The Pulpit Commentary — Luke — Volume 1 — Section 132

Are thllre not many in our e.ssemblies who, like these Pharisee~, "sit by"? They scarcely believe wha.t is eaid. As old Matthew Henry writes, " It is to them a tale that ie told them, not e. mefisage that is eent them. They are willing that we should preRch before them, not that we ebonld preach to them." It is this eitting by which checke the work of grace. More and more, as tbe ministry of Christ proceeds, does the shrulow of the Pharisees eitting by fall on it. A withering, desolating sharlow. Thou Pluirisee of town and village, thou critic, sceptic, thy seat the seat of the scornful. Mighty power to heal me.y be present, but mighty work of healing cannot be done in thee until the etory of the Pharisee of the Pharisees is repeated in thee, and thy self- 1mfficiency emitten down, thou a.rt cast to the earth, to ask, trembling and e.stonisbed, " Who art thou, Lord ? " Vere. 30-39.-The new and the old. Two classes ot persons are amazed and offended-those to whom old ways and recognized canons of respectability were of the very essence of the religious life; e.nd those whose minds occupied a sort of intermediate position, who had so far broken from the old, but had not yet received the spirit of the new time which bad begun in Galilee. Here is this Rabbi, whose fame has spread far and wide, who is undoubtedly possessed of marvellous powers, associating with persons whom every respectable Hebrew shunned, accepting a tax-gatherer's invitation, and freely mingling with the worthless folk found at a tax-gatherer's table. What an out- rage on social and religious decency l The scribes and Pharisees-the one of these two classes-murmur (observe, against the disciples; they do not dare to tbe Lord himself), "Why do ye eat and drink with publicans and sinners?" The disciples, simple, guile- less souls, were probably unable to explain or account for their Master. He himself replies by quoting an Old 'l'estament Scriptur~ne of those great prophetic words which express the spirit of all true religion, and prefacing and following this quotation by sentences of searching irony. "They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. But go ye and learn what that meanetb, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." How sig- nificant is every cla.usel "They that are whole." Will the murmurers take that description as appropriate to them? Then the Jesus whom they surround has nothing for them ; his work is not for the self-righteous, but for the con~ciously sinful and needy. But "whoso" would be teachers of the people as they may be, let them go and learn the first lesson of Divine wisdom, viz. that it is the delight of God's love to find out fatherless souls; that be is satisfied, not by formal acts of worship, rendered in mere obedi<'nce to usage, but by the seeking of poor outcasts from ordimmce and aociety, by such fellowship with them as reveals the purpose, "I will have mercy, and not sacrifice." Now comes the moment at which, along with the Pharisees, the other of the two offended classes-those occupying an intermediate position between the old and the new-appears on the scene. Some disciples of the Baptist have been scanning the movements of the Prophet of Nazareth, and the feast just held gives increased force to their doubts and difficulties. '!'he joyous life which Jesus and his followers are living contrasts with the sternly simple, ascetic life which they have been taught to regard as the best. Can the joyous life be right? Why the disregard of the outward signs of discipline? Why is he so lax with those whom he has called? The answer returned bas an abidin~ interest for the Church in all times. First, observe Christ's word with rr.gard to the special issue raised; and, secondly, observe his setting forth of the general truth as to bis gospel and kingdom. I. THE SPECIAL ISSUE IB FASTING. Jesus does not deny its utility. He fasted. Moreover, in his sermon from the mount, he recognized fasting as one of the elements of the religious life. What his saying bears on is its observance as a fixed habit or rule. The time, the rule, Christ teaches, must come from within. He goes to the root of the matter when he asks, "Can the children of the bridechamber mourn?" There is nothing if there is not mourning. Mere non-eating is nothing; mere ans- tel'ities are nothing. Self-denial for the sake of self-denial is nothing. It is the relation to spiritual ends, the power of interpreting and helping spil'itua.l ~le, tb.t gives any service its value. "How can you make these children mourn while I am with them? Their fasting, at present, would be wholly artificial. It is the worship iu spirit and iruih that I want. When they can really mourn, they will. Until t.h""•  124 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. LUKE. [OR, V, 1-39,