REVOLUTIONARY CHRISTIANITY 31 



From earliest childhood Jesus knew well what 

 poverty meant* He had not a '' guarded education/' 

 He knew what it was to play at weddings and funerals 

 with the other village children in the market place at 

 Nazareth ♦ He knew the value of a silver coin to a poor 

 peasant women. He knew how awkward it was to have 

 an unexpected visitor late at night, and to have nothing 

 for him to eat* 



But the working classes of that day were no more 

 contented with their lot than are those of our own. 

 Even then they saw and felt the injustice of the unequal 

 distribution of wealth, and in the '' Magnificat '' we 

 find the expectant mother of our Lord giving expression 

 to the hopes she entertained of the great revolution her 

 Child would bring about. He was to '* scatter the proud 

 in the imagination of their hearts/' He was to ** pull 

 down the mighty from their seats and exalt those of low 

 degree ** ; He was to ** fill the hungry with good things 

 and send the rich empty away/' Such was the pre-natal 

 programme of the Gospel, 



Even before His Mission began, Jesus recognised 

 that the power to get riches, and so to dominate our 

 fellow men, is the gift of Satan, It was Satan who said 

 *' All these things will I give Thee, and the power of 

 them," Thus did He see clearly that the acquisitive 

 faculty and the power to rule are alike evil. The Gift 

 of God is the power of service. 



Then again, at the beginning of His Ministry, Jesus 

 adopted the glorious words of the Trito-Isaiah to set 

 forth the ends that He had in view : '* The Spirit of the 

 Lord is upon me, because He hath anointed me to preach 

 good tidings to the poor, to proclaim release to the 

 captive, the recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty 

 them that are bruised, to proclaim the acceptable year 

 of the Lord," One could scarcely wish for a more 

 democratic programme. Moreover, it is very striking 



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