i:^«:vi.>.alrk.-i At tll.'s.'u.i.-tin..
elaratioiis that t . , , > ,
of His own discriminating choice (ey^ fJeXf^dMrji' "/*>"
(K ToO Kd^/xov, Jn lo'" ; cf. (yC> oiSo rlpas fffXetdw".
„i 13'") Our k-nowledge of Jesus' acquaintance w-ith
the ! the characters of His disciples prior to tlieir selec-
ELECT, ELECTION
ELECT, ELECTION
513
tion by Him, is too scanty to permit us to judge accurately of His metliods ; but from the fact tliat tiiey were for tlie most part natives of that part of Galilee where His earliest activity displayed itself, and that some of them were antecedently disciples of the Baptist, we are led to conclude that He pos- sessed sufficient individual acquaintanceship to warrant His choice (cf. Mk I"'"'-, Mt i'^^; Lk S'"- ; see Jn l'""''-). He seems, moreover, to have felt a
ivy wei< and in the
His life, He seems to congratulate Himself on being able to render a good account of His stewardship in this respect. As the result of His guardianship {iyii iripovv avToii^ . . . ical eipiXa^a, Jn 17'-), they all justified His choice with but one exception, and that excejrtion had its mournful justification {Ua ij ypatjAi irX-ripoierj), and, in spite of the necessity of such failure (/cara rb wpiaixivov, Lk 22-" ; cf. Ac 2^, see also Lk 17' = Mt IS"), its awful warning (oial Si Tif dvepdiTTv fVeicif) 01 oii, k.t.X., Mk 14^', Mt 26**). The work which this cliosen nucleus was destined to achieve finds also a definite place in the con- sciousness of Jesus as He looks out on the world and dowii the future ages. He does not, in fact, hesitate to name those who are to be brought to share in the glory and in the power of His judg- ment-coming, though they are scattered in all directions over the world {(k tuu Ttaadpav d.vdp.av a.T' &Kpov 7^s fois &Kpov oiipavoO, Mk 13-' = Mt 24^'), His elect {toi;s ckXektoi)? avToO).
The work wrought by the little band chosen by Christ, and continued by their successors from one j^eneration to another durintf the period intervening; between the initiation of His Kingdom and its consummation, can hardly he better deli:ieated than in the words of the present Bishop of Binniny:ham : ' The Apostles were the first "elect" in Christ with a little Jewish company. " We," — so St. Paul speaks of the Jewish Christians, — "we who had before hoped in Christ." But it was to show the way to all the Gentiles ("ye also, who have heard the word of the truth, the gospel of your salvation ") who were also to constitute "God's own possession" and His "heritage." The purpose to be realized is a universal one : it is the reunion of man with man, as such, by being all together reunited to God in one body. . . . And the Church of the reconciliation is God's elect body to represent a Divine purpose of restoration far wider than itself — extending, in fact, to all creation. It is the Divine purpose, with a view to "a dispensation of the fulness of the times, to sum up" or "bring together again in unity" all things in Christ. . . . This great and rich idea of the election of the Church as a special body to fulfil a universal purpose of recovery," etc. (Gore, The Epikle to the Ephesians, p. 71 f.).
Here, then, we have in its incipient stages a revelation of this Divine process of working in its new and wider aspect. There is fundamentally no change of method, but rather a consecration of what has always in the OT been recognized as God's plan of work (cf. e.ff. Am 3^, Dt 7* etc.). In the fresh start, so to speak, which He has made we find His choice not merely involved in the Incarna- tion as the mode of procedure, but in the election of the Man Jesus (Lk &>^), whom He deliberately ordained or appointed (eV dudpl f- dpiacv, Ac 17^', cf. 10^) for His work. Jesus, acting on authority delegated to Him, chooses certain men and sends them to carry out what He has commenced. In the end He breaks down all national barriers and limitations (Mt 28'^, cf. Mk 16''), and people in every nation (eV vavrl Idvet, Ac lO'*") are accepted by Him so long as they ' fear God and work right- eousness.'
KeepiniT these facts and considerations in mind, we are at liberty to ask ourselves the very difficult questions. On what basis does the Divine election stand ? Is there any antecedent condition in com- plying with which men are placed amongst the number of God's elect? From whatever point of view we look at this mystery, one thought, at least, clearly emerges : in His choice of Israel as the guardian of the sacred deposit of religious truth, God exhibited His wisdom in a way we, as students of the Divine government of the world, VOL, I.— 33
can discern and appreciate. Their genius for the work entrusted to them is universally recognized (cf., on the other hand, such pa.ssages as Dt9''- 10", Jer 31'- ^ Mai I-'-, which, however, do not conflict with the general truth of our statement, though they emphasize the absolute freedom of God's choice). From them and from them solely have come into the world those truths which spring from a pure and spiritual monotheism ; and we are not forbidden to recognize, in the analogous lessons taught to the world by other nations, that 'the principle of selection' (^ Kar ^KXoyriv Trpdeecris, Ko 9") finds its place in their history too (see Sanday- Headlam, ' Komans ' in Internat. Crit. Com. pp. 248 ft-., 342 fi; etc.). When we remember that to the consciousness of Jesus the full and final revela- tion of His unique Divine Sonship was only made at His Baptism (Mt 3" = Mk l"=Lk 3^2), and con- firmed beyond doubt during the period of His Temptation, we are at liberty to believe that His previous life was a gradual preparation for His final election, as well a.s a proof that in selecting Him for His work HLs Father had chosen the fittest Instrument to reveal Himself to mankind. Re- membering, too, the Gradual gathering together by Je.sus of His little band of chosen disciples and followers, and the care taken by Him in training and disciplining them for their position and work, we are able to apijrehend in some dim way the neces- sity of a moral and spiritual correspondence be- tween Him who chooses and His chosen. The fact that Jesus Himself included Jud.as Iscariot amongst the number of His ' elect ' (Jn 6™) does not invali- date this contention, as we may well be allowed to believe that the unhappy traitor exhibited a char- acter sufficiently endowed with spiritual possibili- ties to justify his election to the Apostleship. Perhaps he may be adequately described as one of those labourers who, having been hired {fuaSilxraaOai ipydrai, Mt 20') to work in the vineyard, were ulti- mately rejected because they failed to correspond with their new environment.