The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1888-02-16
SUNDAY MEDITATION.
Practical Duties Taught bY \ Study OF the Inter
national Sunday -school Lesson Appointed 70
Feb. &c. st. Matt., 10 16-22.

TON OF THE You've MAN, AS TO WHAT TO
Do TO INHERIT ETERNAL LIFE.
Before proceeding further, read ST. Mark, 10:
1922, and st. Luke, Is: 1923.
The facts of the lesson occurred in March Of
the year 20 A. d. The company were in Pc
rea, east of the Jordan River probably opposite
Jericho. Christ was in route for Jerusalem.
He was accompanied by the Twelve. Us: L /;
10: 10.) As he passed on, Pharisees tried to
annoy him. 19:3) 1t is not unlikely the
young man questioning Christ was emo of that
sect. 1t is quite clear, however, that he did
not come TO Christ in captious spirit, but
rather as an honest inquirer. st. Luke tells
us is: 49, he was a ruler. He might have
been a ruler of the synagog in his town, but
many think he was a member Of the Sanhe-
drim. In either case he must have been very
wealthy or influential. The fact of his occupy
ing such eminence while yet young, shows him
man of more than ordinary acceptabIeness.
We find he was wealthy. He was very moral.
All through his youthful years he had observed
every Commandment. We suppose that in
Verse 20 he told the truth. He was in earnest.
He ran to Christ burdened with the greatest
question possible this side of death, and eager
for reply.
Addressing Christ he gave him the title
"Good Master" CY. 49, Connect Good Mas
ter with good thing" The young man did
not realize the full force of the absolutely good,
and Christ wanted, first Of all, to give him the
grandest ideal Of all that is implied IN the
word good. The ultimate good is the abso-
lutely unselfsh. Christ made the young man
appreciate goodness SO wildly, fully, correctly,
as to compel him to admit he was not good up
to the ideal. 1t is a fact that no human being
is good, save in relative sense. He is simply
better than what IS worse. 1t is not possible
for the finite to be good, because the good is
infinite. So it is no wonder the very name Of
Tlasfr 10 Id -, h.
Christ's method of dealing with inquirers clio
tied their attention and interest. He educated
in the literal sense Of drawing out. He was
Socratic.
The improperly of calling Christ good was
not because he was not good. The error lay in
the fact the young man did not comprehend
the nature and character of Christ Had the
inquirer really believed Jesus was divine, then
he could with all fitness have styled him good.
But from his standpoint Christ was but man.
No man simply such is good enough to be
called good. If he be really very good, he will
be so conscious of his remaining evil and so
ashamed of it that he will be embarrassed if
styled good. Human goodness, however per-
| feet, is so defective that it is only in purely
human sense that it can be at all called good
ness. So any one styling Christ good and at
the same time seeing in him nothing but man,
however upright, has very defective idea Of
absolute goodness. Wordsworth has Christ
say, If l am only master, why call me goods
If l am God, why call me Master? Why not
call me God? for there is none good but God"
In sense Christs humanity was distinct
from his deity. Christ as human only is not TO
be styled absolutely good. The human must
have its limitations Whenever the good implies
alteration or religious yeneration the subject
must be no less than Deity. If the people
could not look on Jesus as God, they should
cease applying the divine title due only to God,
inf Z ok To %Harr n
lowed his Deity, then they could style him
good in the utmost stretch of significance pos
! sible to that word. Hence Christ after defn-
ing the word good in its absolute sense, practi-
| cally said, If you do not believe me to be God,
why call me good Coda
| Then it may be Christ regarded the address
Good Master" uniting. He disapproved of
all adulation or mere fattery; Of all unmean-
ing titles; of simply formal personal epthets.
| (St. Matt, 23:7, 8 st. John, 3:2.) Titular
address in Christs time was carried to great
excess and his aim was to hit timely blow at
| such foolishness. 1t is not likely the young
man meant to fawn or flatter, but such address
had the smack of insincere attention, or of
mere formal thoughtless etiquet.
| It is evident Christ did not mean to say that
| he Christ was not good He was not good, in
| the sense in which Christ used that word, if he
were measured by the defective conception of
| goodness entertained by the young man-tO
/ wit, if measured simply as human being.
| Nor did Christ mean to declare there are not
/ very many really good men in the sense of the
! common acceptation of the word good.
| The question asked was: What good thing
| shall do that may have eternal life2" SITS.
| Mark and Luke have inherit for have" in
/ st. Matt. The young man wanted to know
how to make sure of the great blessing. The
! Old Testament recognized the idea of eternal
! life. Heb, IL: 16; DAN, 12:2) There was
/ ni,oiNl Of
| quirer as to the fact of life after death. The
| word life is used in the sense of happiness.
He wanted to know how he could render his
| destined eternal existence felicit0ns Joy in
| Christ is eternal. In a sense the being out of
| Christ is death-whether considered as a fact
| before or after decease. man is outside of
| true, permanent happiness till he enters into it
through the Door, Christ (See ENTER" V. IT, J
| The young man wanted to know what to do. His
| abstract idea of holiness seemed blurred. His
| thoughts were very mercenary and material.
| He wanted to weigh out salvatiOn-to measure
| l0ve-to balance in some manual way the CON-
mands of God. Faith was so behind works
and works SO magnifed that faith did not get
into the range of vision. He wanted to earn
salvation or pray for it. The good thing" in
the mind of the young man was probably some
additional and perhaps special requisite to his
acceptance into Heaven. The question may
have been one of brazen confidence, expecting
the reply that he was good enough without any
further qualification. Or he may have been
suspicious he was not quite prepared, and anx.
ious to know what remained for him to do.
Christs reply was, Keep the Command
ments." He is good in so far as he obeys the 1C
Commandments, and to obey them is a good
thing" The sixth, seventh, eighth ninth and
fifth are specified. st. Mark, 1913, by the
word "defraud involves the 10th Command
ment Then "love thy neighbor as myself ,
(St, Matt, 10: 19) covers all the last six Com
mandments. The first four of the decalol
are omitted. Those given are the second table
of the law, and relate to mans duties to man
st. Matt, 25 40 shows that the fulfilling of the
second table fulfills the first.
Did the young man come up to the standard
He thought he did. And yet there was Turk
ing suspicion of possible defect, and hence ht
asked, what lack l YETI" (Y. 20) He coulC
have made the inquiry in a bombastic, DARN,
style; but we incline to believe he was tol
} honest man to indulge in pomposity.
He certainly was not perfect" (St. Matt
, 1921 The reference is to perfectness as Il
; obeying the Commandments. perfect con
t formity to the decalog required more than b.
had done. Says Bloomfield: "a thing is per
feet SO far as the constitution of it permits
Bengal wrote: He is perfect who want
nothing to enter into life eternal. AS he 9TH
young MANI asked it, the Lord proposes to hin
the most glorious condition close to that of al
Apostle" The young mans question did no