encourages him as one so far devoid of prejudice, and not far from that Church and Kingdom into which it is not unreasonable to suppose he soon after entered.'

CCCCL.

DAVID'S SON, DAVID'S LORD.

St. Mark xii. 35-37.

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.

4

The Lord's question here was addressed to the Pharisees,2 who upon the discomfiture of the Sadducees were gathered together. They had been questioning Him. Now He turns and questions them. "What think ye of Christ? whose son is He?" And on receiving from them the expected reply, He proposes to these, who had before attempted to pose Him, the difficulty of which there is but one solution, how David came to call his son his Lord. Our Lord cites a Psalm 5 which they admitted to apply to Christ, and which is more than once applied to Him in the New Testament." He

Each of the synoptical Evangelists relates that they ceased from questioning Him; and though they seem to place this at different points, yet is there no real discrepancy. St. Matthew (xxii. 46) reserves it till the end of His conversation with the Pharisees. St. Mark places it here, after the last actual question to Him; for what follows is His question to them. St. Luke (xx. 40) who has no occasion to record the question of the Scribe, places it naturally after the

last of the questions he had to record.
It simply means that the questioning
on this occasion was the last question-
ing of the kind to which our Lord was
subjected.

2 St. Matt. xxii. 41.
3 St. Matt. xxii. 34.

4 St. Matt. xxii. 42. The original phrase seems to recall that of v. 17. Ps. cx. One of the Proper Psalms for Christmas Day.

Acts ii. 34, 35; Heb. i. 13; x. 12, 13.

1

"declares both that David was the author of that Psalm, and that the Psalmist was inspired by the Holy Ghost while he wrote it." Here is Divine testimony to the inspiration of the Book of Psalms.2 The passage cited introduces Jehovah as speaking to one whom David describes as "my Lord," and inviting Him to take the post of honour in Heaven till, in Eastern phrase, he had put all enemies under His feet. For the custom in the East was for the conquering King to place his foot on the neck of the vanquished. And sometimes one will raise another's foot and place it on his own neck in token of submission. Our Lord by proposing this difficulty, and silencing the Scribes, not only showed that He could pose those who had failed in the attempt to pose Him, thus proving to them that He was wiser than they, but He intimates how inadequate is their idea of the Messiah." He lets them understand that He has a solution, though they have failed to find one. That solution can only be that Christ, though David's descendant according to the flesh, yet as being also the very Son of God, may well be spoken of as David's Lord." The unprejudiced people, who listened to Him with pleasure, might thus perceive the difference of His teaching to that of the Scribes; might consider the real nature of the Messiah, and the justice of His claim.

8

A Plain Commentary. Compare Acts i. 16; xxviii. 25. "From St. Luke i. 68, 70, we find that the Lord God of Israel'spake by the mouth of His Holy Prophets.' But here we read that David spake by the Holy Ghost.' Therefore the Holy Ghost is the Lord God of Israel."-D'Oyly and Mant.

2 In approving the sample, He approves the mass of which He produces the sample. St. Luke xx. 42. 31 Cor. xv. 25; Josh. x. 24; 2 Sa. xxii. 41.

+ St. Matt. xxii. 46.

notion that He would be a mighty conqueror and a glorious monarch (like Cyrus, Alexander, or Cæsar) who would subdue all the nations of the earth, and make Jerusalem the metropolis of the world. And as a mere man might, under God's providence, effect all this, where is the wonder that the Jews supposed the Messiah would be no more?"-Bp. Bull, quoted in Bloomfield.

"Had this son been a mere man, with what propriety could be bestow this title on a remote descendant, so inferior in all outward circumstances, to whom he would owe no obedience, and who could have no existence till a thousand years after his death?"Macbride.

8 St. Matt. vii. 29.

CCCCLI.

SCRIBES AND PHARISEES.

St. Matthew xxiii. 1-12.

Then spake Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples, saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat: all therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not. For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments, and love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues, and greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabhi. But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren. And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven. Neither be ye called masters: for one is your Master. even Christ. But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant. And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.

Our Lord now addresses His Disciples, but in the hearing of all the people;1 so instructing both. His conduct is utterly different from that of any mere self-seeker or maker of a sect. He never encouraged schism, or denounced lawful authority. He has taught us to distinguish between a man and his message. A message may be good though conveyed by an evil man. Even those Scribes and Pharisees whom He proceeded to reprove for their hypocrisy must be regarded as to their office, though shunned as to their example. They succeeded to the chair or office of Moses, and so were for the

1 St. Luke xx. 45. This discourse, as Alford notes, "bears many resem blances to the Sermon on the Mount, and may be regarded as the solemn close, as that was the opening, of the

Lord's public teaching."

2

2

Compare Art. xxvi. "Of the unworthiness of the ministers, which hinders not the effect of the Sacrament."

time under God the authorized rulers of the people; who must do as they said, though not as they did. For they were as sign-posts which show the way without moving a step themselves. To the weight of Moses' law, burdensome enough in itself, they added superstitious enactments of their own, which they exacted of others, while they exempted themselves. The easy and popular part of religion was the only part they practised; that which would gain them a character for devotion, and obtain credit among men. They sought not to be, only to seem good. These phylacteries1 were strips of parchment on which were written certain texts,2 and which were worn on the arm and heart and head. They were not commanded to wear them, and in any case the Pharisees made them broader than was either usual or necessary, calling attention to their peculiar piety. They were however bidden to wear fringes on the borders of their garments, and to bind upon them a band of blue,3 to remind them of their duty, and to distinguish them from the heathen. These however they needlessly enlarged, advertising their superiority, puffing their pretensions, regardless of the object for which they had been prescribed. In social as well as in ecclesiastical affairs their love of precedence was displayed. At feasts they liked to have the first places, at the higher end of the table, next to the host; in their Synagogues, or places of worship, the chief seats; in the markets, to be saluted as superiors, and to be addressed over and over again by a title expressive of mastery. The Lord bids His Disciples not care for this; to remember that so far from being masters, they have a Master, and not to lord it over their brethren. In reference too to other titles the Pharisees affected, He bids them rather to regard themselves as children and scholars than as fathers and teachers.

5

not to be promoters of parties,

From a word which signifies to guard. While originally designed to put the wearer on his guard against moral, they were degraded into charms which were supposed to protect from physical evil.

2 Viz. Ex. xiii. 2-10; 11-16; Deut. vi. 4–9; xi. 13-21.

They are but to submit themselves to

3 Num. xv. 38-41.

St. James ii. 2, 3. 5 St. James iii. 1.

The word rendered Master in v. 10 is different from that so rendered in v. 8.

11 Cor. i. 12.

the one Father and to His Christ. The expressions are of course to be understood in the spirit and not in the letter. There is no sin in applying or accepting the phrases.1 It is simply the lust of power which is here prohibited, and humility is directly enjoined. The greatest in God's sight is he who, after the pattern of Christ," becomes, in words we have heard before,3 a servant to the rest. He concludes His address to them by repeating a favourite proverb against self-exaltation, and in praise of humility.

CCCCLII.

WOES.

St. Matthew xxiii. 13–22.

But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves. Woe unto you, ye blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor! Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold? And, Whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever sweareth by the gift that is upon it, he is guilty. Ye fools and blind:

1 See 1 Cor. iv. 15; xii. 28; Eph. iv. 11; 1 Tim. i. 2. "To understand and follow such commands in the slavery of the letter, is to fall into the very Pharisaism against which our Lord is uttering the caution."Alford. "If any sectaries do reject the use of distinctive titles in address

ing their fellow-men, on the plea that Christ Himself hath forbidden the practice, let them be consistent, and call no man on earth their father either."-A Plain Commentary.

2 St. John xiii. 13-15.

3 St. Matt. xx. 26-28.

4 St. Luke xiv. 7-11; xviii. 14.