made religion consist in doing—scrupulously adhering to outward rules of conduct, young man’s error was that of the better part of his nation; for “ Israel, which fol- lowed after the Law of righteousness, did not attain to the Law of righteousness. Where- fore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the Law.” 2. His Pharisaism. This young man’s first inquiry shows that he expected to entitle himself to eternal life by doing many great things, or some special good thing, as the question in St. Matthew’s Gospel is, “ What good thing shall I do, that I may inherit eternal life?” To this our Lord replied, “If tkou wilt enter into life, keep the com- mandments.” By this reply he meant to convince him (1) that “ by the deeds of the Law there shall no flesh be justified in his (God’s) sight: for by the Law is the know- ledge of sin ; ” and (2) te bring him to the conclusion that “the righteousness of God without the Law is manitested, being witnessed by the Law and the prophets; even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe.” 3. His surprise, The young ruler was somewhat surp at the common- placs nature of the answer, and, lest he fad misheard or misapprehended it, he proceeds to inquire further, “Which” or, more accurately, “ What kind of commandments ?” He evidently expected that some new commandment would be announced by the great Teacher, or that some recondite rule of the oral Law would be set forth, or that certain minute ceremonial regulations would be made known to him. But no; the plainest, simplest, broadest commandments of the Decalogue were repsated in his hearing. The thing appears at first sight so plain, the direction so very trite, and the answers so commonplace, that the ruler, haif puzzled by this very plainness, and surprised at the simplicity of the instruction of One whom he regarded as a distinguished public teacher, if not something more, exclaiins in amazement,—Of what kind? Which command- ments do you mean? Is it those ten uttered in an audible voice on Sinai, amid thunderings and lightnings, and other circumstances of splendour and solemnity? Is it those ten that were delivered to our nation amid scenes of such unparalleled publicity as well as grandeur? Is it those ten words, as they are beautifully called in the sriginal, which are now hoary with the antiquity of long years gone by, which claim the respect of the whole Hebrew commonwealth, and to which every respectable member of the community renders an outward obedience? Is it those ten command- ments to which your direction refers—commandments with which compliance is enforced even by an earthly judge, and transgression of which is visited with penalties by the common law? 4. Our Lord's repetition of the commandments, In reply to this further inguiry of the young ruler, our Lord specifies the commandments of the second table in the following order, according to St. Mark :—the seventh, sixth, eighth, ninth, tenth, and fifth. The expression “ Defraud not” is taken by some (1) as a repetition of the eighth; (2) by others as a summary of the four commandments that preceded, or of the fifth that succeeded and that by way of anticipation ; or (3) it isa peculiar form of the tenth, which we regard as the most natural and correct opinion. These commandments he quoted from the second table as the most obvious; appending a general principle which embraced all these commandments, and summarily compre- hended the whole of the second table of the Law. ‘That principle was love—love to brother man, and a love required to be equal in intensity and extent to the love of self, as it is added, ‘‘ Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” 5. Our Lord’s object in this, He saw that this in many respects estimable young man depended on his works for eternal life, and he reminded him that he must in that case keep the command- ments, and keep them perfectly. The Saviour meant to show him that such had not been the case. He meant to show him that he was a sinner, and as such needed a Saviour; he meant to show him that, as far as the Law is concerned, every mouth must be stopped, and all the world become guilty before God. Even if 8 man from a certain int—an early period in life—kept all the requirements of God’s Law at all times and in all ways, what would atone for previous sins or remove original guilt? 6. The Law @ schoolmaster, He meant toshow him that he had “sinned, and come short of the glory of God;” that, as a matter of fact, he had been very far from attaining to universal, perfect, and constant obedience ; that, in the absence of such obedience, all were con- cluded under sin, and that there was no exception. In this manner usually the way is prepared: the filthy rags of self-righteousness are torn off; men are led to abandon their own righteousness as a ground of pardon and acceptance before God, and to vast upop
104 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MARK. [cn. x. 1—52.
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