From this point He goes on to deal with typical instances of the difference between letter and spirit in the Law. He begins with a command- ment of the Decalogue, the Sixth, couided with a corresponding passage from the Mosaic legisla- tion, ' and whosoever shall kill, shall be in danger of the judgment ' (5-^). He says in eflect, ' The spirit of the commandment is this : Anger is murder. I say unto you. That whosoever is angry with his brother . . . .shall be in danger of the judgment ' (v. "). And then, as if still further to emphasize the point that the Law is not satisfied by negative or formal obedience, Jesus shows that brethren at variance must give effect to the positive law of love before they can render acceptable worship at God's altar (Mt S^--^). Nor is this enough. At a later point in His discourse, in connexion with the law of retaliation. He returns to the subject and insists upon the Divine principle of love, showing that the aim of God's Law is to make m.an resemble God Himself. The laAv of love leaves no room for enemies. A Christian has no enemies ; for by loving and praying for them he makes them friends (vv.^^"^-').
So again, in another place, Jesus shows that the neighbour to whom the Law of God refers is any one in need whom one can help (Lk lO"''^'^''). Again Jesus takes up the Seventh Commandment. Ac- cording to the letter it forbids the sin of un- chastity, unchaste actions, unlawful intercourse between the sexes. The spirit of the command- ment has a far higher aim. It is only one aspect of the grand law of purity. It demands purity of heart. Every impure thought, every unchaste look, are transgressions of this law of God (Mt 5r^-^-). Jesus deals with the Ninth Commandment upon the same principle. According to the letter, it forbids false swearing. According to the spirit, it is just a form of the law of sincerity and truthful-
ness. Its real meaning is that God desireth truti in tlie inward parts (vv.^^"''').
Proceeding (Mt 6^"-) to tlie subject of religious exercises, Jesus shows that questions of ritual and outward form, upon which the Pharisees founded their ideas of 'righteousness' [5iKaL0(xvvT]v . . . iroLelv, v.^) and meritorious service, are of trifling im- portance in comparison A\ith the question of the heart's approach to God. Eeligion is not a per- formance, to be judged by what men can see and pronounce their opinions upon, and involving such trivial points as ritual, excellencj^ of speech, pro- priety of form, reverence and decorum of posture. It is a matter of communion of spirit with spirit, need}- souls, humbly conscious of their needs, confessing their wants and desiies to One who seeth in secret, the poor in spirit hungering and thii'sting after righteousness, and so convinced of their entire dependence upon the forgiveness and compassion of the All- Merciful as to feel that for them to claim the mercy and giace of God is to bind themselves by the law of love to the duty of forgiving as they Avould themselves be forgiven. From this point of view the essence of worship is i^rayer, — not sacrifice and offering — the humble, fervent outpouring of contrite hearts (cf. Lk 18'""'^), and cordial surrender to the will of God — not questions of posture or of such material things as rich gifts (Lk 2F- ^ Jn 423- 24)_ Prayer is the kernel ; all external ordinances, whole burnt-oflerings, sacrifices and the like, are but the husk (Mt 6^"'^). So the prayers even of the Gentiles are of infinitely more consequence than the temple offerings, and God's house is a house of prayer for all people (Mt 2p2ff. y jyu^ ^n y l^ 19«- 46, cf. Jn 214-^6).
In connexion with Christ's teaching on the sub- ject of heart religion and morality, and the true meaning of the Law considered as the Law of God, an interesting case suggests itself, in which Jesus seems to anticipate the abrogation of the Old Covenant with its laws and ordinances. It is that of His controversy with the Pharisees with refer- ence to the ceremonial ablutions which the dis- ciples were accused of neglecting (Mt 15^'^" || Mk T^'-*^). Jesus defends His disciples by turning the tables upon the Pharisees, whom He taxes with setting their traditions above the express com- mandments of God Himself, and with neglecting in the interest of mere technicalities the weightier matters of the Law (cf. His denunciation of Phari- saic scrupulosity in Mt 23'»-»» |1 Lk ll^''-^"), and cites as an instance their treatment of the Fifth Com- mandment and the law of filial affection. But what calls for notice is, in particular, the circum- stance that what specially offended the Pharisees, and startled even Christ's own disciples, was His pronouncement upon the point immediately in dis- pute, the question of ceremonial ablutions, and the whole Levitical legislation on the subject of the clean and the unclean. In view of the fact that a large portion of the Mosaic law- is taken up with and deals minutely with these very points, in view also of the fact that the controversies in the Early Church itself betAveen Jewish and Gentile Chris- tians turned upon these things, our Lord's treat- ment of the question is very remarkable, and illustrates clearly the nature of the distinction which, in His revision of the Law, He emphasized between letter and spirit. He practically teaches that the principle of those Levitical precepts is simply the Divine laAv of holiness. Rightly under- stood, they only restate in another form the com- mand, ' Be holy, as the Lord your God is holy ' ; and they are truly obeyed only by those whose hearts are renewed in every thought by the Spirit of God. The scribes who, forgetting the teaching of the prophets (for here Jesus made no essential