XATIOXALITY
^'ATI0XAL1TY
231
Jew will be so far from his native land, or so much fear a hostile ruler, as not to fear the Law j more than him ' {c. Apiou. ii. 38). I
If it was by the hands of the priest,s, in the name of national indej^endence, that the Lord was be- trayed to the -nations," so the chief antagonism wliich He met in His ministry, and which His spirit encountered afterwards in the A^wstolic mission, came from this close-knit theory and practice of national imity. The Pharisees pursued Him from the hrst because they instinctively saw that the tendency of His teaching (see Xatioxality) was to break the lx)nds their traditions had woven, and to act as a solvent on the rigidity of national isola- tion, which was the only thing left to their pride.
LiTERATrp.E. — Cremer, Bib.-Theol. Lex. s.cr. ie»»>, /.«tr; Sihiirer, HJP [indicates all possible sources of information, the fullest of these bein^ the Aniiqulti'fit and H'nr* ofJosephus]: i Ewald, Hi*t. of IxraH, vol. \i. ; Hausrath, HUt. of S.T. Timrs; \ Milraan, Hiist. of the Jetrg, vol. ii. ; Keini, Hist, of Je^ui of | Xczara, vols. i. and ii. ; Stanley, Lectures on Jeviih Church ; artt. ' GJentiles ' and ' People ' in Hastings' DB.
A. NoRM.vx Rowland, i NATIONALITY.— This term includes the char- a<teristics created by national ideals and facts. The national environment of Jesus and His dis- ci) iles has been set forth in the preceding article under the two ideals of in'IcjKudcncc and unity. Of these ideals the former rested on the Messianic Hope, the latter on the Mosaic Law, which were the key-notes of the most ancient Scriptures of the J^ws — the Projthets and the Pentateuch respec- tively. They provide the clue to all that was distinctive in the nationality which appeared in, around, and against .lesus.
1. The Messianic Hope, with its meaning for inde- pyodcnce. — The expectations aroused at the birth of .Jesus were by no means of a cosmo^wlitan char- acter (Mt 1"-^ 2% Lk -ii*'— ' all the i>eople,' not ' all people), even as tliey appear in the persi>ective of St. John's transcendental point of view ( Jn 1"^ ; liut cf. V.*'). It was with the hope of keen patriots that the disciples remained with Him to the end I .\c 1*, Mk 1<J*). St. Matthew esi>ecially represents Him throughout with a glow of nationalist pride, a-^ son of Abraltam and of David (Mt V 9^ -I)}'), and tlie lieir of tlie prophets (Mt i'^-^ 4" 8^').
As to Jesus Himself, it cannot be denied that He so far shared the patriotic Ijopes of His fellow- conntrynien as to believe they were to be fulfilled in His own i>erson (Lk 4-' 7'-^ 2iV^). We may even venture to say that He counted it a temptation to make His ministry succeed on ix)pular lines (Mt 4*'M. At any rate He withdrew from advertisement (Mk P'^' I, and from the j»opular desire to make Him king ( Jn 6"), refused to give a ' sign' (Mk 8'-), and seemed to repudiate any claim that rested on suc- cession from David (Mt 22^"^). But He took as the veiy keynote of His acceptaV)le and authori- tative preaciiing the phrase wliich the nationalists used in the name of indejiendence, ' the kingdom of God ' or of ' Heaven.' He sjxike of His disciples sitting on twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes (Mt 19^). And though He Ijattled their material hopes over and over again, and left them dumb. He quickene*! enthusiasm to the highest pitch by His entry into .Jerusalem (Mt "ip^-) on lines sketched out J>v prophecy. And these advances were no accom-notlation to the i>opiilar feeling : they Mere the expression of His o\\-n patriotic con- sciousness. He declared to the Samaritan woman that salvation is of the Jews (.Jn 4"--!. He forl«de the disciples to address themselves to others than the lost sheep of the house of Israel (.Mt 1C>*'). He was loth to discount the value of nationality l>y admitting a Syioplioenician woman, an alien Jioth in race and in religion, to an equal claim on His brief ministry with the elect i>eople (Mt 15-^- ■*). Although He allowed the riL'lits of (.\-esar (Mt 2-2^M,
and authoiized His disciples to i>ay the tribute- money that was due, He reservetl the right to con- sider "it an unrighteous intiiction (Mt 17^). With the love of a patriot He wept over Jerusalem because it knew not the day of its visitation, and was near its final ruin (Lt 19*1"). Though re- jected by those who had formulated their o«"n material' notions of the Messianic Hoi>e (Mt le-""^'-, Jn 7^"^- 9^'), it was after aU on the ground of His patriotism that Jesus was betrayed into the hands of the GentUes. When C'aiaphas urged this ixdicy, he was moved more by fear for ' our place " than • our nation.' It was on the charge of ha^•ing sjxjken against Ca?sar (Lk -23-1 that Pilate was induce<l to condemn Jesus (Jn 19i--^*). It was in the name of the Messianic Hoi>e that He was mocked by the soldiers, and over His cross were written as accusa- tion the words, 'The Kmg of the Jews' (Mk 15*).
2. Th»i Mosaic Lair in its bearing upon iinif>/. — National pride also centred in the unity which was epitomized in the Mosaic Law. Before the death of Herotl the Great, two Pharisees were burnt alive for leading an assault upon the golden eagle he had fixed over the gate of the Temple court. And the passion for the Law was no less exaggerated throughout the period of direct Roman rule, as when there was a riot on the occasion of Pilates bringing the Roman ensigns within the city walls. Jesus Himself was very conscious of the national unity through the Law* He kept the feasts, being found in Jerusalem at the Passover, the Feast of Tabernacles, and of Dedication (cf. Mt 28^). He was a regnlar attendant at the synagogue at Nazareth (^Lk 4^*) ; and His interest in these nur- series of nationality was so far recognized that the liberality of J aims' in providing one was assumed to Ije a claim on His favour (Lk 7^^). His works of healing were kept so far as possible on the lines of the I>aw (Mk 1^ 5^ *'). He thought of Israel as the Chosen People, and spoke of them as 'the children' (Mt S'- 15*). Indeed His reverence for the Scriptures (Lk 4*- «• '- 16*' 24^-'^ for the Law (Mt 5'", Lk !<>*-■=*, Jn 5*^), and for the Temple iMt 23^"- -', Jn 2'*- '■), went far deeper than was appre- ciated by worldly-minded ecclesiastics ( Jn 2'* 7"*"^).