S. Matt. xxii. 16. that it was "like" the other, the only difference being, that while love to God is the root of the principle, love to our neighbour is its manifested fruit. The grand simplicity of the answer won the lawyer's admiration and reverence, and giving Him in sincerity the designation which his fellows had used before in irony, he expressed his approval in the words, "Rabbi, Thou hast spoken the truth." He had doubtless himself, if we may judge from his answer,5 given the supremacy, as many others did, to the Levitical law of sacrifices; but, as it were by a sudden inspiration, he seemed to realise the utter worthlessness of these, where the spirit of which they were designed to be symbolical was wanting, as he felt it had been with the Pharisees; and he acknowledged that all the blood of bulls and goats, all sacrifices and offerings, and whole burnt offerings, on which they bestowed the most punctilious care, could have no real weight in the balance against a genuine love for God and man. Sacrifice was nothing in itself; it was only acceptable to God in proportion to the selfsurrender of him who offered it. It gives us a terrible insight into the state of feeling so widely prevalent at the time, to be told that the Scribe followed up this expression of Hæres. 1. 20. admiration for our Lord's judgment by the further Irenæus, confession, "I have often desired to hear of these words, and had none to tell me." Sayings ascribed Lord, 18. It was followed by a comforting assurance that to our reason had triumphed over prejudice, and that such an appreciation of Divine truth had brought him to the very threshold of that inheritance which God has prepared for those that love Him. If, as we can hardly doubt, he went away to act upon his convictions, he was not long left standing without, but entered wholly in. The result of the interview was that no one was any longer found bold enough to engage in controversy with Jesus. All the great parties in Jerusalem, ecclesiastical and political, had pitted themselves successively in argument against Him, and all had found Him more than a match for them. They had tried to involve Him with the upholders of the Theocracy, or to extract from His lips some expression of sympathy with their hatred of Roman supremacy, which they might turn against Him. But He had shown them "that the powers that be are ordained of God." They had ventured again to attack Him where they believed themselves to be invincible, viz., in the interpretation of Scripture, but His answers had proved that He "of Whom Moses and the prophets" did write, Who was in fact the great subject of the Revelation, knew far better than the most learned Scribe the meaning of what was written. And this was the end of their fruitless attempts. All the weapons forged against Him had been repelled; "and no man after that durst ask Him any question." NOTES. 1 The office of the Scribe was fourfold. He was the schoolmaster, the interpreter of Scripture, a consulting lawyer, and a keeper of the public records. The expression used here, voμɩkós, and in S. Luke xi. 45, differs slightly from that found elsewhere, νομοδιδάσκαλος. 2 Tola, qualis. 3 The most minute directions were drawn up for these matters in the Mishnah. The passages of Scripture written on parchment and enclosed in the Tephillin were Exod. xiii. 1-10, 11-16; Deut. vi. 4-9, xi. 13-21. 4 It means "hear," and was given to the "office" from its being the opening word. 5 His special reference to sacrifice-"more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices "—shows that he had this especially in his mind at the time. 66 6 vovvexŵs. It is an unusual word, hardly represented by 'discreetly." It implies an exercise of the voûs, "intelligently." LVIII. David's Son and Lord, and the S. MARK XII. 35-44. 35. And Jesus answered and said, while He taught in the temple, How say the scribes that Christ is the son of David? 36. For David himself said by the Holy Ghost, The LORD said to my Lord, Sit Thou on My right hand, till I make Thine enemies Thy footstool. 37. David therefore himself calleth Him Lord; and whence is He then his son? And the common people heard Him gladly. 38. And He said unto them in His doctrine, Beware of the scribes, which love to go in long clothing, and love salutations in the marketplaces, 39. and the chief seats in the synagogues, and the uppermost rooms at feasts: 40. which devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayers: these shall receive greater damnation. 41. And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much. 42. And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing. 43. And He called unto Him His disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury: 44. for all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living. AT this juncture our Lord, having replied to the inquiries of all His adversaries, and silenced them by unanswerable arguments, lays aside His defensive attitude and proceeds to interrogate them upon a question of momentous import. All their Isa. vii. 14; ix. 6. learned Scribes were agreed that the Messiah would be the Son and Heir of the great king David.1 They had allowed this one idea of His lineage to take such a complete hold upon them that they had lost sight of another fact, hardly less prominent in the Messianic predictions. Isaiah had foretold in more places than one, that He would be not human merely, but also Divine-not only born of a pure virgin, but at the same time, "The Mighty God," "Immanuel, God with us." And yet they had never understood his language aright; its deep inner meaning was a "sealed book" to them; and such passages as these they either treated as Oriental exaggeration, or deliberately declined to notice. There was a prediction in the Psalter which offered the best possible illustration of their onesided views. The hundred and tenth Psalm 2 had been universally accepted as Messianic ; but the Jews at large, under the teaching of the Scribes, had seized only upon that portion of it which represented the coming King as a triumphant conqueror. After their country had fallen under the dominion of Rome, their Messianic hopes all took the shape of an intense longing for some Great One who should "restore again the kingdom to Israel." It was to that part of this prophecy which they |