Ver. 34.-l,fag11animity an attainment. "Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do." ,vhen-at what particular point did he say that? It is commonly believed that be uttered this most gracious prayer just at the time of tbe actual crucifixion. Just when the nails were driven into those hands, the hands that had constantly been employed in some ministry of mercy; into those feet that had been continually carrying him on some errand of kindness; or just when the heavy cros&, with its suffering Victim fastened upon it, had been driven into the ground with UD['itying ,iolence ;-just then, at the moment of most excruciating pain and of intoler- able shame, he opened his lips to pray for mercy on his executioners. We have here- I. A RARE INSTANCE OF HUMAN MAGNANIMITY. 1. Conscious, not only of perfect innocence, but of the purest and even the loftiest aims, Jesus Christ found himself not only unrewarded and unappreciated, but misunderstood, ill treated, condemned on a totally false charge, sentenced to the most cruel and shameful death a man could die. What wonder if, under those conditions, all the kindliness of his nature had turned to sourness of spirit! 2. At this very moment he was the object of the most heartless cruelty man could inBict, and must have been suffering pain of body and of mind that was literally agonizing. 3. At such a. time, and under such treatment, he forgets him- self to remember the guilt of those who were so shamefully wronging him. 4. Instead of entertaining any feeling of resentment, he desired that they might be forgiven their wron;r-doing. 5. He did not haughtily and contemptuously decline to condemn them; he did not hardly and reluctantly forgive them; he found for them a. generous extenua- tion ; he sincerely prayed his heavenly Father to forgive them. Human magnanimity could hardly go further than that. II. A BEAUTIFUL EXAMPLE OF HIS OWN LOFTY DOCTRINE. When in his great sermon (Matt. v.-vii.) he said, "Love your enemies ... pray for them which despite- fully use and persecute you, that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven," he urged upon us to cherish and to illustrate the loftiest virtue on the highest grounds. This he now beautifully, perfectly exemplified. He was literally and truly praying for those who were using him <lespitefully. As the greatest generals and captains have proudly and honourably claimed that they "never bade men do that which they were not willing to do themselves," so this our glorious Leador, he ~ho came to be the "Leader and Perfecter of the faith" (Heb. xii. 2: Alford), never dewed of us any virtue or grace which he did not possess and did not himself A.dorn. He could and did say to his disciples, not only," Go thither in the way of righteousness," but also, "Follow me in every path of purity and love." ,ve may well lovo our enemies, and pray for those who despitefully use us, that we may be the child~en of onr Father in heaven, and that we may be followers of our patient, magnanimollll :•.: aoter. And it is here, truly, that we hrve- on. xxm. 1-56.J THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. LUKE. 255
III. A CHALLENGE TO A GREA.T ATTAINMENT, 1. To pray sincerely for those who do us wrong is one of the very highest points, if not actually the very lofUest, of human mognnnimity. 'l'o dismiss all vindictive purpose, all resentful thought; to look at our enemy's procedure in a kindly light, and to take, as Christ did here, a generous view of it; to cherish a positive wish for his good; to put this wish into action, into prayer;- by these stages we reach the ~ummit of nobility. 2. This is an attainment we should s~dulously and devoutly pursue. '!'here are those of noble nature, men and women whom God endows with a most "excellent spirit," to whom this may be plaiu and easy; to them it is not a steep ascent to be Jaborionsly climbed, but a gentle slope along which they can walk without difficulty. Ilut to most men it is an attainment and not an endowment. It is an attainment which can only be secured by earnest and continued cultivation. But we have for this great end the most effectual means: (1) the realization of the near presence of God, and the knowledge of his Divine approval; (2) the sense that when we succeed we win the greatest of all victories ; (3) the efficacy of prayer-its subjective influence, and the aid which it brings us from above; (4) the inspiration of our Lord's example, and that of his most faithful followers (Acts vii. 60; 2 'l'im. iv. 16).-C.