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before these two were dead his sufferings were over.
The doctrine of the Kingdom of Heaven, which was the main teaching of Jesus,
is certainly one of the most revolutionary doctrines that ever stirred and
changed human thought. It is small wonder if the world of that time failed to
grasp its full significance, and recoiled in dismay from even a half
apprehension of its tremendous challenges to the established habits and
institutions of mankind. For the doctrine of the Kingdom of Heaven, as Jesus
seems to have preached it, was no less than a bold and uncompromising demand
for a complete change and cleansing of the life of our struggling race, an
utter cleansing, without and within. To the gospels the reader must go for all
that is preserved of this tremendous teaching; here we are only concerned with
the jar of its impact upon established ideas.
The Jews were persuaded that God, the one God of the whole world, was a
righteous god, but they also thought of him as a trading god who had made a
bargain with their Father Abraham about them, a very good bargain indeed for
them, to bring them at last to predominance in the earth. With dismay and
anger they heard Jesus sweeping away their dear securities. God, he taught,
was no bargainer; there were no chosen people and no favourites in the Kingdom
of Heaven. God was the loving father of all life, as incapable of showing
favour as the universal sun. And all men were brothers-sinners alike and
beloved sons alike-of this divine father. In the parable of the Good Samaritan
Jesus cast scorn upon that natural tendency we all obey, to glorify our own
people and to minimize the righteousness of other creeds and other races. In
the parable of the labourers he thrust aside the obstinate claim of the Jews
to have a special claim upon God. All whom God takes into the kingdom, he
taught, God serves alike; there is no distinction in his treatment, because
there is no measure to his bounty. From all, moreover, as the parable of the
buried talent witnesses, and as the incident of the widow's mite enforces, he
demands the utmost. There are no privileges, no rebates and no excuses in the
Kingdom of Heaven.
But it is not only the intense tribal patriotism of the Jews that Jesus
outraged. They were a people of intense family loyalty, and he would have
swept away all the narrow and restrictive family affections in the great flood
of the love of God. The whole kingdom of Heaven was to be the family of his
followers. We are told that, "While he yet talked to the people, behold, his
mother and his brethren stood without, desiring to speak with him. Then one
said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to
speak with thee. But he answered and said unto him that told him, Who is my
mother? and who are my brethren? And he stretched forth his hands towards his
disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren! For whosoever shall do
the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister,
and mother."
And not only did Jesus strike at patriotism and the bonds of family loyalty
in the name of God's universal fatherhood and brotherhood of all mankind, but
it is clear that his teaching condemned all the gradations of the economic
system, all private wealth, and personal advantages. All men belonged to the
kingdom; all their possessions belonged to the kingdom; the righteous life for
all men, the only righteous life, was the service of God's will with all that
we had, with all that we were. Again and again he denounced private riches and
the reservation of any private life.
"And when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled
to him, and asked him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal
life? And Jesus said to him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but
one, that is God. Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do
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not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Defraud not, Honour thy
father and mother. And he answered and said unto him, Master, all these things
have I observed from my youth. Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said
unto him, One thing thou lackest; go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and
give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up
the cross, and follow me. And he was sad at that saying, and went away
grieved: for he had great possessions.
"And Jesus looked round about, and saith unto his disciples, How hardly shall
they that have riches enter into the Kingdom of God! And the disciples were
astonished at his words. But Jesus answered again, and saith unto them,
Children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the
Kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle,
than for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of God."
Moreover, in his tremendous prophecy of this kingdom which was to make all
men one together in God, Jesus had small patience for the bargaining
righteousness of formal religion. Another large part of his recorded
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