The Old Law, the Law given to the Jews on Mount Sinai, tended to inspire
the fear of God, which is the beginning of wisdom. It was given amidst
fire and smoke, thunders and lightnings, and whatever else could fill
the minds of the Jews with fear and wonder. Compelled, as it were, by
the idolatrous acts of His chosen people, by their repeated rebellions,
and their endless murmurings, God showed Himself to them as the almighty
Sovereign, the King of kings, the Lord of lords, whose holiness, power,
majesty, and severity in punishing sin, filled their minds with awe and
dread.
It was not thus that the New Law, the Law of grace and love, was given
to the world. No dark cloud covered the mount of the Beatitudes from
which our Lord preached; no deafening thunders were heard; no angry
flashes of lightning were visible. There was nothing forbidding in the
voice, words, or appearance of the Divine Lawgiver. In the whole
exterior of our Savior there was a something so sweet, so humble, so
meek and captivating, that the people were filled with admiration and
love.
One of the most remarkable features of this first sermon that Christ
preached is the fact that He constantly called God our Father. How
beautifully His teachings reveal the spirit of the Law of love! Listen
to Him attentively, and ponder upon His words:
"Take heed that you do not your justice before men, to be seen by them:
otherwise you shall not have a reward of your FATHER WHO is in
heaven.... But when thou dost alms, let not thy left hand know what thy
right hand doth; that thy alms may be in secret, and thy FATHER WHO
seeth in secret will repay thee.... Love your enemies; do good to them
that hate you; and pray for them that persecute and calumniate you; that
you may be the children of your FATHER WHO is in heaven, Who maketh His
sun to rise upon the good and bad, and raineth upon the just and the
unjust.
"Behold the birds of the air, for they neither sow, nor do they reap,
nor gather into barns: and your heavenly FATHER feedeth them. Are not
you of much more value than they?... If you, then, being evil, know how
to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your FATHER WHO
is in heaven give good things to them that ask Him.... For if you will
forgive men their offenses, your heavenly FATHER will forgive you also
your offenses. But if you will not forgive men, neither will your FATHER
forgive you your offenses.... Thus therefore shall you pray: OUR FATHER
Who art in heaven."
From these and many other similar expressions found in the very first
sermon which Jesus Christ ever preached, we learn that it is the
expressed will of God that we should look upon Him as our loving Father;
and that, however unworthy we may be, we should look upon ourselves as
His beloved children. There cannot be a possible doubt of this, since it
is taught so positively by His only begotten Son, Who is "the Way, the
Truth, and the Life."
[Illustration: _Henry le Jeune._]
* * * * *
Sinai (s[=i]' n[=a]), a mountain in Arabia.
* * * * *
_56_