The Pulpit Commentary — Colossians — Section 172

(Matt. v. 27, 28; Marie vii. 20-23; 1 Thess. iv. 3-8; 1 Gor. vi. U-20). 'l'hc degree of honour and reverence in which it is held in any society largely dete1mincs the clegree of soundness in its moral condition. Where the opposite vices prevail, whether secretly or openly practised, genern\ moral corruption and decay set in (see homiletics, sect. 7, II. 1). 1. On the one side, there is to be submission. 'l'he apostle says," Children, ... servants, obey" (vers. 20, 22); but not" Wives, obey your husbands:" "Be in subjection" (ver. 18) is a gentler and fitter term to use. Obedience implies a certain distance and inferiority that has no place here. There is something wrong on one side, or on both, when the husband gives formal orders to his wife. There should be such an intimacy of mutual understanding and sympathy between them, that they seem to have but one mind and will in all common matters. And while to that single mind the wife contributes the queenly influence of her insight and persuasion, she will feel and show that 1'esolve and direction belong to him and not to her. 'Jhe final responsibility-for the business of the house devolves on the husband, by the ordinance of God and by the nature of things, which are but two expressions of the snrne fact (1 Cor. xi. 3-15). It is his part to "rule well his own house" (1 Tim. iii. 4). 2. It was not so needful to say," "\Vives, love your husbands;" though the apostle once enjoins this, in speaking of "the younger women" in Titus ii. 4-. For failure on the wife's side in this respect is comparatively rare. But the man, full of business, often absent, and with his more exacting natnre, is more liable to fall into son:e disloyalty. He allows other company to become more agreeable to him; seeks amusements an,\ pursuits in which his wife cannot join; no longer makes her hiR confidante and the sharer of his inner life; and allows home to become little more to him than a selfish convenience. And with this selfishness and the uneasiness of conscience that attends it, there supervenes often an irritableness of temper that chafes over every domestic c,1ro or trouble, and makes no allowance for infirmities in others; that magnifies every trifling mistake or mishap into an injury, and ignores the wifo's patient affection and eagerness to please. How different is all this from the exalted ideal that St. Paul hold8 up to the Christian husband!-" Love your wife even as Christ loved the Church, a1,d gave himself for her" (Eph. v. 25). Bengel's shrewd and caustic remark on this rassa:re is too often verified: "There are many, who out of doors are civil and kind to all; when at home, towards their wives and children whom they have no need to fear, they freely practise secret bitterness." II. F ATRER AND CHILD. (Vers. 20, 21,) 1. From children, obedience to their parent~ in all things is required, and therefore in many things contrary to their inclination and opinions. Childhood means dependence and ignorance. H is only under the shelter of parental oversight that the incipient faculti€s and plastic nature of the child can be formed to the strength of judgment and firmness of character which will enable him to meet the tasks and the verils of adult life. And for this discipline to be cffcctivE', tho submission of the child must be absolute. Only when a parental com- mancl plainl_y contradicts the Law of God and violates the child's conscience, can any kind of disobedience bo justifiecl. In that case, obedience cannot be " well-pleasing in tho Lord." But even the worst of parents will rarely be found to have so little respect for the conscience of childhood as to enforce such nn injunction. The requirement addressed to the child presumes that the pn.rent exacts obedience. This is his inalien•• able prerogative. Instant, unmurmuring obedience should be macle the habit of the child's lifo, and as a law of nature to it. To have this understood from the first is tho simplest and easiest course. If the child be allowed, through passion or persistence, once successfully to rebel, a mischief is done not easily to be repaired. His own self-mastery, ancl tho senso of law and of duty which are to attend him through the whole of life, laro-ely rest on this basis of ingrnined obedience. For this purpose, children shoulrl. \Jo in their earliest years as much as possible under the direct influence of their parent,' presence and authority. The parental offico cannot be dischnrged by proxy. And there must be unity of parental administration, as well as h:umony between precept and practice, if a true nnd reverent obedience is to be possible. In no State was tho authority of the father (patria potestas) so strict and absolute as in ancient Ronw. Aud there can be little doubt that this stern maintenance of family discipline lar~dy helped to form the Roman character with its extraordinary vigour aud tenacity, and to !'reserve that rigid, firmly knit order anu devoted loyalty which were the secret of  lGS TIIE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS. [en. 1u. 1-25.