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1. A Costly Thing

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William Barclay

There is one eternal principal which will be valid as long as the world lasts. The principle is: Forgiveness is a costly thing. Human forgiveness is costly. A son or a daughter may go wrong; a father or a mother may forgive; but that forgiveness has brought tears ... There was a price of a broken heart to pay. Divine forgiveness is costly. God is love, but God is holiness. God, least of all, can...

2. A Moment of Decision

Matthew 4:12-17

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William Barclay

In his commentary William Barclay notes the significance of Jesus' move from Nazareth to Capernaum. He says, "There was a kind of symbolic finality in that move. In that moment Jesus left his home never again to return to live in it. It is as if he shut the door that lay behind him before he opened the door that stood in front of him. It was the clean cut between the old and the new. One chapter w...

3. A Supremely Kind Man

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William Barclay

William Barclay tells of a November day when he saw a notice on a bulletin board of the London Central YMCA saying that Basil Oliver had died and that the funeral was to be that day, with a memorial service the following week. By the nature of the bulletin, Barclay said, you would have thought Oliver was a very important person--and in a sense, you would have been right, for everyone who had anyth...

4. Happiest Memory

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William Barclay

Oliver Baldwin in a magazine article on David Lloyd‑George tells of his contacts with that famous Prime Minister. “My happiest memory of him was a weekend I spent at his house in Churt. He loved to show people over his farm, and he took a real pride in the fact that he had grown prize apples on soil the experts had told him was unsuitable for such fruit. “Experts,” he snorted. “When they tell you ...

5. History Is Going Somewhere

Mark 13:1-31

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William Barclay

William Barclay wrote in his book The Mind of St. Paul: "The great value of the doctrine of the Second Coming is that it guarantees that history is going somewhere. We cannot tell how it will happen. We cannot take as literal truth the Jewish pictures of it which Paul used. We need not think of a physical coming of Christ in the clouds, or a physical trumpet blast. But what the doctrine of the Se...

6. One Positive Thing

Mark 10:35-45

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William Barclay

"There are many negative things that can be said about James and John," writes William Barclay. "They were nakedly ambitious and proud: they wanted, and believed they deserved, places of honor in Jesus' kingdom. They were ignorant and insensitive: their request for places of honor came right after Jesus had told of His coming suffering and death. But there's one positive thing you can say about Ja...

7. The Chance for Evangelism

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William Barclay

One of the great disasters of history took place in 1271. In 1271 Niccolo and Matteo Polo (the father and uncle of Marco) were visiting the Kubla Khan. Kubla Khan at that time was a world ruler, for he ruled all China, all India, and all of the East. He was attracted to the story of Christianity as Niccolo and Matteo told it to him. And he said to them: "You shall go to your high priest and tell h...

8. The Duty of Preparedness

Matthew 22:1-14

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William Barclay

Jesus' story was not unfamiliar to his listeners. There was a story during Jesus' day that was told by the Rabbis and it went like this: There was king who invited his guest to a feast, without telling them the exact date and time; but he did tell them that they must wash, and anoint, and clothe themselves that they might be ready when the summons came. The wise prepared themselves at once, and t...

9. The Gospel According to the Hebrews

Mark 10:17-31

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William Barclay

There is an apocryphal gospel called "The Gospel According to the Hebrews" most of which is lost; in one of the fragments which remain there is an account of this incident which sheds a little light on its meaning. Here is how that ancient text records this story: The rich man said to Jesus, "Master, what good thing must I do really to live?" Jesus said to him, "Man, obey the law and the prophets...

10. William Barclay on the Rich Fool

Luke 12:13-21

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William Barclay

The problem with the Rich Fool is he never saw beyond himself. There is no parable like this one which is so full of the words, I, me, my and mine. From verse 16 to 19, four verses, so much is revealed in the frequency of the personal pronouns. Listen to how many times they are used: I, I, my, I, I, I, my, my, I, my. A schoolboy was once asked what parts of speech my and mine are. He answered, "...

In the time we have it is surely our duty to do all the good we can to all the people we can in all the ways we can.