Resurrection
Me, but whoso shall cause one of these little ones to stumble, it is
more profitable for him that a great millstone should be hanged about
his neck and that he should be sunk in the depths of the sea.” (Matt.
xviii. 5, 6.)
“What is this for, ‘Whosoever shall receive?’ Receive where? And what
does ‘in my name’ mean?” he asked, feeling that these words did not tell
him anything. “And why ‘the millstone round his neck and the depths of
the sea?’ No, that is not it: it is not clear,” and he remembered how
more than once in his life he had taken to reading the Gospels, and how
want of clearness in these passages had repulsed him. He went on to
read the seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth verses about the occasions of
stumbling, and that they must come, and about punishment by casting men
into hell fire, and some kind of angels who see the face of the Father
in Heaven. “What a pity that this is so incoherent,” he thought, “yet
one feels that there is something good in it.”
“For the Son of Man came to save that which was lost,” he continued to
read.
“How think ye? If any man have a hundred sheep and one of them go
astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine and go into the mountains
and seek that which goeth astray? And if so be that he find it, verily
I say unto you, he rejoiceth over it more than over the ninety and nine
which have not gone astray.
“Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in Heaven that one
of these little ones should perish.”
“Yes, it is not the will of the Father that they should perish, and
here they are perishing by hundreds and thousands. And there is no
possibility of saving them,” he thought.
“Then came Peter and said to him, How oft shall my brother offend me and
I forgive him? Until seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto
thee until seven times, but until seventy times seven.
“Therefore is the Kingdom of Heaven likened unto a certain king which
made a reckoning with his servants. And when he had begun to reckon, one
was brought unto him which owed him ten thousand talents. But forasmuch
as he had not wherewith to pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and
his wife and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made.
The servant therefore fell down and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have
patience with me; I will pay thee all. And the lord of that servant,
being moved with compassion, released him and forgave him the debt. But
that servant went out, and found one of his fellow-servants which owed
him a hundred pence; and he laid hold on him and took him by the
throat, saying, Pay what thou owest. So his fellow-servant fell down and
besought him, saying, Have patience with me and I will pay thee. And
he would not, but went and cast him into prison till he should pay that
which was due. So when his fellow-servants saw what was done, they were
exceeding sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done.
Then his lord called him unto him and saith to him, Thou wicked servant,
I forgave thee all that debt because thou besought me; shouldst not thou
also have mercy on thy fellow-servant as I had mercy on thee?”
“And is this all?” Nekhludoff suddenly exclaimed aloud, and the inner
voice of the whole of his being said, “Yes, it is all.” And it happened
to Nekhludoff, as it often happens to men who are living a spiritual
life. The thought that seemed strange at first and paradoxical or
even to be only a joke, being confirmed more and more often by life’s
experience, suddenly appeared as the simplest, truest certainty. In this
way the idea that the only certain means of salvation from the
terrible evil from which men were suffering was that they should always
acknowledge themselves to be sinning against God, and therefore unable
to punish or correct others, because they were dear to Him. It became
clear to him that all the dreadful evil he had been witnessing in
prisons and jails and the quiet self-satisfaction of the perpetrators of
this evil were the consequences of men trying to do what was impossible;
trying to correct evil while being evil themselves; vicious men were
trying to correct other vicious men, and thought they could do it by
using mechanical means, and the only consequence of all this was that
the needs and the cupidity of some men induced them to take up this
so-called punishment and correction as a profession, and have themselves
become utterly corrupt, and go on unceasingly depraving those whom they
torment. Now he saw clearly what all the terrors he had seen came from,
and what ought to be done to put a stop to them. The answer he could
not find was the same that Christ gave to Peter. It was that we should
forgive always an infinite number of times because there are no men who
have not sinned themselves, and therefore none can punish or correct
others.
“But surely it cannot be so simple,” thought Nekhludoff, and yet he saw
with certainty, strange as it had seemed at first, that it was not only
a theoretical but also a practical solution of the question. The usual
objection, “What is one to do with the evil doers? Surely not let them
go unpunished?” no longer confused him. This objection might have a
meaning if it were proved that punishment lessened crime, or improved
the criminal, but when the contrary was proved, and it was evident that
it was not in people’s power to correct each other, the only reasonable
thing to do is to leave off doing the things which are not only useless,
but harmful, immoral and cruel.
For many centuries people who were considered criminals have been
tortured. Well, and have they ceased to exist? No; their numbers have
been increased not alone by the criminals corrupted by punishment but
also by those lawful criminals, the judges, procureurs, magistrates
and jailers, who judge and punish men. Nekhludoff now understood
that society and order in general exists not because of these lawful
criminals who judge and punish others, but because in spite of men being
thus depraved, they still pity and love one another.
In hopes of finding a confirmation of this thought in the Gospel,
Nekhludoff began reading it from the beginning. When he had read the
Sermon on the Mount, which had always touched him, he saw in it for the
first time to-day not beautiful abstract thoughts, setting forth for
the most part exaggerated and impossible demands, but simple, clear,
practical laws. If these laws were carried out in practice (and this
was quite possible) they would establish perfectly new and surprising
conditions of social life, in which the violence that filled Nekhludoff
with such indignation would cease of itself. Not only this, but the
greatest blessing that is obtainable to men, the Kingdom of Heaven on
Earth would be established. There were five of these laws.
The first (Matt. v. 21-26), that man should not only do no murder,
but not even be angry with his brother, should not consider any one
worthless: “Raca,” and if he has quarrelled with any one he should make
it up with him before bringing his gift to God--i.e., before praying.
The second (Matt. v. 27-32), that man should not only not commit
adultery but should not even seek for enjoyment in a woman’s beauty, and
if he has once come together with a woman he should never be faithless
to her.
The third (Matt. 33-37), that man should never bind himself by oath.
The fourth (Matt. 38-42), that man should not only not demand an eye for
an eye, but when struck on one cheek should hold out the other, should
forgive an offence and bear it humbly, and never refuse the service
others demand of him.
The fifth (Matt. 43-48), that man should not only not hate his enemy and
not fight him, but love him, help him, serve him.
Nekhludoff sat staring at the lamp and his heart stood still. Recalling
the monstrous confusion of the life we lead, he distinctly saw what that
life could be if men were brought up to obey these rules, and rapture
such as he had long not felt filled his soul, just as if after long days
of weariness and suffering he had suddenly found ease and freedom.
He did not sleep all night, and as it happens to many and many a man who
reads the Gospels he understood for the first time the full meaning of
the words read so often before but passed by unnoticed. He imbibed all
these necessary, important and joyful revelations as a sponge imbibes
water. And all he read seemed so familiar and seemed to confirm, to form
into a conception, what he had known long ago, but had never realised
and never quite believed. Now he realised and believed it, and not
only realised and believed that if men would obey these laws they would
obtain the highest blessing they can attain to, he also realised and
believed that the only duty of every man is to fulfil these laws; that
in this lies the only reasonable meaning of life, that every stepping
aside from these laws is a mistake which is immediately followed by
retribution. This flowed from the whole of the teaching, and was most
strongly and clearly illustrated in the parable of the vineyard.
The husbandman imagined that the vineyard in which they were sent to
work for their master was their own, that all that was in was made
for them, and that their business was to enjoy life in this vineyard,
forgetting the Master and killing all those who reminded them of his
existence. “Are we not doing the same,” Nekhludoff thought, “when we
imagine ourselves to be masters of our lives, and that life is given us
for enjoyment? This evidently is an incongruity. We were sent here by
some one’s will and for some reason. And we have concluded that we live
only for our own joy, and of course we feel unhappy as labourers do when
not fulfilling their Master’s orders. The Master’s will is expressed in
these commandments. If men will only fulfil these laws, the Kingdom of
Heaven will be established on earth, and men will receive the greatest
good that they can attain to.
“‘Seek ye first the Kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things
shall be added unto you.’
“And so here it is, the business of my life. Scarcely have I finished
one and another has commenced.” And a perfectly new life dawned that
night for Nekhludoff, not because he had entered into new conditions of
life, but because everything he did after that night had a new and quite
different significance than before. How this new period of his life will
end time alone will prove.
[Transcriber’s Note: Corrected “Are we do not doing the same,” to “Are
we not doing the same,” in third last paragraph.]