The Pulpit Commentary — Luke — Volume 1 — Section 155

keep the Institution subordinate to the end, the good of man, and such an abuse as prnctically inverts this ordor, making man a mere creature of the institution-!rives0 the true note or the blessed eabhath-keeping. II. WrrAT IS THIS BLESSED !!AIIIIATII-KEEl'ING? Observe: 1. There is no disturbance of the primary conception-rest. That is implied in the very word" Babbath." Re!:t, undoubtedly, is the need to which the ordinance immediately refers. "Six days shalt thou lCLbour" is part of the Divine injunction. "Dut on the seventh day thou shalt not do any work." What a blessing is the weekly cessation from weary toil! The experiment of a tenth-day reat has been tried, and has failed. The septennial period seems to be the proportion adapted to the human system. In our complex social lifo individuals must suffer for the general good; some must work that the greater number may rest, But can we too jealously guard the rights of the poorest, ay, of bea.,t as well as man? Can we too earnestiy demand that there shall be no caUB0less multiplica- tion of labour on the day of the Lord? Yes; God's sabbath is for repose of body, brain, mind, spirit. What promotes a healthy rest is in harmony with it; what hinders is alien to it. A da_v of pleasure-seeking and excitement is not a help. Take two men-one spending his Sunday in search of mere enjoyment; the other spending it quietly in the midst of his family, at church, taking the quiet walk, doing some little service for Christ: which of the two is the more rested, soothed, fitted for the labour of the Munday morning? Rust but not torpor, repose but not inaction, is a. want for which the eabhath was made. 2. But with this comes into view what is distinctive in Christ's theory of sabbath-kecping. Negatively, in the reply about the mbbing of the ears of corn. He reminds us that no dull Ulliformity must overbear pressing human necessities. These are not to be met by a categorical " It is not lawful." The con- sideration of human well-being must allow for a certain flexibiliry in all enactments. But, positively, remark what is shown in the case or the man with a withered hand. This-that a beneficent activity is the highest fulfilment of the sabhath. Therefore the activity of worship an,I instruction; therefore also the activity of ldndness-duing, of seeking the good of our fellows, of having a part with G,id the Healer. The ideal of the rest-day is a day in which a due proportion of the,e two forms of well-doing is maintained-the assembly for the srrvice of God in prayer and praise and mutual edification, and room for doing good in the home and in the world. Do we realize, or even attempt to realize, this ideal as we should? How listless, how wanting in bright- ness and usefulness, is the observance of Sunday by even religiously minded persons ! Ahl the most lawful of lawful things is to do well on the sabbath day, and the holier and more refreshing will the day be the more that in it the opportunity is realized of doing good and saving life, 11nd thus proving ourselves his brethren who, being the Son of man, is Lord also of the sabbath.. Vere. 12-49.-The foundation of the kingdom. The work set before us in this portion is great and solemn. It is the beginnin); of a new epoch of the earthly ministry. Hitherto Uhrist had been the Rabhi, the Prophet, the Healer. Now he is to ":-:ird his sword on his thigh," to take to himself the power of the King. And for this work observe the preparation mentioned by the evangelist (vers. 12, 13), "All night in prayer to God." The hush breathed over nature; th6 silence unbroken except by the cry of the wild beast seeking, in its own way, it1 meat from God; the glories of the firmament above, united with the sabbath-quict of the earth around,-these were the features which invited, not slumber to the eyelids, but prayer, meditation, conference with the Father in heaven. We cannot avoid the conclusion that the retreat and the "all-night prayer n Wt're &pecially in view of the action of the morrow. Oh, what a rebuke on our listless, quickly dismissed intercessions I How impressive the reminder thCLt, for the appointment of men to minister in the house of the Lord, to render any spiritual service, the right beginning is effectual fervent prayer I Woul,1 there not be more fruit.a of work, more blessing for workmen, if there were more diligent following of Christ's example? Compare this pasS11ge with Acts xiii. 3. Note the two points in the foundation-laying of the kingdom of heaven-the personal agency, and the Law. I. "HE 0ALLED THE DISCIPLES "-the larger company, including those who b~,\ attached themseh-es to his Person, many, no doubt, uf the healed, of those who ha-l boon dolivcrcd from demons and brought to their right minu; and "of them he chose  162 Trrn GO~rEL ACCORDING TO ST. LUKE. ten. Vl. 1-41l