Equally appropriate is the Cana incident which immediately follows (Jn 2'""). There Jesus breaks with the old order in the words, ' Woman, what have I to do with thee?' Addressed as they were to her who represented it in its fondest tie, they show the break to be of the most absolute sort. That is the negative side, the turning from the old ; the positive, the turning to the new, is indi- cated by the place assigned to the disciples in the record. They are identified with Him as others are not, and especially in a growing faith, to which others — even His mother and His brethren — are as yet strangers. AVhat was there ta,u('ht in the veiled language of sign is taught plainly and ex- plicitly in Mt 12«="»' and Mk S''-'^. How far Mary and His brothers were from understanding Him, how wide the gulf was that separated Him from them, is shown by the fact recorded in Mk 3-' that they regarded Him as out of His mind. The dis- ciples, on the other hand, are seated about Him drinking in His sayings. Them He declares to be His mother and His brethren (Mt 12*»). And look- ing upon the multitude also sitting around and listening to His words. He generalizes the teaching and deSares that ' A\liosoever shall do tlie will of God, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother' (Mk 3''-^). Such constitute the new brotherhood.
(1) So the first characteristic of the new brethren is that they do the will of God. Tliey are in right relation to Him. When men are not so, they can- not be rightly related to one another. To be bound together by the tie of brotherhood, they must first be bound by the filial tie to God, their Heavenly Father. Loving obedience is the test and evidence of that (1 Jn 5', Jn 14"-=i).
It is worth noting that this is the first CTeat law of the King- dom of heaven (Sit U, and summarized in v. 33). Really the brotherhood and the Kingdom (in one sense of the term) are different aspects of the same thing. As to membership the two are coextensive. God is at once Father and King ; the brethren are both subjects and children, 'fellow-citizens with the saints and of the household of God ' (Eph 21"). Both ideas run through the Sermon on the Mount, which is Christ's proclamation of the nature and principles of the Kingdom.
Doubtless the new brotherhood and the Church may be similarlv equated. Their membership too should coincide. This is "indicated not only by Christ's solemn recall of Peter's new name, and His assertion that His church should be built of such confessors as he (Mt 1«18), but also by the uniform practice in the Acts and Epistles of referring to the members of the churches as ' brethren. '
(2) The second characteristic is that they love one another. Loxang God as their Father they instinctively love also His other children, theh' brothers (1 Th 4», 1 Jn 4*' and 5'). This is Christ's new commandment and the badge of discipleship (Jn 13^'-). Though an old command, it has been made new in experience by Christ's death for them.
BEOTHERHOOD
BUILDING
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And they in turn make it new afresh when they lay down their life for one another (1 Jn 3'^, S'"")- The love that makes the greatest sacrifice will make the lesser. In the OT the law of Israel's brotherhood enjoined kindness, and definitely for- bade such sins as contempt, extortion, oppression, etc. (Dt 22'-^ 23'- '»'■ 24'- 1^ 25^, and elsewhere). So in the NT special mention is made of charity ( 1 .In 3", Ja 2'5-i^); hospitality (He \S\ Ro 12''); fm giveness_ (Col 3'-') ; truthfulness (Eph 4-''); iiiniu.il admonition (2 Th 3'-'); a humility that iiirin others and renders even lowly service (III is' '', Jn 13'=-", Ro 12'", Ph 2i-", IP 5"-); practical sympathy with the persecuted (He 12^), etc. Brotherly love insists on the essential equality of those who are of the same family. Natural affection exists among them (Ro 12'" tpiX/uTTopyoi). There can be no caste among them (Col 3") ; all selfish ambition and striving after pre-eminence must be eschewed, and the way of service chosen (Mt 20^°"^). Differences of gifts are recognized. But those who are one in Christ must regard them not as signs of inferiority and superiority, or grounds of pride and servility, but as means of mutual helpfulness, and as all necessary to the general well-being. Different gifts are different functions for the common good. For Christ and His brethren form a body, and each member is necessary to the perfect well-being of the rest. This is developed in Ro 12, 1 Co 12, and Eph 4.
The love the brethren bear each other is special. It is distinguished from that they feel toward those that are without (1 P 2" and 2 P 1'). It is closer, more affectionate, complacent, satisfying. But they must love others — even their bitterest enemies. So do they become like their Father in heaven (Mt 5^-^ ; cf. St. Paul in Ro O'-^).
Christ calls them His brethren, and is not ashamed to do so (He 2"). Still His position in the brotherhood is unique. He is one of them, yet He transcends them. He is Master and Lord (Jn 13'2'-) as they are not nor should seek to be (Mt 238-10) YoT He is Son of God in a unique sense (jiovoyev'^!, Jn 3'" and 1'*, in which the reading fleos is probably correct and explains the uniqueness). That truth He ever guards in the expressions He employs. Examples are seen in Mt 11" and fre- quently in the Fourth Gosijel ; in Mt 6", where the emphatic ' ye ' and the character of the prayer exclude Him from the ' our,' and in Jn 20", wliere distinction, not identity, of relation is intended. _ When the law of brotherhood is lived out in sincerity and truth, in justice and righteousness, in courage and faith, in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, the solution of social problems will be hastened. These problems are not new. But they are seen to-day as never before. Conditions that once were accepted are accepted no longer as just or right or tolerable. And it is precisely because Christ's ideas of brotherhood have grown clearer to men's minds that they feel the inequali- ties and injustices of the present order. That is the cause of the present discontent. Christ fore- saw that such conflicts would be occasioned by His gospel (Mt 10'*-»s)_ And nothing but the gospel that has caused the conflict can bring the proper issue. The cause must be the cure. Loyalty to the way of the Cross is the way of salvation. The age waits for Christians to embark in the honest, whole-hearted application of the great principle of brotherly love. It will not do to say with Wernle that Christ's demands are impractical for any society. They are impractical for any society that lacks the martyr spirit. They are not impractical for the society that is charged with it. Christ's way was the way of the Cross. That is the only way that leads to victory. Only in the spirit of Jesus can the world's need be met, and its problems