When Lazarus lay at the rich man's gate there was an impassable gulf between them, but that gulf was created by the rich man's selfishness and pride. But for his selfishness and pride, he could have made to himself friends by using his wealth in the service of God and in doing good to men; but now the gulf is fixed by divine justice, and it is too late to secure the aid of Lazarus. No word of man can add to the vividness of this picture or make its lessons plainer or more impressive.

The remainder of the parable is hardly less impressive, but it presents more difficult problems. In his treatment of Lazarus the rich man had seemed utterly regardless of the sufferings of others; but, now, in his misery, he thinks of his five brethren who were living as he had lived, and he beseeches Abraham to send Lazarus to warn them so as to prevent them from coming to that place of torment. To this Abraham replies, "They have Moses and the prophets, let them hear them." The rich man is not silenced by this answer to his petition, but when he offers the plea that if one went to his brethren from the dead they would believe, Abraham answered, "If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if one rise from the dead."

Are we to infer from this part of the parable that they who have gone beyond the "fixed gulf" still retain an interest in and affection for their friends that would make them forgetful of their own sufferings and solicitous for the welfare of others? Do we find here a ray of hope that the "fixed gulf" may some time be crossed? These questions we cannot answer. We may, however, find in this part of the parable a great practical truth that should. not be overlooked. It is this: Men need no better revelation than God has given in the Bible. It is a delusion to think that if our friends and dear ones could come

back from Hades and tell what they had seen, faith would be easy. The scribes and Pharisees were not convinced by the resurrection of Lazarus; nor were they persuaded by the resurrection of their crucified Lord. If men believe not Moses and the prophets, if men believe not the gospel, they need not expect their acquaintances to come back to them from the dead.

This whole parable throws the bright light of the eternal years on all the questions of Christian philanthropy. A well known rich man boasted of the wisdom of his philanthropic schemes, because he did not try to help the "submerged tenth" of the human race. Well, Lazarus belonged to the "submerged tenth" that Pharisees, ancient and modern, despise; but Christ came to save the lost, and our heavenly Father sent his angels to carry the despised Lazarus to Abraham's bosom, while the rich man cried in vain from beyond the "fixed gulf."

Having emphasized his answer to the scoffs of the Pharisees by the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, Jesus turned to his disciples, with a most impressive warning, as he said, "It is impossible but that occasions of stumbling should come; but woe unto him through whom they come. It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were thrown into the sea, rather than that he should cause one of these little ones to stumble. Take heed to yourselves; if thy brother sin, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him. And if he sin against thee seven times in the day, and seven times turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him."

Under the term little ones our Lord probably included little children, and all the humble and more dependent or less intelligent who were easily deceived and discouraged. The little ones to whom the scribes and Pharisees

were becoming stumbling blocks were the publicans and sinners. The warning is especially against that selfrighteous, censorious, unforgiving spirit that rejoices in condemning others, and hence the exhortation to forgive the sins or wrongs of others when they repent, even though they repeat the sin seven times in the day. The exhortation is not addressed to the Pharisees, but it grew out of the thought of their cold, compassionless, censorious spirit as it was manifested toward publicans and sinners.

When the apostles heard the exhortation they seemed overwhelmed with the sense of their own responsibility, and they united in the petition to the Lord to increase their faith. They seemed to feel as Paul did when he exclaimed, "Who is sufficient for these things?" How could they be so wise, so forgiving, so like their Master that they would never cause others to stumble? They felt too their own weakness and insufficiency and hence their spontaneous, united prayer, "Increase our faith."

To this prayer Jesus gave his strong approval, as he said, "If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye would say unto this sycamore tree, be thou rooted up, and be thou planted in the sea, and it would have obeyed you." He would deepen the conviction that faith was the instrument of their power, that by faith they were linked with the omnipotent One, and that nothing would be too hard for them. Nevertheless, he warned them that the possibility of their being clothed with divine power should make them humble, since they were but servants who, when they had done all these things that were commanded them, were only meeting their just obligations. To his own disciples and apostles, as well as to the Pharisees, by percept and by example, Jesus Christ commended the virtue of humility. Pride, unbelief and

discontent disturbed the peace of heaven and drove out Satan; pride, unbelief and discontent destroyed the happiness of Eden and drove man out of the earthly Paradise; humble, trustful, obedient faith is the one condition of man's salvation and eternal well being and usefulness in God's service. Without true faith in God, man is hopeless and helpless, but with faith all things are possible to him.

Before leaving this general sketch of our Lord's teachings and movements it might not be amiss to say that the parables of the grain of mustard seed (Matthew 13:3132. Mark 4:30-32); the parable of the leaven, (Matthew 13:33); the parable of the great supper (Matthew 22: 1-14); the discussions concerning faith and merit. (Matthew 17:20); offenses (Matthew 18:6-15); following Christ (Matthew 10:37-38); and the apostrophe to Jerusalem (Matthew 23: 37-39) are very nearly identical with the parables and discourses recorded by Luke; but it seems less difficult, in view of all the known facts, to regard these discourses and parables as repeated on different occasions than to attempt to identify them.

LI

THE RAISING OF LAZARUS AND DEPARTURE TO EPHRAIM

John 11:25. "Jesus said unto her, I am the Resurrection and the Life."

(John 11: 1-54.)

I'

N the gospel by John the account of our Lord's discourses at the feast of dedication is followed by the statement that Jesus went away again beyond Jordan where John was at first baptizing and that many believed on him there. John then tells of the raising of Lazarus, the deliberations of the sanhedrin, the departure to the wilderness city of Ephraim and the return to Bethany six days before the passover.

It was at least four months from the feast of the dedication to the feast of the passover, and this brief statement covers this entire period. Our only record of what Jesus did during this time is found, Luke 17: 11-19: 28, Mat. 19:1-20:3 and Mark 10:1-52. Whether these events occurred before or after the raising of Lazarus is not known, but there seems to be sufficient reason for placing them after that event. We therefore take up the raising of Lazarus at this point.

When Jesus was in Perea he was told by the Jews that Herod Antipas would kill him if he did not go away. Both Jesus and his disciples knew very well that he was safer in Herod's jurisdiction than he would be in Jerusalem, for, when he left the city of Jerusalem after the