(Mt Is I , \|.n uliut must needs be ; and Jesus
present- thi' .I.Hiiii ,,f the 'wicked .servant' as a picture of Gud - dealings with men just as directly and sunply as He .sets forth the kindne.ss of our Father in heaven. The one presentation is per- fectly consistent with the other.
Similarly, the problem of suffering and misery, which times without number has evoked the cry ' Is God good ? ', is not allowed by Jesus to qualify in any way His declaration of the kindness of God. It is not because He ignore<l the problem ; He is
Himself conspicuous as the Sutt'erer. And with our Lord the Divine kindness is not involved in doubt, because, as we say, God permits so much sutt'ering amongst men, but rather that kindness is represented by Him as specially called forth by human misery. God is particularly set forth as viewing the sufferings and sorrows of men with compassion and pity ; and pity is simply kindness brought into relation to suffering and distress. God declares Himself 'most chiefly in she^^'ing mercy and pity' (Collect for 11th Sunday after Trinity). So also it is significant that in enforcing the lesson of Lk 6^, Christ does not say, 'Be ye kind, as your Father is kind,' but (v.'*), 'Be ye compassionate, as your F'ather is compassionate' {olKTipfiui/). And what a vast deduction from the sum of human misery would result, and how the problem would be simplified, if everywhere ' man's inhumanity to man ' gave place to such a .spirit !
2. Kindness ns the Laio of Human Life. — 'Love one another' is the new commandment of Jesus (Jn 13^) ; and kindness is love in its practical manifestation. From what has been said above, we see that this great law of life is directly enforced by the exhibition of the loving-kindness of God our Father. This is the case notably in the comment of our Lord on the dictum, ' Thou shalt love thy
nei.Lll' '-.l: ■•','' I:: ''■ lllil)" .■IK'HIN ' (Mt 0^-»).
sed is presented
.nd as ;
the bonds of personal affection, or of social unity, € another more than can be expressed in the forms of legal obligation ' (W. R. Smitl), up. cit. p. 161). And Jesus quotes Hos 66 with approx al, ' I desire mercy (heseil) and not sacrifice ' (Mt 12^) — a passage which makes that quality of kindness of greater importance than worship, and worship vain without it. In heathen religions and philosophies, too, ideas are found corresponding more or less to such a conception of the social bond.
Further, it is true that our Lord very emphati- cally insisted on the application of the principle of kindness as a law of life to relations of men with men in general, and not merely those of co-religion- ists and people of the same tribe or country. What can equal the parable of the Good Samaritan as helping to a definition of the ' neighbour ' to whom the service of kindness is due ?
Yet the OT and other forms of teaching are not without traces f a wider yicu tli.in tlic s.Tilns of Christ's day would allow. ■he .Ir.i . f : ■ .. r in the land(asin Lvl99f-,
e\xr\ ]i.\ brother.'
Oni I I i ' 1 -ition of this law of kindness is pre 11 ! I! i ', ifi'.ncris. And the newness of
Hist. mIiuiu III this re-spect appears in His havin" estalili-le .1 ihi~ ilutyon a firm religious basis and given it in i ~ i ntial place in the moral conscious- ness of men' i\A'ondt, Teaching of Jesus, i. p. 332). It is significant that the judgment of men in Mt 25''ff- is made to turn on the performance or neglect of the acts of mercy or kindness. The kindness inculcated, also, extends to all creatures : and it is to expre.ss itself in the little courtesies of life (Mt 5" 10'^).
A view of Christ's ethical teaching as a whole makes it clear that the stress thus laid on the duty of kindness favours no loosening of obligation to justice and fidelity in the manifold relationships of men, nor does it do away with the duty and need of punishment when that obligation is violated. The maintenance of just and faithful dealing does not necessarily involve severity and harshness ; ratlier it is itself part of the law of kindness rightly considered. Love of neighbour and of enemy is as
KING
931
laiiiis of justice on the
all that ln\ r i> Ihr ,,nly .-;aisl;irl.irv Ikims l.ir liun.aii relationsllilJ.^, uml imlecil the only iiussiblc buml iu the perfected social state. See also artt. LovE, Neighbour.
3. The Kindness of Jesus. — The perfect embodi- ment of this kindness in human life is scon in Jesus Himself. 'As I have loved you' i< tbe .bibniuiiue counterpart (Jn 13** 15'=) of tlie Syii..|iii.- •;;-- >iiur Father is compassionate' in tlie I'lii'iKnuriii dl the Law of Love. Tli.' \vb..lo 0..s|.rl |mrii;,iimv >linws us that in Jesus tlic l.iii.lnr^- ;iii,l pit \- ui (in, I fully dwelt. Hisdealii.L' \miIi -i.lu.-. :ni.\ -nllriin- in all forms, His atiiiii.li- tow^mU >iii, His sense of social disorder, His regard tor men as men and indifference to class distinctions. His whole de- meanour, His gracious speech (Lk 4™) — all pro- claimed the Divine kindness. His fiery denuncia- tion of scribes and Pliari^ee^ (r-ec Mt i'i) presents no exception; for His wutli i- tin- wrath of love.