He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem--
Christ hastening to the cross
I. THE PERFECT CLEARNESS WITH WHICH ALL THROUGH CHRIST’S LIFE HE SAW THE INEVITABLE END.
II. OUR LORD’S PERFECT WILLINGNESS FOR THE SACRIFICE WHICH HE SAW BEFORE HIM.
III. THERE WAS IN CHRIST A NATURAL HUMAN SHRINKING FROM. THE CROSS. That steadfast and resolved will held its own, overcoming the natural human reluctance. “He set His face.” All along that consecrated road He walked, and each step represents a separate act of will, and each separate act of will represents a triumph over the reluctance of flesh and blood. We are far too much accustomed to think of our Saviour as presenting only the gentler graces of human nature. He presents those that belong to the stony side just as much. In Him is all power, manly energy, resolved consecration; everything that men call heroism. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
Why did Christ go up to Jerusalem?
He went there to precipitate the collision and to make His crucifixion certain. He was under the ban of the Sanhedrim, but perfectly safe as long as He stopped down among the hills of Galilee. He was as unsafe when He went up to Jerusalem as John Huss when he went to the Council of Constance with the Emperor’s safe-conduct in his belt; or as a condemned heretic would have been in the old days if he had gone and stood in that little dingy square outside the palace of the Inquisition at Rome, and there, below the obelisk, preached his heresies. Christ had been condemned in the council of the nation; but there were plenty of hiding-places among the Galilean hills, and the frontier was close at hand, and it needed a long arm to reach from Jerusalem all the way across Samaria to the far north. Knowing that, He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem, and, if I might use the expression, went straight into the lion’s mouth. Why? Because He chose to die. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
The face toward Jerusalem
Every step of the Lord Jesus Christ left a footprint for His followers to study. This incident, too often overlooked as unimportant, has some suggestive lessons for the Christian.
1. It teaches that we should never shrink from a path of duty, however many may be the obstacles we encounter.
2. Such an uncompromising religion must not expect any help or hospitality from the world. Jesus found Himself on hostile soil as soon as He set foot in Samaria.
3. It was probably about the time of His repulse by the Samaritans that Jesus delivered those solemn injunctions to His followers about taking up their cross daily if they would be His disciples. He drew a sharp line, and made a clean issue. It is a religion of this fibre that the times demand. Such living brings happy dying. Dean Alford asked that it might be inscribed on his tombstone:
“This is the inn of a traveller on his way to Jerusalem.”
Let us determine so to live that, when Death calls our names on his roll, we may be found with our faces steadfastly set toward “Jerusalem the Golden.” (T. L. Cuyler, D. D.)
Steadfastnes in the path of duty
The Master’s example teaches us to march unflinchingly forward in the path of duty, with our faces steadfastly set toward God. This is not an age of heroic Christianity. There is more pulp than pluck in the average Christian professor when self-denial is required. The men and women who not only rejoice in doing their duty for Christ, but even rejoice in overcoming uncomfortable obstacles in doing it, are quite too scarce. The piety that is most needed is a piety that will stand a pinch; a piety that would rather eat an honest crust than fare sumptuously on fraud; a piety that can work up stream against currents; a piety that sets its face like a flint in the straight, narrow road of righteousness. (T. L.Cuyler, D. D.)
Boldness of the decided man
The decisive man walks by the light of his own judgment: he has made up his mind; and, having done so, henceforth action is before him. He cannot bear to sit amidst unrealized speculations: to him speculation is only valuable that it may be resolved into living and doing. There is no indifference, no delay. The spirit is in arms: all is in earnest. Thus Pompey, when hazarding his life on a tempestuous sea in order to be at Rome on an important occasion, said, “It is necessary for me to go: it is not necessary for me to live.” Thus Caesar, when he crossed the Rubicon, burned the ships upon the shore which brought his soldiers to land, that there might be no return. (Paxton Hood.)
The battle-face
Oliver Cromwell’s men just before the battle used to look at their general, and whisper to each other, “See, he has on his battle-face.” When they saw that set, iron face they felt that defeat was impossible. Determined striving towards one point is the best way of gaining that point. Try to walk in a straight line over a field of snow, keeping your eyes fixed on the ground as you walk. When you look back on the track, you find it far from straight. Walk over the field again, this time keeping your eye fixed on some definite point ahead. That will keep you in the straight line, and will save you from fruitless wandering on this side or that. Jesus, keeping the end of His work in view, set His face towards it. So should we do with our work. (Sunday School Times.)
Wilt Thou that we command fire?--
Our Lord and the Samaritans
The conduct of these Samaritans in refusing to receive Christ and His disciples, was, indeed, very sinful; but the transport of rage into which that conduct threw His disciples, or at least some of His disciples, and the proposal which it provoked them to make, were most lamentable and most unchristian. That John, especially, whose usual temper was so gentle and so affectionate, should have been so forward in this affair, is very strange, and ought to be considered as an instructive warning of the necessity for the most charitable and meek to be constantly on their guard against the first risings of prejudice, passion, and false zeal, lest the fierce spirit obtain the mastery over them. They imagined that they were influenced by a purely religious spirit--by a hatred of sin, and a regard to the honour of Christ: whereas, they were really led to make such a proposal by the original prejudice which, as Jews, they indulged against the Samaritans, and, still more, by their now irritated pride, party feeling, blind zeal, personal resentment, violence, and passion.
I. LET US ADMIRE, AND IN OUR SPHERE AND MEASURE IMITATE, THE NOBLE FIRMNESS DISPLAYED BY OUR LORD AND MASTER ON THIS OCCASION.
II. LET US BEWARE OF RESEMBLING THESE SAMARITANS IN NOT RECEIVING THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. Though they were not immediately destroyed, yet their sin was great; nay, the very circumstance of the merciful forbearance shown towards them, manifests, with peculiar clearness, the heaviness of the guilt they incurred by rejecting such goodness.
III. Let us observe how plainly EVERY KIND AND EVERY DEGREE OF PERSECUTION ARE HERE FORBIDDEN. Fire from heaven might prove a doctrine to be true; but fire kindled under any such pretence, by men, or any other species of persecution, could prove nothing but their own bigotry and cruelty. Indeed, such is the constitution of the human mind, that it is ready to call in question, or to suspect, even the truth itself, when any attempt is made to support it by such means.
IV. In all we do, and especially in what we do under the name of religion, LET US CAREFULLY CONSIDER WHAT MANNER OF SPIRIT WE ARE OF. “The servant of the Lord must not strive, but be gentle unto all men.”
V. LET US BE VERY THANKFUL WHEN WE THINK OF THE GRACIOUS PURPOSE FOR WHICH THE SON OF GOD IS HERE SAID TO HAVE COME INTO THE WORLD. (J. Foote, M. A.)
A visit from Christ
We are not told the name of the village, and it is well the Scriptures are silent on the matter, for the name deserves to be buried in oblivion; and all those who perpetrate such inhumanity should have an opportunity of blotting out such disgrace. Nor do we know who were the messengers whom Christ sent to make ready for Him. Perhaps they were disciples, or followers, or adherents--anyhow, they were doubtless in sympathy with Him. The Saviour, then, desires to become the Guest of men in this world. He is ever sending messengers before His face to prepare His way. Here, then, we have--
I. PIONEERS--“He sent messengers before His face.” Pioneers in every sphere are those who go in advance and prepare the way, or act as heralds and announce the coming of those who are to follow. His coming is anticipated by the many and varied mercies and blessings of life, even as the glory of day is heralded by the early dawn. The loving Saviour we may be sure is close to the bounties of Providence and the privileges of the gospel. Education, too, is always in advance of Him. He sends it forth on its beneficent mission to give men right ideas, and to awaken in them a sense of need and longing. Education, too, like the sappers and miners, goes forward to remove obstructions, to cut down wild, luxuriant growth, to make a way through the wilderness, and to bridge over the ugly, dangerous chasms. The mercy of grace, religious instruction, the service of the sanctuary, the preaching of the Word--these are like the predictions which went before the Saviour, like the stars of the morning, true harbingers of the coming day. Yes, Jesus Christ is near the Temple and the teaching there--near the institutions and ordinances of worship. He is not far from pain and sorrow, from affliction, bereavement, and death. Now all these pioneers have come to you, my friends; have come to you with a mission in the interests of Christ, and for your eternal good. The question, therefore, arises: How have they been received? What has been the result of their visits?
II. PREPARATION--“TO make ready for Him.” The pioneers in all time have gone before Christ to prepare His way, and the things of which I have spoken, and which come into our every life, are sent not only to herald the approach of the Saviour, but to help men to realize His nearness with their deep and present need of Him. When the light of the morning comes peeping in at the window, it tells the world that the sun has arisen and will soon flood the earth with brightness and glory. The dawn ever predicts the day, and prepares for it, and it ever seems to say to men, “Give it welcome; up with the blinds; open the windows, and let the light of the day come in.” When the blade, the leaf, the blossom appear, they speak of the coming summer and harvest, and suggest that every barn and granary be got ready. And so when Christ sends His messengers in advance of Him, He desires that they should prepare for Him. There are three things which the pioneers of Christ seek to do--inform, awaken, and command, and all are intended to prepare for a full and hearty reception of Christ. They inform--tell men that Christ, that infinite goodness and love are in the events, in the experiences of life, and that Christ is coming near through them--is thus visiting to bless. They say, “He is coming,” and the soul asks, “Who is He?” Zaccheus, hearing that Christ was to pass that way, had his curiosity aroused, and was thus moved towards the sycamore tree, that He might see Jesus, who He was. They command--coming from Christ and for Him, they declare His will, His requirements; they tell men to make ready for Him, and to give Him welcome and entertainment, to put away prejudice and indifference, to turn out all intruders, and to let the rightful owner of their spirits in; and that they would rightly regard these visitations, and the voices which speak--for they are in truth the voice of Christ--and their message may be summed up in one verse, “Behold! stand at the door and knock.”
III. PREJUDICE--“They did not receive Him.” The Samaritans did not because of their antipathy to the Jews; they allowed prejudice to overcome discretion, and even reason itself; but they did not know Christ, or they would not have acted thus, nor were they conscious of what they lost by rejecting Him.
IV. PASSING--“They went to another village.” Jesus went from those who were unwilling, to others who were disposed to entertain Him, and this He is doing to-day. Anxious to enter every heart, He passes by the indifferent and obstinate. He does not force Himself upon man. (John James.)
Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of
Intolerance rebuked
1. We may notice here, in the first place, the power and evil of prejudice. The Samaritans seem in general to have been very favourably disposed towards our Lord, as was seen on various occasions. Why, then, did they now refuse to receive Him? It was because He was going up to Jerusalem to the Passover. They claimed that Mount Gerizim was the place where men ought to worship; but our Lord was on His way to worship at the Temple, on Mount Zion, and thus showed that He favoured their old enemies the Jews, and declared His preference far their religion. When Christ came from Judaea to Jacob’s well they kindly received Him. If He would renounce the Jews, become a Samaritan prophet, and teach in their synagogues, they would have welcomed Him most cordially; but forasmuch as “He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem,” they would have nothing to do with Him. Thus they lost their last opportunity of hearing Jesus, for He was now on His way to be crucified. Nor were the disciples much better in the spirit they displayed than the Samaritans.
2. We may notice, secondly, the mischiefs of a wrong interpretation of Scripture. “Wilt Thou that we command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, as Elias did?” Now Elias’ conduct was very different from theirs, and his example gave no sanction to their proposed vengeance. Upon a perversion of Scripture, the supreme divinity of Jesus has been denied, the atonement rejected, good works pronounced unnecessary, a future punishment discarded; yea, all the thousand forms of error, and all the monstrous sects of Christendom have been based upon just such a mistake as these disciples made, in pleading the seeming sanction of Elijah’s example, for that which it did not warrant.
3. We have, in the third place, in our Lord’s conduct on this occasion, a beautiful lesson of tolerance towards those who are in error.
4. We may also learn from our Lord’s treatment of these Samaritans, how to estimate the comparative evil of error.
5. We have in the conclusion of this history, the glorious end of the Saviour’s mission. “He came not to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.” His whole work was one of salvation. His miracles were those of healing. His teaching was for the saving of the soul. (W. H. Lewis, D. D.)
Our Lord’s treatment of erroneous zeal
I. NOTICE WHAT IS IMPLIED IN THE PROPOSAL OF THE TWO DISCIPLES.
1. This proposal discovers at least some acquaintance with the writings of the Old Testament, for it refers to an event which happened many centuries before, and which is remarkable in the history of Elijah.
2. It appears that the disciples had some distrust of their own judgment, and were willing to submit to Christ’s direction. Their language is, Lord, wilt Thou that we should do this? They would do nothing rashly, nothing but what He approved; and in this they furnish an example worthy of imitation.
3. The language implies strong faith: “Wilt Thou that we command fire from heaven?” The disciples felt persuaded that if the Lord gave authority, the miracle would be performed. They had commanded unclean spirits out of persons, and were obeyed; and why might they not expect the same, if they called for fire from heaven?
4. They had a zeal for God, though not according to knowledge; it was sufficiently fervid, but not well directed. It was promised to the disciples that they should be baptized with the Holy Ghost and with fire; that they should be endowed with extraordinary gifts and extraordinary zeal, yet not for the purpose of destroying men’s lives, but to save them.
5. Their zeal expressed great indignation against sin, and in this it was commendable.
6. It was a zeal which expressed great affection for their Lord and Master. To see Him slighted and insulted, shut out of doors, and denied the common necessities and civilities of life, was more than they could bear; they therefore wished to resent such churlish behaviour.
7. There was, however, too much asperity in their zeal, and a want of Christian meekness and charity.
II. OBSERVE THE TREATMENT THEY MET WITH FROM THEIR LORD: “He turned and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of.” There is a mixture of mildness and severity in this reproof. He upbraids them with ignorance, and especially ignorance of themselves, and of the motives by which they were influenced.
1. They were unacquainted with the infirmities of their own spirit, the temper they derived from constitutional causes, and which had been insensibly confirmed by habit.
2. They were not aware of the principles and motives by which their present conduct was influenced. The springs of action ought at all times to be severely inspected, because if an action be materially good, it is not morally and intrinsically so, unless it, principle be good also. A corrupt motive depraves and renders unacceptable to God the most laudable actions.
Conclusion:
1. From the instance before us we see what a mixture of good and evil there may be in the same persons.
2. If Christ’s immediate disciples, who had the advantage of such instructions and such an example, did not know what manner of spirit they were of, no wonder that so many misapprehensions and mistakes are found amongst us. Who can understand his errors?
3. We see that particular actings of the mind may be wrong, even where the general frame and temper of it is right.
4. Though the disciples did not well know the motives by which they were influenced, yet Christ did, for He searcheth the reins and the heart. He knoweth what is in man, and needeth not that any one should testify. All the Churches shall know this, and He will give to every man according to his works (Matthew 9:4; Mark 2:8; Revelation 2:23). (B. Beddome, M. A.)
The vindictive spirit rebuked
You can’t make Eliases. You may do just the very thing Elias did, and so make the greater fools of yourselves. Elias is sent when the world needs him--son of thunder, son of consolation, each will be sent from heaven at the right time, and be furnished with the right credentials. But how delightful it is to set fire to somebody else! The dynamitard is a character in ancient history. Would it not be convenient for the Church always to have in its pocket just one little torpedo that it could throw in the way of somebody who differed in not what manner of spirit ye are of.” The spirit of Christianity is a spirit of love, a spirit of sympathy, a spirit of felicity, a spirit that can weep over cities that have rejected the Son of Man. Then said He, or said the historian--the words might be His, for they are part of His very soul--“For the opinion from somebody else! The Lord Jesus will not have this; He said, “Ye know Son of Man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them” (Luke 9:56). Tell this everywhere. Go ye into all the world and say to every creature, “The Son of Man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.” The strongest man amongst us might devote his life to that sweet, high task. The brightest genius that ever revelled in poem or picture might devote all its energies to the revelation of that sacred truth. There are destroyers enough. Nature itself is often a vehement and unsparing destroyer. We are our own destroyers. There needs to be somewhere a saviour, a loving heart, a redeeming spirit, a yearning soul, a mother-father that will not let us die. (J. Parker, D. D.)
Ungodly nature of revenge
A young man who had great cause of complaint against another, told an old hermit that he was resolved to be avenged. The good old hermit did all that he could to dissuade him; but, seeing that it was impossible, and the young man persisted in seeking vengeance, he said to him, “At least, my young friend, let us pray together before you execute your design.” Then he began to pray in this way: “It is no longer necessary, O God! that Thou shouldst defend this young man, and declare Thyself his protector, since he has taken upon himself the right of seeking his own revenge.” The young man fell on his knees before the old hermit, and prayed for pardon for his wicked thought, and declared that he would no longer seek revenge of those who had injured him.
False zeal
“Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of”; that is, ye own yourselves to be My disciples, but do you consider what spirit now acts and governs you?
I. THE OPPOSITION OF THIS SPIRIT TO THE TRUE SPIRIT AND DESIGN OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION.
1. This spirit which our Saviour here reproves in His disciples, is directly opposite to the main and fundamental precepts of the gospel, which command us to “love one another,” and “to love all men,” even our very enemies; and are so far from permitting us to persecute those who hate us, that they forbid us to hate those who persecute us. They require us to be “merciful, as our Father which is in heaven is merciful”; and to “follow peace with all men,” and to “show all meekness to all men.”
2. This spirit is likewise directly opposite to the great patterns and examples of our religion, our blessed Saviour and the primitive Christians.
II. THE UNJUSTIFIABLENESS OF THIS SPIRIT UPON ANY PRETENCE WHATSOEVER OF ZEAL FOR GOD AND RELIGION. (Archbishop Tillotson.)
Religious repulsions
This little exquisite bit of human nature and Divine nature stands recorded in the Bible among a hundred other dramas, brief but significant. The Samaritans and the Jews were two very religious, very conscientious peoples. That they were religious was evident from the fact that they hated each other so thoroughly that they would have no dealings one with another. Of all hatred there is none like religious hatred. The Samaritan was a bastard Jew. When you come to look at the conduct of the Samaritans you naturally feel a good deal of surprise; for it is other people’s inhospitality that surprises us, not our own. But when you turn round and look at the disciples what do you think of them? You have genuine Jewish orthodoxy against the orthodoxy of the Samaritans, and both of them were hatred. I do not wonder that the old Oriental nations sacrificed men to their gods, and that human offerings were burned on their altars. The whole religious world has been burning victims to their gods, their creeds, and their consciences ever since. Of the two here the Jews show to the least advantage. The Samaritans only wanted not to have anything to do with Jesus. The disciples on the other hand, wanted to burn up the Samaritans, to pulverise them to ashes. On the whole, I think the Samaritans were a little more religious than the Jews. What did the Saviour do? He quietly went to another village, but not until He had rebuked these disciples. And see how the rebuke was administered. Not as most of us would have done it. “Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of,” &c. (H. W.Beecher.)
Misdirected enthusiasm
The next worst thing to being destitute of enthusiasm altogether is to expend it on the wrong objects. As the poet says--
What is enthusiasm? What can it be
But thought enkindled to a high degree,
That may, whatever be its ruling turn,
Right or not right, with equal ardour burn
That which concerns us, therefore, is to see
What species of enthusiasts we be.”
Here was enthusiasm, and enthusiasm for Christ; but it was expending itself in unchristian, and even anti-Christian channels. We are constantly meeting, in our every-day experience, with instances of misdirected enthusiasm. The important thing to do is to discover Christ’s idea of Christianity, and to let our enthusiasm go forth into the same channels in which His was wont to flow. If this be our earnest and constant endeavour, then, although we may sometimes make mistakes, although we may, like the Boanerges, incur the rebuke, “Ye know not what spirit ye are of,” it will be a gentle rebuke--one of pity rather than of condemnation. (Prof. Momerie, M. A., D. Sc.)
The story of the Sons of Thunder
The Samaritans believed that their copy of the Law was the only authentic one; that God had forsaken Zion and chosen Gerizim, and placed His Name there; that it was in their country that the Messiah was destined to appear, and not in Judaea. It was in connection with this latter article of their belief that the conversation arose which is related in the text. It is the common assumption that what the Samaritan villagers were guilty of was merely a breach of hospitality. I believe there was something far worse. Jesus had been there before, and they had treated Him hospitably then. It is said that before setting out on this journey Jesus sent messengers before His face. It cannot be that these were only couriers, to provide food and shelter. They were heralds, specially sent to tell the Samaritans that the Messiah was coming. It was this that urged them to refuse Him food and shelter. John and James, fresh from the Transfiguration scene, and knowing that He was certainly the Son of God, were indignant at the rejection of His claims, and wanted to call down fire upon the Samaritans. They recalled a passage from Elijah’s history, which seemed to them to furnish a precedent for their conduct. Christ in effect says to them: “Elijah acted according to his lights; you must act up to yours.” Christ did not censure the conduct of Elijah, but He told them that they were forgetting the influence of the spirit of Christianity: “I came not to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.” (Canon Luckock.)
The Spirit of Christ and of Elijah
Renan tells us that in the pictures of the Greek Church Elijah is usually represented as surrounded by the decapitated heads of the Church’s enemies. And Prescott tells us that in the sixteenth century the brutal inquisitors of Spain tried to justify their fiendish deeds by appealing to Elijah’s act of calling down fire from heaven. They did not understand, or would not, that that act of Elijah’s was for ever condemned by One who was at once Elijah’s Master and Elijah’s God. Elijah, and the old heroes, doubtless, had not learnt to distinguish between the sinner and the sin. It was reserved for after times--it required the teaching of the Son of God Himself to teach men that.The spirit of Elijah was a spirit of justice, of righteous retribution, of terrible vengeance; the spirit of Christ was a spirit of tenderness, of compassion, of love. But, because the religion of Christ is a religion of love, do not fancy that it is therefore a religion of sentimentalism, fit only for weak women and effeminate men. The spirit of Elijah is passed away, replaced by the spirit of Christ, which is a spirit of meekness, but of justice too, and a spirit of hatred against intolerable wrong. (J. Vaughan, B. A.)
Peace and war--from a Christian standpoint
I. THE SPIRIT OF WAR IS CONDEMNED BY THE GENIUS OF CHRISTIANITY,
1. It very often springs from vainglory.
2. Or revenge.
3. Or sordid ambition.
II. THE SPIRIT OF PEACE IS INCULCATED BY OUR RELIGION, AND IN PROPORTION AS CHRISTIANITY PREVAILS WILL THAT SPIRIT OF PEACE RE DIFFUSED AMONG MANKIND.
1. It tends to the preservation of human life, and happiness, and property, and social order.
2. It allows of the development of all good and great principles, and the progress of mankind in virtue, morality, and piety.
3. Christianity must be on the side of peace, because of its Divine Author and Exemplar.
III. PRACTICAL CONCLUSIONS.
1. Let us cherish the spirit of peace. The great thing is to have the right temper.
2. Let us pray that our national councils may at all times be controlled and permeated by the spirit of peace.
3. We should labour for Christianity for this amongst other reasons, that it is only through Christianity, and the spread of it, that we shall ever attain to an era of universal peace. (Dawson Burns, M. A.)
On persecution
I. Persecution for conscience’ sake--that is, inflicting penalties on men merely for their religious principles or worship--is plainly founded on an absurd supposition, that one man has a right to judge for another, in matters of religion.
II. Persecution is also evidently inconsistent with that obvious and fundamental principle of morality, that we should do to others as we might reasonably desire they should do to us.
III. Persecution is likewise in its own nature absurd, as it is by no means calculated to answer the ends which its patrons profess to intend by it.
IV. Persecution evidently tends to produce a great deal of mischief and confusion in the world.
V. The Christian religion, which we here suppose to be the cause of truth, must, humanly speaking, be not only obstructed but destroyed, should persecuting principles universally prevail.
VI. Persecution is so far from being required or encouraged by the gospel, that it is directly contrary to many of its precepts and indeed to the whole genius of it. (P. Doddridge, D. D.)
To save
Christ, the Saviour of human life
We may regard the text in the light of a prophecy. Whatever Christ announced as the purpose of His coming, was to be accomplished upon earth throughout successive ages. The Saviour of human life--this is the character which Christ here assumes to Himself, or of which He predicts, that it will be proved to belong to Him, as the religion He was about to establish makes way among men. Now there is nothing more interesting than the tracing the temporal effects which have followed the introduction of Christianity. We shall not now enter upon this wide field of inquiry; but our text requires us to consider Christianity as beneficial under one special point of view--as making provision for the saving of human life.
1. It has done this by overthrowing the tenets and destructive rites of heathenism.
2. By contributing to the civilization of society, it has, in many ways, spread a shield over human life.
3. Add to this the mighty advances which have been made under the fostering sway of Christianity, in every department of science.
4. There is, however, a far higher sense, in which our Lord might affirm that He had come to save human life. You are to bear in mind that death, bodily death, had entered the world, as the direct and immediate consequence of Adam’s transgression, and that the counteracting this consequence, was one chief object of the mission of our Redeemer.
5. Now we have treated our text as though the word “life” were to be Literally taken, or interpreted with reference exclusively to the body; but it is often very difficult to say whether the original word denotes what we mean by the immortal principle and spiritual part of man, which never dies, or merely the vital principle--that, through the suspension of which the body becomes lifeless. And if the words before us may be applied to the destruction and the salvation of the soul, as well as of life in the more ordinary sense, it is indispensable that we say something of them in this their less obvious meaning. “I live,” said the great apostle, “yet not I, but Christ liveth in me”; and life indeed it is, when a man is made “wise unto salvation”--when, having been brought to a consciousness of his state, as a rebel against God, he has committed his cause unto Christ, who “was delivered for our offences, and raised again for our justification.” It is not “life”--it deserves not the name, merely to have power of moving to and fro on this earth, beholding the light and drinking in the air. It may be life to the brute, but not to man--man who is deathless, man who belongs to two worlds--the citizen of immensity, the heir of eternity. But it is “life,” to spend the few years of earthly pilgrimage in the full hope and certain expectation of everlasting blessedness--to be able to regard sin as a forgiven thing, and death as an abolished--to anticipate the future with its glories, and the judgment with its terrors, and to know assuredly, that He who shall sit upon the throne, and “gather all nations before Him,” reserves for us a place in those “many mansions “ which He reared and opened through His great work of mediation. It is life to live for eternity; it is life to live for God; it is life to have fellowship with what the eye hath not seen, and the ear hath not heard. And this life Christ came to impart; He came to give life to the soul. (H. Melvill, B. D.)
Christ’s mission
I. THE NATURE OF CHRIST’S MISSION.
1. TO open up a new era under a dispensation of unbounded mercy.
2. This mission of our Lord’s did not interfere with the course of nature, or natural law. It refers to our spiritual life.
II. THE DUTIES WHICH THESE WORDS LEAD US TO INFER.
1. The first is that of not being satisfied with any other life than that which Christ came to give or to save.
2. Another duty is that of encouraging feelings of charity towards others.
3. That the object of our Saviour’s mission has been fulfilled, is being fulfilled, and will be so hereafter, is indisputable. (W. D. Horwood.)
The Son of Man the Saviour of life
Christ came into the world both as Destroyer and Saviour. He came to “destroy the works of the devil.” He came not to destroy the law, but to fulfil it. He came not to destroy men’s lives, but to save them. The preservation of human life was characteristic of our Lord’s public ministry. And Christianity in its very nature is a lifesaving religion. Consider three or four of the great destructive agencies at work in the world, and the way in which Christianity opposes itself to them in principle, and practically proves itself victorious over them.
I. WAR. The late Dr. Dick calculated, in 1847, that from the earliest period down to that year 14,000,000,000 of human beings had fallen in battle. Christianity condemns war and inculcates peace.
II. SLAVERY. Here we have another great scourge of human life. Christianity sets its face against this monstrous iniquity. True that Christ and His apostles did not in a direct manner attempt to abolish it.
Nevertheless, I affirm that Christianity is opposed to slavery, and will prove its death. Jesus Christ came to liberate the captive.
III. HEATHEN IDOLATRY and its human sacrifices.
IV. INTEMPERANCE. Sixty thousand deaths annually result from the use of intoxicating liquors. Christianity condemns intemperance. Sobriety is enjoined as a Christian virtue. (W. Walters.)
Christ a Saviour
The design of Christ’s coming into our world is here expressed--
I. NEGATIVELY. Life is exposed to destruction. By sin it was forfeited. By law it is condemned. By justice it is demanded. By death it is claimed.
II. POSITIVELY. The Son of Man is a Saviour. He came to reveal salvation. He came to procure salvation. He came to bestow salvation. He is coming to perfect salvation.
III. THE ASSURANCE THE SINNER HAS OF CHRIST’S INTEREST IN HIS SALVATION. Of God’s readiness to give salvation. Of the Spirit’s power to apply salvation. Of the joy a personal salvation secures. “Now is the accepted time; now is the day of salvation.” (A. Macfarlane.)