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Testimonies for the Church Volume 9
said: “Master, speak to my brother, that he divide the inheritance
with me.”
Luke 12:13
.
This man had witnessed Christ’s wonderful works. He had been
astonished at the clearness of His comprehension, His superior judg-
ment, and the fairness with which He viewed the cases brought to
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Him. He heard Christ’s stirring appeals and His solemn denuncia-
tions of the scribes and Pharisees. If words of such command could
be spoken to this brother, he would not dare to refuse the aggrieved
man his portion. He solicited Christ’s influence on his side. “Speak
to my brother,” he said, “that he divide the inheritance with me.”
The Holy Spirit was pleading with this man to become an heir
of the inheritance that is incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth
not away. He had seen evidence of the power of Christ. Now the
opportunity was his to speak to the Great Teacher, to express the
desire uppermost in his heart. But like the man with the muckrake
in Bunyan’s allegory, his eyes were fixed on the earth. He saw not
the crown above his head. Like Simon Magus he valued the gift of
God as a means of worldly gain.
The Saviour’s mission on earth was fast drawing to a close. Only
a few months remained for Him to complete what He came to do
in establishing the kingdom of His grace. Yet human greed would
have turned Him from His work to take up the dispute over a piece
of land. But Jesus was not to be diverted from His mission. His
answer was: “Man, who made Me a judge or a divider over you?”
Luke 12:14
.
Christ gave the man plainly to understand that this was not His
work. He was striving to save souls. He was not to be turned aside
from this to take up the duties of a civil magistrate.
How often today labor is forced upon the church that should
never be allowed to enter the work of the gospel ministry!
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Again and again Christ had been asked to decide legal and polit-
ical questions. But He refused to interfere in temporal matters. He
knew that in the political world there were iniquitous proceedings
and great tyranny. But His only exposure of these was the proclama-
tion of Bible truth. To the great multitudes that thronged His steps
He presented the pure, holy principles of the law of God and spoke
of the blessing found in obeying these principles. With authority