refuge and portion. For the law really demands the surrender of the whole man to a Heavenly Father in heartfelt love, and a careful observance of His ways,* * or a wary walk in the narrow paths of strict obedience,† and the most earnest heed to the words of our lips.‡ When the Scribe openly avowed his conviction, grounded upon the Scriptures before him,§ that there is but one God, and that to love Him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices,|| "he answered discreetly;" and the Lord declared that he was 66 not far from the kingdom of God." What he needed was not a higher standard, but a right application of the one before him to his own soul, and such a sense of his own transgressions, as must have constrained him to renounce all self-dependence, and self-righteousness, and to seek for pardon in the appointed way. 1. Our Lord, therefore, here proceeds, in the first place, to clear the law from false glosses, and to teach its spiritual meaning in various points, in which it had been grossly abused. For, as Leighton well observes, *Prov. xxiii. 26. + Prov. iv. 25-27. § Deut. vi. 4, 5; x. 12, 13; Levit. xix. 18. 1 Sam. xv. 22; Psalm li. 16; Isaiah i. 11-17, &c. It does not appear that any undue stress was laid upon sacrifices by the Pharisees: they were too costly. Mark xii. 32-34. L "men aiming at self righteousness by the law, and desirous of it as cheap as might be, with the least pains, not being willing or able to rise to its perfection, drew it down and shaped it to their imperfection, and cut it down to the measure of external obedience, and that of the easiest size." The ordinary standard of the Pharisee is indeed summarily expressed in the Gospel of St. Luke. The proud man entered the holy temple professedly to pray; but he could only contemplate himself. "God I thank thee that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this Publican. I fast twice in the week; I give tithes of all that I possess." These certainly were no extraordinary attainments; and yet so entirely had the genius of Christianity been obscured in the Oriental church at the latter part of the fourth century, that the renowned and canonized Chrysostom positively asserted, that this Pharisee had lived righteously, and that he only lost the fruit of his exertions, and the reward of his merit, and thus eventually perished, because he railed at the Publican, or because he was puffed up by his good deeds, and therefore after having weathered many storms made shipwreck of his soul, richly freighted as it was, at the very mouth of the harbour.† But mere freedom from gross vices, and external *Luke xviii. 9-14. † Opp. T. i. p. 53; T. iii. p. 308; 575; 871; T. v. p. 263; 309; 384; 743; T. vii. p. 349; 569; 571. observances, can avail little in the sight of a heartsearching God. The holy standard, here set before us in detail, (vers. 21-48,) will suffice at once to reprove, and to direct us, as it equally binds the tongue and the heart, the eye and the hand. PART I. § 1. "Ye have heard that it was said TO THE ANCIENTS,* Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: but I say unto you, that whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause,† shall be in danger of the judgment; and whosoever shall say to his brother, RACA, shall be in danger of the council; but whosoever shall say, MOREH,‡ shall be in danger of hell fire. "Therefore, if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against * Campbell. † Campbell; and Chrysost. T. iii. p. 25, explain έ×ñ by àdinws: “unjustly.” Augustine says that the word was omitted in the Greek MSS which he consulted, as it is in the Vatican MS; but it appears in the greatest number of existing copies, and in most of the early versions, as it is invariably recognised by Chrysostom. Campbell. thee, leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift. 66 Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison. Verily I say unto thee, thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing." (v. 21-26.) It will be observed, that almost all the precepts unfolded in this first division of the Lord's discourse, have respect to the second table of the law, and are designed to enforce that brotherly love, or more comprehensive charity,* which is the surest test of the reality of a religious profession, and of the value of spiritual knowledge. In like manner, when the rich youth inquired the way to eternal life, and asked which commandments it was essential for him to observe with that recompense in view, the Lord referred, (in the first place,) exclusively to those, which regulate our conduct. towards our fellow men. The apostle follows the same course, when he tells the Romans, that love is the fulfilment of the law. § If we fail here, we fail altogether; but when the love of God is shed abroad *See 2 Peter i. 7. † 1 John iii. 10; 17; 23; iv. 7, 8, 11, 20, 21; v. 1, 2; 1 Cor. xiii. &c. Matt. xix. 16-19, &c. § Rom. xiii. 8-10. in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, through faith, this necessarily constrains us to love one another;* and such love is the unfailing manifestation of a justifying and sanctifying faith, proving our acceptance and perfection in Christ. But it has been supposed, that our Lord here quotes directly from the law of Moses, as delivered to Israel of old, and that by virtue of his own divine authority, he now expands or unfolds the original precepts, and, as already intimated, lays down stricter rules for the guidance of his disciples, or a more exalted law of love. This, however, seems to be no less inconsistent with His Prophetic office, and His own explicit declarations, already specified, and with the language of St. Paul,† than the grosser error which imputes to Him an intention to repeal the Mosaic precept. Campbell directed attention to the mode in which He speaks. It is not, "it was said," but, "ye have heard that it was said;" so that He cannot be alleging the words of Jehovah, but merely what their ordinary teachers had told them. For although such language may be happily adapted to quotations. *The love of God and of man cannot be severed: Philo Q. in Gen. 1. iii. § 42. See 1 John iv. 7, 8: 20, 21, &c. † Rom. xiii. 8-10. Prel. Diss. x. p. 412. But in verse 31, we read simply, "it has been said." This, however, must be understood in its necessary relation to what has been already stated, and thus ceases to be ambiguous: for it must be always right "to complete the briefer by the fuller, and not to cut down the fuller to suit the briefer statement." (Trench p. 162.) |