It is true, of course, that Jesus commonly used one term at least which in the current phraseology of the time was closely associated with the tem- jjoral and literally-understood fulfilment of the ' promise.' He constantly jiroclaimed the advent of the Kingdom of heaven or the Kingdom of God. But Avhatever critical view be held of the records, and leaving undecided the question whether Mt 24 and other similar passages which contain a con- siderable eschatological element are to be taken as representing a part of the actual teaching of Jesus, or rather His teaching as coloured by jmss- ing through minds steeped in the ideas of Jewish eschatology, it is sufficiently evident that Jesus habitually used the expression ' Kingdom of heaven ' in a dift'erent sense from the ordinary and popular one, and preferred to divest it of the usual patriotic and eschatological associations. The locus classicus is the Sermon on the Mount beginning with the Beatitude, ' Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.' The 'promise,' as Jesus gives it here in sevenfold form, is a promise to the spiritually-minded of a spiritual grace, having no reference whatever to Messianic considerations, and this holds good even if the alternative form in Avhich the Beatitudes are given in Lk. is held to be the earlier. Jesus, in the most royal and absolute fashion, gave assur- ances to His disciples, but these, in the Synoptics hardly less than in the Fourth Gospel, are assur- ances not of any kind of material benefit, but of spiritual grace,' e.g. 'Thy Father which seeth in secret shall recompense thee'(Mt &* also vv.®- 1^) . ' He tliat loseth his life for my sake shall find it' (Mt 103« 16-5) ; ' I will give you 'rest,' and ' Ye shall find rest to your souls' (Mt Ips- 29) ; 'I will make you fishers of men' (Mk V, cf. Lk 5i«) ; ' Your reward shall be great, and ye shall be sons of the Most High' (Lk e^s) ; 'Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free ' ( Jn 832).
It is true, of cour.se, that there ai'e some passages in which the assurance of blessing includes ma- terial benefit: e.g. 'All these things (i.e. food, clothing, etc.) shall be added unto you' (Mt 633) . the reply to Peter that those aaIio for Christ's sake have forsaken earthly advantage ' shall receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses,' etc. (Mk
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iO^ = Lk lS-' = Mt 19^) ; but the very connexion in which such passages occur s-hows in each case that Jesus attaches importance only to the spiritual blessing ; better forego all earthly profit whatever than miss this (Mt KP 16-^-"'. Lk 12*'--'). Any- thing like requests for a promise of personal ad- vantage He sternly discourages (Mt •2U-'*"-^=Mk
Generally .the promises of Jesus to His disciples may be classified as follows : (a) particular assur- rDvC'i to indifiduah : to the thief on the cross (Lk 23^^), to the woman in the house of Simon the Leper (Mt 26" = Mk 14«). to Xathanael (Jn pi), to Peter (Mt 16'* = -Mk 9i = Lk 9-", cf. Mt W\ to Peter again (Jn 13" and \.^'), also Mk 9i = Lk 9=^ ; (6) assurances about tlie prevail infj nature of prayer and the power of faith (Mt 7" I'S^*, Jn U"'^- ", Mt 17-«212i--, Mk \i^-\ Mt ISiS); (c) assurances of His continued presence and of tlicir support and ultimate triumph (Mt 10"= Lk 12i-, Mt 28-^ [Mk 16'"- ^8], Mt 103--- 39- ^ 13« l6-» 19^. Lk G^, Jn 6*'- «• « 8" ll-« U- le^*'). It is to promises of this kind that James refers in V" ' the crown of life which the Lord promised to them that love him," and in 2* ' heifs of the kingdom which he promiseil to them that love him ' (cf. 1 Jn 2^) ; (d) the out- standing promise, however, is that of the Holy Spirit, and this is the one promise which is most explicitly recorded as made to the disciples (Jn I416. 26 1526 1613 etc.), and is directly recalled at the foundation of the Christian Church : ' He charged them ... to wait for the promise of the Father, which, said he, ye heard from me ' (Ac V, cf. 2^). And this promise may be said practically to in- clude and interpret almost all the foregoing.
Literati-re. — Denney in Hastings' DB iv. 104 ; Sid^nck, Methods of Ethics ' (1907), 295 ; Somerx-ille, Precious Seed (1890), 233; Spurgeon, Twelve Sermons on Precioits Promises.
J. Ross Murray.
PROPERTY. — Under this title two questions arise: (I) Is the possession of private property right according to the principles of the teaching and example of Jesus? (2) In what ways is a fol- lower of Jesus to acquire and to use his propert j' ? These questions touch one another when it is sug- gested that a Christian should give away all his property and not seek to gain any more. They may, however, be kept distinct, and the second discussed on the assumption that the ix)ssession of private property is justifiable.
1. A \ery large section of a man's interest is con- nected with his possessions. Therefore, inevitably, tlie teaching and example of Jesus have an im- portant bearing .upon the question of property. And further, inasmuch as He gave to men a very different ideal of character and conduct from that of the Avorld, it is to be expected that in regard to propert J- His teaching will show marked divergence from the prevailing worldly A-iew. But it is not therefore to be assumed that the authority of Jesus can be claimed for the socialistic view of property, which may be called tlie direct negative of the ordinary view wliich men hold. The question to be settled is — May we infer from the teaching and example of Jesus that the private ownership of pro- perty-is unjustifiable? The relation of the teach- ing and example of Jesus to modern Socialism opens up a wide field for discussion, and this is seriously complicated by the difficulty of defining Socialism and disentangling it, a,s a clear economic theory, from the general revolt against the hard- ships of poverty and the tjianny of riches, from which it springs, and which is reflected in the generous literature and thought of all ages and countries.