The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1906-09-13
Jesus Silences the Pharisees aud
SadduceeS.

1anueI, Wnen composing MS
oratorio, The Messiah" was
found bathed in tears. What
touched him was the prophets
words, He was despised. The
despising of Jesus was as evident
in the temple as at the cross. And
physical pains are not so severe to
a spiritual soul as wounds inhict-
ed upon that higher nature. Low
ell says. "Our modern martyrdoms
are done in type" So Jesus was
crucifed again and again before
ever He came to the cross. We
come now to the last onset of His
despising critics.
1t is led on by the Pharisees.
They have heard of the bewilder-
ing defeat Jesus had given their
rivals, the Sadducees; how, in a
dialectical way, He had put an
end to them forever. Now, if
they, the Pharisees, could get the
better of this brilliant young rabbi
in debate, they would score
against the Sadducees at the same
time that they blocked the way of
a Teacher whose success meant
the end of their system.
We can not know whether the
questioner was disingenuous or
not. To assert (Exposieor's) that
the question was asked by "a true
man, "a genuine inquirer" is an
assumption, and, at any rate, aside
from the real point at issue. What
the Pharisees wanted was to elicit
from Jesus sentiment, if possible,
a categorical statement which
could be used against Him in the
trial for heresy impending.
The question itself illustrates
the character of religion then cur
rent. 1t was technically gone to
seed. Liberalism had killed spir-
ituality. There was such batch
of commandments that classical
tons seemed imperative; 50 there
were the little and the great, light
and weighty. And the question
which was the chief of all was nat
urally much mooted. A spiritual
virtue was not thought Of. 1t was,
for some, washing hands; others,
how to build a booth for the Feast
of Tabernacles, or, at best, circum-
cision and keeping the Sabbath.
The answer of Jesus has been
called miracle of genius, a fash
of inspiration. He escaped the
snare of the fowler. He allied
Himself with no pickering faction,
He carried the question over into
an entirely new realm, where there
are no disjointed commands and
sacramental Offices; but where
there is a Life which gives contin-
uity, vigor, and progress to the
whole, with one splendid flash, as
of a heavenly searchlight, Jesus
discloses the permanent and funda-
mental element in religion-for all
time and all people. Absent, it
makes the Christian a heather;
present, it makes the heather
a Christian, though he may have
never so much as heard of Christ.
The disputatious coterie fades
away. Jesus is speaking of the
universal human heart. The man
of today, technically rated an I'M
believer, must recognize the Di-
vineness Of this message, and re-
ceiving it into an honest heart,
must begin the life of love toward
God and his fellows. And that is
religion.
Too great technicality must be
avoided in defining the manner of
our loving God-viz., heart, soul,
mind. 1t means, as Meyer aptly
says, 1.-The complete, harmonious,
self-dedication Of the inner man to
God. " 1t seems worth while, how
ever, to emphasize the fact that we
can love God with the mind. It
is to be feared that, as Phillips
Brooks tsays, there are ignorant
saints who come very near to God
and live in the rich sunlight of
His love; but none the less would
have escaped the labyrinth of
II,