towards himself. The disciples would have sent them away as too young for his adoption. THE YOUNG MAN WHO CAME TO JESUS. 16-22. The young man here, who was a ruler (Luke xviii. 18), and who in his eagerness to see Jesus (Mark x. 17) came running to him, and kneeled before him, was probably an amiable, well-meaning young man, susceptible of moral and religious impressions, who had carefully observed the rules of a conventional morality, and who, not finding in them the peace of mind which he sought, came to Jesus with the expectation, as Mr. Norton has said, that he "would enjoin, for instance, some unusual austerity, some long-continued exercise of fasting and prayer, or some peculiar vow, or some extraordinary almsgiving, or some large gift to the treasury of the temple, or some other definite act or course of conduct of a like character, by the performance of which he might assure himself of eternal life." He was probably sincere, and, as he supposed, very much in earnest. The fact of his using the expression eternal life, shows that he was not wholly superficial in his ideas. Jesus in reply to his question, by the words, "Why callest thou me good?" or rather, "Why askest thou me respecting what is good?" "No one is good, but God alone" (Mark x. 18), turns his attention first of all to the infinite Source of all goodness. Then, as a practical test of his fidelity to God, he says to him, If thou really desirest to enter into life, keep the commandments. Which? he asks in reply, and with surprise, as if he had expected something more, and doubted whether he had not misapprehended the answer. Jesus specifies the moral precepts of the Decalogue. The young man, as if wondering and amazed at the easiness of the terms, replies in a tone which shows how little he understood what it was to observe the commandments in their thorough and spiritual application, as Jesus had already expounded them in his Sermon on the Mount. These, he says, I have always kept. But is there not something more still wanting? he asks, not with self-complacency, but from a secret uneasiness, and a conviction that something is still wanting to secure his peace. Jesus, looking upon him (Mark x. 21) with an expression of love as he saw where his weakness lay, applied at once the test which should reveal to him the fatal defect in his character. Yes, one thing is wanting (Mark x. 21), and if thou wouldst be perfect, go and sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor; and thou shalt have treasure in heaven, and come, take up the cross, and follow me. The sadness and grief caused by these words prove that the young man came to Jesus, as he believed, with an honest purpose; but they prove also that the one essential condition of discipleship, the readiness to give up everything at the call of duty and of God, was lacking, and that this one want was undermining all his virtues. The one thing 66 as which he lacked was not, that he did not sell all his goods and give them to the poor, but that there was something The which he valued more than his allegiance to God. outward test revealed the inward want, and this inward want, loving the things of God less than the things of the world, was the fatal defect which Jesus in thus bring-. ing it to his knowledge would have him supply. "It is not here commanded," says Clement of Alexandria, some readily receive, to cast away our possessions and separate ourselves from them; but to drive out of the soul its idea of riches, its diseased passion and longing for them, the anxieties which are the thorns that choke the seed of life." While the words of Jesus revealed the young man to himself, they were also something more than a test. They show what was a necessary condition of discipleship in that day. What could a young man Must do with his riches then as a follower of Jesus? they not have been almost of necessity a fatal encumbrance? There is nothing to show that the condition was to be a general one. As Lord Bacon has said, "But sell not all thou hast, except thou come and follow me; that is, except thou have a vocation, wherein thou mayest do as much good, with little means, as with great.” ness's Thoughts, &c., p. 167. HARD FOR THE RICH TO ENTER CHRIST'S KINGDOM. Fur 23-26. The words here are suggested by the young man who went sorrowfully away from Jesus, because he had great possessions, and therefore apply primarily to those who are outwardly rich. Jesus looked on this young man as the representative of a class, and saw in him how difficult it was for those encumbered by wealth to give For in those days it themselves up entirely to him. was only by leaving all that they could become his followers, and thus enter the kingdom of Heaven. And at all times, though not always perhaps to the same extent, there are peculiar temptations and perils connected with the enjoyment of great wealth, and however shining the examples of humble, self-forgetting, and self-sacrificing fidelity among the rich, the Saviour's words still apply, as a fearful and needed admonition, to those who in the midst of their earthly abundance are in danger of neglecting the higher wants and interests of the soul. But the words apply also with a more searching power to all, whether rich or poor, who (Mark x. 24) trust in riches, i. e. whose heart is in them. They are the opposite of the "poor" (Luke vi. 20) and "the poor in spirit" (Matthew v. 3). The words in their more extended meaning apply to a state of mind. In the kingdom of God, every individual, being merely a steward of God, and viewing himself as such, has renounced all his possessions, and having consecrated them to God holds them subject to his disposal. In this sense the beggar may be rich, cleaying to his bit of a possession, and striving for more, while the possessor of wealth, renouncing all, is poor. So in the dangerous meaning of the word, a man without money may be rich, when his heart is enamored of his own virtues, genius, artistic tastes, intellectual attainments and capabilities, or anything else which his self-love may appropriate as his own. In respect to all such it may be said, that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for them to enter the kingdom of God. The proverb, as verse 26 proves, indicates, not an impossibility, but a very great difficulty. The amazement and consternation of the disciples exhibited by the question, Who then shall be saved? show how unprepared they were for principles of conduct so severe. Jesus comforts them somewhat by the assurance, that, though this is impossible with men, still all things are possible with God. 27 – 29. — GAINING BY RENOUNCING. 27-30. Peter's state of mind may have been one of self-complacent confidence, when he recollects that he and his fellow-disciples had given up everything, and asks what is to be their reward; what shall be to us? Perhaps, after recovering a little from the astonishment occasioned by the severity of the doctrine just announced, which at first had seemed to leave no room for hope to any one, and recollecting what sacrifices he and his fellow-disciples had made, his mind recurs to the command in verse 21, and the promise there of treasure in heaven; and in a sudden burst of feeling, with too keen an eye to the reward, he exclaims, Lo! we have left all and followed thee; how then shall it be with us? or, what shall be our portion? In order to understand the reply of Jesus, we must transfer our thoughts into these Oriental forms of speech, or translate them into our more literal and prosaic dialect. In the regeneration may be joined with either branch of the sentence, but belongs, we think, rather to the second than the first. Verily I say unto you, that ye who have followed me, shall in the regeneration, when the Son of man sits upon his throne, also sit on twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel; i. e. in the new order of things which shall prevail when my religion is established, and I shall rule among men, then shall ye also who have followed me now rule with me as my representatives in the advancement of my kingdom, i. e. of my religion, through the world. He may possibly allude here, as in xvi. 28, to the destruction of Jerusalem, as the decisive moment when the old religion shall be overthrown, and the new established in its place, with a glance forward to yet higher scenes of kingly glory. In verse 29, the thought is carried into the future world with greater distinctness. All who have made sacrifices on my account shall (Mark x. 30) receive an hundred |