THE GREAT TEXTS OF THE BIBLE
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THE GREAT TE OF THE BIBLE
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EDITED BY THE REV.
JAMES HASTINGS, D.D.
EDITOR OF "THE EXPOSITORY TIMES" "THE DICTIONARY OF THE BIBLE'
"THE DICTIONARY OF CHRIST AND THE GOSPELS" AND
"THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF RELIGION AND ETHICS"
ST. MATTHEW
NEW YORK
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS EDINBURGH : T. & T. CLARK
1914
CONTENTS
TOPIC The Name op Jesus
S.
PAGR 1
The Magi .
17
The Two Baptisms
33
A Question op Life
47
The First Beatitude
65
The Pure in Heart
83
The Salt of the Earth
99
A Conservative Reformer
113
The Lord's Prayer
129
The First Things First
157
The Golden Rule
177
Choosing a Road
193
The Leper .
205
The Physician
219
The Ministry of Small Things
237
The Great Invitation
253
Rest under the Yoke .
269
My Church
285
The Keys of the Kingdom
301
The Cost of Discipleship
317
The Transfiguration
335
Eternal Life
359
The Ministering Master
. 377
The Good and Faithful Servant
. 391
Unto Me ....
405
The Blood of the Covenant .
. 419
Christ's Parting Charge
435
VI
CONTENTS
TEXTS.
St. Matthew
I.
II.
III.
IV.
V.
V.
V.
V.
VI.
VI.
VII.
VII.
VIII.
IX.
X.
XI.
XI.
XVI.
XVI.
XVI.
XVII.
XIX.
XX.
XXV.
XXV.
XXVI.
XXVIII.
21 1,2
11
4 3
8 13
17
9
33
12
13, 14
2,3
12
42
-28
•29, 3( >
18
19
24
1,2
16
28
21
40
28
18-20
The Name op Jesus.
ST. MATT. — J
Literature.
Bel] (0. D.), The Name above Every Nairn, 1.
Butlei (W. J.), Sermons for Working Men, 26.
Calthrop (Q.), Pulpit Recollections, 116.
(lottani (S. E.), New Sermons for a New Century, 187.
Deshon (G.), Sermons for the Ecclesiastical Year, 74.
Dewhurst (E. M.), The King and His Servants, 25.
Edmunds (C. C), Sermons on the Gospels, 77.
English (E.), Sermons and Homilies. 43.
Grant (W.), Christ our Hope, 175.
Gregg (J.), Sermons Preached in Trinity Church, Dublin, 142.
Gwatkin (H. M.), Tlie Eye for Spiritual Things, 179.
Harris (S. S.), The Dignity of Man, 122.
Hawthorne (J. B.), in The Southern Baptist Pulpit, 91.
Kingsley (C), Sermons for the Times, 42.
MacDonald (G.), The Hope of the Gospel, 1.
Macgregor (G. H. C), The All-Sufficient Saviour, 9.
Maclaren (A.), Expositions : St. Matthew i.-viii., 12.
MacNicol (D. C), Some Memories and Memoirs, 79.
Manning (H. E.), Sennons, iv. 44.
Masterman (J. H. B.), The Challenge of Christ, 62.
Rainage (W.), Sermons, 54.
Smith (G. S.), Victory over Sin and Death, 1.
Spurgeon (C. H.), Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, xxiv. (1878), No.
1434. Watson (J.), Respectable Sins, 163. Wilson (J. M.), Truths New and Old, 41. Christian World Pulpit, lvi. 186 (L. Abbott). Churchmarit Pulpit : First Sunday after Christmas, iii. 66 (J. S.
Goodall). Record, Jan. 8, 1909 (G. R. Balleine).
The Name of Jesus.
And she shall bring- forth a son ; and thou shalt call his name Jesus ; for it is he that shall save his people from their sins.— Matt. i. 21.
1. At the beginning of history, names must be invented ; in the course of ages, they become hereditary. The Baptist was about to be called Zacharias, for that was his father's name. But in early times the Hebrews made names for their children. The name was often a memorial of some circumstance connected with the birth, or descriptive of the child's appearance, or expres- sive of the hopes entertained of him. In this last case, the name might turn out to be most inappropriate, and become a sad record of blighted expectations. The first child born into the world was called by a name which betokened the fond hope of his mother that he would prove a treasure to her ; but the infamy of his evil life bitterly put to flight that bright dream. Our eyes are dim ; we cannot see through the mist of the future, and foretell what our children shall be in after years. We may bestow on them beautiful names, but, to use the striking comparison of Solomon, this fine name may be as a " jewel of gold in a swine's snout," the symbol of qualities of which they are wholly destitute.
2. Had it been left to human wisdom to invent a name for the Child of the Virgin, we can hardly form a guess of what the result would have been. Not a little friendly discussion is some- times excited by the difficulty of fixing on a name. But this case was peculiar. Here was a Child unlike any that had ever been born of woman. How perplexing it would have been to find a name sufficiently expressive and obviously appropriate. But the point was settled by God Himself. The right to deter- mine the name of the child belongs to the parent; and how infinitely competent in this case was the Father to give His Son
4 THE NAME OF JESUS
the most suitable name. None knew the Son but the Father, and His decision must be accepted, not only as final, but as the best that could have been come to. The name selected was beautifully simple. A child may be taught to lisp it, and the dullest memory can retain it. Divine greatness is unostentatious. The simplest word in our language is " God," and the next to it is " Jesus."