Thus the Disciples were to preach _the Kingdom, Repentance, and the Judgment._ Inasmuch, however, as the event they proclaimed was so near that it might at any moment surprise them, they must be prepared for what precedes it, namely, for the final insurrection of the power of this world. How they are to comport themselves in the face of this emergency so as not to be confounded—here is the point upon which Jesus’ parting words of instruction bear! In the general tumult of spirits all ties will be dissolved. Faction will divide even the family (Mt 10:34-36). Whosoever would be loyal to the Kingdom of God must be ready to tear from out his heart those who were dearest [pg 091] to him, to endure reproach, and to bear the cross (Mt 10:37, 38). The secular authority will bring upon them severe persecution (Mt 10:17-31). Men will call them to account and subject them to torture in order to move them to denial of their cause. Brother shall deliver up brother to death, and the father his child; and children shall rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death. Only he who remains steadfast in the midst of this general tumult, and confesses Jesus before men, shall be saved in the Day of Judgment, when he intervenes with God in their behalf (Mt 10:32, 33). In the commission to the Twelve Jesus imparts instruction about the woes of the approaching Kingdom. In the descriptive portions of it there may be much perhaps that betrays the colouring of a later time. By this concession, however, the character of the speech as a whole is not prejudiced. The question at issue is not about a course of conduct which they are to maintain _after his death._ For such instruction not a single historical word can be adduced. The woes precede the dawning of the Kingdom. Therefore the victorious proclamation of the nearness of the Kingdom must accommodate itself to the woes. Hence this juxtaposition of optimism [pg 092] and pessimism which the current interpretation finds so unaccountable. It is the sign manual of every eschatological _Weltanschauung._ 3. The New View. The idea of Passion is dominated _only_ by the eschatological conception of the Kingdom. In the charge to the Twelve the question is _only_ about the eschatological—not about the ethical-nearness of the Kingdom. From this it follows, for one thing, that Jesus’ ministry counted _only_ upon the eschatological realisation of the Kingdom. Then, however, it is evident that the relation of his ethical thoughts to the eschatological view can have suffered no alteration by reason of outward events but must have been the same from beginning to end.