relation to his neighhor. But this is not all that Christ's words teach us. In His wonderfully enlightening reply to the lawyer we find the application of another of our Lord's principles of inter- pretation. "When we discover a new truth we are tempted by the glamour of its newness to do two things ; first to forget that a whole is greater than any of its parts, and so we put the new truth above all others, regardless of its relative value. Then, secondly, we separate this new truth from all others and treat the part as if it were greater than the whole. To follow Christ's second principle of in- terpretation will keep us from the first error. To rightly study the Master's answer as a whole will disclose another principle which will save us from the second error. * ' Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind," ''This," the Master declared, ' ' is the first and great Commandment. ' ' Why did not the Master stop right there ? He had an- swered the lawyer's question. Measured by human minds His answer was complete. What need for anything more? OUR LORD'S PRINCIPLES OP INTERPRETATION. 27 Or, if Christ wanted to name a Second Commandment, why did he not say, '^ The Second Commandment is Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself" ? Both statements would have stood out clearly, each would have been dis- tinct, and complete in itself. Why did He say more? Because completeness to the mind of man is not complete- ness to the mind of Christ. To have said, '< This is the first and great Commandment" and stopped there, would have been an untruth. The Truth knew personally what we know only theoretically. He saw perfectly what we see only partially, namely, that all truth is a unit. No man is competent to say this is the greatest of all temples, unless he has a knowledge of all temples on the face of the Earth ; and no one can say this is the greatest of the truths of God, except He who is Himself God's Truth. A great scientist was handed a single bone and asked to name the creature to which it belonged. He examined it carefully- and answered, It does not belong to any known living animal. Later he said. It does not belong to any known extinct animal. Still later he drew the outline of an animal which no one had ever seen, and said. It belonged to a genus of animals resembling this. What was the basis of his answer? A bone is what it is because of its relation to other bones. It is a part of a larger unit, an animal. Its place and func- tion in the larger unit decides its size and shape and makes it what it is. He only who knows its relation to the ani- mal unit, and the relation of that animal unit to the unity of the animal kingdom, is capable of understanding a single bone as the great scientist understood it. Each separate truth is what it is because of its relation to other truths. It is part of a larger unit of truth, and this 28 HOW TO UNDERSTAND THE WORDS OF CHRIST. larger unit of truth is itself but a fragment of revealed truth. So, all revealed truth is itself but a portion of that whole- ness of truth which we shall know when we see the Divine Teacher face to face. Therefore to interpret any statement of truth without regard to its relation to other truths is to misinterpret it. For every statement of truth is necessarily a part -statement ; its real meaning is conditioned by the larger truth of which it is a fragment. Christ knew that in saying, even of the most fundamental truth, ' ' this is the first and greatest, ' ' there was danger that man would ignore its relation to all truth, and use it to contradict all other truth. Therefore He added, ^ ' there is a second Commandment ' ' equally first and greatest ; and without it, the first cannot be rightly understood or inter- preted. When we recall that in past times men burned their neighbors to compel them to love God, and to-day men are turning their backs upon God in order to show their love for their neighbors, we see why Christ would not separate the two great commandments. We also see that He was carefully guarding this principle of interpretation : Each and every statement of truth is a ^art-statement and there- fore has its limitations. From Christ's application of the above principle, we see that even the most basic truths which the mind of man is capable of grasping, are not complete in themselves. They need for their right interpretation, the limiting and enlight- ening power of those like truths to which they are closely related. If this be true of equal and ' ' like ' ' truths how much more is it true of unlike and lesser truths. Yet throughout the whole ministr}^ of Christ the Jews contended that our Lord was a lawless man, because He healed the sick on the Sabbath. OUR LORD'S PRINCIPLES OF INTERPRETATION. 29 The Master did not deny the laws of the Sabbath, but He did deny that the Sabbath law was the '^ first and greatest " of alUaws. He held that the law of man's love to man, and of man's love to God, were both more fundamental than the law of the Sabbath. He held that man was not created for the welfare of the Sabbath, but that the Sabbath was or- dained for the welfare of man. Therefore, it was " lawful to do good on the Sabbath Day. ' ' And in His acts of mercy and words of wisdom He made plain one application of an- other great principle, namely : — Fundamental truths neces- sarily limit and qualify the interpretation of all other truths. In studying the words of Christ no thoughtful person can fail to be impressed by comparing two statements of the Master, one made at the very beginning and the other at the very end of His ministry. (Matt. 3 : 15, and John 16 : 12.) His words to the Baptist, ' ' It becometh us to fulfil all right- eousness ' ' are familiar. We know that the revelation of the Gospel is the fulfilment of Old Testament revelation ; but it comes as a surprise when Christ on one of the last days of His earthly life, turns, not to strangers, but to those who had been His companions and pupils for nearly three years, saying, '' I have many things to say unto you, hut ye cannot hear them now. ' ' Yet what a light does this incident throw upon the method of the Master, upon the loving carefulness with which, little by little. He had given them God's truth as their earth clouded hearts were prepared to receive and to understand it. How plainly it tells us that the principle which underlies the revelation of the Old Covenant also underlies the New. The Father through lawgivers and prophets, and the Son through His own words and life, have gradually revealed the truth to man as he was able to bear it. In other words the divine principle is: — '^ All Bevela- 30 HOW TO UNDERSTAND THE WORDS OF CHRIST. tion is progressive^ the later truth is necessarily the more coiYiplete truth. ' ' Prejudice, partizanship, pride, — these have been in the past and are in lesser degree to-day, the dominant forces that make for misinterpretation. Yet God overrules man's narrowness, even man's wickedness for the advancement of His truth. It was the contradictions of His enemies that moved our Lord to make plain His principles of historical interpretation. The last day of His public teaching (Mark 12 : 18) the Sadducees came to the Master with the story of the woman who had been the wife of seven. They thought their foolish fable an unanswerable argument against the resurrec- tion of the dead, but Christ calmly answered, '^Have ye not read in the book of Moses, how in the bush God spake unto him, saying ' I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead but of the living.' " The brevity of Christ's reply hides from the careless reader the force of an argu- ment which came to His Hebrew hearers with irresistible power. When God spoke to Moses Abraham had been dead 300 years. Therefore, according to the Sadducean teaching, Abraham for that length of time had ceased to exist. The rebuke of Christ was needed : * ' Ye know not the Scriptures, neither the power of God." The Sadducees were recognized leaders and teachers. They were per- fectly familiar with the words Christ quoted, yet they had not seen the force of God's words. They had ignored the time, the condition, and the circumstances under which they were uttered. The words of Holy Scripture are in- terpreted foolishly or falsely whenever they are considered OUR LORD'S PRINCIPLES OF INTERPRETATION. 31 apart from their historical relation. The principle of the Master is : — All Inspired Statements Must he Interpreted Historically. The meaning of doubtful words or phrases is determined hy the historical conditions under which they were uttered. The argument of Christ against the Sadducees is most important. It is based on divine principles, too large to be exhausted by the above statement. In every age there have been men who imagined that they had discovered con- tradictions in the words of Christ. But if we are foolish enough to imagine that one statement of the Master can con- tradict another, it is because we are foolish enough to take it for granted that we Ttnow all truth, and therefore are competent to say that whatever is a contradiction to us is a contradiction of the Son of God. Verbal contradictions are not necessarily contradictions of truth, either in chemistry, mathematics, or Holy Scripture. The teacher puts his thought into words and speaks them. The idea they start in the hearer's mind, is not the teacher's idea but the hearer's idea. It is never exactly the same as the teacher's idea. The meaning which the teacher puts into his words is decided by his experience ; and the inter- pretation a hearer puts upon the same words is decided by his experience. Other things being equal, the greater the gulf between the experience of the teacher, and that of the hearer, the greater will be the gulf between the truth spoken and the truth received. If we, in any measure, realize the vastness of the gulf between our own limitations and the wisdom of the Son of God, we shall be slow to pronounce any saying of Christ "a contradiction." To the Sadducees, proud and confident of their own knowledge, Christ said, '^ Ye do err, not knowing the Scrip- 32 HOW TO UNDERSTAND THE WORDS OF CHRIST. tures. ' ' His words to them are His words to every man who makes his own ignorance of God's truth the foundation on which to build an argument against the words of God's Son. But the Son has Himself given us the standard hy which to test His words. The reiterated claim of Christ is that His life and teachings are one. If there be any recorded words attributed to Him which are contradicted by His life, then we should be justified in rejecting them. Have you ever found such words? We are now ready to accept our final interpretive prin- ciple. It may well be expressed in these words : — Oior Lord'^s Teaching cannot contradict His life. Seeming con- tradictions arise from the limitations of human sjpeech^ the limitations of human knowledge ^ or the ^artialness of divine revelation. We have now completed our search for the interpretive principles of the Master. Before we enter upon the next stage of our study, let us re-state what we have already accomplished. We are to study THE WORDS OF CHRIST. The Basic Principle : Our Lord's Words must always he interpreted hy Our Lord's Life. Our Lord's Interpretive Principles. I. All Inspired Truth is not equally important. II. The most fundamental truths are those which reveal {a) the Person of God, (5) the nature of Man, {c) Man's relation to God, and {d) Man's relation to his neighbor. III. Every statement of truth is a partial statement and therefore has its limitations. IV. Fundamental truths, necessarily limit and qualify the iuterpretation of all other truths. OUR LORD'S PRINCIPLES OF INTERPRETATION. 33 Our Lord's Interpretive Principles. V. All Revelation is progressive : the later truth is necessarily the more complete truth. VI. All Inspired Statements must be interpreted historically. The meaning of doubtful words is determined by the conditions under which they were uttered. VII. Our Lord's teaching cannot contradict His Life. Seeming contradictions arise from (a) the limita- tions of human language, (b) the limitations of human knowledge, or (c) the partialness of the divine records. The above principles are to be our guide in all our studies. If you are not sure that you understand them, or the authority on which they are founded, turn back and carefully re-read this chapter. We shall have occasion to refer to these principles many times. If you commit them to memory it will help you in later studies. CONSTRUCTIVE STUDIES. Before you take up the study of the next chapter write down the partic- ulars in which the Jews differed from the other nations. What was the purpose of the Old Covenant? What were Jewish conditions between Malachi and John Baptist? Note what you know about the Sadducees. Also of the Pharisees. What relation did Christ's teaching bear to theirs ? To the teaching of the Prophets? Study each of these subjects sepa- rately, and carefully. We must have some knowledge of the historical conditions under which Christ taught or we cannot understand His words, or jffm. A Bible dictionary is the best aid. There are brief " helps " at the back of all good Bibles. CHAPTEE TV. OUR LORD'S WORDS AND THE TEACHING OF HIS AGE. Our Lord's Words must be Interpreted Historically. The Sadducees failed to understand God's words at the burning bush because they ignored the time, and circum- stances under which they were uttered. For the same reason many fail to understand Christ's words to-day. We forget that the Master's words were spoken to Jewish ears, to be interpreted by Jewish experience and Jewish religious standards. • We forget that Christian ideals, and Christian conceptions of righteousness did not exist in the time of Christ. The only way to enter into the heart of teaching ad- dressed the Hebrew ears two thousand years ago, is to put ourselves in the Hebrew's place, listen with Hebrew ears, and interpret by means of Hebrew ideals, conceptions, and experiences. The way to misunderstand the Master's words is to listen with Twentieth Century ears, and inter- pret by the ideals and conceptions of to-day. The Early Historical Condition of the Jews. We are what the past has made us. So were the Jews in the time of Christ. The Hebrew JS'ation differed from all other races on the earth ; differed in its origin, and in its relation to Jehovah. The Hebrews were an unique race ; separated from all peoples by their God, their religious conceptions, their moral laws, and their peculiar politico-religious ideals, hopes, and delusions. If we could put three years of study 34 OUR LORD'S WORDS AND THE TEACHING OF HIS AGE. 35 on the Old Testament, we would better understand the religious atmosphere in which Christ taught, and the dominant Jewish concepts of life and duty which helped, or hindered His hearers in understanding His words. If ever a people was created to do a great work for God, it was the Children of Israel. They were, in Abraham, separated from other nations and bound to God in sacred covenant. They received, through Moses, a divinely or- dained moral law, priesthood, and system of worship. They were, through Samuel, given an order of holy Prophets, divinely inspired to teach the will of God. They were made a great and glorious nation, of which God Him- self was King. When they despised the goodness of God and rebelled against His laws, He again and again punished them with defeat and captivity. "When Israel repented and returned to obedience, God again and again restored to them their land, and the cities of their fathers. TMs was the favored and disobedient, disciplined and forgiven people to whom Christ came. They ought to have been better prepared for His coming than any other people on the face of the earth. Were they? Jewish Conditions between Malachi and John the Baptist. The voice of prophecy, the voice of spiritual up- lift, was silent. It was a period of four hundred years of spiritual decay for the Jewish people, of alternating political freedom and bitter bondage for the Jewish nation. Their one hope was in the promises of Jehovah ; their one great longing was for the promised Messiah. But the ' ' Messiah ' ' and ' ' King ' ' they intensely longed for was to be a political leader, a ''Son of David" who would destroy their op- pressors, and restore in earthly greatness and power the ancient throne of Israel. There was no national drawing 36 HOW TO UNDERSTAND THE WORDS OF CHRIST. near to God — no spiritual desire for victory over pride and oppression, over injustice, lust, or self -righteousness. Before the Christ was born the Jews had spread over all the world. There were 700,000 Jews in Palestine. There were over six times that number outside of it. Everywhere they remained Jews, clung to their Messianic hopes, built their synagogues, and worshipped God after the manner of their fathers. They held high commercial and social positions, yet they considered Judea their home. They were proud of Jerusalem, attended its feasts, or sent contributions to sustain them. They despised heathen worship, yet they adopted the intellectual culture of the Greeks, and translated their Scriptures into Greek. Everywhere the great truths of the Jewish religion were known to the educated. Everywhere were thoughtful Gentiles who turned from heathenism and became Jewish proselytes, and looked for a coming Messiah. The Fulness of Time, was the hour of the fulness of hu- man need, and the fulness of divine preparation. The world was unconsciously waiting for the hour of the Messiah. The strange fact is that every nation on the earth was more willing to welcome the Messiah than the Jewish nation. <' He came unto His own, and His own received Him not. ' ' And what is still more striking is the fact that this nation which refused to accept its own Spiritual King, had been itself an active factor in preparing all other nations to accept the teaching of ' ' The King of the Jews. ' ' Conditions Created by the Sadducees. These were the aristocrats of their day. They were largely members of priestly families. They had almost a monopoly of the high- priesthood ; they possessed large political power. They were rich, proud, and socially exclusive. In religion they OUR LORD'S WORDS AND THE TEACHING OF HIS AGE. 37 were materialists. For them there was no future life, no resurrection, no eternal rewards or penalties ; no angels, no spirits, no soul, or if there was one, it perished with the body. At first the Sadducees regarded the teachings of the Master with indifference or contempt ; but when He drove the money-mongers out of the Temple courts He touched their prerogatives and their purses, and they became His open enemies. Yet these were the men who filled the highest priestly offices and shaped the devotions of Israel ! Conditions Created by the Pharisees. These were the teachers of Israel and shaped the morals of the E'ation. They were Separatists, too holy to associate with Gentiles or Samaritans, Publicans or sinners. Whatever was non- Jewish in religion was to them despicable and unclean. Except a few thousand Sadducees, and a group of politi- cians, free-thinkers, and sensualists, called Herodians, the Jews blindly followed the teachings of the Pharisees. They were the expounders of the Law, the Jesuits of Israel ; its official saints, its shining examples of righteousness. The doctrines of the Sadducees were contradicted by those of the Pharisees. These taught the immortality of the soul, the resurrection of the body, the coming judgment, and everlasting rewards and penalties. They believed in angels and spirits ; expected a Messianic King who would deliver them from the Komans, restore the throne of David, and reign in Jerusalem. They believed that the new King- dom of the Messiah would be a kingdom of saints, and they were the saints ! For were not they the only ones who kept the whole Law? "What the last of the great Hebrew Prophets thought of both of these sects is best expressed by himself. * ' When John saw many of the Pharisees and 38 HOW TO UNDERSTAND THE WORDS OF CHRIST. Sadducees come to his baptism he said unto them, O genera- tion of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? " How did the Pharisees keep the Law? According to its very letter, as expounded by Scribes and lawyers. For them it was a law of externals ; it touched neither inner motive nor inner morality. It concerned their punctilious doing of empty trifles. It exalted ceremonial over conduct : behavior over holiness. Its whole tendency was to make not saints but hypocrites. They elaborated and applied the Law to regulate every possible action under every possible condition. Note for example, how they made God's Law ridiculous. The quantity of food allowed to be carried on the Sabbath must be less than a dried fig ; of honey, only enough to anoint a wound ; of water, only enough to make eye salve. To kindle, or to extinguish a fire was to break the Sabbath ; so according to most Kabbis, to give medicine to a sick man, set his bones, or dig a dead man out of the ruins of his fallen house, made one a Sabbath breaker. Absurd rules were given as to what knots could be tied, or untied on the Sabbath day. A camel's or a sailor's knot was forbidden. A knot that could be loosed with one hand, or one to fasten on a sandal, was permitted. To write two letters of the alphabet with the hand was to profane the Sabbath, but if they were written with the mouth, or the foot, they were not illegal ! And all this (and very much more equally absurd) was ''keeping the Law of God," was following righteousness, was an exhibition of holiness, was piling up merits against the day of judgment ! Do you wonder that the common folk marvelled at the teaching of Christ ? Or that they OUR LORD'S WORDS AND THE TEACHING OF HIS AGE. 39 exclaimed in astonishment <'He teacheth not as the Scribes ! ' ' Do you wonder that the Pharisees vehemently denounced the Son of Man as a Sabbath breaker? Could even the Christ enter this atmosphere, reeking with false teaching, and not find His own teaching made difficult? The Master's Methods were determined by the historical conditions of His age. The false teachers of Israel had for generations poisoned the minds of the people. They had degraded their religion and their morals. Worse than that, they had degraded the language of religion ; so that the very words in which men spoke of God, and which should have drawn men to God, separated their souls from God. Do you realize the great difficulty created by these condi- tions? For the Master to have expressed Himself in the words of the Pharisees would have been to spread their falsehoods, not to teach His own truths. What was He to do? The Master is the one perfect Teacher for all time. No other knew His hearers as He knew them. ISTo other with such absolute perfection fitted His words to the hearts of His hearers. This is s«en in the Master's avoidance of all Jew- ish theological terminology ; His large use of parables ; His constant use of illustrations from daily life; His general avoidance of teaching on the externals of religion; His carefulness to teach nothing before His hearers were *'able to bear it. ' ' His great care to keep the ' ' Kingdom of God ' ' separate from the kingdoms of this world, from the contamination of political plots, and earthly ambitions ; and His constant emphasis upon the supreme importance of spiritual worship, and the spiritual realities of the world to come is plain to every careful student. When the Master has but one pupil, whether a member 40 HOW TO UNDERSTAND THE WORDS OF CHRIST. of the Jewish hierarchy, a simple Samaritan, or a hmnble disciple searching for truth, His task is easy. lie had only to adapt His words to a single questioner whose needs He knew, — indeed, knew so perfectly that He answers not the words of the questioner's lips, but the very thought of his heart which prompted his questioning. We may know nothing of the wayside traveller to whom Christ speaks, yet if we realize that in every case the Master perfectly fitted His words to that individual's particular needs, we shall find in His words are not alone an expression of His marvellous wisdom, but a revelation of the motive and character of the man to whom He speaks. When Christ stands before a company of simple, or devout souls like Zacharius and Elizabeth, Simeon and Anna, Andrew and Philip or JS"athaniel, He speaks freely of the truths dear to His heart. Such hearers understood His words; and we, two thousand years later, read and understand them to-day. When, however, Christ stands before a mixed company of Scribes, Pharisees and Lawyers, Sadducees, Herodians and Zealots His teaching problem is a very different one, and our difficulty in interpreting His words to-day is correspondingly increased. No religious teaching of Christ's day was, in theory, so close to His own as that of the Pharisees. Yet no other sect did our Lord so utterly condemn. Why? Because although the Pharisees pretended to teach the Law of God, their interpretations emptied it of all meaning, or contra- dicted its real teaching. The general effect of their Jesuiti- cal interpretations was to put darkness for light, and to turn righteousness into a gilded lie, or a pretentious sham. The historical fact that God raised up the prophets pur- posely to expound His laws, and pronounce His judgments OUR LORD'S WORDS AND THE TEACHING OF HIS AGE. 41 on both priests and people ; and the additional fact that the prophet was God's chosen mouthpiece, these truths the Pharisees carefully ignored. Their constant question was, not what saith the prophets of God, but what say the Scribes, the great Eabbis, the Doctors of the Law? The Basis of our Lord's Teaching was that of the Prophets of Israel. Where the prophet's word ended, there the word of Christ began. The Prophet emphasized the moral and spiritual nature of God, His absolute holiness, purity, truth, justice, and mercy. On these qualities also fell the emphasis of the teaching of God's Son. The Prophet demanded the highest morality of man, of society, of the Kation. He demanded honesty, sincerity in worship, chastity and charity. He denounced luxury, oppression hypocrisy, and aU uncleanness. Are not these also the calls, and the condemnations of the Kingdom of God? The prophets had a passion for truth. They were strenuous for the righteousness of the Nation. Israel had not been called of God for her own sake, and must not live for her own glory. Her mission was to aU the nations of the earth. " Salvation was of the Jews," but not for the Jews alone. Jehovah was God of all. He alone could be man's Deliverer and Saviour. The Redeemer would sud- denly come to God's Temple. His Kingdom would be an everlasting kingdom, and His Kame should be great among the Gentiles. All that the prophets taught, the Messiah taught with greater clearness, and more splendid power. All that the prophets saw afar off. He realized in His own blessed life. He lived their ideals. He was the Incarnation of their highest and holiest aspirations. He was God's Answer to all their hopes, and prayers and visions. The prophets 42 HOW TO UNDERSTAND THE WORDS OF CHRIST. were the lips of God speaking His truth. The Son of Man was Himself The Truth of God living among men. CONSTRUCTIVE STUDIES. Read the prophecy in St. Luke 1 : 57-80. Study it. Shut your eyes and picture it. Do it again and again until you catch its spirit. Then read the history in St. Luke 3:1-18. If you have prepared yourself devoutly, it will come to you with new force and meaning. Then read the prophetic and historic climax of St. John's ministry and the Beginning of Our Lord's, as found in St. Matt. 3:17 to 4:1-11. Count up the different revelations at the Jordan. Is truth constructive, or destructive ? What reason had the Jews for saying that Christ destroyed the Law ? Write out your an- swers for future reference. To unlearn is often the beginning of knowl- edge. CHAPTEE y. OUR LORD'S TEACHING AND OLD TESTAMENT TRUTH. Kepent ! *' Eepent ye, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. ' ' So came the voice of one crying in the wilderness after four hmidred years of prophetic silence. It was the voice of a new hope, and a new life. Had not all the prophets foretold a coming Messiah? The Lord is at hand ! So came the word of St. John to the common people of Judea. Their answer was instant. They flocked to his open-air confessional, to his baptism, and eagerly prayed for the coming Kingdom. The Mission of St. John was clear. Kone understood it better than himself. He was one sent from God to prepare the way of the Lord ; the way which leads into the hearts of God's people. It was the highway of the prophets, but it had been for centuries so utterly neglected that it was unusable. St. John restored the ancient paths. He did his work without fear, and without favor. He did it with a noble humility. Then, with an eager expectancy, St. John looks beyond the crowds that flock to his baptism. His eye and ear are alert. He is watching for the coming of his Lord. This is the end and crown of aU his labors. That he may recognize the Messiah amid the multitudes, God had promised him a sign. By prophetic intuition the Baptist recognizes in Jesus of Nazareth one holier than himself. ISTay, come not Thou to my baptism. <^ I have need to be baptized of Thee and 43 44 HOW TO UNDERSTAND THE WORDS OF CHRIST. comest Thou to me? " But Jesus answered, ^' Suffer it to be so now : for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. ' ' He suffered Him. Then came to St. John the sign prom- ised of God, the descending Dove ; the Yoice from Heaven. St. John knew that he had baptized the promised Messiah, and that his own mission was fulfilled. The Threefold Revelation at the Jordan. In the whole life of the Son of Man there is no event more momentous, than that which occurred at the Jordan, save the one which hallowed the Hill of Calvary ; for as the acorn holds in its heart the living oak, so the self -surrender and self-consecra- tion of the Baptism included the surrender and consecration of the Cross. The Revelation of the Messiah came from God to St. John. It satisfied him. His own eyes saw the opened Heaven and the descending Dove. To the official delega- tion sent from the authorities of the Temple, he answered emphatically ^ ' 1 am not the Messiah, " * ' I baptize with water, but there stand eth One among you whom ye know not." <'The same is He that baptizeth with the Holy Ghost." To his own disciples he said of the Messiah, <* Behold the Lamb of God." *' He must increase, but I must decrease. He that cometh from above, is above all." The Revelation of the Messiah's Nature was also from God. The words which St. John heard from heaven for- ever settled the question of the Messiah's Person. *< This is My Beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. ' ' From the prophets (whose words had been his study from childhood) St. John knew that the Messiah was to be * ' a prophet like unto Moses, ' ' was to be '' the Son of David, ' ' the King of a new and glorious nation, the " Deliverer of Israel " from spiritual bondage. But * ' My Beloved Son ! ' ' That opened OUR LORD'S TEACHING AND OLD TESTAMENT TRUTH. 45 to the eyes of St. John a new and unexpected vision. The Son of God, and yet the Lamb of God ! To us, more than to the Baptist, the words of the Father are a revelation of the source of the Son of Man's divine knowledge, the foundation of His authority, the certainty of His teaching. It was the revelation of God Himself. The hunger of the human heart is not to know words about God, or to hear of the Almighty's power, but to know the Father of Spirits in His relation to our own spirit, and this is our Jordan revelation. God's divine Son is one with the Father; God's human Son is one with us. He is bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh. In the Son's tender love, His tireless sympathy. His strong guidance, and power to restore, we see God walking among men and drawing them to Himself by the strong cords of human love. The Revelation of the Messiah's Mission : — Because the Babe of Bethlehem was born King of the Jews, neither His oflice, nor Ministry, nor Mission were His own. Before He was born He was set apart and dedicated to the finishing of His Father's work. When found in the manger He was first of all, a part of the past of the Hebrew l^ation. He also belonged to, and was a part of all that nation's future. He was Himself the living foundation of a new theocracy, a new line of spiritual Kings, Priests and Prophets. His appearance at the Jordan marked the end of the old, and the beginning of the new Kingdom of God. '* I have need to be baptized of Thee, and comest Thou to me? " these words of the Baptist were not contradicted. His words were true. He had proclaimed that his was a baptism of water, not of the Holy Spirit ; was a baptism unto repentance, not into the Kingdom of God. ' ' Suffer it to be so now, for thus it becometh us to fulfil aU righteous- 46 HOW TO UNDERSTAND THE WORDS OF CHRIST. ness." In this answer of the Sinless One, we have a clear vision of the supreme purpose of the Ministry of Jesus Christ. Study it in the light of the Father's teaching and training of the Hebrew race. Study it in the light of the Son's most holy life, and we shall see His one aim. The supreme purpose of Christ's life is to do His Father's will, and finish His Father's work. The Father's Unfinished Work. Before the Christian Era a devout seeker for light is handed a copy of the Hebrew Scriptures. He begins at Genesis and carefully reads the Story of the Creation, and fall of Man. The promise Jehovah makes to Eve claims his reverent attention. One born of woman is to come ; is to conquer and restore, through suffering. He finds in later chapters this divine promise enlarged, and repeated. He reads that the Coming One is to be the Head of a chosen family. He is to come as a Prophet, and Law Giver like unto Moses. Later he reads that the Coming One will be the Head of a chosen Nation ; a Eoyal Conqueror. So the devout Gentile reads on, finding in every book of the Prophets additional particulars. Yet, as he finishes the last pages of Malachi he realizes that the divine promises are unfulfilled. He begins again and follows a new clew, the use of sacri- fices as an act of worship. He notes their divine origin ; their initial simplicity, their gradual development, their use in the Covenant promises made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He notes the dramatic character of the Sacrifice of the Passover, its sprinkling of the blood, and its mysterious teaching that the blood is the life. He is interested in the wonderful sacrifices connected with the Tabernacle, their unity and system, their dramatic beauty and mystery. But what are they for? What is their real, their inner mean- I OUR LORD'S TEACHING AND OLD TESTAMENT TRUTH. 47 ing? Of what benefit are they? How can the offering of the life of a lamb help the life of a man? The truth-seeker reads on, and on, but he finds no answer to his questions. Again he finishes the last chapter of the Prophets, yet the divine worship remains unexplained. Once more our earnest student returns to the Hebrew Scriptures and reads again. Now he is impressed by its record of many righteous souls who (like himself) were seek- ing to find God, and to understand His ways. He finds them even in Genesis and once and again in later historical books. Their heart's cry for God, — *'Even for the living God," is heard in the Psalms, in Job, and in all the Prophets. Why does the Coming One so long delay His coming? Why are not God's promises fulfilled? Many are the blessings of the righteous, but man's highest and deepest longings are left unsatisfied. What has the devout student found in his threefold search? He has found that the Hebrew Scriptures are — A record of promises and prophecies, unfulfilled; of offerings and sacrifices, unexplained; of spiritual longings, unsatisfied. Plainly God's work is unfinished; but who can be its com- pleter, and fulfiller? *' Suffer it to be so now, for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. " These words are a full disclosure of the Messiah's Mission, — the sublime pur- pose of the Son of Man, — the end for which He lived and for which He died was — *< to fulfil all righteousness." God's righteousness had been revealed for thousands of years. It had never been fulfilled. Nay more, — it had never h^Qn fully revealed. The spiritual depths of the Old Covenant promises had never been sounded. The spiritual meaning of the Law waited for its True Interpreter. The mystery of its sacred sacrifices waited for an High Priest, 48 HOW TO UNDERSTAND THE WORDS OF CHRIST. holy enough to reveal the fulness of their meaning. The saints of all ages had waited, hoped, hungered and thirsted, after God's righteousness, but had found no one whose per- fect life and perfect knowledge of the Father's will qualified Him to complete God's eternal purpose. The Absolute Loyalty of the Son. The words of Jesus at the Jordan, read in the light of His wonderful ministry, identify His purpose with His Father's purpose, and make His mission as world-wide and age-long as God's. No man ever dared to set before himself so vast a work ; no man ever began his work so humbly. By receiving the Baptism of water Jesus identifies himself with the work of the Baptist, for this also is His Father's work. For the fulfilling of His own work, He receives the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. The teaching of our Lord is a spiritual interpretation of the teaching of His Father's Covenant. All inspired rev- elation is progressive. If a human being is to receive any revelation from God it must be adapted to human limitations. It cannot be given any faster than man is able to understand it. Therefore, we find that God's Old Covenant revelation is not an outburst of blinding light, but a gradual spiritual illumination. The Father's reason for the incompleteness of revelation is plainly spoken by the Son. < ' I have many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now." It was to the fulfilling and completing of this progressive Eevelation of the Father that the Son loyally consecrated His life at the Jordan. It was His joy to say at the be- ginning of His ministry ^ ' My meat is to do the will of Him that sent me, and to finish His work." (Jn. 4: 34.) It was His joy to say at the e?id of His ministry : ** I have glorified Thee on the earth: I have finished the work which Thou ga vest me to do. (Jn. 17: 4.) It was the last OUR LORD'S TEACHING AND OLD TESTAMENT TRUTH. 49 word, and the last joy of His earthly life to say from the cross : — '* It is finished ! " The Destructive Power of Truth : — The Jews accused the Son of Man of not keeping, even of destroying the Law. Jesus answers, " I am not come to destroy but to fulfil." (Matt. 5 : 17.) No words could be more emphatic, no words more true. And yet the accusation of the Jews was super- ficially correct. The power of truth to destroy everything that is untrue is as great as its power to conserve all that is essentially and eternally true. The teaching of the Christ was intended to destroy all the human glosses, Pharisaic traditions, and Eabbinical interpretations which the Jews (not Moses), had added to the divine Law, and many of which utterly perverted its meaning, or destroyed its God- given purpose. More than this, the growth of eternal truth not only de- stroys all that is untrue, — it destroys also whatever in earlier truth is partial and incomplete. The complete revelation always supersedes the partial. Christ, m fulfilling the an- cient Law, necessarily made of none effect all within it that was local or temporary. A certain Gentile had a fig-tree in his dooryard. One day while cutting off some of its branches, his neighbor, a very pious Jew, asked with surprise, '^ Why are you de- stroying your beautiful tree? " The owner answered "I am not destroying, I am pruning it, that it may bear fruit." The Jew exclaimed, '' Heaven forbid! Look at the great size of its branches and beauty of its leaves ! Will you foolishly destroy all these for the sake of a little fruit ? ' ' CONSTRUCTIVE STUDIES. What does St. John 1:10-11 mean ? How many times was Christ re- jected ? Study the relation of St. Luke 4: 16-30 to St. John 6: 41-42 and 50 HOW TO UNDERSTAND THE WORDS OF CHRIST. 6 : 66-67, to St. John 12 : 37-40, and St. Matt. 21 : 33-43. Read the first four chapters of St. Luke ; then the first four of St. John. First read them intensely to get the historic and vivid picture. Then re-read them slowly seeking the personal spiritual message. Where did Christ find His first friends, and who were they ? Where His first and bitter foes V Who were the Master's first private pupils ? Write out their different char- acteristics. Which was given the harder lesson ? (St. John 2 and 4.) What part did His first friends take in the latter conversation ? What place do miracles occupy in Christ's teaching? Which is the greater miracle, an act of superhuman wisdom, or of superhuman power ? Did Christ ever give truth or health to the unwilling ? What was the social attitude of Jewish Teachers ? Of the Christ ? Write a comparison of them. CHAPTEE YI. TEACHING IN THE PERIOD OF PREPARATION. We have accepted as the basis of our study of the Master's teaching this principle — Our Lord's words must be interpreted by our Lord's life. His life on earth was a perfectly human life (sin excepted). It was lived under perfectly human conditions. This means that His teaching, like that of every human instructor had (a) its beginning, (b) its development, (c) its culmination, and (d) its close. More- over, at each stage, the instruction was conditioned by the period in which it was given. Have you noted this in your reading? The Four Stages of Our Lord's Teaching. If I ask you at what stage of His teaching did the Master say ' ' Kender therefore unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's," Can you tell me? Or when did He say, ^' The Kingdom of Heaven is like unto leaven " ? Or when did He say, "Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations"? I can recall when I could not have answered any such questions. Tet the last saying could not have been spoken at any stage of His teaching except the one in which it was uttered. The second saying might have been spoken in the third or fourth stage of His instruction, but it could not have been uttered in the first. And while the words first quoted might have been uttered at any stage of His teaching, yet their deep 51 62 HOW TO UNDERSTAND THE WORDS OF CHRIST. significance comes from the historical time, place and con- ditions that produced them.* Each stage of the Master's teaching is conditioned by the corresponding historical period of His Ministry. In relation to His teaching, we have named the first stage, The Period of Preparation ; the second stage. The Period of Organiza- tion; the third. The Period of Self- Manifestation ; the fourth, The Period of the Passion. The time covered by this first period is about twelve months, it extends from Our Lord's Baptism to His rejection at Nazareth. Its teaching took place mainly in Judea. Conditions under which the Christ began teaching: God had just pronounced Him His Son. The Baptist is ready to proclaim Him the Messiah. The Jewish Kulers are excited by the fearless teaching of the Baptist, and the eager expectancy of the people. The tempter waits in the wilderness to tempt and destroy. Under such conditions, every word of the Christ comes to us with an intensity of meaning equalled by no other period, except that which preceded His cross. We shall not really penetrate into the heart of this period unless the spirit of the period first penetrates into our hearts. First Words in the Wilderness, and the Temple. The Christ announced at the Jordan His life's one aim. His Father's will is His will. His Father's jpurjpose is His pur- pose. The Temptation is Satan's supreme effort to under- mine both will and purpose. If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. But Jesus * For a full presentation of the natural divisions of our Lord's life and teaching, see the Author's earlier handbook, " How to Study the Life of Christ." As the conclusions of that volume are the foundations on which this one is built, its study ought to precede the use of this manual. TEACHING IN THE PERIOD OF PREPARATION. 53 answers ' * It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." If thau trustest God cast thyself down from this pinnacle. '* It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God." Thou desirest a kingdom, worship me and I will give thee all the world and its glory. *' Get thee hence, Satan. ' ' Each word of the tempter is turned aside by <' the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." Quick to repel a foe, Christ is equally quick to call a friend. (Jn. 1 :35-51) <' Master, where dwellest thou? " *^ Come and see." " Follow me." So the King began to call men and to train them to become disciples. Keen to detect the evil beneath the inspired words on the lips of the tempter, Christ is equally keen to detect the latent good in the brother of Andrew. Simon, ' ' Thou shalt be called Peter," and from that moment Simon Peter was under a divine training which outlasted the earthly life of his Teacher. (Acts 10 : 1-29) The words of Christ spoken to l^athaniel (Jn. 1 : 47,48), were to him a revelation of Jesus' superhuman knowledge. '' Kabbi, Thou art the Son of God, Thou art the King of Israel." This was the first confession of the Messianic ofiice of Jesus. He accepts it gladly ; yet, in doing so. He also corrects it. ISTathaniel's widest faith stopped within the bounds of Israel, but the vision of the Master was not thus limited. The vision promised to Nathaniel was not that of the ''King of Israel," but that of the ''Son of Man," i. e., the Universal Man, " the Word made Flesh." Kot the Jewish Christ, but the World-wide Christ. (Ps. 144 : 5, Isa. 64:6) "The Son of Man" is the title con- stantly given by Christ to Himself. It occurs over seventy times during His early ministry. 54 HOW TO UNDERSTAND THE WORDS OF CHRIST. At His first Passover, the Christ made His earliest and bitterest foes. * ' Take these things hence, make not My Father's House a house of merchandise." (Jn. 2: 13-25) The words are few, but they carry a fearless intensity, and purpose characteristic of this period. His words are in- stantly challenged ; His authority indignantly demanded. For His words carried to Jewish ears far more than they bring to us. Kemember that even the Jewish children were familiar with the words of the Old Testament. The minds of the Eulers were full of them, particularly the ringing ones con- cerning the coming of the Messiah in His Kingdom. You remember also that these same Rulers had sent an oflBcial delegation to question the Baptizer (Jn. 1:19-27). But he had answered, '' I am not the Messiah," I am not Elijah ; I am a voice crying in the wilderness (as foretold by Isaiah), ^'Make straight the way of the Lord." The enigmatical form of the Baptist's reply only increased the Rulers' uneasiness. Moreover, these expounders of the Scriptures could not forget that the appearance of Elijah was to be followed by that of the Messiah, who would suddenly come to His Temple ; yes, come as a purifying fire ! Had the fire already come? Does this Galilean pretender claim to be a reformer? a Prophet? or the Messiah? In any case He must pro- duce His credentials! So the Temple's guardians indig- nantly demand ' ' What sign showest Thou unto us seeing thou doest these things? " '' Destroy this Temple, and in three days I will raise it up." Even Christ's own followers did not understand these words. What wonder that officials, whose teaching emphasized superficial things and ignored spiritual truth. TEACHING IN THE PERIOD OF PREPARATION. 55 should hear in the Master's words merely a reference to the material Temple in which He was standing? But the words of our Lord have a larger meaning for us. The beginning prophesies the end and must be measured by the end. As the disciples understood Our Lord's words, after ''He was risen from the dead," so we understand them to-day. Standing upon the threshold of His ministry, the Christ clearly saw its end, and that end included His own death and resurrection. On these he saw reared a spiritual Temple that should need no rebuilding. First Private Instructions Concerning The Kingdom. *' Yerily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again he cannot see the Kingdom of God. ' ' The person to whom Christ spake was no curious seeker for superficial in- formation. A Euler of his Nation, a member of its highest council, a custodian of God's Temple, Nicodemus had been stirred by the preaching of the Baptist. He had accepted His word that the long-hoped-for Messiah was near. He knew that thousands of devout Jews had received John's baptism. He knew John denied being the Messiah. He knew that he who baptized with water, proclaimed a Messiah who should baptize with the Holy Spirit, and with fire. But a new prophet from Galilee had suddenly ap- peared, driven the traders from the Temple Courts, and done wonderful miracles in the streets of Jerusalem. What did it all mean? What sort of a kingdom was coming? What was the Prophet of Galilee's part in it? Such were the thoughts and questions which surged through the mind of Mcodemus as he sought Jesus of Nazareth ; it was to his thought and not to his polite words that our Lord with unerring accuracy, made answer. The Euler' s words are those of a man bewildered by many 56 HOW TO UNDERSTAND THE TEACHINGS OF CHRIST. teachers. The Master's words are those of authority, and certainty. The new kingdom can be entered in only one way, ' ' Yerily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water, and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God. ' ' The whole emphasis here, and in the next conversation, falls upon the spiritual nature of the Kingdom ; and what must follow, the Spiritual nature of the birth required for entrance. It at once lifts the new Kingdom above all Jewish speculation or expectation, either political or ecclesiastical. The Kingdom is not built upon flesh and blood, and those who are born of the flesh only, cannot enter it. God is Spirit, His Kingdom is spiritual ; the entrance must be by a spiritual birth. The words, ' ' by water and the spirit ' ' would turn the thoughts of ISTicodemus to the connection between the words of the Baptist and those of the Master, and help him to understand their meaning. The symbolic use of water in the religious purifications of the Jews, the water baptism of Gentile proselytes, the water baptism by John, after per- sonal confession, these were already in the mind of the Euler. And for this reason the Master dwelt not upon the outward and visible symbol, but upon the inward and invis- ible birth by the Spirit. ' ' Marvel not that I said unto thee, ye must be born again, the Spirit breatheth where He willeth, and thou hearest His voice, but cannot tell whence He cometh, or whither He goeth ; in like manner is everyone born of the spirit." — (Ellicott's translation). ' ^ If I have told you earthly things and ye believe not, how shall ye believe if I tell you of heavenly things ? ' ' The Ruler of Israel is not given easy lessons, but deep spiritual truths which the Master uttered not again until near the close of His ministry ; i. e. the truth of the spir- TEACHING IN THE PERIOD OF PREPARATION. 57 itual omnipresence of the Son of Man, of the certainty of His death, of its world-wide results. The Master's conversation with the Samaritan woman is quite as remarkable as that with Xicodemus. Like that, the emphasis falls upon the spiritual nature and obligations of the comino: Kino^dom. Here aorain Our Lord reveals Himself to a single soul, and with a freedom and fullness which He withholds from the public. ' ' H thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee. Give me to drink." — The thirsty soul stands before the Giver of Living Water, and, knowing it not, questions of earthly things. The Master's answer partially awakens her. She asks an ecclesiastical question. Again she receives a spiritual reply, an answer not to her words but to her needs, to her restless and thu^sty soul. "The hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in Spirit and in Truth ; for the Lather seeketh such to wor- ship Him. God is a Spirit; and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. ' ' The teaching is clear. The worship that is acceptable to God, the Eternal Spirit, is not determined by the place where it is oifered, by the nationality of the worshipper, by his mental knowledge, by his liturgical methods nor the absence of them, nor by any other outward condition. The worshipper that God seeks, and accepts is the one who, recognizing God's true nature, as Lather and Eternal Spirit, offers Him the homage of a devout and childlike spirit. " Salvation is of the Jews.*' Do the words seem harsh? The Master cannot deny historical facts, or conditions. Little as they appreciated the treasure which they possessed, the Jews were the divinely appointed guardians of the ' ' Oracles of 68 HOW TO UNDERSTAND THE TEACHINGS OF CHRIST. God. ' ' Of the honor of their stewardship they were proud ; to its vast responsibilities they were blind. ' ' God is no respecter of persons. ' ' The sincere worship of the Samari- tan and the Jew are equally acceptable to the Father. " I that speak unto thee am He. " The Christ that is to come, the Messiah that you are expecting, is speaking to you. The sinful Samaritan woman is given a revelation of the office and mission of the Son of Man which He had with- held from the learned and pious Euler, and which he re- fused for another year to give to the Scribes and Pharisees ; though they persistently demanded it. There is such a thing as holding truth, even God's truth in falsehood. They who so hold it close the door against its light and life more effec- tually than those who are groping in ignorance and sin. Knowing that their Master was tired and hungry his fol- lowers prayed Him to partake of their purchased food. *' I have meat to eat that ye know not of. My meat is to do the will of Him that sent me." His reply should recall to us what He said at the Jordan, of the supreme purpose of His Ministry, mis loving but earth-bound followers, only asked the confidential question, ' ' Hath any man brought Him aught to eat? " He and they were standing side by side ; but they were living in different worlds, and being supported by different nourishment. That the Son of Man found in Samaria ^ ' Meat to eat ' ' which nourished His weary spirit, and made glad the heavy heart He brought from Jerusalem, is made evident by His spending two days in this field, '' White for the harvest." That He revealed to them the gospel of the Kingdom with loving fulness, is made plain by their own words, ' ' Now, we believe and know that this is indeed the Saviour of the TEACHING IN THE PERIOD OF PREPARATION. 59 world ! ' ' Kote their words, not the Messiah of Israel, but the < * Saviour of the world. ' ' First Instruction by Miracles. When we stop to think of the measureless superhuman powers of the Christ, there is nothing more impressive than the frugality with which He uses them; — except His constant refusal to make miracles the source of Man's faith instead of its reward and blessing. *^ Go in peace, th}^ faith hath made thee whole," " As thou hast believed, so be it unto thee." So speaks the Son of Man, over and over again. Our Lord came into the world to reveal God to man. He did this by His words. His works. His personality. There is no essential difference between what we call Christ's ''teaching " and Christ's " Miracles." In their relation to the will of the Father, and the work of the Son, they are one ; differing only in the method of their manifestation. The Son's manifestation of His superhuman knowledge of the Father's love, we call ' ' truth. ' ' His superhuman knowledge and use of the Father's power, we call " Miracles." They are both the expression of the Son's superhuman knowledge. They are both used in the same moral sphere, and for the same moral end, — the restoring of man to his normal relation to God. The man who has lost his right relation to God, either in soul or body, is the man who is being lost. The supreme mission of the Son is to restore man to his normal relation to the Father. The Son may do this by using His super- human knowledge of the Father's love, or the Father's power ; but in neither case will He do it without the desire and co-operation of man. God created man in physical and spiritual perfection. He created also what we call ''physical and spiritual law" 60 HOW TO UNDERSTAND THE TEACHINGS OF CHRIST. (the expression of His love) to keep man in that normal con- dition. Only by a perverse or ignorant use of God's laws can man destroy his health of soul or body. For the Son to use His superhuman knowledge to restore man to the place for which the Father created him, is simply to use His Father's laws for the very end and purpose for which the Father created them. It is just as much a natural act for the Son to restore a diseased body, as for Him to restore a diseased soul; and, measured by the Son's standard, the former is the lesser restoration. Interpreted hy His life^ the Son's words and deeds differ from each other, not in their end, only in the method of their manifestation. His daily life. His teaching, His works, are parts of one perfect whole. Human and superhuman in His Person, human and superhuman in His teaching. Human and superhuman in His deeds, the life of the Son of Man is a divinely natural consistent, and normal Unity. First Words and Works at Cana. The Master's words at the wedding feast are few, very few. But when we in- terpret them by the circumstances under which they were spoken they are of startling import. They mark more than the ' ' Beginning of Miracles. ' ' They mark the beginning of a separation between domestic and divine duty. They mark the beginning of that cleavage between the accepted teaching of the Scribes, and the new teaching of the Christ, a cleavage which grows wider and wider as the social and humane principles of the Kingdom became manifest. The Cana incident contradicted the Jews' fundamental con- ception of religion. It defied the teaching of the Pharisees ; for every Jew had from childhood been taught that ' ' Ee- ligion " meant, what the word '' Pharisee " meant, namely, '* Separation." TEACHING IN THE PERIOD OF PREPARATION. 61 The holiest men were those who were the most completely separated from all places, things, and persons that were not *' religious." The Baptist was a holy man, therefore he lived apart from all men. When the Messiah came He would be more holy, therefore more separated from all that was common and unclean, i. e. non-religious. But for one who did not separate himself from the unrighteous, a wine bibber, a friend of sinners, claiming to be the Messiah, — out upon it ! To think it is a sacrilege ! *' Woman, w^hat have I to do with thee? " ''• Woman " The term was loving and tender, the protest was gentle, yet it was a reminder that the day had passed when His duty called Him to ignore His '' Father's business," and go in subjection to Nazareth. Family relations might bind others, but for Him there was only One who could direct His activity. — His Father in Heaven. It was the first definition of the limitation of that holy and human relation- ship which had hitherto shaped and blessed His earthly life. Later He made the meaning of His words more clear. (Mark. 3 : 31-35). It was after His teaching in Jerusalem and Samaria that the Son of Man again returns to Cana. A nobleman comes beseeching Him to go down to Capernaum and heal his child. The Son of Man avoided a faith founded on miracles. In the Temple's courts the Eulers had demanded a miraculous sign to prove His authority. He had refused to thus degrade His mission. He also refused to trust the multi- tudes that followed because they saw His miracles of heal- ing. To Nicodemus, who confessed his visit was prompted by the miracles he had witnessed, the Master presented the most difl&cult truths of the Kingdom. The Samaritans alone were not miracle -seekers. To them alone He revealed His Messiahship. 62 HOW TO UNDERSTAND THE WORDS OF CHRIST. '< Except ye see signs and wonders ye will not believe." The words of the Master have a ring of sorrow. He is spiritually weary of the cry for a miraculous demonstration of His power. The Master's words intensified the Noble- man's entreaty. Oh, Eabboni, come with me. ''Come down ere my child die." <* Go thy way, thy son liveth." Our Lord refuses to go to Capernaum, refuses to allow the father to see a visible miracle, yet says — Thy prayer is granted ! The father's faith triumphed over sight, he ac- cepts the Master's word alone ; his absent son is restored ' ' that very hour. ' ' The Master's Claim at Nazareth and Its Results. The Galileans were proud of their prophet. They gave Him their admiration, they gloried in His fame. He is wel- comed at E'azareth. He takes His former place at the synagogue lectern, reads from the Messianic prophecy of Isaiah, and begins to explain it. His words are gracious ; they are listened to with wonder and admiration. But what is this! The carpenter's son applying the prophet's portrait of the Messiah to himself? Sacrilege I But listen, listen to him ! * ' Yerily I say unto you, No prophet is accepted in his own country. But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elijah . . . when great famine was throughout the land. But unto none of them was Elijah sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow. And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet ; and none of them was cleansed, saving ISTaaman the Syrian. ' ' Why this carpenter is putting himself beside Elijah and Elisha ! He is putting unclean Gentiles above the Children of Abraham ! He is teaching that heathen dogs have a TEACHING IN THE PERIOD OF PREPARATION. 63 place in the Kingdom of our Messiah ; a place above us ! His blood be upon his own pate ! (Luke 4 ; 29.) The first stage of our Lord's teaching is ended, ended by the rejection of Himself and His teaching. Well says St. John, " He came unto His own, and His own received Him not. ' ' The inspired words are true of the whole ministry of the Son of Man. As the first stage ended, so each sub- sequent stage ended, in the rejection of the Divine Teacher and His teaching. We have studied the brief record of this period more in detail than our space will allow us to do with any other. We have done so for two reasons, (a) As the first of a series of periods I wanted to help you to understand and follow historical methods of study ; to acquire the ability to get away from the printed page and enter into the historic conditions ; to become yourself a part of the environment in which the Master is teaching, and so get His point of view, and enter into the atmosphere in which the Jews lived and listened. For only thus can we receive the Master's mes- sage to Israel. His teaching holds for us a larger, a much larger message than it conveyed to His first hearers. Yet the Master's message to us cannot contradict His message to His own race. If our interpretation of His words is out of harmony with His original message, then it contradicts the teaching of the Master. The Essential Message of this Period is the same for the Jew and for the Christian. History and experience have flooded the Master's words with a light that was not on them in the days of Judaism. Ours is a larger message, yes, and a larger responsibility. Yet we are in danger of failing to comprehend the greatness of our blessing. We are so familiar with the words of the Master that we often 64 HOW TO UNDERSTAND THE WORDS OF CHRIST. fail to realize what a spiritual revolution they have wrought throughout the whole world of thought and life. The key-words of this period are " Spirituality," '^ Soci- ality ' ' and ' ' Universality. ' ' The ideas for which they stand were Christ's ideas; they were foreign to Jewish thought. The life of the typical Jew contradicted His teaching. The Jew was steeped in legalism, gloried in his exclusiveness, and was proud of his ecclesiasticism. Spirituality. At the Temptation, the Master depended upon spiritual bread, spiritual care, and spiritual force alone to win the world for God. It was the spiritual character of the Kingdom, of its subjects, of its birth, of its life that was emphasized by the Master. It was of life's spirit- ual water, of man's spiritual worship, of His own spiritual meat and drink, of the waiting spiritual harvest that our Lord discoursed beside the well of Jacob. And at ITazareth His first words are ' ' The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me. ' ' Sociality began when the Master began to call men. His followers were not servants nor monks, but His friends ; were such long before they were Apostles. Social duties were plainly acknowledged at Cana, while caste was as plainly ignored. It was the '' servants " who "knew " of the Master's power, hidden from governor and guest. The same condemnation of caste is plainly taught at Jacob's Well when our Lord trained a woman, a sinner, a Samaritan ! to be His first missionary. We dare not say "foreign mis- sionary," for to Him no land, no man, no needy soul is foreign. Yet the subordination of the highest domestic relations to divine obligations is clearly taught by His words to the Holy Mother at Cana. Universality was the note of His first instruction. Na- thanael was called to follow, not a Jewish Christ but the TEACHING IN THE PERIOD OF PREPARATION. 65 Universal Christ. Nothing could more clearly reveal the universal character of the Kingdom than the outward con- tradictions and inward unities of the Master's two personal instructions. A Kingdom comprehensive enough to ignore every line of earthly distinction between a learned and titled oificer of the Jewish ISTation, and an outcast and despised Samaritan ; and then reveal to each the very heart of the Kew Gospel, is certainly a Universal Kingdom. It was the Son of Man's insistence upon this universality at Nazareth which cost Him His rejection — and almost His life. Because this is the beginning of the Master's teaching, the foundation period of His whole ministry, He emphasizes those truths for which His Kingdom must stand or fall. There is no essential truth in all the later teaching of the Son of Man which does not find its beginning in this period. ''Spirituality, Sociality, Universality," we accept these as the key- words of the Master's teaching. Have we also ac- cepted the ideals of life and duty for which they stand? CONSTRUCTIVE STUDIES. The next period is the most aggressive one in the Master's ministiy. Do not read the following chapter until you have prepared yourself to grasp the greatness of its subject. In what ways would you expect Capernaum's conditions to differ from Jerusalem's ? In what ways would you expect the Master's methods to differ? Make notes of the differences you discover. Read St. Luke 4:31 to 5:16. Try to see the new life and feel the new activity. "What was its effect upon the Jews ? Read St. Mark 2 : 1 to 3 : 6. St. Mark is a close observer of every move and look of Christ, are you ? Read St Mark again and make his pictures your own. Explain the dif- ference between St. John 1 : 35-51, St. Mark 1 : 16-20, and St. Luke 6 : 12-19. St. Luke 7 : 1 to 8 : 56 is the record of the Missionary schooling of the Twelve ; read it rapidly for its pictures and its unity of purpose. Then read it slowly to grasp its spiritual message — to you. Read St. Matthew 14:13-23, and St. Mark 6:30-46. Why was this the msw of Christ's Ministry ? (St. John 6 :14-15.) CHAPTEK YII. TEACHING IN THE PERIOD OF ORGANIZATION. This period extends from Our Lord's departure from Nazareth to His rejection at Capernaum. , The time covered is about fifteen months. The field is Galilee. Humanly speaking, it is the happiest period of the Master's ministry. It is the period in which we see most clearly the plan of His life-work, and the essentials of the Kingdom. He found Himself in a new moral atmosphere. The Galileans were eager to listen. For Him to teach was a joy. The Conditions under which He taught are themselves instructive. Judea was aristocratic, exclusive, steeped in the traditions of the Temple. The Scribe and the Pharisee dominated its thought, and degraded its worship. Its relig- ious atmosphere was stagnant with self-conceit and self- righteousness. In Galilee there was an atmosphere of freedom. The people were open-minded, warm-hearted, patriotic, and given to hospitality. There were nine or more flourishing cities on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. They were the centers of active trade and industry. Fish- eries, potteries, dye-houses and glass-works gave employ- ment to multitudes. The Son of Man chose for ^^ His own City ' ' , one that brought Him into contact with ' ^ Fisher- man's Clubs ", '' Ass Drivers' Associations " and ^' Fuller's Unions ", in touch with the moral and commercial problems of a thriving city. 66 TEACHING IN THE PERIOD OF ORGANIZATION. 67 The Constructive Unity of This Period is unmistakable. In Capernaum, the Master's words fall upon the ears of sympathetic listeners and enthusiastic followers. He feels the inspiration that comes from a morally tonic atmosphere. He adapts His words to the new attitude of His hearers. He moves among them with trustfulness. He teaches with greater freedom. He reveals more clearly the aim and pur- pose of His Kingdom. The Baptist had preached a coming Kingdom ; the Son of Man is working that there may be a Kingdom already come. The Master's Words are Actively Constructive. His co-ordinate words and deeds are organic. With emphasis unmistakable, He declares the spiritual nature of His King- dom. By quieter, but no less certain deeds He prepares for its organic perpetuation among men. In this period, more plainly than elsewhere, we see the progressive charac- ter of His revelation. He does not teach even His own disciples the divine nature of His Messianic office ; He allows the truth to come to them gradually, through asso- ciation with Him in labor and instruction. To have pro- claimed a divine Messiahship before He had lived it^ would have been fatal to all His plans. The Period as a Whole includes four stages of educational and Messianic activity, (a) The first is preparatory. Our Lord officially calls His disciples, and trains them by a mis- sionary tour throughout Galilee, (b) Then from this body of instructed disciples. He selects and appoints a smaller body called Apostles. In the Sermon of the Mount He instructs them in the moral and spiritual principles of the Kingdom, (c) During a second Missionary tour, the Twelve are trained in the field for their work as officers of the Kingdom. 68 HOW TO UNDERSTAND THE WORDS OF CHRIST. (d) After a third tour with their Divine Teacher, the Apostles are sent out alone with authority and power.* The Methods of The Master are adapted to the new conditions under which He works. Therefore they differ from those of the preceding period. Then, His words were preparing men to see the difference between physical and spiritual truths. Now He is preparing them to under- stand the spiritual truth, and to enter into the joy of its freedom. So far as His followers are able to bear it. His constructive word is followed by His constructive deed. The Master would have His listeners remember His words. Therefore, He puts His teaching into short, pithy sayings. In form they resemble the ' ' Wisdom ' ' literature of the Old Testament with which His hearers are already familiar. He calls them ' ' These sayings of Mine. ' ' He begins with what we call " The Beatitudes", and His hearers find them easy to remember. Because some of His hearers do not want to know the truth, and seek to pervert it, He began to speak in parables; a method whose beautiful simplicity fixes the story even in the mind of a child, and its truth in the heart of a man. But the parables were stumbling-blocks to those who followed the Pharisees' Jesuitical evasions of the truth. The Subject of the Master *s Teaching often seems to grow out of the passing conditions under which He speaks. In reality His words are interpretations of such conditions in their relation to the Kingdom of God. The principal topics of His teaching during this period are (a) The Good News of the Kingdom, (b) The Spiritual Freedom of the Kingdom, (c) The Spiritual Foundations of the Kingdom. * For Scripture authority for these statements, see " How to Study the Life of Christ," Chapters VII and VIII. TEACHING IN THE PERIOD OF ORGANIZATION. 69 (d) The Spiritual Mission of the Kingdom, (e) The Spiritual Authority of the Kingdom, and (f) the Heavenly Bread of the Kingdom. The Good News of the Kingdom. The note of the Xew Gospel which surprised the Galileans, vras its positiveness. The Scribes were constantly quoting the sayings of earKer teachers. Often their opinions clashed and the hsteners were left in doubt. Our Lord neither quoted, nor argued. He uttered His own unsupported word as God's truth. Do you wonder that His listeners exclaimed — ''He teaches as one having authority and not as the Scribes ! " Its second surprising quality was its power. The people ' •' were all amazed, insomuch that they questioned among themselves, savino', 'What thina^ is this ? l^hat new doctrine is this ? for with authority commandeth He even the unclean spirits, and they do obey Him." (Mark 1 : 27.) ' ' The time is f ulhlled, and the Kingdom of God is at hand; repent ye, and believe the gospel.'' (Mark 1:15.) The Baptist's work is done, and the fearless preacher im- prisoned. Jesus is doing Messianic Work. ' ' The Kingdom of God" on His lips has a new and larger meaning. The Baptist's was an Old Testament message; Christ's is a Xew. The words of John were almost a threat. The words of Christ (interpreted by His deeds) are a loving en- treaty. John's word cries, '-Escape from death." The words of Christ call for a new heart, and a new life. Do you wonder that the strangeness of the Master's words and deeds astonished and aroused all Galilee? The Spiritual Freedom of the Kingdom. The Son of Man was thrust out of ISTazareth for teaching the universality of the Kingdom. There were those in Capernaum who would crladlv have thrust Him out of that city for teachino- 70 HOW TO UNDERSTAND THE WORDS OP CHRIST. the spiritual freedom of the Kingdom. To the paralytic He said, '' Son, thy sins are forgiven thee." '* Blasphemy ! " cries Scribe and Pharisee. To the cleansed leper He said, ' * Offer for thy cleansing the things which Moses com- manded. ' ' Sullen silence from the Pharisees. Bitterly de- nounced for eating with sinners, He answered, ''They that are whole need not a physician ; but they that are sick. ' ' Condemned for not keeping Jewish fasts. He replies, ' ' Can the children of the bridechamber mourn as long as the bride- groom is with them ? But the days will come when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, and then shall they fast." (Matt. 9: 15.) His hungering disciples pluck and eat the wayside grain on the Sabbath. The Pharisees condemn them as lawbreak- ers. Then their Master replies, ' ' The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath," (Mark 2: 27, 28) In the synagogue He asks, '' Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath day, or to do evil? to save life, or to kill? But they held their peace. ' ' (Mark 3 : 4) Then to one with a withered hand He said, ''Stretch forth thy hand." The Pharisees secretly replied, " How can we destroy Him? " These incidents are many. The moral question involved is only one, and the Master's answer is one. He has already taught us that there are great commandments and lesser ones; and that moral obligations are greater than ceremonial obligations. Christ came to fulfil all law, its spirit always ; its letter when such fulfilment did not con- flict with moral law. We see this plainly when He says to the leper — " Go, show thyself to the priests." But the Pharisees placed the ceremonial law above the moral. They taught their followers to break moral law if TEACHING IN THE PERIOD OF ORGANIZATION. 71 it conflicted with ceremonial observance. It was this per- verse and immoral teaching which the Master denounced ; for it contradicted the Word of His Father, the teaching of the prophets, the spiritual liberty of the Kingdom of God. If the Messiah were not at liberty to help the weak soul, to feed the hungry soul, to heal the sick soul, or to save the sinner because it interrupted a ceremonial observance, then what had become of the foundation of all religion, man's duty to God, and man's duty to His neighbor? Again and again the Master sums up this whole matter in the pithy words, ** I will have mercy and not sacrifice." So had taught God's prophets, so teaches God's Son. First, love to God, and mercy to man ; afterwards, ceremonial observance. The disciples of the Baptist were keeping Jewish fast days. Our Lord rebukes them, not for so doing, but for their narrowness in joining the Pharisees in calling His own disciples lawless because they did not the same. He claims for His own the spiritual liberty of the New King- dom. Yet, with prophetic vision. He sees the day coming when His own will be left alone, and adds, ' ' then shall they fast." — Fast, not from restraint, but from love. The Spiritual Nature of the Kingdom is emphasized in this and in every period of our Lord's ministry. He who would enter the Kingdom must be born of the Spirit. She who would never thirst must drink of living water. They who would never hunger must eat of a meat which even His disciples cannot purchase. All who would worship God must do it in truth and spirituality. The essential nature of the Kingdom is unmistakable. Christ came to found a kingdom for man's salvation. The essential nature of man is spiritual, the nature of the kingdom must be the same. God, however, did not create man an invisible spirit. He 72 HOW TO UNDERSTAND THE WORDS OF CHRIST. gave man an outward and visible body, and put him upon an outward and visible earth. Therefore, when the Son builds upon earth a Kingdom from God for man's salvation, we know that it will be perfectly adapted to the nature of man for whom it was created. It will fit, and appeal to, nourish, strengthen, and develop every part of man's nature. It will be a Kingdom that ministers to man's body as well as man's spirit. Could a Kingdom that was wholly in- ternal and invisible do this? The circumstances under which the Son of Man taught, conditioned His words. His hearers expected a new king- dom, were ready on the slightest encouragement to rise and proclaim Him their king, but the kingdom they expected was political. The king they wanted was a revolutionist. It was plainly impossible at this stage for the Son of Man to teach of the earthly and human side of His Kingdom without being misunderstood, without ruining His life-work. So He taught of the Kingdom's spiritual relation to God and man. But of its necessary relation to the physical con- ditions under which every human spirit lives, He did not teach. He did more than teach. He acted. The Outward Organization of the Kingdom. The King- dom was not an accident, not a makeshift, not an after- thought. The Son came from the Father to found the Kingdom of His Father, to restore men to His Father. Kot simply the men of His own land and generation, but the men of all lands and all generations. He was Himself to die after three years of ministry. He knew this. Yet His mission was to restore souls to God, unto the world's end. Therefore He must organize a Kingdom to continue His work after He had left the earth. From the first day of His ministry He began to lay the foundation of His King- TEACHING IN THE PERIOD OF ORGANIZATION. 73 dom. His every word and act in the first period of His ministry was a preparation for organization. When He removed to Capernaum His plans were revealed by His deeds. He finds by the Galilean lake those who had followed Him on the banks of the Jordan. He calls them again, not merely to follow but to become trained fishers of men, missionaries of the Kingdom. As He called the fish- ermen from their nets, so He called Matthew from his toll booth. Now the hour has come for another step. Gather- ing all His disciples together, He chooses twelve whom He appoints Apostles. The choice of the Twelve marks the beginning of a new and larger constructive activity. The field is white for the harvest. From every side, and at all hours, a multitude of heart-hungry, soul-hungry, and bodily-diseased, are press- ing upon the Christ to be made whole. But the bitter en- mity of Jewish leaders from Jerusalem is making His work more and more dilficult. It becomes necessary, to meet the needs of the hour, that the King should have a staff of helpers. It is necessary, to meet the needs of the future, that the Kingdom should not be left without leaders when its Head is taken from them ; and for both reasons it is doubly necessary that those who are to be officers and teach- ers in the Kingdom, should be fully trained and prepared for their new duties. In this new constructive activity, we see the gradual dis- closure of the earthly plans, and eternal purposes of the Son of Man. But the vision of the Apostles is far below the vision of the Christ. They are expecting the sort of king- dom that their fathers expected. The Messiah has given His Kingdom its first outward and visible form. The dis- ciples are filled with eager and earthly expectations. 74 HOW TO UNDERSTAND THE WORDS OF CHRIST. What is the Messiah's next step? To explain this outward and visible form ? JSTo — , to emphasize anew the Kingdom's unworldly and fundamentally spiritual nature. ' ' Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven; " and this, and every beatitude which follows it, contradicted the political hopes and earthly ambitions of the new officers of the long expected Kingdom. The Spiritual Life of the Kingdom is set forth in the Ser- mon on the Mount. It is the ordination sermon of the Apostles, the practical working constitution of the King- dom ; the practical principles by which every member of it must shape his conduct, and direct his life. The Master's words mirror the Master's Kingdom. The first and last of the Beatitudes present the supreme reward of earthly faith- fulness. The promises between point to different aspects of that blessedness. Plainly the ideal * ' child of God ' ' pre- sented by the Beatitudes, contradicts the standards of Christ's day, and of our own. A character that has for its root, poverty of spirit, and for its fruitage, persecution for righteousness' sake, is as unwelcome now as then. And yet the Beatitudes are simply the character and conduct of Jesus of E"azareth, translated into human words for the instruction of the members of His Kingdom. To all who are members of His Kingdom He says : Ye are spiritual salt, keep ye the world from spoiling. Ye are spiritual light, reflect ye the glory of God. The ancient Law must not be broken nor the Prophets denied ; ye are to fill them with My truth. Ye are to teach others to fulfil them — not according to the standards of the Scribes. * ^ For I say unto you, that except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the Kingdom of Heaven." (Matt. 5 : 20.) TEACHING IN THE PERIOD OF ORGANIZATION. 75 My standard is not the outward deed but the inward motive. Hate is a desire to kill. Lust is adultery in the heart. To be enstranged from thy brother is to make worthless thy gift at God's altar. Doth thy right eye, or thy right hand make thee to sin — destroy it, lest it destroy thee. Hate not. Love thine enemies, and pray for them. Are not ye the Children of your Father in Heaven? As ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them. Be righteous before God, not before men. Thy Father seeth thy secret alms, thy prayers and fastings. He shall reward thee. Deposit thy wealth and thy heart with thy Father in Heaven. No man can serve both God and Mammon. Seek ye first the Kingdom of God. Be not anxious for your life, its food, nor its clothing ; is not God the bird's Husbandman, and the Creator of the lilies' glory. Will He not much more care for His own? Shun hypoc- risy. Search not for motes in the eye of thy brother, but for beams in thine own. In the Lord's Prayer the Master holds before His pupils the portrait of that true disciple which they must pray to become. He is one who loves, and humbly seeks His Heavenly Father's presence; who on earth, by speech and conduct makes holy His Father's name ; who, by loyal word and generous deed, lives to hasten the coming of the Kingdom ; who daily strives to fulfil his Father's will on earth, as the angels fulfil it in Heaven ; who daily seeks from God bread to nourish both his body and spirit ; who forgives every son of His Father as sincerely as he prays to be forgiven ; who shunning every temptation both of soul and body, daily keeps himself from evil by fleeing to the footstool of His Father in Heaven. Ask, and a blessing shall be given unto you. Seek and 76 HOW TO UNDERSTAND THE WORDS OF CHRIST. ye shall find the gift from above. The earthly father giveth not his hungering child a stone for a loaf ; liow much more shall your Father above give you, not the stone of your self-seeking prayer, but the nourishing loaf of His love. Seek ye not the easy but the diflBcult way, for its end is life. Beware of false prophets. Do corrupt teachers bring forth purity ? Therefore, by their fruits ye shall know their worth. ]^ot he that crieth '^Lord, Lord ! " entereth into heaven, but he that doeth the will of My Father. He that doeth My words foundeth his house on the rock of truth ; whoso doeth them not buildeth his house on shifting sand and destroying flood. When Jesus had finished the multitudes were astonished. For the Master presented these basic principles of His king- dom, principles which contradicted His own age, and were to revolutionize all future ages, without an argument or the citation of a single earthly authority. Without apology, or a moment's hesitation, He takes the position of an infallible Teacher of moral and spiritual conduct ; not for Galileans alone, but for all mankind. He calmly claims that His words must be obeyed because they are His. And these new and revolutionary principles. He utters with the absolute author- ity and certainty of One who speaks elementary and self- evident truths. The Human Mission of the Kingdom was plainly an- nounced in Christ's words at Nazareth. <' The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor ; He hath sent me to heal the broken- hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recover- ing of sight to the blind." (Luke 4: 18.) Now, having chosen the Twelve, and instructed them in the first prin- ciples of His Kingdom, He begins His second missionary TEACHING IN THE PERIOD OF ORGANIZATION. 77 tour, and the Apostles' f/rst training school. Where does He take them ? Il^ot to the wilderness of the Baptist, nor the cloisters of the Eabbis. He takes them to the busy market-place filled with its merchants, waiting laborers, and playing children ; to the city gate with its repulsive lepers and blind beggars, its lame, and lazy, and sinful ; to the bedside of the dying and the grave of the dead ; to the school of submerged souls, the real world where Apostolic work and teaching still needs to be done. The world seeks, and crowds the schools of brilliant theorists. The Apostles were trained for the work of the Kingdom by actual labor and experience in the missionary field. Here is a partial list of their Master's lessons, lessons addressed to eye and ear, and even more to mind and heart. Christ restores to health the servant of a Roman captain. He restores to life the son of a widow, and restores to faith His imprisoned Forerunner. He restores the soul of a sinful woman. He accepts the offerings of those He has restored and blessed. He teaches that His faithful followers are nearer of kin than those of His flesh. He restores calmness to the sea, and reason to demented demoniacs. He restores life to a Ruler's beloved daughter, sight to blind men, speech to the dumb, and health to the sick. In addition to His special instructions at these many restorations. He, for the first time, teaches by public parables (and private inter- pretations) the nature and mission of His Kingdom. (Luke T: lto8: 56.) Plainly the Kingdom is to restore what man has lost, or sin has destroyed. The Messianic King fulfils His mission by restoring men's bodies to their normal relation to earth, and men's souls to their normal relation to God. Can you con- ceive of a more blessed mission ? Yet in His journey He 78 HOW TO UNDERSTAND THE WORDS OF CHRIST. enters Kazareth and finds Himself unwelcome, and helpless to save. Do you wonder that He marvelled at their un- belief? The Authority of the Kingdom always made itself felt in His teaching. Astonished at the Master's doctrines, the people are even more astonished at the positiveness of the Speaker. "Whence was this authority? It is the authority of a King in His own Kingdom. In this period occur some of the most striking examples of our Lord's superhuman knowledge of the natural and spiritual forces of the world, and of His authority over them. His healing of the paraly- tic's soul first, and later healing his body to prove to blas- pheming Pharisees that the man's sins were already pardoned ; His deliberately healing a withered hand in the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and His numerous healings and restorations in the presence of His Apostles, are examples of a marvelous superhuman power and authority, object lessons for the people, and for the training His Apostles. The Living Bread of the Kingdom. Probably no teach- ing of Our Lord made a deeper impression than His feeding the 5,000. It is the one miracle recorded by all four evangel- ists. He did not seek the occasion ; it was thrust upon Him by the thronging multitudes. Yet *^ He knew "what He would do. ' ' He foresaw its momentous results, the culmi- nation of His popularity, the excitement of thousands whose only Messianic desire was for a king to restore the political glory of Israel. They actuall^^ planned to force Him to be- come their leader in a political conspiracy ! This was the Galilean multitude's sordid return for over a year of the Master's spiritual instruction, and ceaseless ministry of mercy. It was to representatives of this multitude that He said, TEACHING IN THE PERIOD OF ORGANIZATIGN. 79 <* Yerily, verily. I say uuto you, ye seek me because ye ate of the loaves and were filled. Work not for the meat that perisheth. " " Yerily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven ; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. " "I am the Living Bread which came down from heaven ; if any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever ; and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world." (John. 6: 32, 51) Does it seem strange to you that when the people stumbled at His words, Christ should have added " Yerily, verily, I say unto you, except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink His blood, ye have no life in you ' ' ? The Master knew that they did not desire a spiritual kingdom, or its spiritual food, so, instead of making His words earthly and easy, He purposely took the opposite course. He sought to convince them that He was not the kind of a king they wanted. His words had the desired effect. They realized His unworldly character and purpose. They had nothing more to do with Him. So completely did they turn their backs upon Him that the rejected King turned to His own little flock saying, "Will ye also go away? " To us the words of Christ should convey His real message. In the first period He taught us that entrance to the King- dom is by spiritual birth, and that the worshippers sought by His Father are spiritual ones. The present period is crowded with like truths. The Kingdom has indeed re- ceived the beginning of an outward and visible form in order to minister to souls then on the earth, yet it is the King- dom's spiritual freedom, spiritual foundation, spiritual life, spiritual riches, spiritual motives, spiritual authority, spiritual brotherhood and restoration that the Master has 80 HOW TO UNDERSTAND THE WORDS OF CHRIST. been constantly emphasizing. It is simply the natural climax of tliis teaching for Him to declare that the spiritual life can be sustained only by spiritual bread, and that this Bread is Himself. ' * I am the Bread of Life ; he that cometh to Me shall never hunger ; and he that believeth on Me shall never thirst. " ^ ' As the living Father hath sent Me, and I live by the Father, so he that eateth Me, even he shall live by Me. " ' ^ It is the spirit that quickeneth ; the flesh profiteth nothing ; the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life. ' ' (John. 6 : 63.) Man must be a partaker of Christ's Own Life, or he can- not live the spiritual life of the Kingdom. The hour had not come for the Son of Man to reveal the fulness of sacra- mental truth. That hour came not until the night on which He was betrayed. Yet His own disciples knew that His mystical words concerned the inward and spiritual life of His Kingdom, and of a means whereby that life was to be sustained. Christ's words ' ' are spirit and are life ' ' ; were so when spoken, are so to-day. Their fundamental im- portance depends not upon the sacrament which to-day expresses them, but upon Him who uttered them. The answer of the Apostles emphasized this truth. ''Lord, Thou hast the words of eternal life. ' ' It was the Messiah's insistence upon the universality of His Kingdom which caused His rejection at Nazareth. It is a like insistence upon its spirituality which causes His re- jection at Capernaum, and ends this period of His ministry, and its instruction. CONSTRUCTIVE STUDIES. In what part of the Master's ministry are there no parables ? Where do you find them ? Why not earlier ? Did they just happen ? Or were they TEACHING IN THE PERIOD OF ORGANIZATION. 81 planned for ? Recalling past chapters will aid you to answer. Why did the Master use parables ? Read St. Matt. 13:1-9. Read again and again until you see the picture with shut eyes. Then study it and interpret it, mak- ing notes of the result. Then compare your notes with the Master's, St. Matt. 13: 10-23. What does He make the essential truth of the parable ? In the same way study St. Matt. 13 : 24-30. Use its central truth as the key, and interpret the parable, making notes of result. Compare your notes with St. Matt. 13 : 34-43. Why are the parables so very variously interpreted ? Turn back and re-read pages 8 and 15. CHAPTER YIII. PARABLES m THE PERIOD OF ORGANIZATION. If you are familiar with the Gospels, you cannot think of the Master's teaching without thinking of His parables. If you read a modern parabolic attempt your thought flies back to the perfect parables spoken beside the Galilean Lake. But if to-day this method attracts both child and man, much more did it captivate and throw its spell over Oriental peo- ples ; for with them imagination is more nimble-footed than reason, and prepares the way for its logical conclusions. In His parables the Master Teacher gives a perfect example of what He taught His disciples to do (Matt. 13 : 52). He brings forth out of the treasure house of His wisdom, '' things both new and old. ' ' He uses what is familiar and attractive to introduce truths that are strange, or unwelcome. He builds His parables upon the likeness of the old everyday truth to the new truth of the Kingdom. And what is all our modern talk about the basic principles of pedagogy but a re-statement of the matchless educational methods of the Master. The Place of the Parable in Christ's Ministry is often misunderstood. There is a popular idea that Christ used this method throughout His entire ministry. That when He taught, and what He taught was decided by some pass- ing occurrence, or chance questioner. This is a grave mis- PARABLES IN THE PERIOD OF ORGANIZATION. 83 take. JSTeither the Master's life nor ministry was without a plan. His teaching was certainly a part of that plan. Nothing was spoken before the time, nothing was spoken except as His disciples, or wayside hearers were able to bear it. During two of the great periods of His ministry there is no recorded parable, and no reference to any unrecorded ones ; although these same periods contain references to un- recorded miracles. In every case the Master uses His par- able to prepare for or confirm direct teaching. The occa- sion of His parables is decided by the stage of His teaching. The seemingly chance question is usually prompted by some word of the Master. The time for the parable was decided by the development of the Master's ministry. During the Preparatory Period (Chap, yi.) both John the Baptist and the Christ were preaching and baptizing for a Kingdom which was ' ' at hand. ' ' The Kingdom then existed only in the will, and purpose of the King. There could be no call to use parables to explain the nature of something that had not yet taken form. The direct teaching of the first period laid the foundation for the Kingdom's organization. The parables followed to explain its nature and purpose. As the parables of the Period of Organization could not have been uttered in the first period, so the parables of the third period could not have been spoken in any of the other three periods with- out contradicting the progressive method of Christ's rev- elation of His Kingdom. The Historical Development of Parabolic Teaching is plainly conditioned by the progressive nature of Christ's plan. The three basic truths emphasized by the Son of Man during the Preparatory Period are (a) that His Kingdom is spiritual in its nature (b) social in its activity, and (c) univer- 84 HOW TO UNDERSTAND THE WORDS OF CHRIST. sal in its purpose. The five parables in the Period of Organi- zation emphasize the first of these truths, the spiritual nature, and priceless value of the Kingdom. The eighteen parables in the Period of Self-revelation emphasize (a) Man's social duties as neighbor and brother in the Kingdom, and (b) the consequences of ignoring such duties. The Purpose of the Parable in Christ's teaching is as definite as its place. The first parables surprised the dis- ciples. They immediately ask, '' Why speakest thou unto them in parables?" Recall the conditions. The Master had preached the Kingdom in Judea. The Jews were His Father's people, their Temple His Father's Church; yet His words aroused only their enmity. He removes to Capernaum. His first Missionary tour astonishes all Galilee. His activity is felt even in distant Jerusalem. Its Rulers send spies to dog His steps. From this hour until His death Christ faces two audiences, the *' common people " hearing Him gladly, the Jewish spies listening to catch, contradict, and condemn. Moreover the time has come to teach concerning the King- dom. It is a most dangerous subject. A * ^ new kingdom, ' ' to the impulsive Galileans, means revolt against Rome. A *'new kingdom," to the Scribe and Pharisee, means revolt against the Hebrew Hierarchy. Christ cannot openly teach the " Kingdom " without being misunderstood. The parable, however, based on the com- mon things of daily life, catches the ear, and gradually in- structs the heart of the people. The very simplicity of its words hides from perverted minds the spiritual truths of the Kingdom which Christ desired to impart to honest hearted hearers. In this latter class belonged the Apostles. It is to be remembered that some of the parables were uttered in private for the disciples only, and that as a rule PARABLES, IN THE PERIOD OF ORGANIZATION. 85 the public parables were fully explained to them in private. Frequently the disciples requested an explanation ; if they did not, then the Master questioned them. From the very first, the parable had a large place in the schooling of the disciples. In the final period of the Master's ministry (which is very largely devoted to the training of the Twelve) we find more parables than in all the other periods put together. The Interpretation of Parables is not difficult to honest and humble students. The first step is to discover the prin- ciples of their interpretation. Happily for us the Master explained His own parables. Let us study His words. The Master's basic principle is already familiar to us. All in- spired statements rmist he interjpreted historically. The meaning of doubtfid words is determined hy the conditions under which they were uttered. This principle is too fre- quently ignored. We allow the beauty of the parable to mislead us. "We think we see its meaning and then uncon- sciously read into it what is uppermost in our thoughts, de- sires, or prejudices. The clergyman often begins with its theological meaning, the socialist with its social doctrine, and the untrained reads it for its personal application. This in each case is taking the last step first. The first question should be (a) what is the literal mean- ing of the parable ? i. e. the meaning of its words without any reference to their application. Then (b) what is its essen- tial truth ? i. e. the one central truth for which it was uttered, and without which it would be meaningless ? This last is an historical question. It sends us back to study the conditions under which it was uttered. This is the only method which leads to truth, ^ext, (c) What lesson had this parable for those who heard it spoken? (d) What lesson 86 HOW TO UNDERSTAND THE WORDS OF CHRIST. does it convey to us to-day ? The lesson for us may in some vv^ays differ from the one it taught the Hebrew multitude. It may be a larger truth and doctrine than even the disciples received ; but it ccjmnot contradict the essential truths which it conveyed to its first hearers. To reduce to one written sentence the essential truths of a parable will greatly help us to fix it in our minds. Finally, (e) The correctness of our conclusions should be tested by comparing them with the Master's direct and plain teaching on the same subjects. Above all, with the teaching by His own blameless life. Apply the above method to the Parable of the Sower. For historical conditions read the twelfth chapter of St. Matthew, a picture of the Divine Teacher sowing the living seed of the Kingdom. E^ote the effect of His words as they fall into differing ears and hearts. Note the result of the sowing as pictured in the parable. What decides the fruit- age? Not the quality of the seed (God's truth), not the method of the sower (the Son of Man), but the varying con- ditions of the heart soil upon which it falls. What were its lessons to those who heard? Study the Master's explanation to His disciples. Does their lesson differ from ours ? The essential truth is — Christ' s words can- not become spiritually fruitful unless the hearts into which they fall are * ^ honest and true. ' ' Compare this conclusion with the direct teaching of the Master on the same subject. Compare the hearers in St. John 7 : 5-7, 12, 25-26, 31-32, 40-52, with the hearers in the parable. The three parables which follow that of The Sower are on closely related topics, and therefore throw light upon the one we are studying. The Parables in the Period of Organization are eight. They are the first spoken by the Master, and therefore are PARABLES IN THE PERIOD OF ORGANIZATION. 87 the ones relating to the basic subject of His teaching the Kingdom. The first five explain the Kingdom's nature, and the method of its growth. The Kingdom is presented as a living organism whose spiritual growth results from the planting of divine seed. The last three parables dwell upon the priceless value, and cost of obtaining the Kingdom. The unity of teaching in the first five parables, is seen in the following outline. The Nature of The Kingdom of God. A Spiritual Organism Growi7ig from Divine Seed. The Divine Seed in its Relation to : — Its Widely Varying Soils ; — " The Sower." The Providential Laws of its Growth ; — "Growing Seed." Its Inevitable Spiritual Enemy ; — " The Tares." The Wide Extent of its Growth ;—" The Mustard Seed." The Transforming Power of its Growth ; — " The Leaven." The picturing of a parable is an art to be cultivated by both reader and teacher. The imagery of a parable is Christ's appeal to man's imagination. We cannot grasp even its form until we can shut our eyes and see the Mas- ter's picture, bright, vivid, glowing. The scene of His first parable was the Sea of Galilee. ' ' The most sacred sheet of water which this earth contains. ' ' He begins by the seaside, the multitude increases. He steps into a boat, — try to see the Gospel picture. The boat a few rods from the shore, held by oar or anchor, swings to the rhythm of the waves ; the eager crowds standing upon the shelving sand, heads bent to catch the Speaker's strangely attractive words. The Master sitting in His floating pulpit; seeing His listeners, and doubtless seeing behind them the different soils of which He is speaking : the hard trodden path between the prepared 88 HOW TO UNDERSTAND THE WORDS OF CHRIST. ground, bare of fruit; the rocky hillside with its scant soil and withered growth, the clumps of thorn bushes chok- ing all life but their own; and, best of all, the broad, un- broken fields of goodly grain, the faithful sower's joy and reward. When we can shut our eyes and see this, then we are prepared to make others see it. The Imagery of the Parable has much to do with its in- terpretation. The first five parables are built upon the imagery of the husbandman. Their truth is based upon what man calls the laws of nature, i. e. , the unchanging certainty of God's loving purpose as revealed in the natural world. And because the truth, and the imagery by which it is taught are both from God's field, these five parables are more easy to interpret than all others. In the last three parables of this period (and the eighteen of the following period), the imagery is based upon the daily life of the East. Our ignorance of Oriental manners and customs often causes us to miss the real teaching of the Master. The Parable of the Growing Seed is given by St. Mark only (4 : 26). Here, again, we see the sower scattering good seed. Here, however, it falls into ' * good ground ' ' only, and all the returns are satisfactory. What law of growth not mentioned in " The Sower " is emphasized here? Brief as this parable is, it has received several names, each based upon what the interpreter considered its main point. Would you call it the ^'Growing Seed," the *