Thus is the selfish possession and enjoyment of the rich man turned into curse and damnation; whilst in the way of beneficence and love he might have been a companion of angels, and an heir of heaven.

11. Forgiving love, as the second characteristic of the unfolding of

salvation.

(Chap. xvii. 1-10.)

At that time the Lord, in strong terms, impressed on the hearts of His disciples the duty of placability—the obligation to show brotherly love by forgiveness.

Forgiving love is a special form of the love of our neighbour, in its spiritual relations and manifestations. Its exercise is connected with forbearance, and with correction, which is a requirement of love.

True love, in its spiritual or inward relationships, is, first of all, forbearance. It shows consideration for the weak, the little

ones.

'It is impossible,' says the Lord, 'but that offences (occasions of evil) will come: but woe unto him through whom they come. It were better for him that a millstone (of a mill driven by asses) were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones. Take heed to yourselves.'

But the same love which, in its solicitude to spare another, reveals itself as heavenly tenderness, will also, on the other hand, by the fidelity with which it rebukes a brother, approve itself as a heavenly courageousness.

'If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him,' is the instruction of the Lord.

And the love which can spare and rebuke, is then also first strong enough in the right way to forgive.

'And if he repent,' it is further added, 'forgive him.' How unlimited must be the power and alacrity to forgive, is shown by the Lord in the following example: 'And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent, thou shalt forgive him.'

Thus must the forgiving love of the Christian exhibit itself as a reflexion of divine grace and compassion, deep and unfathomable,

strong and invincible—a divine triumph over all temptations to ill-will, to revenge, or even only to harshness. In this way, the human heart, according to its natural disposition—even the noblest-can never forgive. The disciples felt this strongly, and with honest open-heartedness they gave expression to it, in the words, 'Lord, increase our faith!'

They knew then well, that the perfecting of love can only spring from the perfecting of faith; for they did not ask for an increase of love itself in order thus to love, but for an increase of faith. The Lord entered quite into the thought, saying, 'If ye have faith as a mustard-seed, and say to this wild fig-tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea, it should obey you.' Thus can faith with a word cast out the deep-rooted wild tree of revenge from the nutritive soil of egotism, and cast it into the sea of forgiving love, there to perish.

But the faith which can accomplish this, must be grounded in humility. This Christ teaches, in conclusion, by a parable: 'Which of you, having a servant ploughing, or feeding cattle, will say unto him, when he is come from the field, Go straightway and sit down to meat? and will not rather say unto him, Make ready wherewith I may sup, and gird thyself, and serve me, till I have eaten and drunken; and afterward thou shalt eat and drink? Doth he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I trow not. So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do.'

Only in this deep, pure ground of heavenly humility, grows in its full strength the faith which wholly subdues selfishness, and produces a love which can forgive all things, according to the example of Christ.

12. The free manifestation of thankfulness to God, as the third characteristic of salvation.

(Chap. xvii. 11-19.)

In this passage the Evangelist brings before our view the duty of thanksgiving for salvation received, in a Gospel fact, which again he only records. For this end, he makes us in the first place acquainted with the occasion in which it originated:

It came to pass, namely, that Jesus, as He went to Jerusalem, passed through between Samaria and Galilee (see vol. iii. 411). And as He entered into a certain village, there met Him ten men that were lepers. These stood still at a distance-according to the legal prescription-lifted up their voices-strained their voice, hoarse from the disease-and called, 'Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.' And when He saw them, He said unto them, 'Go show yourselves unto the priests.' And in the way, as they went, they were cleansed. And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, and threw himself down on his face at His feet, and gave Him thanks. And he was a Samaritan. And Jesus answering, said, 'Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine? Are there found none that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger?' And He said unto him, 'Arise, go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole.'

Seldom does succouring love and compassion to the wretched reach the deepest ground of their heart, and win them wholly. And oftentimes it is the outwardly orthodox who are the last to attain to the full power of a true faith. Sometimes it is the one Samaritan among the nine Jews who presents himself before the Lord, with the jubilee of thanksgiving. But when a man allows himself effectually to be taken hold of by the saving power of Christ, when he experiences the fact of the grace of God within him, and accepts it, he comes and testifies aloud, in praises to God, what great things He hath done for him. This thankfulness is a rare blossom of the inward life; but where it appears, it makes itself known as a testimony to divine grace.

13. Calm patience in waiting for the manifestation of salvation in regal power.

(Chap. xvii. 20-37.)

Being asked, about this time, by the Pharisees a question which probably had its occasion in His festive progress towards Jerusalem,' when the kingdom of God should come, He answered, 'The kingdom of God cometh not amidst signs of out1 See above, vol. iii. p. 424.

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ward (heathenish) display.1 Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, Lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.'2 Then turning Himself to His disciples, He said, 'The days will come, when ye shall desire to see one of the days of the Son of man, and ye shall not see it. And they shall say to you, See here! or, see there! Go not after them, nor follow them. For as the lightning, that flashing forth-throws its bluish, all-illuminating light-from the one end under heaven unto the other, so shall also the Son of man be in His day. But first must He suffer many things, and be rejected by this generation.'

This is the hope of the Christian with regard to the glorious. appearing of the Lord and His kingdom, according to the Hellenic Gospel, which has the transformation and renovation of the present life especially in view.

Above all things, therefore, must the disciples be freed from the expectation of a heathenish display of heavenly signs-from the troubled humours of chiliastic expectations. They clearly comprehend that the kingdom of God is not to be pointed out by external manifestations of this or that kind, here or there; that this kingdom begins to reveal itself first in the depth of the inner, personal, historical, and social life, concealed by the veil of individual and historical conditions, and then only ripens gradually into outward manifestation.

They cannot and may not, indeed, repress a longing for the glorious time of that festive manifestation; and often will this longing turn into great pain during the sorrowful days of the deepest obscuration of the glory of their Lord. Then would they give all to see even one of His days.

How seductive will be to them then the voice which meets them with, See here, See there! when, now in this form, and now in that, false images of that kingdom shall be extolled in their hearing-ecclesiastic and separatistic, hierarchical and political, chiliastic and socialistic phantoms of the world's transformation.

Yet their thoughts are too pure, too exalted, and too spiritual, concerning their Lord and His coming, to allow them to be deceived by these many-coloured and dazzling phantasmagorjas. They stir not from the spot, however men may proclaim, See 1 παρατήρησις can also designate παρατήρημα. 2 See above, vol. iii. 425.

here!-they follow not in their train, however loudly men may proclaim, See there!

In fidelity of soul they wait for that glorious shining of the royal manifestation of Christ, which, with its lightning blaze, shall illuminate, set on fire, the whole world, with its bluish light judge it, with its bright fire transform it-for that great manifestation which is exalted above all doubt and dispute (demonstration itself), which cannot deceive or delude.

They well know, however, that days of obscuration and darkness precede—that the Son of man must first suffer many things, and be rejected by this generation.

The Lord then depicts to His disciples the character of the time before His coming, and the end of the world: As it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark; and the flood came, and destroyed them all. Likewise also, as it was in the days of Lot: they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; but the same day that Lot went out of Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man shall be revealed.'

A false semblance of world-transformation shall thus precede the day of the judgment; and the most shall quiet and delight themselves with its deceptive light, live only for that which is without-for the world, but, hollow and deserted within, shall forget the deep import of life-eternity, and God, and the judgment; and thus, in the blindness of their carnal security, be overtaken by the judgment day, and overwhelmed in destruction.

For this day will mightily and suddenly unfold all its terrors when it comes at length. Therefore does the Lord give to His disciples the further instruction:

Re

"In that day, he which shall be upon the house-top, and his stuff in the house, let him not come down to take it away; and he that is in the field, let him likewise not return back. member Lot's wife. Whosoever shall seek to save his life-in its possessions-shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life, shall then-first-have it.'

In haste, then, and resolutely, must believers seek deliverance by flight. That, however, this exhortation is to be understood