"Rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith."--_Paul._
The writers of the Old Testament who used the glittering lances of wit
against the foes of truth and righteousness, had worthy successors in
evangelists and apostles, and in Jesus himself. These men were indignant
at hypocrisy and wrong-doing; they looked with scorn upon the swelling
pretensions of the religious leaders; they expostulated with affectionate
earnestness and severity with their own brethren who suffered themselves
to be led astray. Indignation is not necessarily wrong or unchristian. The
faculty of indignation is an essential part of human nature, and when
aroused against evil its operations are beneficent. It in no wise
diminishes the reverence we feel for Jesus, that he made a scourge of
cords and lashed the traders and money-changers from the temple!
Ruskin says, "There is no black horse in the chariot of the soul. One of
the driver's worst faults is starving his horses; another is not breaking
them early enough; but they are all good. Take, for example, one usually
thought of as wholly evil--that of anger, leading to vengeance. I believe
it to be quite one of the crowning wickednesses of this age, that we have
starved and chilled our faculty of indignation, and neither desire nor
dare to punish crimes justly."
This faculty of righteous wrath when it takes shape in irony, ridicule,
sarcasm, invective, is the mightiest foe of vanity, hypocrisy, pretension,
corruption, and vice. By its sword do they perish. The teachers and
writers of New Testament times, did not disdain to use in their work every
instrument of power known to the human mind. From their own stand-point,
at least, they had many false notions and customs to combat; they had the
ignorant, prejudiced, officious and fault-finding to deal with; they were
harrassed by narrow and persistent opponents; they had to do battle at
every step. They might have exclaimed with a modern writer, "Let us be
thankful that we have in wit a power before which the pride of wealth, and
the insolence of office are abased; which can transfix bigotry and tyranny
with arrows of lightning; which can strike its object over thousands of
miles of space, across thousands of years of time; and which through its
sway over an universal weakness of man, is an everlasting instrument to
make the bad tremble and the foolish wince."
_The Choice of the Jews._
There is an excellent piece of quiet sarcasm in John's account of the
trial of Jesus. He first gives us Pilate's conclusion in these words: "And
when he had said this, he went out again unto the Jews and saith: I find
no fault in him at all; but ye have a custom that I release unto you one
at the passover; will ye therefore that I release unto you the king of the
Jews?" Pilate is willing; he pronounces Jesus innocent; but the crowd
clamor and refuse. "Then cried they all again, saying, Not this man, but
Barabbas." John closes the account with an inoffensive looking sentence,
but one so full of bitter satire, that we can not help thinking of the
time when he wished to call down fire from heaven. Jesus is an innocent
man--so pronounced by the governor--but the Jews cry out for his blood.
They want Barabbas released. And who is Barabbas? Who is this popular
idol? Who is the man that the people prefer to Jesus the upright and
spotless? With a rapier-like thrust, John pierces the heart of that
iniquitous choice, "_Now Barabbas was a robber_." It is a stroke worthy
the "Son of thunder."
_The Weakness of Pilate._
But think not, O Pilate, that thou shalt escape. The same hand that cast
the first javelin, will also send one to pierce thy heart. In the next
chapter, John tells us how, up to a certain point, Pilate sought to
release Jesus. He was convinced of his innocence, and did not wish him put
to death. But there is a weak spot in Pilate's nature, and John points it
out with infallible precision. Pilate is not the man to stand for the
right at personal sacrifice. When his own interests are at stake, he will
permit injustice and cruel wrong to others. Why does he deliver Jesus to
the cross? John is determined that all the world shall know. "The Jews
cried out, saying, If thou let this man go, thou art not Caesar's friend;
whosoever maketh himself a king, speaketh against Caesar." My lord Pilate
is not proof against this insinuation. He can not face the possibility of
losing his office. "_When Pilate, therefore, heard that saying, he brought
Jesus forth._ * * * Then delivered he him therefore unto them to be
crucified." John has stamped Pilate as a weak, vacillating and selfish
ruler; and his portrait, marked with these features, has been transmitted
to all ages.
_Paul and his Detractors._
Perhaps none of the great characters of New Testament times were so beset
by foes of all kinds as was Paul. He has himself assured us that he was
often in perils from his own countrymen, and in perils from false
brethren. He was denounced by priests and scribes, and opposed by upstarts
in the very churches he had founded. In replying to arguments and meeting
objections he sometimes showed his mastery of more than one form of
wit,--although the form he most frequently used was irony.
By many his preaching was characterized as "foolishness." There was
nothing in it to commend it to the Jews who "required a sign," or to the
Greeks, "who sought after wisdom." "Very well," is his reply, "foolish it
may be, but after all it has accomplished more than either Jew or Greek
has been able to do for the world. 'Where is the wise? Where is the
scribe? Where is the disputer of this world? Hath not God made foolish the
wisdom of this world?' What has it achieved? Where are its monuments? 'For
after that the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the
foolishness of (just such) preaching (as mine) to save them that believe.'
This foolishness has lifted men from vile and sinful lives into
righteousness and honor. Have your own way about it, O Greeks and Jews; I
will be accounted a fool if you will, and am willing to let my words be
stigmatized as folly; but you will find that 'God hath chosen the foolish
things of the world to confound the wise; God hath chosen the weak things
of the world to confound the things that are mighty; and base things of
the world, and things that are despised hath God chosen; yea, and things
that are not, to bring to nought things that are.' I accept the low
estimate you put upon me and my work, but I triumph over you and your
work, however exalted. Results shall determine. This is glorious folly!"
In writing to the Corinthians, he says of certain members of the church
who thought that in spiritual things they were superior to himself, "Now
some are puffed up, as though I would not come to you. But I will come to
you shortly, if the Lord will, and will know, _not the speech of them
which are puffed up, but the power_."
To those thus puffed up, he addresses himself in the following ironical
strain: "Now ye are full, now ye are rich; ye have reigned as kings
without us; and I would that ye did reign, that we also might reign with
you. For I think that God has set forth us the apostles last. * * * We are
fools for Christ's sake, but ye are wise in Christ; we are weak, but ye
are strong; ye are honorable, but we are despised."
He denounces certain teachers who were sowing the seeds of discord among
his churches, as "false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming
themselves into apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is
transformed into an angel of light. Therefore, it is no great thing if his
ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end
shall be according to their works." Such teachers as these pronounced Paul
a fool and did everything to bring his work into contempt. "Very good,"
says Paul to the Corinthians, "receive me then as a fool," and then
proceeding, with his favorite irony, "For ye suffer fools gladly, _seeing
ye yourselves are wise_!"
How scathing is his rebuke to those who misrepresented his doctrine: "We
be slanderously reported, and some affirm that we say, Let us do evil
that good may come!--whose condemnation is just." This is his only answer
to evil tongues.
It is conceded by the best authorities that Paul did not write the Epistle
to the Hebrews, but there is a passage in that letter not unlike him,--the
rebuke to those who ought to be strong, manly and intelligent Christians,
but who have not yet gotten out of their swaddling clothes: "For when for
the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again
which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such
as have need of milk and not of strong meat. For every one that useth milk
is unskillful in the word of righteousness; for he is but a babe. But
_strong meat belongeth to those that are of full age_, even those who by
reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil."
Similar to this is Paul's treatment of the Corinthians when they were
divided in their allegiance, some claiming to belong to one teacher and
some to another. First Paul himself had been there and taught among them
in that broad and liberal spirit which always characterized him. He made
very little of forms and ceremonies, and very much of charity and
brotherhood. Then came Peter who was always more narrow than Paul, but
very intense. Paul was a broad river, Peter a mountain torrent. Peter
never completely freed himself from the bondage of the Jewish system, and
he insisted upon some of the things that Paul discarded. Soon a party was
formed. Some thought, no doubt, that Paul was too far away from the Jewish
creed, that he was not strict enough, that it was perhaps safer to take
Peter as a guide; so while some said, "I am of Paul," others said, "I am
of Cephas." Then came Apollos who is described as being "very eloquent."
When he stood up to speak, many said, "He beats both Paul and Peter; I am
of Apollos." So there were "envyings and strifes and divisions." Paul
ridicules the Corinthians for these childish quarrels, and says that he
must still speak to them as to "babes." "I have fed you with milk and not
with meat; for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, _neither yet now are
ye able_!"
_Examples from other Apostles._
The epistle of James that has furnished illustrations for some of the
preceding chapters, shall yield one for this, in its notice of a grave
abuse that existed in the early churches, and that has not entirely died
out of modern churches.
"My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of
glory, in respect of persons. For if there come into your assembly, a man
with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in
vile raiment; and ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing,
and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place (Take this high-priced and
fashionable pew, where you can listen to the gospel in luxurious ease, and
at the same time dazzle the eyes of those in neighboring pews with the
latest fashions), but say to the poor, Stand thou here, or sit here under
my foot-stool (or go up in the gallery), are ye not then partial in
yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts?"
Peter silences certain ones who complained of persecution, by saying, "If
ye are reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye (that is nothing to
complain of), but let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or
as an evil-doer, or as a busy-body in other men's matters (if any one of
you suffers in such a character, he deserves the lash)." In either case,
there is nothing to justify your outcry.
He also denounces certain ones who have forsaken the right way and gone
astray as "wells without water, clouds without rain that are carried of a
tempest." They "speak great swelling words of vanity, promising liberty
while they are themselves the slaves of corruption." And then he fastens
the reproach of their apostasy upon them with what Falstaff would call a
"most unsavory simile,"--"It is happened to them according to the true
proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again, and the sow that was
washed to her wallowing in the mire." Such are those who turn back to
error from the paths of truth.
In much the same strain does Jude write to the same class: "These are
spots in your feasts of charity; clouds without water, carried about of
the winds; trees whose fruit withereth without fruit, twice dead, plucked
up by the roots; raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame;
wandering stars to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever!"
John wrote to the Laodiceans: "I know thy works that thou art neither cold
nor hot; so then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I
will spew thee out of my mouth. Thou sayest, I am rich and increased with
goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched
and miserable and poor and blind and naked!"
The Laodiceans needed the familiar prayer of Burns:
"O wad some power the giftie gie us,
To see oursel's as ithers see us;
It would frae mony a blunder free us,
And foolish notion!"
They needed a look into the glass of Lao, which revealed the blemishes of
the soul, how fair soever the exterior.
_Christ's Use of Invective._
Even more severe than his apostles in his use of denunciation, was the
Great Master himself. In his controversies with the recognized religious
leaders of his day, he heaped coals of fire upon their claims and
teachings and practices.
"Ye leave the commandment of God and hold fast to the tradition of men,"
he says to the Scribes and Pharisees; and then adds, with terrible irony,
"Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your
tradition." Surely, when the commandments of God were placed side by side
with rabbinical glosses, they were in an extremely cruel position!
No passage of invective, in any literature, is more crushing than this:
"Woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the
kingdom of heaven against men; for ye neither go in yourselves, neither
suffer ye them that are entering to go in. Woe unto you, Scribes and
Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte,
and when he is made, ye make him two-fold more the child of hell than
yourselves. * * * Woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye
devour widows' houses and for a pretense make long prayers; therefore ye
shall receive the greater damnation. * * * Woe unto you, Scribes and
Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and
platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. Blind
Pharisees! cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that
the outside of them may be clean also! Woe unto you, Scribes and
Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchers which,
indeed, appear beautiful outward, but within are full of dead men's bones
and all uncleanness. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men,
but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. * * * Woe unto you,
Scribes and Pharisees, for ye are as graves which appear not, and men walk
over them and are not aware of them."
But not only the leaders, but the people also, fall under his lash. "The
men of Nineveh shall rise up in judgment with this generation and shall
condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and behold a
greater than Jonas is here. The queen of the South shall rise up in the
judgment with this generation and shall condemn it; for she came from the
uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold a
greater than Solomon is here! When the unclean spirit is gone out of a
man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest and findeth none. Then he
saith, I will return to my house from whence I came out; and when he is
come, he findeth it empty, swept and garnished. Then goeth he and taketh
with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in
and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first.
Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation!"
Upon another occasion, he upbraided the cities in which he had wrought and
preached. "Woe unto thee, Chorazin; woe unto thee Bethsaida; for if the
mighty works had been done in Tyre and Sidon, which have been done in
you, they had a great while ago repented sitting in sackcloth and ashes.
But it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for
you. And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted to heaven, shalt be thrust
down to hell!"
Does it seem strange that such language should have come from the lips of
Jesus? Should we not rather have expected it from the stern Baptist, his
forerunner, who denounced the "brood of vipers" that came to his baptism?
Is it inconsistent with that spirit of love which we believe to have been
the distinguishing characteristic of Christ? But love is not mere
invertebral amiability or moon-faced complacency. By as much as love is
strong and true, by so much does it seek, at any cost and by any means, to
remove the faults and follies of its object. If the lash be needed, the
lash it will take. "He who has never experienced the affectionate
bitterness of love," says F. W. Robertson, "who has never known how
_earnest_ irony and passionate sarcasm may be the very language of love in
its deepest, saddest moods is utterly incapable of even judging this
passion!"
* * * * *
Here the writer's task ends. The subject may be capable of much more
elaborate treatment; it would be claiming too much to suppose that these
chapters exhaust it. The writer trusts, however, that he may have
suggested a line of study to others, as it was first suggested to him. The
poetry, the dramatic portions, the oratory of the Scriptures, are
unsurpassed. Viewed simply as a literary work, the Bible is the most
interesting in the whole realm of letters. It becomes increasingly
interesting, as its great human elements are recognized. Over history,
biography, and most serious discourse, play the soft gleams of healthful
humor and the lightning-like bolts of sarcasm and wit. The book touches
human nature at all points. The more we view it as "literature," the less
as "dogma," the firmer will become its hold upon the heart of man.
That these fragmentary studies may help some one to appreciate his Bible
better and enjoy it more, is the writer's wish. He may also express, in
closing, the hope that whoever has taken the trouble to read these pages
may have found them free from that which he disclaimed at the
outset--irreverence; as he believes them to be free from the other
extreme, superstition.