The Pulpit Commentary — Luke — Volume 2 — Section 209

Lord's Supp<)r was closely connected, not only in time but in apostolio thought, with the act of _th~ beLrayal (see 1 Cor._ xi. 23)-the in~titution of the greatest privilege with the comm1ss10n of the darkest cmne. Our Lords demeanour on this occasion is well worthy of our most reverent thought. I. JEsus A?H> JooAs. 1. His length ef sufferance. After knowina0 that Judas was seeking to betray him (ver. 6), Jesus might well have expelled him from his society. He might have done so, act.ing ;"udicially, as being no longer worthy to be classed among his _apostles. . He m)ght have done s~, acting prudentially, ns one (1) whom it was not wise to admit to his counsels and his plans; 11n<l as one (2) whose association with the eleven would be a source of evil. He might very appropriately have declined w acknowledge him as an officer and a friend. But Jesus did not press his right. On the contrary, he let him contiuue as one of the twelve, he let him come under the same roof with himself, he permitted him to share the l'aschal feast: the hand of him that was betraying him was "with him on the tallle." 'ro such a length a.s that his long• suffering went. 2. His dignity in ,·ebulce. He did not break forth iuto passionate iu vecti ve; he did not use words of natural and permissible vehemence; he quietly said, "Woe unto that man," etc. I Matthew tells us that he added, "It had been good for that man if he had not been born." What a transcendent calmness and serenity of spirit we have here I What a contrast between two children of men I One man preparing to betray his Teacher, his Friend, his Master; the other compassionating his betrayer for the depth of his fall and the sadness of his doom. Jesus went on to his sacrificial death and to his throne; Judas went out into the night (John xiii. 30)-into the dark night of guilt, of shame, of despair, of death. II. OGn Lonn AND OURSELVES. 1. 'l'he wrong against our Lord it is still open to us to commit. ,ve cannot betray him as Judas did; yet may we do that which answers to, and is almost if not quite as deplorable as that sad and shameful act. Let us consider th11t: L We know more a.bout Jesus than Judas then did; for we have all the li;ht of his resurrection and of the teaching of his apostles. 2. He has granted to us mercies as many and as great in intrinsic value a.s those he bestowed on Judas. 3. Owing him a.s much as Judas did, we may do even greater injury to his cause than the traitor did. The act of Iscariot ultimately issued in the all-sufficient aacrifice; this did not extenuate or lessen his guiltiness by a simple grain; but it nullified the mischief of the crime. We may do inc.-ilculable and irreparable mischief to the cause of our Master by 011r unfaithfulness, our infidelity, our disobedience, our criminal negligence. 4. By such disloyalty we may wound and grieve his Spirit almost as severely as his betrayer did. Wherefore let ns: (1) Be humble-minded. _" Let him that think:eth he standeth," etc. If we could find the man who has smitten Christ and his cause the severest blow that waB ever struck, it is probable that we might easily find an hour in that man's history when he would have shrunk with holy horror from such a guilty act. (2) Be prayerful; ever looking heavenward with the supplication," Hold thou me up," etc. (3) Be diliger,t in the field of earnest Christian work. It is the idler in the vineyard whom the tempter will assail. It is the faithful workman who is in a position to say, after his Lord and Leader, "The prince of this world cometh, and ha.th nothing iu me" (John x.iv. 30).-C. Vere. 24-27.-Greatness after Ohrist. Three things claim our attention. I. APOSTOLIC FAILURE. When the apostles of our Lord ea.me to look back on this roost memorable evening, how pained and how ashamed they must have felt ns they recollected this unseemly contest (ver. 24) I At the very hour when their Lord wns JJ,anirtsting hiH love and his forethought for his Church in two most striking and touch- ing ways-at the very hour when his heart was torn with distracting sorrow by the tlei;ertion and treachery of one of his chosen band, and when he might well have been looking for some consolation in the attachment and the obedience of the others, they mUBt needs show their unlikeness to himself and their unworthiness of their position by an untimely dispute about their own importance I In connection with that con- descending service of their Lord's, how small such a controversy seems I And in connection with such a trial as that through which he was passing, how unbecoming and ill-timed was any anxiety about their own affairs I It was in their power to render to Je~us Christ a most helpful sympathy, and, instead of doing that, they grieved him en. :tx.n.1-71.J TBE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. LUKE. 21'.)