Our Lord's descent from the holy heights of the Mount of Transfiguration was more than a physical return from greater to lesser altitudes. It was a passing from sunshine into shadow, from the effulgent glory of heaven to the mists of worldly passions and human unbelief. From lofty converse with divinely-appointed ministers, from supreme communion with His Father and God, Jesus came down to a scene of disheartening confusion and a spectacle of demonized dominion before which even His apostles stood in impotent despair. To His sensitive and sinless soul the contrast must have brought superhuman anguish; even to us who read the brief account thereof it is appalling.

At or near the base of the mountain the party found the other apostles, and with them a multitude of people, including some scribes or rabbis. There was evidence of disputation and disturbance amongst the crowd; and plainly the apostles were on the defensive. At the unexpected approach of Jesus many of the people ran to meet Him with respectful salutations. Of the contentious scribes He asked: "What question ye with them?"

"Master," said he, kneeling at the feet of Christ, "I have brought unto thee my son, which hath a dumb spirit" The disciples' failure to heal the stricken youth had evidently brought upon them hostile criticism, taunts and ridicule from the unbelieving scribes. Pained in spirit at this—another instance of dearth of faith and consequent lack of power among His chosen and ordained servants—Jesus uttered an exclamation of intense sorrow: "O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you?"

The words were addressed primarily to the apostles; whether exclusively so or to them and others is of minor importance. As Jesus directed, the afflicted lad was brought nearer; and the tormenting demon, finding himself in the Master's presence, threw his youthful victim into a terrible paroxysm. The boy fell to the ground and wallowed in convulsions, the while frothing and foaming at the mouth. Jesus inquired as to when the malady had first befallen the lad. "Of a child," answered the father, adding, "And ofttimes it hath cast him into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him"

Jesus replied: "If thou canst believe"; and added, "all things are possible to him that believeth" The man's understanding was enlightened; up to that moment he had thought that all depended upon Jesus; he now saw that the issue rested largely with himself. It is noteworthy that the Lord specified belief rather than faith as the condition essential to the case. The man was evidently trustful, and assuredly fervent in his hope that Jesus could help; but it is doubtful that he knew what faith really meant. He was receptive and eagerly teachable, however, and the Lord strengthened his feeble and uncertain belief.

Weeping in an agony of hope he cried out: "Lord, I believe;" and then, realizing the darkness of error from which he was just beginning to emerge, he added penitently "help thou mine unbelief" Looking compassionately upon the writhing sufferer at His feet, Jesus rebuked the demon, thus: "Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of him, and enter no more into him" The people were amazed at the power of God manifested in the miracle; and the apostles who had tried and failed to subdue the evil spirit were disturbed.

While on their mission, though away from their Master's helpful presence, they had successfully rebuked and cast out evil spirits. When they had retired to the house, they asked of Jesus, "Why could not we cast him out?" The reply was: "Because of your unbelief;" and in further explanation the Lord said, "Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting"

The possibilities of faith were now thus further affirmed: "Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove" Jesus departed with the Twelve, and passed through Galilee toward Capernaum. It is probable that they traveled by the less frequented roads, as He desired that His return should not be publicly known.

He had gone into comparative retirement for a season, primarily it seems in quest of opportunity to more thoroughly instruct the apostles in their preparation for the work. They had solemnly testified that they knew Him to be the Christ; to them therefore He could impart much that the people in general were wholly unprepared to receive. The particular theme of His special and advanced instruction to the Twelve was that of His approaching death and resurrection. "Let these sayings sink down into your ears" was His forceful prelude on this occasion, in Galilee. Then followed the reiterated prediction, spoken in part in the present tense as though already begun in fulfilment: "The Son of man is delivered into the hands of men, and they shall kill him"

We read with some surprize that the apostles still failed to understand. The thought of what the Lord's words might mean, even in its faintest outline, was terrifying to those devoted men. Their failure to comprehend was in part due to the fact that the human mind is loath to search deeply into anything it desires not to believe. Jesus and His followers were again in Capernaum. There Peter was approached by a collector of the temple tax, who asked: "Doth not your Master pay tribute?" Peter answered "Yes"

It is interesting to find that the inquiry was made of Peter and not directly of Jesus. This may suggest the possibility of doubt in the collector's mind as to whether Jesus was amenable to the tax. The annual capitation tax here referred to amounted to half a shekel or a didrachm, corresponding to about thirty-three cents in our money. This tribute, as prescribed through Moses, was originally known as "atonement money," and its payment was in the nature of a sacrifice to accompany supplication for ransom from the effects of individual sin. At the time of Christ the annual contribution was usually collected between early March and the Passover.

If Jesus was subject to this tax, He was at this time several weeks in arrears. The conversation between Peter and the tax-collector had occurred outside the house. Peter must have seen the inconsistency of expecting Jesus, the acknowledged Messiah, to pay atonement money, or a tax for temple maintenance, inasmuch as the temple was the House of God, and Jesus was the Son of God. Even earthly princes were exempted from capitation dues.

Peter's embarrassment over his inconsiderate boldness, in pledging payment for his Master without first consulting Him, was relieved however by Jesus. The money was to be paid, not because it could be rightfully demanded of Jesus, but lest non-payment give offense and furnish to His opponents further excuse for complaint. The "piece of money," which Jesus said Peter would find in the mouth of the first fish that took his bait, is more correctly designated by the literal translation "stater"

In His associations with men, even with the Twelve, our Lord always maintained His separate and unique status. He reverently acknowledged that He was the Son of God in a literal sense that did not apply to any other being. While the circumstances of the finding of the stater in the fish are not detailed, and the actual accomplishment of the miracle is not positively recorded, we cannot doubt that what Jesus had promised was realized. The miracle is without a parallel or even a remotely analogous instance.

We need not assume that an ordinary coin had fallen into the water, nor that it had been taken by the fish in any unusual way. The Lord's purpose in so miraculously supplying the money should be studiously considered. The assumption that superhuman power had to be invoked because of a supposed condition of extreme poverty on the part of Jesus and Peter is unwarranted.

Even if Jesus and His companions had been actually penniless, Peter and his fellow fishermen could easily have cast their net, and, with ordinary success have obtained fish enough to sell for the needed amount. We find no instance of a miracle wrought by the Lord for personal gain or relief of His own need, however pressing. It appears probable, that by the means employed for obtaining the money, Jesus intentionally emphasized His exceptional reasons for redeeming Peter's pledge that the tax would be paid. The Jews, who did not know Jesus as the Messiah, but only as a Teacher of superior ability and a Man of unusual power, might have taken offense had He refused to pay the tribute required of every Jew.

On the other hand, to the apostles and particularly to Peter who had been the mouth-piece of all in the great confession, the payment of the tax might have appeared as an admission that He was subject to the temple. On the way to Capernaum the apostles had questioned among themselves, as they supposed beyond the Master's hearing; questioning had led to argument, and argument to disputation. The matter about which they were so greatly concerned was as to who among them should be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Then, in conclusive demonstration of His exalted status, He provided the money by the utilization of knowledge such as no other man possessed.

The testimony they had received convinced them beyond all doubt, that Jesus was the long-awaited Christ, and this had been supplemented and confirmed by His unqualified acknowledgment of His Messianic dignity. With minds still tinctured by the traditional expectation of the Messiah as both spiritual Lord and temporal King, they surrendered themselves to the selfish contemplation of their prospective stations in the new kingdom. Who of them was to be prime minister; who would be chancellor, who the commander of the troops? Personal ambition had already engendered jealousy in their hearts. When they were together with Jesus in the house at Capernaum, the subject was brought up again.

Mark tells us that Jesus asked: "What was it that ye disputed among yourselves by the way?" and that they answered not, because, as may be inferred, they were ashamed. From Matthew's record it may be understood that the apostles submitted the question for the Master's decision. Both accounts are correct; Christ's question to them may have eventually brought out their questions to Him. Jesus, comprehending their thoughts and knowing their unenlightened state of mind on the matter that troubled them, gave them an illustrated lesson. Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me.

Christ would not have had His chosen representatives become childish. They had to be men of courage, fortitude, and force; but He would have them become childlike. Even the apostles were in need of conversion. They must have learned that genuine humility is an attribute essential to citizenship in the community of the blessed. The degree of humility conditions whatsoever there is akin to rank in the kingdom; for therein the humblest shall be greatest.

Those who belong to Christ must become like children in obedience, truthfulness, trustfulness, purity, humility and faith. The child is an artless, natural, trusting believer; the childish one is careless, foolish, and neglectful. Whosoever shall offend, that is cause to stumble or go astray, incurs guilt so great that it would have been better for him had he met death even by violence before he had so sinned. The Lord continued: "Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh!"

Then, repeating some of the precious truths embodied in His memorable Sermon on the Mount, He urged the overcoming of evil propensities whatever the sacrifice. As it is better that a man undergo surgical treatment though he lose thereby a hand, a foot, or an eye, than that his whole body be involved and his life forfeited, so is it commended that he cut off, tear away, or root out from his soul the passions of evil. In that state his conscience shall gnaw as an undying worm, and his remorse shall be as a fire that cannot be quenched. Every human soul shall be tested as by fire; and as the flesh of the altar sacrifices had to be seasoned with salt,

"Have salt in yourselves," was the Lord's admonition to the disputing Twelve. The mission of the Christ was presented as that of saving those who are temporarily lost, and who, but for His aid would be lost forever. In elucidation of His meaning, the Teacher presented a parable which has found place among the literary treasures of the world. "How think ye? if a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astrays?"

In this effective analogy the saving purpose of Christ's mission is made prominent. The shepherd is portrayed as leaving the ninety and nine, pastured or folded in safety, while he goes alone into the mountains to seek the one that has strayed. In finding and bringing back the wayward sheep, he has more joy than that of knowing the others are yet safe. In a later version of this splendid parable, as addressed to the murmuring Pharisees and scribes at Jerusalem, the Master said of the shepherd on his finding the lost sheep: "And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing"

"Rejoice with me," says the shepherd, "for I have found my sheep which was lost" "Joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance," says Jesus. In the safe-folded ninety andNine the shepherd had continued joy. But to him came a new accession of happiness, brighter and stronger because of his recent grief, when the lost was brought back to the fold.

In continuation of the lesson illustrated by the little child, Jesus said: "Whosoever shall receive this child in my name receiveth me" It may have been Christ's reference to deeds done in His name that prompted John to interject a remark at this point: "Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name, and he followeth not us" The young apostle had allowed his zeal for the Master's name to lead to intolerance. But Jesus said, Forbid him not: for there is no man which shall do a miracle in myname, that can lightly speak evil of me. For he that is not against us is on our part.

That the man who had attempted to do good in the name of Jesus was evidently sincere, and that his efforts were acceptable to the Lord we cannot doubt. His act was essentially different from the unrighteous assumptions for which some others were afterward rebuked. He was certainly a believer in Christ, and may have been one of the class from which the Lord was soon to select and commission special ministers and the Seventy. In the state of divided opinion then existing among the people concerning Jesus, it was fair to say that all who were not opposed to Him were at least tentatively on His side. The proper method of adjusting differences between brethren and the fundamental principles of Church discipline were made subjects of instruction to the Twelve.

The rule of the rabbis was that the offender must make the first advance. Jesus taught that the injured one should not wait for his brother to come to him, but go himself, and seek to adjust the difficulty. If the offender proved to be obdurate, the brother who had suffered the trespass was to take two or three others with him, and again try to bring the transgressor to repentant acknowledgment of his offense. Such a course provided for witnesses, by whose presence later misrepresentation would be guarded against. Extreme measures were to be adopted only after all gentler means had failed.

The revealed order of discipline in the restored Church is similar to that given to the apostles of old. Justice is not to be dethroned by Mercy. Continued association with the unrepentant sinner may involve the spread of his disaffection, and the contamination of others through his sin. In such state of non-membership he would be a fit subject for missionary effort.

The authority of the Twelve to administer the affairs of Church government was attested by the Lord's confirming to them as a body. Peter here broke in with a question: "Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?" He would fain have some definite limit set, and he probably considered the tentative suggestion of seven times as a very liberal measure, inasmuch as the rabbis prescribed a triple forgiveness only.

He may have chosen seven as the next number above three having a special Pharisaical significance. The Savior's answer was enlightening: "Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven" This reply must have meant to Peter as it means to us, that to forgiveness man may set no bounds. The forgiveness, however, must be merited by the recipient.

The lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt. But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellowservants, which owed him an hundred pence. The lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him. And his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me. Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee?

Ten thousand talents is specified as expressive of a sum so great as to put the debtor beyond all reasonable possibility of paying. We may regard the man as a trusted official, one of the king's ministers, who had been charged with the custody of the royal revenues. In an absolute monarchy all but the sovereign are subjects and servants. The selling of the debtor's wife and children and all that he had would not have been in violation of the law in the supposed case. The man was in arrears for debt. He did not come before his lord voluntarily but had to be brought.

In his fellowservant's plea for time in which to pay the hundred pence, the greater debtor should have been reminded of the dire straits from which he had just been relieved. The base ingratitude of the unmerciful servant justified the king in revoking the pardon once granted. The man came under condemnation, not primarily for defalcation and debt, but for lack of mercy after having received of mercy so abundantly.

He, as an unjust plaintiff, had invoked the law; as a convicted transgressor he was to be dealt with according to the law. Mercy is for the merciful. As a heavenly jewel it is to be received with thankfulness and used with sanctity. The conditions under which we may confidently implore pardon are set forth in the form of prayer prescribed by the Lord: "Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors"

In these cases, faith was exercized in behalf of the sufferers by others. The same is true of the centurion who pleaded for his servant and whose faith was specially commended by Jesus. In connection with the ordinance of administering to the afflicted, by anointing with oil and the laying on of hands, the elders officiating should encourage the faith of all believers present.

In the case of infants and of persons who are unconscious, it is plainly useless to look for active manifestation of faith on their part. The apostles who failed on the occasion referred to had been able to cast out demons at other times. Fasting, when practised in prudence, and genuine prayer are conducive to the development of faith with its accompanying power for good. Individual application of this principle may be made with profit. Have you some besetting weakness, some sinful indulgence that you have vainly tried to overcome?

Many people have questioned the literal truth of the Lord's declaration that by faith mountains may be removed from their place. Plainly there would have to be a purpose in harmony with the divine mind and plan, in order that faith could be exerted at all in such an undertaking. Neither such a miracle nor any other is possible as a gratification of the yearning for curiosity, nor for display, or for personal gain or selfish satisfaction. Christ wrought no miracle with any such motive; He persistently refused to show signs to mere sign-seekers.

The Jews in the days of Christ and since often spoke of removing mountains as a figurative expression for the overcoming of difficulties. According to Lightfoot and other authorities a man able to solve intricate problems, or of particular power in argument or acumen in judgment, was referred to as a "rooter up of mountains"

This coin was equivalent to the half shekel, reckoned "after the shekel of the sanctuary," which was the fixed amount to be paid annually by every male "from twenty years old and above" (Exo. 30:13-15) A tax levied by the political powers would not be designated as the didrachma. Had the collector who approached Peter been one of the official publicans, he probably would have demanded the tax instead of inquiring as to whether or not the Master was to be counted among the contributors.

Of the emperor Vespasian, Josephus (Wars of the Jews, vii, 6:6) says: That he also laid a tribute wheresoever they were, and enjoined every one of them to bring two drachmæ every year into the capitol. It is evident that by specifying ten thousand talents as the debt due the king, and a hundred pence as that owed by the fellow-servant, the Lord intended to present a case of great disparity and striking contrast. The actual amounts involved are of minor significance in the story. We are not told which variety of talent was meant; there were Attic talents, and both silver and gold talents of Hebrew reckoning; and each differed from

The same authority gives as the value of the penny (Roman) sevenpence half-penny, or fifteen cents, making the second debt equivalent to about fifteen dollars. Trench says: "How vast a sum it was we can most vividly realize to ourselves by comparing it with other sums mentioned in Scripture" Farrar estimates the debt owed to the king as 1,250,000 times that owed by the lesser to the greater debtor.

An Assumed Approval of Slavery. Some readers have assumed that they find in the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant an implied approval of the institution of slavery. The purpose of the parable was not even remotely to endorse or condemn slavery or any other social institution. The "angel of the Lord" who brought to Hagar a message of encouragement and blessing respected the authority of her mistress (Gen. 16:8, 9). In the apostolic epoch, instruction was directed toward right living under the secular law, not rebellion against the system.

Until men open their hearts to the reception of the gospel of Jesus Christ, injustice and oppression, servitude and slavery, in some form or other, are sure to exist. Attempts to extirpate social conditions that spring from individual selfishness cannot be otherwise than futile so long as selfishness is left to thrive and propagate. When the love of God shall be given a place in the hearts of mankind, when men shall unselfishly love their neighbors, then social systems and governments shall be formed and operated to the securing of the greatest good to the greatest number.

FOOTNOTES: Compare 2 Peter 1:18, Luke 9:37. See reading in revised version, and in margin of Oxford and Bagster Bibles. Compare Parable of the Mustard Seed, page 290 . Matt. 18:8, 9. Mark 9:49, 50; compare Lev. 2:13; Ezek. 43:24. Matt. 19:13-15; Mark 10-13-16; Luke 18:15-17. Compare Luke 22:32.

18:12-14; compare Luke 15:3-7 in which occurs a repetition of this impressive parable, as given on a later occasion to Pharisees and scribes at Jerusalem. They based this limitation on Amos 1:3 and Job 33:29. In the latter passage, as it appears in the authorized version, the word "oftentimes" is an erroneous rendering of the original, which really signified "twice and thrice"