NOTES ON THE INTERNATIONAL LESSON.
By G. C. TENNEY
WE have first in these verses the scathing denunciation of the hypocritical iniquity of the Pharisees, pronounced by our Saviour. We cannot suppose that he was led to this by any feelings of personal injury, but he had in all his intercourse with them beheld the specious air of self-righteousness with which they scrupulously performed the outward ceremonies, and upon which they built their inordinate religious pride. Beneath this thin covering there was a brood of Satanic evils which filled the pure soul of Jesus with almost unutterable horror as he saw with divine intuition their inmost thoughts. THERE are some events of interest intervening between the giving of the parable of the marriage feast, which formed the basis of the last lesson, and the time when these words were uttered. All occurred in the same day and upon the same occasion in the temple. His enemies, the priests and Pharisees, were determined to accomplish his ruin; but to do so they must have some accusation to present either to the Roman authorities or to the people. Therefore they tempted him, first, to declare against the payment of tribute to Caesar. The Sadducees then tried to entangle him in his teaching concerning the resurrection. And a lawyer or scribe of the Pharisees endeavored to induce him to make some expression of sedition or heresy by asking him as to what he considered the greatest and most binding religious principle, hoping, no doubt, that he would tell them that to believe in himself was the first great requirement. Many of his professed disciples and teachers have fallen into that snare in these days. But Jesus did not. WHEN they had sufficiently demonstrated their fixed purpose not to see and repent of their wrongs, but to pursue their wicked course to the bitter end, Jesus faithfully did all that remained for him to do, he pointed out in no uncertain words the exact truth of their cases, and left the knowledge with them. Their pride, their supercilious hypocrisy and self-righteousness, cruelty, oppression, avarice, and blood-thirsty hatred toward those who reproved them, were set forth in truth. The words do not call for much comment. With the circumstances and the scene before our minds we need but little else beside the thrilling sentences which pour with fiery vehemence upon their corrupted and sin-polluted consciences, to give us a thrilling sense of the sublimity of the occasion. Jesus appeared in the humble character of a Galilean, with lowly and unlearned associates, all of whom bore marks of travel and of privations. The common people trembled between hope and fear. They had learned to love their new-found Friend and Teacher, and they dreaded the domineering wrath of their rulers, whose words they heard with servile fear. They trembled for the fearless temerity with which the corrupt hearts of the scribes and Pharisees were exposed as they thought of the vengeance that would follow. The Pharisees had gathered in great numbers, and their cruel hatred gleamed from their eyes as they cowed momentarily before these just rebukes. By these bold words the power of the priests, Pharisees, and scribes was measurably broken, and a flood of light was shed upon their dark practices. The disciples were confirmed in their faith, so that afterwards they all said with Peter, "Though I should die with thee, yet will I not deny thee." Matt. 26:35. The Jews were confused by their defeat, and maddened by the reproofs they had received; and at once proceeded to lay deeper and more effectual plans for the destruction of Jesus. The Master had borne his faithful testimony, and a sense of the dreadful condition and fate of the people came up before him. He also thought of the deep ingratitude shown by those whom he had come to bless and to save. JERUSALEM, with her thousands of people, her sacred associations and places, was still the object of his tender love. Having pronounced her future judgment, after she should have filled up the cup of cruelty, his heart yearned after those rebellious children with all the affection of a divine parent: "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord." And turning away with his disciples, he left their temple forever. THE words of the Saviour may seem bitter as we read them casually: "Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?" But they no longer appear so when we look at the obstinate blindness and wickedness of that people, and see in the sufferings of Calvary the fulfillment of their deliberate purposes. But then the picture is not complete unless we consider the innocence of the victim of their malicious anger, his meekness under suffering, and his unchanging love and solicitude for all, even his enemies. It is a terrible thing to sin against self-sacrificing love. A wayward child has some apparent excuse when he can complain of the injustice of his father, or the cruelty of his mother. But he who does violence to the just requirements of those who have guarded his welfare with constant care, and bestowed upon him only loving words and deeds of kindness, greatly deepens his guilt. It was the infinite love of God and a compassionate Saviour which they ruthlessly trampled under feet, and over whose apparent downfall they rejoiced with demoniacal joy. LET us not give all these cutting rebukes to the Jews. They were written for our admonition. Hypocrisy is a heinous sin in the sight of the holy God. Sanctimonious appearances, ostentatious offerings, and apparent strictness in forms may all be presented to the world, while God, looking into the heart, discerns a brood of vipers. Human nature is unchanged for the better, and we should pray as one of old prayed, "Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my thoughts; and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." ANOTHER pertinent thought is the importance of perceiving the truth which pertains to us and to our times. The Pharisees garnished the tombs of the martyrs their fathers had slain. Looking back they could now see that those martyrs were the true servants of God, but could not see or know the things which belonged to their own peace. And the same bitter spirit of prejudice led them to reject the truth that would have saved them, and kill the messengers of truth. They said, "We know that God spake unto Moses; as for this fellow, we know not from whence he is." John 9:29. It is much easier to believe and realize truth for other people and to judge their short-sightedness than it is to apply the truth of God to our own cases. IN the exercise of his will man approaches the Omnipotent. He can successfully oppose his will to all the measures of divine grace. He can resist the Spirit of God, slight his pleadings, abuse his love, reject his offers, and despise his promises. He can say, "I will not," to God's will, and maintain it. He need not plead an excuse nor render a reason for his sin. He may reject Christ simply because he chooses to, and the infinite power of God cannot move him from his obstinate rebellion. He only can unbar the impenetrable doors of his heart to the compassion of a Saviour's love. But if continually repelled that love finally withdraws its presence and its light. And in the fearful fate of the proud Pharisees, the obdurate sinner may read a faint premonition of his own unhappy doom. When the heart's door opens to the love of Jesus, pride, egotism, and sin flee like the shadows of night before the beams of the sun, and we see the Redeemer, not as the disturber of our carnal repose, but as a being of inexpressible loveliness and beauty. G. C. TENNEY.