The sun., 1883-10-28

L sIOn, Hhlon no IOu0WB In TS WOIbt UlunucIb
| The author Ia not q Jew by birth he Ia un-
| ousstonably writing for non-Jews he has only
| superficial acquaintance with the geography
| OF Palestine aud with jewish manners; he
| omits everything that would DO destitute Of In
terest for non -Israelites andh adds notes that
would be superfuous for Palestinian. The
| genealogy which he assigns to Jesus assumes
| that 1t was submitted to people who could not
easily verify a Biblical text. He softens what
would bring out the Jewish origin Of Christian
ity. and although he gives many indications OF
| compassion for Jerusalem, for him the Mosaic
law exists only as memory
The spirit with which Luke was animated is
thus far more easily distinguished than that
which inspired Mark and the author OF the
Gospel according to Matthew. The two latter
evangelists are neutral: they take neither side
| In the quarrels which were rending the Church.
| The partisans OF Paul and those OF James
might with equal safety have accepted them.
| Luke. on the contrary, Ia disciple OF Paul. un-
questionnbly a temperate disciple. tolerant.
full OF respect for Peter and even for James.
but decided supporter Of the adoption BY the
Church OF heather. Samaritans. publcans.
sinners, and heretcs OF every description. In
| him are TO be found those compassionate par
ables OF the good Samaritan. OF the prodigal
| son. OF tho lost sheep. OF the lost piece of
silver. wherein the lot OF the repentant sinner is
almost put above that OF the just man who has
not gone astray. Assurcdly Luke herein WAS
| in accord with the very spirit OF Jesus; but
there wns also on his part rrcpossession. pre-
determination. fixed design his bodest stroke
| was the conve rsion OF one OF the thieves on Cal
vary Accordinct to Mark and Matthew. the two
malefactors insultcd Jesus. Luke ascribes to
one Of them right feeling" We indeed suffer
Justly but this man hath done nothing amiss."
h,,,.t t,,tt ; tl,na
day he shall be with him In Paradise. In Luke
Jesus goes still further; he prays for his ex-
ecntioners. who know not what they do" In
Matthew Jesus seems unfrendly to Samaria.
| and commands his disciples to avoid
! the cities OF tho Samnrtans as they
would tho way OF the Gentiles. In St. Luke's
version, on the other hand. Jesus frequently
| enters into relation with the Samaritans; ho
speaks OF them eulogistica!ly. 1t is with tho
| journey through Samaria that Luke associates
| number OF instructive sayings and incidents.
| Far from cooping up Jesus in Galilee. like
Mark and Matthew Luke obeys an ant.Gal-
ilean and anti-Judaic propensity. u propensity
which will be still more perceptible in the
fourth Gospel. From many points Of view. in
deed, the Gospel OF Luke forms kind OF bridge
| between tho first two Gospcls and the fourth.
which at first sight seems TO have few features
| in common with them.
There is hardly m anecdote or parable pecu-
! liar to Luke that does not breathe this spirit Of
compassion and of appeal TO sinners. The
single saying handed down from Jesus that
seems to have some hnrshness in 1t becomes.
in Luke. an apologize full Of indulgence and
long suffering. Tho unfruitful trec is not to be
cut down too quickly; good vine dresser sets
his faco against the anger of the owner Of
tho vineyard and Graves Leave to fertilze the
ground at the foot Of the unlucky tree before 1t
be condemned beyond appeal. Lukes Gospel
is par excellence tho Gospel of pardon. and OF
pardon won by faith. There is moro Joy in
heaven over one sinner that rerenteth than
over ninety and nine Just persons which need
no repentance" Tho Son Of Man is
not come to destroy mems lives, but to
save them" Every species OF distortion
is we'll done in Lukcs eyes IL he can
thereby turn each Gospel tale into a story OF
relinbiltated sinners. Samaritans. publicans.
centurions. guilty women. heather whose
hearts were in the right place, all the objects of
Pharisaic dsdain. are cared for by Luke. The
idea that Christianity has forgiveness for every
! one is veritably his. The door is OPEN: admis-
| sion Is possible for all. We hear no more about
the Law; new system OF piety. the wor-
ship OF Jesus. has superseded it, Here it is the
Samaritan who performs the good action. while
tho priest and the Levite pass by on the other
side. Now it is the publican who goes down
ont OF the Temple. justified by his humility.
| while the IRE proachable. hut arrogant Phari-
see COOS forth more bameworthy. Elsewhere
it is the woman who was a sinner. but who is
regenerated by her love for Jesus. and is per-
mitted to evince particular marks of tender
ness. Elsewhere, again. it is the publican
Zaccheus becom ing forthwith n son OF Abraham
by the simple fact Of having shown an eager
ness to see Jesus. Tho offer of an easily-won
forgiveness has always been the principal in
strument in the triumph OF religions. Even
the most cupahle man." said Bhagavat If he
comes and worships me. and pays all his devo-
tion unto me- must be looked upon as good"
Luke joins to this n love for humility. That
which is highly esteemed among men is nbom-
ination in the sight Of God" The mighty shall
be put down from his seat: he that is lowly
shall be exalted Therein lay for Luke the sum.
mary Of the revolution wrought by Jesus For
him the naughty ono is the Jew proud Of his
descent from Abraham: the humble one Is tho
Gentle who derives no glory from his anccs-
tors but owes al! that he Is to his faith in Jesus.
We perceive the perfect conformity of those
views with those Of Paul OF course Paul had
no Gospel in the sense in which we use the
word. Paul had not heard jesus discourse,
and he dsslgneily maintained much reserve
in his relations with the Immediate disciples.
llo mo seen very lllle ot tneN. ana na1 Olly
passed fow days in this rldiating centre
Of Christian tradition at Jerusalem. He had
heard scarcely anything about tho io2id, and
knew only fragments Of the gospel traditional
history. 1t must be owned, however, that these
fragments closely coincide with what we read
in Luke. The account Givou b. Paul OF tho
Last supper Is identical. If We except some de-
tails Of very slight importance. with that o! tho
third Evangelist Luke, no doubt. carefully
avoids everything that might wound the
Jud9o-Christian party. and renwaken con-
troversles which he desires TO lu; he is as re-
spectful TO the Apostles as it is possible for a
man to be; nevertheless, he is uneasy lost a
too exclusive rank should be assigned To them.
His policy with regard to this point has s,iG-
ges,ed the bo!dest of conceptions Side hy lido
with the Twelve he creates OF his own motion
seventy disciples. on whom Jesus is made 10
confer mission WHICH in the other Gospels Ia
reserved for the Twelve alone.
Wa Nora ituton oft tohon ntar Il,