The Pulpit Commentary — Matthew — Volume 2 — Section 307

Ver. 22.-Jnco111iderate p,Jtitlon. "Ye know not what ye ask." That is, you have not thought seriously about it; have not looked it well round, so as to be quite sure what your petition means and involves. One is a little surprised to find James and John acting so impulsively. It is the sort of thing that better suits Peter. "Boanergcs" is • strange name for John; perhaps it was specially adapted to James, the elder brother. This James seems to have been somewhat of a zealot, and he paid the peualty by becoming the first apostolic martyr. _ • L AN INCONSIDERATE PBAYEB. Evidently these men had no higher idea of Ohriei's mission than that he had come to found a temporal kingdom. They asked an impossible thing, simply because they did not know how impossible it was. If they hnd spiritually ent.ered into the teachings of Jesus, they never could have asked it. Their prayer lacked "humility" because it lacked "thought." Prayer is & serious thing. It is the approach of the erring creature to the All-holy, if All-merciful, One; it can never be undertaken lightly. " Pot off thy shoes from off thy feet; the place whereon thou standest is holy ground." We should "take with us words," carefully chosen, when we "turn unto the Lord." Prayer may lose tone by its frequency, and become unduly familiar. So often we go to God with nothing speoial to say, We go because it is time to go; the hour of prayer has struck. Distinguish between (1) acts of adoration; (2) acts of communion; (3) acts of petition; ( 4) acts of intercession. Our daily spiritual converse with God is only in a conventional sense called " prayer; " for there need not be any element of petition in it. How many of our prayers would have beeu offered, if we had seriously thought &bout them before- hand? Thought t.akee in what may be ri,gkt for us to ask, and what we may suppose God can give. II. DIVINE TREATMENT OF INOONBIDEBATE PBAYEB. Jesus answered kindly, but firmly. James and John were wrong, and must be shown that they were wrong. Otir Lord endeavoured to quicken thought, and so help James and John to correct their own mistake. And their great mistake was that they had misapprehended his royalty, He was to be King of the obedient, who would be willing to suffer for their obedience. If they had known what they asked, they, would have seen that they asked a special share with Christ in his sulferings.-B. T. Ver. 22.-Imperfect self-estimatu. "They say unto him, We are able.• The words of our Lord "come to us as spoken in a tone of infinite tenderness and sadness. That nearness w Lim in his glory could be obtained only by an equal nearness in suffering. Had ihey counted the cost of that nearness? There was enough to lead them to see iu thell' Master's words an intimation of some great suffering a.bout to fall on him, and this is, indeed, implied in the very form of their answer. ' We are able,' say the:r, in the tone of those who have been challenged and accept the challenge. That th_eir ii,Bight iuto the great mystery of the Passion went but a little way as compared with t4cir Maater's, lies, of course, in the very nature of the case" SDean Plumptre). Over a Grc,ek temple was placed the inscription, "Know thyself; ' but every man fui.us that to be the very hardest work ever given him to do. L A. ld..6Ji 18 IIIV&.11. lllw.D!BI> TO 1:XA<tUU.6.'1'& BJS OWll EXOELLU0:111. Visoroua OB. :.u:. 1-34.] THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO BT. MATTHEW. au ae he may be in criticizing the virtues of others, a man ie weak at self-criticism. Thero is a fondneBB for hie own thingH which prevents his appra1si11g them aright. lie judge, others by a standard, but, unfortunately, the standard is hie own attainment. lt is only whon he is willing to take Obrist as the eta.ndard of moral excellence tha, he discovers the imperfection of hiH self-estimates. "Let another praise thee, and nut thine own self." II. A MAN IS EVEB INCLINED TO IIIXAGGEBATE BIB OWN DEYIOIENCIEB. They loom large to the sincere man, because they are his ; he knows them so well, and he fcela so keenly the difficulties and troubles into which they bring him. "Who can under- stand hie errors 1" There are some types of religious thought which exaggerate the sense of deficiency, frailty, and sin; and make forced and manufactured confessiu" a sign of piety, There is as much real pride in exaggerating deficiencies as in exaggerating excellences. He must be taught of God who would know his owu sinfulness aright. IIL A MAN IS EVEB INOLINBD TO BXAGGEBATB BI8 OW'llf ABILITIES. Because, while he can form a good idea of the ability, he cannot estimate the demand that is made on the ability. It may seem a big ability, but it may be very small as seen in ita relation to the claims coming on it; as in this case of Jamee and Jolm.-R. T. Ver. 27.-The moral greatness of IJe'TtJia. There was nothing more characteristic of the teaching of Jesus, perhaps we may even say, nothing more novel in his teaching, than hie reversion of the common notions of service. .All the world over, and all the ages through, the ordinary man has seen dignity in "being served," 11nd has seen a kind of indignity in "serving." This has come about in two ways. 1. Through the exaggerated importance given to self. A man has come to be of more interest to himself than bis brother can ever be to him. Yet God made man male and female in order to prevent this egoism, and start man upon working the altruistic principle, each finding bis or her own beet blessing in caring for the other. Christianity is tbe recovery of the primary altruistic principle, and the mastery of that egoism which ba.s proved the prolific parent of all the vices. 2. Through the absorbing interest of appearance~; of material things-state, wealth, luxury, show of greatness. True greatness lies in character; let us once see this clearly and receive it fully, and then the kindliness and thoughtfulness which sweetly blend with humility, and ever make us ready to serrn, will seem to be surpassingly valuable. The moral greatness of service may he seen ii we consider- I. IT I8 TBE mGHEBT A.RD NOBLEST VIIIIW WB 0AN GET OJ' Go». Thoughts of majesty, dignity, authority, are properly encouraged; but we must have felt, as the psalm-writers felt, that only when we conceive of God as the all-ministering One do we bow in fullest reverence of love before him. "The eyes of all w&it on theo. 'l.'hou givest them their meat in due season." II. IT IB THE INFINITE ATTRACTION OF THE LORD JESUS. The charm of Christ would be gone for ever if any one could show us that he ever got anything for himself. "Re came not to be ministered unto, but to minister." He was among us as "Ouc that servetb." His character is the ideal ch1nacter; his life was the iueul life; but its glory lies in its self-denying service-its all-ruliug "altruism." III. IT 18 THE UNIVERSALLY ADMIRABLE THING IN GOOD MEN. The man who lives to get is despised. 'fhe man who lives to give and serve is commended. Christ has affected the standard of moral greatness. We are no longer dazzled by appearances. Service to our human brother is now the only true nobility.-R. T. Ver. 31.-Importunity revealing character. Eastern beggars are very clamorous and persistent. But there seems to have been something unusual in the energy unu determination of these blind men. They had their opportunity, and they made the best possible use of it. There are many ea.see which indicate that our Lord was a keen and skilful observer of character. The actions, movements, expressions, and words of men end women revealed to him the measure of their receptivity for that double blessing-temporal and spiritual....:..which he was prepared to bestow. One of the most striking instances is the response he made to those four friends who aarrled the paralyzed man, &nd broke up the house-roof in order to get him into th11  312 TiiE GOSPEL AOOORDING To ST. MATTlmW. [o11. XXI. l-4c6.