صور الصفحة
PDF
النشر الإلكتروني

dom of priests, and an holy nation 5." In the last words the allusion is to the assertion God makes, that all people are His; and intimates that he intends to select, set apart, and sanctify, as it were, the Jews; so that they should be to the God of all the earth, what the priests were to the tutelary gods of each nation. With them, as with a sacerdotal order in the universal people of God, were entrusted the mysteries of truth; and they only communicated with the deity, and were acquainted with his dealings.

To return to the passage read from St. Mark. In the latter part, the Sadducees are said to have denied the existence of angels as well as the resurrection. Our Lord's illustration of the future state of man, therefore, from the condition of the angels which are in heaven," was a reproof to them for both errors; although, as the latter only was the subject in question, and obviously the more important, the latter only was fully disproved.

Exodus xix. 5, 6.

QUESTION OF ONE OF THE SCRIBES.

Ver. 28-34.

And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all? And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these. And the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth: for there is one God; and there is none other but he and to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices. And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, he said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God. And no man after that durst ask him any question.

In reading this incident, we should not omit to notice the striking contrast it exhibits to the two former cases. Unlike the arrogant and insidious Pharisees and Herodians; unlike too the prejudiced Sadducees, the scribe who now questioned our Lord, really seeks for information, and has

some preparation of heart; although not quite enough, it would seem, at that time, to enable him to understand and be converted. He was not "far from the kingdom of God." Observe therefore the very different character of our Saviour's reply to him. Agreeably to his usual method, he had silenced and confounded the former uncandid and indocile questioners, by answers which only exposed their weakness. But his words to the scribe are such as would seem to encourage further inquiry, and to involve no reproach on his understanding or his heart.

As to the ground of his inquiry, it probably arose from the opposition, which, in the nice questions of Pharisaical learning, was made between the importance of observing the outward acts of religion, and of practising the moral duties, and cherishing inward piety. The tone of religion among the learned evidently inclined strongly to the former-the ceremonial law was in greater repute than the moral. Hence our Lord's own words afterwards, "Beware of the scribes, which love to go in long clothing, and love salutations in the market places, and the chief seats in the synagogues, and the uppermost

rooms at feasts: which devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayers: these shall receive greater damnation." In these words he opposes their rigid observance of all that was ritual, and religious in appearance, to what are emphatically termed "the weightier matters of the law." Some scruples with reference to this general corruption might have crossed the mind of the scribe, when he asked Christ" which was the first commandment of all." The ten commandments are called simply the commandments; the introduction therefore of the word all, implies that he directed the question to the whole of what was commanded by God, through Moses, and the Prophets-ceremonies and moral precepts. Our Lord understands the drift of his question, and accordingly so replies, as to declare that not only the first of the moral code was more important than the first of the ceremonial, but that the whole of the moral law was weightier than any part of the ceremonial. This is the first commandment of all, says he, repeating the words of the commandment; and not only does this stand before the ceremonial commandments, but the second is like unto it-like it in prece

dence and superior weight—and better, according to the scribe's own comment," than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices h.

CHRIST'S REMARKS RESPECTING THE SCRIBES.
Ver. 35-40.

And Jesus answered and said, while he taught in the temple, How say the scribes that Christ is the son of David? For David himself said by the Holy Ghost, The LORD said to my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool. David therefore himself calleth him Lord; and whence is he then his son? And the common people heard him gladly. And he said unto them in his doctrine, Beware of the scribes, which love to go in long clothing, and love salutations in the market-places, and the chief seats in the synagogues, and the uppermost rooms at feasts: which devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayers: these shall receive greater damnation.

In the preceding statement, we have seen a scribe discontented with the view of his fellowscribes respecting the relative importance of the moral and the ceremonial law, and instructed and confirmed in his protest by Jesus. In the passage which follows, our Lord is represented as

Η Πάντων τῶν ὁλοκαυτωμάτων καὶ θυσιῶν. The article is omitted in our English version, and the force of the sentence thereby destroyed.

« السابقةمتابعة »