or pluck out a right eye; to take up our cross in some way and follow him. He may rg We us to contribute more liberally to the claims of his religion, to give more largely to his cause, to work more vigorously as well as pray more earnestly for the extension of his kingdom ; or, it may be, he demands a more unreserved consecration of our time, or talents, or influence, or example, or eloquence, or wealth, or whatever else we have to give and can give. Our refusal or reluctance to comply in any of the cases supposed, proves that one thing we lack, and the lack of it proves the entire absence or imperfec- tion of that love which is the basis of duty and the principle of religion. 6, Evidence owr possessing that love which works by faith. If we have true love to the Lord esus, Our surrender to his service will be complete; we shall give on all proper occa- sions and in due proportion to his cause; we shall, in a word, do and dare, and even die, if needs be, for his sake. We shall put in practice that principle of self-sacrificing love which our Lord requires, and which is ready to give all and do all and suffer all for hiro who loved us and gave himself for us) Wherever there is real affection, whether it be to friend or fellow-man or fatherland, that affection may be modified by national character or natural temperament, but it will be sure to manifest itself in some shape and develop itself in some way ; it will unfetter the feet, it will untie the hands and set them to work, it will give utterance to the tongue, and impart activity to the life. We findan illustration of this in that remarkable military enterprise, “The Retreat of the Ten Thousand Greeks” out of the heart of the Persian empire. They had crossed deep rivers and climbed high mountains; they had overcome difficulties almost incredible, and encountered dangers of every kind; they made good their retreat in the face and in spite of all the artifice and arms of Persia. At length they reached the summit of a hill called Théchés (now Tekeh), between Erzeroum and Trebisond ; and when, from the top of that high hill, those gallant Greeks, many of whom were islanders and all of them accustomed to the sea, descried in the distance the dark waters of the Euxine, they raised a loud and long-continued cheer. “The sea! the sea!” was the shout of every tongue. The sea reminded them of their native waters, and of their island homes ; and the tide of affection rose in their bosoms, high as the laughing tides that “lave those Edens of the Eastern wave.” So, wherever true affection exists, it needs but the occasion to call it forth—something to move the memory, and it vents itself spontaneously with overflowing fulnesa.—J. J. G.
Vers. 22—31. Parallel passages: Matt. xix. 22—30; Luke xviii. 23—-30.—2. Riches and thei: relation to the kingdom. REFLECTIONS TO WHICH THE INCIDENT GAVE RISE. 1. Effect on the young ruler. He went away grieved. He is now brought to see that he cannot obey two masters; he cannot serve God and mammon. “ He was sad at that saying.” The word orvyrdeas here used is peculiar. In one other place it is applied to the appearance of the sky, and translated lowering; and so a cloud came over the young man’s brow. Our Lord esteemed him (iydeneey), for he undoubtedly mani- fested several endearing traits of character—he was sincere, ardent, and evidently aspiring to something heroical in religion. For the present, however, he went away. 2. Question about his return. Whether this young man was Lazarus, as some have conjectured from a certain similarity of incidents, such as “One thing is needful,” compared with “One thing thou lackest,” is of course uncertain, as is also the pro- bability of his afterwards returning to the Saviour. “He was having (Av Exwv) great possessions,” is a somewhat striking phrase, and denotes habitual as well as actual
ion. His preference was given to worldly things for the present, and was called
F Dante “the great refusal.” One thing is certain, that those possessions soon reverted to others; and whether it was force, or fraud, or casuality, or death that at last deprived him of them, they were taken away; and if he continued to cling to them, and to prefer them to the heavenly inheritance, then he could reckon on no reversion in the skies—no portion of which it could be said, “it shall not be taken away from ” him. 3. The rich man’s dificulty. “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.” ‘The difficulty of his entrance into the kingdom of heaven is stated (1) proverbially. This proverb is quite in keeping with the Oriental style of exaggeration, or hyperbolical expression. Some have (2) xdusrov, a rope, instead of xdundoy, a camel, but without adequate authority. Some, again, understand it to mean (3) the narrow side-nate for foot-prssengers beside #9
108 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MARK. [om x. 1—62,