ciples altogether, and makes the discussion take place at the Last Supper.

The statement that James and John would drink Jesus' cup of martyrdom would not stand in our gospels unless it had been realized before they were written. James' martyrdom is recounted in Acts 12:2, that of John is well attested by early witness outside the New Testament. Both died in Palestine before the year 70, the approximate date of Mark's gospel.

The closing words of this section bring out strongly Jesus' sense of his Messiahship, not as a personal exaltation, but as the opportunity for supreme service.

97. JESUS FORETELLS HIS DEATH. Mk. 9:30-32 Mt. 17: 22-23 Lk. 9:44-45; Mk. 9:10-13-Mt. 17:10-12.

A further attempt by Jesus to prepare his followers for the catastrophe which he clearly saw before himself and his mission. He explains that the prophecy of the return of Elijah "to restore all things" (Mal. 4:6) is fulfilled in John the Baptist. So also the prophecies of the fate of Messiah! For Jesus, so soon as he realized that he must die, accepted this as God's will and part of the divine plan to lead him up to Messiahship. So he found in the Old Testament references which he devoutly interpreted as foreshadowings of the path of suffering which he, as the destined Messiah, must walk. These he does not expressly cite, and we do not know just what passages had this meaning for him. But such passages undoubtedly gave him much strength and courage, and helped him to bear his cross, as knowing it was God's long-prophesied plan. The idea that Messiah should suffer or should be anything but a victorious king was, however, new to the Jews, and we cannot wonder that the disciples were slow to accommodate their understandings to these reiterated statements of Jesus.

98. WHICH OF THE DISCIPLES IS GREATEST? Mk. 9:3336 Mt. 18:14= Lk. 9:46-47, 48b.

=

The question of the disciples, "Which among us is the

greatest?" arises because Jesus has spoken of his coming Messianic glory, and they, as Messiah's nearest friends, look for high places in the Kingdom. It is only the ambition shown by James and John finding expression also in the rest of the group.

99. JESUS AND THE CHILDREN. Mk. 10:13-16=Mt. 19: 13-15=Lk. 18:15–17; Mk. 9:37=Mt. 18:5=Lk. 9: 48a; Mt. 18:10.

A second section in which the little child is used as the type of the children of the Kingdom. Throughout the passage, the term "little one" is used in its literal sense, though the evangelists sometimes use it as denoting an ordinary Christian, as in the phrase, "these little ones which believe on me."

100. UNAVOWED FRIENDS. Mk. 9:38-40=Lk. 9:49-50; Mk. 9:41=Mt. 10:42.

That Jesus' name, used as a spell by others than his professed followers, was effective in exorcism, is not surprising, when we recall his fame and his popularity as a healer. We see it still so used in later times, in Acts 19:13-17. Jesus is glad to have his influence extended, and is appreciative of all friendliness, even if it does not mean personal attachment to his cause.

101. SEVENTY TIMES SEVEN. Mt. 18:15 Lk. 17:3; Lk. 17:4; Mt. 18:21-22; Mk. 11:25 Mt. 6:14-15; Mt. 5:23-24.

This section is put together from kindred sayings in various parts of the gospels. Nowhere does Jesus' insistence on love to man as an essential part of religion find a better expression.

102. THE PARABLE OF THE FORGIVEN MAN WHO WOULD NOT FORGIVE. Mt. 18:23-35.

This parable illustrates, by a very vivid and drastic parallel, the duty of every man to forgive his fellow, as God has

forgiven him. The details go beyond the possibilities of an actual situation; a creditor to the amount of ten thousand talents (eleven or twelve million dollars) is unlikely, even if he were a king or emperor demanding a reckoning from the governors who collect revenue from subject provinces. But the figure is purposely exaggerated, to make an effective contrast between God's immeasurable goodness to us and the generosity we are ever able to show to each other, as represented by the fellow servant's debt of a hundred denaria, something like seventeen dollars.

103. THE PARABLE OF THE SHREWD STEWARD. Lk. 16:1-8.

This parable has seemed to many readers to commend a dishonest and selfish action, and therefore to be of doubtful moral value. It is not one of Jesus' most successful parables, it must be confessed, yet there is no reason for regarding it as a later composition, as some do, or for being disturbed by its moral teaching. Luke was interested to preserve it, because it had allusion to one of his favorite ideas, the relation of riches to the Christian life. But in his own comment (vs. 9), which is here omitted, and in following the parable by vss. 10-15, which have reference to the right use of wealth in philanthropy, Luke gives the parable a point which it really does not have. It does not illustrate the correct use of wealth. Still less does it offer an example of conduct to be imitated. The steward is called by Jesus unjust, i. e., morally wrong, but he is commended for his shrewdness, his ability to know how to get out of a difficult situation and prevent the shipwreck of his fortunes. It is unfortunately true that the children of this world are wiser in their own generation than the children of light, and to the latter, while they live in this generation, something of the same worldly-wisdom, that they may guide their affairs with discretion, is necessary, and it is wholesome to find Jesus commending it. But it is not the man's method which he commends; the parable is not an allegory, and has no teaching concerning the use of means.

104. THE RICH YOUNG MAN. Mk. 10:17-27-Mt. 19:16

This passage is often quoted as showing Jesus' social interest, his insistence that one must dispossess himself of all his wealth and belongings, by turning them over to the poor, in order to be his disciple. But Jesus' interest here is not at all social, but purely religious. The young man's riches bind him to this world and its concerns; the test for him is his willingness to share the life of sacrifice and privation which is the lot of Jesus and his disciples. But the counsel to give his money to the poor is for his sake, not for theirs; not to relieve their poverty, but to save his soul, is Jesus' concern. He found it true, as did his disciples and apostles after him, that riches and social station were almost insurmountable barriers to a man's consecration to the ideals for which he stood. Humanly speaking, it seemed impossible that a rich man should join the despised company of Galilean fisherfolk and lowly devotees, but with God's help many a rich man did it, and increasingly as the discipleship of Jesus grew into the Christian church.

It is interesting to remember that this young man who did not become his follower, is the only man in the synoptic gospels whom Jesus is said to have loved. This beautiful, human, personal touch is omitted by Matthew and Luke, whose interest is chiefly in what they regard as the moral of the episode, the criticism of riches.

105. THE PARABLE OF THE FOOLISH RICH MAN. Lk. 12:1320.

Verse 21 is the evangelist's comment, and is here omitted. Here the unequal distribution of this world's goods, the most pressing economic problem of all times, is laid before Jesus in a concrete instance. As always, he refuses to decide a merely "social question," but turns it at once into a religious question. The folly of a life of selfish indulgence, without care for others, is vividly set forth.

106. THE PARABLE OF LAZARUS AND THE RICH MAN. Lk. 16:19-31.

This vivid parable also is not an allegory; it does not purport to give a picture of the situation beyond the grave. The conception of heaven and hell is essentially the usual Jewish one in Jesus' time, but the point of the parable is in its condemnation of the rich man's selfishness and indifference to his suffering fellow-men. The Jew who has Moses and the prophets, a Jew like the scornful Pharisee who scoffs at Jesus, has knowledge enough of the will of God to avoid such condemnation. It is sometimes objected to this parable that Lazarus goes to heaven only because he is poor, and the rich man to hell only because he is rich. But later Judaism generally tends to represent the poor man as pious; wherever a poor man is introduced into a tale or a saying, his piety is assumed without question. So in all the later books of the Old Testament, and the New Testament generally. Jesus did not have to explain to his hearers that Lazarus was a good man. Similarly there is a tendency to make the rich man the "villain" of the tale or saying, to think of him as godless and cruel. But in any case, the selfishness of this rich man is clearly enough brought out in the description.

It is notable that this poor man is the only character in any of Jesus' parables to receive a name. The suggestion that Lazarus should rise from the dead very probably forms the starting-point for the story of the raising of Lazarus in the Fourth Gospel. There the result (John 11:46-53) was what is here prophesied-unbelief.

107. THE SCOFFING PHARISEES. Lk. 16:14-15, 10–12.

This passage well represents the Pharisaic attitude toward such teaching as that which just precedes. Faithful use of what God has lent gives the surest title to riches laid up in heaven. Compare the parable of the talents (section 136).