The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1896-04-18
Studies in the Gospel According to Luke.

speaking, let us recall Us: p, consisted
of two sharply defined parties.
One party, numerically very much the
larger, was the mass of Roman taxgath
erers and unchurched sinners, who were
eager to hear Jesus words of humanity
and hope.
The other party, relatively small, was
the sneering Pharisees and their advis-
ers the scribes. They were representa-
tives of the prevailing Jewish orthodoxy.
They were exceedingly religious people
after their sort, and beyond measure
scornful of the taxgatherers and relig-
ious outcasts.
The Pharisees and scribes, we recall,
had openly charged that Jesus was the
friend of publicans and sinners; that he
made himself, by eating salt with them,
the fellow of the disreputable crowd.
This charge was the occasion,-the
text, we may say,-of the long address OF
Jesus. 1t was the focus of his entire
address. To this point he is speaking in
our lesson.
Jesus by succession of parallels, has
made several things apparent. He has,
with reference to the publicans and sim
ners, declared that every individual OF
them is divinely searched for as shep-
herd searches for one sheep he has lost
from a hundred; he has declared every
sinner is valued as woman values one
piece of silver which she loses from ten
pieces; he has declared that every one is
even loved by the Father as human
father loves hayward and suffering
son. So far of publcans and sinners.
In the character of the elder son Jesus
began to exhibit the Pharisees and
scribes in the character they had made
for themselves. Toward their sinful and
suffering human brothers they we're. like
the elder brother of the pIodigal, unfra-
ternal. By not showing to their sinful
fellows the mercy they had themselves
received, they, like the unjust steward,
were bringing deeper condemnations on
themselves. To the Pharisees Jesus de-
clared that they must be judged by the
Law to which they had been married.
from which they had not been divorced.
At this juncture comes in the parable
of the Rich Man and the Beggar.
We recall that Jesus, after the par
ables of the Lost Sheep and the Lost
Piece of Silver, which might of them
selves have a merely humanitarian ap-
plication, proceeded to show by the par
able of the Prodigal Son the Fathers
love for sinners and sufferers. So now,
after he has by the elder brother and
the unjust steward exhibited the hu-
manitarian estimate OF the spirit of the
Pharisees and ecribes. he proceeds, by
the parable of the Rich Man and the
Beggar to picture Gods estimate of the
Pharisees and scribes.
The self righteous Pharisees and
scribes are the beggars before God. The
outcasts who are now in the world en-
during the punishment of their sins, are
rich before God in the immortal inner
itance.
The parable, as the scholars tell US. is
mainly drawn from Hebrew literature.
and reflects the Hebrew, or paganized
Hebrew, conceptions Of the future life.
That such conceptions are not Christian
can easily be seen. Its parabolic de-
tails" says Edersheim, an old-school
scholar, must not be exploited, nor doc
trines of any kind be drawn from them,
either as to the character of the other
world, the question of the duration Of
future punishments, or the possible
moral improvement of those in Gehin-
nom. All such things are foreign to
the parable, which is only type and
illustration of what is intended to be
taught" Nevertheless it must be allow
able, in opposition to those who affirm
that the parable proves the materially
and endlessness of future punishment,
to show that the parable in itself. by in
telligent and fair construction. suggests
that the suffering of the selfish one who
comes under future condemnation is &C.
casioned by spiritual repentance, and
that better spirit is seen beginning to
grow in him.
1. A Rich Man and a Beggar
in this WOrld,-vs. 1921.
Jesus conjures before our minds a rep
resentative rich man. He is clothed in
robes of radiant color, bordering on royal
prerogatives, and of such fine quality
that they cost more than their weight in
gold. He feasts in merriment every day;
he is surrounded in splendor; he is fiat
tered for his riches; he is son of Abra-
ham. We are not told Of his failure in
any common morality. or orthodox re.
ligious observance or fashionable benev-
olence.
Another character Jesus coniures for
our mental vision: A beggar who was
laid at the outside of the snowy portal of
the rich mans house; beggar to awaken
pity; his body full of sores, signifying
former dissipation; a beggar, soliciting
of the guests as they passed in and out
a portion of the refuse bread from the
tables; beggar so pitiable that even
the wild dogs are moved to lick his sores;
1 beggar to whom Jesus gives the sug-