Second part of Sermon LX. for the Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity.
Gal. iii. 16-22. St. Luke x. 23-37.
Blessed are the eyes which see the things that ye see.—ST.
LUKE x. 23.(for the first part, on the Epistle.)
It was to this the prophets of old looked,’ to this the saints of the
elder covenant aspired, to behold Christ, the end of the Law, in Whom dwells
the fulness of all good, the love of God flowing down from Heaven, and
embracing all men; as the fragrant oil that came down on the head of Aaron,
and went to the skirts of his clothing.
It is this which is in so interesting and beautiful a manner set before
us in the Gospel for to-day. Blessed are the eyes, said our Lord
to His disciples, which see the things that ye see; eyes that in
faith are able to discern God in Christ. For I tell you, That many prophets
and kings have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen
them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.
Blessed the eyes that see, and ears that hear of sins forgiven, of
Heaven opened, of diseases and evil spirits flying away at the presence
of God, made Man for us; that witness the day of Christ which Abraham saw
afar off in hope, and rejoiced.
And behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted Him, saying, Master,
what shall I do to inherit eternal life ? He said unto him, What is written
in the Law? How readest thou? As our Lord Himself in the temptation
thrice overcame Satan, by saying, “It is written,” so now He points out
to the Scribe who tempted Him, that the word of life was in the Scriptures
of the Old Testament. And he answering, said, Thou shalt love the Lord
thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength,
and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. And He said unto him,
Thou hast answered right; this do, and thou shalt live. Does our Lord
then mean to say, that in thus fulfilling the righteousness of the Law,
there would be found eternal life ? And if so, how is this to be reconciled
with what St. Paul says,— that the Law could not possibly, under any circumstances,
give life ? The reason is this, that thus fulfilling the Law, in loving
God, would bring to the end of the Law, which is Christ. For God is only
known, or loved, or believed, as He is seen in Christ; Christ is the manifestation
of God; the Law is the schoolmaster, teaching the love of God, in order
to bring to Christ. Therefore, every one so far as he loves God, loves
Christ; there is no other love of God either in the Law or in the Gospel.
Nay, more than this, Christ only is Love, and Christ only is Life; we can
only then have within us love or life, so far as Christ is in us: for He
is Himself both the way and the end. And, therefore, He Himself said, “Had
ye believed Moses, ye would have believed Me.” And here He lays down for
us the great principle of love as fulfilling both the Law and the Gospel;
in which is the union of man through Christ with God. It is, therefore,
of two laws, the love of God and the love of man, yet both comprehended
in one, as God and Man are One Christ.
His life only is holy and righteous who loves all things according as
they are worthy of love; who loves not much what is worthy of little love;
nor loves little an object worthy of much love. “No sinner,” says St. Augustine,
“as such is to be loved; but every man as man is to be loved, for the sake
of God. But God alone is to be loved for His own sake. And if God is more
to be loved than any man, every one ought to love God more than himself.
And another man is to be more loved than our own body; because he is capable
of enjoying God, which the body cannot.” “And all men are alike to be loved:
for our Lord, in explaining to us who our neighbour is, has excluded none
(De Doc. Chris. Par. Brev.).
And when our Lord discloses this one great law of love, it is immediately
seen why He is rejected of the Jews. For the Scribes and Pharisees we find
on all occasions full of their own righteousness, and so anxious at all
times to establish this, that they knew not the love of God in Christ:
and, therefore, they were so far from loving their neighbour, that they
knew not even who he was. And he, willing to justify himself, said unto
Jesus, And who is my neighbour?
Now our Blessed Saviour had often given commands of loving our enemies
and the like; but it was His habit to clothe His precepts in little interesting
and instructive histories, such as might take hold of the mind, and never
be forgotten; and perhaps there is none of these more memorable than this
parable of the Good Samaritan. (For the mystical meaning of this Parable,
see "Plain Sermons," Vol. iv. Serm. cxiii.) And Jesus answering, said,
A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves,
which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving
him half dead. Leaving him in a dying state by the road-side, unable
to assist himself, and, therefore, sure to die a lingering death, unless
some timely assistance should occur. And by chance there came down a
certain priest that way. For Jericho was the city of the priests, and
Jerusalem was the place where they ministered before God; and surely, if
any one might be expected to know the love of God, it was one whose whole
business it was to intercede with God for man, and to intercede with man
in behalf of God; who “made his boast of God, and knew His will, confident
that he himself was a guide of the blind, a light of them which are in
darkness, a teacher of babes.” (Rom. ii. 17-20) But, alas, they of
whom most might be expected are often the worst: he came to that place
in the road where the wounded man was, and when he saw him he passed
by on the other side. He would not oven look upon him. This is usually
the case with selfish people; they are anxious to get out of the sight
of misery, that it may not disturb their feelings. It was so with the rich
man in the parable; it is not said that he even knew of Lazarus dying at
his gate, such things were carefully kept out of his view; he kept on
the other side of the road, the side of self-indulgence, ease, and
luxury, not to be offended by distresses that might occur to other fellow-travellers
on this our common journey of mortality.
And likewise a Levite. Now, the Levites being a sacred tribe,
belonging to the temple, and having the care of all holy things, were those
of whom, next to the priests, we should most expect to know what Divine
love is; but the proverb is too often true, that the nearer men are to
Church, the further they are from God. The Levite, when he was at the
place, came and looked on him; he was so far indeed better than the
priest, that he came and looked on him as if with a passing thought of
concern and sympathy, for first thoughts are often the best; and then
he also passed by on the other side.
But a certain Samaritan,—one of those half-heathen, ignorant
outcasts whom the Jews would not deign to look upon, by whose very presence
they felt contaminated, calling Christ a Samaritan at the same time that
they called him a devil,—a Samaritan, as he journeyed, not passing
in his own leisure like the priest and the Levite, as it would appear,
but on a journey of business,—as he journeyed came where he was; and
when he saw him lie had compassion on him, and not only so,
but as if forgetting his own concerns and his journey, he went to him,
and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own
beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. He entered
into the case as if it had been that of a near relative or dear friend,
for even on such an occasion he could have done no more. He gave up his
own business, he gave up his oil and wine, the support of his own journey,
he gave up his beast, he went himself on foot, he waited himself and tended
on the wounded stranger, he made the case entirely his own. This is loving
one’s neighbour as oneself. And on the morrow, when he departed, he
took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take
care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will
repay thee. He did not say to the innkeeper, “Now I have done my part,
it is for you and others to look to him,” but he kept to the same course
throughout, as a privilege to serve one in distress.
Which now, said our Lord to the Scribe, of these three, thinkest
thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves? And he said,
He that showed mercy on him. Thus the Scribe who asked the question
himself gives the answer, according to that expression in prophecy of the
last day, “Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee.” Then said Jesus
unto him, Go, and do thou likewise. If you wish to know who your neighbour
is whom you are bound to love, it is he who needs your assistance. The
word neighbour is more expressive in the Greek and Latin languages than
in our own; it is he who approaches nearest to you. We are to love all
men; but in doing so are to love most those who need it most. Now how can
this be ? It is only, my brethren, by loving God. It is by loving men because
God loves them, and as beloved of Him, and because we ourselves love Him.
And therefore it is the second Commandment, it cannot stand alone, but
another goes before it, the first and great Commandment, which is the love
of God.
We may love some persons because we love ourselves,—because they are
connected with us, are useful to us, or kind; but then we shall love ourselves
best; but if we love our neighbour because we love God, then we shall love
him in some measure as we love ourselves.
Again, we may dislike various persons for various reasons; one, because
be is proud or happy and above us; another, because he is miserable and
below us; another, because he is unkind to us; another, because he is in
our way, or condemns us; another, on account of infirmities of body or
mind: but in all these cases we shall get rid of these evil tempers, if
we consider how they are loved of God; surely, as much as we ourselves
are. Consider, I say, how God loves them, and you will learn to be merciful,
even as your Father in Heaven is merciful.
