' Seeking an honour which they gave not Thee."
honour is not the right
Nay, even the most sacred goal for the follower of Chi were taught (Mk Id-). ^ the true aim for the life .if ; honoured of all, but tu \>r ^ Honour is included in llii; Christ (Mt 19-'), and it is 1 all worldly tliiiii;s in cxcl (Mt 16-''). Still iurtlicr, tli give place to the Dishonour now will gi Divine honour in due se
HOOK.— See FiSH.
HOPE). — In considering the relation of hope to Christ and the Gospels, we are at once met with the fact that in the Gospels the word eXiris does not occur at all, and iXvl^m only five times, viz. once in Mt (1'2'"), where the Evangelist quotes the LXX, three times in Lk (6^^ 23« 24='). and once in Jn (."i''') : .iihI in iimic of these instances does it refer
s James and John ;ii\ ice, not honour, is ill, sari ilicc, — not to be .av.int of all (Mk lO''^). all-Udii,-s left to follow \ urth while to abandon .-in.ne for the true life ■ t nidi/ ion of men must dment of God (Mk 7**). place to eternal and a (Mt 19=*). W. B. Frankland.
tol
This :iImjii(ij of the word is the more remarkable, when \vc remember not only th.it .ludaism, the religion in which our Lord and His ilis('i]iles were reared, was essentially a reli.nii in of Impr, Imtalso that the result of the teaching of .Ions \\ as vastly to enlarge and di'cprn (li.it hope, by imparting to it the riches .if tin- Cliiistiun faith. Great as was the religious li.i|i.' in>|iir.'.l l)y the older dispensa- tion, it was Mii.ill whiii .Miiiipared with that 'better hope' (III^ 7'") \\lii.lL iv-lril on the unchangeable
Til.- .Ii.sii|.l.>s .l.iulilli-s were too fully absorbed in thr jinsiiit to have felt ileeply expectations for the future. They were held captive by the great- ness of His personality and the depth of His love, and ultimately came to realize that they had in Him the Hope of Israel itself. And if Simeon, having received the Messiah into his arms, felt his greatest hopes realized, then the disciples, having found the Christ, must have been so absorbed by Him as to have had little room and little need for longings regarding the future.
But why did Jesus, who taught the necessity of faith (Mk 11--, Jn 3'«) and the pre-eminence of love (Mt 22"'), remain silent as regards hope. It was due to the fact that in training His followers, the first necessity was to concentrate their attention on Hiimdf as their jnesent possession. Had He taught them fully of the fruition that awaited them at the end of the age, an.l bad He thus made hope a <listinctly iirominent portion of His teaching. He would ha\'e dissipated their attention and diverted it from that which they most required to learn. St. Paul could teach, ' Christ our hope' (1 T\ V). Jesus had to lay the foundation oy teaching, 'Come unto me' (Mt ll^*).
But if He did not give direct teaching on the point, He nevertheless laid deeply the basis upon ■which the Church's doctrine of "hope _ was to be built ; for He pointed the disciples, in His
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HOPEFULNESS
HOPEFULNESS
to the blessings which they ultimately would enjoy. Tlie promises of His resurrection, of His perpetual spiritual presence, and of His hnal return in glory, were sure foundations upon which the Church could build her doctrine, and on this basis the developed teaching of the Epistles rests. And if the death of Jesus rudely shattered the Messianic hope of the disciples, His resurrection, followed by the illumination of the Holy Spiiit, restored it to them in a purified and spiritual form.
As we study in the Epistles the doctrine of hope, which was thus awakened and became an integral part of Christian life, we find it vitally connected by the Church with her faith in Christ risen and glorified. (1) His resurrection is regarded as the fjround of the Christian's hope : by it Christians are begotten ' unto a living hope,' and through it their hope in God is established (1 P P-^'). Ci) All Christian hopes are realized in Him. Various objects worthy of hope are mentioned, such as salvation (1 th 5'), eternal life (Tit 1^ 3'), the glory of God (Ro 5^, Col 1"), the resurrection of the dead (Ac 24'' 23"); but all these dillerent blessings are summed up in Jesu-s Christ. AVhen they hope for Him, they hope for them all ; for in Him all the scattered yearnings of the human Iieart are united and find their fuHilment. Thus it is that St. Paul calls Him 'our hope' (1 Ti P). (3) The Church therefore fixes her gaze on the lieavens ; for her Hope is there. She is ever ' looking for the blessed hope and appearing of the glory of our great God and Saviour Je.sus Clirist' (Tit '2^), for then she shall be like Him, for she shall see Him as He is ; ' and every one tliat hath this hope set on him purifieth himself ' (1 Jn 3-' ^). Even inanimate nature groans for its coming redemption at the Parousia, having been subjected to vanity ' in hope' (Ro S™). (4) But while the full realiza- tion of Christian hope will not be reached until the return of Christ, yet even now the Church has a foretaste of the bliss tliat ultimately will be hers. For Christ now dwells in the Church and in the hearts of her members, and thus grants an earnest of final fulfilment. Christ in the Church and in the individual is ' the hope of glory ' (Col 1"), and therefore to be without Christ is to be without hope (Eph 2'=).