292 THE PHARISEES AND OTHERS ARE REPLIED TO CONCERNING THE TRIBUTE.

Cæsar, or not? Can we do this consistently with our religious principles? for, as Abraham's children, and ever a peculiar people and royal nation, we ought not to be in bondage to any man. Shall we give then, or shall we not give?

Here was presented a very dangerous dilemma, affecting either the reputation, or the life of Jesus: for if He, in terms, directed them to pay the tax, the Pharisees would have represented Him to the People as advocating the cause of idolaters, in opposition to the Law and to their liberties; and also as renouncing for Himself the office of an all-triumphant Messiah. If, on the other hand, He declared the tax to be illegal, the Herodians would have charged Him with treason and at once arrested Him as an enemy to Cæsar. But Jesus perceived their craftiness and wickedness (malice); and knowing their thorough hypocrisy, said unto them, Why tempt ye Me, ye hypocrites? you seek, not to be advised in this matter, but to ensnare One for whom you profess such deference. But your question shall be answered: Shew Me the tribute-money [Bring Me a penny that I may see it, MARK]. And they brought unto Him a Roman denarius or penny. And He saith unto them, Whose image and superscription (inscription, MArg.) is this [hath it, LUKE.]? And they answered and said And Jesus answering said unto them, Render, therefore, to Cæsar the things that are Cæsar's, b (3)--whatsoever is properly due to him as your tribute? of governor under God; and also unto God the things that strangers? Peter saith un- are God's: for if allegiance should be paid to the kings of this world, much more is it due to Him who is the King of kings, and Lord of lords.

Of whom do the

kings of the earth take

custom or

their own children, or of

to Him, of strangers.

Matt. xvii. 25, 26.

Pay ye tribute also; for they are God's ministers. Render therefore to all their dues; tribute to whom tribute is due; cus

tom to whom custom, fear to whom fear, honour to

whom honour. Rom. xiii

6, 7.

A son honoureth his

unto Him, It is Cæsar's.

с

Thus were the enemies of Jesus completely baffled; for it was the received maxim of their schools, that wherever a king's coin was current, it was an evidence of his dominion : and while the seditious Pharisees were warned to pay those dues to the Roman government which, in heart at least, they resisted, the licentious Herodians and Sadducees were reminded of those dues to God which they altogether neglected. And when they had heard these words, they could not take saith the Lord of hosts. any hold of His words before the people, so as to incense them against Him as an enemy to liberty; neither could they find any ground for an accusation against Him to the

father, and a servant his

master: if then, I be a

Father, where is Mine honour? and if I be a Master, where is My fear?

Mal. i. 6.

Fear God; honour the king. 1 Pet. ii. 17

promise of fidelity, to the Roman government, and it had then existed about a hundred years. So King Agrippa argues in his speech to the Jews before the commencement of the war (B. J. ii. 16), and Josephus himself takes the same

(3) Render therefore unto Cæsar, &c.] The illative particle here shews that our Lord intended, though indirectly, to decide the lawfulness of the tribute, as well as the necessity of rendering what was due to God. He sanctions the duty of civil, as well as of religious obedience; and leav-view.-Notwithstanding the just as well as pruing the nature of the government just as He found it, inculcates submission to it because it is established. The right of levying tribute on the Jews had its rise in their own act of submission, with

dent answer of our Lord on this occasion, His unscrupulous enemies made it a subject of accusation against Him on His trial, "that He forbade to give tribute to Cæsar!" See Luke xxiii. 2.

THE SADDUCEES PUT AN ENSNARING CASE TO JESUS.

Roman governor. And they marvelled at the singular wisdom and address which had been shewn in His answer, and held their peace, and left Him, and went their way.

293

d The Sadducees say that there is no Resur

rection, neither angel nor

Then the same day came to Him certain of the Sadducees, which deny that there is to be any Resurrection (“) of the body, or any Future State after death; and they asked Him, saying, Master, Moses wrote unto us [said, spirit. Acts xxiii. 8. MARK, or enacted], If any man's brother die, and leave his wife behind him, and leave no children, that his brother should take his wife (his widow), and raise up seed unto his brother (Deut. xxv. 5). Now there were with us seven brethren; (5) and the first of them, when he had married a wife, deceased (died), and having no children, left his wife unto his brother. And the second took her to wife, and he likewise died childless. And the third took her; and, in like manner, the residue of the seven also had her: and they left no children, and died. And last of all, the woman died also. Therefore, in the Resurrection, when they shall rise as it is asserted shall happen at the Last Day, whose wife shall she be of the seven? for all the seven had her to wife in this world, and all would have an equal claim to that alliance in the next.

And Jesus answered and said unto them, Your argument is altogether grounded on a wrong supposition: ye do err, not knowing the true sense of what the Scriptures declare concerning a Future State, nor the Omnipotent Power of God. He who originally created all things with His word, can also preserve in existence the souls of men, independently of their bodies; and He will hereafter as readily collect the scattered particles of those bodies, and raise them up again, pure and glorified, to be united to their own souls. For the children of this world marry and are given in marriage: but they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world which is to come, and attain to the Resurrection from the dead, when they shall rise, neither marry nor are given in marriage; neither can they die any more:f for, in respect of immortality and freedom from carnal passions, they are thenceforth equal unto the angels of God in heaven, who have no need of marriage to perpetuate

(4) Which deny that there is any Resurrection.] | Josephus states it (Antiq. xviii. 1) as the opinion of this sect, that "Death extinguishes the souls as well as the bodies" of men.-They thought the soul was only a more refined kind of matter.

(5) There were with us seven brethren, &c.] The erroneous notions of the Sadducees led them to suppose that if there was a Future State, it must in its circumstances resemble the present. They therefore come to puzzle our Lord with a common-place objection (for it is found in the old Jewish writers), derived from that obligation of

• Why should it be

thought a thing incredible

with you, that God should raise the dead? Acts

xxvi. 8.

There shall be no

more death; for the for

mer things are passed away. Rev. xxi. 4.

the Mosaic Law that a man should take the wife of a brother who had died childless. The case which they alleged was just supposeable, and therefore might have occurred; but it is much more probable that it was invented for the purpose of cavil, and served as a plausible argument to the infidels of the time, to drive away the subject of the Resurrection from their minds. This method of insinuating against the Truth from imaginary difficulties, is a sort of logic of which sceptics in all ages have been fond.

294

Though after my skin worms destroy this body,

yet in my flesh shall I see God. Job xix. 26.

Thou wilt not leave My soul in hell. Ps. xvi. 10. live, together with My dead body shall they arise.

Thy dead men shall

Isa. xxvi. 19.

THE SADDUCEES ARE CONFUTED.

their generations; and like them, are the children of God, and heirs of eternal glory, being the children of the Resurrection. But as touching the Resurrection, which you so perversely deny, the Scriptures in several places clearly shew the reality of a Future State. That the dead are indeed to be raised, even Moses, to whose authority you appeal, shewed at that portion of his writings which treats of the Burning Bush. Have ye not read in the second book of Moses, how God spake unto him [Have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God, MATT.], saying, I AM THE GOD OF ABRAHAM, AND THE GOD OF ISAAC, AND THE GOD OF JACOB? (Exod. iii. 6.) When he to everlasting life. Dan. (Moses) calleth the Lord, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, he in effect decides this question: for those patriarchs were dead long before, and manifestly, God is not a God of the dead,—of mere lifeless dust and ashes,-but the God of the living; for all the faithful, though dead to the world, continue to live unto Him: He is still their God and owns them as His children. Ye therefore do greatly err in denying this plain and

Many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some

xii. 2.

h By faith Abraham

sojourned in the land of promise as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and

Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise... Wherefore God is not

ashamed to be called their

God. Heb. xi. 9 16.

in that He liveth, He most important truth.

liveth unto God. vi. 10.

Rom.

Then certain of the Scribes who were of the party of the Pharisees, answering, said, Master, thou hast said (spoken) well in reference to this matter. And when the multitude heard this discussion, they were both gratified and astonished at the power of His doctrine in confutation of the Sadducees. And after that, they of that sect durst not ask Him any question at all.

up to this point, our Lord's argument in the text is triumphant. It has been supposed that He intended to prove no more than served the immediate purpose of reply to the Sadducees, who denied even the future existence of the soul;

(6) That the dead are raised, even Moses shewed.] It could not rationally be supposed that the Hebrew legislator would withhold from the people that knowledge of the doctrine of a Future State, which we know was his own support and principle of action (see Heb. xi. 23-confuting them from the writings of Moses whom 27); but he did not, for wise and obvious reasons, make that truth the direct and ostensible sanction of his national laws. He, and all the other patriarchs, unquestionably considered themselves but as sojourners in a foreign country, and looked for "a better native land:" and although we gratefully acknowledge with the Apostle (2 Tim. i. 10), that Christ hath "made manifest" (made clear and distinct, GR.) the expectation of Immortality, yet we also believe (as our Church declares in her 7th Article) "that, both in the Old and New Testament, Everlasting Life is offered to mankind by Christ, and that they are not to be heard, which feign that the old fathers did look only for transitory promises." At least, then,

they had cited, and whose inspiration alone they acknowledged. But the same thread of argument with which He began, leads us by just and clear consequences to the Resurrection of the body; for it implies that God will make the just perfectly and entirely happy. The immortal spirit cannot be so until it is united again with its original companion. That companion, notwithstanding its taint from the fall of Adam, has been ennobled by its union with our Lord and elder Brother; and hereafter, while remaining substantially the same body, it will be incorruptible and spiritual,-not only purified, like that of Adam as it came fresh from the hands of its Maker, but assimilated to the glorious body of Christ.

SECTION CIX.

JESUS ANSWERS A SCRIBE RESPECTING THE FIRST AND GREAT COMMANDMENT, AND SILENCES THE PHARISEES BY THE QUESTION, WHY DAVID CALLED THE MESSIAH HIS LORD?

Matt. xxii. 34-46. Mark xii. 28-37. Luke xx. 41-44.

UT when the Pharisees had heard that He had put the

to

Sadducees to silence, they, although gratified by the defeat which their adversaries had sustained, were again gathered together to attack Him. Then one of the Scribes, which was also a lawyer, came with the rest: and at the time when Jesus confuted the Sadducees, the Scribe having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that He had answered them well, asked Him now a question, temptinga Him (testing His skill in argument and knowledge of the Scriptures), and saying:-Master, which is the first and great Commandment() of all in the Law? dost thou consider one of the ceremonial, or one of the moral precepts, to be of the higher obligation?

And when the queen of Sheba heard of the

fame of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord,

she came to prove him with hard questions. 1 Kings x. 1.

And Jesus answered him, The first and most comprehensive of all the Commandments is,-HEAR, O ISRAEL, the important truth: THE LORD OUR GOD IS ONE LORD: () AND THOU SHALT LOVE THE LORD THY GOD with thy entire faculties,-WITH ALL THY HEART, AND WITH ALL THY SOUL, AND WITH ALL THY MIND, AND WITH ALL THY STRENGTH (3) (see Deut. vi. 4, 5): This is the first and great Commandment, the foundation of all the rest; for every other duty and every thing must be regarded only in subordination to God, the Great and Good Creator. And the second Commandment is like unto it, both in its intrinsic excellence and in the authority from which it springs; namely this, which comprises all thy duties to thy fellow creatures: "THOU SHALT LOVE THY NEIGHBOUR AS THYSELF · ”b (*) (Lev. xix. 18): for Charity is allied to Piety; and if a man loves his brother whom thyself. Rom. xiii. 9. he has seen, it is an instance and an evidence of his loving filled in one word, even in God whom he has not seen. There is none other Command- this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Gal. ment greater than these: on these two Commandments v. 15.

(1) Which is the first and great Commandment?] See Section C., Note 2.

(2) The Lord our God is One Lord.] These words assert a Unity of Essence in the Godhead, but by no means preclude the Trinity of Persons. Our Lord declares that Jehovah alone is to be worshipped, in opposition to the plurality of heathen gods. So St. Paul reminds the Corinthians, "that an idol is nothing in the world, and that here is none other God but One; for though

b-if there be any other Commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as

For all the Law is ful

there be that are called gods, to us there is but One God" (1 Cor. viii. 4-6). In further proof that our Saviour cannot be excluded, and did not intend to exclude Himself, from this Divinity, consult Section CXX., Note 2.

(3) Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, &c.] See Section LXXXII., Note 1. (4) Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.] See Section LXXXII., Note 2.

296

CHRIST, THE LORD AS WELL AS THE DESCENDANT OF DAVID.

hang (depend) all the Law and the Prophets-they are an epitome of whatsoever else is contained in your Scriptures.

And the Scribe said unto Him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth: for there is one God, and there is none other but He and for a man to love Him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength; and to love his neighbour as himself; is of more importance than all whole burnt-offerings and e I desired mercy and sacrifices: Such a perfect rule of life as this is preferable in His sight to all the ceremonies in the world.—And when Jesus saw that he answered so discreetly, He said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God; for He knew that sentiments so sound and pious must have a happy influence over his life, and that they would eventually dispose him to embrace the Gospel.

not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt-offerings. Hos.

vi. 6.

Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, rivers of oil?-He hath

or with ten thousands of

shewed thee, O man, what

is good, and what doth

the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God? Mic. vi. 7, 8.

d David said, The Spirit of the Lord spake by me, and His Word was in my tongue. 2 Sam. xxiii. 1, 2.

And while He taught in the Temple, and the Pharisees were still gathered together, Jesus asked them, saying, How say the Scribes that the Christ is the Son of David? What think ye of the Christ? whose Son is He according to your view of the Scriptures? They say unto Him, Undoubtedly He is the Son of David. He saith unto them, Is that the fullest and most complete description of the Messiah? how then in the book of Psalms doth David himself, guided by the influence of the Holy Spirit,d call Him Lord? (") saying, in that particular Psalm (Ps. cx. 1) which you admit to be written of the Messiah, THE LORD God SAID UNTO MY LORD, SIT THOU ON MY RIGHT HAND, exalted even as Myself in power and glory, TILL I utterly subdue and MAKE all THINE ENEMIES THY FOOTThis Man, after He STOOL.e (6) Here the royal Prophet acknowledges as a for sins, for ever sat down Superior a remote descendant of his own: if David himself on the right hand of God; then call Him Lord,-giving Him a title even of divine till His enemies be made honour,-how is He merely his Son? His footstool. Heb. x. 12, 13.

The Holy Ghost spake by the mouth of David.

Acts i. 16.

e For He must reign till

He hath put all enemies under His feet. 1 Cor.

XV. 25.

had offered one sacrifice

from henceforth expecting

And no man among them was able to answer Him a word in reply to this plain proof of His divinity; neither durst any man from that day forth ask Him any more captious and insidious questions. And the common people heard Him gladly.

(5) How then doth David call Him Lord?] No one will ever have better success than the Pharisees in answering this question, who deny the Divinity of David's Son and Lord. Jesus was both the Root and Offspring of His progenitor; the descendant of the most distinguished of the kings of Israel according to the flesh, but "Whose goings forth had been of old, from everlasting." The orthodox scheme can alone solve this seem

ing paradox. The question cannot be better answered than in the words of inspiration: "My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour."

(6) Till I make Thine enemies Thy footstool.] This is an image taken from the practice of conquerors of those days, who in token of victory placed their foot on the neck of the vanquished. See Josh. x. 24.