"I 'give theft Batikgi far the founding of a ColUge-in,th£f,Colon.y\ «Y^LE«¥IMHTEI^SIIinf« DIVINITY SCHOOL TROWBRIDGE LIBRARY WHAT JESUS TAUGHT WHAT JESUS TAUGHT ACCORDING TO THE GOSPELS By MILTON G. EVANS, D. D., LL. D. President and Mrs. John P. Crozer Professor of Comparative Religion in Crozer Theological Seminary PHILADELPHIA THE JUDSON PRESS BOSTON CHICAGO LOS ANGELES KANSAS CITY SEATTLE TORONTO Copyright, 1922, by GILBERT N. BRINK, Secketahy Published December, 1932 Printed in U. S. A. FOREWORD THE materials in Parts II and III were gathered into a book some years ago for classroom use. The book was used only as basis for discussion and as guide to more elaborate works in Biblical History and Bibli cal Theology. Subsequently it was used as a text book in the Crozer Extension Course. For several years it has been out of print and frequent requests have been received for its reissue. This book is, in the main, a rearrangement of the material of the old one, with the addition of Part I, intended to serve as an introduction. This part gives some idea of the classroom discussion and of the nature of the reading required of students. Of course, the book is not intended to be an ex haustive treatment of the teaching of Jesus, but, on the other hand, it is not designedly selective ; for it intentionally omits nothing really significant. The aim is to present the teaching of Jesus as having practical value for life, to set forth his words as guide to conduct rather than as material for theology. It may not be amiss to add that the references to Scripture are not intended as proof-texts, but as sources from which the reader will verify the state ments made. The Bible itself is the Supreme Court to which every reader will carry his appeal from the judgment of the author. CONTENTS PART I THE SOURCES AND BACKGROUND CHAPTER PAGE I. The Sources of Our Knowledge of the Teachings of Jesus 3 II. History of the Jewish Idea of the Kingdom of God 16 III. Teaching of the Scribes Contempo rary with Jesus 29 IV. Teaching of John the Baptist 44 PART II TEACHING OF JESUS ACCORDING TO THE SYNOPTIC GOSPELS V. What Jesus Taught Concerning the King 59 VI. What Jesus Taught Concerning the Vicegerent 71 VII. What Jesus Taught Concerning the Work of the Vicegerent 89 Contents CHAPTER PAGE VIII. What Jesus Taught Concerning the Subjects of the Kingdom 101 IX. What Jesus Taught Concerning the Laws of the Kingdom 116 X. History of the Kingdom 127 PART III TEACHING OF JESUS ACCORDING TO THE GOSPEL OF JOHN XI. Some Characteristics of the Fourth Gospel 143 XII. The Author of Eternal Life 155 XIII. The Mediator of Eternal Life 161 XIV. Possessors of Eternal Life — Be lievers 171 Index of Names and Subjects 183 Index of Scripture Passages, Quoted or Cited 188 PART I THE SOURCES AND BACKGROUND THE SOURCES OF OUR KNOWLEDGE OF THE TEACHINGS OF JESUS In the providence of God no bit of papyrus, nor wax tablet, nor shred of parchment, penned by Jesus has survived. The veneration paid in the Chris tian church to supposed relics of saints shows what would have happened if an autograph by Christ had been preserved. Early Christians of insight knew how prone is human nature to literalism and super stition, and therefore recorded their Teacher's warn ing: It is the spirit that quickens: the flesh profits nothmg: the words that I have spoken unto you are spirit and are life. Hence, Jesus' disciples were not nervously eager to cherish his " very words " as though the destiny of future generations depended on knowing exactly the verbal form of his teaching. It is not strange, then, that our Gospels record only those sayings of Jesus spoken in the Palestinian dialect of Hebrew current in his day, commonly known as Aramaic.1 The Gospels Papias, bishop of Hieropolis in Phrygia, who lived about 130 A. D., is quoted by Eusebius, as fol lows : 2 " Matthew wrote the oracles in the Hebrew 1 Mark 5 : 41 ; 7 : 34 ; 15 : 34. 2 Eccies. History, 3 : 39. What Jesus Taught language, and every one interpreted them as he was able." This is the uniform testimony of Irenseus, Origen, Eusebius, Cyril of Jerusalem, Epiphanius, Augustine, and Jerome. Jerome's testimony is as follows : s Matthew also called Levi, who from being a publican, be came an apostle, first of all wrote a Gospel of Christ in Judea in Hebrew letters, and wrote for the sake of those of the cir cumcision who believed. Who afterward translated it into Greek is uncertain. However, this very Greek Gospel is in the library at Ca?sarea, which was collected with great care by Pamphylius the martyr. With the permission of the Nazarenes, who lived in Bercea in Syria and use that volume, I took a copy. Again, in his Commentary on Matthew 12 : 13, he writes : The Gospel which the Nazarenes and the Ebionites use, which we lately translated from Hebrew into Greek, and which is called by most the authentic Gospel of Matthew. Papias used the Greek word logia, meaning " say ings " or " oracles," to describe Matthew's document ; subsequent writers describe it by the Greek word euanggelion, meaning " good news," or " gospel." If Papias and his successors refer to the same writ ings, the word logia indicates that the Gospel con sisted mostly of the sayings or discourses of Jesus, although it may have contained narrative material also. It is probable, then, that in order to acquaint those Christians that used the Palestinian dialect of Hebrew with the teachings of Jesus, the apostle Matthew wrote his Gospel in Aramaic, and recorded 'De Viribus Illustribus, cap. 3. Our Knowledge of the Teachings of Jesus 5 what Jesus said rather than what he did. If this is the true statement of the facts, then the Aramaic logia described by Papias was one of the earliest Christian writings in circulation, and may be ap proximately dated about 40 A. D. In its Aramaic form it has not survived, but is almost certainly incorporated in the Greek Gospel of Matthew that we possess. Within a very few years after Pentecost large numbers of Greek-speaking Jews confessed faith in Jesus as the Messiah. They had heard preaching in their own tongue. No doubt at a very early date notes were taken and used as means of extending and confirming the faith. Such preaching con cerned the deeds of Jesus rather than his words, in order that the words might be illustrated or con firmed by the incidents occasioning them. Eusebius gives a hint of the process. He quotes Papias on authority of a certain presbyter John : * Then also the presbyter John said : " Mark having become the interpreter of Peter, wrote down accurately, though not indeed in order, whatsoever he remembered of the things said or done by Christ. For he neither heard the Lord nor followed him, but afterward, as I said, he followed Peter who adapted his teaching to the needs of his hearers, but with no intent of giving a connected account of the Lord's discourses, so that Mark committed no error while he wrote some things as he remembered them. For he was careful of one thing, not to omit any of the things which he had heard, and not to state any of them falsely." From Papias to Jerome there is uniform testimony to some connection between Peter's preaching and the Gospel by Mark. Internal evidence supports the ?Eccles. History, 3 : 38. What Jesus Taught external witnesses. First, the extent of Mark's Gos pel as we have it coincides with Peter's require ments for an apostolic eye-witness ; B secondly, the contents of our Mark are only an expansion of Peter's brief statement of Jesus' public ministry, with emphasis on deeds rather than on words ; 6 thirdly, Mark alone gives information that Peter only would be able to furnish.7 The question may be asked, Is our Gospel of Mark the one Papias had in mind? Or, may it not be that the Gospel to which Papias refers is an earlier document upon which our Mark is based? No de cisive answer can be given, but in any case it re mains true that the contents of our Gospel of Mark must be pushed back to the oral preaching of Peter. Peter preached in Aramaic; his interpreter Mark wrote in Greek whatever he remembered. It is pos sible, and many Christians think it probable, that a Greek document, called Ur-Marcus, or original Mark, earlier than our canonical Mark, was in circulation for the use of Greek-speaking Christian communi ties in Syria and Asia Minor prior to 50 A. D. At any rate, when Luke wrote his Gospel some years later, he knew that many earlier documents were in circulation, and there is no valid objection to the belief that either Ur-Marcus or its successor, our Gospel of Mark, was one of the "many" Luke knew. Papias speaks of logia written by Matthew in Aramaic. The only Gospel by Matthew that has survived is in Greek. What is the relation of our 5 Acts 1 : 22. «Acts 10 : 38. ' Mark 1 . 16, 29 ; 9 : 6 ; 14 ¦ 54, 72. Our Knowledge of the Teachings of Jesus 7 Greek Matthew to the earlier Aramaic logia? The logia had a maximum of sayings and minimum of narrative material. The Mark mentioned by Papias had maximum of narrative and minimum of say ings. If our present Mark be compared with our Matthew, it is found that one-half of Mark is in Matthew. In fact, Mark has so little that is not found in the other Gospels, that if it had not sur vived, we would be ignorant of only four incidents in the life of Christ with which we now are familiar, namely, Mark 4 : 36-39; 7 : 31-37; 8 : 22-26; 14 : 51. It is found that Mark omits the Sermon on the Mount, almost the whole of the tenth chapter of Matthew, almost the whole of the thirteenth chapter, and almost all of chapters 23 to 25. That is, Mat thew preserves- groups of sayings (logia) that Mark omits. The inference is that our canonical Matthew combines the material of the Aramaic logia and Mark's Greek document that perpetuated the preach ing of Peter. But a more minute comparison of our Greek Matthew with our Mark shows that the Greek writer of our Matthew did not use the Ara maic logia directly, but a Greek translation of it. Two sources, then, are incorporated into our Greek Matthew, namely, a Greek version of the original Aramaic logia by Matthew and a written Greek record of Peter's preaching, either our canonical Mark or its earlier prototype Ur-Marcus. Of course there may have been other sources also, both oral and written, which the author of our pres ent Greek Gospel of Matthew used to establish the faith of all his contemporaries, both Jew and Greek. The following diagram illustrates both the sources 8 What Jesus Taught and the relationship of our canonical Mark and Mat thew: PETER'S PREACH IMG UR-MARCU5 OR CANONICAL MA ARAMAIC LOGIA GREEK VER5ION OF ARAMAIC LOGIA OTHER SOURCES CANONICAL GOSPEL OF MATTHEW. Luke himself tells us that in order to be accurate he took great pains to secure his information from both oral and written sources. He had access to many documents.8 Were the Aramaic logia, or its Greek version or both, and Mark, either the Ur- Marcus, or our canonical Mark, or both, among the "many" to which Luke alludes? Comparison of our Mark and Matthew and Luke gives a clue to a probably correct answer. These three Gospels agree remarkably in the following particulars: (1) Place of Jesus' ministry, namely Galilee ; (2) duration of this ministry; (3) general outline in the whole nar rative; (4) material used to fill in the outline; (5) order of the incidents mentioned; (6) form of the narrative ; (7) identity of language. It is this note worthy similarity that has occasioned the use of the word "synoptic" to describe our first three Gospels considered as a group. 8 Luke 1 : 1-4. Our Knowledge of the Teachings of Jesus 9 But comparison discloses differences quite as note worthy, (1) in material, (2) in order in which in cidents are narrated, and (3) in details when re cording a narrative, or a discourse. It is this combination of likeness and unlikeness that consti tutes " the synoptic problem." The problem was discovered soon after the for mation of the canon of the New Testament, and at tentive readers of the Gospels from Augustine until now have offered solutions. The surest approach to a true solution is to follow sign-posts erected within the New Testament itself and in the earliest Chris tian literature. With reference to Mark and Mat thew such signs have already been followed. They have put us on the highway to a solution of the problem. Comparison of the three Synoptic Gospels reveals the following facts: (1) There is much material common to the three and told in the same order; (2) Mark differs least from the common material; (3) Luke differs most; (4) one-half of Mark is in Matthew, and one-third of Mark is in Luke — that is, Matthew and Luke resemble Mark more closely than each other; (5) the agreement and arrangement of material is greater than the difference; (6) sen tences of complicated structure are found in the same form in all three. The question arises, why these likenesses, when according to John's Gospel 9 the earliest writers had so many incidents and discourses from which to choose? The probable answer is that since canon ical Mark and Matthew secured their common mate rial from the same sources, these sources furnished •John 21 : 25. B 10 What Jesus Taught Luke also with whatever matter he has in common with them. That is, the Greek translation of the Aramaic logia and Mark's Gospel were among the many documents Luke consulted. But the difference also must be explained. How can we account for the large amount of material found in Luke only, for example, 9 : 51 to 19 : 10 ; 1 : 5 to 2 : 52; 4 : 25-30; 5 : 1-11; 7 : 11-14, 36- 50; 23 : 8-12, 27-31? How may Luke's distribution of the discourse-material be explained when com pared with the material found in Matthew? The following diagram shows the origin and the relation ship of the Synoptic Gospels : INCIDENTAL 50URCE5 ARAMAIC LOGIA 35 A. D. TUDEAN INCIDENTAL PETER'S NARRATIVE SOURCES PREACHING AUTHOR UNKNOWN CANONICAL GREEK MATTHEW 75 A. a LUKE'S GOSPEL 60 A.D- The diagram shows at a glance : (1) that when the three Gospels have the same material it is because Matthew and Luke derive it from Mark; (2) that when Matthew and Luke have identical material found in them only, it is because they derive it from the same source, the Greek translation of the Ara- Our Knowledge of the Teachings of Jesus 11 maic logia; (3) that when Luke has material pecu liar to himself, for example, the infancy narrative and Perean ministry, he secured it from some Judean source; (4) that when Luke and Mark agree as against Matthew, and Matthew and Mark agree as against Luke, it is because both Matthew and Luke used only those facts of Mark that suited their pur pose; (5) that when Matthew or Luke has material peculiar to himself, for example, Matthew's nar rative of the birth of Jesus, each had incidental sources, both oral and written, that supplied some fact or saying not found in the main sources. Of course, there are found independent phrases and sentences of the nature of comments and inter pretations that show each writer's point of view in writing his Gospel. That is, the Gospels as we have them were written for Christians to con firm their faith, and are therefore religious in purpose. They are Gospels, or messages of good news. The Gospel of John differs remarkably from the Synoptics (1) in presenting the public ministry of Jesus; (2) in the discourses attributed to him; (3) in emphasis upon his person; and (4) in its philo sophic tone. The difference was noted by Clement of Alexandria, who wrote, " John perceived that the bodily Gospel had been written, and so wrote the spiritual Gospel." Again in John's Gospel it is hard to distinguish between the author's own words and the words of Jesus. Even in our English version a reader cannot decide definitely whether the words of John 3 : 16 are words of Jesus or of the author. Again, the vocabulary, style, and doctrinal con- 12 What Jesus Taught tents of John's Gospel are remarkably like the vo cabulary and style and doctrine of his epistles. These considerations justify separate study of the Synoptic and Johannean reports of Jesus' teaching in order to bring out more clearly the likenesses and differences, and thus permit Biblical theology to contribute its share to the solution of problems connected with the sources of our information con cerning the teachings of Jesus. Agrapha Jesus spoke many words not recorded in the Gos pels. Unrecorded words were as authentic for the earliest Christians as those that were circulated in written form. These unrecorded words per petuated orally were cited to enforce conduct equally with the written ones. It is not strange that some of the unwritten sayings became embedded in litera ture, and thus preserved for the guidance of Chris tians of subsequent generations. Close study of Christian documents of the earliest centuries re sulted in the coinage of the word agrapha by J. G. Korner in- 1776 to describe those sayings purporting to come from Jesus but transmitted to us outside of the canonical Gospels. One of the agrapha is in the form of a direct quotation from Jesus, " It is more blessed to give than receive." 10 Others are indirect, the author giving the substance rather than the ex act words ; for example : This do in remembrance of me. . . This do, as often as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.u *> Acts' 20 : 35. » 1 Cor. 11 : 24, 25. Our Knowledge of the Teachings of Jesus 13 We that are alive, that are left unto the coming of the Lord, shall in no wise precede them that are fallen asleep." Several examples outside of the present text of the New Testament illustrate how the teaching of Christ not found in the Gospels controlled conduct. In the controversy of the Pharisees with Jesus on the sub ject of Sabbath-keeping, recorded in the sixth chap ter of Luke, Codex Beza? has the following: On the same day, seeing a man working on the Sabbath, he said to him, 0 man, if thou knowest what thou doest, blessed art thou; but if thou knowest not, thou art accursed and a transgressor of the law. Justin Martyr in his " Dialog with Trypho " en forces his argument with a quotation attributed to Jesus, Wherefore also our Lord Jesus Christ said, In whatsoever things I apprehend you, in them I shall judge you. In a homily on Jeremiah 20 : 3, Origen wrote : Moreover, the Saviour himself says, He that is near me is near the fire; and he that is far from me is far from the kingdom. Until recently the only indication of extra-canon ical sayings current in the early church were the few embedded in the New Testament and in the sub- apostolic Fathers, but in 1892, Grenfell and Hunt unearthed some papyri at Oxyrhynchus, south of Cairo, in Egypt, that gave additional testimony. A single papyrus sheet, much mutilated, contains eight sayings. They have no logical connection. Each u 1 Thess. 4 : 15. 14 What Jesus Taught begins with the simple formula, " Jesus says " ; for example : Jesus says, Wherever there are two, they are not without God; and wherever there is one alone, I say I am with him. Raise the stone and there thou shalt find me; cleave the wood and there am I. The whole number of agrapha, relatively few, do not add to the content of Jesus' teaching as found in the Gospels, nevertheless the student of the New Testament could not know how valuable the agrapha are as possible sources of knowledge of what Christ taught, unless he is familiar with them and has weighed their contents. Jewish Literature Another source, indirect indeed, but none the less a true and indispensable one, is the Jewish literature in circulation in Jesus' day and during the century after. For the ideas of any great teacher can be accurately evaluated only in the lights and shadows of contemporary thought and feeling. Jesus can be no exception. His intellectual and moral and re ligious life was nourished by the literature with which he was acquainted. He certainly knew the Jewish sacred Scriptures, and interpretations of rabbis of his own day and earlier. A knowledge of such religious ideas and customs as were common in New Testament times enables a present-day stu dent of Jesus' doctrine to ascertain how his teaching adopted, or modified, or controverted contemporary conceptions. The literature that aids in interpretation of the words of Jesus are the Old Testament, the apoc- Our Knowledge of the Teachings of Jesus 15 ryphal and apocalyptic books written between 200 B. C. and 100 A. D., the works of Josephus and of Philo, and those portions of the Talmud that un doubtedly reflect the ideas of the first Christian cen tury. In studying these sources the student must guard against the temptation to infer that the doctrines he finds were generally held. He must satisfy himself as to the possible extent the book he is investigating circulated among the Jews, for there is always the possibility that the book he is reading is the ex pression of individual opinion only, or, at most, of the school of thought to which its author belonged. II HISTORY OF THE JEWISH IDEA OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD Jesus believed that his message had a history, and that it had its setting in the thought of his hearers. He and they alike believed that God had a purpose in human history, and that these pur poses required periods or eras of time for accom plishment. He was sure that the whole of history prior to his own time was a period of preparation, an unfolding process gradually disclosing God's educative discipline of Israel and of the world, and culminating in the era he was introducing. Accord ingly, he began his public ministry with the an nouncement, " The time is fulfilled." 1 To under stand fully his teaching, then, it is necessary to review, at least in main outline, the history of the Jewish idea of the kingdom of God. If possible, the imagination must construct the thought-world of the people Jesus addressed, else readers of his words today cannot understand as his hearers understood. To understand as they did is the necessary condition of estimating aright the marvelous power of him " who spoke as never man spoke " to correct error, to impart truth, to create new modes of thinking, and to effect the marvelous result called Christianity. 1 Mark 1 • 14. 16 The Jewish Idea of the Kingdom of God 17 1. Origin of the Idea of the Kingdom of God The monarchical idea was not present in early Hebrew history, for to the loosely federated tribes government by a king was repugnant.2 In antithe sis to monarchy, this early form of government may be called theocratically tribal. That is, each tribe had its own leader or chieftain, but all the tribes conceived themselves united under one God. In a sense, then, Jehovah ruled in and over Israel, but not as king in the strict meaning of the word. The tribes were united socially and religiously, rather than politically. They formed one community or people. Religiously, this community was henothe- istic; socially, it was Israelitish; politically, it was tribal but nationalistic in tendency. It thought itself to be unique in that Jehovah their God ruled in it and nowhere else. The phrase " kingdom of Jeho vah " might well describe this conception, had they coined it. But if they had used such a phrase, it would have described an expected community, rather than an actual one. For Jehovah's will was not be ing done within the community. Within were sub jects disloyal to Jehovah; without were tribal foes antagonizing Jehovah's loyal ones. Hence, the idea of kingdom of Jehovah always expressed a hope. It anticipates a time when Jehovah will establish his rule by judicial punishment upon offenders within and without Israel. 2. Origin of the Monarchical Idea Conflict with non-Israelitish tribes for supremacy in Palestine compelled frequent coalition of the Is- » Judges 8 : 23 ; 1 Sam. 8 : 7 ; 12 ; 12, 17b, 18 What Jesus Taught raelitish tribes, so that a centralized government of all the tribes under one ruler or king seemed desir able.3 The reigns of David and Solomon apparently justified the demand for a monarchy, for Israel's boundaries were enlarged, its commerce extended, its wealth increased, its culture advanced. The mon archy became the ideal for the future. Jehovah's purpose in and through Israel will be realized through a visible earthly king ruling in Jerusalem, the royal city. There was no intended rejection of Jehovah's rule in this conception, nevertheless there was the inherent danger of regarding the form of government, the monarchy, rather than Jehovah as the efficient cause of material prosperity. It would be easy for the visible king enthroned in Jerusalem to supplant loyalty to Jehovah, the invisible King enthroned in heaven. Accordingly, the monarchy was established not without opposition. Indeed, the earlier prophets admitted its political wisdom, but pointed out the social and moral and religious dangers involved.* Subsequent experience justified the prophetic warning. A later prophet declared that Jehovah had established the monarchy as token of his wrath.5 The two views of the value of the monarchy in Israel's history may be termed the popular and the prophetic. The popular was henotheistic and na tional, with emphasis upon material and temporal values and ideas; the prophetic was monotheistic and universal, with emphasis upon moral character of both king and subjects. ' 1 Sam. 8 « 1 Sam. 8 6 Hosea 13 5, 19, 20 ; cf. Judg. 17 : 6 ; 18 : 1 ; 21 : 25. 10-18. 9-11. The Jewish Idea of the Kingdom of God 19 3. Origin of the Idea of Vicegerent, or Jehovah's Anointed The prophetic and popular views were not mutu ally exclusive. Logically the prophetic doctrine of monotheism ought to have destroyed the earlier and popular henotheistic and nationalistic conception, and this was true of men like Hosea and Amos. But among the people as a whole, the two views existed side by side. Many held neither view in a thoroughgoing fashion, but accepted both without regard to logical coherence of beliefs. When it be came necessary to harmonize belief in Jehovah's kingship with belief in the Judean kingship, it was easy to satisfy both the conscience and the intellect by regarding the Judean ruler as Jehovah's anointed vicegerent or Messiah.6 This now was compatible with the nationalistic and materialistic conception. The brilliant reign of David was taken as proof that Jehovah purposed to rule an earthly kingdom through an earthly king.7 Naturally, David became the prototype of the expected Saviour-Judge, who must be the seed of David,8 of the tribe of Judah.9 On the other hand, those who placed little value on the monarchy as such had no place for a mediat ing vicegerent, but thought of Jehovah as immediate ruler who blessed and punished through providence both ordinary and extraordinary. This view is il lustrated in the words, "Jehovah shall reign for • 1 Sam. 12 : 3 ; 24 : 6, 10 ; 2 Chron. 6 • 42 ; Ps. 2 : 2 ; 20 : 6. i Micah 5:2; Isa. 9 : 11 ; Zech. 9:9; Jer. 23 : 5 ; Dan. 7 : 13 ; Ps. 45 ; 72 ; Sibyl. Or. 3 : 652 ; Psal. Sol. 17 : 36. » 2 Sam. 7 : 16 ; Jer. 33 : 15 ; Ezek. 34 : 23 ; Isa. 11 : 6, 10 ; Psal. Sol 17 -5. 22 ; Sir. 47 : 11 ; 4 Bsdras 12 : 32 ; Matt. 9 : 27 ; 12 : 23 ; 22 : 42. » Mic 5 ¦ 2 ; Jubilees 31 : 18 ; Test, of Judah 24 : 5 ; Luke 3 : 33 ; Heb. 7': 14: Kev. 5 : 5. 20 What Jesus Taught ever and ever," 10 or " Jehovah shall be king over all the earth." " This view is universalistic and indi vidualistic. Righteousness in character and con duct is its dominant feature. Of course, some held to the idea of vicegerent, but emphasized his righteous character and the righteousness he mediates for his subjects. They, however, maintain the national rather than the uni versal nature of his rule. All views had in them the possibility of miraculous divine intervention; and the hope for a coming Messiah had in it the pos sibility of revolutionary fanaticism also. All agreed that the kingdom will be on this earth, that it will last for ever, and that it will be ushered in by judg ment. The two outstanding differences were con cerning the relation of Israel to the Gentiles and concerning the king, whether he will be Jehovah himself or his Messiah. 4. Effect of the Exile The two divergent views existing before the de struction of Jerusalem became more pronounced and somewhat modified because of the exilic experiences. The exile was the grave of the nation ; and the king dom had not come. This seemed to prove conclu sively the non-ritualistic and individualistic charac ter of Jehovah's reign; for without a temple and without a visible political king, Jehovah's people still lived and worshiped and had experiences of his lov ing-kindness and tender mercy. They found him in prayer rather than in sacrifice, in the synagogue "Exod. 15 : 18. "Zech. 14 : 9; cf. Ps. 98 : 9 ; 46 : 10 ; Isa. 35 : 4 ; 40 : 10 : 41 : 2; 43 : 15; 44 : 6; Ezek. 34 : 11 ; Zech. 2 : 10. The Jewish Idea of the Kingdom of God 21 rather than in the temple. A new covenant had sup planted the old.12 Religion was personal, not na tional; spiritual, not ceremonial. But the question still remained, what is Israel's relation to the Gen tile world? One answer was that Jehovah was the God of all nations, but especially of Israel, in order that Israel may serve all rather than lord it over all. This answer perpetuated universalism of the pre- exilic prophets. Since Israel is to serve, the king in the coming kingdom will be Servant-Messiah.13 The Messiah is not a political conqueror, but a prophet. The kingdom of God will come when Israel carries the knowledge of Jehovah to all peoples and teaches them his moral character and demands.1* The preexilic nationalistic view was perpetuated by Ezekiel, who while in exile hoped for the re- establishment of Israel in Palestine, with a restored monarchy and a rebuilt temple and a reorganized ritual. His words, literally interpreted, kept alive the material and patriotic and political hopes of those exiles that longed for native land and for familiar associations in worship. This hope and longing found expression in noble psalms. 5. The Effect of the Decree of Cyrus Permission to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem seemed to justify the hope of those exiles that looked for political rule of a Messianic king in Palestine. The Jewish citizens gloried in the local rule of a descendant of David as their governor.15 Nehemiah completed the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem. " Jer. 31 : 31-33 ; cf. Isa. 37 : 15. "Isa. 41 : 8f. ; 42 • 2-4; 43 : 22-24; 49 : 1-4; 50 : 4-9; 53 : If. "Gen. 18 . in. "Hag. 2 : 23. 22 What Jesus Taught This geographically and politically isolated the small Jewish community from its neighbors. A more rigid wall of separation was the idea of holiness, inspired by the principles of Ezekiel. In the exile political independence was impossible, but religious separation could be emphasized by the family rite of circumcision and the social festival of the Sab bath. In the exile circumcision and Sabbath obser vance acquired a new meaning and importance. They were the chief symbols of the religion of Jehovah.16 Ezra and Nehemiah returned to Jerusalem with a program of reform based on the idea of holiness, or separation. Ritualistic and ceremonial laws were codified and became the first canon of Hebrew Scrip ture, " The Law." The Jerusalem community, by its political isolation and by its rigid conformity to prescribed ritual and ceremonial observances, em phasized the political and nationalistic character of the kingdom, and developed the strictly legal and formal side of religion. But not all Jews who returned were exclusive, and some of them that had remained in Palestine were not disposed to submit to Nehemiah's drastic re forms. The messages of earlier prophets of univer salism continued to influence thought and conduct. The books of Jonah and Ruth are voices of protest against narrow Jewish exclusiveness. The many Jewish colonies outside of Palestine were of course more liberal than the community at Jerusalem. 6. Effect of Alexander's Conquest Alexander's conquest of Asia widened the horizon of all peoples, occasioned a social commingling of «Cf. Ezek. 32 : 19-32. The Jewish Idea of the Kingdom of God 23 diverse civilizations, and gave rise to ideas and re flections hitherto impossible. It was a period a- nalogous to Napoleon's conquest in Europe or to the recent World War. Greek colonies were introduced into Palestine. Jews living outside of Palestine ac quired the Greek language, read Greek books, and adopted Greek modes of social life. In' consequence, three types of thought arose within Jewish commu nities. First, some for selfish political, or commer cial, or social reasons, welcomed the conquerors; secondly, some honestly admired Greek culture and refinement, but maintained the religious and ethical ideals of the Law by interpreting philosophically its ceremonies and history; thirdly, some insisted on observance of Jewish rites and ceremonies as the only means of preserving the national faith, and therefore condemned Hellenistic influence. It needed only a sufficient cause to crystallize these diverse judgments into energetic sects or parties. 7. Effect of the Syrian Persecution Antiochus IV, known in history as Antiochus Epiphanes, but nicknamed Epimanes, or "mad man," determined to impose Greek culture and re ligion upon all his subjects. He admired Hellenism in itself, and he wished to unify his dominions in order to meet Rome's aggressions more successfully. In executing his purposes, he eventually captured Jerusalem ; he built a citadel, overlooking the temple, in which he placed a Syrian garrison; he forbade on penalty of death circumcision, observance of the Sabbath, and abstinence from eating swine's flesh; he sent emissaries to search out and destroy the sacred Scriptures, and to compel participation in 24 What Jesus Taught pagan sacrifices. He showed his supreme contempt for the Jewish faith by erecting an altar to Zeus upon the great altar to Jehovah, and sacrificing on it, December 25, 168 B. C, a swine. This was the " abomination of desolation." " Psalms seventy- four and seventy-nine reflect the feeling of pious Jews at such outrages. Mattathias, a priest at Modin, a chasid, i. e., " pious one," struck dead a fellow Jew who was about to offer a pagan sacrifice, and killed the Syrian agent who required it. The priest and his five sons fled to the hills, calling upon all who were " zealous for the Law " to follow. The fight was for life as well as for the ordinances.18 Patriotism and religion were welded in this struggle. The death of the Jews meant the death of Jehovah-worship. These desperate patriots who offered themselves willingly for the Law were the Chasidim, forerunners of the Pharisees of the New Testament. With them Hel lenism and the Law were irreconcilable. Antiochus and Mattathias had nothing in common. No truce was possible. 8. Immediate Result of the Maccabean Revolt Judas Maccabeus, the Judean Hammer, the third son of Mattathias, was chosen to lead the revolt against the Syrian. He had undaunted personal courage, skill in strategy, religious enthusiasm, and thorough knowledge of the "topography of the coun try. His followers fought with the desperation of men fighting for life and native land with all its hallowed associations. Roman pressure upon Antio- "Dan. 11 : 31; 12 : 11. 18 1 Mace. 2 : 40. The Jewish Idea of the Kingdom of God 25 chus and struggles of rival aspirants for the Syrian throne made it possible for the Jews to regain re ligious liberty. Their position was now the same as before the insurrection. The temple was rededi- cated December 25, 165 B. C, the third anniversary of its desecration by Antiochus. The anniversary of its rededication' was ordained by Judas to be commemorated for a period of eight days " with mirth and gladness." " This is the feast mentioned in John 10 : 22. This result normally would have satisfied the Chasidim, for they accepted the high priest whom Demetrius I, the new Syrian king, appointed. But Judas and his followers wished national indepen dence as well as religious liberty. There were thus at least three parties: First, the Hellenists who favored Syrian dominion ; secondly, the Maccabeans, thorough Jews, loyally attached to the Law and na tive land, wished political autonomy; thirdly, the Chasidim, who were indifferent to political situa tions, provided Jewish beliefs and ceremonies were maintained.9. Effect of Regained Political Autonomy Jonathan, the brother of Judas, was appointed high priest in 153 B. C. A few years later, he be came civil and military governor of Judea. Later, he acquired additional territory, and was exempted from taxes by the Syrian king, although a Syrian garrison was retained in Jerusalem. Simon was appointed high priest, to succeed Jona than who had been treacherously murdered, with » 1 Mace. 4 : 41-59 ; 2 Mace. 10 : 1-8. C 26 What Jesus Taught ___ the guaranties accorded his predecessor. The new ruler determined to throw off the Syrian yoke com pletely. In 142 B. C. he captured the Syrian citadel in Jerusalem. In the following year the Jews in a great assembly elected him civil governor and mili tary chief and high priest, forever until a" faithful prophet should arise.20 Thus the Maccabean family was declared by the people themselves to be the legitimate and hereditary occupants of the office of high priest. The reestablished Jewish state made a formal treaty with Rome, a fateful step, even though Rome thereby treated Judea as its equal in political self-government. Under the rule of John Hyrcanus, the Judean ex pansionist, the Jewish commonwealth rivaled the best periods of Hebrew history both politically and economically. But religiously the situation did not meet the ideals of the Chasidim, who in1 the days of Jonathan became a distinct party known as the Pharisees, or Separatists.21 The union of civil and religious functions in one office made it possible for the secular life of the court to be cultivated at the expense of the religious ; laxity in morals and religious ceremonials resulted from social and political relations with neighboring Hellenistic states ; a priest-king politically ambitious, or morally sensuous, is not likely to enforce the re ligious requirements consistent with his priesthood, if enforcement endangers his royal prerogatives. In fact, the worst features of Hellenism were possible in an independent political Jewish state so long as the same person was both priest and 80 1 Mace. 14 : 41 ; cf. Ps. 110. M Josephus, Antiq., Bk. 13, c. 7, p. 9. The Jewish Idea of the Kingdom of God 27 king. The Pharisees consistently maintained the ideals of the Chasidim who precipitated the Mac- cabean revolt. It was a Pharisee who answered Hyrcanus, Since thou desirest to know the truth, if thou wilt be right eous in earnest, lay down the high priesthood, and content thyself with the civil government of the people. It is a tribute to the common people of the Jewish' kingdom that they responded generally to the leader ship of the Pharisees. But there were Jewish citizens more interested in political issues than religious. They were not hostile to Greek culture and customs; they refused to be bound by Pharisaic interpretations of the Law ; they were the aristocrats among the priests; they cared for the emoluments of office, whether their land was free or under foreign yoke; they formed a po litical rather than a religious party. The thorough going and moderate Hellenists of an older day be came the Sadducees in later Judaism. Thus it came about that a party that fought with Judas for po litical independence was satisfied with the situation under Hyrcanus and could be content with official positions granted them by Herod the Idumean and by a Roman emperor. The hope of the future in morals and in religion was in the Pharisees, who believed that Jehovah is alone God and that he is righteous; that no king dom hitherto known, not even the brilliant reign of Hyrcanus, was the kingdom of God ; that he will vin dicate his Law by retributive justice upon its viola tors ; that his people are the " pious ones," the Chasi dim or Pharisees, who strictly observe his Law; 28 What Jesus Taught and that this kingdom will certainly come, and none but " pious ones " can be citizens in it. It depended on the interpretation of the word " pious " whether all Jews and no Gentiles could become members. The kingdom could be conceived either nationally or universally. Ill TEACHING OF THE SCRIBES CONTEM PORARY WITH JESUS Political fortunes within Judaism after the death of Hyrcanus were largely determined by the atti tude of the Pharisees and Sadducees. Their contro versy concerned what was legal for a Jew to do. That is, the Law was that for which the Pharisee contended, as in the days of Mattathias. 1. Idea of the Law The Hebrew word torah, translated " law," meant originally " instruction." It did not necessarily con vey the idea of command or statute, for the instruc tion came from prophet, from priest, from wise man, as well as from legislator. It may be in the nature of word of counsel, or encouragement, or information simply, or of requirement. Eventually, when a body of instruction, whatever its nature, acquired the form of a body of literature prescribing conduct, it was called torah or law. Such a code was prescribed by Nehemiah, and became the written constitution of the postexilic community in Jerusalem. This code was almost, if not wholly, identical with the Penta teuch, and was called the Law of Moses. It was the canon by which pious Jews regulated their beliefs and practises. As the canon grew in extent, it came to include the Prophets and the Psalms and what ever other writings were accepted as authoritative 29 30 What Jesus Taught for thought or conduct. Accordingly, in New Tes tament times the word law is applied to the whole Old Testament, conceived as the objective embodi ment of the divine will, even though the portion re ferred to is history,1 prophecy,2 hymn,3 as well as legislation. The word law covered the whole record of God's dealings with Israel from Genesis to Malachi. 2. Value of the Law The instruction given by prophet and priest and sage survived the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebu chadrezzar. It, together with some social customs, was practically all that did survive. The Sabbath survived, and the keeping of it marked off Jews from Gentiles. The Jews had circumcision, a, home custom, that linked them to the past and to one another. These were the invisible walls that sepa rated them from the heathen world, and through which they pledged their loyalty to Jehovah their God. They found the narratives and the laws justi fying their peculiar religious beliefs and customs in their literature. This literature, then, became their choicest possession. It preserved the old ideals. It was valued as the authority for abstinence from cer tain foods, for the keeping of the Sabbath, and for practise of circumcision. Inevitably, when the new Jewish community was reconstituted, the Book of the Law was adopted in 444 B. C. as the divine con stitution of Judaism. The possession of the Law made them a peculiar people. This was the advan tage of the Jew over the Gentile. This must be pre served at all hazards. Hence, it became the wall »Gal. 4 • 21-27. a 1 Cor. 14 : 21. »Rom. 3 : 10-19. Teaching of the Scribes 31 separating the people of Jehovah from worshipers of idols;* it was the pedagog that kept Israel out of bad companionship with heathen neighbors.5 It is not strange, that in reviewing the history of the world as known to him, the most morally earnest Jew known to history answered the questions : 6 What advantage then hath the Jew? or, what is the profit of circumcision? Much every way: first of all, that they were entrusted with the oracles of God. 3. Rise of Scribism In preexilic times scribes were the scholars, the literary ones, those able to read and write, and so able to make records, to translate, to interpret. They did not necessarily concern themselves with the Hebrew legal codes. If they did so it was be cause of their literary ability. The Hebrew word to describe these men was Sopherim. They did not form a religious sect or a political party. They were the learned men of any sect or party. It was a mat ter of course, then, that at the restoration of the Jewish state after the exile, it was a scribe, Ezra, who read and expounded the newly codified Law of Moses.7 The Sopherim, or Scribes, were not limited to the priestly class. Laymen of sufficient learning could be sopherim, if they wished. By the social tendency of men of the same profession to associate, they tended to form themselves into families.8 This ten dency, however, was more marked some years after Ezra, because of the increasing social importance « Eph. 2 • 14-17. ' Ezra 7 : 6, lit. ; Neh. 8 : Iff. 0 Gal. 3 : 23f. 8 1 Chron. 2 : 55. «Rom. 3 • 1, 2. 32 What Jesus Taught of scribes. Their authority increased for the fol lowing reasons: First, Hebrew had become a dead language in Palestine, since Aramaic was the ver nacular of the people. Hence only scholars that could read Hebrew had direct access to the Law of Moses and were judged competent to translate and interpret. Secondly, the great value placed upon the Law as Jehovah's written will for Israel gave propor tionate prestige to those who came to busy them selves with the Law only. The Scribes tended to become " men of one book," and that the only one worth knowing in all its details. Thirdly, changes in Jewish history required the interpretation of the Law to suit new and unexpected occasions. Scribes were the only ones to decide what was legal. Hence, two kinds of law arose, namely, legislative law and court law or case law. This meant that the Law of Moses and its scribal interpretation, or tradition, existed side by side; and practically tradition in many cases nullified the Law promulgated by Ezra and Nehemiah.9 4. The Scribes of the Pharisees In the struggle with Hellenism the purpose of the Scribes was laudable. It was their aim to keep Israel separate from the Gentile world, by remind ing Jews of the Law and its requirements. Since they defended the Law, the issue of the Maccabean revolt intensified their love for it. They studied it with joy. It became the more sacred because so many had died for it. It was symbol of patriotism as well as of religion. They spent nights as well as days in study of it. They copied it with painstak- •Mark 7 • 6-13, Teaching of the Scribes 33 ing care; they counted its words; they compared phrase with phrase, finding profound significance in every variation; they noted every suggestion that could be made to bear on external conduct; they composed Psalms in praise of it. " O, how I love thy Law ! " is the exultant cry of a pious scribe ; and another deems it " sweeter than honey or the honey comb." Such enthusiasm for the sacred Scriptures, com bined with respect for their learning, and depen dence on them for judicial decisions in almost every act of daily life, gave the Scribes great authority over the people. The rabbis of Jesus' day were the practical arbiters in the secular and religious life of the masses. In spite of their social arrogance, their greed for money, their casuistry, their love of honor, their formalism and literalism, their authority was accepted, but it was a conventional authority be cause of their association with a nobler authority, the Law of Moses. It was " the authority of Scribes " who knew Scripture texts and the tradi tions of the Fathers. Scribal study of the Law was a misdirected search.10 But the thinking of the Scribes was not cast in one mold. There were di verse opinions that led to marked practical social cleavage. Political events inevitably occasioned other currents in religious thought than Scribism on its legal and ceremonial side. On the reorganization of the Jewish community in Jerusalem after the exile interest centered in the temple. The priesthood was substituted for the mon archy. Around it gathered feelings of patriotism. As years passed the high priest acquired prestige ">,Tobn 5 ; 39, 34 What Jesus Taught and power. He was the personal symbol of national independent existence. But the office of high priest was often held by Hellenizers, who were political adventurers. Early in the second century before Christ the high-priestly family was specially corrupt. It offended the moral sense of the people and alien ated the legalistic Chasidim. There was no bright future for the people in the continuation of such a rule. The supporters of the existing political situation were Scribes lax in morals and liberal in religion, time-serving aristocrats and opportunists, the thoroughgoing Sadducees of later times as por trayed in the New Testament. Again, there were those whose ideals were fash ioned by the Prophets and by the devotional Psalms rather than by the Law and its ritualistic interpret ers. They nourished their faith by contemplating the righteous character of Jehovah and the certainty of the fulfilment of his promises to punish the wicked. They looked for a better future, secured not by con formity to priestly ritual, nor by political opportun ism, nor by any civilization however cultured, but by direct supernatural intervention of Jehovah him self, or mediated through a vicegerent. They were pessimistic about the " present age," very optimistic about the future. They earnestly longed for "the day " when Jehovah would burn away dross like fire and eat away impurities like lye; for in their con ception the Day of Jehovah would be great and ter- tible.11 This group of Scribes may be called Apoca- lyptists, since they believed that the kingdom of God would be established by direct unveiling of his power and of his righteous wrath upon the ungodly. "Mal. 4 : 1, 5, Teaching of the Scribes 35 Maccabean successes apparently justified the loyalty of the Chasidim to the Law, revived national hope, and excited the imagination of the Apocalyp- tists. Their writings range from about 200 B. C. to 100 A. D., and are noteworthy contributions to Jew ish religious thought. They represent a legalistic Judaism of a popular type. They are patriotic and therefore nationalistic; morally earnest and there fore individualistic; confident of Jehovah's right eous government of the world and therefore sure of the final triumph of the righteous. Inspired by religious and patriotic impulses, they wrote to en courage their persecuted and dispirited country men. These writings have been aptly called " tracts for hard times." Their writers were influenced by contact with the wider world due to the conquests of Cyrus and Alexander. They consciously or uncon sciously gathered their material from Old Testament prophecy, and from Babylonian and Persian and Greek sources, and fashioned it so as to enforce the beliefs: (1) in a fierce conflict between good and evil; (2) that the world is now in the possession of the evil power; (3) that evil will ultimately be over come by a cataclysmic display of Jehovah's power ; (4) in an intermediate state for the dead where there are moral distinctions; (5) in resurrection of the dead accompanied by the final judgment on the basis of character fashioned during life in the flesh. These beliefs, however, were variously coordi nated and there was quite a variety of views upon details. In sharp contrast with the Apocalyptists were the Zealots. They were too impatient to wait for an 36 What Jesus Taught ultimate good in some unknown future which God alone will bring. They were thorough nationalists, who resented foreign political domination and the opportunism of Sadducees and the attitude of non- resistance of Pharisees that cared little for political freedom, provided they were privileged to maintain their religious beliefs and ceremonies. They were eager for a revolution, if necessary, in order to secure national freedom. To them civil and religious lib erty were inseparable. They could not see how they could serve God without fear, in holiness and right eousness before him all their days, unless they were delivered out of the hands of their enemies.12 They were intensely patriotic and intensely loyal to the Law also. Some of Jesus' followers came from this group, and were eager to use the sword to secure their purposes. It was the Zealots who precipitated the war with Rome which culminated in the destruc tion of Jerusalem in 70 A. D. An extreme current of thought in another direc tion is illustrated by the Essenes. These were pos sibly descendants of the Chasidim priests who fled to the desert at the time of the Maccabean revolt.13 They protested against Hellenism in all its forms, and emphasized their separateness from ceremonial defilement by elaborate symbolic washings and by wearing a peculiar dress. They formed themselves into communities somewhat monastic in form. They have been quite fairly described as " the mystics of Judaism with a dash of Persian astrology and Greek philosophy and the asceticism of some of the other mystery-religions." They represent ceremonial " Phariseeism in the superlative." 14 u Cf. Luke 1 : 74f. w 1 Mace. 2 : 27. " Schiirer. Teaching of the Scribes 37 Since they emphasized the simple, non-combatant life, they had no sympathy with the Zealots, and they were not excited by the wars and rumors of wars of certain Apocalyptists. Their influence on contemporary life was their protest against polit ical turbulency and temple ritual. They made no positive contribution to faith and practise. 5. Some Teachings of the Scribes Illustrated It is necessary to state only a few of the doctrines of the Scribes current when Jesus became a public teacher, in order to contrast his conceptions with the rabbinic theology. (1) Doctrine of God The attributes of God most emphasized were his unity and his holiness, unity in opposition to the polytheism of the Gentiles, and holiness in opposi tion to contact with ceremonial defilement. The primitive idea of holiness as separateness displaced the prophetic idea of holiness as moral purity. He was " holy " in the sense that he is the direct an tithesis to the world and all that it contains. He was so far removed from man, that the void between him and the earth he created and ruled was filled with angels and demons that were his agents for accom plishing his purposes of good and evil. He was so holy that it was a sin to speak his name. This doctrine of holiness had practical evil effects. The priestly statutes requiring purification were re ligious, and were intended to educate the people in moral cleanliness. That is, the symbol existed not for itself, but for the truth symbolized; but it is easy to confound the enactment with the principle 38 What Jesus Taught embodied in enactments, to identify the rite with the truth declared in the rite. The Jews made this blunder, and confused the sinful with the levit- ically unclean. Since ceremonial purity was re quired before access to God was possible, they em phasized the external act rather than the disposition of mind which the external act figured ; and as God's holiness put him far away from sin, it was fancied that it put him far away from the ceremonially un clean. Hence, the utmost care was taken to prevent defilement, and each hour was filled with dread lest defilement come by disease or by contact with un clean persons and things. While emphasis on God's holiness tended to put him beyond the reach of man, yet the remembrance of Old Testament predictions concerning Israel's glory and Jehovah's ultimate purpose to punish wicked Israelites and to destroy the godless heathen, and also the true religious feeling of dependence and need of divine favor saved the nation from philosoph ical deism and practical infidelity. Man's religious interests demand that God possess other attributes than those that separate him from the sinful; and devout Jews did not fail to note the Old Testament passages that speak of grace as the basis of the covenant and the prophetic assurances that Jehovah is ever ready to forgive national and individual sins. Pious Jews believed that God specially guided his covenant people ; 15 that he exercises general provi dence over the affairs of men, so as to exalt or de base ; 16 and that he is kind to those in distress,17 especially to those who fear him.18 »Luke 1 : 51, 68-79; 2 : 32. "Luke 1 : 58. M Luke 1 : 51-53. M Luke 1 • 50. Teaching of the Scribes 39 (2) Doctrine of the Future The Old Testament gives a variety of conceptions concerning the future of Israel and concerning the mediator of expected blessings. National hopes were centered in a prophet, or in a king, or in a royal priest, or in a suffering servant, or in one like unto a son of man, or in Jehovah himself who "shall come suddenly to his temple." The question arose, What will be the character of the future that has these elements? What the nature of the Deliverer who unites in himself these characteristics? The Jewish endeavor to answer these queries led to speculation concerning the nature and duration of the kingdom, and the time and manner and means of its establishment; and the results of speculation were as varied as the colors of a kaleidoscope. But it came to pass, that that combination was most cherished which reflected the popular wish for the reestablishment of the most glorious period of Is rael's history, just as a child holds the kaleidoscope longest in the position that is most pleasing to the eye. Hence, the prevalent hope was for a dynasty of David that should reign forever. But alongside of this expectation was the belief, not so widely held, that a prophet would appear. Some identified the Prophet with the Messiah ; 19 the great majority thought that the "Prophet" and the "Messiah" were titles of different persons, and applied the former title to the Forerunner, and reserved the latter for him who should be kingly mediator of divine judgment and salvation. That two persons were expected is put beyond doubt by the disciples' '•Acts 3 : 22. 44) What Jesus Taught question, "Why say the scribes that Elijah must first come? " Jesus answered: The scribes are right; Elijah indeed comes first, and restores all things.20 This restoration was deemed necessary, because of the disorders which were expected to precede the coming of the Messiah. The thought that happiness must follow pain as of a woman in travail is ex pressed by Hosea; and probably Hosea suggested to the rabbis the notion of the travail of tha Mes siah. The writers of the Sibylline Oracles,21 Second Maccabees,22 Fourth Ezra,23 Book of Jubilees, and Apocalypse of Baruch 2* seem to vie with each other in depicting the agonizing terrors preceding the brighter day. Nature will cease to act normally, for sun and moon will exchange places in times of shin ing, troops of men and horses will march in the clouds, and famine, war, and earthquake will devas tate the earth. There will be suspension of moral law also, for there will be hate in the family, an archy in the state, and decay in religion. While it was believed that such confusion must give birth to the Messiah, yet it seemed impossible for him to come until order had been restored. Hence, arose the belief in the coming of Elijah to " turn the heart of the fathers to the children and the heart of the children to their fathers." But the advent of the Messiah was not the cen tral idea in Israel's hope. He was valued only as Jehovah's agent to usher in the " good time com ing " ; for God himself must be king of Israel. The writer of the Psalter of Solomon boasts : 25 18-23 ; 9 . 1-12 ; 13 29-31. M Mark 9 : llf. =• 5 : 1-13 ; 6 » 3 : 795-807 ; 3*70 : 2-8. "5 : 2, 3. »17 . 1, 3. Teaching of the Scribes 41 Lord, thou alone art our king forever and ever. . . We hope in God our Saviour, because the power of our God is with mercy forever. So that the phrase " kingdom of God " sums up all the expectations of Israel. The phrase is found in the Sibylline Oracles, Psalter of Solomon, Tobit, Song of the Three Children, Wisdom of Solomon, and Assumption of Moses, and it means such a rule of God over Israel as will bring the gentiles into subjection to his authority. It is so understood in the Psalter of Solomon,26 " And the kingdom of our God is over the heathen in judgment forever " ; and the Book of Enoch 27 represents Jehovah as coming in person to judge the Jews and the nations. The Assumption of Moses does not mention the Messiah, but graphically portrays Jehovah coming in wrath to punish the nations and to exalt Israel. The pre vailing belief, however, was that the Messiah would be the one to execute vengeance on the wicked, and thus be God's instrument in establishing the king dom. The Psalter of Solomon 28 regards the reign of God and the reign of a Davidic king equivalent ideas. According to the general view, then, the judgment of Jehovah and the advent of the Messiah are synchronous events, i. e., the judgment inaugu rates the Messianic reign. (3) Religious Life Since doctrine and life are indissolubly connected, the shema, the Jewish confession of faith, not only gives the fundamental beliefs of the people, but also reflects their religious life. That this confession must have taken deep root in popular thought may 21 17 4. " Cap. 90. " 17 : 1-51. D 42 What Jesus Taught be inferred from the fact that it was recited twice each day by every adult male Israelite. It consists of the passages Deuteronomy 6 : 4-9; 11 : 13-21; and Numbers 15 : 37-41. The creed may be briefly paraphrased as follows : a. The God of Israel is one who redeemed the nation from bondage, and who therefore requires its undivided love and demands constant meditation upon his commandments. 6. Love for the one God, obedience to him, and faith fulness in teaching his precepts condition national prosperity, c. The commandments of Jehovah, the redeeming God, must be held in memory by aid of certain mementoes. Inevitably such a creed made the written Law the spring of all religious activity. In conduct little depended on the motive, but much on the legality of an act. In Pharisaic Judaism free play of personality in morals and worship had no place. Externality in worship is a vice inherent in human nature, illustrated in preexilic Hebraism in the act of sacrifice, the most significant act of worship demanded by the Old Testament, and in postexilic Judaism by making the Law the touchstone by which men knew they were honoring God. As soon as the relation between God and Israel was conceived to be a legal relation, that is, a relation determined by law, there arose the danger of obeying the letter rather than the spirit. The danger became an ac tuality, for in practise every act was done accord ing to an express statute. To know how devoid of piety was legal Judaism we need but recall the fact that the scribes have given us no exposition of the Ten Commandments. They bent their energies to decide what medicines might be legally taken on Sab- Teaching of the Scribes 43 bath days, what constituted a Sabbath day's jour ney, how heavy burdens might be carried on holy days, and other such trifling matters. Their prayers were not the outbursts of a heart craving com munion with God, but were fixed formulas, and these were said at stated times and in well-defined ways. There can be no vital piety when laws regulate the matter, the manner, and the times of prayer. But it is shallow to suppose that the Old Testa ment revelation occasioned Pharisaism only. On the contrary, such character as was revealed in Zechariah, Simeon, Joseph, Nathanael, Elizabeth, Anna, and Mary was the direct fruit of the Law and the Prophets. In Pharisaism itself we find Nico demus, an earnest inquirer after truth ; Gamaliel, a tolerant interpreter of human actions ; Saul of Tar sus hungering and thirsting after righteousness. The Gospels tell of one young man of wealth and social position, who won the love of Jesus because of his exemplary moral worth and because of his ear nest quest after eternal life ; 29 and they disclose an other who had read the prophets to such good pur pose, that he anticipated Christ in ranking love to God and man superior to the current Pharisaic no tion of righteousness by works.30 This rapid survey of Jewish theology shows that, while Jesus had much to antagonize him, enough indeed to compass his death, he also had much to encourage, for there were devout ones waiting for the consolation of Israel, and burdened ones ready to respond to One who had the grace and the power to say, " Come to me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." » Mark 10 : 17-22. » Luke 10 25-28. IV TEACHING OF JOHN THE BAPTIST 1. Political Background The rivalry of Mithridates, king of Pontus, with Rome for control in Asia Minor occasioned a pro> longed war which ended in the victory by Pompey, who in 64 B. C. made Pontus a Roman province. He then invaded Syria and within a very brief time added it to the number of Roman provinces. Rival ries of Hyrcanus and Aristobulus for rule in Jeru salem occasioned Pompey's capture of that city in 63 B. C. He made Hyrcanus high priest with the title of ethnarch, not king; limited his territory to Judea; demolished the strongholds and walls of Je rusalem; prescribed an annual tribute to be paid into the Roman treasury; and carried Aristobulus and his sons and thousands of other Jews captive to the imperial city. Palestine was annexed to the province of Syria. Hyrcanus, the high priest ap pointed by Pompey, was a tool of Antipater, a crafty Idumean officer. Factional strifes broke out after Pompey's departure from Judea. During the rapid change of events, Herod, son of Antipater, fled to Rome and was eventually, in 41 B. C, appointed by Antony king of Judea. Herod had the title of king, but no kingdom. Returning to Palestine he raised an army and began the war that issued in the second Roman capture of Jerusalem which, in 37 B. C, gave the Idumean the throne of David. 44 Teaching of John the Baptist 45 Herod the Great, hated by the people, was now their king. The permanent policy of the Herods was stedfast loyalty to the Roman power, not to individual Roman generals. Hence, from the days of Antipater and Pompey until the days of Agrippa II in 100 A. D., a Herod was ruling in the East almost continuously. Whatever generals were supreme, whether Pompey, or Caesar, or Antony, or Octavian, or Augustus, the Herods were loyal. Herod ruled from 37-4 B. C. He extended the territory. Nominally Judea was in dependent. Their ruler had the title king. He was an ally of Rome, not a subject. The Jews had a large measure of self-government. Herod acted as a buffer between the people and unprincipled Roman governors of Syria. Jerusalem had not in its his tory such peace and prosperity and prestige as under Herod. It is not a misnomer to call him Herod the Great. Nevertheless, he impersonated all that was offensive to patriotic and morally respectable Jews. At his death in 4 B. C. Herod willed Judea to Archelaus (4 B. C.-6 A. D.), with title of king; to Philip, the districts northeast of Galilee, with title of tetrarch (4 B. C.-34 A. D.) ; to Antipas, Galilee and Perea, with the title of tetrarch (4 B. C.-37 A. D.). 2. Contemporary Situation The tragic position of the Jewish people just pre ceding the birth of John the Baptist may be visual ized more distinctly, if some contemporary events in the year Jerusalem was captured by Pompey be kept in mind. In 63 B. C, the future Caesar Augus tus was born, Catiline conspired against the Roman 46 What Jesus Taught government, Cicero was elected consul, and Julius Csesar was made Pontifex Maximus. The Roman Republic was in its death-struggles; the Empire was suffering its birth-pangs. The prov inces and so-called allied kings were drained of men and money to gratify the ambitions of rival poli ticians. Judea was caught in this maelstrom of world-wide turbulence and revolution. It was not very difficult for any one that promised a better future to secure a following. Conditions could not be much worse; they might be better. Many were eager to take the risk, especially if the venture might end in release from Rome. 3. Expectation of a Prophet To many the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 B. C, and the capture of Jerusalem by Pompey in 63 B. C. seemed to prove that neither the king nor the priest was God's Messianic agent in national salvation. They read their history afresh and discovered the value of the old prophets as guides in national life. It seemed to them that the most evident proof of God's anger with Israel was the cessation of prophecy. And there was great tribulation in Israel, such as was not since the time that no prophet appeared unto them.1 They were sure too that God had not abandoned his people but that a prophet would succeed the priestly rule. The Jews and the priests *were well pleased that Simon should be their leader and high priest for ever, until there should arise a faithful prophet.2 1 1 Mace. 9 : 27. 2 1 Mace. 14 : 41. Teaching of John the Baptist 47 In the future, prophetic counsel will again guide them in national crises. And they pulled down the altar, and laid up the stones in the mountain of the house in a convenient place, until there should come a prophet to give an answer concerning them.' The hope of a prophet had justification in the Law,* and was evidently the expectation of the Samar itans,5 although it was not confined to them.6 4. Reasons for Public Interest in John's Ministry It is easy to get a false perspective in picturing John's activity, for it is overlooked that the account of his ministry condenses at least a year's work into a few verses. The words, " And there went out unto him all the country of Judea, and all they of Jerusalem," sum up the results of months touring in the valley of the Jordan, rather than describe throngs that crowded him daily. During a long ministry, people came singly and in groups, some few in number, some larger; but in the aggregate they may be described as multitudes.7 Neverthe less, the question arises, Why were any of the Jews interested in John especially? Recall the expecta tion of a prophet and the popular discontent under Roman rule. The moment John appeared with his hairy mantle and leathern girdle, he claimed to be a prophet, by putting on the prophetic dress.8 His manner of life in the wilderness and his fiery, ve hement speech reminded them of the great reformer Elijah. Then, too, his message, " Repent, for the 2 1 Mace. 4 : 46. * John 6 : 14 ; Acts 3 ¦ 22. ' Deut. 18 : 15-18. ' Luke 3 : 7. i John 4 : 25. /2 Kings 1 • 8 ; Zech. 13 • 4. 48 What Jesus Taught kingdom of heaven is at hand," at once found re sponse in all who " were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem." No wonder there was a great social ferment, and inhabitants from many villages in Judea and Galilee sought him on the banks of the Jordan. No wonder priestly officials from Jeru salem became uneasy, and asked : 9 Who art thou? Art thou Elijah? Art thou the prophet? Art thou the Christ? 5. Moral Quality of John's Message The ethical character of John's message suggested to the morally earnest the prophetic function. He came " in the way of righteousness." His mission was that of Micah : I am full of power by the Spirit of Jehovah, and of judg ment and of might, to declare unto Jacob his transgression, and to Israel his sin. All about him were immorality and irreligion. If he visited the temple, he found priests greedy for gain and f ormalistic in worship ; if he went to the synagogue, he found scribes quarreling about inter pretations of the sacred book, and creating arti ficial consciences by making socially harmless con duct sinful ; if he walked through the towns, he saw soldiers ruffianly plundering and blackmailing; if he passed a custom house, he beheld extortion and forgery ; if he mingled with the crowds, he saw those that had more than enough look with indifference upon the starving and the insufficiently clothed ; if he heard of news from the royal court, it was of drunk enness and incest and adultery ; if he sought solitude 'John 1 : 19-22, Teaching of John the Baptist 49 in the wilderness, he met Essenes, despairing of righteousness. In this moral desert he was not alone, for God was with him. His voice he heard — a voice calling to repentance. He rebuked iniquity in all, from the despised publican to the flattered king; he denounced Pharisaic self-complacency and un ethical standards. John knew himself to be in the line of succession of the prophets of old and in harmony with those rabbis that taught that repen tance must precede the coming of God's kingdom. Jesus pronounced him a prophetic messenger with out a rival. 6. Apocalyptic Quality of John's Message Almost certainly the announcement of the king dom's nearness had greater attractive power than the demand for repentance. Just because the phrase kingdom of God conveyed varying meanings to dif ferent groups, its approach brought gladness to all, for each interpreted it to be the realization of his own hope. It contained the good news of a social state in which there will be no ills arising from ir religion, immorality, or natural phenomena. In this coming kingdom political and moral good were con joined, but not in the same manner in the minds of all. Some thought more of political emancipation and regarded it as an end in itself; others dwelt largely on the moral purity that would result from civil freedom. " Salvation from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us " may be taken as the rallying cry of the former ; " rescued from the hands of our enemies, to serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him all our days," as the watchword of the latter, 50 What Jesus Taught No doubt, the more devout expected salvation in the remission of their sins, both national and indi vidual, but the vast majority emphasized the po litical aspect of the expected deliverance, and John's proclamation aroused interest and attention. Espe cially was this true of Pharisaic officials and teach ers who prided themselves on national separation from Gentiles. They believed in the narrow par ticularistic view of the kingdom that limited it to the descendants of Abraham. Even relatively teach able Jews, who followed John closely as disciples, held this opinion. Peter after the death of Jesus limited the Spirit's activity to Jews, for " all that are afar off " mentioned in Acts 2 : 39 are evidently children of Abraham scattered far from Jerusalem geographically and not Gentiles far from the moral standards of Judaism.10 But the great majority saw no moral significance in John's baptism, and so vir tually repudiated his doctrine of repentance. He denied the national character of the coming king dom, and taught its individualistic or moral char acter. Its members must have Abraham's faith, not Abraham's blood. They must be penitents whose sins have been forgiven and abandoned.11 John did not preach a revolution, either social or political. He did not announce an equality of states or of persons. He demanded that each class should abandon its prevailing sins. The extortionate must abandon avaricious oppression; soldiers must cease intimidation and blackmail; those that possessed something must give to those that possessed noth ing.12 By concrete example, the new prophet en forced the general principle that love for others MCf. Acts 10 : 1. "Mark 1 : 4. "Luke 3 ; 10-14. Teaching of John the Baptist 51 will put an end to poverty, oppression, brutality, and all other social disorders. The motive for repentance is a certainty of judg ment which is as near as though a woodsman were measuring his blow to strike, or had laid his ax at the root of a tree marked for destruction while he makes further inspection of the orchard before re turning to take up the ax to cut down the doomed tree.13 The judgment comes upon Israelites as well as Gentiles, since it is morally discriminating. In this John proclaims nothing essentially new. His view is that of the Old Testament prophets- and the morally discerning rabbis of his own time. The absolutely new element in his proclamation was the authoritative announcement of the nearness of the judgment. However, the Aramaic word for " near " used by him may have the Hebraic significance of certainty rather than proximity. It is more im portant for morals that one be assured of inevitable- ness of consequence of conduct, than that conse quences be immediate. Probably new also is the union of the Messianic idea with the punitive wrath of Jehovah. In the Old Testament the Messiah administers laws within the kingdom after it has been established by Jeho vah. He is not represented as inaugurating the kingdom by judicial decision. But this is what John declares the Coming One will do. He will purge Israel by consuming the wicked with a bap tism of fire.1* The Jewish nation, his threshing- floor, will be cleansed by thorough sifting. The un repentant will be destroyed, and the repentant will be gathered into his kingdom.15 Whether the puni- "Matt. 3 : 10. "Matt. 3 : 11. "Matt. 3-12; Luke 3 : 17. 52_ What Jesus Taught tive wrath of the Messiah is an original idea with John depends on the date of the parts of the Book of Enoch that contain the same conceptions; for example : He caused the sinners and those who have led the world astray to pass away and be destroyed from off the face of the earth.". . . And the word of his mouth slew al] the sinners, and all unrighteous were destroyed before his face.1' Another relatively new note in John's preaching is the conception of the Holy Spirit as the in strument with which, or the sphere in which, the Coming One works. In the prophecy of Joel, the pouring out of the Spirit is the work of Jehovah himself and is associated with the coming of the great and terrible day.18 The use of the word spirit as a possession of Jehovah, for example, " the spirit of Jehovah," rather than the use of the unqualified proper name " Jehovah," is due to the increasing tendency to exalt him above the world, and to think of him as acting in the world mediately rather than immediately. It is the Jewish way of expressing the two facts of transcendence and immanence. The phrase " Spirit of Jehovah " pictures God as actively at work in the material world and in history. Hence, every person signally efficient in any work whatso ever is said to be " filled with the Spirit." Accord ingly, the Messianic descendant of Jesse is equipped for service by " the Spirit of Jehovah." 19 That is, God is to work in and through him. It is but an extension of this conception for John to describe the Coming One as having such unique power as to » Enoch 69 : 27. » Joel 2 : 28-32. " Enoch 62-2. * Isa. 11 ¦ 2f. Teaching of John the Baptist 53 be the source of the Spirit's activities, rather than its object. It is in effect to exalt the Messianic messenger. For it conceives the Coming One as immediately at work in Israel's history as though it were Jehovah himself. He will effect in reality what John does only ceremonially and symbolically. The Baptizer with water can only demand repentance and em phasize necessity by thorough washing by immer sion, and the one baptized signifies his penitence and his need of cleansing by submitting to the rite, and thus shows himself ready for the kingdom's coming. The Baptizer with the Holy Spirit actually accom plishes within the kingdom what the penitent de sires. Sins are removed, and righteousness actually received. Joel's prediction concerned the extension of the prophetic gift within Israel. He looked for ward to the time when as a result of Jehovah's abun dant activity in Israel not only a class known as prophets would be the recipients of revelation, but all citizens of the commonwealth, young and old, bond and free. Such a moral revolution is analogous to such disturbances in nature as excite awe and dread. John intimates nothing of this; but his teaching concerning the function of the Coming One in granting the Holy Spirit and the work of Jesus was so manifestly directed to the realization of Joel's prophecy, that a disciple of both John and Jesus saw in the happenings of the Day of Pentecost a fulfilment of the outlook of both Joel and John. Through the One whom John announced as near, Israelites of both sexes and without distinction of class at once knew that Jehovah had forgiven sins and worked in them the power to work righteous- 54 What Jesus Taught ness. As giver of the Holy Spirit Jesus the Naza rene was attested to be the exalted Messiah.20 7. Teaching of John According to John's Gospel The new prophet that had so suddenly announced himself had occasion to deny that he was either the Messiah, or Elijah returned to earth, or the nameless prophet expected by many,21 but a voice calling his countryman to repentance and thus to prepare for the reign of God.22 He was simply the bridegroom's friend whose privilege and joy it was to woo the Jew ish people to become the bride of the Coming One.23 The bridegroom will soon arrive. His own ministry of baptism is evidence of his near approach and of his own desire to have the nation purify themselves to meet him.2* John's testimony to the person of the Messiah is more explicit than in the Synoptic Gospels, but in no. way out of harmony with his declarations there. Nevertheless there is the possibility that the writer is unconsciously retro jecting some of his own convic tions acquired later into the preaching of the Fore runner. Every statement of John the Baptist, how ever, has its notes in earlier Jewish literature, even if the ideas expressed were not generally current in his own day. To some of his own immediate follow ers, he pointed out the recently baptized Jesus as one having a unique relation to God, especially desig nated for an appointed work.25 In harmony with his conviction of the sinfulness of the nation and the mission of the Messiah to remove it and his 20 Acts 2 : 33. *» John 3 • 29. 21 John 1 : 19-21. 24 John 1 : 27-33. 32 John 1 : 23. ^John 1 : 34. Teaching of John the Baptist 55 fate in doing so, he declares that Jesus will share the lot of the suffering Servant of Isaiah, who is as a lamb bruised for Israel's iniquity. The suffering will result in removal of sin.26 He is qualified by the equipment of the Holy Spirit to grant to peni tents the same glad privileges of the Spirit's cleans ing power.27 The Messiah whom John introduced is so superior to himself, and so essential for the accomplishment of God's purpose that he conceives him to have been preterrestrial in existence.28 John's conviction that he himself was a prophet announcing the nearness of the kingdom of God and the conditions of entrance is attested by his state ment that his knowledge of the person and work of the Messiah had been given him by revelation.29 20 John 1 : 29. "John 1 : 33. 28 John 1 : 15. "John 1 : 33. PART II TEACfflNG OF JESUS ACCORDING TO THE SYNOPTIC GOSPELS V WHAT JESUS TAUGHT CONCERNING THE KING 1. The Interpreter's Problem and Method Neither John nor Jesus defined the phrase "the kingdom of God." They used it as an instrument for teaching, but they did not regard it in the same way. Certainly an average Jew did not have an early Christian's conception,1 For the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. The question is, What did Jesus mean when he used the term? Two methods of approach to the problem are pos sible: First, collect all the passages in which the expression occurs ; group the passages, according to their teaching concerning the beginning, duration, nature of the kingdom; then formulate a compre hensive statement that will include all the facts. Secondly, break up the complex concept kingdom into its component ideas, namely, king, subjects, laws, history ; ascertain what Jesus taught concern ing each of these separately; tabulate the results, and state in as brief a way as possible a definition of a kingdom that has the qualities ascribed to its king, to its subjects, and to its method of administra tion. Matt. 21 : 42. 81 Mark 12 : 35-37. 82 Rom. 1:3; Heb. 7 : 14. VII WHAT JESUS TAUGHT CONCERNING THE WORK OF THE VICEGERENT 1. The Nature of His Work Jesus defined his work in the words, "I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God." In the course of his ministry he defined more exactly the nature of the kingdom by stating what he came to do and what he did not come to do. It was not his mission to assume sovereignty over the political di visions of the world,1 nor act as arbitrator in the distribution of property.2 It was his work to heal the morally sick,3 to seek the lost,* to invite sinners to repentance,5 and to give peace to burdened con sciences by announcing the forgiveness of sins.6 He did this, because he alone knew the fatherly heart of God and knew the Father's redemptive purposes toward the weary and heavy-laden. The intimate relation between Father and Son made the invitation inevitable : T Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke on you, and learn from me; because I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest for your souls. 1Matt. 4 : 8-11. 2 Luke 12 : 14. * Mark 2 : 17. •Matt. 5 : 24 ; Luke 19 : 10. 8 Matt. 9 : 13; Mark 2 : 17. « Luke 7 : 47-50. 'Matt. 11 : 28-30. G 89 90 What Jesus Taught 2. Means of Accomplishing His Work (1) Teaching Jesus necessarily had prophetic work to do, for he was compelled to interpret the nature of the king dom of God and vindicate his method of establishing it. He outranked the Old Testament prophets, for his invitation to repent was not merely a demand for righteousness, but was itself a means of effecting repentance. Jesus promised to impart the right eousness he demanded.8 He directly antagonized the Pharisaic teaching that salvation is the re ward for fastings, washings, almsgiving, and sab batic observances, and taught that salvation flows from the immeasurable goodness of God. Such teaching seemed to annul the Law and the Prophets. In consequence the authoritative Teacher had to say : Think not that I came to destroy the law or the prophets: I came not to destroy, but to fulfil. a. Two Attitudes Toward the Old Testament Jesus, then,' assumed both a positive and negative attitude toward the Old Testament revelation. His affirmative position is seen in his constant appeal to its authority, in his rebuke of the scribes for their perversion of its meaning, and in the fact that he held himself amenable to its requirements both in teaching and conduct. So certain was he of the perpetual validity of the law, that he asserted that his own position in the kingdom of God was con ditioned by his obedience to one of the least com mandments.9 8 Matt. 5 : 6; 11 : 28-30. »Matt. 5 . 1-19. Concerning the Work of the Vicegerent 91 His negative position is illustrated in the declara tion that the Mosaic enactment concerning divorce did not adequately declare God's will ; in the revolu tionary statement : There is nothing from without the man, that going unto him can defile him: but the things which proceed out of the man are those that defile the man ; and in the bold claim to be more authoritative than Moses.10 The question arises, How could Jesus fulfil the Law, and at the same time depart from its precepts? The answer lies in what Jesus believed himself to be. Before he could pass judgment on the value of the Law as a revelation, he had to have some standard of comparison. He believed himself to be the stan dard. He was sure that he knew perfectly well the will of God, and that in himself was the perfect reve lation of God.11 Jesus, then, tested the law by his own knowledge of the Father and discovered that it failed to reveal truly the divine perfections. He who was consciously superior to Moses, Solomon, and Jonah, and who claimed lordship over the Temple and the Sabbath, and who declared himself the judge of human destiny, could without self-contra diction assume authority to pass judgment on the legal literature of his people. But in doing this he did not legislatively abrogate the law. His mission was one of fulfilment, not of legislation; and the fulfilment pertained to the law in its entirety — its civil, ceremonial, and moral enact ments. "Matt. 5 : 20-48. "Matt. 11 : 27. 92 What Jesus Taught b. Meaning of Fulfil as Applied to the Law Jesus used the word " fulfil " in two senses. He fulfilled the law in not breaking it. He pointedly said: Whoever therefore shall break one of these least command ments, and shall teach men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever shall do and teach them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. In this declaration he denies that he is a law-breaker, for certainly he did not think himself least in the kingdom. But to say that Jesus obeyed the Law is to say little, for as a good Jew he obeyed its civil and ritual and moral regulations. Hence while " to fulfil " must mean to obey, it must mean also much more than obedience. Jesus contrasted " I say unto you " with " it was said to those of old." This contrast shows the other meaning that belongs to the word fulfil. The Mosaic legislation was given at a definite time of the world's history, and partook of the limitations in herent in that epoch. It did not express fully the character of God, or reflect the moral conditions of the people to whom it was given. It was enacted as a means of education; hence, it must not be too high nor too low. Too rigid laws beget despair, and too lax legislation is not disciplinary. The histor ically conditioned makes accommodation necessary; accommodation makes fulfilment necessary. As the human race advances, the laws governing it must keep pace. In the process, preceding laws are not simply repealed ; their moral content is taken up and embodied in new enactments. The restatement of Concerning the Work of the Vicegerent 93 the moral principle involved in the old law is a ful filment of the old. When an enacted law hides the principles that led to its enactment, conscience is satisfied only when the moral content is declared to be the standard. This is just what Jesus did. He filled that statute full of the meaning the divine Lawgiver intended, i. e., he fulfilled it. For example, the law forbidding murder under penalty of death was interpreted rightly as referring to homicide, or expressed otherwise, it forbade harboring anger so hot as to impel to manslaughter. Jesus says that a man must not only not be angry enough to kill his fellow man, but he must not be angry enough to call him an empty head or a fool. Thus interpreted, the law forbids angry feeling, not merely the outward mani festation of anger in murder.12 Likewise Jesus fulfilled ceremonial laws by inter preting them. The commandments regarding clean ness and uncleanness were symbolical. They taught the truth that there is no pollution except moral pol lution. Symbolical representation of this truth was necessary, because Israel was unable to appreciate the value of moral purity. Because of the inherent tendency of the human heart, Israel emphasized the symbol, and so missed the purpose of ceremonial cleansing. Now, in the case of symbols and rites sometimes the most effective way to interpret them is to break them. Jesus did this ; he broke the shell in order to bring to light the kernel; he magnified moral defilement by brushing aside that which sim ply shadowed it. Men no longer confound cleansing of the hands with cleansing of the heart, because the "Matt. 5 : 21-26. 94 What Jesus Taught Mosaic ordinances concerning cleansing have ful filled their mission. The law in its entirety, then, Jesus fulfilled, be cause he, as the complete revelation of God, filled to the full the preliminary revelation given in Old Testament legislation. In him "all things were accomplished." The law in statute form passed away, but in its ethical requirements it abides, be cause Jesus Christ abides. c. The Word " Fulfil " as Applied to the Prophets Jesus fulfilled the prophets also. Here the word " fulfil " has as many meanings as the prophet had functions. Since prophets demanded right conduct, he fulfilled them by living the moral and religious life they demanded ; since they were God's servants to preach good tidings to broken-hearted Israel lan guishing in captivity, and so types of the ideal Ser vant, he fulfilled the type by doing in the moral and religious sphere what the prophets did in the political. As Isaiah proclaimed the acceptable year of the Lord to prisoners in Babylon, so Jesus pro claimed liberty in Nazareth to those enslaved in sin, and thus laid bare the real meaning of Isaiah's glad proclamation.13 Again, since prophets predicted the coming of a person who would reign and suffer, their words could be fulfilled only by coming true; that is, there must happen in fact what was promised in word. So Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a royal beast, there by claiming to be the king of Zechariah's predic tion;14 he died and appeared again in glory, and in so doing claimed to be the Christ of the prophets.15 13 Luke 4 . 16-19. « Mark 11 : 1-11. » Luke 24 : 25f. Concerning the Work of the Vicegerent 95 Jesus Christ, then, fulfilled the law and the prophets by being the end for which they existed. The history and literature of the Jewish nation have no meaning apart from him. He fulfilled them, be cause they are filled full of him. (2) Healing Not only by word, but also by deed, Jesus showed the saving benefits of his mission. He healed be cause it was part of his Messianic work.16 a. Function of Healing His miracles served at least three distinct pur poses : First, they attested his person and his work, for they were evidences that God was working through him.17 Secondly, they served as gestures to emphasize his words. He spoke words of grace, and demonstrated by act that he had the compassion he said he had. A notable instance of this is the healing of the leper.18 The leper had good reason to doubt the willingness of Jesus, for his experience had taught him that no man had sympathy for him, but rather shunned him as an unclean thing, under the curse of God. He asks himself, Will this won drous healer treat me as other men do? Jesus dis pelled his doubts by coming into fellowship with him; he touched him. The touch of Jesus demon strated beyond a doubt the " I will." The Saviour's compassionate willingness is exemplified in the act of contact. Thirdly, miracles illustrated the nature of Jesus' work in the spiritual sphere, for relief of 18 Matt. 11 : 15 ; Luke 13 : 32. "Matt. 12 : 28; cf. 11 : 20. "Mark 1 : 41. 96 What Jesus Taught physical distress symbolized the higher good to be enjoyed in the salvation of the soul. To forgive sins was a higher function than to heal the para lytic; the latter is incidental to the former.18 His frequent commands that his miracles should not be noised abroad and his constant refusal to work signs on demand show that Jesus did not regard miracles as ends in themselves. With some truth it may be said that the last two characteristics differ entiate the miracles of Jesus from the miracles of Old Testament prophets and New Testament apostles. As teacher and healer Jesus' work was confined to Palestine. The reason for this concentration of ac tivity is twofold. The Jews alone could understand the terms Jesus used when talking about God, sin, and salvation, for they had learned their meaning by centuries of training. Heathenism could have given no point of contact for Christ's teaching. Again, like a wise instructor he limited the range of his work. He could not cover a wide area effec tively in a short lifetime, because he was compelled to repeat his words often and present the truth from different angles and emphasize his message by per sonal association, in order to impart instruction to men little prepared to receive it. Jesus rigorously maintained this policy of concen tration. He never entered gentile towns to teach, and when his presence in such towns was discovered, he refused to heal the sick, because beyond the sphere of his work.20 During his lifetime he for bade his disciples to work beyond that sphere.21 This, however, was due to the additional reason that » Mark 2 • 1-12. =» Matt. 15 : 24, 21 Matt. 10 : 6. Concerning the Work of the Vicegerent 97 the disciples were disqualified by prejudice and lack of love to bear glad tidings to gentiles and Samar itans. Jesus did not intend that his hearers should un derstand that Israelites alone were the objects of his saving work, for the Old Testament taught dif ferently, and his own requirement of faith as the condition of receiving the good he brought showed that gentiles may share his salvation.22 There can be no geographical or national barriers to salvation when a state of mind and heart is the sole condition of receiving it. Moreover, the illustration of the " Good Samar itan " is proof that Jesus had no sentimental notion of the superior advantage of Israelites; and he ex plicitly stated that the blessedness of the kingdom of heaven will be shared by those outside of the Jew ish nation.23 The marvelous patience and optimism of Jesus are exhibited in the fact that, in spite of the nar rowness of his field of labor and of the dulness of his pupils and indifference of his hearers to moral beauty, he was not discouraged. He was content to secure a suitable basis of operation from which his kingdom could be extended. He was confident that, though small in its beginning, the kingdom of God would attain surprising magnitude.2* (3) Service of Jesus' Death The service of teaching and healing did not ex haust Jesus' mission. His best service was volun tary death for the good of others.25 That he did not 22 Matt. 15 28. 2*Mark 4 : 26-32. 28 Matt 8 : 11. 2S Mark 10 : 45, 98 What Jesus Taught make this service prominent until late in his min istry is no proof that he was ignorant of it in his earlier ministry. On the contrary, he early an nounced the mourning that must follow the sudden snatching away of the bridegroom ; 26 and somewhat later he told his enemies that they would see in his temporary burial a sign of his Messiahship.27 After Peter's confession he openly announced the bloody death awaiting him, and frequently repeated the an nouncement with fuller details.28 He could not be explicit earlier, for he had to win the love of his followers for himself as teacher be fore he could give them unwelcome truth. A suf fering Christ was to them a contradiction in terms ; it was a paradox that repelled. The Teacher that expressed it would have been abandoned, unless the pupils had become attached to him as friend through prior companionship. So Jesus patiently taught them as they were able to bear instruction. Another significant thing is, that Jesus did not emphasize the meaning and purpose of his death as his apostles did after the resurrection. This fact, too, is to be accounted for by the necessity of the case; for it would have been useless to talk about the purpose of a fact when the fact itself was dis believed. How could the disciples have any com prehension of the purpose of Jesus' death, when they could not believe that he would die? When his death became a fact in history, then they were in a position to measure its significance. From the very first, they conceived the death of Christ in con- 28 Mark 2 : 20. 27 Matt. 12 : 39f. 28 Matt. 17 . 22 ; 20 : 17-19, 28 ; 26 : 2, 12, 24. Concerning the Work of the Vicegerent 99 nection with human sin.29 Paul did not " think out " the saving significance of Christ's death, for he got the doctrine from others ; and the short time elapsing between the crucifixion of Jesus and the conversion of Paul will not permit the supposition that Peter, James, or John constructed a philosophy of the facts of their Master's life, death, and resurrection in re lation to God and man, unless they are credited with powers of imagination and abstract thought not discoverable in what is told of them in the Gos pels. We are then led to ask, whether there is not a genetic connection between the teaching of Jesus and the preaching of his apostles, and whether the sayings of Jesus do not preserve some teaching on the significance of his death. The death of Jesus was unique ; never before was there such a death. It was not suicide committed in a moment of despair, but a gift of free love for the undeserving. It was not an accident, nor such a death as may come in the ordinary providence of God. It was not a national calamity, like the death of Josiah or the execution of John the Bap tist; nor was it simply a martyrdom for the truth, such as he demanded of his followers. No doubt, there is truth in the statement that Jesus died as a martyr for the sake of righteousness, for rather than deny his teaching he suffered, and he expressly said that in so doing he would meet a prophet's fate;30 but it is also true that his constant asser tion that he was under divine necessity to die,81 and that his death was in accord with God's purpose as revealed in the Old Testament,82 and his conscious- » 1 Cor. 15 : 3. « Matt. 16 : 21 ; 26 : 31, 42. » Luke 13 : 33. sa Matt. 26 : 54, 56 ; Luke 22 : 37. 100 What Jesus Taught ness of being of so much value that his life was an equivalent to the life of many 83 show that his death cannot be thought of as the result of a martyr's holy enthusiasm for truth. Again, Jesus' death is distinguished from that of an ordinary martyr in that he died for love to man, rather than for love of truth. It is comparatively easy to yield life for what one believes to be the truth ; it is difficult to die deliberately for the advan tage of another ; it is common to normal men to love right in the abstract, but is exceptional to love men well enough to make them right in conduct; it is not often that a friend dies for a friend, but Jesus died for sinners. If, then, he be ranked with martyrs, he must be considered unique among them, and so unique as to demand explanation. The first unique fact in Jesus' death, then, is that it was of specific divine appointment, in accordance with God's predetermined purpose; the second unique fact is that Jesus deliberately gave what it was in his power to keep. He had only to make request of the Father, and legions of angels would have hastened to his rescue, but he did not.3* The third unique fact is that he knew himself to be worth all he came to rescue.85 (4) Heavenly Activity The Vicegerent's activity did not cease with his removal from earth by violence.. He knew that after death he would meet his disciples for further in struction.89 88 Mark 10 : 45. & Mark 10 : 45. "Matt. 26 : 53. "Matt. 26 • 32. VIII WHAT JESUS TAUGHT CONCERNING THE SUBJECTS OF THE KINGDOM The aim of Jesus was to bring men into submis sion to the King, that God's will may be done on earth as it is done in heaven. To do this he fur nished motives sufficiently strong to induce the dis obedient and rebellious to submit their wills to the will of the Father. The truths presented were: First, Man is worth redeeming ; secondly, Man needs a redeemer ; thirdly, Man's redemption is possible. 1. The Worth of Man Jesus assumed that a little reflection would lead men to act as if they were worth more than the sensuous things that surround them. He constantly addresses them as though they knew that they had relations with the supersensuous and divine. Man's true self continues when the body has perished.1 It is the unseen world alone that holds treasures that can reward man's noblest endeavors.2 Man outweighs the kingdoms of the world with all their glory, for the immortal self after death either enjoys the companionship of Jesus and of the blessed,3 or suffers a descent so sad and awful as to 1 Matt. 10 : 28 ; Luke 12 : 13-21. 2 Matt. 6 : 9-21. 8 Luke 23 : 43. 101 102 What Jesus Taught be described by the tender Jesus as a place of tor menting flame and unquenchable thirst.* Christ ex pected that the moral constitution of man would give but one answer to the question, What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? He was confident that the answer would be, Nothing. Jesus taught that God values not only humanity as a social whole, but every individual member of the race, however weak and insignificant. The one erring sheep engrosses the shepherd's attention more than the entire flock safely folded.6 So pre cious in God's sight is one of the little ones that be lieve that sure and disgraceful death cannot mea sure the doom awaiting those that cause him to stumble.8 A single sinner that repents occasions joy in the presence of the King and his attendants.7 On the subject of man's value, as on every sub ject, Christ's activity illustrated and emphasized his words. He not only said that men were dear to him, but he also acted as if they were. He did not scorn the people, because they knew not the law, but " was moved with compassion for them, because they were harassed, and scattered, as sheep having no shepherd." He delighted to come into closest intimacy with political and social outcasts.8 In other words, he treated the poor, the ignorant, the de praved as though they were worth something, and they responded to his estimate and became conscious of possessing moral value. They sought companion ship with a Teacher that respected them. The Phy sician healed them by making them feel the joy of •Luke 16 : 19-24. ' Luke 15 : : 10. "Matt. 18 : 12f. • Luke 15 : 1-32. 8 Matt. 18 : 6. Concerning the Subjects of the Kingdom 103 self-respect, for self-respect saves from degradation and furnishes a worthy ideal. In imagination the self-respecting man sees the ideally possible, and the effort to become like his idealized self is abandon ment of the actual self. It is no wonder that fisher men and publicans gladly left all to follow One who had given them some idea of their worth ; no wonder that women of the city were lifted from lives of public shame when they discovered One who invited them to associate with him in purity. Christ's conduct naturally alienated the socially re spectable and stirred them to hositility ; but he cared nothing for conventional customs of society, nor for theological opinions sanctioned by generations of re ligious teachers, if by disregarding them he could put man in his rightful place. He therefore seemed to delight to heal on Sabbath days, for in this way he most effectively taught that man is of more importance than any national institution however hallowed by centuries of observance. The startling words, " The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath," 9 put the humblest Jew above the day that was thought to have limited God's creative work, and for violation of whose sanctity death was inflicted. Jesus' apparent depreciation of the Sabbath occasioned plots to kill him, for his ene mies did not perceive that instead of belittling their holy day he was exalting man. His death did not silence his testimony, for more eloquently than words the crucifixion proclaims Christ's estimate of man. He valued men more than he valued his life. The cross remains a constant and convincing witness of man's worth in the sight of God. The life Christ » Mark 2 : 27. 104 What Jesus Taught lived as the Son of God gives to every man the po tential worth of a son of God. 2. Man's Moral Condition The best men whom Jesus met were ashamed of their conduct. He had no need to convince them of their evil acts or thoughts. He assumed that every one knew that in his own personal history and in the history of the race there had been moral fault. Accordingly, he makes his appeal directly to the conscience, without discussing the origin and extent and nature of the evil we call sin. Man's moral judgment testifies that he feels the pressure of God's will urging him to right decisions, and his experience testifies that his own will resists the recognizable divine pressure. This normal experi ence Jesus formulated in speech, when he taught that the will of God must be the standard of con duct and that no one reaches the standard.10 The character of God exemplified in human life is to be more highly prized than wealth, however great. The best men whom Jesus met had to repent. Those who showed docility and comparative blame lessness by attaching themselves to him are de scribed as debtors owing the enormous sum of ten thousand talents, and the most faithful servants are still unprofitable servants.11 Jesus did not define the nature of sin, but indirect statements warrant the following conclusions: Sin is an incident in each man's life. Its origin and his tory can be traced, for it is the conscious act of a person. Every man knows when, where, and why he sinned. But the incidental character of a sinful "Mark 10 • 18. "Luke 17 7-10. Concerning the Subjects of the Kingdom 105 act does not lessen its enormity. An isolated trans gression entails enduring consequences. I say to you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment." . . . Who ever causes one of these little ones that believe in me to stumble, it is profitable for him that a great millstone should be hanged about his neck, and he should be sunk in the depths of the sea.1* The permanency of the effect of a single misdeed arises from the nature of personality. The will is affected by every choice; it gains character in the act of choosing. Repeated decisions for evil make it impossible to choose anything but evil. Brood of vipers! How can ye, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks." Acts of sin are sinful, because they can be traced back to a sinful disposition. Angry feelings and lustful looks need not find expression in murder and adultery to give them ethical values. Just as cer tainly as corrupt fruit indicates corrupt trees, so certainly do misdeeds prove corrupt natures. The heart, the center of emotional and volitional activ ities, is vitiated. From within, out of the heart of men, evil thoughts pro ceed, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, covetousness, wickednesses, deceit, wantonness, and evil eye, blasphemy, pride, folly: all these evil things proceed from within, and defile the man.15 The sinfulness antecedent to the sinful act is not a misfortune, for it begets guilt, nor is it a master- "Matt. 12 . 36. "Matt. 12 : 34. 18 Matt. 18 : 6. » Mark 7 : 21-23. H 106 What Jesus Taught ing fate overpowering the sinner as a victim, for in spite of his helplessness he knows that he sinned, and is therefore responsible. An awakened con science does not distinguish between the act and the state. It cries, " God be merciful to me the sinner." The sinner is not isolated in his sin. He is en meshed in the moral impotency of the race. The babe begins life with a history ; the combined forces of its ancestry converge in the helpless infant. Its nature is determined by choices not its own; it in herits results of decisions in which it had no con scious part. Jesus recognized the power of heredity, both organic and social, to master men, and did not hesitate to say that his own generation experienced the results of the accumulated guilt of all the past. Do ye fill up the measure of your fathers : Serpents ! Brood of vipers! How are ye to escape the judgment of hell? Therefore, behold, I send to you prophets, and wise men, and scribes; some of them ye will kill and crucify, and some of them ye will scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city ; that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Barachiah, whom ye killed between the temple and the altar. Verily I say to you, All these things shall come on this generation.18 He also assumed that the same generation had the power to overcome the tyranny of heredity, if it had been so disposed. It was free to escape impending doom. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, that killest the prophets, and stonest those who are sent to her; how often did I wish to gather thy children together, as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings, and ye would not." 18 Matt. 23 : 33-36. » Matt. 23 : 37. Concerning the Subjects of the Kingdom 107 Jesus did not solve the problem involved, but simply accepted the facts insisted upon six cen turies earlier, when Ezekiel had to quiet the faith less and pessimistic cry of a despairing people, The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge, by the counter truth: Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine; the soul that sins it shall die. The statements of both Ezekiel and Jesus are illus trated in the facts that modern biological science emphasizes the power of heredity and that no sane man puts his sin to his father's account, personality overrides heredity in the sphere of morals. The soul that sins it shall die. It is noteworthy that man's moral helplessness is affirmed by the Sinless One. Only he who knew no sin could estimate sin aright. While Jesus' judgment of man is severe, it is also delicate and discriminating. He knew that man is redeemable, for man's judgment protests against wrong, his intellect assents to truth, his sentiment responds to the morally beautiful. He is not so bad as he can be. Jesus saw admirable traits in those whom he called evil. If ye, then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him." The good Samaritan, a semiheathen, had qualities worthy of imitation.19 The strict morality of the 18 Matt. 7 : 11. » Luke 10 : 25-37. 108 What Jesus Taught rich young ruler commanded the admiration of Jesus.20 The hypocritical Pharisees had power to judge what was right.21 Among men, then, Christ recognized differences of character and degrees of guilt. Varying circumstances determine degrees of responsibility in conduct. Children have not the glaring faults of adults and are less blameworthy ; 22 ignorance mitigates guilt, for " he that knew not, and did things worthy of stripes, will be beaten with few " ; 23 incomplete obduracy is not unpardonable, for it arises from misunderstanding of the person and work of the Son of man ; 24 complete obduracy involves unpardonable guilt, for men with conscience so perverted as not to distinguish Satanic agency from divine power are incapable of forming prefer ences in the moral sphere, and therefore have no evil to shun, nor good to choose.25 In spite of excellencies in human nature it lacks one thing, viz., recuperative power to return to God in purity. Guilty all men are, and penalty follows guilt, but because there are degrees of guilt, there are degrees of punishment.26 There is something inexpressibly sad in hearing him who said, Come to me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest, say also, Depart from me, accursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 28 Mark 10 : 21. 21 Luke 12 : : 57. 22 Matt. 18 : 3f. 22 Luke 12 : : 47f. ; cf. 23 : 34. "Matt. i: : 32. 25 Mar : 29. 28 Luke 12 : 48; Matt. 11 . 20-24, Concerning the Subjects of the Kingdom 109 It seems incongruous to hear him who revealed God's love for lost men speak again and again of a worm that dies not and of a fire that is not quenched. It seems impossible that the same Teacher should have spoken such contradictory words concerning man. How can man be worth so much, if his doom is so awful? But the fate of guilty man is but the obverse of his worth. Just because he is destined for godlikeness, to miss his destiny is to experience loss inadequately expressed by any human analogy. 3. Redemption Is Possible Since men have transgressed God's will and are not members of the kingdom, they become members by submission to the King's requirements. As Vice gerent, Jesus required the following conditions : (1) Repentance Repentance is not an act of penance, nor a gift of alms, nor a ritual observance, but a new view of one's moral condition. It is a confession of poverty needing enrichment,27 of sickness needing healing,28 of weariness needing rest,29 of ruin needing recov ery,30 of sinfulness needing pardon.31 Normally this view of self as lost occasions sorrow that impels to changed conduct.32 This new conduct gives repen tance its value, for sorrow may be so intense as to lead to frenzy of remorse, and consequently to suicide; but suicide has no saving virtue. Judas had obtained a new view of his act of treachery » Matt. 5 • 3-6. » Luke 19 : 10. 28 Mark 2 : 17. «Luke 5 : 32 ; 18 : 13. 22 Matt. 11 : 28-30. » Matt. 21 : 29 ; Luke 15 : 20f. 110 What Jesus Taught and had experienced new feeling, but his conduct remained unchanged. He rushed from one criminal act to another, from betrayal of innocent blood to self-murder. He was a criminal to the last. Deep remorse, then, is no guaranty of genuine repentance. The undutiful son must repent (changed feeling) and go. The going shows the true relation to the father. Action, not thinking nor feeling, is the test of moral worth.33 This actual turning about is what is technically called conversion. It is wholly the act of the peni tent. The command is, " Turn ye," as if the whole responsibility for changed conduct rested with the sinner. While conversion is the initial act that in troduces man into the kingdom of God,34 the con sequences of the initial act may not be enduring, for subsequent conduct may be unworthy. That is, conversion is not an act done once for all. A man has need of conversion as often as he needs to change his conduct.35 (2) Faith In the preaching of John the Baptist repentance alone is demanded, and faith taken for granted, because the people were predisposed to believe in the good news of the kingdom's approach. But new conditions confronted Jesus. He had to bear the burden of John's seeming failure. As the Baptist's ministry progressed it became possible to think of him as a religious zealot, commending himself to the consciences of men aspiring for moral purity, but alienating shallow" officials who wrangled about 88 Matt. 21 : 31. * Matt. 18 : 30. "Luke 22 : 32. Concerning the Subjects of the Kingdom 111 authority.36 Pharisees at first welcomed his mes sage, but later became indifferent; and his stern denunciation of Herod's wickedness brought him to the dungeon and to death. If the strong, heroic Herald could misconceive the nature of the kingdom and be tempted to doubt the identity of Jesus with the Messiah, it is easy to imagine that the people fancied themselves misled by the promise of the nearness of the kingdom. Jesus, then, must add to John's message, " Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand," the demand, " Believe in the gospel." Hence, in his early preach ing, the gospel is the object of faith.37 As he ad vanced in his ministry he more distinctly required faith in himself as the condition of receiving the saving benefits of the kingdom. Faith in Jesus was demonstrated by attachment to him as disciples follow a teacher. Such intimacy showed prior repentance, for Jesus identified him self with the righteousness he required and which he bestowed.38 To follow Christ as the embodiment of righteousness implied abandonment of unright eous living and desire for purity. Faith and repentance are interrelated as cause and effect, for repentance is impossible unless the mind apprehends and accepts truths that instru- mentally produce changed conduct. They are both illustrated in the childlike attitude of the penitent. Entrance into the kingdom is impossible to one who thinks his antecedent history commends him to God or debars him from his favor. Penitents must be trustfully receptive, and take the king dom as a gift, as children receive gifts from parents, *> John 1 : 19, 24. » Mark 1 15. M Matt. 5 ; lOf, 112 What Jesus Taught without questioning their fitness or unfitness to re ceive.89 The disciple must by faith and repentance begin life anew as a child and must have a child's feeling of dependence. Jesus did not define faith, but its nature may be inferred from the usage of the word. It may mean an intellectual assent based on demonstration,40 but Jesus did not use it in this sense. It may mean belief in the truthfulness of a report,41 and it may mean a relying trust on a person by virtue of his power or readiness to help. The last meaning is the usual one in the Gospels; and the object of con fidence is Jesus and God. Jesus usually demanded faith as the condition of receiving his healing benefits, but not always, for sometimes he healed to awaken faith or to exhibit his saving grace. Faith is ever the indispensable prerequisite for the forgiveness of sins, since it cannot be imagined that God can ease the conscience, unless the human soul feels its sin and longs for pardon. Faith conditioned ability to do any work, however seemingly impossible, that had for its pur pose the establishing of the kingdom of the Vicege rent.42 No one that lacks confidence in God or Christ can possibly be an effective agent in carrying for ward work along the line of God's redemptive pur poses as revealed in Jesus. (3) Self-renunciation Having surrendered himself by faith into the keep ing of the King, the penitent seeks the righteous- 29 Mark 10 : 15. « Mark 15 : 32. « Mark 16 • 13, 15. «Matt. 17 : 20; 21 : 21; Mark 11 : 22; Luke 17 : 6, Concerning the Subjects of the Kingdom 113 ness of the kingdom and regards temporal good as of secondary importance.43 The highest expression of self -surrender is readiness to suffer shameful death for the sake of Christ, the King's Vicegerent.44 Of course, all other sacrifices are included in this su preme act of self-sacrifice. If needful, the follower of Jesus gives his riches to the poor,45 severs home ties,*6 and mutilates his body *7 in order to express his loyalty and show appreciation of the supreme good experienced in serving him. In the estimation of those most competent to judge, the kingdom is worth more than what its recipient can give.*8 Jesus thus emphatically taught that whatever hindered single-hearted service of God disqualified for citizenship in the kingdom of heaven.49 4. Hindrances to Entrance Since the conditions are so exacting, not all those invited enter. Some hearers have no receptivity whatever for the truth, for their moral nature has been so hardened by immoral practises or by indif ference to moral obligations, that it offers no place for the truth to take root ; 60 others are preoccupied with legitimate business cares of life and are so engrossed therein that they regard the gospel mes sage as of comparatively little value ; 61 others are chained by conservatism and cannot break away from the past which has given so much good, so that they cannot appreciate the new good offered them in the gospel ; 82 others cannot see the greater "Matt. 6 : 33. «Matt. 13 : 45f. " Mark 8 : 34. "Matt. 6 : 24. "Mark 10 : 21. "Matt. 13 ¦ 4f. " Luke 14 : 26. "Luke 14 : 15-24, "Mark 9 • 43f. 82 Luke 5 : 39, 114 What Jesus Taught value of the kingdom, and are therefore barred from its benefits ; 63 and others are proud, haughty, and worldly-wise, and so will not comply with conditions that humiliate.54 Jesus did not mean that the busy, the conserva tive, the wise, and the rich were shut out from the kingdom, because they were busy, conservative, wise, and rich, for some of each class were among his followers, but he simply stated facts as he saw them in human society. Yet the fact is, that the great majority that followed Christ were the more ready to follow because they were not gripped by these selfish considerations. In explaining the way in which the kingdom is received Jesus announced the axiomatic principle that germination is condi tioned by the character of the soil.55 5. Aids to Entrance The conditions of entrance are so stringent that men seem certainly excluded.66 It would be so, if it were not for the omnipotence of God. No need for despair so long as God is on his throne.57 Here Jesus says that there is a power stronger than pride or wealth or conservatism, and that men can by divine aid break from the past and begin life anew. Elsewhere also he suggests that divine agency ef fects a change in man's conduct and perceptions.58 Christ did not emphasize the necessity of divine aid, because he was intent on teaching what man must 88 Mark 10 : 23; Luke 6 : 24. "Matt. 11 : 25. *> Matt. 13 : 4-23. 88 Mark 10 • 26. 87 Mark 10 : 27. 88 Matt, 11 27 ; 13 : 11 ; 16 : 17. Concerning the Subjects of the Kingdom 115 and can do. He insisted that failure to enter must be attributed to man, not to God. Nowhere does he explain how God works in man to enable him to comply with conditions so humiliating to pride and self-sufficiency, nor does he harmonize the divine activity with man's freedom of choice. He assumed that both were true, and that neither makes the other unnecessary or inoperative. IX WHAT JESUS TAUGHT CONCERNING THE LAWS OF THE KINGDOM 1. Ideal Portraiture of Subjects The subjects of the kingdom are ideally portrayed in the Beatitudes.1 The picture is a contrast to that which Jewish expectation painted. The Jews thought that wealth was in itself evidence of God's favor, and they therefore supposed that the rich were surely heirs of the Messianic kingdom ; 2 but Jesus said that it belongs exclusively to the poor — to those who think themselves poor, and are there fore not haughty and proud. Blessed are the poor in spirit; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Men make wrong inferences from the fact of pain and sorrow, for they think these come because of divine displeasure ; but Jesus taught that mourn ers were blessed, since their sense of loss and want prepares them for comforts. Blessed they that mourn ; for they shall be comforted. Earthly kingdoms are usually secured by strife and turbulency, and naturally many Jews fancied that they must bring in the Messiah's reign by re senting heathen usurpation and by plotting rebel- >Matt. 5 • 3-10. 2Matt. 19 : 25. 116 Concerning the Laws of the Kingdom 117 lion; but Christ's subjects must not be resentful nor quarrelsome nor turbulent, but patient under abuse, if they wish to establish his kingdom upon the earth. Blessed the meek; for they shall inherit the earth. In the kingdoms of the world the chief aspiration is to satisfy bodily appetites, but the citizens of the kingdom of heaven have a painful longing for right eousness that supplants the desire for food and drink. Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteous ness; for they shall be filled. The members of the kingdom exhibit their right eousness in their attitude toward fellow members and toward their King. To their fellows they are sympathetic, kind, and helpful. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. To their King they are sincerely loyal, so that they have access to the royal presence as favorites of the court. Blessed are the pure in heart; for they shall see God. They value so much the honor and joy of intimacy with their King, that they wish others to experience like joy, and so strive to remove disloyalty from quarrelsome subjects, that they also may be fitted to see their Sovereign's face like trusted attendants. As reward for such zealous endeavor the peacemaker becomes not only a favorite at court, but is adopted into the royal family. 118 What Jesus Taught Blessed the peacemakers; for they shall be called sons of God. The loyal subjects of the kingdom of heaven love their righteous character so much that they main tain it in spite of persecution, and experience joy in suffering for its sake. Blessed are they who have been persecuted for righteous ness' sake; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. In brief, the sole aim of the members of the Mes sianic kingdom is to be as loyally submissive to God's will as are the angels in heaven.3 2. Actual Conduct and Necessity of Laws Actually, however, the members of the kingdom are below the ideal Jesus set for them, for there are difficulties in the way of devoted service. The weakness of the flesh,4 the world with its abounding sin,5 persecution by fellow men,6 and by kindred,7 hinder the realization of the character demanded by the King. In consequence of such opposition, the newly enrolled citizens are tempted to renounce allegiance, or to compromise with the lower ethical standards of the world. Therefore, laws must be enacted to preserve the high" moral character of the kingdom and to stimulate loyalty by appealing to man's natural love of reward and fear of punish ment.3. Two Inclusive Laws The two fundamental laws are " Seek righteous ness," and "Follow Christ." These are not two 3 Matt. 6 : 10. 8 Matt. 10 : 21f. ; Luke 6 : 22 ; 12 : lOf. 1 Matt. 26 : 41. ' Matt. 10 : 21f. ; Luke 12 : 49-53. 5 Matt. 24 : 12. Concerning the Laws of the Kingdom 119 standards, but the same expressed in different terms. The twofold expression for the same law arose from the historical unfolding of Christ's person. At first Jesus taught the demands of God, but later, when he was persecuted for his teaching, and it became evident that he was the embodiment of the right eousness which he demanded of others, it was pos- ' sible to demand attachment to himself as the test of loyalty to God. (1) Cultivating Righteousness The all-inclusive command is, Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. That is, Strive to attain a character that will satisfy the demands of the King. Jesus defined this char acter both negatively and positively, for he had to bring it into relation with righteousness as generally understood by his hearers, in order to make them grasp its distinctive quality. The righteousness of the kingdom must exceed that accepted by Pharisaic teachers, for they are content with externals and neglect the motives that give conduct its moral value. Jesus illustrated his conception of right conduct by contrasting his demands with those enjoined by in terpreters of the Law. Pharisaic literalism is im possible in the kingdom, for there the angry feeling, the lustful look, the vehement word, the revengeful act, and narrowed love are forbidden. The aim of every loyal citizen must be godlikeness in forgiv ing love.8 Pharisaic formalism is not tolerated by the King, for he abominates sham and parade; and he is so 8 Matt. 5 : 21-48. 120 What Jesus Taught jealous of his own prerogative as Judge, that he will not allow his subjects to think the praise of men of more consequence than his own verdict.9 Pharisaic covetousness must be abandoned, for it creates false estimates and begets half-hearted ser vice, and places mammon on the throne as a rival of God.10 Pharisaic censoriousness must be shunned, for di vine wisdom is needed to judge justly.11 Jesus emphatically taught that external conduct is no criterion by which to judge the righteousness God demands, when he said that it is possible for men to go before the Judge self-deceived.12 Righteous ness of the sort God demands must issue from a heart filled with love for him and fellow men. a. Relation to God God must be the object of supreme love,13 and the only one deemed worthy of devoted service.14 He cannot think so meanly of himself as to tolerate a rival for the affections of his subjects, nor can he be so indifferent to the welfare of his citizens as to allow them to waste their energy in devotion to un worthy ends. Love of God finds its best expression in submissive trust in him for daily needs,15 for safety in times of danger,16 for ability to carry on work he has assigned,17 and for the blessings of the kingdom.18 Jesus accepted the will of God as the only law of life for himself, and conditioned the kinship of 2 Matt. 6 : 1-18. » Matt. 6 : 24 ; Luke 16 : 13. 18 Matt. 6 : 19-34. 18 Matt. 6 : 25-32. "Matt. 7 : 1-12. 18 Matt. 24 : 37-40. "Matt. 7 : 21-27. "Matt. 17 : 20 ; Mark 11 : 22-24, 18 Matt. 22 : 36f. "Luke 12 : 32. Concerning the Laws of the Kingdom 121 men with himself on their acceptance of the same rule.19 He practised what he taught, for he de pended on God's providence to supply him with food in the wilderness,20 and he calmly slept during the tempest, while experienced sailors were nerveless with terror,21 and fully expected the tree to wither in consequence of his anathema, because of his faith in God.22 As supreme love for God begets the habit of trust in God, so trust is the condition of true prayer.23 Prayer is answered, not because it is pro found or elaborate or long or engaged in by many,24 but because the trustful one believes that the King is a Father ready and willing and able to give the best conceivable gift.25 Loving submission will not ask anything to be done contrary to the Father's will.26 Due regard for the King will determine the sub ject's mode of approach to him, for worship is but the expression in act of the worshiper's estimate of God. Rites are not appointed for their own sake, but as means to an end, and that end the worship of a transcendently holy Father, who sees the secrets of the heart. Forms of service, then, must be ob served with sincerity27 and in harmony with the state of the heart.28 The place of worship must be honored as a house of prayer,29 and the day sacred to God must not be made a burden to man.30 Rites, places, and days are nothing in themselves, but means by which God may be honored. " Mark 3 : 35. 28 Luke 11 : 13. 20 Matt. 4 : 4. 28 Mark 14 : 36. 21 Mark 4 : 35ff. " Matt. 6 : 1-18. 22 Mark 11 : 22. 28 Matt. 9 : 14-17. 22 Mark 11 : 24. "Mark 11 : 17. 2«Matt. 18 : 19f. "Mark 2 : 27. 122 What Jesus Taught b. Conduct Toward Fellow Men Christian conduct is set forth in the all-embracing command, " Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thy self."31 Jesus drew no hard and fast distinction between love to brethren and love to men in general, for all needy men are neighbors, yet it is natural that a bond peculiarly strong should unite those who have had similar experiences. (a) Fellow subjects. Since men become subjects of the kingdom by the forgiving grace of the King, the forgiven subjects must show like forgiving spirit toward offending brethren.32 Not only must they readily forgive, but must seek opportunity to recon cile an offended brother. So important is it to re move anger from the heart of another, that it must precede the most solemn act of worship.33 Love of brethren will prevent censorious judg ment and officious interference,34 boastful pride,35 strife for rank and titles,36 and usurpation of au thority.37 On the contrary, love will impel to render service to unlovely brothers even if it costs the life.38 (b) Fellow men. Love must not be limited to members of the kingdom. Those actively hostile are objects of God's love, and therefore ought to be re cipients of the love of those who are cultivating god- likeness of character.89 Love is exhibited in refusal 81 Mark 12 : 31. 82 Matt. 18 : 21-35. •"Matt. 5 : 23. "Matt. 7 : 1-5. 85 Luke 18 : 8-14. 88 Matt. 23 : 7-10. 8' Matt. 18 : 1-10 ; Luke 9 : 46 ; 22 : 24. 88 Matt. 20 : 25-28 ; Mark 9 : 36 ; 10 : 42-45 ; Luke 22 : 25-27. » Matt. 5 : 43-46. Concerning the Laws of the Kingdom 123 to resent injuries 40 or to retaliate,41 and in being willing to suffer more abuses than those already en dured.42 Of such worth are enemies that they must be borne to God's throne in prayer.43 They are in darkness, and so ought to arouse the pitiful love of Christians, who persist in living godly lives in spite of persecution, in order to bear to them light and salvation.44 Disciples are heralds of the gospel mes sage to all men, that men of all nations may become disciples.45 (2) Following Christ This is not a law in addition to the one that en joins cultivation of righteousness, but it makes the general concrete, and also raises Christian ethics from the plane of mere duty to that of devotion to a person who deserves service. Jesus identified him self with the righteousness he mediated. It is a matter of indifference whether men are persecuted for his sake or for righteousness' sake.*6 While, speaking generally, it is true that Jesus required love for the message he brought to men,*7 and also true that he did not emphasize attachment to him self as condition of salvation until quite late in his ministry, yet it is noteworthy that he placed value on his words just because they were his words.48 He did not distinguish his teaching from himself, as 18 Matt. 5 : 22. 41 Matt. 5 : 38. 42 Matt. 5 : 39. "Matt. 5 : 44. "Matt. 5 : 13-16. «Matt. 28 : 19. "Matt. 5 : 10-12. « Mark 3 : 31-35 ; Matt. 21 : 29 ; Luke 10 : 38-40 ; 11 : 27f. ; 13 : 26f. «Matt. 7 : 24-27. 124 What Jesus Taught if a disciple might obey his teaching and reject his person ; for as a matter of course the early disciples followed him in person in order that they might learn what he taught. So high value does Christ put upon his person as the one through whom righteous ness is secured, that he declares himself to be the standard of judgment for all men.49 Fellowship with him must be preferred to bodily life.50 While the disciples' relation to Jesus is the closest possible,61 they are still servants, ever ready to do his bidding,62 and ever mindful of their position as slaves who must claim no reward for service.63 Though this must be their thought of themselves in relation to their Master, he on the other hand values their service. He rewards according to his own sovereign will and the willingness of his servants,54 according to the industry and ingenuity and amount of service rendered,55 and according to the faithful ness and energy with which they employ their natural endowments in his service.56 4. Privileges of the Subjects In their earthly life subjects of the kingdom have both temporal and eternal benefits. The temporal are whatever is necessary for man's welfare, and they will be given as a matter of course. They will come from the Father King as certainly as food is provided for birds and color given to flowers. Food * Matt. 25 • 31-46. 80 Mark 8 : 34f. « Mark 3 : 35. 52 Luke 12 ¦ : 35-40. 88 Luke 17 : 5-10. "Matt. 20 : 1-16. 85 Luke 19 : : 11-27. "Matt. 25 : 14-30. Concerning the Laws of the Kingdom 125 and clothing are blessings not incompatible with the nature of the kingdom, and may be prayed for.67 But Jesus did not promise an abundance of earthly goods, for he taught that man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.68 In contrast with the riches of the world, he urged the necessity of becoming rich toward God.59 The all-inclusive blessing of the kingdom is for giveness of sin. The knowledge that God is not in conflict with us brings a peace to the soul that is en joyed in this life and gives assurance that it will be enjoyed eternally. In addition to the forgiveness of past sins, there is assurance that the ever-recur ring sins will be forgiven, if their remission is sin cerely desired.60 Possession of this certainty is more to be desired than the world's wealth 61 and more to be cherished than power over demons.62 The full realization of that for which disciples strive will be gained in the age to come, when unalloyed joy will be theirs. It is not the privilege of all disciples to participate in the marriage feast.63 This is so, because they fail to fulfil the requirements of the King. Reliance must not be placed on the initial act of repentance, but there must be earnest and life-long endeavor to do the bidding of God.64 Perseverance characterizes the truly loyal subjects. They ceaselessly strive and watch and pray. They need not be discouraged be- « Matt. 6 : 11 ; Luke 11 : 3. 88 Luke 12 . 15. 89 Luke 12 : 21. 68 Luke 11 : 4; Matt. 18-35; Mark 11 : 25. •' Mark 8 : 36. 82 Luke 10 : 18-20 "Matt. 22 : 1-17. "Matt. 10 : 22; 24 13. 126 What Jesus Taught cause of the severity of the struggle, for the fatherly love of God that inaugurated the life of the disciples will maintain it until his purposes are realized. The encouragement is,65 Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. 85 Luke 12 : 32. X HISTORY OF THE KINGDOM From what has been learned of the nature of the King, of the person and authority and mission of the Vicegerent, and of the character and duties of the subjects, the conclusion is unavoidable, that the kingdom of God is not an organization fashioned after the analogy of earth's political societies, and that its duration is not limited by time. It is in conceivable that God's rule can be defined by geo graphical boundaries or expressed in precise polit ical terminology. It is as universal as man and as unending as character, and conduct therein is spontaneous as personality. A definition of this ideal kingdom is: The king dom of God is that society in which God is King, his will is the constitution, and citizens are obedient and loving persons. But nowhere does Jesus use the phrase " kingdom of God " in this ideal sense ; he gives the name to imperfect realization of the ideal. Just because such a rule of God had to have a begin ning in time and had to be subject to the laws of historical development, Jesus spoke of the kingdom in its beginning, development, and consummation. 1. The Beginning The kingdom of God in the sense it bears in the synoptics was future to John the Baptist, for he declared it was yet to come; but in view of Jesus 127 128 What Jesus Taught it was past, for he said it took its beginning in the ministry of the Baptist.1 Jesus, however, definitely excludes John from the kingdom, not because John lived too early in history, but because he understood not the nature of the Messiah. John had ample op portunity to be a member of the kingdom, because it had come to men in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. The kingdom of God was present when Jesus was working miracles in proof of its presence.2 That it could not be seen was no indication that it had not come.3 The use of past and present tenses in speaking of the same thing is explained by the fact, that, as a new divine force introduced into the world, the kingdom of God began with John's preaching and was continued through the agency of Jesus. If the attention is fixed on its inception, the past tense is appropriate ; if attention is directed to its development as a process in history, the present tense is fitly used. Again, John's ministry could in augurate the kingdom, and yet John not be a mem ber of the kingdom, because in history no hard and fast dividing-line separates epochs. Cause and effect are not disjoined by the historian's device of naming a date at which one period of develop ment ends and another begins. Since John was in the transition period between " the law and the prophets " and the " kingdom of heaven," he can be said to be in either, according as it is wished to determine his relation to each. The kingdom of heaven began in time, when Jesus of Nazareth an nounced himself as God's Vicegerent upon earth. » Luke 16 : 16 ; Matt. 11 : lit 2 Matt. 12 : 28 ; Luke 11 : 20. 8 Luke 17 : 21, History of the Kingdom 129 2. Development of the Kingdom Since the kingdom began in time and has to do with men, it is subject to the vicissitudes of any organization that has origin and growth. It began insignificantly small, but it had within itself the promise and potency of greatness.4 Its extension will be slow, gradual, and mysterious. It has the characteristics of anything that develops by the life principle enfolded within it.6 Beginning in Pales tine, it is destined to extend throughout the world and perpetuate itself for all time.6 While its growth is conditioned by the quality of its environment 7 and by the operation of mysterious forces,8 its rapid spread is largely dependent on the zeal of its citizens.9 Because of the lack of responsiveness in men, there will be a commingling of good and bad sub jects in the kingdom ; and because men of the same purpose have not the same resolution to effect their purposes, there will be grades among the good. In order to establish the kingdom in its perfection there must be separation of the loyal from the dis loyal.10 This fact explains the statement of Jesus that the kingdom is future, although it is also pres ent. When the new force introduced by Christ shall have accomplished God's purposes, the kingdom will be the ideal one imagination pictures. 'Matt. 13 : 31-33. 6 Mark 4 : 26-32. " Matt. 5 : 13f. ; 8 : 11 ; 24 ; 26 : 13. 'Matt. 13 : 19-23. 2 Mark 4 : 26-29. 2 Matt. 6 : 9-13 ; 9 : 35 to 11 : 1. 10 Matt. 13 : 24-30, 411, 47f. ; 24 : 31 to 25 : 46; Luke 13 24ff. 130 What Jesus Taught 3. Consummation of the Kingdom Just as in its inception and enlargement the king dom is dependent on the activity of the Vicegerent, so the separation that will perfect it will take place at the " coming of the Son of man." X1 Caution is needed in studying this subject, for we are dealing with prophecy. In addition to the difficulties in herent in the study of prophecy, there is the added one, that we are not sure that Jesus' words are re ported in their historical connections. The misinter pretation of Old Testament prophecy by the- contem poraries of Jesus ought to warn us not to be too certain of our interpretation of the predictions found in the New Testament. Uncertainty as to the re sult must not prevent an attempt to understand Jesus' words, but must increase caution. The personal act of the Son of man in consummat ing the kingdom occupies the foreground in Christ's teaching concerning the end. According to Jewish thought the coming of the Messiah divided the history of the world into two periods. The time before his advent was called " this age " ; and the time subsequent to it was known as " the age to come." In the words of Jesus the expression " this age " or " the age " means the time before the Parousia, and the phrase " the age to come " refers to the period of history after the Parousia.12 That is, the decisive event in human history, known as the coming of Christ, is thrown forward the length of time elapsing between his coming as Saviour nearly two thousand years ago » Matt. 24 : 31 ; 25 ¦ 31 ; 13 : 41. 12 Matt 12 : 32 ; 13 : 39, 40, 49 ; 28 : 20 ; Mark 10 : 50 ; Luke 18 : 30 ; 20 : 35. History of the Kingdom 131 and his coming as Judge in an unknown future, but the Jewish technical terms are retained. The Parousia will close one period of history and at the same time usher in another,13 just as the birth of Jesus introduced a new method in reckoning human events. (1) The Time Men cannot help asking questions about that future which is of so much concern to them. Both intellect and affection suggest questions that are legitimate, but Jesus is strangely silent in regard to them. Indeed, he appears unnecessarily curt in an swering his disciples, when they ask about the future.14 His aim always was to use the future to enforce practical duties in the life that now is, and not to answer curious or speculative questions. In keeping with this purpose, he did not answer clearly the questions,15 When will these things be, and what is the sign of the coming and of the end of the age? If he had done so, he would have defeated his pur pose to teach the need of watchfulness and readi ness. He distinctly said that he did not know the time of his coming.16 This explicit statement must regulate interpretations of passages which seem to indicate that he knew something about the time of the Parousia. Some sayings evidently point to an early coming; 17 others indicate delay.18 Also, those "Matt. 24 : 3. 14 Acts 1 : 7 ; cf. Luke 13 : 23ff. "Matt. 24 : 3. "Matt. 24 : 36; Mark 13 : 32. « Matt. 10 : 23 ; 16 : 28 ; 24 : 34 ; 26 : 64. 18 Matt. 24 : 48; 25 : 5, 19. 132 What Jesus Taught teachings that point to a slow and gradual develop ment of the kingdom presuppose a long period of history. If the interpreter is tempted to set aside either class of sayings, because it is impossible to reconcile them, he must remember that practical Christian living demands that we ever believe that Christ's coming may be unexpectedly early or un expectedly late.19 One thing is certain, that he did not wish his disciples to live as though his coming would be at some far distant time. They caught his intention, and lived as though he stood at the door,20 and the end of all things was at hand.21 (2) Manner of the Parousia As in the time so in the manner, there is a twofold representation of the Parousia. He will come when men are engaged in ordinary pursuits, and surprise them by his unexpected arrival.22 His coming will not be confined to one place, but will be visible to all.23 It will be a wondrous revelation of his glory and power.24 According to another representation, signs will herald his appearance. But Jesus distinctly antago nizes the ordinary Jewish conception that wars, famines, and earthquakes presage the end of the world.25 These phenomena are due to the present constitution of the physical universe and of human society. The disciples suffer from such disasters, 12 Matt. 25 • 1-12 ; Mark 13 • 35 ; Luke 12 ¦ 35-46. 20 James 5 : 9. 21 1 Peter 4 : 7. 22 Luke 17 : 26-30 ; cf. Matt. 24 : 37-39, 42-44 ; Mark 18 : 32-37 ; Luke 12 : 35-40. 22 Luke 17 : 23f. ; Matt. 24 : 26-28. "Matt. 24 • 29-31; 25 : 31 ; Luke 21 : 27. 28 Matt. 24 : 6f. History of the Kingdom 133 because they are not exempt from calamities that befall all men ; but they will endure other sufferings of which these natural calamities are but premoni tory.26 In addition to the pains that come in the ordinary course of nature, they will suffer persecu tion, which will last until the gospel has been pro claimed to all nations. The one sure sign of the end is the world-wide extension of the gospel.27 How ever we understand the signs in sun and moon and stars, and disturbances on sea and land, whether as actual premonitory signs, or occurrences accom panying the appearance of the Son of man, or pic torial descriptions of changes in God's moral govern ment, the Evangelists agree in putting a period of time between the sign and that to which the sign points.28 According to the second representation the Pa rousia is limited to Palestine and to that genera tion. That is, the judgment comes to Jerusalem, and escape will be almost impossible.29 And the signs are such as may be seen by any observer of a siege.30 In connection with these events, the power and glory of the Son of man are manifested.31 This twofold view is not self -contradictory, but is a phenomenon common in prophetic literature, where the prophet sometimes refers to the consum mation and sometimes to nearer historical occasions. He can do this, because with prophets the truths an nounced are the essential things; it matters little 28 Matt. 24 : 8. « Matt. 24 : 14 ; Mark 13 : 10. 28 Matt. 24 : 32f. ; Mark 13 : 28f . ; Luke 21 : 29-31. 28 Matt. 24 • 15-22 ; Mark 13 : 14-23 ; Luke 21 : 20-28. 30 Luke 21 : 20f. 81 Luke 21 : 27 ; cf. Matt. 26 ; 64. 134 What Jesus Taught whether a near and local, or remote and universal historical phenomenon illustrates the truth. (3) Nature of the Parousia Matthew 10 : 23 simply mentions the coming of the Son of man, and shows that it will be in the lifetime of his messengers. The passage gives no hint as to its nature. Luke 12 : 35-48 occurs in a context that furnishes little help, yet it must not be overlooked that it is followed by a reference to the death of the Son of man. Matthew 16 : 27f. is spoken in connection with the transfiguration, but it is doubtful whether it refers to that event. The coming predicted in this passage must be far enough in the future to give time for most of his hearers to die, and yet not so far but that some will be liv ing. The destruction of Jerusalem, 70 A. D., fulfils both conditions. Again, the " coming of the Son of man " in Matthew must be explained by the " com ing of the kingdom of God " in Mark 9 : 1 and Luke 9 : 27. Matthew 23 : 37 to 25 : 46, Mark 13 : 1-37, and Luke 21 : 5-36 combine the coming of Christ with the destruction of Jerusalem ; Luke 17 : 20-37 joins his coming with both the suffering of the Son of man and the destruction of Jerusalem ; and Matthew 13 : 37-43 represents the Son of man as consum mating the age by angelic agency. It is conceivable and probable that Jesus spoke of his coming in more than one sense. The warrant for such a supposition is that he speaks of the min istry of John the Baptist as the ministry of Elijah, thereby giving a different meaning to the Old Tes tament prediction of Elijah's coming from that History of the Kingdom 135 given by Jewish interpreters.32 Jesus came to his disciples in the resurrection, in the coming of the Spirit at Pentecost, in the overthrow of the Jewish nation, and will come apocalyptically at the end of the age. The long lapse of time since Jesus spoke makes it comparatively easy to believe any one of these, except the last; hence, the tendency is to identify all of Christ's predictions of his coming with one of the first three. But it cannot be denied without arbitrary criticism and exegesis that Jesus spoke of a coming, which would overtake men like an overwhelming catastrophe, and bring to an end the existence of human society as now constituted. The kingdom of God in its historical unfolding in time simply exhibits the fact that in ordinary history there are powers always working, silently and slowly and gradually, and periodically culminat ing in revolutions. A uniformitarian in geology de nies the truth of the cataclysmist, only because he overlooks the fact that there are earthquakes, tidal waves, and avalanches; and the cataclysmist scouts the theory of the uniformitarian, because he neglects to watch the effects of showers, the ceaseless ebb and flow of tides, and the constant deposit of earth at rivers' mouths. The earth's formation has been effected by the forces insisted upon by both theorists. Likewise, the kingdom of God was established by the Son of man, and it unfolds gradually by silent forces, human and divine, and at great crises in the world's history it experiences a change so marked as to be fitly called a coming of Him who guides its destiny. Each of these crises is but a type of the final coming, when the kingdom shall have reached 22 Matt. 11 : 14. 136 What Jesus Taught its consummation in a new heaven and a new earth, wherein righteousness shall dwell. (4) Purpose of the Parousia According to the Old Testament and prechristian Jewish literature Jehovah himself is Judge. No where in this literature is the Messiah spoken of as the final arbiter of the conduct of men. When judgment is ascribed to him, it is in the sense of administration in the kingdom, and not in the sense of final decision. Jesus goes far beyond this teach ing, when he claims to be the Judge in the last day.83 This is necessarily so, if he is the mediator of God's righteousness to men; for relation to Christ deter mines relation to God. God's judgment must be mediated through the same person as his righteous ness. Hence, the purpose of Christ's coming is to justify or condemn, according to man's relation to himself. The language describing the last judgment is so figurative that we can safely do nothing more than state that there will be a judgment and that it is based on certain great principles. Jesus speaks of the purpose of his coming incidentally, in order to encourage and warn his followers, and not to satisfy curiosity. The judgment will have special signifi cance for his disciples, yet it has a bearing on man kind in general. Jesus distinctly states that among the judged will be his disciples, the Jews,34 and the heathen.36 Those to whom he talked will appear with the men of Nineveh, the Queen of Sheba, and 22 Matt. 7 : 22f. ; 24 : 37f. ; Luke 21 : 34ff. "Matt. 19 : 28. "Matt. 25 : 32f. History of the Kingdom 137 the inhabitants of Tyre and Sidon.36 That is, the judgment will be universal and individual. Its in dividuality is strongly emphasized in the rejection of the single man who had not a wedding garment.37 The universal and individual character of the judg ment cannot be more tersely expressed than in the words,38 " He will render to each one according to his actions." To faithful followers the result of the judgment will be the highest good conceivable, namely, eternal life.39 This good is for all faithful ones, but since disciples are servants, they will be rewarded accord ing to their willingness to work,40 their fidelity to the Master's interests,41 and their efficiency.42 The rewards are described by a variety of figures, viz., lord over cities,43 lord over all his Master's goods,44 sharer in the Lord's joy,45 the Lord's guests,46 par ticipation in a marriage feast,47 sharers in the eter nal kingdom.48 To the unfaithful will come exclusion from the kingdom of God. The punishment is described as a furnace of fire,40 hell-fire,50 outer darkness,51 gnaw ing worm,52 exclusion from a marriage feast,53 a cutting in two,64 a death surpassing the most dread ful known to his hearers.65 The punishment is as lasting as the reward ; 56 and its severity will be 28 Matt. 11 : 20-24; 12 : 41f. ; Luke 11 : 31f. "Matt. 22 : 1-14. 88 Matt. 16 : 27. 28 Matt. 19 : 17, 29 "Matt. 20 : 1-16. "Matt. 25 : 14ff. «Luke 19 : 11-27. "Luke 19 : 17. "Luke 12 : 44. "Matt. 25 : 21. "Luke 12 : 37. K 25 : 34, "Matt.25 : 21. "Matt. 25 : 34. "Matt. 13 ¦ 42. "Mark 9 : 47. 01 Matt. 22 : 13; 82 Mark 9 : 48. 82 Matt. 25 : 12. "Matt. 24 : 51. 85 Matt. 18 ¦ 6. "Matt. 25 : 46. 25 : 30. 138 What Jesus Taught conditioned on the offender's knowledge of the Lord's will.57 Whether the criterion of judgment is the same for non-Christians as for professed followers of Christ cannot be certainly determined. Matthew 25 : 31-46 is the main determining, passage. There are four possible interpretations of this judgment scene. First, the judged are all mankind; secondly, Gentiles in distinction from Jews; thirdly, non- Christians in distinction from the elect; fourthly, professing Christians only. If it is supposed that the judged are only those that have not had the opportunity to come into personal relations with Christ, the basis of judgment is an act of disin terested love performed for the sake of doing good ; but if it is supposed that Christ assumes that all men living at the time of his coming shall have had opportunity to know him as the standard of good, the test will be not simply an act of love per se, but a kind act performed with reference to him.68 That the criterion of judgment in Matthew 24 : 31-46 was not intended to be one different from that by which disciples will be judged is plain from the fact that Jesus always spoke of the judgment as de termined by conduct.69 If Jesus sometimes spoke apocalyptically, it was because it is characteristic of apocalyptists to dis regard the time element in history, in order to em phasize efficient causes and final ends. For illus tration, the splendidly optimistic saying, " I beheld Satan fallen as lightning from heaven," assured the "Luke 12 : 47f. "Mark 9 : 41. •» Matt. 12 : 36f. ; 16 : 27 ; 13 : 41 ; 10 : 42 ; 25 : 31ft. History of the Kingdom 139 disciples of certainty of overthrow of evil because they had been successful in their short missionary tour.60 Jesus was so sure of the ultimate success of his mission, that, paying no heed to the length of time that may elapse, whether a generation or a thousand generations, he foreshortens history, and speaks of Satan as already vanquished. But the remarkable fact is that the apocalyptic element; is so small in Jesus' teaching. He differed from contemporary apocalyptists in refusing to pic ture the future in minute details; to portray battle scenes, and volcanic eruptions and devastating plagues ; to describe a post-mortem population of the kingdom by numbering the dead that will be raised and detailing their experiences. It was enough for him to assert his belief in the fact of a resur rection61 and in the fact that it introduces into a mode of existence different from that now experi enced.62 To Jesus the death of the body was only the release of the spirit to fuller fellowship with God who is Spirit. It was the home-going of a child to his Father.63 The idea of resurrection of the body was the Jewish way of expressing confidence in im mortality. The certainty of life beyond the grave is what Jesus taught, though Pharisees and Sad ducees might dispute about its possibility and its nature.64 The kingdom of God is not limited by time, nor confined to earth. Members of it now will be members of it forever. ««Luke 10 : 17-20. "Matt. 22 : 23ff. 82 Luke 20 : 35f. •"Luke 23 • 46. "Matt. 22 : 28-83. PART III TEACHING OF JESUS ACCORDING TO THE GOSPEL OF JOHN XI SOME CHARACTERISTICS OF THE FOURTH GOSPEL 1. Reasons for Separate Treatment Some of the reasons for separate investigation of the reports of Jesus' teaching by the Synoptists and by John have been already given.1 At least three other reasons may well be stated before the Johannean record of Jesus' teaching is given in detail. First, it is almost certain that the author of the Fourth Gospel was a Jew who had acquired the Greek language imperfectly. The vocabulary and structure of sentences are those of one who is think ing in his native language, but writing in an ac quired one. It is as though a German by birth an culture were writing a book in English, which he had acquired by study or social contacts. An atten tive reader at once detects that the author is using the words of an Englishman to express the ideas of a German. Likewise one acquainted with both Hebrew and Greek soon discovers that while the vocabulary of John's Gospel is Greek, the syntax and mode of representation is Hebrew. And one of the charac teristics of Hebrew is that it has no indirect dis course. That is, if a Jewish reporter wished to condense another's speech and report the substance only in a few sentences, he could not do so without 1 See p. lit 143 144 What Jesus Taught giving the Greek or Latin hearer the impression that he was reporting the very words. The genius of his native tongue compelled him to report as a direct quotation what he himself knew to be in direct. This fact of language is a clue to the cor rect understanding of the discourses of Jesus found in John's Gospel. In giving the substance of Jesus' speech, and not the exact words, he had to give the substance as though he were giving a verbatim report. This explains in part what students of the Gospel call the " free handling " of the dis courses. Secondly, there is every reason to suppose that the so-called Logia, which lies back of our Synoptists, contained more sayings of Jesus than are discovered in the first three Gospels, and it is quite probable that some of the sayings found in John's Gospel came from this or a similar source. The supplementary character of the Fourth Gospel accounts for the author's selection of material not used by his prede cessors. That material similar to that which is char acteristic of John's Gospel was known to the Synop tists is seen in the words of Jesus recorded by both Matthew and Luke,2 and it is almost certain that such sayings would be selected by one whose tem perament was reflective and philosophic and mys tical. Thirdly, a much larger place must be given to the subjective element in John's Gospel than in the Synoptists. The writer's genius made it the more unlikely that he intended to report his Lord's words with absolute verbal precision. It is certain that he was not consciously distorting Jesus' words, so as 'Matt. 11 : 25-27; Luke 10 : 21f. Some Characteristics of the Fourth Gospel 145 to misrepresent their real meaning, for he believed that the Spirit promised by Jesus was none other than Jesus himself interpreting the words spoken while on earth.3 It is equally certain that stories and possibly doctrines were current in the early church that had no basis in the words of Jesus, though currently so believed.4 That is, the Fourth Gospel itself discloses the marks of an author who discriminates between interpretations of Jesus' words, separating the erroneous from the true, and yet not necessarily anxious to preserve the very words themselves. 2. Interpretative Character of the Fourth Gospel The Fourth Gospel differs from the Synoptists both by what it contains and by what it omits. The author frankly states that he has omitted a great deal of material known to him, and that he has made his selections with a definite purpose.6 The pur pose aimed to produce immediate satisfying experi ence within the soul, termed " life," and the cer tainty of a fact in history, the identity of Jesus of Nazareth with the Christ appointed by God. To do this, the author has selected certain deeds and words of Jesus, and omitted others; he has rear ranged the order and significance of events ; he has made a new distribution of material, so that Jesus' ministry is apparently extended in time ; and he has transformed the short, Crisp, paradoxical sayings of Jesus into allegory and lengthy argument. In short, he has retold the early story in such a way 'John 14 : 16-18; 16 • 12-14. • John 21 • 23. 6 John 20 : 30f. 146 What Jesus Taught as to give a portraiture of Jesus that differs from that of the Synoptists in the length of his ministry, in the place of his ministry, in the character of his miracles, in the character of his speeches, in his mode of self-manifestation, in his attitude toward his opponents, and in the general purpose of his mission. These differences are more or less designed, and are a part of the writer's method in accomplishing his purpose. He used historical material, but he aimed to give an interpretation of it, rather than to tabulate facts and sayings. Two facts explain the differences between the first three Gospels and the Fourth. First, the Fourth Gospel was written probably in the last decade of the first Christian century, that is, 90-100 A. D. The writer has grown old in years and in Christian experience. In retrospect he has more regard for consequences in actual history than sequence in order of time and place, and so by " foreshortening of memory " anticipates events by displacing them and their consequences. He is not careful as to time order, although he remembers well apparently insignificant details of the distant past. Secondly, the writer views the earthly life of Jesus in the light of a few great ideas. Life, light, love are the governing words and ideas in both John's Epistles and in the Fourth Gospel. The ex periences for which these words stand are based on ideas common to the Epistles and the Gospel, namely, the incarnation of the Son of God. The author's avowed intention to present the Jesus which he had heard, and seen, and handled 6 through the •1 John 1 : 1-4, Some Characteristics of the Fourth Gospel 147 medium of a philosophical rather than a historical form of thought, made it inevitable that his por trait of his Master should differ from that of his fellow writers. John is an interpreter of history, rather than its recorder. 3. Differences not Historical Contradictions Of the* numberless words and deeds of Jesus, each Evangelist was at liberty to select the ones suited to his purpose ; and as the first three already were based on one stereotyped tradition, the fourth had no reason for covering their ground, and so gives new material in his own way. While John gives Judea as the scene of Jesus' ministry, and the Synoptists give Galilee, yet they knew he was not in Galilee all the time,7 and John knows that he " walked in Galilee." Again, John regards the miracles as marks of power to glorify Jesus, while the Synoptists look upon them as evidences of love for the poor and afflicted. This difference is only broadly true, for John's characteristic word for miracle is "sign." That is, he represents Jesus as wishing his hearers to look beyond the miracle in order to see the pur pose for which the sign was given. But the Synop tists record the same design of miracles.8 It can not be supposed that each Evangelist intended to record all the motives that prompted the works of their Teacher. The purposes of the several writers justify the difference in the character and treatment of miracles. Again, the mode of self -manifestation is presented 'Luke 10 : 8-42. "Mark 2 : 3-12. 148 What Jesus Taught differently by the Synoptists and by John. In the former he is represented as not recognized to be the Messiah until late in his ministry, and then the dis coverers were not to disclose the revelation ; in the latter, John the Baptist early discloses him to be the Lamb of God; Andrew tells his brother Simon that he has found the Messiah ; and Nathanael cries : " Thou art the Son of God ; thou art the King of Israel ; " and Jesus reveals himself to the Samaritan woman as the Christ. That is, in the Synoptists the self -disclosure is gradual; in John, it is startlingly abrupt. It may be asked, Which representation is true to history? Answer may be made by a coun ter-question: Why cannot both be true? It is not necessary to put into the word "Mes siah " as used by Andrew and Nathanael the full significance put into it by Peter. There is a vast dif ference in the connotation of a word when uttered under an emotional impulse occasioned by the sud den and unexpected and when deliberately spoken after months of experiences, many of them perplex ing and disappointing. Nathanael's cry was emo tionally conditioned; Peter's was deliberate convic tion after eliminating alternatives. The historical background adequately explains why Jesus could say to the woman at Sychar, " I am he," when in Galilee he commands silence as to his identity. In Galilee and Judea the Messianic expectation was for a king ; in Samaria it was for a prophet. There was no danger of revolutionary implications in the claim of a Messiah who was only a prophet. He did not an nounce his kingship to the woman, and this is just the content of the word Messiah in the mind of Nathanael. Some Characteristics of the Fourth Gospel 149 Further, it must be noted that John gives indica tions that he knew that Jesus manifested himself with reserve. Toward the close of his ministry the people ask, "Who is this Son of man?" On another occasion, they ask : " How long dost thou hold us in suspense? If thou art the Christ, tell us plainly." The main features, then, of Jesus Christ are iden tical in all four Gospels. There is no mistaking the One whom they mean to portray. Only the attitude, or " sitting " as it may be termed, and the coloring are different, and the privilege of such details in a portrait is granted artists. 4. The Value of the Fourth Gospel To the early Christians Christ equally with God was the object of faith. The Jew became a Chris tian by believing in Christ also.9 And as faith in God conditions philosophical theism, so faith in Christ conditions Christian philosophy. It is from this conviction that John writes. His purpose is to show that no understanding of Jesus Christ is pos sible except to a suitable human attitude toward him. Hence, the futility of every attempt to recover the Christ of John's Gospel by purely literary and historical inquiry. Such inquiry may give the very words of Jesus and the minutest deeds in exact his torical setting and chronological sequence. By such method of research "he may be proved to be a real historical character and the noblest moralist the world has hitherto seen. But he was more than this to the writer who looked back over more than half a century of the church's history. •John 14 : 1. 150 What Jesus Taught Jesus' contemporaries knew him historically bet ter than the most exacting inquirer of today, judged by the canons of historical inquiry. But though they touched him and heard him and saw him, the vast majority failed to evaluate him correctly, for they believed not. He revealed himself only to faith. He can be nothing, and can do nothing, for those who have no moral response to him and his purpose. Hence, for the Christ of Christianity, John's Gospel is nearer the truth than the Synoptists. They for the most part halt and limp in time and space; the former sees in him the timeless and spaceless rela tionship of God and man. Also Paul, historically the greatest interpreter of Jesus to the world, cared not to know him after the flesh. To know Jesus' his torical antecedents and environment and teaching may make one " of Christ " ; that is, an adherent of a Christ-party ; 10 but it does not put one " in Christ," a sphere of thought and conduct extrahistorical, be cause immediately caused by the spirit of God in Christ's reconciling ministry.11 That is, to faith Christ is God at work in history. He is the histor ical manifestation of God's power and purpose.12 Expressed in briefest possible language, he is God- in-flesh. This creed affirms a fact in history, and is the only creed the denial of which makes one anti- Christ- in thought and conduct.13 It expresses at once the divine origin and character of Jesus Christ, his truly human origin and character and the per manent union of the divine and the human, the metahistorical and the historical in Christianity. Not only Christ, but the whole historical movement 10 1 Cor. 1 : 12. « 1 Cor. 1 : 24. 11 2 Cor. 5 • 17-19. » 1 John 4 : 1-3 ; 2 : 18ff. Some Characteristics of the Fourth Gospel 151 inaugurated by him is to be explained by postulating Christ ever at work in the world. He is continu ously revealing himself to every succeeding genera tion with increasing fulness and clearness, for at every moment of the developing process he has many new things to disclose, but his disciples are not able to bear them. This is the significance to faith of the phrase " son of God " as applied to followers of Christ. It asserts the divine origin of the new moral and spiritual dynamic that began in Jesus, the Son of God. This valuation placed by the Fourth Gospel on Jesus' words and deeds is a clue to just discrimination between historical and religious values in inspired writings. Inspiration is a fact whether the historical be the primary or secondary element in the document. Somehow the Christian reader feels that in John's Gospel he is experiencing eternal realities, and therefore it is true — true to his esthetic appreciation of the morally beautiful, true to his intellect in seeking an adequate cause for marvelous effects, true to his spiritual aspirations to know the Father, whom to know is eternal life. 5. The Main Themes of the Synoptists and the Fourth Gospel Compared One of the most marked differences between the first three Gospels and the Fourth is that in the former, the chief theme of Jesus' teaching is " the Kingdom of God," while in the latter it is " eternal life." This is a matter of emphasis only, however. John knows that Jesus used to talk about the king dom of God,14 but attention is diverted to the chief benefit of the kingdom.15 On the other hand the "John 3 : 3, 5. "John 3 : 15. 152 What Jesus Taught Synoptists know of one who earnestly sought to enter the kingdom, and who inquired,16 " Good Mas ter, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life? " Evidently, in the minds of a few at least, " the kingdom of God " and " eternal life " were in some sense convertible terms. The phrase " eternal life " described the blessedness of the kingdom in terms understood by all who cared for experiences that the word life suggests. It had no suggestions of political organization ; nor did it awaken patriotic hopes and aspirations. It is a more inclusive term than kingdom. Then, too, it had a moral signifi cance. It was not simply sentient existence, but a quality that made existence worth while. Since Jesus believed that life endured beyond the grave, this term to describe the good Jesus brought had no temporal or spatial significance. The good is not de termined by geographical boundaries, nor by time. It is quite certain that John's experiences led him to recall and emphasize the idea of life rather than the idea of kingdom, just as another follower of Jesus, finding in him the fullest satisfaction, de scribed the kingdom of God both negatively and positively, in order to accentuate its spiritual qualities. For the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit." A long time had elapsed since the disciple's mother had asked for a royal place for her son in the coming kingdom.18 He was expecting a new world, a new social order, in which he and his brother would occupy prominent places, lording it over others. He 16 Mark 10 : 17-31. "Eom. 14 : 17. » Matt. 20 : 20-28. Some Characteristics of the Fourth Gospel 153 was sure of its near approach. But the crucifixion caused that world to pass away, and with it the old world to which he had been accustomed before he had come to build his hopes on another. The resur rection restored hope in a coming kingdom, and the naive inquiry was thoroughly natural,19 " Lord, dost thou at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" The exultant followers looked for a reestablished throne of David in Jerusalem and a national su premacy over all who would not accept the ascended Jesus as Messianic Lord. Gradually the influence of the discerning Paul and the increasing numbers of Gentiles put into the background the revived sen suous view of the kingdom, and emphasized the moral and spiritual. The destruction of Jerusalem ended another misconception of the earliest disciples. Another social order had passed away, but Chris tians were multiplying and were experiencing joys and hopes hitherto unknown. They were rapidly losing all desire for kingdoms of an earthly sort. They were content with character and with posses sion of an eternal life that no persecutor, Jewish or Roman, could destroy. Whatever changed in gov ernment or in social organizations, the good which disciples enjoyed continued. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the vainglory of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust thereof; but he that does the will of God abides forever."John has learned from experience that life means more than kingdom; and in his representation of 19 Acts 1:6. M 1 John 2 ¦ 17. L 154 What Jesus Taught Jesus' teaching emphasizes that for which the young ruler so earnestly inquired. Accordingly, the teaching of Jesus reported in the Fourth Gospel may be conveniently, and yet not arbitrarily, grouped under the classification, The Author of Eternal Life, The Mediator of Eternal Life, The Possessors of Eternal Life. XII THE AUTHOR OF ETERNAL LIFE 1. The Idea Rooted in the Past Jesus accepted the idea of God as revealed his torically in the whole Old Testament as contrasted with the revelation in the Pentateuch only. He pointedly contrasted two objects of worship, when he said to the Samaritan : * Ye worship that which ye know not; we worship that which we know. The Ten Cohimandments and the Book of the Covenant demanded imageless worship, and thereby impressed upon worshipers the conviction that Jeho vah was invisible and incorporeal. But the spirit uality of Jehovah meant something more than mere immateriality. This something could be learned only by years of disciplinary experiences in history. In experience of national sin and disaster, of na tional repentance and blessing, of personal loss and recovery, of personal guilt and forgiveness, the cen turies of Jewish history produced prophets and psalmists, who interpreted Jehovah in terms of per sonal relationship. He is above and outside the material universe, transcendent in the philosophic sense, and he is also spirit as man is spirit, and so comes into social relations with him. ijohn 4 • 22. 155 156 What Jesus Taught For thus says the high and lofty One, who dwells forever, whose name is holy: I dwell in the high and holy place, With him also that is of a crushed and humble spirit, To revive the spirit of the humble And to revive the heart of the crushed ones. For thou, Lord, art good and ready to forgive, And abundant in mercy to all that call upon thee, Give ear, 0 Jehovah, to my prayer, And attend to the voice of my supplication." The Jew, and not the Samaritan, was educated by such passages from his national literature. The Jew only had the possibility of disclosing the saving pur poses and power of his God. To know the God of the Jews was to know the source of salvation. " For salvation is from the Jews." 3 This God Jesus knew better than any other Jew, and his joy was to dis close this more complete knowledge to others. 2. How Jesus Characterizes God In John, as in the Synoptists, emphasis is placed on God's moral nature. In quite metaphysical fashion God is called "spirit," but for the purely practical purpose of teaching that, if the spiritual nature of God is apprehended, there will be no dis position to think that worship consists in ceremonies performed at consecrated places.4 Only a God who is spirit is worthy the name of God, and true wor ship of such a Being consists in the attitude of the human spirit. Conception of God as Spirit makes localization of him impossible and consecrates every human soul a temple of God. 2 Isa. 57 : 15; Ps. 86 : 5f. * John 4 : 22. 4 John 4 : 24. The Author of Eternal Life 157 Allied to the notion that God is spirit is the notion that he is " true." That is, he alone fulfils the idea of God in opposition to false gods." This conception of Jehovah had been taught by all Israel's teachers from the founding of the nation, and the nation had learned it by eventful experiences. The personal nature of God who is spirit is as sumed in calling him " the living Father." 6 The possession of life also distinguishes him from heathen deities, and makes it possible for him to operate actively in the world by general providence.7 Having the life in himself, he is the source of life, and therefore quickens the dead and makes alive.8 The moral nature of the living God is expressed by the adjectives " holy " and " righteous." He is holy, because he has no contact with the world's moral defilement, and may be depended upon to keep disciples from its contamination.9 He is righteous because he " works in true consistency." That is, he maintains his character as a God that distinguishes between right and wrong by giving to disciples what he cannot give to men blinded by sin.10 3. Fatherliness of God. In John's Gospel, as in the Synoptists, Jesus likens God to a father. So earnestly did Jesus teach the fatherly character of God, that he used the terms God and Father as practical synonyms.11 That is, God is a universal Father, because he has yearning love for all men however sinful. What Jesus meant by calling God Father may be seen from the follow- 6 John 17 : 3. "John 17 : 11. 8 John 6 : 57. "John 17 : 25. 'John 5 : 17. "John 4 : 21, 23 ; 6 : 27, 46 ; 20 : 17. "John 5 • 26, 21. 158 What Jesus Taught ing facts : He called God " your Father " only once, and then after the resurrection when speaking to his disciples.12 Seventy times he named him "the Father," twenty-eight times " my Father," and nine times " Father." There can be little doubt of his meaning, when he uses the expressions " Father " and " my Father." He intended to convey the idea that he stood in such unique relation to God, that it was appropriate for him alone to call him Father. God was Father to Jesus Christ in a way that he is not to others. But he is also Father to others as well as to Jesus. Those who love the Son are in filial relation to God,18 and are special objects of his love.1* Jesus distinctly repudiated the idea that God's fatherliness consisted in his covenant relation to Israel, as the Jews fondly imagined.15 The fact was that Satan, and not God, was the father of the apos tate people, as their conduct amply proved.1" Son- ship, then, does not consist in man's natural or na tional relationship to God, but in an ethical likeness. God is Father in a peculiar sense to those that bear a moral likeness to himself. The various ideas conveyed by the name " Father " arise from the fact that it is a figure of speech, suggesting some likeness between God and a human father, but what the likeness is must be determined by the context. He is Father of all men, because he loves all men, just as a human father loves all children; he is Father of believers in Christ with added intensity of love, because of their moral likeness to himself, as an earthly father u John 20 : 17. "John 8 : 41f. "John 16 : 27. 18 John 8 : 44. "John 14 : 23. The Author of Eternal Life 159 has peculiar affection for dutiful children; he is Father of Jesus, because he loves him with an inten sity known only to a holy Father who takes im measurable delight in the quick and spontaneous obedience of a son. 4. Fatherliness Revealed in Jesus To call the object of worship "father" is uni versal in religion. The carver of a wooden image may address it, " Thou art my father." 17 The early Aryans worshiped the sky as one of their deities and named him Dyaus Piter, or " Father Sky " ; Greeks and Romans addressed Zeus or Jupiter as " Father of Gods and men " ; the Jews believed that Jehovah, the One God of Israel, was Father. Have we not all one father? Has not one God created us? a This universal name for that something above and beyond us, upon which we feel dependent, for whose fellowship we seek, whose help we implore, and whose ill-will we dread, is testimony to a feeling of family likeness between the worshiper and his God. Man does not believe himself an orphan in a father less house. He is somehow akin to the power whose help he must have, and upon whose protection he feels that he has a claim. Just because man is re ligious he thinks of God in terms of fatherliness. If he be a polytheist, he selects one of his deities as deserving of the title ; if he be a monotheist the language of the invocation in the synagogue liturgy is appropriate, " Our Father, our King." "Jer. 2 : 27. 18 Mal. 2 : 10, 160 What Jesus Taught The word father was frequently used in pre-Chris tian Judaism to describe Jehovah. " Father in heaven " was a common rabbinic phrase, so common that it came to convey almost the same idea of God as the word Lord. It was a circumlocution by which the Jews thought they were honoring God by re fusing to mention his revealed name. To the ordi nary Jew it was not a revelation. The feeling of kinship was lost in emphasis upon his apartness " in heaven." So in bewilderment Philip said, " Show us the Father, and it sufficeth us." Jesus answered,19 " He that has seen me has seen the Father." That is, experience with Jesus in all his social relations disclosed the heart, the nature of Jesus, and there fore the heart, the nature of God. The disciples had learned that in Jesus they had seen the character of God in his fatherly relation to men, not in his meta physical relations to the universe. The Father they had seen in Jesus ; God they had not seen.20 By his interpretation of the term father, Jesus re vealed the unbounded love and purity of God; for God is love and God is light. He grounds his own beneficent activity on the ceaseless beneficence of his Father ; 21 and his own death for the salvation of others shows the loving purpose of the Father.22 No one who appreciates the undoubted love of Jesus for sinners can doubt the love of God the Father. "John 14 : 8f. 20 1 John 4 : 12. 21 John 5 : 17-21. 22 John 10 11-18. XIII THE MEDIATOR OF ETERNAL LIFE In keeping with his designation of God as "the Father," Jesus calls himself " the Son." Because he is Son, he has his life from the Father,1 a life that is absolute,2 and that makes it possible for him to give life to others.8 He gives eternal life by giv ing the knowledge of the only true God * and he does this so completely, that he alone is the way and the truth and the life.5 So fully does he reveal God, that he can say, " He that has seen me has seen the Father." 6 Since Jesus made such claims for him self, we must note what he says about his person and work. 1. Person of the Mediator (1) The Son The name that Jesus most frequently gave him self was " the Son." Once he said, " thy Son," and three times he used the longer title "the Son of God." " The Son " was not a Messianic title, but a personal name that Jesus gave himself. The Jews did not understand " the Son " to be a title synony mous with the Messiah, for they had heard Jesus call himself Son, and yet they ask, " If thou art the 161 2John 5 : 26; 6 : 57. 4 John 17 : 3 * John 5 : : 26. 8 John 14 • 6, 2 John 5 ; 21; 17 : 2. 8 John 14 : 9, 162 What Jesus Taught Christ, tell us plainly." 7 He replied that he had told them by doing the works of the Son. They see the implication of his words, and like fanatical mono- theists seek to. destroy one that claimed to be God.8 They could not have brought the charge of blas phemy against him if he had claimed to be the Christ. If they had been certain that he was the Messiah, they would have had no objection to the term Son, for the Messiah must be the Son of God in an official sense.9 Jesus, on the contrary, teaches that the Son of God must be the Messiah. That is, the nature of the person called " the Son " makes it fit for him to claim the offices of the Christ. The reciprocal action of Father and Son is seen in the fact that each does what is appropriate to him. The Father gives life to the Son,10 loves him,11 grants him all things,12 and does not forsake him ; 13 the Son keeps his Father's words,1* speaks what his Father teaches,15 seeks to do his Father's will,16 does only what he sees his Father doing,17 and desires his Father's honor rather than his own.18 So in timate are they that Father and Son are one,19 and whoever has seen the Son has seen the Father.20 27. 'John 10 : 24. "John 10 : 33. "John 1 : 34, 49; 6 : 69; 1 10 John 5 : 26. "John 5 : 20; 10-17; 15 "John 16 : 15; 17 : 10. 18 John 8 : 29 ; 16 : 32. "John 8 : 55. "John 8 : 28; 12 : 50. "John 5 : 30; 6 : 38; 15 "John 5 : 19. "John 8 : 49; 7 : 18. "John 10 : 30. 20 John 14 : 9, 10; 4 : 84. The Mediator of Eternal Life 163 In interpreting the passages bearing on the unity of the Father and the Son we must note that similar expressions are used to describe the relation of malignant Jews to the devil,21 and to teach the union of believers with Christ and with God.22 The son- ship of Jesus consists in his moral identity with the Father that makes him alone able to reveal the nature and purposes of God. (2) The Son of Man As in the Synoptists so in John, the title " the Son of man " is used by Jesus only, but it is found less frequently in John. Jesus uses the title in connec tion with intimations concerning his death and in connection with lofty claims that he made for him self.23 Thus in an obscure way he announced him self as the Messiah who would found on earth the kingdom that Daniel depicted, and allowed the future to unfold the full significance of the title, when interpreted in the light of his death. But while " the Son of man " is a Messianic title, its appropriateness must be due to some relation that he holds to humanity, either because he does service to man, or because he shares man's nature. Of course, both are true, but it is probable that Jesus intended to suggest that the latter was the reason for the former. At any rate, he confessed that he was man,2* having flesh and blood,25 suffering thirst,26 and experiencing anguish of soul.27 He classed him self with other Jews as worshipers of God,28 and "John 8 : 88-44. "John 6 : 54. "John 17 : 11, 21f. "John 19 : 28. 28 John 1 : 51; 5 : 27. "John 12 ¦ 27. MJohn 8 : 40. "John 4 : 22. 164 What Jesus Taught thought of God as One to whom it was fitting for him to pray.29 In the fact that he prayed he acknowl edged dependence upon the Father. He said ex pressly, that he was unable to do anything without the Father.30 This inferiority was official, and of ficial inferiority arose from participation in human nature. Since he was consecrated to do Messianic work,81 he was under commandment,32 and had to wait the Father's direction as to what he should do and teach.33 Because he was an obedient Son he en joyed the Father's love,84 and if he should success fully carry out the Father's directions, he would re ceive divine glory as a reward.85 Note that while Jesus acknowledged subordina tion to God 3e and claimed participation in human frailties, he challenged any one to detect a fault in him,37 and said that he was not in any way subject to evil morally.88 (3) The Christ While the people suspected that he was the Christ he was slow to announce himself as such.39 He in tended that his works should testify of him.40 He openly announced his office to the woman of Sychar, because she thought of the Messiah as teacher, not as king.41 In John's Gospel, then, Jesus' self-dis closure is represented as gradual, as in the Synop tists. 28 John 11 : 42. "John 14 : 28. 88 John 5 : 30. "John 8 : 46. 21 John 10 : 36. "John 14 : 30. 22 John 10 : 18; 14 : 31; 15 : 10; 18 : 11. 88 John 10 : 24f. 38 John 8 : 28; 12 : 49f. "John 10 : 25, 38. "John 8 : 29; 10 : 17; 15 : 10. "John 4 : 25f. »John 17 : 5. The Mediator of Eternal Life 165 (4) Son of David This title is not given him in John's account, hence he has no occasion to assent to it as appropriate. But it is a fact, that at the beginning of Jesus' public work, Nathanael exclaimed in enthusiastic surprise, " Thou art the King of Israel," 42 and at the close of his ministry the people cried,43 Hosanna; blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel. Jesus knew that he was king, and if he had denied it, he would have virtually denied the fact of his earthly existence. He was born to be king.44 Yet he does not claim to be king in the worldly sense, but by virtue of the truth he preaches. In harmony with his kingship is the claim to the royal preroga tive of judging.45 Jesus then appropriated to him self the royal authority, that the Old Testament pre dicted must belong to Israel's King.46 2. Work of the Mediator The special mission of the Son was to give eter nal life.47 He was qualified to do this, because he had life in himself48 and was himself the life.49 This inherent qualification made it fit for the Father to seal him and him alone for Messianic work.50 The Son secured eternal life for men by manifesting God, and by laying down his life.51 "John 1 : 49. "John 10 : 10 ; 17 : 2. "John 12 : 13. "John 5 : 26. "John 18 : 37. 48 John 11 : 25 ; 14 : 6. "John 5 : 22-30. 88 John 6 : 27; 10 : 36. "John 12 : 14-16. "John 10 : 11. 166 What Jesus Taught (1) Revealing God As teacher he taught only what the Father di rected,62 and was so far from teaching error, that he challenged any one to convict him of sin.53 At the close of his life Tie could say, " The words which thou gavest me I have given to them.64 Since his words were God's words, he made astounding claims for them.66 They free from the bondage of sin ; 6S they purge of impurity ; 67 they save from death ; 58 and they will judge in the last day.69 As Jesus by his words reveals God to the world, he is the light of the world ; 60 as he makes known the true character of God and his demands on men, he is the truth ; 61 as he is the medium by which men approach the Father, he is the way ; 62 and as he experienced in himself the content of the message he brought and can enable others to enjoy the same experience, he is the- life.63 It follows from what he is, that rejection of his words establishes guilt.64 But he pronounced no formal sentences of condem nation, for judgment was not the purpose of his mission.66 The attitude of men toward his teaching determines their ethical character, and so deter mines whether he shall be their Judge,66 or their Saviour.67 It is inevitable that man's nature should be revealed by the light of the world, and so distinc- 12 : 35. 52 John 12 : .49. •"John 8 • 12; 9 : 5 53 John 8 • 46. •"John 14 : 6, 8, 17. "John 17 : 8. 82 John 14 : 6. 55 John 14 : 24. 63 John 14 . 6. *>John 8 : 31, 24. 04 John 12 : 47. 51 John 15 3. 85 John 12 : 47. 38 John 8 52. 60 John 5 ¦ 22, 27; 9 69 John 12 : 48. "'John 3 : 17. 39. The Mediator of Eternal Life 167 tion made between the self-righteous and the spirit ually dissatisfied.68 In connection with his teaching Jesus gave " signs." These were not an end in themselves, but were intended to point to the character of the worker, or to his relation with the Father. The latter was the main purpose.89 All the miracles that Jesus worked deserved the epithet " good," because they revealed the character of the Father.70 He used, with three exceptions,71 the word " works " to designate his miracles, because miraculous working was only part of his general Messianic activity. Jesus refused to work signs on demand,72 yet he promised that an undoubted sign would be given.73 In this respect the Johannean and Synoptic reports of Jesus' attitude toward popular expectation are in agreement. (2) Death of the Mediator Jesus' teaching aroused opposition, and his ene mies determined to kill him. His death was not a penalty inflicted for crimes that he had committed,74 but due solely to the murderous hate of wicked men.76 They, however, did not wrest his life from him for he gave it up voluntarily,76 and thus showed love and obedience to the Father,77 and won in re turn the love of his Father.78 His death was not an incidental part of his Messianic work, but a neces- "John 9 : 39-41. 82 John 10 : 25, 38; 14 : 10-12; 15 : 24. '"John 10 : 32. "John 4 : 48; 6 : 26. "John 8 : 37; 15 18. "John 2 : 19; 6 : 30. "John 10 : 18. '"John 2 : 19. "John 14 : 31. "John 15 : 25. "John 10 : 17. 168 What Jesus Taught sity in order to make his work complete and effica cious. He knew from the first that a violent ter mination of his earthly life awaited him. In his early ministry he obscurely alluded to it,79 but later he declared it plainly.80 His death did not destroy his power to give life, but was the means by which life is secured for his friends and followers.81 How his death avails for them he does not say, nor does he found the forgive ness of sins on it, as in the other Gospels. In John's Gospel the death of Jesus is represented as proof of absolute self -surrender to the service of love82 and as an exhibition of love that will win the world.83 The cross did not end the work of Christ, for he received his life again,84 and entered into heavenly glory.85 So certain was Jesus of the glorious future awaiting him, that he did not use the word death to describe his departure from life, but used words denoting joy and glory.86 In his glorified state he is in fellowship with his followers, and will answer their prayers.87 As he had" interceded for them while he was on earth, so he continues his interces sion in heaven, and will send the Holy Spirit to be their constant guide.88 The Spirit will call to their remembrance his words,89 will lead them into all the '» John 2 : 19; 3 : 14. 80 John 10 : 11, 17; 12 : 24; 13 : 21. « John 15 : 13; 10 : 11-13. 82 John 12 : 24-26. 88 John 12 ¦ 33. 84 John 10 17f 88 John 14 : 28. "John 32; 17 : 7 : 33; 5, 24. 14 : 12; 16 : 10, 28; 17 : : 11, 13; 12 : : 28; 13 : 87 John 14 : 13. "John 14 : 16. "John 14 : 26. The Mediator of Eternal Life 169 truth,90 and will enable the disciples to bear testi mony to the Messiahship of Jesus.91 The likeness of John's representation of Jesus' teaching on his person and work with that of the Synoptists is apparent, and the differences are not contradictions. (3) Extent of the Mediator's Work Jesus' mission was to the world,92 but in his earthly career his teaching was confined to narrow limits. The coming of the Greeks gave him opportunity to say that the limited sphere of work would be widened on the condition of his crucifixion.93 Since eternal life depends on personal fellowship with him, and God graciously offers life to all mankind, Jesus conceived of no limitations to the power of his word and his death, except such as the stubborn sinfulness of man imposed. (4) Opposition to His Work The term " world " is used in a physical and in an ethical sense. In the latter signification, it is ruled by Satan,94 because he is the author of moral evil in humanity.95 Since Jesus came to save the sin-enslaved world, he aroused its Prince to opposi tion. The Devil showed his hostility by inciting the Jews to enmity,98 instigating Judas to treachery,87 and arming men to arrest and kill the Christ.98 But the opposition of Satan is vain, for he has no moral power over Jesus.99 On the contrary, Jesus has 68 John 16 : 13. 88 John 8 : 44. 81 John 15 : 26. 88 John 8 ¦ 44. 82 John 6 : 33, 51; 8 : 12; 12 • 47. "John 6 : 70. 22 John 12 : 32. "John 14 : 20. "John 12 : 31 ; 14 : 30 ; 16 : 11. 82 John 14 : 30. M 170 What Jesus Taught overcome the evil of the world.100 He proved his superiority by choosing disciples out of the world 101 and guarding them from perdition.102 While his death seemed a defeat it was in reality a victory, for by it Satan was judged 103 and the Son glorified.104 108 John 16 . 33. 181 John 15 : 19. 182 John 17 : 12. ""John 12 • 31f. ; 16 : 11. '"John 13 : 31. XIV POSSESSORS OF ETERNAL LIFE- BELIEVERS Physical life is the ground and occasion of all human experiences, and so highly valued are these experiences, that men regard life the highest good. Natural life, then, is an appropriate illustration of that which is to be experienced in the kingdom of God. So salvation is thought of as " life " % or " the life," 2 in comparison with which common human existence is not worthy to be called life. As physical life is now a mystery to the biologist, baffling analy sis and definition, so life in the kingdom of God can not be known by definition and description ; it must be experienced. As the disappointment of human life is its brevity, the joy of the life with God is, by contrast, eternal. Eternity of life rests upon the fact that it is life with God; and relation to him depends not on time and place, but on moral likeness. So that the phrase " eternal life " expresses at once the endless dura tion and the spiritual quality of life in Christ. Eternal life does not belong to men by virtue of natural birth, for birth introduces into a human society that is enthralled by sin.3 " The world," that is, the human race as it appears in history, needs salvation.4 Men naturally are in a state of sin, in 1 John 3 : 36 ; 5 : 24 ; 6 : 33 ; 19 : 10. » John 12 : 31 ; 14 : 20. 2 John 11 : 25; 14 : 6. «John 3 : 16; 12 : 46f. 171 172 What Jesus Taught which they must die, unless made alive by Christ,6 who delivers from bondage 6 and from death.7 The life that begins at natural birth is not life, compared with the life inaugurated by the Spirit.8 Hence, sal vation is described as light, freedom, life, and a new birth. Entrance into life by new birth is a change wrought in the disposition of man by the Holy Spirit, but the method of the change is as little known as the movements of the wind.9 1. Conditions of Receiving Eternal Life The agency of the Spirit in effecting transforma tion of character does not deny man's cooperation. Faith is required as the subjective condition of eter nal life.10 The Son must be the object of faith. Only three times does Jesus speak of faith in God. In two of the passages faith must be in the Father, because of his relation to the Son ; u and in the third, Jesus demands that disciples have the same faith in him as in God.12 To believe in Christ is to accept his teaching as true ; 1S to acknowledge that he has been divinely sent,14 that he has an unearthly origin,15 and that he is the Messiah.16 Belief is outwardly attested by following him as pupils follow a teacher,17 by seek ing him as men in darkness seek the light,18 by fol lowing him as sheep follow a shepherd,10 and by honoring him as God is honored.20 He must be 6 John 8 : 12, 46. "John 4 : 21; 5 : 47; 8:3 1. 6 John 8 : 32-36. "John 6 . 29 ; 11 : 42 ; 16 : : 27. 'John 5 ; 21, 40. "John 8 : 23. •John 3 : 5. "John 8 : 24; 13 • 19. 8 John 3 : 8. "John 5 • 33, 35, 45. "John 3 : 15. "John 8 : 12. "John 5 : 24; 12 : 44. "John 10 : 27. "John 14 : 1. 28 John 5 : 23. Possessors of Eternal Life — Believers 173 prized as men prize food and drink, and regarded the sole means of satisfying the thirst and hunger of the soul. Life apart from him must be thought impossible.21 So entirely did Jesus center faith in himself, that he said,22 This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he sent. Jesus assigned reasons why men should believe on him, namely, the testimony of Scriptures,23 the testi mony of John the Baptist,24 the evidence of his death,25 the fulfilment of his predictions,26 and the witness of a willing mind.27 (1) Conditions Rejected Since faith is the human condition of passing from death into life, those who are not willing to attach themselves to Jesus are dead.28 If there be no change, they must die in sin,28 and therefore be condemned in the last day.30 It seems strange that men reject the offer of life, but Jesus gave reasons for such conduct. Worldly wisdom prevents the re ceptivity necessary to obtain salvation ; 31 unwilling ness keeps aloof from Christ; 32 and men who seek glory of their fellows rather than of Christ, reject one not of their spirit 83 and are aroused against one that testifies of evil.34 Man's opposition to God is due to the fact that he belongs to this world and is 53. : 48. 21 John 6 : 27-58. 28 John 5 : 40; 6 : 22 John 6 : 29. 28 John 8 : : 24. 22 John 5 : 39, 47. "John 5 : 22 ; 12 "John 5 : 33. 81 John 9 : 41. 22 John 8 : 28. 22 John 7 17. 28 John 14 : 29. 28 John 5 : 41-44. "John 7 : 17. "John 7 : 7. 174 What Jesus Taught ruled by Satan ; 3B and he is so ruled because he wishes to do the desires of Satan. Ability to serve the devil becomes inability to serve God.86 The " cannot " is the inevitable result of " will not," since character tends to fixity. (2) Conditions Accepted Though the human will is active in accepting the conditions,37 yet ability to accept is given by God.38 Approach to Christ in faith is dependent on the Father's drawing.39 Jesus' disciples were disciples because God had given them to his Son.40 The fact that spiritual discernment is given men by the Father is common to John and the Synoptists,41 and is joyously acknowledged by believers in God. Jesus did not harmonize the necessity of divine help with the fact of human freedom, but accepted as true that which appears true to human conscious ness. His insistence on man's responsibility and consequent guilt is unequivocal.42 2. Laws Governing Believers In the Synoptists eternal life is described as a future possession of believers.43 In John it is a present possession,44 as well as future.46 Just as the kingdom of heaven is spoken of in present and future tenses, so the chief benefit of the kingdom is described. This means that the transformation of character effected by the Spirit is continuous, and "John 8 : : 44-47. "Matt. 13 : 11 ; 16 : 17. 28 John 8 : : 43. 42 John 15 : 22. "John 7 : : 17. "Mark 10 : 30; i Luke 18 : 30. "John 6 65. "John 5 : 24; 6 : 47, 54. 82 John 6 ; 44. 48 John 12 : 25; 14 : 19. "John 6 : 37; 17 . 2, 6. Possessors of Eternal Life — Believers 175 that it will be perfected only by the resurrection in the last day.46 As natural life is tested by disci pline, so spiritual life must show itself weak or strong amid the vicissitudes of earthly existence. Those that believe are in the world,47 and are in danger of being overcome by its Prince.48 Hence, they must trust in God and in Jesus.49 The faith that conditioned entrance into the new life must be constantly maintained in order to perfect it into the realization of the blessedness of the kingdom of God. The faith that bears fruit is attachment to Jesus, as intimate and vital as the branch to the vine.50 The supreme test of such attachment is determina tion to abide in his words and keep his command ments,51 especially the new commandment of love.62 Love for others is best exhibited in such service as a host gives a guest whom he welcomes by acting as if he was the guest's slave.63 Brotherly love is proof of discipleship.54 The measure of disciples' love for one another must be Christ's love for them.56 (1) Difficulty of Obedience Jesus foresaw the dangers to which disciples would be exposed, and prayed that they might be kept from the evil One 56 and ultimately behold his own glory with the Father.67 The hostility of the world and the stringency of the "new commandment" 12. «John 6 : 54; 11 : 25. "John 15 : 19; 17 : 14; 15 : 20; 16 : 2, 83. "John 17 : 15. » "John 13 : 14f. "John 14 • 1. "John 13 : 35. 88 John 15 : 4-6. 88 John 13 . 34; 15 51 John 14 : 15, 21. "John 17 15. "John IS 34; 15 ; 17. "John 17 : 24, 176 What Jesus Taught might put believers in constant dread lest they lose eternal life, unless they be cheered by assurances of ultimate victory. This certainty removes all anxieties and fills the heart with cheer. Disciples may have the repose of spirit that characterized Christ, if they are convinced of the reality of the victory he has won for them.68 (2) Motives for Obedience Jesus had been an ever-present Helper to his dis ciples. Whenever they had been in physical danger, mental perplexity, or moral despondency, they had gone to him, and had found ready response to their requests. It is always easy to be courageous and strong, when visible aid is near; but true moral spiritual life depends on belief in unseen support.68 Naturally, the disciples felt like orphans when their loved Master was removed, but they were not orphans.80 He sent another Paraclete, who was to them exactly what he himself had been.61 The Spirit took Christ's place as a personal Teacher of the dis ciples, and continued the same sort of teaching,62 and gave instruction, which it was impossible for Christ himself to give.63 The greater efficiency of the Spirit as Teacher is due to the facts that Jesus' teaching was temporary and local,64 while the Spirit's is permanent and universal, and that the Spirit has the facts of the crucifixion, resurrection, and subsequent glory of Jesus to apply to the con sciences of men, which were lacking to Christ while 26. 88 John 14 : 27; 16 : 33. 82 John 20 : 29. 82 John 14 : 26; 15 80 John 14 ' 18. "John 16 ; 12-14. 81 John 14 16. "John 14 16, Possessors of Eternal Life — Believers 177 in the flesh. Of course, the sorrow-stricken dis ciples could not see the expediency of Jesus' de parture, but their subsequent experiences amply at tested it.65 A new consciousness of the presence of Christ,66 would give intense joy,67 for it would be the con viction that he is able and willing to grant whatever is needful for the perfection of life in him.68 This spiritual presence of Christ, is another statement of the truth given in Matthew, " Behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age." Jesus encouraged to stedfastness by asserting the love of the Father for disciples,69 and bade them in crease their joy by praying to God, who is willing to answer any request that looks to development of Christian character.70 Obedience secures Christ's friendship 71 and continuance in his love ; 72 it wins the love of the Father 73 and constant fellowship of Father and Son. Failure to abide in Christ brings destruction.743. Realization of Eternal Life While the blessings of eternal life are enjoyed in this life, the full enjoyment comes in a heavenly future, where believers are with Christ beholding his glory.76 The translation thither will be due to the personal coming of Christ. In John, as in the Synoptists, " the coming " is represented as near 78 and as remote,77 at least after the lifetime of Peter. "John 16 ; 15-22. 28 John 14 : 18; 16 I 16, 22. '"John 15 : 10. "John 16 ; 22. "John 14 ; 21. "John 14 : 13f. "John 15 : 6. "John 16 : 27. "John 17 . 24. '"John 16 : 24. '•John 14 : 38f. "John 15 : : 14, "John 21 22, 178 What Jesus Taught In John, too, " the coming " is spoken of in more than one sense. He comes in the coming of the Spirit,78 and he will come apocalyptically at some distant time.79 That Jesus thought of a " coming," independent of the Spirit's coming and independent of historical crises, seems evident from the expres sion " the last day." 80 Christ consummates eternal life in the believer by raising him up at the last day.81 Resurrection belongs as a matter of course to those that believe in the Son. Physical death can have no power over possessors of life.82 The resurrection of believers, then, is one way of teaching the truth that, in spite of death, a person continues to be a person, that is, a soul with its appropriate organism, and that he experiences some good that is termed eternal life. On the other hand, those that do wickedly will continue to be persons, but will experience evil, rather than good. They come under the adverse judgment of Christ in the last day.83 The nature of the condemnation is not given, nor is the penalty described by material images as in the Synoptists. The duration of the penalty is not expressed, but there is no hint of restoration. The conditions of the righteous and wicked are diametrically opposed, and exegesis warrants no other conclusion than that they are unchangeable.84 In John's Gospel judgment is both subjective and objective, a process and a consummating act. It is subjective, because it depends on the attitude of men "John 14 : 18f. '"John 21": 22; 14 : 3. 82John 5 : 25; 11 : 25f. 80 John 6 • 39-54; 12 48. 82John 5 29. 81 John 6 3M., 44, 54, "John 6 : 29, Possessors of Eternal Life — Believers 179 toward the truth,86 and because as Jesus revealed truth, he was Judge while on earth ; 86 it is a process, because it is a continuous application of tests, by which men reveal their character.87 It is objective, because Jesus will sit in judgment on the moral quality of deeds done in life ; 88 and the process cul minates in a final decision, because men's attitude toward the truth Christ brought to the world will issue in fixity of character.89 "John 3 : 19. 86 John 5 : 30 ; 8 : 16 ; 9 : 39. "John 9 : 39: 13 . 31. 88 John 5 : 28f. 82 John 12 : 47f. INDEXES INDEX OF NAMES AND SUBJECTS Age, the (this), 130. Agrapha, 12ff. Alexander, conquest of, 22f. Antiochus IV, 23. Antipas, Herod, 45. Antipater, 44f. Apocalypses, 15, 35. Apocalyptic hopes and message of John the Baptist, 49. Apocalyptists : rise of, 34f. ; and time element in history, 138. Apocrypha, 14. Apostles, the limitations of, 97f. Aramaic logia, 4-11. Aramaic, sayings of Jesus in, 3. Archelaus, 45. Aristobulus, 44. Augustine, 4, 9. Beatitudes, the, 116ff. Brethren, love of, 123. Cataclysmist versus uniformita rian, 135. Chasidim, 24ff., 34ff. Christ : following, 123 ; coming of, 130ff. ; the, In John's Gospel, 164. Circumcision, 22, 30. Codex Bezte, 13. Conversion, 110. Covenant, Book of the, 155. Crosef, the, 103, 168. Cyril of Jerusalem, 4. Cyrus, effect of decree of, 21. Daniel, visions of, 72f. David, prototype of Saviour- Judge, 19. David, Son of, as used in John's Gospel, 165. Davidic dynasty and Jewish hope, 39. Death of Christ, meaning of, 97f£. Death ; of the body, 139 ; of Jesus, 167f. ; power of, broken, 178. Demetrius I, 35. Earthly good and subjects of the kingdom, 124f. Epiphanius, 4. Essenes : rise of, 36 ; and John the Baptist, 49. Eusebius, 3-5, 41. Exclusiveness, Jewish, and Jonah and Ruth, 22. Exile, the, influence of, on ideal of the kingdom, 20f. Ezekiel : perpetuated nationalistic hope, 21 ; and idea of holiness, 22. Ezra : program of reform by, 22 ; the scribe, 31. Faith : as Jesus required it, HOf. ; and eternal life, 172ff. Father : God as, in Old Testament, 63f. ; in teaching of Jesus, 64ff. ; term, as means of revela tion, 66ff. ; Jesus revealer of the, 69f. ; in John's Gospel, 157fl. ; in prechristian Judaism, 160. Forgiveness of sins the great blessing of the kingdom, 125. Fourth Gospel. (See "John, Gog- pel of.") Fulfilment of the Law, 91ff. God : idea of, in rabbinic theology, 371, in teaching of Jesus, 6111. ; 183 184 Index of Names and Subjects object of supreme love, 120 ; spirituality of, learned in his tory, 155 ; character of, in John's Gospel, 156ff. Good Samaritan, 97, 107. Gospel, the, and God as Father, 64ff. Grace : basis of the Old Testa ment Covenant, 38 ; doctrine of, in Old Testament, 38. Greek colonies in Palestine, 23. Hellenism : and the Scribes, 32 ; influence of, 32, 35ff. Hellenistic influence among Jews, 23. Henotheism in Israel, 17ff. Heredity, power of, 106. Herod Antipas, 60, 111. Herod the Great, 44f. Holiness : idea of, wall of separa tion from Gentiles, 22 ; evil effects of doctrine of, 37f. Holy Spirit : in John's message, 52 ; and the new birth, 172, 174 ; the Paraclete, 176f. Hyrcanus, 44. Immortality, 139. Irenseus, 4. Jerome : on Matthew's Gospel, 4 ; on Mark's Gospel, 5. Jesus : left no written word, 3 ; warning of, against literalism, 3 ; sayings' of, in Palestinian dialect, 3 ; extracanonical say ings of, 12ff. ; and contempo rary thought and feeling, 14f. ; and Jewish idea of the king dom, 16ff. ; and John the Bap tist, 53-55, 60f. ; recognized as exalted Messiah on Pentecost, 54 ; and suffering Servant, 55, 75f., 86, 94 ; and idea of king dom of God, 59ff. ; didactic method of, 61 ; and doctrine of God, 62 ; idea of holiness in teaching of, 68 ; revelation of the Father, 69 ; as Son of God, 78ft. ; reticence of, 82 ; Mes sianic claims of, 8211. ; as prophet, 83 ; as miracle-worker, 83 ; personal claims of, 84 contemporary estimate of, -85 unreadiness of disciples of, 85 direct claims of, 86 ; son of David, 87 ; mission of, 89 ; re lation of, to Father, 89 ; teach ing work of, 90 ; attitudes of, to Old Testament, 90 ; fulfils the Law, 91ff. ; fulfils the prophets, 94 ; healing work of, 95ff. ; limitations of work of, 96 ; service of death of, 974". ; teaching of, concerning man, lOlff. ; and social outcasts, 102 ; and the Sabbath, 103; and sin, 104 ; on heredity, 105f. ; on re demption, 109ff. ; on self-renun ciation, 112f. ; on hindrances and aids to entrance in the kingdom, 113ff. ; beatitudes of, 116ff. ; fundamental laws of, 118ff. ; against Pharisaic liter alism, 119ff. ; on providence, 120f. ; on prayer, 121 ; on wor ship, 121 ; and the fellow man, 122 ; identified with righteous ness, 123 ; on his coming again, 130ff., 177f. ; judge at the last day, 136ff., 179 ; spoke apocalyp tically, 138f. ; taught immor tality, 139 ; portraiture of, in Fourth Gospel, 14611. ; reserve of, 149 ; of history and of John and Paul, 149ff. ; and eternal life, 151ff. ; emphasizes God's moral nature, 156 ; reveals fa therliness of God, 159f. ; media tor of eternal life, 161ff. ; titles of, in John's Gospel, 161ff. ; work of, as mediator of life, 165ff. ; death of, 167ff. ; sends the Paraclete, 168, 176 ; extent of mission of, 169 ; spiritual presence of, 177 ; consummates eternal life, 178 ; judge in the last day, 179. Jewish literature and inner life of Jesus, 14f. Index of Names and Subjects 185 Jewish parties due to Hellenistic Influence, 23. Jews, separation of, from Gen tUes, 22, 30f. John, Gospel of : and the Synop tists, 11, 144ff., 151ff., 163f., 174, 177 ; characteristics of, llf., 143ff. ; and the Logia, 144 ; interpretative character of, 145ff. ; date of, 146 ; value of, 149 ; teaching as to God in, 156ff. John Hyrcanus', 26f. John the Baptist : teaching of, 44ff. ; popular response to, 47 ; interviewed by officials, 48 ; moral quality of message of, 48 ; and apocalyptic hopes, 49, 54 ; moral demands of, 50f. ; new elements in idea of king dom preached by, 50ff. ; and idea of Messiah, 51f£. ; as de scribed in John's Gospel, 54 ; seeming falsity of teaching of, 60 ; and repentance and faith, llOf. ; and beginning of the kingdom, 128. John the presbyter, 5. Jonah and Jewish exclusiveness, 22. Jonathan Maccabeus, 25. Josephus, 15, 26. Judas Maccabeus, 24f. Judgment in the last day, 136ff., 178f. Justin Martyr, 13. Kingdom of God : Jewish idea of, lOff. ; in rabbinic literature, 41 ; king of the, 59ff. ; vice gerent in, 71ff. ; subjects of, lOlff. ; laws of, 116ff. ; history of the, 127ff. ; imperfect reali zation of, 127ff. ; spread of, de pendent on men, 129 ; consum mation of, 130 ; in Synoptists and in Fourth Gospel, 151ff. ; sensuous view of, replaced, 153. K8rner, J. G., 12. N Last Day, the, 178. Law, the : first canon of Jewish Scripture, 22 ; symbol of pa triotism, 32 ; touchstone of Jew ish religion, 42 ; relation of Jesus to, 90ff. ; limitations of, 92. Life, eternal : theme of John's Gospel, 151ff. ; author of, 155fE. ; possessors of, 171ff. ; conditions of, 172ff. ; a present possession, 174 ; realization of, 177. Literalism, danger from, 3. Logia, Aramaic, 4-11. Logia, the, and sayings of Jesus in John's Gospel, 144. Luke : Gospel of, date of, 6, 10 ; and Synoptic problem, 7ff. Maccabees, rise of, 24f. Man in Jesus' teaching, lOlff. Mark : Gospel of, and preaching of Peter, 5 ; and other Synop tists, 6-11. Mattathias, 24. Matthew : Gospel of, 3 ; and the Aramaic Logia, 4ff. ; and Synop tic problem, 6ff. Men, fellow, and love, 122. Messiah : and possible fanaticism, 20 ; Servant, 21 ; and the Prophet, 39 ; doctrine of, in rabbinic literature, 40f. ; in John's Gospel, 148 ; and " the Son," 161f. Miracles : of Jesus, 83 ; of Jesus compared with other Bible miracles, 96 ; and the kingdom, 128 ; in Fourth Gospel, 147. Mithridates, 44. Model Prayer, 80. Monarchy, Jewish, and idea of kingdom of God, 17ff. Monotheism in Israel, 18. Nationalism and ideal of the kingdom, 18f. Neighbor, the, 122. 186 Index of Names and Subjects Obedience to Christ, 175f£. Old Testament: and inner life of Jesus, 14 ; canon, 22, 29f . ; and Pharisaism versus moral worth, 43. Origen, 4. Oxyrhynchus papyri, 13. Papias : quoted by Eusebius, 3, 5 ; and Logia, 4ff. ; on Gospel of Mark, 5. Paraclete, the, 176. Parousia, the : defined, 130 ; time of, 131 ; manner of, 132 ; na ture of, 134 ; purpose of, 136. Perseverance and repentance, 125. Peter, preaching of, and Mark's Gospel, 5, 6. Pharisees : and Chasidim, 26 ; and political fortunes of Judaism, 29. Philip, tetrarch, 45. Philo, 15. Piety and legal Judaism, 42. Pompey, 44f. Prayer : model, 80 ; as taught by Jesus, 121. Priesthood, prestige of, in Juda ism, 33f. Prophecy, interpretation of, 130, 133. Prophets : on the kingdom of God, 18 ; guides in national life, 46f. ; relation of Jesus to, 94. Rabbinic teaching: in doctrine of the future, 39fE. ; on religious life, 41ff. Rabbis, S3. Redemption, possibility of, 109ff. Repentance : nature of, 109f. ; and perseverance, 125. Resurrection : of believers, 139, 178 ; of Jesus, 153. Retaliation, 123. Rewards : of service, 124 ; in the last day, 137, 178. Righteousness of the kingdom, 119ff. Rome, aggressions of, and An tiochus IV, 23f. Ruth and Jewish exclusiveness, 22. Sabbath : observance of, 22f. ; wall of separation from Gen tiles, 30 ; Lord of the, 84. Sadducees : rise of, 27 ; and po litical fortunes of Judaism, 29. Salvation : and attachment to Jesus, 123 ; thought of as life, 171. Satan : and temptations of Jesus, 79 ; Peter and, 86 ; author of moral evil, 169. Scribes : rise of, 31 ; and study of the law, 32 ; teachings of, 37ff. Second coming, 130f£., 177ff. Self-renunciation, 112f. Sermon on the Mount, 7. Shema, Jewish, 41f. Signs of Christ's coming again, 132f. Simon, high priest, 25. Sin, 104. Son, the, as used in John's Gos pel, 161ff. Son of David, Messianic term, 87. Son of God : meaning of term, 65 ; use of term, in Old Testament, 77 ; use of term, in New Tes tament, 78 ; as1 applied to Jesus, 78 ; use of term, in Synoptists, 79f. ; not identical wtih Mes siah, 81 ; limitations of mean ing of, 81. Son of man : title of Jesus, 71JE. ; in apocalyptic literature, 72f. ; and "the Christ," 76; in John's Gospel, 163f. Sopherim, 31. Synoptic Gospels : problem of, 4-11 ; and Gospel of John, llf., 144flf. Synoptic problem, 4ff. Syrian persecution of Jews, 23ff. Talmud, 15. Temple : rebuilt, 21 ; feast of re- dedication of, 25. Index of Names and Subjects 187 Ten Commandments : no exposi tion of, by Scribes, 42 ; and worship, 155. Torah, meanings of, 291 Tradition and the Law, 32. Uniformitarian versus cataclys mist, 135. Ur-Marcus, 6f£. Vicegerent, the : origin of idea of, 19 ; and the better day, 84 ; Jesus' teaching concerning, 71ff. ; work of, 89ff. World, the, 169. Worship as taught by Jesus, 121. Zealots, rise of the, 35f. II INDEX OF SCRIPTURE PASSAGES QUOTED OR CITED PAGE Genesis 6:2 77 18 : 19 21 Exodus 4 : 22 63, 77 15 : 18 20 Leviticus 4 : 3, 5, 16 81 6 : 22 81 Numbers 15 : 37-41 42 Deuteronomy 1 : 31 63 6:4-9 42 8:5 63 11 : 13-21 42 14 : 1 77 18 : 15-18 47 32 : 6 63 Judges 8 : 23 17 17 : 6 18 18 1 18 21 : 25 18 1 Samuel 8:7 17 8 : 5, 19f 18 8 : 10-18 18 10 : 1 82 12 : 3 19 12 : 12, 17f 17 24 : 6 82 24 : 6, 10 19 2 Samuel 7 : 14 63,77 7 : 16 19 1 Kings 19 : 16 81 2 Kings 1:8 47 1 Chronicles 16 : 22 81 2 Chronicles 6 : 42 19 Job 1 : 6 77 Psalms 2:2 19 2:7 77 18 : 25f 63 20 : 6 19 41 : 2 20 188 PAGE Psalms 43 : 15 20 44 : 6 20 45 19 46 : 10 20 72 19 74 24 79 24 82 : 6 77 86 : 5f 156 86 : 27 63 89 : 6 77 98 : 9 20 103 : 13 63 105 : 15 81 110 26 Isaiah 9 : 11 19 11 : 2f. 52 11 : 6, 10 19 35 : 4 20 37 : 15 21 40 : 10 20 40 : 18-20 66 41 : 8f 21 42 : 2-4 21 43 : 22-24 21 45 : 1 80 49 : 1-4 21 50 : 4-9 21 53 : If 21 57 : 15 156 63 : 16 63 Jeremiah 2 : 27 159 3 : 19 63 20 : 3 13 23 : 5 19 31 : 9f 63 31 : 31-33 21 33 : 15 19 Scripture Passages Quoted or Cited 189 PAGE PAGE Ezekiel 32 . 19-32 21 Matthew 6 : 9-21 101 34:11 20 6:10 118 34:23 19 6:11 125 Daniel 7 : 13 19 6 : 19-34 120 11 : 31 24 6 : 24 113, 120 12 : 11 24 6 : 25-32 120 Hosea 1:9 77 6 : 26 62 11:1 63,77 6.: 26-30 62 13 : 9-11 18 6 : 30 62 Joel 2 : 28-32 52 6 : 30-32 62 Micah 5 : 2 19 6:33 113 Haggai 2 : 23 21 7:1-5 122 Zechariah 2 : 10 20 7 : 1-12 120 9:9 19 7 : 6-13 32 13:4 47 7:11 107 14 : 9 20 7 : 21-27 120 Malachi 1:6 63 7 : 22f 136 2:10 159 7 : 24f 84 4 : 1, 5 34 7 : 24-27 123 Matthew 3 : 10 51 8 : 11 97, 129 3:11 51 8:29 79 3:12 51 9:13 .89 3 : 17 78 9 : 14-17 121 4:4 121 9 : 27 19, 87 4 : 8-11 89 9 : 35 to 11 : 1 129 5:1-19 90 10 7 -5:3-6 109 10 : 6 96 5:6 90 10 : 20 66 5:9 65 10 : 21f 118 5 : lOf Ill 10 : 22 125 5 : 10-12 123 10 : 23 131, 134 5 : llf 62 10 28 101 5 : 13f 129 10 : 29 62 5 : 13-16 123 10 : 32f. 84 5:20-48 91 10:40 84 5:21-26 93 10:42 138 5 : 21-48 119 11-3 60 5:21ft 84 11:5 84 5 : 22 123 11 : llf 126 5 : 23 122 11 : 14 135 5:24 89 11:15 95 5 : 38, 39, 44 123 11 : 20 95 5 : 43-46 122 11 : 20-24 108, 137 5:44 65 11:23 62 5 : 45 62, 78 11 : 25 114 5:46,48 64 11 : 25f 69 6 : 1-18 120f. 11 : 25-27 66, 144 6:4,6,8 62 11:27 79,91,114 6 I 9-18 129 11 : 27-30 80 190 Scripture Passages Quoted or Cited PAGE page; Matthew 11 : 28-30 . 83, 89f., 90, 109 Matthew 18 : 85 125 12:6 84 19 62 12:13 4 19:17,29 137 12:23 19 19:28 136 12 : 28 81, 83, 86, 95, 128 20 : 1-16 124, 137 12 : 30 105 20 : 17-19, 28 98 12 : 32 108, 130 20 : 20-28 152 12 . 34 105 20 : 25-28 122 12 : 36f 138 21 : 15f 87 12 : 39f 98 21:21 112 12 : 41f. ...'. 84,137 21 : 29 109,123 13 : 4f 113 21 : 31 110 13 : 4-23 114 21 : 42 88 13 : 11 114, 174 22 . 1-14 137 13 : 19-23 129 22 : 1-18 125 13 : 24-30, 41f„ 47f 129 22 : 11-13 62 13 : 31-33 129 22 : 13 137 13 : 37-43 134 22 : 23-33 139 13 : 39f., 49 130 22 . 23ff 139 13 : 41 130, 138 22 : 36f 120 13 . 42 137 23 37 to 25 • 46 134 13:43 66 22:42 19,82 13 : 45f 113 23 to 25 7 14 : 24 62 23 : 7-10 122 14:33 79 23:10 86 15 : 24 96 23 : 12 62 15 : 28 97 23 : 33-36 106 16 : 13f 85 23-37 106 16 : 13-16 74 24 129 16 : 16 78f. 24 : 3 131 16 : 16f 85 24 : 5, 23 82,86 16 : 17 114, 174 24 : 6f 132 16 . 21 99 24 : 8 133 16 : 21-33 86 24 : 12 118 16 : 27 137f. 24 . 13 125 16 : 27f 134 24 : 14 133 16 : 28 131 24 : 15-22 133 17 : 5 78 24 : 26-28 132 17 : 20 112, 120 24 : 29-31 132 17:22 98 24:31 130 18 : 1-10 122 24 . 31 to 25 : 46 129 18 : 3f 108 24 : 32f 133 18 : 6 102,105,137 24 : 34 131 18 : 12f 102 24 : 36 131 18 : 12-14, 23-35 62 24 : 37f 136 18 : 19f 121 24 . 37-39, 42-44 132 18 : 21-35 122 24 : 37-40 120 18 : 30 110 24 : 48 131 18 : 34f 62 24 : 51 137 Scripture Passages Quoted or Cited 191 PAGE PAGE Matthew 25 : 1-12 132 Mark 4 : 26-29 129 25 : 5, 19 131 4 : 26-32 97, 129 25 : 12 137 4 : 35ff 121 25 : 14-30 124 4 : 36-39 7 25 : 14ff 137 5:41 3 25 : 21 137 7 : 21-23 105 25 : 21, 29, 34 62 7 : 31-37 7 25 : 30 137 7 : 34 3 25 : 31 130, 132 8 : 22-26 7 25 : 31ff 138 8 : 31f 87 25 : 31-46 85, 124 8 : 34 113 25 : 32f 136 8 : 34f 124 25 : 34 137 8 : 36 125 25 : 34, 36 137 9:1 134 25 : 41-46 62 9:6 6 25:46 137 9:7 79 26:2,12,24 98 9 : llf 40 26.13 129 9:12 75 26 : 31, 42 99 9 : 36 , 122 26 . 32 100 9 : 41 86,138 26-41 118 9 : 43f. 113 26 : 53 100 9 : 47 137 26:54,56 99 9:48 137 26 : 63f 79 10:3 62 26 : 64 86,131,133 10 : 15 112 27 : 40, 43 79 10 : 17-22 43 27:54 79 10:17-31 152 28 : 19 123 10 : 18 62,104 28 : 20 130 10 : 21 108, 113 Mark 1:4 50 10 : 23 114 1 : 10 86 10 : 26 114 1:11 79 10:27 114 1 : 15 Ill 10 : 30 174 1 : 16, 29 6 10 : 35-45 75 1:22 83 10:42-45 86,122 1:27 83 10:45 97,100 1:41 95 10 : 47f ' 87 2 : 1-12 96 10 : 50 130 2 : 3-12 147 11 : 1-11 87,94 2 : 5f 85 11:10 87 2:10 83 11:17 121 2 : 17 83,89,109 11 : 22 112,121 2 : 20 87, 98 11 : 22-24 120 2 : 27 103,121 11 : 24 121 2:28 84 11:25 125 3 : 11 79 12 : 1-12 80 3:29 108 12:26 62 3 : 31-35 123 12 -31 122 3:35 65,121,124 12:35-37 88 192 Scripture Passages Quoted or Cited PAGE Mark 13 : 1-37 134 Luke 13 . 10 133 10 13 : 14-23 133 10 13 : 19 62 10 13 : 28f 133 10 13 : 32 80f., 131 10 13 : 32-37 132 1 13 : 35 132 1 14 : 36 81,121 1 14 : 51 7 1 14 : 54, 62 6 1 14 : 62 74 1 15 : 2 87 1 15 : 32 82, 86f., 112 12 15 : 34 3 12 15 : 39 79 12 16 : 13, 15 112 12 Luke 1:1-4 8 12 1:5 9 12 1 : 35 78f. 12 1 : 50 38 12 1 : 51-53 38 12 1 : 51, 68-79 38 12 1 : 58 38 12 1 : 74f 36 12 2 : 32 38 12 2 : 52 9 12 3:7 47 12 3 : 10-14 50 12 3 : 17 51 12 3-33 19 12 3 : 38 78 12 4 : 16-19 94 12 4 : 25-30 9 13 4-41 79 13 5 : 1-11 9 13 5 : 32 109 13 5 : 39 113 13 6:4 83 13 6 . 22 118 13 6 : 24 114 14 7 : 11-14, 36-50 9 14 7 : 47-60 89 15 9 : 27 134 15 9 : 46 122 15 9 : 51 9 15 9 : 59-62 84 15 10 : 8-42 147 16 10 : 17-20 80,139 16 FAGS 10 : 18-20 125 : 21 62 : 21f 144 : 25-37 107 : 25-28 43 : 38-40 123 . 3, 4 125 : 11-13 67,70 : 13 121 -.19 86 ¦ 20 128 : 27f 123 . 31f 137 : 7 62 : 10 118 : 13-21 101 : 14 89 : 15 125 : 21 125 ': 24 62 : 28 62 : 28-30 62 : 32 66, 120, 126 : 35-40 124, 132 : 35-46 132 : 35-48 134 : 37 137 : 44 137 : 46 62 : 47f 108,138 : 48 108 : 49-53 118 : 57 108 : 6-9 62 : 23ff 131 : 24ff 129 : 26f 123 : 27 62 : 32 95 : 33 83,99 : 15-24 113 : 26 113 62 : 1-32 102 : 10 102 : llff 65 . 20f 109 ¦ 13 120 : 16 128 Luke 16 : 19-24 PAGE 102 17 62 17 : 5-10 17 : 7-10 17 : 16 124 104 112 17 : 20-37 134 Scripture Passages Quoted or Cited 193 PAGE John 1 : 50 78 1 : 61 163 2 : 19 167f. 3 : 3, 5 151 3:5 172 3:8 172 17 : 21 83,128 3 : 14 168 17 : 23f 132 3 : 15 151,172 17 : 26-30 132 3 : 16 171 18 : 8-14 122 3 : 17 166 18 : 13 109 3 : 19 179 18:19 62 3:29 54 18 : 30 130,174 3 : 36 171 19 : 10 9,89,109 4 . 21 172 19 : 11-27 124, 137 4 : 21, 23 157 19 : 17 137 4 : 22 155f., 163 19:40 87 4:24 156 20:35 ". 130 4:25 47 20 : 35f 139 4 : 25f 164 21 : 5-36 134 4 : 34 162 21 : 20f 133 4 : 48 167 21 : 20-28 133 5 : 17 157 21 : 27 132f . 5 : 17-21 160 21 : 29-31 133 5 : 19 162 21 . 34ff 136 5 ; 20 162 22 : 24 122 5 : 21 161 22 : 25-27 122 5 : 21, 26 157 22 : 30 71 5 : 21, 40 172 22:37 99 5:22 173 22:70 80 5:22,27 73,166 23 : 8-12, 27-31 9 5 : 22-30 165 23-34 108 5 : 23 172 23 : 43 , 101 5 : 24 171f., 174 23-46 139 5 : 25 178 24-7 71 5:26 1611, 165 24 \ 25f 94 5:27 163 24 : 26, 46 86 5 : 28f 179 John 1 : 12 28 5:29 178 1 15 55 5:30 162,164,179 10-21 54 5 : 33 173 10.22 48 5 : 33, 35, 45 172 19,24 HI 5:39 33 23 54 5:39,47 173 27-33 54 5 : 40 173 29 55 5:41-44 173 33 55 5 : 47 172 34 54 6:14 47 34, 49 162 6 : 26 167 49 165 6 : 27 165 194 Scripture Passages Quoted or Cited PAGE PAGE John 6 : 27, 46 157 John 10 : 11, 17 168 6 : 27-58 173 10 : 11-18 160 6 : 29 172f. 10 : 17 162,164,167 6 : 30 167 10 : 17f 168 6 : 33 171 10 : 18 164,167 6 : 33, 51 169 10 : 24 162 6 : 37 174 10 : 24f 164 6 : 38 162 10 : 25, 38 164,167 6 : 39-54 178 10 : 27 172 6 : 39f., 44, 54 178 10 : 30 162 6 : 44 174 10 : 32 167 6 : 47, 54 174 10 . 33 162 6 : 53 173 10 : 36 164f. 6 : 54 163,175 11 : 25 165,171,175 6 : 57 157, 161 11 : 25f 178 6 : 65 174 11 : 27 162 6 : 69 162 11 : 42 164, 172 6 : 70 169 12 : 13 165 7:7 173 12 : 14-16 165 7 : 17 173f. 12 : 23f 168 7 : 18 162 12 : 24-26 168 7 : 33 168 12 : 25 174 8 : 12 166, 109, 172 12 : 27 163 8 : 12, 46 172 12 : 31 169, 171 8 : 16 179 12 : 31f 170 8 : 23 172 12 . 32 169 8 : 24 172f. 12 : 33 168 8 ¦ 24, 31 166 12 . 34 71, 74 8 : 28 162, 164, 173 12-35 166 8 : 29 162,164 12 : 44 172 8 : 31 172 12 : 46f 171 8 : 32-36 172 12 : 47 166, 169 8 : 37 167 12 47f 179 8 : 38-44 163 12 : 48 166, 173, 178 8 : 40 163 12 : 49 166 8 : 41f 158 12 : 49f 164 8 : 43 174 12 : 50 162 8-44 158, 169 13 : 14f 175 8 : 44-47 174 13 : 19 172 8 : 46 164, 166 13:21 168 8 : 49 162 13 : 31 170,179 8 : 52 166 13 : 32 168 8 : 55 162 13 : 34 175 9:5 166 13 : 35 175 9 : 39 166, 179 14 : 1 149, 172, 175 9 : 39-41 167 14 : 3 178 9 : 41 173 14 : 6 161, 165f., 171 10 : lOf 165 14 : 6, 8, 17 166 10 : 11-13 168 14 • 8f 160 Scripture Passages Quoted or Cited 195 PAGE PAGE John 14 : 9 69, 161f. John 16 : 33 170 14 : 10-12 167 17 : 2 161,165 14 : 12 168 17 : 2, 6 174 14 : 13 168 17 : 3 157, 161 14 : 13f 177 17 : 3, 11, 25 69 14 : 15, 21 175 17 : 5 164 14 : 16 168, 176 17 : 5, 24 168 14 : 16-18 145 17:8 166 14 : 18 176f. 17 : 10 162 14 : 18f 177f. 17 : 11 157 14 : 19 174 17 : 11, 13 168 14 : 20 169,171 17 : 11, 21f.' 163 14:21 177 17 12 170 14 : 23 158 17 : 14 175 14 . 24 166 17 . 15 175 14 : 26 168,176 17 : 24 175,177 14 : 27 176 17 : 25 157 14 : 28 164, 168 18 : 11 164 14 : 29 173 18 : 37 165 14 . 30 164,169 19 . 10 171 14 : 31 164, 167 19 : 28 163 15 : 3 166 20 : 17 157f. 15 : 4-6 175 20 : 29 176 15 : 6 177 20 : 30f 145 15 : 9 162 21 - 22 177f. 15 : 10 162, 164, 177 21-23 145 15:12 175 21:25 9 15 . 13 168 Acts 1:6 153 15 : 14 177 1 : 17 131 15:17 175 1:22 6 15:18 167 2:33 54 15:19 170,175 2.39 50 15 . 20 175 3 : 22 39, 47 15 22 174 7:56 72 15 15 15 16161616 16 16 16 161616 16 16 24 167 10:1 50 25 167 10 : 38 6,86 26 169,176 20:35 12 2, 33 175 Romans 1:3 88 10, 28 168 14 : 17 59, 152 11 169f. 1 Corinthians 1 : 12 150 12-14 145, 176 1 : 24 150 13 169 15:3 99 15 162 2 Corinthians 5 : 17-19 150 15-22 177 1 Thessalonians 4 : 15 13 16, 22 177 Hebrews 7 : 14 19, 88 22 177 James 5 : 9 132 24 177 1 Peter 4 : 7 132 27 158, 172, 177 1 John 1-1-4 146 32 162 2 : 17 153 196 Scripture Passages Quoted or Cited PAGE 1 John 2 : 18ff 150 4 . 1-3 150 4 : 12 160 Revelation 1 : 13 72 5:5 19 14 : 14 72 Apocrypha 4 Esdras 5 : 1-13 40 6 : 18-23 40 9 : 1-12 40 12 : 32 19 13 . 29-31 40 Wisdom of Solomon 2 : 18 . . 78 Sirach 47 : 11 19 Apocalypse of Baruch 70 : 2-8 40 1 Maccabees 2 : 27 36 2 . 40 24 4 : 41-59 25 4 : 46 47 9 : 27 46 PAGE 1 Maccabees 14 : 41 26, 46 2 Maccabees 5:2,3 40 10 : 1-8 25 Psalter of Solomon 17 : 1, 3. 40 17 . 1-51 41 17 : 4 41 17 : 5, 22 19 17 : 36 19, 82 18 : 6, 8 82 Sibylline Oracles 3 : 652 19 3 : 795-807 40 Jubilees 31 : 18 19 Testimony of Judah 24 : 5.. . 19 Enoch 48 : 2 73 48 : 10 82 52 . 4 82 62 : 2 52 62 : 5, 6, 9 73 62 : 22-29 73 69 : 27 52 70 : 1 73 90 41 mm: 111! : ¦¦: ; ili!.y..:- ,:!.:r;;: ¦j l; ¦i;i: .:|l