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THE KING’S BUSINESS
the gospel, but is the very flesh of the New Testament message. Jesus taught that there was to be a time o f gradual development during this age. There was to be a time when the wheat and the tares would grow, a time when the leaven would grad ually leaven the whole lump. This process, however, is very different from what men have in mind when they speak of modem evolution. It is not a process in which all the evil is gradually won over to the good until at last the earth is covered with righteousness as the waters cover the channels of the deep. On the con trary it is a development in which the wheat develops according to its principle and reaches a consummation in keeping with its nature, while the tares develop according to their na ture and also consummate their life principle. That means a twofold development —a development of evil and a devel opment of good. In speaking of this Prof. Von Dobschutz says, “ Certainly Jesus’ opinion has nothing in common with the modern view of gradual evolution.” In speaking of the con summation of this process he says, “ It is some miraculous, supernatural, but at the same time external and visible event in history, or better still, some catastrophe at the very end o f history.” This is the hope of the Church and the hope of the world. All this has a very direct and practical message for our day: In the first place it says to the people who are fighting about the question as to whether the world is getting better or worse, “ You are both right.” The wheat is getting better—it is the development of good. The tares are getting worse------ they are the development of evil. “ Evil men and seducers are waxing worse and worse.” That is the reason the
that the context practically makes that translation impossible. The words were spoken in answer to a question asked by the Pharisees. When you remember that Kingdom means the rule of God, and that these men were the leaders through whose influence the Jewish nation rejected God’s anointed king you can readily see that the Kingdom was not within them. Christ Himself said to them, “ Ye are of your father the devil and his works ye do.” That was the rule that was within those men and not the rule of God. But these Greek words are just as easily translated “ the Kingdom of God is in the midst of you,” and that was literally true. The rule of God was perfect in the life of Jesus, so that the Kingship of God was an actual fact in its beauty and power in the midst of that generation. Its life and power were manifested right before them. But after we have made all possi ble allowance for these different phrases there is still a coming of the Kingdom spoken of by Jesus which is still future and glorious. To use the words of Prof. Von Dobschutz: “ A moral estate of mankind wherein God’s will is done without' exception, without any opposition by personal sin or contrary forces in society.” Re garding this coming which means the consummation Dr. Von Dobschutz says, “ The notion of the coming of the Son of man as something still to be expected is a commonplace in the gospel traditions and has to be traced back to Jesus Himself.” This consummation is a thing which cannot be brought about by merely human processes, but is to be realized through the personal appear ance of Christ and to be established in a great human crisis. As Prof. Macintosh of Edinboro rightly con tends, this is not a mere incident in
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