172 ANATHEMA FROM CHRIST
and poured upon the enemy, after the fashion of the olden times, when they poured melted lead or boiling pitch upon the besiegeris who wished to take a tower or city. Such a text as this must be fired off red-hot ; it spoils if it cools. It is a heart business, not a head business.^
It will be, our wisdom not to criticize the words, but to catch such gleams as we may of the spirit that shines through them. The text is a statement not of fact but of feeling. We will look at it first as it represents the mind of St. Paul the Christian, second as it represents the feeling of St. Paul the Patriot, and lastly as it represents the spirit of St. Paul the Preacher.
The Mind of the Christian.
St. Paul had caught himself praying that he might be anathema from Christ for his brethren's sake. In his prayer he is looking at his countrymen from the Christian standpoint. It is not their bodies but their souls that he longs for. Over them he agonizes and feels as though no sacrifice would be too great for him to make if thereby he could secure their salvation. True, St. Paul's wish is checked, arrested in his heart ; in thought, as in expression, it is imperfect; his feeling that it could not be realized keeps it from completion ; so that probably there never rose before him those tremendous conditions and consequences of its fulfilment which have perplexed the critics of his words. But he cannot mean less than this : that as he thought of those with whom in God's providence he was united by the bonds of a com- mon kindred, and history, and nationality, and hope ; as he saw them spurning their own peace, belying their true life, and falling out from that great Godward uiovement of mankind which they had been called and trained and singled out to lead ; and as this sight, in all the pity of it, reached in him those deep capacities of joy and pain which are the strength of a man's wider life, he felt as if no fulness or intensity or purity of personal delight could be too much for him to part with, even for ever and ever, if it were conceivable, that so his people might be brought into the peace of G^d through the knowledge and the love of Jesus Christ our
^ 0. H. iBlparg«ou.
ROMANS IX. 3 173
Lord. As some have dared to die for the sake of their country, as others for the common good have borne the parting of friends, the loss of fame and work and happiness, the taunts of incon- sistency or cowardice, so to St. Paul even the everlasting joy that passes man's understanding, even the communion that is beyond all human love, seem less decisive in their control over his desires than the thought of all his nation turning from their blindness and rebellion to adore the Saviour they had crucified, and to find rest for ever in the love they had despised.
1. St. Paul had not this spirit of himself, nor do we have it of ourselves. He was animated by the spirit of God and of Christ.
(1) God is zealous for the redemption of souls. He clad Him- self with zeal as with a cloak. God so loved the world, with such exceeding might and weight of love, — pure love, undeserved love, love which had and could have no return, — that He gave, not angels, not worlds, not adopted or created sons, but His only begotten co-equal Son to death, that man might live.
(2) And who can speak of the spirit of Christ — the spirit of Him who became as one of us, who dwelt eternally in the bosom of His Father's love, and thence, from His royal throne, came to take the sinful infirmities of our human nature ? Throughout His earthly life He commanded winds, seas, the dead, and they obeyed Him ; His creative Word passed upon the bread and it was multiplied. He died only because He willed ; He rose when He willed. But for us and for our salvation He willed all His life long to suffer. Such was His zeal for souls, that they said of Him, " He is beside himself." He had the same zeal for a single soul as for His whole people. He beheld and loved each single Boul with an undivided love. He loved one soul with the same love as the whole human race. The conversion of one sinful, disordered woman is to Him " meat and drink." One lost sheep, one prodigal, one son who repented and did his Father's will, which he had insolently refused, pictures at once each single soul and all for whom He died. Each one He lays on His shoulders, and bears to His home, the heavenly courts. He falls on the neck of each single penitent, and gives him the kiss of peace. Each returned sinner, who at last does His will. He owns as having ever done it. During life, He was straitened until His
174 ANATHEMA FROM CHRIST
Baptism in His own blood was accomplished. His love was pent in, as it were, His spirit was held in, confined, pressed together, not allowed to expand itself, as it would, in love, until that awful hour, when, rejected by those whom He came to save. He seemed to be forsaken by God also.^