Thus when we reach Christ in the matter of religion, we have reached the fountainhead. It were idle to look for a court in which to reWew and put to the test His findings in regard either to truth or to duty. Such, certainly, is His own teaching upon the subject. See preceding article.
iv. EXKCUTIVE AUTHORITY IN RELIGION. — 1. Term dejiiied.— The function of executive autho-
rity, as needs scarcely be said,
to give effect to the legislative will an
findings. Of itself it originates nothing', interprets
ply and solely ,nd to judicial
and declares nothing. It simply not be said, because executive .nitiiMiiiN 1- ^n oIj- viously and so markedly distinct tiuui ln.ili l.-i.- lative and judicial, that there is no daugci ui its being confused with either the one or the other.
2. Repositories. — (1) Our Lord obviously teaches that as every individual is a repository of judicial authority, so every individual was designed to be, and every individual Christian is, an executive agent of the Godhead. It is His constant conten- tion that it is for doing the will of God that men
AUTHORITY IN RELIGION
AVE MARIA
159
exist, whether as creatures or as Christians. The end of His whole teaching function was to set men doing, and to guide thein in doing, the will of
God. It
gravamen
of His
ship (Mt 12''), the only accepted evidenc and of loyalty (Jn 14'=), a condition sine to salvation (Mt T""-), was that His
against those, like the Pharisees, who ought to have heen His disciples, but were not, that instead of doing the will of God, tliey did the lusts of their father,' tlic devil (Jn S-"). 'fhe end that He set before tliosi' jirofessing to be His disciples was, ' So let yoiir light shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven ' (Mt .5"'). The first three peti- tions that He puts on tlieir lips are, ' Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so on eartli.' The badge of disciple- ship (Mt 12''), the only accepted evidence of love sine qua non followers should do the will of God. It was His ceaseless tlieme, elaborated now in this form and now in that, that the end of life is not getting, or having, or being ministered unto, or thinking, but being and doing the vill of God. To go into details here would require the incorporation in this article of a very considerable part of all four Gospels, and would be superrtuous.
(2) The passages already cited show that Christ represents the Church in her corporate capacity as the great executive agency of God for the preach- ing of the gospel of the Kingdom as a witness among all nations, making disciples of all nations, and teaching tliem to observe all things whatso- ever He has commanded. Executive and judicial authority here complement each other.
(3) That Christ ascribes executive authority to the Prophets is perhaps a fair inference from such a passage as Mk 7®, in which our Lord refers to Isaiah not merely as an interpreter of God's law, but as a teacher of God's people. But the inference is not to be strained. And for evidence of the executive authority unquestionably exercised by the Prophets, we have to turn elsewhere than to the Gospels. The case is dift'erent with the Apostles. The mission of ' the Twelve' (Mt 10) points clearly to the fact that they were invested with authority to ditt'use the knowledge of the gospel, and to use a variety of agencies to gain men's attention and win their allegiance to it. The same follows from Lk 24«ff- and Ac 1». But as to the details of their executive functions we learn but little from the Gospels. It is ditt'erent, however, in the case of Christ. He applies to Himself (Lk 4""'-) the famous passage from Is 61, 'The Spirit of tlie Lord is upon me,' etc. This is not the place to unfold in detail the several features of the wondrous pro- gramme outlined in the words of the prophet : it IS hardly necessary, for they are as plain as they are precious. The title of ' The Good Sliepherd,' which our Lord appropriated to Himself (perhaps from Ezk 34), is evidence both of the fact and of the nature of His executive functions (Jn 10). The same fact underlies such statements as ' I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how am I straitened until it be accnnipli«lipd ' (Lk 12™). This last passage also brinus l» i.ni' n- (he central feature of the work comuiittiMl i,i ( luist. Here, again, we must forbear fiom ;^oiim uitii details, which belong properly to another held ol discussion. It must suttice merely to recall to the reader's mind such sayings of our Lord as ' Therefore doth my Fatlier love me, because I lay down my life, that I may take it again. No one taketh it away from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have authority to lay it down, and I have autliority to take it again. This commandment received I from my Father '(Jn 10"'-); 'This is my body . . . for this is my blood of the covcriunt, whh-li 'is shed for many unto the remissioii of sins' (Mt 20-''- -") ; and