11]! bi~ mind; he WRR also loving his neighbnur Rs hlmReH; and he fonnrl l\llrl felt tlll\t this was life, and life e,·e1-Iastin_g too. D,mbtlcse he might have to die, but beyond death tbere was the compensat10n of resurrection. He was entitled to life on the ground of law, ~ince he had kept it in every particular. What the l:\\vyer imagine,! he could do, Jesus had actually done. He had acquired the right, not on his own behalf mere_ly, but also on behalf of all who trust in him, to the life everle.i;ting. The obrd1ence of Jesus to Law w11.11 the perfect obedience required. II. THE ATTEMPT AT SELF-JUSTIFICATION ON THE LAWYER'S l ~RT. He Reeme tc ha1·e thought that his attitude to God was unimpeachRblc; but' he was not so cleat about bav-ing fulfilled his duty by his neighbour. Hence he a~ked Jesus to define "ncighbourbQod." The Jew had the notion that, because he belonged to the chosl'n people, he haci to show neighbourliness only to those of his own nation ; all the rest w~re "dogs." And this lawyer had been as proud and as contemptuous o.s any of his tnbe. Hence he wants from Jesus some definition of who his nei"hLour is, the.t he may estimate his own duty and the patriotism of Christ. The ~xcuses in which selfish men indulge are ma.rvellous. They are ready on any pretext to defend their selfishness. Ill. JF.SUB Dll:FINES "NEIGHBOURHOOD" BY THE PRECIOUS PARABLE 011' THE GOOD SAMARITAN. And here we have four characters bronght before us. Let us look at them in order. 1. The half-murdered traveller. The road from Jerusalem to Jericho has been from time immemorial infested by robbers. It is so still. This poor traveller hss met the cruel fate of many before and since Christ's time. The highwaymen ho.ve wlibcd him of a.II he had, and almost of his life too. It is a case of unmistakable need, There is no possibility of deception in the circumstances. 2. The heartless priest. Coming down from the holy services at the temple, he so far forgets himself as to ignore the half-murdered man's wants, and pass by on the other side. The aristocratism of office has steeled his bee.rt against those charitable impulses which the case should have evoked. 3. The heartless Leuite. The sole difference between these two officials was that the Levite seems to have crossed the road, to have looked upon him, and then, judging it a hopeless case, or one in which he could render no help, passed by, like the priest, on the other side. 4. The good Samaritan. This man might have said, "'!'his poor follow is one of those Jews, who will have no dealings with us Samaritans; be has ofte:i, most likely, called WI dogs; be deserves no care." But instead of looking for exct:ses for neglecting the sufferer, he gives his hea.rt free play, and owns the poor man as a brother in distress. The result is he dismounts, and pours into his wounds oil and wi.:::.e-the best remedies, the one to keep down inflammation, and the other to heal ; anci, having carefully bound 11p his wounds, he sets him on his own beast and brings .t.ii:::i to the nearest inn and has him comfortably lodged. The next day he pays the bill, and becomes the innkeeper's security for anything more the patient may require until be is sound and welL Here is neighbourliness. Our neighbour is whoever is laid in our path by Providence and really needs our help. If we look carefully into the case, as the Samaritan here did, and conclude that it is a case of real need, then we should recognize in the needy one our neighbour, and have mercy on him. As Jesus dismisses the lawyer with this ideal neighbourliness before him, the self-justification must have passed completely away. 1 Now, we have here the cosmopolitan spirit which Chris- tianity fosters, and which is above and beyond the fellow-citizenship and patriotism which alone earlier civilizations fostered. Christ taught his people to be "citizens of the world," and to recognize in every needy human being a" man and a brother." It was in this spirit our Lord himllelf lived, and so he was able to inculcate it powerfully upon his people. IV. THE GOOD PART AS DEFINED AT BETHANY. (Vere. 38-42.) And here we have to notice the two types of character presented to the Lord. 1. Martha, to whom life is a perpetual worry and weariness. She was a Christian in the real sense, for sLe loved her Lord; but she was a Christian who had not escaped from the fuss and weariness which make up the life of so many. Besides, all her bustle was really under a false imi,ression, that the greatest compliment she could pay her Master was to give 1 Of. Trench on the Parables, p. 2!)6; Amdt's 'Gleichni.Bs-Reden Jesu Christi,' zweitor
ilioil, i;, 112; Gerok'JI • Au~ Erw;ter ZciL,' 11. 52:), on. u. 1--64.] TUE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. LUKE. 299
him o. good physical feo.at. She never fancied that o. good listener like Mary compli- mented the Mo.star more tho.n any repast could. Hence Martha's fret and weariness. 2. Mary, to whom life ia a calm fulfilment of her Master's will. The good part Mary chose was tho.t of o. scholar at Christ's feet, whose word is deemed Mary's law. This one ideo. mo.de life simple and supremely blessed. Let us make sure of it, and the fret o.ncl worry of life shall ct·ase, and an orderly and blessed procession of duties will make us experience o. foretaste of heaven. The following poem expresses as beanti- fully as possible the thought of this passage; it is entitled "Cumbered about much Aerving:"- " Clirist never asks of us such busy labour As leaves no time for resting at his feet; The waiting attitude of expectation He ofttimes counts a service most complete. •• He sometimes wants our ear-our rapt attention, That he some sweetest secret may impart; 'Tia al ways in the time of deepest silence 'l'hat heart finds deepest fellowship with heart. • We sometimes wonder why our Lord doth place us Within a sphere so narrow, so obscnre, That nothing we call work can find an entrance There's only room to suffer-to endure I "Well. God loves patience I Sonls that dwell in stillnaw Doing the !Htle things, or resting quite, Ma.y just as perfectly fulfil their mission, De just as useful in the Father's sight, .. As they who grapple with some giant evil, Cleo.ring o. path that every eye may see! Om Saviour cares for cheerful acquiescence Rather thnn for a busy ministry. "And yet he does love service, where 'tis given By grateful love that clothes itself in deed ; But work the.t's done benee.th the scourge of duty, Be sure to suoh he gives but little heed. "Then seek to plee.se him, whe.tsoe'er he bids thee I Whether to do-to suffer-to lie still I 'Twill me.tter little by whe.t path he led WI, U in it all we sought to do his will." (From Randolph's• At the Booutifu) Gate.') R.:M.E.