PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
Expositor's Bible: The Gospel of St Luke
Burton, Henry · 127,078 words · 160 reading sections
_Lost And Found._
The third parable carries the thought still higher, forming the crown of the ascending series. Not only is there a mathematical progression, as the lost fraction increases from one-hundredth to one-tenth, and then to one-half of the whole, but the intrinsic value of the loss rises in a corresponding series. In the firs…
902 wordsSECTION 122_Lost And Found._
When the photographer wishes to develop the picture that is hidden in the film of the sensitive plate he carries it to a darkened room, and bathed in the developing solution the latent image gradually appears, even to the minutest details. It was so here; for when in his extremest need, with the pinch of a fearful hung…
979 wordsSECTION 123_Lost And Found._
So far this scene of reconciliation has been as a dumb show. The storm of emotion so interrupted the electric flow of quiet thought and speech that no word was spoken in the mutual embrace. When, however, the power of speech returns the youth is the first to break the silence. "Father," he said, repeating the words of …
827 wordsSECTION 124_Lost And Found._
But let us not be too severe upon the elder brother. He was not perfect, by any means, but in any appraisement of his character there are certain veinings of worth and nobleness that must not be omitted. We have already seen how, in the division of the father's goods, when he divided unto them his living, while the you…
919 wordsSECTION 125_Lost And Found._
Whether the father's pleading prevailed, or not, we are not told. We can but hope it did, and that the elder brother, with his asperities all dissolved, and his jealousies removed, did pass within to share the general joy, and to embrace a lost brother. Then he too would know the sweetness of forgiveness, and taught by…
776 wordsSECTION 126_The Ethics Of The Gospel._
Whatever of truth there may be in the charge of "other-worldliness," as brought against the modern exponents of Christianity, such a charge could not even be whispered against its Divine Founder. It is just possible that the Church had been gazing too steadfastly up into heaven, and that she had not been studying the s…
896 wordsSECTION 127_The Ethics Of The Gospel._
With this, then, as the foundation-tone, running through all the spaces and along all the lines of life, the thoughts, desires, words, and acts must all harmonize with love; and if they do not, if they strike a note that is foreign to its key-tone, it breaks the harmony at once, throwing jars and discords into the musi…
768 wordsSECTION 128_The Ethics Of The Gospel._
Again, Jesus condemns pride, as being a direct contravention of His Law of Love. Love rejoices in the possessions and gifts of others, nor would she care to add to her own if it must be at the cost of theirs. Love is an equalizer, levelling up the inequalities the accidents of life have made, and preferring to stand on…
656 wordsSECTION 129_The Ethics Of The Gospel._
But beyond this general law Jesus gives us a prescript as to the treatment of enemies. He says, "Love your enemies, do good to them that hate you, bless them that curse you, pray for them that despitefully use you. To him that smiteth thee on the one cheek offer also the other: and from him that taketh away thy cloak w…
891 wordsSECTION 130_The Ethics Of The Gospel._
Again, Jesus treats of the true use of wealth. He Himself assumed a voluntary poverty. Silver and gold had He none; indeed, the only coin that we read He handled was the borrowed Roman penny, with Cæsar's inscription upon it. But while Jesus Himself preferred poverty, choosing to live on the outflowing charities of tho…
901 wordsSECTION 131_The Ethics Of The Gospel._
But not from the words of Jesus alone do we read off the lines of our duty. He is in His own Person a Polar Star, to whom all the meridians of our round life turn, and from whom they emanate. His life is thus our law, His example our pattern. Do we wish to learn what are the duties of children to their parents? the thi…
784 wordsSECTION 132_The Eschatology Of The Gospel._
Coifi, in his parable to the thanes and nobles of the North Humber country, likened the present life of man to the flight of a sparrow through one of their lighted halls, coming out of the night, and then disappearing in the dark winter whence it came; and he asked for Christianity a candid hearing, if perhaps she migh…
887 wordsSECTION 133_The Eschatology Of The Gospel._
2. The Gospel shows in what respects the conditions of the after-life will be changed. In chapter xx. 27 we read how that the Sadducees came to Jesus, tempting Him. They were the cold materialists of the age, denying the existence of spirits, and so denying the resurrection. They put before Him an extreme, though not i…
916 wordsSECTION 134_The Eschatology Of The Gospel._
3. Our Gospel teaches that character determines destiny. "A man's life," said Jesus, when rebuking covetousness (xii. 15), "consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth." These are not life's noblest aim, nor its truest wealth. They are but the accidents of life, the particles of floating dust, cau…
901 wordsSECTION 135_The Eschatology Of The Gospel._
[6] The name "Lazarus" is derived from El-ezer, or "God helps." It may be said that this is simply parable, set forth in language which must not be taken literally. So it is; but the parables of Jesus were not mere word-pictures; they field in solution essential truth. And when we have eliminated all this figurative c…
679 wordsSECTION 136_The Eschatology Of The Gospel._
Or if we turn again to the parable of the Rich Man, where is there room for the "larger hope"? where is the suggestion that these "pains of hell" may be lessened; and ultimately escaped altogether? We listen in vain for one syllable of hope. In vain he makes his appeal to "father Abraham;" in vain he entreats the good …
315 wordsSECTION 137_The Watch In Gethsemane._
Hitherto the life of Jesus has been comparatively free from sorrow and from pain. With the exception of the narrow strip of wilderness which fell between the Baptism and His inaugural miracle, the Divine Life has lain for the most part in the sunshine, above the fret and fever of anxious thought and care. True, He had …
1,042 wordsSECTION 138_The Watch In Gethsemane._
Jesus understands its meaning. It is the signal for the final battle, the shadow of the "prince of this world," who, rallying all his forces, cometh to find "nothing in Me." Jesus accepts the challenge, and that He may meet the enemy single-handed, with no earthly supports, He bids the three, "Abide ye here, and watch …
938 wordsSECTION 139_The Watch In Gethsemane._
What, then, is its meaning? The Psalmist had long before sung-- "For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup, and the wine foameth; It is full of mixture, and He poureth out of the same: Surely the dregs thereof, all the wicked of the earth shall wring them out, and drink them" (Psalm lxxv. 8); while St. John, spea…
810 wordsSECTION 140_The Watch In Gethsemane._
Addressing Himself directly to Peter, who had promised to follow His Lord unto death, but whose heart now strangely lagged behind, and calling him by his earlier name--for Jesus only once made use of the name He Himself had chosen; the "Rock" was at present in a state of flux, and had not yet settled down to its petrin…
787 wordsSECTION 141_The Passion._
So in our smaller lives there may be hours of distress and uncertainty. We may see, mingled for us, cups of sorrow, loss, or pain, which we fear to drink, and the shrinking flesh may seek to be exempted from the ordeal; but let us not too hastily ask that they may be put away, for fear we may dismiss some cup of blessi…
894 wordsSECTION 142_The Passion._
Here, then, is a betrayer ready to their hand. He knows what hour is best, and how to conduct them to His secret retreats. And so Judas communed with the chief priests and captains, or he "talked it over with them" as the word means, the secret conference ending in a bargain, as they "covenanted" to give him money (xxi…
995 wordsSECTION 143_The Passion._
But while for the disciples Jesus has but words of tender rebuke or of prayer, while for Malchus He has a word and a touch of mercy, and while even for Judas He has an endearing epithet, "friend," for the chief priests, captains, and elders He has severer words. They are the ringleaders, the plotters. All this commotio…
865 wordsSECTION 144_The Passion._
But though the language of Peter was neither profane nor foul, though in his "oath" and in his "curse" there is nothing for which the purest taste need apologize, yet here was his sin, his grievous sin: he made use of the oath and the curse to back up a deliberate and cowardly lie, even as men to-day will kiss the book…
688 wordsSECTION 145_The Passion._
But if in the outer court truth is thrown to the winds, within the palace justice herself is parodied. It would seem as if the first interview of Caiaphas with Jesus were private, or in the presence at most of a few personal attendants. But at this meeting, as the High Priest of the New was arraigned before the high pr…
804 wordsSECTION 146_The Passion._
Soon as the day had fairly broke, the Sanhedrists, with the chief priests, meet in full council, to give effect to the decision of the earlier conclave; and since it is not in their power to do more, they determine to hand Jesus over to the secular power, going to Pilate in a body, thus giving their informal endorsemen…
716 wordsSECTION 147_The Passion._
Herod was proud to have this deference shown him in Jerusalem, and by his rival, too, and "exceeding glad" that, by a caprice of fortune, his long-cherished desire, which had been baffled hitherto, of seeing the Prophet of Galilee, should be realized. He found it, however, a disappointing and barren interview; for Jesu…
710 wordsSECTION 148_The Passion._
"Making his high place the lawless perch Of winged ambitions;" overridden by his fears; governor, but governed by his subjects; sitting on the judgment-seat, and then abdicating his position of judge; the personification of law, and condemning the Innocent contrary to the law; giving up to the extremest penalty and p…
710 wordsSECTION 149_The Passion._
With a true artistic skill, however, and with brief touches, he draws for us the scene on which all ages will reverently gaze. In the foreground is the cross of Jesus, with its trilingual superscription, "This is the King of the Jews;" while close beside it are the crosses of the thieves, whose very faces St. Luke ligh…
813 wordsSECTION 150The First Lord'S Day.
And so the cross of Jesus must ever remain "in the midst," the one bright centre of all our hopes and all our songs; it must be "in the midst" of our toil, at once our pattern of service and our inspiration. Nay, the cross of Jesus will be "in the midst" of heaven itself, the centre towards which the circles of redeeme…
902 wordsSECTION 151The First Lord'S Day.
In speaking of them as "two men" probably our Evangelist only intended to call attention to the humanness of their form, as in verse 23 he speaks of the appearance as "a vision of angels." It will be observed, however, that in the New Testament the two words "men" and "angels" are used interchangeably; as in St. Luke v…
887 wordsSECTION 152The First Lord'S Day.
And now comes one of those beautiful pictures, peculiar to St. Luke, as he lights up the Judæan hills with a soft afterglow, an afterglow which at the same time is the aurora of a new dawn. It was in the afternoon of that first Lord's day, when two disciples set out from Jerusalem for Emmaus, a village, probably the mo…
923 wordsSECTION 153The First Lord'S Day.
It is the impetuous language of intense feeling, in which hope and despair strike alternate chords. In the first strain Jesus of Nazareth is lifted high; He is a Prophet mighty in word and deed; then He is stricken down, condemned to death, and crucified. Again, hope speaks, recalling the bright dream of a redemption f…
668 wordsSECTION 154The First Lord'S Day.
"And beginning from Moses and from all the prophets, He interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself." It will be observed that our Evangelist uses a peculiar word in speaking of this Divine exposition. He calls it an "interpretation," a word used in the New Testament only in the sense of tra…
1,013 wordsSECTION 155The First Lord'S Day.
The interview was not for long, for the risen Christ dwelt apart from His disciples, coming to them at uncertain times and only for brief spaces. He lingers, however, now, to explain to the eleven, as before to the two, the great mystery of the Redemption. He opens their minds, that the truth may pass within. Gathering…
563 wordsSECTION 156Fifth Series.
Colossians. By the Rev. A. MACLAREN, D.D., D.Lit. St. Mark. By the Right Rev. the Bishop of Derry. Genesis. By Prof. MARCUS DODS, D.D. 1 Samuel. By Prof. W. G. BLAIKIE, D.D. 2 Samuel. By the same Author. Hebrews. By Principal T. C. EDWARDS, D.D. Galatians. By Prof. G. G. FINDLAY, B.A., D.D. The Pastoral E…
308 wordsSECTION 157Index.
1 Kings. By the Very Rev. F. W. FARRAR, F.R.S. Philippians. By Principal RAINY, D.D. Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther. By Prof. W. F. ADENEY, M.A. Joshua. By Prof. W. G. BLAIKIE, D.D. The Psalms. By the Rev. A. MACLAREN, D.D. Vol. II. The Epistles of St. Peter. By Prof. RAWSON LUMBY, D.D. 2 Kings. By the Very Rev. F…
653 wordsSECTION 158Index.
Gospels, the four, a unity, 1. Grave, the, not our goal, 354. Growth of the kingdom, 251. Gulf, the great, 363. Healing, miracles of, 255. Hearers, not doers, 226. Heaven in the Old Testament, 178. " near and real to Jesus, 189. " and hell, 361. Hebraisms in St. Luke, 15. Hermon, Mount, 282. Herod, king of J…
655 wordsSECTION 159Index.
Psalms, the, of the Advent, 33. " the four, one song, 45. Quarantania, the, 110. Receiving and giving, 315. Regeneration not reform, 337. Religion, little more than form, 149. Religiousness not always religion, 300. Religious, the, instinct, 177. Repentant, Heaven's joy over the, 334. Resurrection life, the, 2…
467 wordsSECTION 160*** End Of The Project Gutenberg Ebook Expositor'S Bible: The Gospel Of St Luke ***
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164 wordsSource & rights
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Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.