The Pulpit Commentary — Matthew — Volume 2 — Section 289

rice. Let us pray for the holy oourage of the sons of Zebedee. "We are able." It is a noble word if it isliu?B ou.t o_f a true and 1'81!.l faith, if it is uttered in humility and dependence upon Cbnst; it 1s a pure and holy word when it is spoken by Christ's f&!th~l. followel'II. "I can do all things through Christ that strengtheneth me." Other- wise 1t 1s prei;umptuous and profane. "Without rue, ye can do nothing." II. THE TEN APOSTLES, 1. Thei,r indignation. Salome and her sons had it seems approached the Lord privately, without the knowledge of the other apostle~. Wbe~ they heard of the request that bad been made they were much displeased. The two had sought pre-eminence over the rest, even over Peter. Peter does not, as at other times, put himself prominently forward; possibly the twice-repeated warning of our Lord, "Many that a.re first shall be last," kept him back. The displeasure of the ten was natural, but it was wrong. They had forgotten the lessons of the eighteenth chapter; they_ s~ill barbo~ those unworthy j68lousies which ought to have no place among the d1sc1ples of Christ. 2. The Lord's warning. (1) The commandment. The Church must not imitate the world. The rulers of the nations lord it over them; but (as St. Peter wrote afterwards, echoing, it seems, the Saviour's word) ChrieUan presbyters must not lord it over the charge allotted to them. The way to true great- ness is lowly service. He is greatest in the Christian ministry who realizes most the meaning of the word "minister," as St. Paul understood its meaning and illustrated it in his life (comp. 2 Cor. vi 3-10; xi. 23-30). He is greatest who stands waiting day and night on Christ, who follows him most closely in self-denying ministrations. He will be first in the great day who is willing now to be the last of all, who regards himself as the servant of Christ, and as the servant of all men for Christ's sake; as St. Paul made him.self the servant of all that he might gain the more. He will be chief then, who, though his labours may be abundant, like the labours of St. Paul, yet, like St. Paul, owns himself to be the least of all, seeking no pre-eminence over others, bnt simply and unaffectedly attributing all that is good in himself or in bis work to the grace of God: "Yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me." (2) The great Example. The Lord does not only teach; he illustrates bis teaching by his life; especially when he gives the most difficult lessons, he calls our attention to his own example. He bids us become the servants of all; he took upon him the form of a servant. He bids us minister to others ; he came not to be ministered unto, but to minister. He came from hea'l"en, from his true home, to this lower earth of ours, and that not to display the glory of his majesty, not to be ministered unto as Messiah the King. Angels did minister unto him, so did holy women and others ; but that was occasional, incidental The purpose of his coming was to minister-to minister to the deep wants of humanity, to the cravings of those who hungered after God, to the mortal sickness of countless dying BOuls. He came to feed the hungry with the Bread of life, which is himself; to cleanse the sin-defiled with the fountain opened for sin and for iniquity, which is his precious blood; to heal the broken-hearted, to give rest to all that labour e.n.d are heavy laden,-for he is the great Physician; he is our Peace, the only Best of the weary soul He came to minister; those who would be nearest him in his glory must be nearest him in his ministry. His ministers must imitate him who was "a Minister of the circumcision for the truth of God." But he came to do more than to minister-he came to do that one great deed which stands alone in the world's history, which none could do save only the Son of God, who became for our sake the Son of man. He came to give his life a ransom for many. He gave it; it was his free gift, a spontaneous act of mysterious love and bounty, generous above the reach of human thought. What he ga'l"e was his life-that human life which he had taken into his Divine Person. That human life was pure and holy; the one only hll!Il&D life that came not under the curse of the Law. "'l'he soul [the life] that sinneth it shall die.'' He needed not to die; but in bis generous love he gave that pure and holy life as a ransom for the many sinful lives. He gave "himself for us an offering and a ll&Crifice unto God" (Eph. v. 2). The ransom was given to God. The atone- ment belongs t.i:> the region of very high and sacred mysteries; its reasons, its necessity, its wide-reaching and awful meaning, are high above us. Human words are inadequate to expreBB it; human illustrations at the best are partial and incomplete; human thought cannot grasp it in its fulness. It becomes us to speak of these high mysteri01 with reverence and aolemn reticence. "God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: ther<l"'. ou.:u.1-84.) THE GOSPEL ACOORDING TO ST. MATTHEW. 293