THE FIRST LORD'S DAY.
ST. LUKE xxiv.
The Sabbath came and went over the grave of its Lord, and silence
reigned in Joseph's garden, broken only by the mailed sentinels, who
laughed and chatted by the sealed sepulchre. As to the disciples, this
"high day" is a _dies non_ to them, for the curtain of a deep silence
hides them from our view. Did they go up to the Temple to join in the
Psalm, how "His mercy endureth for ever?" Scarcely: their thoughts were
transfixed to the cross, which haunted them like a horrid dream; its
rude dark wood had stunned them for awhile, as it broke down their faith
and shattered all their hopes. But if the constellation of the Apostles
passes into temporary eclipse, with no beam of inspired light falling
upon them, "the women" are not thus hidden, for we read, "And on the
Sabbath day they rested, according to the commandment". It is true it is
but a negative attitude that is portrayed, but it is an exceedingly
beautiful one. It is Love waiting upon Duty. The voices of their grief
are not allowed to become so excessive and clamorous as to drown the
Divine voice, speaking through the ages, "Remember that thou keep holy
the Sabbath day;" and even the fragrant offerings of their devotion are
set aside, that they may keep inviolate the Sabbath rest.
But if the spices of the women are the spikenard and myrrh of a mingled
love and grief, they are at the same time a tacit admission of their
error. They prove conclusively that the women, at any rate, had no
thought of a resurrection. It appears strange to us that such should be
the case, after the frequent references Jesus made to His death and
rising again. But evidently the disciples attached to these sayings of
Jesus one of those deeper, farther-off meanings which were so
characteristic of His speech, interpreting in some mysterious spiritual
sense what was intended to be read in a strict literalness. At present
nothing could be farther from their thoughts than a resurrection; it had
not even occurred to them as a possible thing; and instead of being
something to which they were ready to give a credulous assent, or a myth
which came all shaped and winged out of their own heated imaginings, it
was something altogether foreign to their thoughts, and which, when it
did occur, only by many infallible proofs was recognized and admitted
into their hearts as truth. And so the very spices the women prepare for
the embalming are a silent but a fragrant testimony to the reality of
the Resurrection. They show the drift of the disciples' thought, that
when the stone was rolled to the door of the sepulchre it shut in to the
darkness, and buried, all their hopes. The only Easter they knew, or
even dreamed of, was that first and final Easter of the last day.
As soon as the restraint of the Sabbath was over, the women turned again
to their labour of love, preparing the ointment and spices for the
embalming, and coming with the early dawn to the sepulchre. Though it
was "yet dark," as St. John tells us, they did not anticipate any
difficulty from the city gates, for these were left open both by night
and day during the Passover feast; but the thought did occur to them on
the way as to how they should roll back the stone, a task for which they
had not prepared, and which was evidently beyond their unaided strength.
Their question, however, had been answered in anticipation, for when
they reached the garden the stone was rolled away, and the sepulchre all
exposed. Surprised and startled by the discovery, their surprise
deepened into consternation as passing within the sepulchre, they found
that the body of Jesus, on which they had come to perform the last kind
offices of affection, had disappeared. And how? could there be more than
one solution of the enigma? The enemies of Jesus had surely laid violent
hands upon the tomb, rifling it of the precious dust they sorrowfully
had committed to its keeping, reserving it for fresh indignities. St.
John supplements the narrative of our Evangelist, telling how the
Magdalene, slipping out from the rest, "ran" back to the city to
announce, in half-hysterical speech, "They have taken away the Lord out
of the tomb, and we know not where they have laid Him;" for though St.
John names but the Magdalene, the "we" implies that she was but one of a
group of ministering women, a group that she had abruptly left. The rest
lingered by the tomb perplexed, with reason blinded by the whirling
clouds of doubt, when suddenly--the "behold" indicates a swift
surprise--"two men stood by them in dazzling apparel."
In speaking of them as "two men" probably our Evangelist only intended
to call attention to the humanness of their form, as in verse 23 he
speaks of the appearance as "a vision of angels." It will be observed,
however, that in the New Testament the two words "men" and "angels" are
used interchangeably; as in St. Luke vii. 24, Rev. xxii. 8, where the
"angels" are evidently men, while in Mark xvi. 5, and again in the verse
before us, the so-called "men" are angels. But does not this
interchangeable use of the words imply a close relation between the two
orders of being? and is it not possible that in the eternal ripenings
and evolutions of heaven a perfected humanity may pass up into the
angelic ranks? At any rate, we do know that when angels have appeared on
earth there has been a strange humanness about them. They have not even
had the fictitious wings which poetry has woven for them; they have
nearly always appeared wearing the human face divine, and speaking with
the tones and in the tongues of men, as if it were their native speech.
But if their form is earthly, their dress is heavenly. Their garments
flash and glitter like the robes of the transfigured Christ; and awed by
the supernatural portent, the women bow down their faces to the earth.
"Why," asked the angels, "seek ye the living among the dead? He is not
here, but is risen: remember how He spake unto you when He was yet in
Galilee, saying that the Son of man must be delivered up into the hands
of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again." Even the
angels are not allowed to disclose the secret of His resurrection life,
or to tell where He may be found, but they announce the fact that they
are not at liberty to explain. "He is not here; He is risen," is the
Gospel of the angels, a Gospel whose prelude they themselves have heard,
but, alas! forgotten; and since Heaven does not reveal what by searching
we ourselves may find out, the angels throw them back upon their own
recollections, recalling the words Jesus Himself had spoken, and which,
had they been understood and remembered, would have lighted up the
empty sepulchre and have solved the great mystery. And how much we lose
because we do not remember, or if remembering, we do not believe! Divine
words have been spoken, and spoken to us, but to our ear, dulled by
unbelief, they have come as empty sound, all inarticulate, and we have
said it was some thunder in the sky or the voices of a passing wind. How
many promises, which, like the harps of God, would have made even our
wildernesses vocal, have we hung up, sad and silent, on the willows of
the "strange lands"! If we only "remembered" the words of the Lord
Jesus, if they became to us real and eternally true, instead of being
the unreal voices of a dream, those words would be, not "the distant
lamps" of Heaven, but near at hand, lighting up all dark places, because
throwing their light within, turning even the graves of our buried hopes
into sanctuaries of joy and praise!
And so the women, instead of embalming their Lord, carried their spices
back unused. Not unused, however, for in the spices and ointments the
Living One did not need their own names were embalmed, a fragrant
memory. Coming to the tomb, as they thought, to do homage to a dead
Christ, the Magdalene, and Mary, and Johanna, and Salome found a Christ
who had conquered death, and at the same time found an immortality for
themselves; for the fragrance of their thought, which was not permitted
to ripen into deeds, has filled the whole world.
Returning to the city, whither the Magdalene had outrun them, they
announced to the rest, as she had done to Peter and John, the fact of
the empty grave; but they completed the story with the narrative of the
angelic vision and the statement that Jesus had risen. So little,
however, were the disciples predisposed to receive the tidings of a
resurrection, they would not admit the fact even when attested by at
least four witnesses, but set it down as idle, silly talk, something
which was not only void of truth, but void of sense. Only Peter and John
of the Apostles, as far as we know, visited the sepulchre, and even they
doubted, though they found the tomb empty and the linen clothes
carefully wrapped up. They "believed" that the body had disappeared,
but, as St. John tells us, "as yet they knew not the Scripture, that He
must rise again from the dead" (St. John xx. 9); and as they leave the
empty grave to return to their own home, they only "wondered at that
which was come to pass." It was an enigma they could not solve; and
though the Easter morning had now fully broke, the day which should
light all days, as it drew to itself the honours and songs of the
Sabbath, yet to the minds and hearts of the Apostles it was "yet dark;"
the glory of the Lord had not yet risen upon them.
And now comes one of those beautiful pictures, peculiar to St. Luke, as
he lights up the Judæan hills with a soft afterglow, an afterglow which
at the same time is the aurora of a new dawn. It was in the afternoon of
that first Lord's day, when two disciples set out from Jerusalem for
Emmaus, a village, probably the modern Khamasa, sixty furlongs from the
city. Who the two disciples were we cannot say, for one is unnamed,
while the other bears a name, Cleopas, we do not meet with elsewhere,
though its Greek origin would lead us to infer that he was some Gentile
proselyte who had attached himself to Jesus. As to the second, we have
not even the clue of an obscure name with which to identify him, and in
this somewhat strange anonymity some expositors have thought they
detected the shadow of the Evangelist, Luke, himself. The supposition
is not an impossible one; for though St. Luke was not an eye-witness
from the beginning, he might have witnessed some of the closing scenes
of the Divine life; while the very minuteness of detail which
characterizes his story would almost show that if not himself a
participant, he was closely related to those who were; but had St. Luke
himself been the favoured one, it is scarcely likely that he would have
omitted this personal testimony when speaking of the "many infallible
proofs" of His resurrection.
Whoever the two might be, it is certain that they enjoyed the esteem and
confidence of the disciples, having free access, even at untimely hours,
to the Apostolic circle, while the fact that Jesus Himself sought their
company, and selected them to such honours, shows the high place which
was accorded to them in the Divine regard.
We are not apprised of the object of their journey; indeed, they
themselves seem to have lost sight of that in the gleams of glory which,
all unexpected, fell across their path. It is not unlikely that it was
connected with recent events; for now that the central Sun, around whom
their lives revolved, has disappeared, will not those lives necessarily
take new directions, or drift back into the old orbits? But whatever
their purposes might be, their thoughts are retrospective rather than
prospective; for while their faces are set towards Emmaus, and their
feet are steadily measuring off the furlongs of the journey, their
thoughts are lingering behind, clinging to the dark crest of Calvary, as
the cloud-pennon clings to the Alpine peak. They can speak but of one
theme, "these things which have happened:" the One whom they took to be
the Christ, to whom their hearts had been so strangely drawn; His
character, miracles, and words; the ignominious Death, in which that
Life, with all their hopes, was quenched; and then the strange tidings
which had been brought by the women, as to how they had found the grave
empty, and how they had seen a vision of angels. The word "questioned
together" generally implies a difference of opinion, and refers to the
cross-questioning of disputants; but in this case it probably referred
only to the innumerable questions the report of the Resurrection would
raise in their minds, the honest doubts and difficulties with which they
felt themselves compelled to grapple.
It was while they were discussing these new problems, walking leisurely
along the road--for men walk heavily when weighted at the heart--a
Stranger overtook and joined them, asking, after the usual salutation,
which would not be omitted, "What communications are these that ye have
one with another, as ye walk?" The very form of the question would help
to disguise the familiar voice, while the changed "form" of which St.
Mark speaks would somewhat mask the familiar features; but at the same
time it would appear that there was a supernatural holding of their
eyes, as if a dusky veil were wrapped about the Stranger. His question
startled them, even as a voice from another world, as, indeed, it
seemed; and stopping suddenly, they turned their "sad" faces to the
Stranger in a momentary and silent astonishment, a silence which Cleopas
broke by asking, "Dost thou alone sojourn in Jerusalem, and not know the
things which are come to pass there in these days?" a double question,
to which the stranger replied with the brief interrogative, "What
things?" It needed no more than that solitary word to unseal the
fountain of their lips, for the clouds which had broken so wildly and
darkly over Calvary had filled their hearts with an intense and bitter
grief, which longed for expression, even for the poor relief of words.
And so they break in together with their answer (the pronoun is changed
now), "Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was a Prophet mighty in deed
and word before God and all the people: and how the chief priests and
our rulers delivered Him up to be condemned to death, and crucified Him.
But we hoped that it was He which should redeem Israel. Yea, and beside
all this, it is now the third day since these things came to pass.
Moreover certain women of our company amazed us, having been early at
the tomb; and when they found not His body, they came, saying, that they
had also seen a vision of angels, which said that He was alive. And
certain of them that were with us went to the tomb, and found it even so
as the women had said: but Him they saw not."
It is the impetuous language of intense feeling, in which hope and
despair strike alternate chords. In the first strain Jesus of Nazareth
is lifted high; He is a Prophet mighty in word and deed; then He is
stricken down, condemned to death, and crucified. Again, hope speaks,
recalling the bright dream of a redemption for Israel; but having spoken
that word, Hope herself goes aside to weep by the grave where her
Redeemer was hurriedly buried. Still again is the glimmer of a new
light, as the women bring home the message of the angels; but still
again the light sets in darkness, a gloom which neither the eyes of
Reason nor of Faith could as yet pierce; for "Him they saw not" marks
the totality of the eclipse, pointing to a void of darkness, a firmament
without a sun or star.
But incidentally, in the swift current of their speech, we catch a
reflection of the Christ as He appeared to their minds. He was indeed a
Prophet, second to none, and in their hope He was more, for He was the
Redeemer of Israel. It is evident the disciples had not yet grasped the
full purport of the Messianic mission. Their thought was hazy, obscure,
like the vision of men walking in a mist. The Hebrew dream of a temporal
sovereignty seems to have been a prevailing, perhaps _the_ prevailing
force in their minds, the attraction which drew and cheered them on. But
their Redeemer was but a local, temporal one, who will restore the
kingdom to Israel; He was not yet the Redeemer of the world, who should
save His people from their sins. The "regeneration," as they fondly
called it, the "new creation," was purely national, when out of the
chaos of Roman irruptions their Hebrew paradise will come. For one
thing, the disciples were too near the Divine life to see its just and
large proportions. They must stand back from it the distance of a
Pentecost; they must look on it through their lenses of flame, before
they can take in the profound meaning of that Life, or the awful mystery
of that Death. At present their vision is out of focus, and all they can
see is the blurred and shadowy outline of the reality, the temporal
rather than the spiritual, a redeemed nationality rather than a redeemed
and regenerated humanity.
The risen Jesus, for such the Stranger was, though they knew it not,
listened to their requiem patiently and wonderingly, glad to find within
their hearts such deep and genuine love, which even the cross and the
grave had not been able to extinguish. The men themselves were true,
even though their views were somewhat warped--the refractions of their
Hebrew atmosphere. And Jesus leads them in thought to those "shining
uplands" of truth; as it were, spurring them on, by a sharp though kind
rebuke, to the heights where Divine thoughts and purposes move on to
their fulfilment. "O foolish men," He said, "and slow of heart to
believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Behoved it not the Christ
to suffer these things, and to enter into His glory?" They thought He
was some stranger in Jerusalem, yet He knows their prophets better than
themselves; and hark, He puts in a word they had feared to use. They
only called Him "Jesus of Nazareth;" they did not give Him that higher
title of "the Christ" which they had freely used before. No; for the
cross had rudely shattered and broken that golden censer, in which they
had been wont to burn a royal incense. But here the Stranger recasts
their broken, golden word, burning its sweet, Divine incense even in
presence of the cross, calling the Crucified the "Christ"! Verily, this
Stranger has more faith than they; and they still their garrulous lips,
which speak so randomly, to hear the new and august Teacher, whose voice
was an echo of the Truth, if not the Truth itself!
"And beginning from Moses and from all the prophets, He interpreted to
them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself." It will be
observed that our Evangelist uses a peculiar word in speaking of this
Divine exposition. He calls it an "interpretation," a word used in the
New Testament only in the sense of translating from one language to
another, from the unknown to the known tongue. And such, indeed, it was;
for they had read the Scriptures but in part, and so misread them. They
had thrown upon those Scriptures the projections of their own hopes and
illusions; while other Scriptures, those relating to the sufferings of
Christ, were set back, out of sight, or if heard at all, they were only
the voice of an unknown tongue, a _vox et preterea nihil_. So Jesus
interprets to them the voices of this unknown tongue. Beginning at
Moses, He shows, from the types, the prophecies, and the Psalms, how
that the Christ must suffer and die, ere the glories of His kingdom can
begin; that the cross and the grave both lay in the path of the
Redeemer, as the bitter and prickly calyx out of which the "glories"
should unfold themselves. And thus, opening their Scriptures, putting in
the crimson lens of the blood, as well as the chromatic lens of the
Messianic glory, the disciples find the cross all transfigured, inwoven
in God's eternal purpose of redemption; while the sufferings of Christ,
at which they had stumbled before, they now see were part of the eternal
plan of mercy, a Divine "ought," a great necessity.
They had now reached Emmaus, the limit of their journey, but the two
disciples cannot lose the company of One whose words have opened to them
a new and a bright world; and though He was evidently going on farther,
they constrained Him to abide with them, as it was towards evening and
the day was far spent. And He went in to tarry with them, though not for
long. Sitting down to meat, the Stranger Guest, without any apology,
takes the place of the host, and blessing the bread, He breaks and gives
to them. Was it the uplifted face threw them back on the old, familiar
days? or did they read the nail-mark in His hand? We do not know; but in
an instant the veil in which He had enfolded Himself was withdrawn, and
they knew Him: it was the Lord Himself, the risen Jesus! In a moment
the hush of a great awe fell upon them, and before they had time to
embrace Him whom they had loved so passionately, indeed before their
lips could frame an exclamation of surprise, He had vanished; He "became
invisible" to them, as it reads, passing out of their sight like a
dissolving cloud. And when they did recover themselves it was not to
speak His name--there was no need of that--but to say one to another,
"Was not our heart burning within, us while He spake to us in the way,
while He opened to us the Scriptures?" It was to them a bright
Apocalypse, "the Revelation of Jesus Christ," who was dead, and is alive
for evermore; and all-forgetful of their errand, and though it is
evening, they leave Emmaus at once, their winged feet not heeding the
sixty furlongs now, as they haste to Jerusalem to announce to the
eleven, and to the rest, that Jesus has indeed arisen, and has appeared
unto them.
Returning to Jerusalem, they go direct to the well-known trysting-place,
where they find the Apostles ("the eleven" as the band was now called,
though, as St. John informs us, Thomas was not present) and others
gathered for their evening meal, and speaking of another and later
appearance of Jesus to Simon, which must have occurred during their
absence from the city; and they add to the growing wonder by telling of
their evening adventure, and how Jesus was known of them in breaking of
bread. But while they discussed the subject--for the majority were yet
in doubt as to the reality of the appearances--Jesus Himself stood
before them, passing through the fastened door; for the same fear that
shut the door would securely lock it. Though giving to them the old-time
salutation, "Peace be to you," it did not calm the unrest and agitation
of their soul; the chill of a great fear fell upon them, as the spectral
Shadow, as they thought it; stood before them. "Why are ye troubled?"
asks Jesus, "and wherefore do reasonings arise in your hearts?" for they
fairly trembled with fear, as the word would imply. "See My hands and My
feet, that it is I Myself: handle Me, and see; for a spirit hath not
flesh and bones, as ye behold Me having." He then extended His hands,
drew back His robe from His feet, and, as St. John says, uncovered His
side, that they might see the wounds of the nails and the spear, and
that by these visible, tangible proofs they might be convinced of the
reality of His Resurrection body. It was enough; their hearts in an
instant swung round from an extreme of fear to an extreme of joy, a sort
of wild joy, in which Reason for the moment became confused, and Faith
bewildered. But while the heavenly trance is yet upon them Jesus recalls
them to earthly things, asking if they have any meat; and when they give
Him a piece of a broiled fish, some of the remnants of their own repast,
He takes and eats before them all; not that now He needed the sustenance
of earthly food, in His resurrection life, but that by this simple act
He might put another seal upon His true humanity. It was a kind of
sacrament, showing forth His oneness with His own; that on the farther
side of the grave, in His exaltation, as on this, in His humiliation, He
was still the "Son of man," interested in all things, even the
commonplaces, of humanity.
The interview was not for long, for the risen Christ dwelt apart from
His disciples, coming to them at uncertain times and only for brief
spaces. He lingers, however, now, to explain to the eleven, as before to
the two, the great mystery of the Redemption. He opens their minds,
that the truth may pass within. Gathering up the lamps of prophecy
suspended through the Scriptures, He turns their varying lights upon
Himself, the ME of whom they testify. He shows them how it is written in
their law that the Christ must suffer, the Christ must die, the Christ
must rise again the third day, and "that repentance and remission of
sins should be preached in His name unto all the nations, beginning from
Jerusalem." And then He gave to these preachers of repentance and
remission the promise of which the Book of the Acts is a fulfilment and
enlargement, the "promise of the Father," which is the gift of the Holy
Ghost. It was the prophecy of the Pentecost, the first rustle of the
mighty rushing wind, that Divine breath which comes to all who will
receive it.
Our Evangelist passes in silence other appearances of the Resurrection
Life, those forty days in which, by His frequent manifestations, He was
training His disciples to trust in His unseen Presence. He only in a few
closing words tells of the Ascension; how, near Bethany, He was parted
from them, and taken up into heaven, throwing down benedictions from His
uplifted hands even as He went; and how the disciples returned to
Jerusalem, not sorrowing, as men bereaved, but with great joy, having
learned now to endure and rejoice as seeing Him who is invisible, the
unseen but ever-present Christ. That St. Luke omits the other
Resurrection appearances is probably because he intended to insert them
in his prelude to the Acts of the Apostles, which he does, as he joins
his second treatise to the first. Nor is it altogether an incidental
coincidence that as he writes his later story he begins at Jerusalem,
lingering in the upper room which was the wind-rocked cradle of the
Church, and inserting as key-words of the new story these four words
from the old: Repentance, Remission, Promise, Power. The two books are
thus one, a seamless robe, woven for the living Christ, the one giving
us the Christ of the Humiliation, the other the Christ of the
Exaltation, who speaks now from the upper heavens, and whose power is
the power of the Holy Ghost.
And was it altogether undesigned that our Evangelist, omitting other
appearances of the forty days, yet throws such a wealth of interest and
of colouring into that first Easter day, filling it up from its early
dawn to its late evening? We think not. He is writing to and for the
Gentiles, whose Sabbaths are not on the last but on the first day of the
week, and he stays to picture for us that first Lord's day, the day
chosen by the Lord of the Sabbath for this high consecration. And as the
Holy Church throughout all the world keeps her Sabbaths now, her anthems
and songs are a sweet incense burned by the door of the empty sepulchre;
for, "The light which threw the glory of the Sabbath into the shade was
the glory of the Risen Lord."
THE EXPOSITOR'S BIBLE.
FIRST SERIES.
Colossians.
By the Rev. A. MACLAREN, D.D., D.Lit.
St. Mark.
By the Right Rev. the Bishop of Derry.
Genesis.
By Prof. MARCUS DODS, D.D.
1 Samuel.
By Prof. W. G. BLAIKIE, D.D.
2 Samuel.
By the same Author.
Hebrews.
By Principal T. C. EDWARDS, D.D.
SECOND SERIES.
Galatians.
By Prof. G. G. FINDLAY, B.A., D.D.
The Pastoral Epistles.
By the Rev. A. PLUMMER, D.D.
Isaiah I.--XXXIX.
By Prin. G. A. SMITH, D.D. Vol. I.
The Book of Revelation.
By Prof. W. MILLIGAN, D.D.
1 Corinthians.
By Prof. MARCUS DODS, D.D.
The Epistles of St. John.
By the Most Rev. the Archbishop of Armagh.
THIRD SERIES.
Judges and Ruth.
By the Rev. R. A. WATSON, M.A., D.D.
Jeremiah.
By the Rev. C. J. BALL, M.A.
Isaiah XL.--LXVI.
By Prin. G. A. SMITH, D.D. Vol. II.
St. Matthew.
By the Rev. J. MONRO GIBSON, D.D.
Exodus.
By the Right Rev. the Bishop of Derry.
St. Luke.
By the Rev. H. BURTON, M.A.
FOURTH SERIES.
Ecclesiastes.
By the Rev. SAMUEL COX, D.D.
St. James and St. Jude.
By the Rev. A. PLUMMER, D.D.
Proverbs.
By the Rev. R. F. HORTON, D.D.
Leviticus.
By the Rev. S. H. KELLOGG, D.D.
The Gospel of St. John.
By Prof. M. DODS, D.D. Vol. I.
The Acts of the Apostles.
By Prof. STOKES, D.D. Vol. I.
FIFTH SERIES.
The Psalms.
By the Rev. A. MACLAREN, D.D. Vol. I.
1 and 2 Thessalonians.
By Prof. JAMES DENNEY, D.D.
The Book of Job.
By the Rev. R. A. WATSON, M.A., D.D.
Ephesians.
By Prof. G. G. FINDLAY, B.A., D.D.
The Gospel of St. John.
By Prof. M. DODS, D.D. Vol. II.
The Acts of the Apostles.
By Prof. STOKES, D.D. Vol. II.
SIXTH SERIES.
1 Kings.
By the Very Rev. F. W. FARRAR, F.R.S.
Philippians.
By Principal RAINY, D.D.
Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther.
By Prof. W. F. ADENEY, M.A.
Joshua.
By Prof. W. G. BLAIKIE, D.D.
The Psalms.
By the Rev. A. MACLAREN, D.D. Vol. II.
The Epistles of St. Peter.
By Prof. RAWSON LUMBY, D.D.
SEVENTH SERIES.
2 Kings.
By the Very Rev. F. W. FARRAR, F.R.S.
Romans.
By the Right Rev. H. C. G. MOULE, D.D.
The Books of Chronicles.
By Prof. W. H. BENNETT, D.D., D.Lit.
2 Corinthians.
By Prof. JAMES DENNEY, D.D.
Numbers.
By the Rev. R. A. WATSON, M.A., D.D.
The Psalms.
By the Rev. A. MACLAREN, D.D. Vol. III.
EIGHTH SERIES.
Daniel.
By the Very Rev. F. W. FARRAR, F.R.S.
The Book of Jeremiah.
By Prof. W. H. BENNETT, D.D., D.Lit.
Deuteronomy.
By Prof. ANDREW HARPER, B.D.
The Song of Solomon and Lamentations.
By Prof. W. F. ADENEY, M.A.
Ezekiel.
By Prof. JOHN SKINNER, M.A.
The Books of the Twelve Prophets.
By Prin. G. A. SMITH, D.D. Two Vols.
INDEX.
Acts, the, and the Gospel, 415.
Adoration of the shepherds, 67.
Advent, the, long, delayed, 17.
" the music of the, 29.
Agony, the, and the Transfiguration, 365.
Angels and "men," 402.
Anointing, the, of the feet, 209.
Antioch, 3, 4.
Apostleship, the, instituted, 190.
Apostles, the, sent forth, 269.
Augustus Cæsar, 62.
Authority, set under, 206.
Baptism, the, of Jesus, 189.
Beatitudes, the Mount of, 195.
Being, more than doing, 338.
_Benedictus_, the, 42, 43.
Bethany, 307.
Bethlehem Ephratah, 61, 62.
Bethsaida, 157.
" Julias, 271.
Betrayer, the, 378.
Blind, the, sight for, 138, 139.
Blindness, spiritual, 140.
Body, the spiritual, 356.
"Bread enough and to spare," 324.
Brotherhood, the, of man, 304.
Business and religion, 237.
Caiaphas, 383, 387.
Calling, the, of the four, 162.
Cana, 64, 131.
" and the desert-place, 280.
Capernaum, 65, 131, 203.
Cares, the, of life, 235.
Carlyle, 32.
Casual disciples, 234.
Centurion, faith of the, 195.
" humility of the, 204.
Centurions, the three, 200.
Character, in the kingdom of heaven, 245.
" and circumstance, 337.
" makes destiny, 357.
Childhood consecrated, 85.
Christ, the transfigured, 283.
" " suffering, 410.
Christianity, the rapid spread of, 8.
Chronology of New Testament vague, 16.
Circumcision, the rite of, 83.
Citizenship in the new kingdom, 245, 248.
Cleopas, 405.
Coifi and his parable, 352.
Common things made sacred, 75.
Concerning prayer, 177.
Conduct, character in motion, 337.
Court of the women, 47.
Creed, a, not a Christ, 155.
Cross, the foreshadow of the, 282.
" the, the central thought of heaven, 291.
Cup, the, of the Agony, 368.
" " of sorrow transfigured, 375.
Death, foreign to the sinless life, 285.
" an "exodus," 288.
Debtors, the two, 216.
Decision of character, 167.
Demonology, 153, 155.
"Depart from me, O lord," 172.
Departed, the, interested in earthly things, 290.
Destiny, eternal, 363.
Disciples, the three candidate, 246, 247.
" " sleeping, 372, 381.
" misunderstand Christ's mission, 409.
Divided energies, 235.
Dorner, Dr., 351.
Drachma, the lost, 339.
Draught, the, of fishes, 169.
Duties owing to the State, 349.
Eastern mind poetic, 31.
"Eat, drink, and be merry," 358.
Elder brother, the, 329.
Elizabeth, 20, 34.
" song of, 20, 36, 37.
Emmaus, the walk to, 405.
" the, apocalypse, 411.
Eschatology, the, of St. Luke, 352.
Ethics, the, of St. Luke, 336, 351.
Ethical, the, compass, 342.
Evolution, not revolution, 170.
Ewald, 90.
Faith, the secret of victory, 127.
Farrar, Archdeacon, 187, 215.
Fast, the forty days', 110.
Fasting and prayer, 111.
Fatherhood, the, of God, 179.
Forgiveness, the joy of, 217.
" to follow repentance, 346.
Gabriel and the Virgin Mary, 55.
Gethsemane, 191, 284, 296, 364.
"Give ye them to eat," 274.
Giving, 202, 348.
Godet, Professor, 223, 296, 335.
Golden rule, the, 303.
Good tidings to the poor, 136.
" part, the, 312.
Gospel, the, of the Old Testament, 134.
" " " liberty, 142.
Gospels, the four, a unity, 1.
Grave, the, not our goal, 354.
Growth of the kingdom, 251.
Gulf, the great, 363.
Healing, miracles of, 255.
Hearers, not doers, 226.
Heaven in the Old Testament, 178.
" near and real to Jesus, 189.
" and hell, 361.
Hebraisms in St. Luke, 15.
Hermon, Mount, 282.
Herod, king of Judæa, 18.
" the Tetrarch, 270.
" Jesus before, 392.
Herodias, daughter of, 103.
Holy Spirit, full of the, 108.
Home associations, 82.
" and the synagogue, 149.
Hope and despair, 408.
Housebuilders, the, 359.
Humanity and nationality, 5.
Humility, 342.
Hundredfold, the, increase, 239.
Incarnation, the, 48.
Inn, the, of Bethlehem, 76.
" " " Chimham, 77.
Inspiration, the personal element in, 2, 10.
" " work of the Holy Spirit, 12, 13.
Jesus, baptism of, 97.
" returns to Nazareth, 128.
" preaches in the synagogue, 132.
" no pessimist, 136.
" and the Fatherhood of God, 136.
" a Lover of freedom, 143.
" the King, 244.
" " knowledge of, 264.
" " compassion of, 266.
" " power of, 267.
" "offered Himself," 381.
" appears to the eleven, 412.
Jews, the, and the Samaritans, 301.
Joachim and Anna, 53.
John the Baptist, a Nazarite, 25.
" his mission foretold, 81.
" withdraws to the desert, 88.
" his manifestation, 89.
" effect of his ministry, 92.
" secret of his success, 93.
" his wavering faith, 100.
" belongs to the old dispensation, 102.
Joseph, 50.
Judaism and spiritual life, 21.
Judas Iscariot, 378.
Judging others, 339.
Khamasa, the modern Emmaus, 405.
Kingdom, the, of heaven, 241.
" the keys of the, 244.
" the, and its citizens, 245.
" the growth of the, 251.
" the, not of this world, 252.
Lamb, the, of God, 100.
"Larger hope," the, 361.
Law, the, exacting, unforgiving, 220.
" of love, the, supreme, 338.
Leaven, the, hid in the meal, 252.
Leper, Jesus touches the, 259.
Life, the, which now is, 336.
Little things, the Divine care for, 278.
Loan, the, of the three loaves, 186.
Loaves, the miracle of the, 269.
Lord's Day, the first, 400.
Losing all, to gain all, 175.
Lost and found, 317.
Love in action and love at rest, 307.
" the all-embracing duty, 338.
" of country, 350.
Loving the sinner, 324.
" our enemies, 343.
Luke, St., and humanity, 4.
" " his Gentile sympathies, 4, 5.
" " his profession, 6, 7.
" " reasons for writing his Gospel, 9.
Magnificat, the, 39.
Malchus, 382.
Mariolatry, 52.
Marriage in the after-life, 355.
Martha of Bethany, 309.
Mary the listener, 310.
" anoints the feet of Jesus, 314.
Miracles, natural and necessary, 148.
Miracle, a, of a new order, 169, 279.
Misery, the, of sin, 333.
Money, the love of, 348, 379.
Moses and Elijah, 286.
Mustard seed, a grain of, 252.
"My soul is exceeding sorrowful," 367.
Nature, the kingdom of, 243.
Nazareth, 37, 50.
Needle's eye, the, 246.
Neighbour, my, 296.
Ninety and nine, the, just persons, 335.
"Numbered among the transgressors," 396.
_Nunc Dimittis_, 44.
Oaths and curses, 384.
Obedience, in the Christian life, 168.
Obedience to parents, 349.
Order, Heaven's love of, 277.
Orpheus and his lyre, 371.
Papias, 55.
Passover, an extemporised, 280.
" the, 377.
Paternoster, a parabolic, 322.
Peter, the faith of, 167.
Peter's wife's mother, 157.
" denial, 383.
" lack of moral courage, 386.
Pharisee, the, and the publican, 181, 250.
Pharisees, the teaching of the, 200.
" the, reject both Jesus and John, 209.
Philip the evangelist, 247.
Phillips Brooks, 315.
Pilate, Jesus before, 390.
" pleads for Jesus, 393.
" character of, 394.
Pity, the Divine, 276.
Pleasures, the, of life, 238.
" and pains of the after-life, 357.
Poor, the, in spirit, 249.
" " and the proud in spirit, 250.
Prayer and healing, 159.
" character, a condition of, 181.
" the Lord's, 182.
" " wide realm of, 185.
" importunity in, 186.
" habitual with Jesus, 189, 194.
" of Jesus for Simon, 193.
" answered, but not granted, 374.
Pride condemned, 341.
Priest, the, and Levite, 298.
Priesthood, friendly to Jesus, 299.
Principles, evolved but not created, 337.
Prodigal son, the, 321.
Promise, the, of the Father, 414.
Prophets of the old dispensation, 135.
Psalms, the, of the Advent, 33.
" the four, one song, 45.
Quarantania, the, 110.
Receiving and giving, 315.
Regeneration not reform, 337.
Religion, little more than form, 149.
Religiousness not always religion, 300.
Religious, the, instinct, 177.
Repentant, Heaven's joy over the, 334.
Resurrection life, the, 285.
Return, the, of the prodigal, 325.
Riches, the pursuit after, 237.
Rich man, the, and Lazarus, 359.
Sabbath, a, in Galilee, 148.
" the, question, 150.
" " and the Lords Day, 415.
Sacrament, the new, 370.
Sacred sites obscure, 68.
Samaritan, the good, 294.
" his thoughtful sympathy, 302.
Sceptre, the departed, 91.
Scriptures, the misread, 410.
Sea, the, is His, 171.
Seed, the way-side, 227.
" the, on the rocks, 230.
" " amid the thorns, 235.
" " in the good ground, 238.
Self-sacrifice, the beauty of, 305.
Servant, the, of the centurion, 196.
Sheep, the lost, 318.
Shepherds, the, and the angels, 69.
" character of the, 73.
Sight for the soul, 306.
Silence, four centuries of, 19.
Simon the Pharisee, 211.
" " " a seeker after truth, 212.
" the Cyrenean, 395.
Sin, confessed, then forgiven, 328.
" the Divine grief over, 330.
" to be rebuked, 345.
Sinners, hope for, 220.
Sisters, the two, 306.
Son, a, with a servant's heart, 330.
Sower, parable of the, 225.
Spices for the embalming, 401.
Spikenard and tears, 216.
Stier, 218.
Sympathy in sorrow, 368.
Synagogue, the, at Capernaum, 151.
Talents, parable of the, 359.
Taxing, the, 62.
Temptation, the, 105.
Testimony, value of personal, 201.
Testing times, 233.
Theophilus, 7.
Thief, the penitent, 397.
Tower, the, of the flock, 68.
Transfiguration, the, 191, 281.
Trial, the mock, 388.
Ulysses and the sirens, 229.
Unclean devil, the, 152.
Unity, the, of the Godhead, 178.
Unjust judge, the, 187.
Unquiet heart, the, 315.
Vacillation, a bar to heavenly citizenship, 246.
Valley, the, of the shadow, 354.
Vindictive feelings disallowed, 344.
Virgin-conception, the, a familiar thought, 50.
Vision, the double, 141.
Voice, the human, and the Divine Word, 201.
Watch, the, in Gethsemane, 364.
Wayside, the, may become fruitful, 230.
Wealth, its place in the new kingdom, 245.
" the true use of, 346.
" " peculiar dangers of, 347.
" to be held in trust, 348.
" consecrated, 348.
Welcome home, the, 328.
Will, submission to the Father's, 375.
Woman, a, of the city, 213.
Words, the, of Jesus, the Word of God, 164.
" Divine, forgotten, 403.
Work and worship, 55, 74.
Worlds beyond the world, 353.
Worship, the heart in, 150.
" counterfeit, 228.
Wrong not to be condoned, 345.178
Zacharias, 20.
" in the holy place, 22.
" prayer of, 23.
" the angel's message to, 23.
" asks for a sign, 26.
" and the _Benidictus_, 28.
Transcriber's Note:
Minor typographical errors and inconsistencies have been silently
normalized.
Hyphenation is inconsistent.
The list of the Expositor's Bible Series has been moved from the
beginning to the end of the book.