The Pulpit Commentary — Matthew — Volume 1 — Section 523

bee.re the stamp of eternity on it, almost fit already to merge into spiritual shape. Whe.t reproach the thought gives to e.11 half-heartedness, to all mere interested pro- fession of Christian faith and hope and love I How it repudiates the thought of a mere question of gain to be gotten from Christ, and tramples with just scorn and indignation upon the blasphemy in practice of patronizing Christ! Jesus would have us understand and believe how much it draws his heart towards any one who beains to "hear," as he never heard before, "the Word of God, and to do his Father's will." For want of this the family was once broken up, and only by the restoring of this can its unity be regained. Now, the love which Christ has toward us as sinners, whom he came to seek and to save, when he looked down on us as einnere, and far from " God's Word," ie one love. It is the love of commiseration, of God-like compassion, of heavenly mercy. But the love which he condescends to liken to that of mother, sister, brother, and to that to be shown to these, is something else. It is the oneness, the heartfelt sympathy, the fellowship and communion of delight, which they know, yet can never describe, who, happy themselves, know the bliss of resting in the unruffled security and harmony of the family in which they were born, which surrounded them with their first consciousness of life, and in which they have as yet ever lived without a fear,, .without a want. Jesus Christ wished loudly to declare it in the press, the motley group, the harassed multitude that were around him, tha.t this rule, " to hear the Word of God and do it," was not only the rectifying of everything tha.t could be wrong in ~he family of man, but also the perfecting of joy in every one who should observe ,to :do it. A crown will make a king or queen; ancestry and accident will make princes and princesses ; wealth will ma.ke position, however ticklish and uncerta.in; knowledge and learning will make that wisdom and power which are at any ra.te somewhat less uncerta.in; but hemring the Word of God and doing it will make what is immeasurably superior to all these. It will fill up the family of God on ea.rth, will deepen and diffuse pure joy here, and will help fill all heaven above with joy and praise.-B. Vera. 1-13.-The sabbath. Six times was our Lord, either directly or through his disciples, charged with sabbath-breaking. In considering the manner in which he met the accusation, we must bear in mind tha.t he was in a different rela.tion to the Jewish sa.bbath from that which we hold to it. Indeed, we could not, from his observance of the day, argue that a day was to be similarly observed in the Christian Church, because me.ny important observances ceased at his death, and remain to us only in their spiritual substance. But the principles he lays down in defending his conduct carry with them important conclusions rega.rding the day. 1. The first of these principles underlies all rational religion. It was not a new idea. Our Lord finds adequate expression of it in the Old Testament words, "I will have mercy, and not sacrifice." In other words, God is not pleased by our payment of dues to him, but by our growing in likeness to him and learning to love our brother. The worship that does not feed character is nought. 2. But the second principle has a special reference to the sabhath. It is little more than an inference from the first. "The Son of man," he says, "is Lord even of the sabbath;" or, as he more plainly puts it in another Gospel, "Tho sabbath was made for ma.n, and not me.n for the sabbath." It is a day given to us by God, who has so arranged things that the world's work can be done completely by giving six-sevenths of our time to it. The tendency of much of our civilization is to make men think that work or business is the whole of life. Such a tendency is checked and rebuked by this day. Every seventh day says to us," You are not merely a merchant; you are a man. You are not in this world to manufacture material articles and accumulate money; you are here to cultivate friendships, to educate yourself in all that is good, to know God, and become meet for the iuheritance of the saints in light." All this was explicitly taught when the sabbath was first pro- mulgated to Israel. The remarkable words were uttered to them, " For that the Lord hath given you the sabbath, therefore he giveth you on the sixth day the bread of two days." This weekly real was a new sensation to the over-driven slaves ; it was a new idea to them to have one day all their own-a day in which they were loosed from all the cares of earth, and taught to know themselves God's children. This fourth w"'-- mandment, which both our Lord and the Pharisees accepted, was interpreted by them  620 'i'HE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MA'l'TH:E:W. [on. m.1--60.