The Pulpit Commentary — Matthew — Volume 2 — Section 375

•.ho child of love. Our love to God is a. reflection of Go<l's love to us; it is our re;,po1is,, tu bis goodness a.nd kindness. 2. He claims love. God is not indifferent to our a.tti- tudo towards him. He cannot be if he loves ns. In his own wonderful fatherly love ho seeks the affection of his children, Therefore a cold morality, or a. philanthropy that ignores God, is not sufficient, IV. MAN IB THE BE0OND OBJECT Oil' CHRIBTIAN LOVE. In practice we cannot separate the second commandment from the first. St. John tells us that we cannot love God if we do not love our brother (1 John iv, 20). In loving what is good in man we love God,. Therefore neither commandment can be taken without the other. If it were possible to seek God a.lone, that would not please him. He does not desire us to be- so absorbed in heavenly contemplation as to forget earthly duties. The Christia.e, ritual is the ministry of brotherly charity (Jas. i. 27). To all this it may be objected that we cannot love on command. True. But (1) we can remove the selfish hindrances to the love of God and man. (2) We can direct our thoughts to those considerations out of which love springs. Thns we can cultivate the a.ffections.-W. F. A. Vers. 41-46.-~e Divine Christ. The often-quoted question, "What think ye of Christ?" should be, "What think ye of the Obrist?" Jesus was not asking the Pharisees for an opinion about himself, the speaker addressing them, as he had asked his disciples. on a. previous occasion ( eh. xvi. 13). He was referring to the Jewish expectation of the Messiah, and without now pressing his own claim to be the Messiah, he was asking what idea the Pharisees had as to this great Hope of Israel. They had been questioning him; he now turns upon them with a. penetrating inquiry. I. THERE IS TESTIMONY TO THE CHRIBT IN THE OLD TESTAMENT. Jesus quotes ancient prophecy. It may be said that he :would thus find an argument-um ad hominem when arguing with a Jew. But it is evident that our Lord appealed to the Old Testa- ment as to. an authority which he himself valued. Thus he gives his own authority to support the Divine message of .the prophets, and he justifies us in searching these Scriptures for the testimony they bear concerning him (John v. 39). The value of the Old Testament in this respect is not that it shows how certain men were gifted with a miraculous foresight, by means of which they predicted the advent and life of Christ. This would be interesting chiefly as throwing light on the powers of the prophets, bnt it .would.not be of much practical use to us, We may see the Old Testament setting forth important truths a.bout Christ. It foreshadows in a. way to prepare the reader for understanding Christ. Thus it has its own gospel message. 'II. THE OLD TESTAMENT TESTIFIES TO THE DIVINE GLOBY OF TBE CHRIST. Jesus selects one striking instance of this specific testimony, Ps. CL plainly represents the Messiah as greater than David, for, while written in the name of the king, it yet makes the founder of the Jewish dynasty audress his descendant as "my Lord." This argument holds good, whether we believe the psalm to have been composed by the shepherd-king, or follow the recent criticism that rejects its Davidic authorship. For even in the latter case, it is plain that the inspired writer of the psalm taught that the Messiah was to be so much greater than bis famous ancestor that it would be seemly for David to address him as "my Lord." This truth, then, was in the Old Testament. Yet those who most honoured their ancient Scriptures did not perceive it. We need the Spirit of Christ to help us to understand the prophecies of Christ. Ill. Ou.a LORD GAVE THE HIGHEST INTERPRETATION TO THE OLD TESTAMENT PBOPHECIES OF THE.CHRIST. This fa.et is important in itself, as a. light on the prophecies. But it is much more weighty when we consider it in relation to Jesus himself. We know that he claimed to be the Messiah, although he did not make that claim public till the end of his life. Therefore his interpretation of prophecy must be applied to his thought about himself. He was calm, unselfish, unambitious, lowly in heart and life. Yet he argued for the very highest attributes of the Na.me which he knew to be his own. Was he not speaking out of the depth of his self-consciousness ? If he used euch words as are here before us, he could not have been satisfied with being regarded as only a man. ln veiled language to the Jews, but in language lha.t is open as the day to us, Jesus claims to bo Divine, and his character, his life, and his work all agree with his unique claim.-W. F. A. 580 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING 'l'O ST. MA'ITHEW. (cH, x:m. 1-46,