The Pulpit Commentary — Matthew — Volume 1 — Section 456

Mcssiahship? Probably he was not the man he bad been. The long Imprisonment had told upon him. It must have been especially irksome to one who had been so long accuet-0med to the free open life of the wilderness. Confinement, enforced inactivity, with no work, no employment for bis ardent energies, tamed the spirit that had been so strong. Perhaps be ~1mk at times into seasons of melancholy like Elijah his prototype. It may well have been so: he was a high saint of God, very bold and full of strength, but ,he was human; and human nature bas, and must have, its- inconsistencies and ~eaknesses. No man lives at all times up to his hiabest level• and it has been often noticed that God's saints fail sometimes in that very grace which is their most striking characteristic; Elijah, for instance, in courage, Moses in meek- ness, Peter in steadf&Stness. John had heard in the prison the works of Christ; but he had beard also from his disciples how he sat at meat with publicans and sinners; he had heard that his apostles had not adopted the ascetic life; he had heard that he bad not publicly announced himself as the Messiah. It may be that he was somewhat disappointed. He longed for something decisive; he longed, perhaps, to see the wrath of God manifested against the profligacy of Herod, against the hollow hypocrisy of the- Pharisees. He wished, perhaps, to urge Jesus to declare himself openly, to use his Divine power to put down sin and to introduce the reign of righteousness; he wished to accelerate the march of the Divine purpose. He had waited long; and now he had been a whole winter, perhaps more, cooped up in prison. It is no wonder if he became sometimes impatient; no wonder if the reports (somewhat coloured, it may be, by the prejudices of his disciples) which he heard of the teaching and actions of Jesus, so holy, and yet in some respects.so unlike his own, disappointed and perplexed him. He would have been more than human if, Wider such circumstances, hie faHh had never failed him. Holy Scripture presents to W! men a.11 they really were. It does not draw ideal pictures; it exhibits the imperfections as well as the graces of holy men. We should be very thankful for this. It is one of the secondary evidences of the simple truthfulness of God's Word, and it offers to us a more interesting study, a more encouraging lesson. An ideal character has far less human interest than the- actual portrait of a real man; and the thought that the saints of the Bible, who conquered in the fight and won the crown of life, were partakera of our sins and weak- nesses is full of encouragement and help to us. Doubtless the result of the message tended to strengthen the faith of the messengers; but to suppose that this was the oue object of the message seems to introduce an element of unreality into the Baptist's conduct. ".Art thou he that should come?" There is a wavering sometimes, an agonizing doubt in the hearts of the best of God's servants. It comes-from the tempta- tions of the evil one; it arises sometimes, as perhaps in the case of the Baptist, partly from physical calll!es. The mortal body weigheth down the mind; it is to good men the most distressing of trials. The Baptist sent to the Lord in hie difficulties; he put the question to him clearly and plainly. So we must come direct to Christ when we are troubled with the like perplexities. He will be gracious unto us, as he was tG J oho, as he was to Thomas. He will give us peace in believing, helping us to persevere, like the Baptist, steadfast unto the end. " Are we to look for another? " No; there is none other Saviour, no other name under heaven given among men, whereby we mlll!t be saved. We look only for him, for fuller manifestations of hie grace; we look for his coming, when he shall make this body of our humiliation like unto the body of his glory. 1I. Tm: LOBD's ANBWEB. 1. Ht1 directs the 111£ssengera to his works. He does not affirm his Messiahebip in words ; he did so to the woman of Samaria; he did so to the man born blind; now he points to hie works. The Lord adapts his teaching to the circumstances of each case, to the different characters, the varying spiritual needs of his disciples. Deeds are more convincing than words. If we would convince others of the deep reality of the experiences of personal religion, we must show its powef In our lives. Words, glowing descriptions, will not convince; we must exhibit in the quiet, humble life of holiness the power of the Lord working in our hearts. The lives of God's saints are the beet evidence to unbelievers of the strength of Christian motives, and of the reality of the promised help of the Holy Spirit; they are the facts which _prove the presence and the energy of the great Cause. 2. What thoae works were. (1) The7 were the works of the Christ, his proper works, the works attributed to him b7 ou. :u. 1-30.J THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MATTHEW. 45.;