'GalUee of the Gentiles' (Mt 4''). Moreover, it was in the same Gentile-infected GaUlee that the most important part of His ministry was carried on, and He even went into the borders of Tyre and Sidon (Mk 7^), and also taught and healed those who came to Him from thence, together vnth those who sought Him from Decapolis (Mt 4"), and from Idumsea, and from beyond Jordan (Mk 3') ; nor did He disdain to remain on one occasion for two days among the Samaritans at their request ( Jn 4*). In His public teaching He showed no prejudice in favour of the Jews in His assignment of praise and blame : the grateful leper whom He blessed was a Samari- tan (Lk 17"^*) ; it was a good Samaritan who was set forth as an example in one of His most famous parables (10*"^); and He commended the faith of the centurion as being greater than any He had found in Israel (Mt 8"). On the other hand, the evil generation of whom the Pharisees were representatives, He declared should be con- demned in the judgment by Gentiles, the men of Nineveh and the queen of Sheba (12"'-); and, set- ting the seal to the teaching of His forerunner. He asserted in effect that the true children of Abra- ham were those who did the deeds cf Abraham, and were not necessarily those who were naturally descended from him (Jn S^^-). In the Sermon on the Mount the same broad and world-wide outlook is manifested : there is hardly anything of im- portance in that gieat discourse wmch is local or temporary — it is obviously for all men and for all time. With this, too, coincides the teaching of His many parables about the Kingdom of heaven and that recorded in the Fourth Gospel — in this Gospel particularly all His utterances are in accord with His declaration to the Samaritan woman concern- ing the true worshippers (4^), and with the impres- sion produced on the Samaritans that He was the Savioiu- of the world (v.-^) ; for in this Gospel especially His words of warning, of encourage- ment, and of hope embrace all mankind : ' God so loved the world . . . that whosoever believeth . . . shall have eternal life ' (3"). And, finallv, at the end of His ministry, in the allegory of the sheep and the goats, spoken exclusively with reference to Gentiles, He applies to those on the right hand the word 'righteous,' which in the Jewish language was so often the technical term to designate only the chosen people (Mt 25'').
There are two passages in the Gospels which demand a passing notice, as they might seem at first sight to be in opposition to our Lord's usual attitude towards the Gentiles. One is His saying to the Syrophcenician woman, ' I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel ' (Mt 15^) ; and the other is His injunction to the Twelve, ' Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not ; but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel ' (105- «). In the first case there is little doubt that our Lord's words were intended to test or to call forth the woman's faitli, and are not to be understood as implying anj' unwillingness on His part to assist her (see SvROPHffixiciAN Woman). And in the second case we are to notice that the prohibition was laid upon the Twelve only, and had no application to His own conduct ; and, furtlier, that the proliibition was distinctly re- moved by Hun after the Resurrection in the great commission recorded in Mt 28" 'Go ye therefore and teach all nations' [in Mk 16'^ 'Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature '], and in Ac 1* ' Ye shall oe witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Juda;a, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.' And there are other passages, such as Mt '2i^* 26", from which it is plain that our Lord con- templated the world-wide preaching of the gospel
GENTLENESS
GERASENES, GERGESENES C43
by His followers, the fulftlinent, in fact, of the aiicient prediction to the father of the faithful : ' In thy seed shall all the nations (goiirn) of the earth be blessed,' (Gn 22'8). See Missions.
51-56, 299-305, ii. 291-327 ; Edersheim, Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, Index, 3. ' Gentiles.*
Albert Bonus.
GENTLENESS.— St. Paul in 2 Co 10' appeals to the meekness and gentleness {irpauTTis xai enu- Keia) of Christ. These qualities would be readily admitted to be so characteristic of Jesus as to require no specific illustration. Yet such is the objective character of the Gospels, that wth the exception of His own claim to be ' meek and lowly in heart' (Mt 11^) and the Evangelist's application of the prophecy, 'Behold, thy king conieth unto thee, meek . . . ' (21=), neither quality is directly attributed to Him, nor, with the exception of Mt 5=, does either word occur in His recorded teaching.
These characteristics of Jesus are not easily de- fined in themselves, or~Tiistinguished from one another. (See art. ' Gentleness ' in Hastings' DB, vol. ii. p. 150). IIpai/Tijs is rather an inward dis- position of the mind, the quietness of soul which is the result of faith and self-restraint ; iwielKeta is an active grace, exhibited in human relations, ' it expresses the quality of considerateness, of readi- ness to look hmuanely and reasonably at the facts of a case ' ; it denotes in Jesus the tenderness of His dealings with the moral and social outcasts, the burdened and heavy laden, the weak and ignorant; His gracious courtesy, geniality of address, thoughtfulness, and delicacy of touch. It is not the expression of a nature of such softness as to be always on the verge of tears, or of a sentimentalism which has little strength of con- science, and no power of moral indignation and repulsion. The gentleness of Christ can be appre- ciated only when it is related to certain other elements in His personality. (1) His consciousness of His Divine origin, and His royal vocation as founder of the Kingdom of God (cf. Jn 13'"=). (2) His moral consciousness. His is not the gentle- ness towards the sinful which arises from moral indifference, or the desire of a sin-marred nature to be judged of leniently. He is conscious of sin- lessness ; He looks upon sin as the great tragedy of human life, but His passion for righteousness does