The Pulpit Commentary — Luke — Volume 1 — Section 266

It wae not quantitatively eo great a miracle BB the feeding of the leraelitee with the manna for forty years; yet it was a oufficient miracle to show that the Sustainer of the world was Blljong them. Upon him they should depend, and, if they fed by faith on him, they would always be strengthened. It was et the eame time sufficiently 'Tfl()de- ra'6 in its size and duration to show that he was not going to keep lazy men in idle- ness by spreading a gratuitous feast for them every d><y. They 11re dismiSBed by him that very evening, that they might not be able to go through the selfish eerimwny of making him a king. He did not went to be II king over idlers, over men who would like to eat without the trouble of working; and so he defeated their worldly plllns. His lesson of frugality also was most significant. He wanted no waste in hie kinudom. He would not prostitute miraculoUB power to minister either to idleneBB or to ~118te- fu lness. Very clear light is thUB cast upon the ewncmy of Jesus. He kept mir11ele tu its pla.ce. It ministered to usefulness; it was not Bllowed t.o minister to idleness or waste. It would be well if Bll learned the wholesome lesson which Christ thus conveye.-R. M. E. Vere. 18-36.-The Saviov:r'a secnt revelation,. After the miracle of the loaves Jesus resumes his season of devotion, 11nd in the course of it he asks the disciples who had just returned from their mission-tour what reports are being circulated abont him. 'J.'hey tell him that some say he is John Baptist, some Elias, some one of the prophets risen again. This shows that they regarded his present life as preliminary only. The idea of his being the real Messiah, "the Christ of God," was not entertained by any of the outsiders at all. It is then he asks them what their idea is, when Peter answers unhesitatingly, "The Christ of God." And now we must inquire- I. TBE REASON FOB TlUS SECRECY ABOUT TBE MESSU.11SBIP. (Vers. 18-22.) Though the disciples believed in his Messiahship, they are directed not to make it known. Now, we must remember how different the Jewish ideas of the Meseiahship were from the reality presented by Christ. Even such a noble-minded man as John Baptist had doubted the propriety of the course JesUB took. How much more liable to mistake would the common people be, if it bad been blazed abroad that he was Messiah! It was needful, therefore, to wait till the picture was nearer completion before people were asked to look upon it. In fact, it was only his intimates who could at such a stage realize his magnificence at all. 1 To give the people time to form 11 proper opinion, to prevent them from rising into premature opposition, to allow them no valid excuse if they rejected him at last, was the purpose of his secrecy and patience. He saw clearly that he "must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be slain," but he would not provoke the crisis by publish- ing his Messianic claims. His modesty and secrecy in this matter are in striking con- trast to the m11nners and methods of the world. II. PEBBONAL SALVATION TBROUGH SELF-SACBIP'ICB. (Vers. 23-27.) While pre- dicting his death, he also predicts his resurrection. This is salvation through self- eacrifice. He immediately indicates that we are under the same law. The man alone saves himself who dedicates himself even unto death to Jesus. There are two policies pursued. 1. The ,elfish policy. People think they are so very valuable that they must save themselves at every turn. Hence they give the strength of their time and atten- tion to self-preservation. This is their first law of nature. In doing so, they think that if they can only gain as much of the world and worldly things as possible, the better. They think it wise to win the world. But now Jesus shows that such a oourse only ends in utter loss of self. What does the self-centred, self-preserving soul become? What is the fate of the grasping, worldly mind ? Such a soul shrivels up, becomes a nonentity, a mere derelict or castaway on the se11 of existence. Such a lifo is "not worth living." 2. Notice the self-sacrificing policy. This is the policy pursued by the soul which is devoted to Jesus as supreme. It is no trial to carry the cross; such a soul is ready to die any day for Jesus. He cannot be ashamed of Jesus, or of his words, but prizes him and them as beyond all price. And what is such a soul's experience? He feels that he is self-possessed and the subject of a grand develop~ent. He really has gained himself. His powers of mind and of heart grow mto_ luxunance, and ho feels enriched in all the elements of being as he goes on ward. Aud 1f perchance 1 Cf. Knlmis' • Dor Gang dcr Kircho,' s. 23.  'l'ITE GOSl'EL ACCORDING TO ST. LUKH. [on. rx. 1-02,