pression, and that the Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath.

If we had no record of the healing of the withered hand in the synagogue on the Sabbath day, except what we find in Matthew and Mark, we would conclude that it had occurred on the afternoon of the Sabbath on which the disciples had plucked the ears of corn. But Luke speaks of this event as having occurred on another Sabbath, and, since the three evangelists connect it with the discussion of the Sabbath that grew out of the plucking of the ears of corn, it may be inferred that it occurred on the following Sabbath. The Sabbath having become the ecclesiastical battle-field, our Lord's enemies were watching him, and, when they saw him in the synagogue on the Sabbath day and knew there was a man in the synagogue with a withered hand, they were very alert to see what he would do.

Tradition says that this man was a stone mason. Whether this be true or not, the man needed his hand to earn a living, and his friends might have hoped that Jesus would see and heal him. No such compassionate motive, however, prompted the interest of the Pharisees. They were interested especially to see whether Jesus would break the Sabbath. Their eagerness was so great that thy could not let events take their course, but called Jesus' attention by a question, saying, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath day?" He knew well that they were not asking for information as to what they ought to do, but to ensnare him, and he changed the form of their question before he answered it by his action. The form of the question they asked might enable them to pervert his answer, but he asked a more definite question, as he said, "Is it lawful on the Sabbath day to do good, or to do harm? to save life or to kill?" They declined to

answer. He had met them openly and frankly, defending the actions of his disciples, and declaring that the Sabbath was made for man, but they would not commit themselves to anything. Jesus gave them an excellent opportunity to declare what they regarded as permissible works on the Sabbath, but they held their peace. They were treacherously and maliciously silent.

Jesus saw with sorrow and with righteous anger the hardening of their hearts, and he answered their abstract question by an open, concrete example. He commanded the man to stand forth so that they might see the need for healing and the opportunity to do good on the Sabbath day if one had the power to heal. Then he said to the man, "Stretch forth thy hand." The man obeyed, and the Pharisees' question was answered, for Christ had again healed a man on the Sabbath day.

The animus of the Pharisees is evident when the evangelist goes on to say they were made angry even to madness by this answer to their question. Everyone of them would have saved the life of a sheep on the Sabbath, yet the healing of this man only enraged them because they knew in their hearts that Jesus knew their motive and had placed them in bad contrast because he had done good on the Sabbath and they had done evil in trying to destroy life. They were so angry that they took counsel with one another how they might kill him.

This miracle of Jesus was followed by a combination of the political with the religious rulers for his destruction. Mark says, "The Pharisees went forth, and straightway took counsel with the Herodians against him, how they might destroy him." Up to this time Jesus Christ had met opposition from individuals, but now he meets organized and powerful religious and political enemies.

Why the courtiers of Herod Antipas should have found fault with him for healing on the Sabbath day is not very evident. It is probable that they would not have taken the initiative in any movement against him, but they were prepared to act on the suggestion of the Pharisees. They, no doubt, associated Jesus with John the Baptist and felt toward Jesus as the Herodians felt toward John. Like John, he had let the light of truth fall on sin, and, in doing so, had incurred the enmity of all who were not willing to repent of their sins.

Never before had Jesus been followed by such a multitude as were now assembled from Judea, Jerusalem, Galilee, Idumea, the regions beyond Jordan, and from Tyre and Sidon; and never before had he faced such powerful, malicious and organized enemies. Exposed hypocrisy had joined hands with sensuality for his destruction, while multitudes afflicted with all manner of diseases were pressing upon him that they might be healed. When he reached Capernaum and the seaside it was necessary that he should have a boat to prevent the multitudes from pressing upon him while he taught them.

XXIII

CALLING THE TWELVE AND THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT

Matthew 5: I. “And seeing the multitudes, he went up into the mountain; and when he had sat down, his disciples came unto him; and he opened his mouth and taught them, saying,"

(Mat. 5:1; 7:29; Mark 3: 13-19; Luke 6: 12-49. )

W

HEN and where our Lord preached the great discourse reported in the gospel by Matthew,

5: I-7:29, no one knows, but there seem to be good reasons for believing that the time was not long after his second official visit to Jerusalem, and that the place was the mountain or elevation known as the Horns of Hattin, not far from Capernaum. While attending a feast in Jerusalem he had healed a lame man on the Sabbath day, and had been accused of violating the law of the Sabbath. In his defense he had proclaimed himself the Son of God, co-equal with the Father, and had incurred the deadly enmity of the Jewish rulers. On his return from Jerusalem, as we have assumed, the conflict had been revived by his disciples plucking and eating the ripe grain as they were passing through grain-fields on a Sabbath day, and by his healing a man who had a withered hand on another Sabbath. His teachings and his miracles had attracted great crowds, and the outcome of it all was a combination of the Pharisees with the Herodians to destroy him. He was to meet organized enemies, and it seemed a suitable time for organizing his

kingdom and giving a clear and complete statement of its spirit and its laws.

There is scarcely room for doubt that our Lord did in a single discourse proclaim the spirit of his kingdom and that Matthew gives the most complete account of this discourse, while Luke gives a less complete account of it. It is probable that neither evangelist gives anything like a complete account of all that our Lord said at this time.

Matthew introduces his report in these words, “And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain, and when he had sat down, his disciples came unto him." Luke, after speaking of the choosing of the twelve Apostles, introduces his report by saying, "And he came down with them, and stood on a level place, and a great multitude of his disciples, and a great number of the people from all Judea and Jerusalem, and the sea coast of Tyre and Sidon, who came to hear him, and to be healed of their diseases; and they that were troubled with unclean spirits were healed. And all the multitude sought to touch him; for power went forth from him and healed them all."

It need hardly be said that these two evangelists were giving a description of the same event, but looking at it from a different point of observation. The key to the explanation is suggested by Luke when he first tells us that our Lord had spent the preceding night in the mountain in prayer. He had come down from a higher point to what was, in contrast with the declivity, a level place, and yet it was a part of the mountain, so that one could speak of his going up into the mountain and the other of his coming down into a level place.

Following the order indicated by the third evangelist, we may see Jesus leaving the crowd and going out into a mountain where he spent the whole night in prayer.