Another view of Judas is quite possible. (1) He was a sincere follower of Jesus, with enthusiastic belief in his claims as the Christ. (2) Like the other disciples, but much more so, his mind was filled with the old Jewish conceptions of the Christ as a kingly ruler with irresistible force for conquest. (3) Judas was a man of a highly practical turn of mind: hence he kept the bag, was treasurer to the little company of disciples. (4) Like John the Baptist, he was impatient at the delay of Jesus in assertion of his kingship by force. (5) His practical turn of mind led such a man to devise a scheme for forcing Jesus to assert his powers; this scheme was to contrive a sudden arrest. (6) For such a scheme he must, of course, go through the form of receiving money from the authorities, as if a reward for treason. The expression in Luke (page 129) Then entered Satan into Judas Iscariot favors the idea that this scheme may have come to him as a sudden thought. (7) When Jesus, divining what was in the mind of Judas, uses the words, What thou doest do quickly, these words, which we interpret in the light of the sequel, might to a fanatic with a practical plan in his mind have been perverted into an encouragement. The phrase applied by Christ to Judas, the son of perdition (John, page 238), need imply no more than that Jesus then recognises that Judas is lost. (8) It is noticeable that Judas, who might easily have identified Jesus to the soldiers without being actually present, stood by during the arrest (John, page 239), as if expecting the assertion of supernatural force; and his expectation must have received a momentary confirmation when, as the officers actually accosted Jesus, They went backward and fell to the ground. (9) When it became evident that Jesus would not use supernatural force, but elected to suffer, Judas was overwhelmed with remorse. Not only had his scheme failed, but he became conscious of having the price of innocent blood in his hand. He rushed to return it to the authorities: when they refused it he threw it on the ground before them, and went away and committed suicide. (10) Of course, against all this must be set the words of the fourth gospel that Judas was a thief (see John, page 228). But, read in its context, this may be understood as an interpretation, by the writer of the fourth gospel, of a particular expression of Judas on a particular occasion; it does not seem to be intended as a statement of fact. 8. John the Baptist Baptism was a rite prevailing extensively in the Holy Land, for purposes of initiation, or in connection with some special consecration. The miraculous circumstances attending the birth of this John are related at the commencement of St. Luke. He led the life of a hermit until he came forward as the first stage in the movement which culminates in the appearance of Jesus Christ. His part in this movement is always recognised by himself as that of preparation. Water and fire are the great purifying forces of the world: John distinguishes between his baptism of water, and of repentance as preparation for what is to come, and the higher baptism of fire which he attributes to his successor. Thus he is identified with the expectancy among the Jews that some messenger" would prepare the way for the advent of the Messiah. Such expectancy is founded on a prophecy in the Book of Malachi [which word is the title of the book, not the name of a person, and signifies " My Messenger "]. Behold, I send MY MESSENGER, and he shall prepare the way before me and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple. But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' soap: and he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he shall purify the sons of Levi. . . . Behold, I will send you ELIJAH THE PROPHET before the great and terrible day of the LORD come. And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers. Thus when Jesus seemed to delay his manifestation as king, in the sense of the kind of king the Jews were expecting, the question was raised whether Jesus himself was only this Messenger, or the expected Elihu, or John the Baptist risen from the dead (Matthew, page 169, etc.). The execution of John the Baptist for his reproof of Herod had already taken place (above, page 165). John the Baptist thus makes the final point of Old Testament prophecy, before the New Covenant opens with Jesus. Hence the words of Jesus (Matthew, page 158): Among them that are born of women there hath not arisen a greater than John the Baptist: yet he that is but little in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. 9. The Gift of Tongues This must be recognised as one of the difficult points of New Testament narrative. It appears first in connection with the Descent of the Holy Ghost on the Day of Pentecost, and reappears at intervals in the Acts and the Epistles. I. The difficulty is to form a clear idea as to what was the outer manifestation of this gift of tongues. In the vivid description of the Day of Pentecost (Acts, page 263) it seems to be some ecstatic speech of those upon whom the Holy Ghost descends, which by some present (men of various races) is described by the words, Every man heareth in the language wherein he was born, while those who use these words recognise that the speakers are Galilæans. Other bystanders see in this ecstatic speech only the babbling of drunkards. A similar manifestation appears in the incident of Cornelius (Acts, page 274), and is understood to imply that the Holy Ghost has been given to Gentiles as well as Jews. It continues to appear in the histor the churches, and the same double character continues: thus (▾ thians, page 320) among spiritual gifts are mentioned both d; 104, 143, 151, tongues and the interpretation of tongues. 2. On the other hand, the symbolism of all this is 413, 214 The incident of Pentecost is the counterpart, in the New Testament, to the incident of Babel in the Old Testament (Genesis 11). The latter was the confusion of tongues: the rise of varying languages, which in time made varying nations: then one nation is "chosen " to bring the rest of the nations to the knowledge of God. The symbolism of Pentecost is the bringing back the various nations into the unity of the Christian religion. The gospel message is spoken, as it were, in Galilæan form: but each people that hears it interprets it in terms of its own civilization. INDEX Besides ordinary purposes of reference this Index is designed to give assistance Abridgment 3, 250, 306 Anathema 312, 418 Acts of the Apostles: Introduction Andrew 40, 44, 66, 92, 144, 155, 203, - tory 250. Stages of narrative 249-| Annas 239, 266 -- 272-3, - - Ascension: see under Incidents. Athens 255, 281-2, 416 50 marked by visions 250, 253, Antinomianism 306, 369 ff. - Agrippa 258-9, 294-7, 427 - - Alexander the Great, Conquests of 7 - also the High Ananias and Sap- Ananias the disciple 275 Babel 251 Barabbas 72, 193, 241 Beelzebub 44, 106, 155, 156, 160, 425 Bethsaida 51, 100, 104, 158, 203, 229 Cæsarea 169, 258, 273, 276, 291, 293 Capernaum 40, 57, 89, 94, 104, 143, 151, 159, 171, 204, 209, 213, 214 Captivity, The, 6 The incident of Pentecost is the counterpart, in the New Testament, to the |