Ver. 17.-The sum'TTIOR&-to repent I It would appear that while first John the Baptist uttered the summons, " Repent ye," when announcing the advent of "the kingdom of heaven" (eh. iii. 1), and while now Jesus himself does the same, the charge to utter it was not committed to" the twelve" (eh. x. 7), nor to "the seventy" (Luke x. 9). The reason, perhaps, is this, that the work of these disciples was inten- tionally didactic rather than dogmatic for the present, while all the weight of the solemn responsibility of appealing to men's souls and awakening them would strictly attach to the prophet John the Baptist, and to that "greater Prophet" "like unto him," Jesus. The text informs us, now at all events, that Jesus does not only teach but preach, does not only work mighty works, but demand a hearing for mighty appeals of a direct and personal nature, and practical results from them. Remark- I. THE UNIQUE NOVELTY ON0E OF TBl.8 BHOBT, SHARP SUMMONS FROM THE SPE!.KER1B STANDPOINT. The world knew many a "cry" before this-perhaps never before one like this, except in the case of the older prophet-appea.ls, and those almost exclusively addressed to their own people. Nevertheless, Noah's preaching to the old world, and Jonah's preaching to Nineveh, are fair samples of the real summons to men, ou the rights of things, on eternal rights, to" repent," However, the present o.ppeals of John the Baptist and of Jesus began the sound that was to travel the world round, to pene- trate the densest Gentile masses,and never cease its reverberatings in human ear. We may remark distinctly (1) upon the rculiar attitude of the mau who thus a,ldresses a fellow-man; (2) upon the groun and warrant that he must claim for holding this attitude, if he does so rightly; (3) upon the very serious responsibility that he ought to feel, and the "constraint laid upon him" lest he but usurp wha.t docs not belong to him; (4) upon the unfeigned and deep dependence on unseen force he should feel and acknowledge. For in regard of all of these points it may be said that there is no assumption so great as that which is manifested when one man, facing his fellow-men, speaking into their ear, presumes to penetrate to all that is highest, l!ATTBEW, II: 130 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MATTHEW. [cu. 1v. 1-25.
deepest, most solemn, most enduring, in them and their soul, aud comniands them to " repent." II. 'l'IIE STRANGE SURPRISE OF IT ON THE EAR OF THE HEARER. The command itself is to altered thought, altered love, altered life and works. l<,or: 1. It is the typical, the grandest interference with the individual's love, nature's instinct, habit's easy and determined leaning, and the universal world's pronounced preference, mani- fested all unequivocally in favour of the doctrine of laissez-faire. 2. It is all this, where it must needs be felt (1) most penetratingly,-for each individual man is called on to set his own house in order; (2) most sensitively,-for the house is that wherein his innermost self has its haunt; (3) most comprehensively,-for outside and inside, what is most seen and most withdrawn from sight, have to be set in order; nay, dili- gent search and inquisition of self have to be ma.de with pain, sma.rt, sacrifice, self's denying, if the contemplated alteration, reformation, repentance, are really wrought, 3. It is all this, from a personal presence unambitious in its outer appearance, unim- posing, untempting, and certainly unwinning. Ill A CEilTAIN OSTENSIBLE GROUND UPON WHICH THE SUJIIMONB lfl URGED. The ground may be called ostensible, but only for one reason-that by the vast majority it would be counted more ostensible than real. The eye that should see furthest, the thought that should pierce deepest and comprehend most, would well understand the genuineness, force, tellingness, of the plea, "For the kingdom of heaven is at hand." This announcement purported to describe in brief the more light, the purer light of knowledge now coming to earth; the clearer and the much more catholic· revealing of the Father and his love to men, now to dawn on earth; and the more spiritual and inner methods by which justice, holiness, goodness, were to become the familiar study and search and possessions of humanity. The plea, therefore, is of the .nature. of inducement. The inducement is that which •Comes (1) of new opportunity; (2) of great encouragement in the fresh suggestions of the almighty Father's persevering watchfulness over his children on earth; (3) of splendid prospect, when the methods that now should be were compared with past methods; (4) of the suggestion of solemn added responsibilities, if vast increase of privilege were not responded to by increase of effort.-B. •,,
Vers. 18---22.-The 00,ll of <Jhrist to his first disciples. In the light of what we read in John i. 38-42, we may regard the present pai;sage as giving the account of the formal and final call of the four disciples named Peter, Andrew, James, and John. Note may also be taken of the circlllllBtance that these four were all fishers. Notice-- I. 'l'HE CALL ITSELF IN THESE ORIGINAL EXAMPLES OF IT. And under this general Lead consider: 1. What it is in the essential meaning of it. The meaning is self's entire, willing, glad surrender to a new dominant love, to a new devoted life, and to these without end. 2. What it is in certain accidents of it. (1) It is a great novelty as it falls on the ear of the person called. He has been called in a thousand other ways in life, but he hears himself now called to stand and surrender his deepest, realest self to a Person. (2) It speaks great pretension as it passes the lip of the Person who utters it forth ; and that pretension is just, will stand scrutiny and hold all its own. (3) It is not futile; meets prompt obedience; and can afford to explain that obedience, as all its due, free from tJTanny, free from jugglery, free from mere expedience, policy, or self- interest. (4) It is a distinct proclamation of sovereignty on the part of him who calls, and of responsibility entailed on him who is called. II. THE LANGUAGE IN WHIOH TBE CALL IB UTI'ERED FORTH. Show how utterly unprofessional, untechnical, inartificial; and yet more, how, while already simplest of the simple, even this borrows illustration-illustration from life's familiar scenery. IIL 'l'RE OCCASION UTILIZED FOB A CALL 60 GREAT, SO EVENTFUL. It is an occaaion when the man concerned is found in the most ordinary, perhaps unhonoured and unloved, labours of his work-day life.-:-B, Vere. 23-25.-Early omen.a of tM triple geniu, and /f/111,Ctirms of <Jhristianity. These three verses compress all the matter of throe volumes, let the volumes be the largest that ever were. Or, again, they suggest to what periods of time, and to what ilevotion of labour in the life of Christ on earth, the paradoxical language of such a 011, rv 1-25,] THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MATTHEW. 131