Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy
neighbour, and hate thine enemy. (Matt. 5:43)
It is astonishing, that the Scribes fell into so great an
absurdity, as to limit the word neighbor to benevolent persons: for nothing is
more obvious or certain than that God, in speaking of our neighbors, includes
the whole human race.
Every man is devoted to himself; and whenever a regard to
personal convenience occasions an interruption of acts of kindness, there is a
departure from that kind of action that nature itself dictates. To keep up the
exercise of brotherly love, God assures us, that all men are our brethren,
because they are related to us by a common nature. Whenever I see a man, I
must, of necessity, behold myself as in a mirror: for he is my bone and my
flesh, (Genesis 29:14.) Now, though the greater part of men break off, in most
instances, from this holy society, yet their depravity does not violate the
order of nature; for we ought to regard God as the author of brotherly love.
Hence we conclude, that the precept of the law, by which we
are commanded to love our neighbor, is general. But the Scribes, judging of
neighborhood from the disposition of the individual, affirmed that no man ought
to be reckoned a neighbor, unless he were worthy of esteem on account of his
own excellencies, or, at least, unless he acted the part of a friend. This is,
no doubt, supported by the common opinion; and therefore the children of the
world are not ashamed to acknowledge their resentments, when they have any
reason to assign for them. But the charity, which God requires in his law,
looks not at what a man has deserved, but extends itself to the unworthy, the wicked,
and the ungrateful. Now, this is the true meaning which Christ restores, and
vindicates from calumny; and hence it is obvious, as I have already said, that
Christ does not introduce new laws, but corrects the wicked glosses of the
Scribes, by whom the purity of the divine law had been corrupted. (Commentaries)
No comments:
Post a Comment