The Ethic of Jesus according to the Synoptic Gospels

Ne feature of the teaching of our Lord about

which there can be no mistake is, that He was an ethical teacher. This lies on the very surface; for, let the reader open the record of His words where he will, it is on an ethical matter that he comes. The Sermon on the Mount, for example, is filled with this element from beginning to end. If there be matter of a different kind in the words of Jesus, it has to be sought for, and does not lie on the surface. Of course it is possible that the element which is the less conspicuous may be the more important; in which case we shall have to seek for it as for hidden treasure. But the element which is the more copious has a claim of its own on this very account; and we may begin with some attempt to define its character and scope.

In looking about for a clue to guide us in arranging the vast mass of the ethical teaching of Jesus, it is natural to try, first, the division of this kind of matter adopted by systematic thinkers in the ethical sphere. Now, from of old it has been under-THE ETHIC OF JESUS

stood that the science of Ethics is concerned with three subjects — the Highest Good, Virtue and Duty — and, by a brief consideration of these ancient philosophical terms, or their modern equivalents, we may obtain some preliminary notion of the extent of the field within which Jesus is to be our teacher, and we may find a clue for the arrangement of our materials.

First, then, let us consider which topics come within the range of the Highest Good.

In speaking of the Highest Good as the theme of Ethics, Aristotle observes: “Every art and every kind of inquiry, and likewise every act and purpose, seems to aim at some good; and, since there are many kinds of actions, and many arts and sciences, it follows that there are many ends also. E.g ., health is the end of medicine, ships of shipbuilding, victory of the art of war, and wealth of economy. But, when several of these are subordinated to some one art or science, as the making of bridles and other trappings to the art of horsemanship, and this in turn, along with all else that a soldier does, to the art of war, and so on, then the end of the master-art is always more desired than the end of the subordinate arts, since these are pursued for its sake. And, if in what we do there be some end which we wish for on its own account, choosing all the others as means to this, this will evidently be the best of all things.

And surely from a practical point of view it much more concerns us to know this good; for then, like archers shooting at a definite mark, we shall be more likely to attain what we want.” *

When, in the Middle Ages, the teaching of Aristotle was revived, it was in the Latin language that men taught and learned; and the term employed to express Aristotle’s ideal was summum bonuniy which, accordingly, became a constant topic of discussion among moralists. Pursuing the same line of reflection as Aristotle, we may say that in life there are thousands of good things. There may be a separate one for every day and for every situation; but the smaller ones run up into the larger, and the lower into the higher; and there must be at the top one supreme good, to the attainment of which all the rest serve as means. To determine what this is may seem to require a great effort of abstract thought; but it is, indeed, a very practical question. No human being ought to be willing to live and die without tasting the very best which life can afford. The very humblest may, in moments of meditation, inquire, With what purpose has my Maker sent me into the world? what is the object, which, if secured, will make life a success but, if missed, will make it a failure? This, however, is nothing else but the ultimate problem of Ethics.

* Nicomachean Ethics (Peters’ translation), i. i, 2. Some sentences omitted.

THE ETHIC OF JESUS

In the foregoing extract from Aristotle, it may be observed that the word “end” is sometimes employed as an equivalent for the substantive “good”; and “chief end” has sometimes been used in English as a synonym for “highest good,” with the result that the idea involved has been made familiar to sections of the population not generally conversant with philosophical speculations. Especially has this been the case in Scotland, where the first question of the Shorter Catechism, u What is man’s chief end?” has for centuries been nearly the first thing learned in the home or the school. It will bear a great deal of reflection why this should have been the first question proposed for every young mind to ponder. It seems to imply at least that the chief end or highest good is something which profoundly concerns everyone; so that even the youngest should, at the earliest opportunity, have their attention directed to it. It is true, there are questions which ought to be asked and answered at the very commencement of life but, in the majority of cases, are not put till its close; and this may be one of them. In point of fact, those who have reflected with any earnestness on the subject may be few in number. Yet it is the prerogative of a thinking being to know for what end he has been sent into the world, and why he is now alive; and those who have ever reflected deeply on such questions at all will probably reflect on them with growing interest a§ the years go by, and be found still brooding on them even in old age. The saying of Thomas Carlyle, in later life, is well known, that he was often thinking of the first question he had learned out of the Shorter Catechism and of the wonderful answer to it.

Both the Highest Good and Man’s Chief End may be phrases from which the modern man has grown away; but the idea expressed by them is one that can never grow old and for which every generation will have to find substitutes of its own. In modern phraseology, perhaps, the commonest phrase for the same notion would be the Ideal of Human Life. At present the need of ideals is widely recognised. Though the majority may have none which they have avowed to themselves, yet all have them who have thought seriously about life. It is no easy matter, indeed, to keep hold of an ideal; it slips away amidst the excitements of society and the pre¬ occupations of business; it is compromised amidst the onsets of temptation and the accesses of passion; but it must be recaptured and set up as the signal and standard of everyone who has not abandoned the struggle for a life which is more than mere existence. Now, he who has an ideal ought to be able to name it; and to do so correctly is the purpose of Ethics.

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