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who takes this attitude to Jesus knows or can know the supreme good which God bestows upon man; whatever his eminence in other respects-in ability, in public service, in native capacity for the spiritual life-the most insignificant disciple of Jesus stands on a higher plane. There is no formal 'claim' made here, but there is the revelation, on the part of Jesus, of a consciousness in relation to God and humanity in which He stands absolutely alone.

The same consciousness is implied also in the difficult saying which follows immediately in Matthew (11 12 f.), and which Luke gives in a considerably different form in another connexion (1610). The difficulties hardly concern us here, and, fortunately, the one point which is perfectly clear is that which does concern us, namely, the consciousness of Jesus that with the ministry of John a new religious era had dawned. Up till now it had been the reign of the law and the prophets, an age of preparation and expectation, during which men could live the life of obedient routine, and wait for God to fulfil the hopes He had inspired. But with the appearance of John that more tranquil age had come to an end; men lived and they knew it, at a religious crisis; a situation had emerged which called for instant and decisive action. It is within this situation we have to interpret the difficult words ή βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν βιάζεται καὶ βιασταὶ ἁρπάζουσιν αὐτήν; but whether they mean that the Kingdom comes in like a whirlwind, and that violent men like the Zealots wish to bring it in so; or that at any cost of violence to themselves genuine disciples make good their share in it; or that it is invaded by aggressive publicans and sinners who (as decent people think) have no right to be there, is irrelevant to our purpose. What it concerns us to note is simply Jesus' consciousness of the new age. It dates from John, but

it is not identified with him. John, if their contemporaries will only believe it, is the promised Elijah, who is to precede the end (Mal. 45, Matt. 11"). Who can Jesus be, when no one less than Elijah must come to prepare His way?

The passage in which Matthew (11 16 ff.) and Luke (731 ff.) record the verdict of Jesus on His contemporaries-a passage in which Jesus deliberately contrasts Himself and His forerunner-is reserved till we come to consider the title Son of Man, which occurs in both writers at this point: meanwhile we proceed to examine what is in some ways a critically important section in the gospels, Matt. 11 25-27 with the parallel in Luke 10 21-22.

II

THE GREAT THANKSGIVING OF JESUS

21
(Matt. 11 25-27, Luke 10 2 )

This passage is not found in the same connexion in the two evangelists, but there is no doubt that it stood in the source common to both. Luke attaches it to the return of the Seventy, and to their report of their success. 'In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit.' To Luke it is an utterance of pure joy-'uncompounded emotion.' It may be questioned whether this does justice to the words of Jesus. There is something more subtle in the placing of the words by Matthew, who also introduces them by 'at that time.' The time in Matthew is that at which Jesus has been sending His warning beatitude to John, passing a scornful censure on the childishness of his contemporaries in their dealings with God and His messengers, and pronouncing woes on the Galilæan cities which had seen His mighty works and not repented. 'At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that Thou didst hide these things from the wise and under

standing, and didst reveal them unto babes. Yea, Father, for so it was well pleasing in Thy sight.' The eleventh chapter of Matthew as a whole might be headed axávdalov, Offence: it is engaged throughout with people who found things in Jesus which they could not get over, and therefore with the disappointing side of His experience. It is a question of profound interest, how Jesus Himself regarded such disappointments, and the evangelist finds the answer to it in the first part of the great thanksgiving. When Jesus reflects on His work and its issues, disenchanting in some respects as they are, what is uppermost in His mind is recognition of God's fatherly providence, and unreserved and joyful surrender to it. The words 'revealed' and 'hidden' show that He is thinking mainly of His teaching. It is only the peculiarity of an Eastern language that makes Him seem to give thanks that some have rejected it: in our idiom He would have said, 'That while Thou hast hidden these things from the wise and understanding, Thou hast revealed them unto babes.' Jesus could not have rejoiced in a revelation which was only accessible to the wise and understanding; this would have excluded the babes. But a revelation accessible to the babes is accessible to all; even the wise and understanding may apprehend it if they are willing to lay aside their pretensions and become as little children. Jesus is content, and more than content, to have it so. He acquiesces with joy in the ordering of His life and work upon such lines. It is the gracious will of the Father, the Sovereign Lord of heaven and earth; what should one who calls God Father do but accept it with serene confidence?

If the words of Jesus stopped here, we might not be able to bring them into any precise relation to our subject. They are such words as any child of God might use who encountered untoward experiences in doing the will of

his Father. But Jesus goes much further. The Godward polynats or thanksgiving, the joyful acquiescence in the Father's will, is followed by a manward expression of assurance. The results of His work so far may seem disconcerting, but they do not cast Him down. He has an inward confidence that He is competent for the work the Father has given Him to do, and that He alone is competent. This is what is represented in the words of Matthew (1127): All things have been delivered unto Me of My Father: and no one knoweth the Son, save the Father; neither doth any know the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son willeth to reveal Him. The variations in Luke are immaterial, and before referring to what many regard as an earlier tradition of this saying, substantially different in import, it will be worth while to consider what the received text means. The following points are to be noticed.

First, the declaration 'all things have been delivered unto me by My Father' is to be interpreted in relation to the context. 'All things' does not refer to universal sovereignty, as when Jesus after the resurrection says, All power has been given unto Me in heaven and on earth (Matt. 28 18). This is not relevant here, nor is there any analogy to it till Jesus is glorified. Neither does it express, as has been suggested, the Christian confidence declared in Paul's words, 'All things are yours' (1 Cor. 3 21), or, 'We know that all things work together for good to them that love God' (Rom. 8 28). Standing where it does, 'all things' must mean all that is involved in the revelation of God to man-the whole contents and administration of this revelation. This is what is in view both in what precedes and in what follows. In the work of making Himself known to men, the Father has no organ but Jesus, and in Jesus He has an adequate

organ. The word napɛdóon is supposed by manyWellhausen among the latest-to allude to napádoris, or tradition, all religious knowledge among the Jews coming under this description. The tradition of the Jewish schools, on which the wise and understanding leaned so confidently, Jesus brushed aside; the tradition which He Himself represented was immediately due to God. It is plausible rather than convincing to deduce so much from the term rapedóon, but discounting the possible associations of the word, two things are clear. One is that Jesus strongly asserts here, as He is often represented doing in the fourth gospel, His subordination to the Father. He has nothing that He has not received. His doctrine is not His own, but His who sent Him. The other is that there is no limit to what He has received. The Father loves the Son and shows Him all things that He Himself is doing (John 5 20).

The second point that calls for notice is the correlation of the Father and the Son. Both the words are used absolutely: as there is only one Person who can be called the Father, so there is only one who can be called the Son. The same phenomenon recurs in Mark 13 3: But of that day or hour knoweth no one, not even the angels in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father. It is surely remarkable to find the credibility of this disputed. Schmiedel, indeed, whose treatment of the words before us will be considered presently, makes the passage in Mark one of the five foundation pillars for a purely historical account of Jesus, but Loisy is embarrassed by both.' 'Although Father and Son,' he writes, 'are not exclusively metaphysical terms'-in which case it would have been easy to discard them-'and although they here represent God and Christ, the use of the word Son simpliciter is extraordinary in the mouth of Jesus; it Les Évangiles Synoptiques, i. 909.

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