THE KING’S BUSINESS
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appearance of being addressed to such a -class of converts as it was given to that Apostle to gather, men, like the devout soldiers of Caesarea, in whom the Roman habit of mind was coloured by contact with Judaism. It is the Gospel of action, rapid, vigorous^ vivid.- Entering at once on the Lord’s official and public career, it bears us on from one, mighty deed to another with a peculiar swiftness of move ment, and yet with the life of picturesque detail. Power over the visible and in visible worlds, especially as shown in the casting out of devils, is the prominent characteristic of the picture. St. Peter’s saying to Cornelius has been well noticed as a fit motto for this Gospel, “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power, Who went about doing good and healing all those who were oppressed of the devil.” In relation to the expansion of the Word from its first home in Jewry to its ultimate preva lence in the whole earth, this Gospel oc cupies an intermediate position between those of' St. Matthew and St. Luke. Its representation of the Lord is disengaged from 5 those close connections with Jewish life and thought which the first Gospel is studious to exhibit, while it is wanting in that breadth of human sympathy and spe cial fitness for the Gentile mind at large which we recognize in the treatise of St. Luke. THE SON OF ADAM This latter Gospel intimates its charac ter in this respect by a genealogy which presents to us not the Son of Abraham, but the Son of Adam; and 'it carries out the intimation by., special notice, pf our Lord’s familiar intercourse with, human life, His tender sympathies with human feelings, His large compassion for human woes. The preface, addressed to a Gen tile convert, indicating the position of the writer in regard to the facts which he will relate, and speaking in the language of classical composition, shows us at the out set that we have passed from Jewish asso ciations to a stage in. the history of the world when its purpose of expansion has
tion of glory is most concentrated, and which serve to interpret all that we had before felt to be implied. -2. Again, if the synoptic Gospels are taken by themselves, we observe, even within the limits of this, division, certain orderly steps of advance. Each of these narratives has its own prevailing character whereby it makes its proper contribution to the complete portrait of the Lord; each also has its own historical associations, whereby it represents a separate stage in the presentation of Christ to the world. Both the internal characters and the his torical associations of the several Gospels have been fully wrought out by recent writers, and are now generally, understood. Yet they must be shortly noticed, here, for the due elucidation of the statement that the books in combination constitute a pro gressive course. THE TRUE COMMENCEMENT The record of St. Matthew, ever recog nized as the Hebrew Gospel, is the true commencement of the New Testament, showing how it grows out of the Old, and presenting the manifestation of the Son of God, not as a detached phenomenon, but as the predestined completion of the long course pf historic dispensations. It is the Book of the Generation of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abra ham. It founds itself on the ideas of the old covenant. It refers at every step,, especially in its earlier chapters, to the former Scriptures, noting how that was fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets. It is a history of fulfillment, presenting the Lord as the gracious fulfiller of all righteousness, the fulfiller of the Law and the Prophets, not come to destroy, but to fulfill. It sets Him forth as a King and Lawgiver in that kingdom of Heaven for which a birthplace and a home had been prepared in Israel, and thus corresponds to that period in the historical course of events when the Word was preached to none but to the Jews only. The Gospel of St. Mark is traditionally connected with St. Peter, who first opened the door of faith to Gentiles, and has the
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