this. With the greatest possible plainness Jesus declares that every earthly blessing must be made subordinate to the service of God and contributory thereto. All lesser goods which come to be sought for their own sake, wliether in preference to, or even independently of, the highest good, must be instantly sacrificed. In other words, wlien the individual realizes that the gratification of any desire will impede or distract him in the per- formance of his duties as a member of the King- dom, he is bound to forego such gratification if he would still be in trutli a disciple of Christ.
It is important to notice that, in all Jesus' pre- cepts about the sacrifice of earthly goods, there is a condition, explicit or implied. The condition in any ^iven case is, that the particular good to be sacrificed shall have been ascertained to be an obstacle to the attainment of righteousness on the part of its possessor — 'if it cause thee to stumble.' Thus the necessity of every sacrifice is determined by the special circumstances of the particular case. The rich young man is bidden to part with all his possessions and follow Jesus ; Zacchseus gives half, and is told ' this day is salvation come to this hou.se' (Lk 19'); Martha and Mary are not asked to leave their home. To one man Jesus denies permission to bid farewell to his relatives (Lk 9'^=) ; to anotlier He says, ' Return to tliine own house' (LkS^S). A sacrifice wlii.h is impmitive for one man need not necessarily !"■ tli'- iluty of another, but the general rule is laid ilowii lliat all must be prepared, if occasion arise, to .surrender their dearest and most cherished blessings for the sake of the Kingdom of God.
Now the note of this doctrine is self-denial, not asceticism. Jesus nowhere teaches that earthly goods are of the devil, or that the gratification of the natural cravings is fraught with sin. He does not recommend men to treat their bodies with con- tempt. He does not suggest that flight from the world and disengagement from physical conditions is sanctification. He does not say that those who, for duty's sake, renounce the world, are on a higher spiritual level than tliose who do their duty in the world. He does not hint that the only way of avoiding sin lies in an austere renunciation of all tliose things from which an occasion of sin might arise. He nowhere implies that the lower goods are of no value in themselves, or that they ought under all circumstances to be foregone. The doc- trine of Jesus is a doctrine not of annihilation, but of subordination. He admits, indeed, that special circumstances may make it incumbent on an indi- vidual to abstain from certain things which others, otherwise situated, may lawfully enjoy ; but He does not say that earthly goods, as such, are irre- concilable with righteousness. His teaching on the subject may be summarized in the word sub- ordination. The main point is that earthly goods are not to be retained or enjoyed for their own sake, but must be made subordinate and sub- servient to a higher end, and must ultimately be directed towards the promotion of the righteousness of the Kingdom of God.
Further to illustrate this point of view, we may briefly allude to Jesus' teaching on three pro- minent characteristics of the ascetic life— volun- tary poverty, celibacy, and bodily discipline as exercised in the practice of fasting.
(1) No one could have been more alive than Jesus was to the dangers of wealth, and to the peculiar psychological difficulties which hinder the rich from entering the Kingdom. His warnings on the subject are more than usually vigorous. Wealth is represented as an idol ; care about material things as a kind of heathenism. He even goes so far as to say that, humanly speaking, it is impossible for a rich man to be saved (Mt ^J-", Mk
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10", Lk 18='). ' Woe unto you that are rich ! ' He cries again, 'for ye have received your consolation' (Lk &"). He bids men not lay up treasures upon earth (Mt 6'"), but rather sell what tliey have and give alms (Lk 12^). He says, 'Ye cannot serve God and mammon ' (Mt 6=^). Jesus knew that men tend to become absorbed in their property, to give their heart to it, to become its slaves instead of its masters ; and the idea of such bondage filled Him with horror. Hence to those who were in danger of falling beneath the tyranny of money and material things He had but one word to say : ' Go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor . . . and come, follow me' {Mt \9-\ Mk W-\ Lk 18-). This, however, is not a precept of universal validity ; it is not, as some of the Fathers have WTongiy conceived {e.g. Hieron. c. Vigilant. 14 ; Bieda, Exp. in, Marci Ev. iii. 10), a consiliiim cvan- gelicum of poverty. It was addressed primarily to a particular person, and it can properly be applied only to those who are iu danger of forgetting that ' a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth'(Lk 12'^). The parables of the Unjust Steward (Lk le'-'^), of the Talents (Mt 25"-^), or the Pounds (Lk W"-""), prove that Jesus was far from regarding wealth as evil in itself, or requiring that people in general should renounce its use. On the contraiy, He insisted that riches are a deposit from God, which can and ought to be employed in His service ; and He even declared that hdelity in such emploj'ment would be the standard for testing a man's capacity for higher tasks. ' If ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?' (Lk 16"). There is nothing ascetic in such teachinrj. What Jesus reprobates is not wealth, but the abuse of it ; what He recommends is not alienation of wealth, but subordination of it. He recognizes, indeed, that there may be special cases where the reten- tion of wealth is incompatible with the service of God, but in general He bids men keep and use it in accordance with the purposes of Him who has bestowed it on them. Neither wealth nor poverty is in itself meritorious : only the disposition which makes either minister to the coming of tiie Kingdom.