The Pulpit Commentary — Matthew — Volume 1 — Section 510

I. CHRIST BRINGS GOOD Tmnrns TO THE FEEBLE AND FAILING. He comes as the Physician for the sick. He is the good Shepherd who leavrs the safe flock of ninety and nine to seek the one lost sheep. He has little for the righteous, but much for the sinful. He was not the Friend of Pharisees, but the Friend of publicans and sinners. 1. Thu i8 contrary to the oommon customs of men. Witb us too often religion is for the religious. The good have more goodness offered to them, but the bad a.re left in their badness. This was the case with the old-world religions, which fed the devotion of the devout, bnt neglected the ruin of the impious. Christ and a.11 who follow Christ bring the gospel to the lost. 2. This counteracts the stem prnceasea of nature. In nature we witness the survival of the fittest. There the strong succeed and the weak fail, and the race is to the swift and the battle to the strong. Christ brings a more merciful principle to work upon men. The bruised and crushed and hopeless are the especial objects of his care. IL THE SOURCE OF CHRIST'S ACTION IS PURE COll[l'ABSION. Ther~ is no obligation to deal out mercy to the worthless. They who fail do not deserve to be helped merely on account of their failure. The bruised reed cannot entertain us with sweet music; if it can emit any sounds at all, these must be of a. rather painful character. The smoking wick has ceased to illumine the room; it is now an offensive object. Would it not be better to throw both of them away? No reason could be given for tenderness to tho!e who have ceased to be of any use to the community excepting pure compassion. But this was the very motive of our Lord's most frequent miracles. Again and again we read that "he was moved with compassion." The same wonderful love and sympathy prompted his whole life-work. It is now the great motive of the gospel. Therefore the work of Christ is characterized by tenderness. He does not drive; he leads. He does not merely command; he helps, uplifting, strengthening. III. THE COMPASSIONATE MINISTRY OF CBRI.ST IS JUSTIFIED BY ITS RESULTS. A hard man of the world may be inclined to criticize our Lord's method as uneconomical. He may say that the same amount of energy spent on the young, the strong, the hopeful, would produce ls.rger results. In reply it may be urged that Compassion does not weigh and measure and calculate, or she would cease to be Compassion; she gives freely, asking for no return. Nevertheless, there is a return. Christ's compassion is powerful.• He mends the bruised reed and rekindles the smoking flax. Then the first result is the salvation of the helpless. But the process does not stay here. They who are thus redeemed are bolllld to their Savioor by the closest ties of gratitude. 'fhere is no love so tender and devoted as that of the Magdalene. The redeemed are living witnesses to the grace of Christ, and they are the most zealous in proclaiming it to others.-W.F. A. Ver. 29.-Bobbing flu strong man's house. The circumstances under which it wu1 spoken explain this parable. Our Lord had just cast out a demon from a poor creature who was both blind and dumb. A more pitiable object than such a demoniac can hardly be conceived. And yet in this extreme instance of the tenderness of Jesus to the bruised reed his enemies only see sinister motives and snspect malign influences; they charge the great Deliverer with being in league with Satan. The parable is our Lord's reply to this monstrous allegation. I. SATAl!I IS LIKE A STRONG HAN. Some men speak lightly of temptation, end boast of their strength to resist it. 'l'hese may be its earliest victims. Christ knew the powers of evil, and he did not despise their magnitude. He had met the tempter in the wilderness, and though he had come off completely victorious, he had seen the awful might of the great enemy of souls. Satan is so strong that no human being can master him alone. Only a stronger can bind him. II. THE BIN-POHBESSED WORLD IS A aousE OF SATAN. The miserable demoniac was like a house of Satan, in the power of the prince of evil. But the whole world ia described as under the spirit of evil. He is the prince of this world. Ill Evn. INFLUEN0ES ARE THE WEAPONS AND TOOI.S OF SATAN. We might render the word" goods" as" instruments." The demon in the poor possessed man was one of Satan's instruments. In e. secondary sense we may now say that evil passions and corrupt he.bits are Satan's weapons, because it is through them that the power of evil works in the world and inflicts hie cruel tortures on his victims. IV. lT 18 THE PUBPOSE OF CHRIST TO DELIVER THE WOBl,D FROII EVIL INFLtrBN0EII, ea. xn.1-50.] THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MATTHEW. 507