PRINCETON, N. J. BT 201 .B344 1877 Ballantine, Elisha, 1810 1886 . Christ his own witness m , l fp^(v i ••VV / ST^ it, 1 ® J[r 1 H ^8j I _ «}1 ' _ E ) Christ His 26 6 BAUANT1NE &**■ ' ica Uy «- I Own Witness • ^ cr . 8 vo, 1 *» ranged and • ^j ew York, /_ V Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2019 with funding from Princeton Theological Seminary Library * https://archive.org/details/christhisownwitnOOball CHRIST HIS OWN WITNESS. TOPICALLY ARRANGED AND STUDIED. BY y Rev. E. BALLANTINE, PROFESSOR OF GREEK IN INDIANA UNIVERSITY. “ Though I bear Record of Myself, yet my Record is True.”— Jesus Christ. NEW YORK, ANSON D. F. RANDOLPH & COMPANY, 900 BROADWAY, COR. 20th ST. COPYRIGHT, 1877, BY ANSON D. F. RANDOLPH & COMPANY. NEW YORK: EDWARD O. JENKINS, Printer and Stereotyper, 20 North William St. ROBERT RUTTER, Binder , 116 and 118 East 14th Street. INTRODUCTION. It is one of the best signs of the times that the mind and heart of the religious world have been so much concentrated upon the Person of Christ. This general study of the character and history of the Author of Christianity must result in the advance¬ ment of truth and piety, and should, therefore, have all the helps by which thorough investigation and discussion may be assisted. It seems but appropriate that in these investigations Jesus own testimony re¬ specting Himself be allowed an important place as being fundamental to the argument. It is pro¬ posed, therefore, to present in full, in this volume, all of the recorded sayings of Jesus in which He refers to Himself, arranged with reference to the points on which they bear, with remarks attached designed to show their meaning, and to present clearly the sum¬ mary of their testimony.* It is hoped that the study of the words of Jesus thus arranged and made to throw their concentrated * It is principally in the addition of these explanatory remarks that this book differs from what may be called its first edition, printed several years ago, under the title of Sua de Se; or, “ The Words of the Lord Jesus respecting Himself.”—Western Tract and Book Society, Cincinnati. IV INTRODUCTION. light upon the various points of His character and history, will be instructive and edifying, not only to the Christian to whom all the teachings of Christ are precious ; but also to the many who, yet undecided in regard to Him, are willing without prejudice to weigh all the evidence and to arrive at the truth. SYNOPSIS. CHAPTER I. WITNESSES OTHER THAN HIMSELF APPEALED TO BY JESUS. PAGE, 1. Importance of a man’s having other Witnesses besides himself. ......... I 2. Jesus names His other Witnesses, and adduces their testimony in part.3 They are: 3. John the Baptist;.3 4. His own Miracles;.5 5. His own Predictions ;.7 6. His Resurrection from the dead; . . . .10 7. The Apostles and other Primitive Preachers of the Gospel;.11 8. The Love and Unity of His Followers; . .11 9. The Holy Spirit;.12 10. The Father.13 CHAPTER II. WORTH OF JESUS’ TESTIMONY IN REGARD TO HIMSELF. 11. Validity of one’s own Testimony. . . . .16 12. Conclusion on the Worth of Jesus’ Testimony to Himself..19 CHAPTER III. JESUS’ EXISTENCE BEFORE HIS LIFE ON EARTH. 13. He asserts His Pre-existence, and whence He came into the world. (v' 21 vi SYNOPSIS. CHAPTER IV. JESUS’ COMING' into the world. 14. He declares Why He came into the world : . . .24 15. That His great Object was to Save 7 nc?i; . .24 16. As means to that end, First, To Die; . . . .26 17. Second, to Teach the Truth ;.26 18. And to institute other necessary instrumentalities. . 27 19. He mentions some unhappy results of His coming. . 28 CHAPTER V. THE MESSIAHSHIP OF JESUS. 20. Jesus claimed to be the Messiah.30 21. And applied to Himself Scriptures of the Old Testa¬ ment relating to the Messiah.35 CHAPTER VI. THE HUMAN NATURE OF JESUS. 22. Jesus spoke of Himself as a Man. 23. Words of Jesus in reference to His family and kin¬ dred. 24. Identified Himself, declaring who He was. . 25. Jesus as a Jew. 26. Jesus as a citizen. ...... . 40 . 42 . 46 . 48 . 50 CHAPTER VII. JESUS’ EARTHLY LIFE. 27. Facts in His life mentioned by Him.52 28. References in His words to His Abiding Places, His Visits and Interviews..53 29. His notices of His occasional and ordinary Associ¬ ates ; ..56 SYNOPSIS. • 9 VJl 30. Of His Employments ;.58 31. Of His Miracles;.59 32. Of His Personal Habits ;.60 33. Of His Experiences of Bodily Wants ; . . . .62 34. Of His Experiences by the direct Agency of men ; . 64 35. Of His Experiences of Joy arising directly from His work;.71 36. And of Sorrow :.74 37. Of His Death, Resurrection, and Life in Heaven. . 80 CHAPTER VIII. CHARACTER AND ATTRIBUTES OF JESUS, 38. His words reveal and assert, First, Human Traits of character.81 39. Secondly, Jesus claimed Superhuman Traits and Attributes. .90 40. That there is a Mystery in His nature unfathomable to creatures ;.91 >U- T hat He Existed from Eternity, and will exist to Eternity; . . . . . . . *93 42. That He is the First Cause of all things —the Crea¬ tor of all. .95 43. Jesus claimed Superhuman Knowledge; . . .96 44. He claimed to Know Men; .97 45. And the facts about Spiritual Beings ; . . *99 46. He claimed to know all concerning Himself; . .100 47. And concerning the Father..104 48. On Jesus’ knowledge in reference to the time of the Final Judgment..104 49. Jesus claimed that His Presence is Unconfi?ied; . . 108 50. That He has Unlimited Power; .no 51. That He ranhs above all creatures, is greater than all; .112 52. That He possesses Sovereignty of Will; . . . 113 53. And Sufreme Authority; . . . . . .115 S YNOP SIS. • • • Vlll 54. Asserted such over Angels and Devils. . . .116 55. Claimed the actual exercise of these Powers and Pre¬ rogatives ; . . . ..118 56. Made Laws and declared them binding. . . .119 57. Summary of Jesus’ teaching in regard to His Attri¬ butes. .122 CHAPTER IX. JESUS’ RELATIONS TO THE FATHER. 58. Jesus claimed to be the Son of God; . . . .123 1 59. That as Son He is loved by the Father: . . *131 60. That He loves the Father :.132 I 61. That as Son He is Subordinate to the Father; . . 133 62. That He is subject to the Father’s will and ordering: . 135 63. That He was commissioned by the Father and sent into the world to do a Work.135 : 64. Jesus prayed to the Father.137 65. As Son He claimed to be in closest union with the Father. * .140 A 66. Asserted that He receives all His Powers, Authority, and Activity from the Father :.143 67. That He does the same things as the Father: . . 147 68. That in Him the Father is seen, known, despised, hated, believed, and received by men : . . .149 69. That He shares with the Father in the Ownership of all things.150 70. That He alone sees and knows the Father immedi¬ ately and perfectly.151 71. That He will return to the Father and sit at His right hand, sharing His throne and glory. . .152 CHAPTER X. RELATIONS OF JESUS TO THE HOLY SPIRIT. 72. Jesus asserted that He had the constant Presence and Inworking of the Spirit:.155 SYNOPSIS. ix 73. That He gives the Spirit to men.156 74. Summary of the teachings of Jesus concerning the Relations which exist between Himself and the Holy Spirit..159 CHAPTER XI. RELATIONS OF JESUS TO MEN IN GENERAL. 75. Jesus recognized the fact that men are depraved and guilty, and so under condemnation.161 76. Jesus declared Himself the Saviour of Men . . . 164 77. That His death was an atonement for men’s sin. . .166 78. That He taught men the way of life.169 79. The fact and object of Jesus’ Teaching . . . .169 80. The matter of Jesus’ Teaching.172 81. The manner of His Teaching—His Parables. . .173 82. Jesus’ hivitations to men.174 83. Responsibility of men in reference to the teachings and invitations of Jesus.176 84. Jesus’ Patience with men who delay to believe in and accept Him..178 85. His Pity for those who reject His Grace. . . .178 CHAPTER XII. RELATIONS OF JESUS WITH BELIEVERS. 86. Acceptance’of His Invitations by men. . . .180 87. Jesus’ Joy in receiving those who come to Him. . . 183 88. The Cojiditions of Discipleship as fixed by Jesus. . 185 89. He declared that those who come to Him were chosen by Himself. . . . . . . .189 90. That those who believe in Him were given to Him by the Father..191 91. That they are taught, quickened, and drawn to Him by the Father and Himself..193 92. That the union between Himself and His people is perpetual and perpetually effective.199 X SYNOPSIS. 93. Jesus recognized His people’s knowledge, faith, and love, and invites and cherishes them. . . . 201 94. Asserted that He forgives His people’s sins and de¬ livers them from sin’s pollution and power. . . 204 95. That He loves His people.205 96. That He will manifest Himself to them and dwell with them. . . . . . . . 206 97. Jesus understood that His presence is joyful and His absence painful to His people.207 98. Declared that He loves to promote His people’s joy and to make it full. 208 99. Jesus counts His People His nearest kindred. . . 208 100. That He does the lowest offices of love to them. . . 209 101. That He regards what is done to His people as done to Himself..210 102. Jesus authorized His people to pray in His name. . 211 103. Declared that He intercedes for them with God, . .212 104. That He will Himself answer their prayers. . .213 105. That He watches over, protects, helps, blesses, and preserves His people to the end. . . . .214 CHAPTER XIII. RELATIONS OF JESUS TO THE CHURCH. 106. Jesus has united His people into one body, the Chtirch. . t .218 107. Jesus declared that He himself is the Foundation of the Church. .220 108. Jesus claims the Church as His own: that He is its Head and King..334 109. Asserts His maintenance of a constant Rule and Watchful Care over His Church.236 110. That the Holy Spirit is His Agent in the Church on earth, with the office and authority of Paraclete. . 238 in. Jesus made Laws for the Church. .... 240 112. He sanctioned the United Worship of His people, and gave a Great Promise in reference to it. . 240 SYNOPSIS. XI 113. Jesus instituted and explained the ordinance of the Lord's Supper. ........ 242 114. Jesus selected and sent forth Ministers of the Word. . 249 115. He armed the first preachers of the Gospel with Miraculous Powers.252 116. Jesus assigns to each minister His work and its dura¬ tion. ..•. . -253 117. As Chief Shepherd He recognizes the fidelity, the graces, and the sufferings of the Churches. . .254 118. He sees also the sins of the Churches. . . . 256 119. He admonishes guilty churches and church-members, counsels, encourages, and invites them to His love and gracious gifts.261 120. He threatens punishment to heedless and impenitent churches and church-members.262 121. Administers Providence in behalf of His Churches. . 263 . CHAPTER XIV. JESUS’ RELATIONS TO ALL MEN AS JUDGE. 122. Jesus declares Himself the fudge of ?nen. . . . 265 123. Asserted that He will come one day to Judge the world..267 124. That He will come suddenly to Judgment. . . . 268 125. That the time of His coming to Judgment is un¬ known. . .... 269 126. Jesus warned men to be ready for Plis coming, and shows them haw they may be ready. . . . 270 127. Remarks on the five preceding sections. . . .271 128. Jesus asserted that He will raise all the dead. . . 276 129. That He will gather all men before Him for judg¬ ment. .277 130. That He will judge them when thus assembled. . . 278 131. That He will famish the wicked. .285 132. But bless and reward the good. .287 V Xll SYNOPSIS. CHAPTER XV. THE RESULTS OF JESUS’ MESSIANIC WORK TO HIMSELF AND TO GOD. T 33. Jesus declared that for all His work as Messiah, He will be glorified. .299 134. That both the Spirit and the Father do and will glorify Him.300 135. And that the Great Result of all His Messianic Work is the Glory of God. 301 CHRIST HIS OWN WITNESS. CHAPTER I. WITNESSES OTHER THAN HIMSELF APPEALED TO BY JESUS. Jesus of Nazareth, as He is represented to us in the New Testament, constantly recognized the necessity of Testimony as the foundation of a rational faith. Accordingly He demanded credit only as He laid before men testimony concerning Himself. Who and what the witnesses are, other than Himself, that Jesus appealed to, and what He said of their testi¬ mony, is given first below. In the next chapter will be found His estimate of the pertinence and worth of His own testimony to Himself, and then, in those that follow, that testimony in detail. I. IMPORTANCE OF HAVING OTHER WITNESSES. The need of other testimony besides one’s own is recognized by Jesus, in His own case, in the words : If I honour myself my honour is nothing: it is my Father that honoureth me} His meaning plainly is, » John viii. 54. 2 CHRIST IIIS OWN WITNESS. If I ALONE honor myself, etc. : If my claim to honor is unsupported by another. Any self-commendation which is not sustained by that of others is worthless; but when accompanied, as in His case, by the highest endorsement, has value. Again, and more directly to the point before us, Jesus says : If I bear witness of myself my witness is not true: there is another that bearcth witness of me} Jesus does not mean that His own testimony to Himself is necessarily false; for elsewhere He says: Though I bear record of myself my record is true '} In both these cited passages Jesus recognizes a fundamental principle of Evidence, namely, The testimony which one gives in his own behalf MAY BE true ; but it needs for its confirma¬ tion OTHER testimony from independent sources. If such other testimony be not forthcoming, men can not be required to admit the assertions of the party himself. If there be no other testimony, either from competent witnesses, circumstances, or events, or lastly, the known character of the individual for truth and knowledge, his testimony is worthless. Submitting Himself to these unchangeable Rules of Evidence, Jesus adduces other witnesses in sup¬ port of His character and claims. We will hear Him 'John v. 31, 32. 2 John viii. 14. The Greek words here rendered “ bear record ” and “ record ” are hclqtvqu) and / laqrvQtav , the same that in the preceding quotation are translated “ bear witness ” and “ wit¬ ness.” This variety in the translation of the same Greek words is a characteristic of our English Bible. APPEALS TO OTHER WITNESSES. 3 as He names them, and will notice, at the same time, the points on which He adduces their testimony. 2. JESUS NAMES HIS OTHER WITNESSES AND AD¬ DUCES, IN PART, THEIR TESTIMONY. Having said, in the words already quoted, 1 that His own testimony would be worthless, if unsupported, J esus immediately adds : There is another that beareth witness of me , and I know that the witness which he witnesseth of me is true? Who is that other Witness to whom Jesus here refers? If we read verses 31-37 continuously, we shall find that He means the Father. But in the course of these verses He mentions others also. Elsewhere still others. We will begin with the subordinate ones and so go on to the highest. 3. JOHN TPIE BAPTIST A WITNESS FOR JESUS. Jesus says of John : Ye sent unto John , and he bare witness unto the truth? He gives the name of the witness, and the character of his testimony. The testimony of John the Baptist is given more or less fully by all the Evangelists. 4 * 6 Because of this testi¬ mony and of other truths which John taught, Jesus calls him u a burning and a shining light.' ' But , He ’John v. 31. 2 John v. 32. 3 John v. 33. 4 See Mat., ch. iii. ; Mark, ch. i.; Luke, ch. iii.; John, ch. i. 15- 21, 26-36, and ch. iii. 27-36. 6 John v. 35. 4 CHRIST HIS OWN WITNESS. says in the same connection, I receive not testimony from man} He does not mean by these words to reject John’s testimony : for He commends those he is addressing because they “ were willing for a season to rejoice in his light.” He means to say that He does not DEPEND ON John, or on any man for cor¬ roboration : He has the witness of God. The simple majesty of these words of Jesus must strike every susceptible reader, and can scarcely be overlooked by a careless one. They come fittingly from one who is conscious of a nature and support and resources higher than human. This is one of those “ undesigned (I would rather say, ‘ incidental’) coin¬ cidences,” one of the many instances of speech in per¬ fect keeping with His higher nature and conscious¬ ness, which are continually appearing in the mien, the words, and the actions of Jesus. There is throughout His life, as given in great detail by the Evangelists, in all the moments and situations of that life, a consist¬ ency, easy, natural, and, to the last, thoroughly sus¬ tained. The consistent maintenance of this lofty tone in spirit and language would be simply impossible for one who was falsely making the claims which Jesus made ; and, as Rousseau felt and said, the conception and representation of such a character and life by a writer of fiction would be even more impossible. These sublime words of Jesus also put to confusion the assumption earnestly maintained, and sedulously inculcated by some, that the Bible, its Author and 1 John v. 34. APPEALS TO OTHER WITNESSES. 5 its Doctrines, depend finally, for all their evidence and authority, on THE TESTIMONY OF THE CHURCH. Jesus says : “ I receive not testimony from man .” 4. JESUS’ MIRACLES WITNESSES TO HIM. Jesus then proceeds to cite another class of wit¬ nesses : But I have greater witness than that of John : for the Works which the Father hath given me to finish, tJie same works that I do bear witness of me that the Father hath sent me} Jesus’ meaning is plain : His miracles are a testi¬ mony in His support. Note that the special point supported by their testimony is, according to these words, that “ he was sent of God.” Again, He says : Though ye believe not me, believe the works; that ye may know and believe that the Father is in me and I in him} The point mentioned here as proved is, the intimate union, the mutual indwelling, and so the united action of the Father and Himself. Again, to His disciples in His last discourse : Believe me that I am in the Father arid the Father in me, or else believe me for the very works sake} He challenges their faith, first upon His own testimony, and then upon the evidence of His miracles, and upon the same point as before. Again, when messengers from John brought from their master the question, Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another? Jesus referred them and John to His miracles for an answer. He was just then performing many ; and He said to them : Go and tell John again those things which ye do J John v. 36. 2 John x. 38. 3 J°hn xiv. 1 T. 6 CHRIST HIS OWN WITNESS. hear and see: the blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the Gospel preached imto them} Jesus means to say that such facts should settle the question of His Messiahship. His miracles, especially when looked at in the light of Scripture prophecy, proved Him to be the Expected One. Such is'Jesus’ doctrine concerning the worth and validity of His miracles as witnesses to Himself. And when we consider their number and their character, that they were outward facts and events, presented to the sight and hearing and touch and taste of men ; that they were done openly, many of them in the presence of thousands of people, of whom many were intelligent and watchful enemies; that their results were permanent in the experience of those on whom they were performed, and that they showed in Him a power over inanimate nature and its forces and laws, over human infirmities, human life and death, over human minds, departed souls and demons of darkness ; we must feel that Jesus claimed for them no more than of right belonged to them. Remember that Jesus thus appealed to the evidence of His mira¬ cles when in controversy with His enemies. This He could not have done if they were not well known and admitted to be undeniable. As He did thus appeal to them, their truth is unquestionable, and their worth as testimony is not to be disputed. Those words of Jesus : The works which the Father 1 Mat. xi. 2-6, Luke vii. 19-23. APPEALS TO OTHER WITNESESS. 7 hath given me to finish, the same works that I do hear witness of me, 1 might, perhaps, be understood as im- plying that His miracles were themselves the Father’s testimony in His behalf. But this interpretation is corrected by the next verse; He immediately adds : And the Father himself which hath sent me hath borne witness of me7 By these words He clearly distin¬ guishes between the testimony of His miracles and that of the Father. They bear their own testimony, as independent facts addressed directly to men’s senses, and ought to command belief by their own power. 5. JESUS’ PREDICTIONS WITNESSES. Jesus said to His disciples : Now I have told yon be¬ fore it come to pass , that when it is come to pass, ye might believe . 3 4 Believe what ? In the preceding verse He had spoken of His leaving them and going to the Father; it is safe, therefore, to under¬ stand Him as referring in these words to this de¬ parture, and to understand Him as saying: Now I tell you (of my departure to the Father) before, etc., that when it is come ye might believe (i. e., that I am what such foreknowledge and such an exaltation will show me to be). The prediction is to produce faith in them. In almost the same words, He said again: Now I tell you before it come, that when it is come to pass, ye may believe that I am he} Jesus had just spoken of Judas’ treachery: His prediction when ful- 1 John v. 36. 2 John v. 37. 3 John xiv. 29. See on this passage remarks in next note. 4 John xiii. 19. 8 CHRIST HIS OWN WITNESS. filled should prove to them the truth of His claim to be the Messiah (see Note). Again, having predicted the persecutions which were to come on them, He says : But these things have I told you , that when the time shall come , ye may remember that I told you of them} The very persecutions which they experienced should prove to them His foresight, and so His truth, and, therefore, strengthen their confidence in Him. That which these particular predictions of Jesus prove in regard to Him, is also proved by all His other fulfilled predictions. Here belong not only His minute and often-repeated predictions of His suffer¬ ings, of His death and resurrection, which, as referring to Himself, are to be studied in another connection, Note.—T he point, as Jesus states it, which would be proved by the treachery of Judas when carried out according to His prediction is, in the English, “ that I am he.” In the Greek it is simply otl kyt) el/u, “ that I am.” But elui is here a mere copula, and requires some predicate word or phrase to complete the sense. What is the predicate word or phrase to be supplied ? The English translation supplies he, whence results I am he, that is, the Expected One, the Messiah. The best commentators agree in this sense, many of them understanding 6 XqkjtSc directly, / am the Christ. How might this phrase, eyO el/u, come to have this meaning? Perhaps as follows: In its ordinary use, the proper predicate word is easily supplied from the context. So in cases of simple identification, when the disciples each in turn asked Jesus, Is it I ? in Greek, /u /tl eyw el/u ; Am I, i. e. he who shall betray thee? (Mat. xxvi. 22.) See John xviii. 4-8. Iam (Jesus of Nazareth). Also when the disciples were frightened seeing Jesus walking on the water, He quieted them, saying, Eyw el/u, “ I am ” (he whom you see), “ It is I ” (John vi. 20), 1 John xvi. 4. APPEALS TO OTHER WITNESSES. 9 but also those in reference to the coming down of the Spirit on His followers, to the destruction of Je¬ rusalem, and the dispersion of the nation—the fulfill¬ ment of which having taken place after His departure from the world, gives the more weight to their testi¬ mony. Indeed this testimony of Jesus’ Predictions is doubtless to be cumulative with advancing time, and opening and progressing eternity. For Jesus ut¬ tered predictions in regard to the final triumph of His cause in the world, concerning the end of the world, and the final judgment of men by Himself, and the after state of men, each of which predictions will, doubtless, by its fulfillment in order, be a new Just so when the Samaritan woman had said, I know that Messias cometh, Jesus answered, Eyw el/u, “ /that speak to thee am,” i. e. the Messiah. Now, to all around Jesus, both friends and enemies, the great question was that of His Messiahshfp : Was He the Messiah. “ Whom do men say that I am ? ” “ Whom say ye that I am ? ” “ We have found the Messias.” Jesus sometimes, and especially at first, for prudential reasons, suppressed the great truth of His Messiahship. But, as people could bear and rightly use the truth, He asserted it continually, as He did to the dis¬ ciples, to the Samaritan woman, to the man cured of blindness (John ix. 37). And the affirming phrase would be in Greek, lyd) eljUL 6 Xgiarog, “ I am the Christ; ” or, when all understood what the point asserted was, simply E yo> el/ui; well rendered by the words, “ I am he.” So we find the phrase evidently with this meaning in John viii. 24, 28. Jesus said impostors would come in His name, saying, E yu el/u, I am (Christ) (Luke xxi. 8). This is the ground on which we are justified in so understanding the words under discussion (John xiii. 19). In John viii. 58, “Before Abraham was I am” (tyo> el/ut), the word elfii is not a mere copula, but the verb of existence. See section 41, page 94. IO CHRIST HIS 0 WN WITNESS. demonstration, to those who witness them, of His truth and authority. One word of His covers them all, and brings them within the scope of our present studies : Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my word shall not pass away} By the time the last recorded prediction of Jesus is fulfilled, there will be no unbelievers left. 6. JESUS’ DEATH AND RESURRECTION WITNESSES. When the Jews demanded a sign from Him in proof of His claims, Jesus said: As Jonas was a sign to the Ninevites, so shall the Son of man be to this generation} The nature of this sign is more plainly taught in another of His words: An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign, and there shall no sign be given to it but the sign of the prophet Jonas. For qs Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly, so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth} The resurrection of Jesus from the grave after ly¬ ing there dead for a time was a mighty demonstration of the truth of His Messiahship. No man who be¬ lieves in the Resurrection of Jesus doubts His Messiahship. None ever did or ever will. He gave His Resurrection from the dead as a sign—a testi¬ mony—to the men of His generation. As a testimony it is now as valid as ever, and will remain so till “ He appears in glory ” and “ every eye shall see Him.” 1 Mat. xxiv. 35 ; Mark xiii. 31 ; Luke xxi. 33. 2 Luke xi. 30. 3 Mat. xii. 39, 40 ; Luke xi. 29, 30. APPEALS 70 OTHER WITNESSES. II 7. THE APOSTLES AND OTHER FIRST PREACHERS OF THE GOSPEL WITNESSES TO JESUS. Jesus constituted the Apostles and other primitive preachers of the Gospel witnesses to Himself. Ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning} This last clause shows how care¬ ful Jesus was respecting the competency of His wit¬ nesses. On another occasion He said: And ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the litter most parts of the earth? What a vast work and field Jesus assigned for the employment and influence of this testimony of His ministers ! That they remembered the conditions of competency as He had made them, appears from Peter’s words, Acts i. 21, and from those of Paul, 1 Cor. ix. 10 and xv. 8 . 8. THE LOVE AND UNITY OF HIS FOLLOWERS, WIT¬ NESSES FOR JESUS. Jesus also desired and prayed that all His disciples, both clerical and lay, both of primitive and of all suc¬ ceeding ages, might be so bound together by mutual love that THEIR UNITY might be a testimony to Him. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love o?ie to another? Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe o?i me through their zvord : that they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me and I in thee , that they also 1 John xv. 27. 2 Acts i. 8. 3 John xiii. 35. 12 CHRIST HIS OWN WITNESS. may be one in us ; that the world may believe that thou hast sent me} Noble and effective testimony! It was powerful in primitive times, is so now, and will be more and more powerful to the end. All these human witnesses, and their testimony by word and life, fall within the remark and under the derogation already quoted: I receive not testimony from man? But not so the miracles and the predic¬ tions of Jesus, nor another Witness whom Jesus spoke of as about to testify for Him. 9. THE HOLY SPIRIT A WITNESS TO JESUS. Jesus said in His last discourse to His disciples: But when the Comforter is come whom I will send unto you from the Father , even the Spirit of Truth which proceedeth from the Father , He shall testify of me} And again: Hozvbeit when he the Spirit of Truth is come , he will guide you into all truth . He shall glorify me ; for he shall receive of mine and shall show it unto you. All things that the Father hath are mine ; therefore said I that he shall take of mine and shall show it unto you} The Divine Spirit is a Witness for Jesus! As to the matter and the method of His testimony, Jesus said : He shall take of mine and show it unto you. History and Scripture must help us interpret these words. From them we learn that the Holy Spirit testified to Jesus by His enlightening and inspiring the apostles, enabling them to understand correctly, 1 John xvii. 20, 21. 3 John xv. 26. 3 John v. 34. See §3. 4 John xvi. 13, 14. APPEALS TO OTHER WITNESSES. 13 to teach- clearly, to maintain convincingly, and to write down infallibly and in a form best adapted to its object, the Truth in regard to Jesus—the Gospel of Id is salvation. As the Spirit showed the things of Christ to the disciples, they showed them to their contemporaries, and, through their writings, to the world at large in all ages. So the testimony of the Spirit continues to be given, and will be given as long as the New Testament is read, the Gospel preached, and the work of conversion and sanctification goes on. IO. THE FATHER A WITNESS TO JESUS. In naming the Witnesses who testify to Him, Jesus has already, as we see, gone within the circle of the Sacred Three. And of these He names not the Spirit only. It is my Father that honoureth me} And the Father that sent me bear eth witness of me} And the Father himself which hath sent me , hath borne witness of me} The manner of the Father’s testimony intended by Jesus, can be inferred from the words which im¬ mediately follow the last quotation. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time nor seen his shape. And ye have not his word abiding in you. . . . Search the Scrip¬ tures : for in them ye think ye have eternal life; and they are they which testify of me} We understand Jesus as teaching here that the Father bore testi¬ mony to Flim by the VOICE which spoke from heaven at His baptism and His transfiguration, and by SCRIP- 2 John viii. 18. 4 John v. 37, 38, 39. 1 John viii. 54. 3 John v. 37. 14 CHRIST HIS OlVN WITNESS. TURK, which is “ the Word of God.” The voice from heaven said : This is my beloved Son in whom I AM WELL-PLEASED. 1 The Scriptures testify of Him throughout ; for, once, “ beginning at Moses and all the prophets he expounded in all the Scriptures,” unto the two going to Emmaus, “ the things con¬ cerning himself.” 2 In these two ways, then, the Father bears testi¬ mony to the Son. The voice addressed to the ear, was both transient and heard by few. The written word is far more full, is permanent, can be read and re-read continually, and its copies can be indefi¬ nitely multiplied and diffused among men. Every¬ where and always, being read, it testifies of Jesus; and He invites men to “ search ” it, and so learn its testimony. As both the Father and the Spirit are witnesses to Jesus, we are prepared to appreciate His meaning and His feelings when He said : “ I receive not testimony from man.” The other Witnesses, therefore, whom Jesus names as bearing testimony to Him, are John the Baptist, 1 Mat. iii. 17; compare Mark i. 11, and Luke iii. 22. For the words of the transfiguration see Mat. xvii. 5, Mark ix. 7, Luke ix. 35. Peter, one of the three present at the transfiguration, long after refers to the scene, and quotes the words (2 Ep. i. 16, 17); and then he, too, passes from the testimony of the voice to that of Scripture, and sets this above the other: “ We have also a more sure word of prophecy to which ye do well that ye take heed.” 2 Luke xxiv. 27. APPEALS TO OTHER WITNESSES. 15 His own Miracles, His Predictions, His Resurrection from the Dead, the Apostles and other Primitive Preachers of the Gospel, the Love and Unity of His Followers, the Divine Spirit, and the Father. The special points of their testimony are not all mentioned by Jesus. He names, indeed, only a few of them. The rest can be collected from the sacred record. The great point, in support of which He appeals to them, is His own Messiahship. This is plain from all His words which have been adduced. 1 The special points which He mentions are all in¬ cluded in this one : for instance, that He was “ sent by the Father,” that “ he is in the Father, and the Father in him.” “ The Truth ” must be that which He taught of Himself; but He says that John the Baptist “ bore witness to the truth,” and that the Spirit would “ lead the disciples into all truth.” ‘See § 5, p. 8, Note. CHAPTER II. SAYINGS OF JESUS IN REGARD TO HIS OWN TESTI¬ MONY TO HIMSELF. II. WORTH OF JESUS’ TESTIMONY. One who is able to produce such other Witnesses as Jesus does, bearing testimony to Him, IS ENTITLED TO GIVE ALSO HIS OWN. At least, his testimony de¬ serves a hearing. Let us consider this point a moment: the worth of Jesus’ testimony given in regard to Himself. He did indeed say what we have already quoted : If I bear witness of myself my witness is not true} We understood His meaning to be, If I alone bear testimony to myself, unsustained by that of others, and without support from independent facts and cir¬ cumstances, THEN my testimony is worthless. We have seen that the actual state of the case is quite dif¬ ferent from this. It is such as justifies us in giving a careful attention to all that Jesus may say, and in al¬ lowing it the highest authority. This conclusion will be immensely strengthened by the study of His testi¬ mony itself. In the meantime it is well to note what conclusions have been reached by wise men, as the result of their experience in human affairs, 1 John v. 31. See p. 2. (16) WORTH OF JESUS' TESTIMONY. 1/ on the worth of testimony given by a man in his own case. Will these conclusions strengthen, or will they overthrow the result to which we have arrived in regard to the testimony of Jesus in His own be¬ half? It was a received principle of the Common Law that a criminal, brought for trial before a court of justice, could give no testimony—must not open his mouth in his own defense. Yet even then this very rule was virtually disregarded and set aside by the invariable re¬ quirement, that before an actual trial upon a charge of crime should begin, the one charged should answer the question, Are you guilty or not guilty ? If he said, Guilty, this answer WAS TAKEN INSTEAD OF A TRIAL AND CONVICTION ; and the criminal was dealt with according to law as guilty of the crime. Cer¬ tainly no evidence could be granted higher authority than this. And, again, not until the criminal had said, Not guilty, could further evidence and pleadings be presented. His testimony—for what else was it ? —opened the door, till then shut, to the farther steps in the trial; it was given the precedence. Of late, in our country, in some at least of our States, a criminal is allowed to give, under oath, his account of the facts. The worth of his testimony is judged of by the received criteria of all testimony—the character of the individual and the consistency of his testimony with itself, with that of others, and with facts and circumstances. Let now the testimony of Jesus in regard to Him¬ self be judged of by the same criteria. No more is 18 CHRIST HIS OWN WITNESS. asked for Him than is allowed in courts of justice to the robber and the murderer. The investigation is invited. It makes necessary the study of His testi¬ mony. His own position in regard to its worth appears in the fact that He counts Himself ONE OF THE TWO witnesses necessary, according to the Jewish law, for the substantiation of a fact. It is also written in your law that the testimony of two men is true. I am one that bear witness of myself, and the Father that sent me beareth witness of me} As a reason why His testimony should be held valid He cites His compe¬ tency on the score of knowledge. He was saying once, I am the Light of the world: he that fol¬ low eth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. The Pharisees, therefore, said unto Him, Thou bearest record of thyself: thy record is not true. Jesus answered and said unto them, Though I bear record of myself my record is true : for I know wlmice I came and whither I go} Knowledge and Truthfulness when united make a trustworthy wit¬ ness. The first is here asserted by Jesus of Himself. Again, He says: We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen, and ye (unreasonably, there¬ fore) receive not our witness. And no man hath 1 John viii. 17, 18. 2 John viii. 12, 13, 14. “Thou bearest testimony of thyself.” In the Greek, Si) tteqI aeavrov [io.qtvqeIs. Just so, and in the same way of derogation and objection, Euripides, in his Ion, line 532, makes Xuthus say to Ion, Maprvpe'f gcivtCj ; upon which Ion ap¬ peals for confirmation of what he had said to the oracle of the god. WORTH OF JESUS' TESTIMONY . *9 ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven} Jesus said this to show His competency as a witness on the score of presence at the place and acquaintance with the facts. When He appeared to John in Patmos and dictated the letters to the seven churches of Asia Pie instructed His disciple to write : These things saith the Amen, the Faithful and True Wit ness A Here he claims the other element of a good witness, TRUTH. Again He said : I am the Way and the Truth and the LifeA And again, to Pilate, just before He was given up to be crucified : To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I might bear witness unto the truth A He claimed not only that He taught the truth, but that He IS HlMSELF THE TRUTH. This is another of those words of Christ, which, spoken in situations of outward humiliation and danger, reveal the serenest consciousness of su¬ preme dignity and power. 12. CONCLUSION AS TO THE WORTH OF JESUS’ TESTI¬ MONY TO HIMSELF. With such strong assurance of His truth and trust¬ worthiness, it was, that Jesus spoke : and His mode of speaking accorded with this assurance. He re- 1 John iii. 11, 13. 2 Rev. iii. 14. “ Amen ” is a Hebrew word, signifying true , certain, faithful, worthy of credence ; and as a noun, Truth . Isa. I xv. 16, God of Truth. 3 John xiv. 6. 4 John xviii. 37. 20 CHRIST IIIS 0 WN WITNESS. garded His own assertion, with reference to anything whatever, as sufficient authority for the faith of men. He “taught as one having authority.” He often began with a phrase peculiar to Himself which im¬ plies the unquestionable truth of the assertion, Verily (or Verily , verily ,) I say unto you. This occurs about sixty times in the recorded words of Jesus. He often used also the form “ I say,” which is the same in purport. 1 And again : Heaven and earth shall pass away , but my word shall ?iot pass away . 2 Speaking with such truth and authority, Jesus is not only a competent witness in His own behalf, but He dghtly demands a hearing. Men, ignorant and erring as they are, and especially so in reference to Divine and spiritual things, may well hear and be¬ lieve too, when the Truth itself speaks. We shall certainly choose the good part if, like the humble and earnest Mary, rejoicing to have found an infallible guide, we take our place at Jesus’ feet and hear His word. We turn, then, to the direct object of our inquiries : Jesus’ declarations in regard to Himself. ^ee Matt. vi. 5, 16, 29 ; John v. 19, 24, 25 ; Matt. xix. 23 and vi. 29, etc. 2 Matt. xxiv. 35 ; Mark xiii. 31 ; Luke xxi. 33. CHAPTER III. JESUS’ EXISTENCE BEFORE HIS EARTHLY LIFE 13. WHERE JESUS WAS, AND WHENCE HE CAME INTO THIS WORLD. Jesus constantly taught that He had an existence before His earthly life. For instance, in that prayer made in the upper mom where He observed the last passover and the first Lord’s Supper, He said: And now , O Father , glorify thou me with thine ozvn self, with the glory which I had with thee before the zvorld was. 1 And again: For thou lovedst me before the foundation of the worldf We quote these words now only because they are an assertion by Jesus of His pre-existence before His life in this world. Here, as everywhere else, though speaking on the profoundest subjects, He talks simply and naturally, in language untrammelled by metaphysics, and yet with essential philosophic truth. He declares that He was before the world, with the Father. And what He says of Himself implies His having the consciousness and powers of an intelligent being. Doubtless His hu¬ manity was not there; but that was there which in 'John xvii. 5. 2 John xvii. 24. See §41, p. 93. (21) 22 CHRIST HIS 0 WN WITNESS. the consciousness of Jesus constituted the identity of His being. Jesus said to the Jews hostile to Him: Ye are of this world: I am not of this world. 1 These words are negative, those before them are positive: Ye are from beneath : I am from above. 2 This last phrase is a familiar, though in itself indefinite, expression for Heaven. More definitely He says : I am the living bread which came down from heaven . 3 This is that bread which came down from heaven . 4 No man hath ascended up into heaven but he that came down from heaven , even the Son of man which is in heaven. 5 More specifically still: I know him (i. e., God) for lam from him . * 6 For the Father himself loveth you because ye have loved me , ajid have believed that I came out from God. I came forth from the Father , and am come into the world: Again I leave the world and go to the Father . 7 I proceeded forth and came from God . 8 What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he zvas before ? 9 The sum of these statements as to Where He was in His Pre-existent state and Whence He came into this world, is that He came from heaven, from God the Father: He was there conscious and intelligent so as to know what is there, so present with God as to know God : And He came to this world knowing whence He came, and bringing with Him the full 1 John viii. 23. 2 Ibid. 3 John vi. 51. 4 John vi. 58. 3 J°h n iii. 13. 6 John vii. 29. 7 John xvi. 27, 28. 8 John viii. 42. e J°hnvi. 62. HIS PRE-EXISTENCE. 2.3 consciousness of identity, and all His knowledge of Himself, of heaven, and of God. 1 1 Two Greek prepositions are used with the verb of motion in the expressions above cited, pointing back to the place, or ob¬ ject of departure. The one is (ek) from, out of, properly, from a position i?i something (Hadley’s Greek Gram.) This is used in John viii. 23, “ I am not (e/c) of this world ; ” and in Ch. vi. 51, 58, “which came down (e/c) from heaven.” So too, in Ch. iii, 13. The other preposition is rcagd, alongside of, by, near, and when with the Genitive (as her €),from beside, from. (Hadley). This last word is appropriately used of the departure of a son from the presence or house of his father. Jesus uses this in John vii. 29, “ I am (yaga) from him.” With this may be compared the con¬ trary word ngog in Ch. xvi. 28, “ I go (71 -gog) to the Father ; ” also in Ch. xiii. 3, “he went (ngog) to God.” See also John i. 1. Tlagd is used in Ch. xvi. 27, 28, but after a verb (egf/Mov) com¬ pounded with etc. too Qeov £%rfk 6 ov, I came out from God, (in v. 28 from the Father). Just so in Ch. xvii. 8, They have known surely that I came out from thee. But in Ch. viii. 42 Jesus uses the preposition ek in connection with the same compound verb : Eyw yag ek tov Qeov k^rpEov kcu fjno. This certainly signifies de¬ parture from a state of intimate society with God, which we may illustrate by a reference to John i. 18, “ The only begotten Son which is in the bosom of the Father.” That Jesus means by any of this phraseology to refer to and describe his original essen¬ tial relation to the Father is doubtful. That essential relation He did not leave. Wherever He speaks of Himself as the Son “proceeding from the Father,” He means simply His coming into the world on His errand of grace as Messiah. So when He speaks of the Holy Spirit, saying (John xv. 26), iragu tov Trargog ek-oqevetcu, “which proceedeth from the Father,” He is not de¬ scribing the original and essential relation of the Spirit to the Father: His words refer in all these passages only indirectly, if at all, to the insoluble mysteries of the Trinity, but directly and plainly to the coming down of the Son and of the Spirit to the world for the salvation of men. CHAPTER IV. JESUS’ COMING INTO THE WORLD. 14. WHY JESUS CAME INTO THIS WORLD. The language of Jesus when He spoke of the de¬ sign of His coming into the world, was modified in each case by the occasion and circumstances which called it forth. He spoke popularly and did not al¬ ways tell the whole of His great Design ; it may be only a part and that a subordinate part of it which He had occasion to mention. But there is no diffi¬ culty in understanding Him. A comparison of all His sayings on this point with one another, and with other Scriptures, and a use of the light to be obtain¬ ed from His general manner of teaching and speak¬ ing, will make all plain. 15. THOSE SAYINGS WHICH DECLARE DIRECTLY THE GREAT OBJECT OF JESUS’ COMING. When James and John asked liberty to call down fire from heaven upon the people of a Samaritan vil¬ lage who refused to entertain Him, Jesus refused, saying : For the Son of man is not come to destroy men s lives, but to save them. 1 Jesus did save men’s bodily lives by feeding them, healing their diseases, and 1 Luke ix. 56. (24) OBJECT OF HIS COMING. 25 raising the dead. But the affirmative part of this answer has probably a wider application than to the life of the body. It is entirely in the Saviour’s man¬ ner to include a higher meaning with the lower. He told Peter : If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me .... and ye are clean, fait not all. “ For,” says John, “ he knew who should betray him; therefore said he, Ye are not all clean.” 1 So to His disci¬ ples when once they urged Him to take food: I have meat to eat which ye know not of. . . . My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work . 2 The higher sense of the word “ Life ” appears in the words next quoted : I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly . 3 Again : I came not to judge the world, but to save the world . 4 For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost : 5 to seek and to save that which was lost . 6 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved . 7 This, then, is Jesus’ great object in coming into the world, viz.: the salvation of men. In the same form of language (i. e., the form expressive of Design), He speaks also of the MEANS by which He accomplishes this end. These means are partly His Work and Suf- 1 John xiii. 8-11. ‘John xii. 47. John iv. 32, 34. 6 Mat. xviii. 11. 7 John iii. 16, 17. 3 John x. 10. 6 Luke xix. 10. 2 6 CHRIST HIS 0 WN WITNESS . ferings in the world, and especially His Death, and partly the Human Agencies which He inaugurated for this purpose. l6. JESUS CAME TO DIE, AND THEREBY TO SAVE MEN ALIVE. The hour is come that the Son of man should be glorified. Verily , verily, I say unto you , Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die , it abideth alone : but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit} Jesus says this making silently a comparison with Himself: So I, too, must die, like the grain of corn ; but my death will be the means of life to many. He goes on : Now is my sold troubled ( 7 . e., in view of death), but what shall I say ? Father , save me from this hour. But for this cause came I unto this hour. 1 Again, Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto , but to minister and to give his life a ransom for many} Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets: I am not come to destroy , but to fid fill? Jesus fulfilled the Law by obeying it perfectly ; by being the great Antitype in which all its ceremonies and sacrifices found their significance and their fulfill¬ ment ; by giving His Spirit to those who believe in Him, enabling them to obey it in spirit; and lastly, and chiefly, by meeting and satisfying in His death ail its demands upon penitent and believing souls. 17. JESUS CAME TO TEACH MEN. Another part of the personal work of Jesus in sav- 1 John xii. 23-28. 2 Mat. xx. 28. 3 Mat. v. 17. OBJECT OF HIS COMING. 2/ ing men was that of TEACHING. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voiced Jesus teaches the Way of Life. I am come a Light into the world , that whoso¬ ever bclieveth on me should not abide in darkness. 2 Let us go into the next towns that I may preach there also, for therefore came L forth. 3 I must preach the king¬ dom of God to other cities also; for therefore am 1 sent. 4 L am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance . 5 Finally, in the synagogue at Nazareth, Jesus read to the assembled people a prophecy of Isaiah: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he hath anointed me to preach the Gospel to the poor / he hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives , to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord. Then closing the book, He said : This day is this Scripture fulfilled in your ears. 6 These words teach both comprehensively and also in great detail, the work which Jesus came to do in the world. l8. JESUS CAME ALSO TO INSTITUTE AND EMPLOY TO THE SAME END OF MEN’S SALVATION, HUMAN INSTRUMENTALITIES, HIS FOLLOWERS AND MIN¬ ISTERS. He says of His disciples: As thou hast sent me into 1 John xviii. 37. 2 John xii. 46. 3 Mark i. 38. 4 Luke iv. 43. 6 Mat. ix. 13 ; Mark ii. 17. 6 Luke iv. 18-21 ; Isa. lxi. 1--3. 28 CHRIST HIS 0 WN WITNESS . the world, even so have I sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth} That is, I con¬ secrate myself to this work that they also may be consecrated, fitted, and set apart to carry it on. 19. INCIDENTAL CONSEQUENCES OF JESUS’ COMING. Jesus mentions also, as a part of the design of His coming, what are only INCIDENTAL and yet CERTAIN effects of it. I am come to send fire on the earth} Think not that lam come to send peace on the earth : I am not come to send peace, but a sivord. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter-in- law against her mother-in-law. 3 Jesus is the “ Prince of Peace,” and a direct and designed effect of His coming is “ Peace on earth.” “ Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end.” Nevertheless, His coming, the preaching of His Gos¬ pel and the establishment and spread of His Church, have occasioned, through men’s depravity, great en¬ mities, divisions, strifes and bloodshed. In the same way that is true which Jesus says: For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see, and that they which see might be made blind} He does not here contradict that other word : I came not to judge the world, but to save the world; 5 .and that other : For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world} The judgment or condemnation 1 John xvii. 18, 19. 2 Luke xii. 49-53. 3 Mat. x. 34, 35. 4 John ix. 39. 6 John xii. 47. 6 J°h n iii. 1 7. CONSEQUENCES OF HIS COMING. 2 9 of men occasioned by Jesus and His Gospel, is the result of men’s hatred and rejection of the Gospel. So He says: This is the condemnation that light is come into the world , and men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. 1 The words of Jesus which we have studied in this chapter teach us the Design of His Coming into the world as understood, declared and undertaken by Himself. They may be said to contain THE PRO¬ GRAMME of His Earthly Life-work, sketched by His own hand. His Life-Plan, as He reveals it in these words, breathes a sweetness of good-will, love and mercy only excelled by its wonderful fulfillment. It was the Ideal which was before Him when He said: I must work the works of him that sent me while it is day. 2 Under what pressure of spirit He carried it out appears in His words : I have a baptism to be bap¬ tized with , and how am I straitened till it be accom- plishedd And how at the last He compared Plan and Life, with a serene consciousness of their perfect harmony, appears in those words of His prayer, the last night of His life: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. * 4 1 John iii. 19. 3 Luke xii. 50. 2 John ix. 4. 4 John xvii. 4. CHAPTER V. JESUS THE MESSIAH. 20 . JESUS CLAIMED THAT HE WAS THE MESSIAH. Jesus declared plainly and repeatedly that He was the Messiah, the long-desired and looked-for by the chosen people. He was indeed careful, especially at first, not to let the knowledge of this fact be spread among the people. For, not only were they in eager expectation of the Messiah, but their expectations were in great degree of a secular character, and so would lead them to measures injurious both to themselves and to His cause. Discreetly, then, and yet plainly, He taught the truth of His Messiaship. This was a truth well understood by every disciple. Andrew having found it out, told his brother Simon ; “We have found the Messias (which is, being inter¬ preted, the Christ).” 1 Philip also told Nathaniel: “ We have found him of whom Moses in the law and the prophets did write, Jesus of Nazareth the son of Joseph : ” 2 and Nathaniel when convinced said to Je¬ sus : “ Rabbi, thou art the Son of God : thou art the King of Israel.” 3 Jesus admitted this confession of Nathaniel: Becattse I said I saw thee under the jig -- 3 John i. 41. (. 30 ) 2 John i. 45. 3 John i. 49. CLAIMS TO BE MESSIAH. 31 tree believest thou ? (that is, that I am the Messiah) Thou shalt see greater things than these} When Jesus asked the disciples : Whom say ye that I am ? and Peter answered : “ Thou art the Christ (Messiah), the Son of the Living God ; ” Jesus sanctioned this dec¬ laration, saying: Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona; for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven J 2 Jesus here declares that the truth that He was the Messiah WAS NOT OF HUMAN DISCOVERY, BUT WAS A REVELATION FROM THE Father, which made him blessed who truly learned it. A most solemn and strong assertion. To the woman of Samaria, who, struck with Jesus’ doc¬ trine about the kind of worship acceptable to God, said: “I know that Messias cometh, and when he is come he will tell us all things,” Jesus answered: / that speak unto thee am he? To the man born blind, now cured, whom Jesus asked: Dost thou believe on the Son of God? and who earnestly asked : “Who is he, Lord, that I might believe.on him?” Jesus an¬ swered : Thou hast both seen him and it is he that talketh with thee? Jesus here ASSERTS DIRECTLY • that He is the Son of God, declaring thereby that He was the Messiah. To the messengers of John who came from their master with the question: “ Art thou he that should come, or do we look for an¬ other? ” Jesus, having cured many before their eyes, answered, saying: Go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see: The blind receive 2 Mat. xvi. 15-17. 4 John ix. 35-38. 1 John i. 50. 8 John iv. 26. 32 CHRIST HIS OWN WITNESS. their sight and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the Gospel preached unto them} Jesus answered their question affirmatively by referring to His miracles as proof. To His disciples receiving eagerly and intel¬ ligently His instructions, He said : Blessed are your eyes, for they see; and your ears, for they hear. For verily I say unto you that many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things zvhich ye see, and have not seen them, and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them} They were blessed because He was the Messiah, and they saw Him and His miracles, and heard His teachings, and were to wit¬ ness and share in the coming of His kingdom. To the unbelieving Jews He said : Your father Abraham re¬ joiced to see my day and he sazv it and was glad? The father of the faithful understood somewhat the import of the promise made to him of “ a seed in whom all the nations of the earth should be blessed.” Jesus here virtually says that that seed was Himself. “ Abraham foresaw my day.” Again, when a party of unbelieving Jews asked Him: “ How long dost thou make us to doubt? If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly,” Jesus answered them: I told you, and ye believed not, and then referred them to His miracles in proof . 4 To some of the same class he said : If ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins . 1 Matt. xi. 3-5 ; Luke vii. 19-22. 51 Matt. xiii. 16, 17 ; Luke x. 23, 24 see 1 Peter i. 11, 12. 3 John viii. 56. 4 John x. 25. CLAIMS TO BE MESSIAH. 33 They then asked him : “ Who art thou ? ” and Jesus said unto them: Even the same that I said unto you from the beginning} Again : When ye have lifted up the Son of man then shall ye know that I am he} To His disciples: Many shall come in my name saying, I am Christ: that is, falsely claiming the name and office which belong to me . 3 When on His last trial before the Jewish council, the high-priest said : “ I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ the Son of God ; ” Jesus answered : Thou hast said: nev¬ ertheless I say unto you , Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power and coming in the clouds of heaven / 4 Mark’s account is similar: “ Again the high-priest asked Him, Art thou the Christ the Son of the Blessed?” And Jesus said: I am : and ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of Power and coming in the clouds of heaven} This important testimony is recorded also by Luke: Hereafter shall the Son of man sit on the right hand of the power of God. “ Then said they all: Art thou then the Son of God?” And He said unto them : Ye say that I am} 1 John viii. 25. 2 John viii. 28 ; see § 5, p. 8, Note. 3 Luke xxi. 8. 4 Matt. xxvi. 64. 5 Mark xiv. 62, 63. 6 Luke xxii. 69, 70. The words in Matthew : “ Thou hast said,” and those in Luke : “ Ye say that I am,” are evidently equivalent to those in Mark : “ I am.” So in the words of Jesus, next quot¬ ed, in answer to Pilate’s question: Art thou the king of the Jews ? Jesus certainly answered the governor categorically. Yet all the 2* 34 CHRIST HIS 0 WN WITNESS. Jesus made this declaration, as we see, UNDER OATH, before the highest civil and ecclesiastical tribunal of the Jews, and before the high-priest, the highest func¬ tionary of the Old Testament Church. It was the proper place and presence for Him to make His offi¬ cial declaration that He was the Messiah who was to come. This was that declaration. By it He notified the functionaries of the Old Dispensation that their offices had ceased with the validity of their services: and that henceforth, He was the center of all author¬ ity in the Church on earth. It was their duty, then, publicly and officially to recognize Him as Messiah, and to lay their authority at His feet. Jesus well knew that they would not do this: that He made this dec¬ laration at the cost of His life. But, as at His bap¬ tism, “ thus it became Him to fulfill all righteousness,” and He accordingly made it categorically and unhesi¬ tatingly. It was a sublime moment in the history of the Messiah. Jesus “ witnessed also a good confession before Pontius Pilate.” The Roman governor asked Him: Art thou the king of the Jews? Jesus said unto him Thou sayest . * 1 So Jesus assumed the Messiahship pub¬ licly and officially also before the highest civil au¬ thority of the country. But He carefully explained its nature to the governor, as not of a secular character. evangelists give His answer, Thou sayest. That is : “ Thou af- firmest the truth.” Simliar forms of affirmation occur in classic Greek, e.g., eyvuc, You know, i. e., You are right. Euripides, Andromache, 883, 920. 1 Matt, xxvii. 11 ; Mark xv. 2 ; Luke xxiii. 3 ; see last Note. CLAIMS 70 BE MESSIAH. 35 21 . JESUS APPLIES SCRIPTURES OF THE OLD TESTA¬ MENT CONCERNING THE MESSIAH TO HIMSELF. John in Patmos wrote down words of Jesus: /, Jesus , have sent mine angel to testify these things in the churches. I am the Root and Offspring of David and the Bright and Morning Star. It is a declaration of His Messiahship, expressed in terms of predictions of the Old Testament . 1 The doctrine and hope of the Messiah which were cherished by the Jews were drawn from the Old Testa¬ ment. The Great Promise of the Messiah was made to the fathers and embodied in the inspired records. Jesus, claiming to be the Messiah, rightly applied to Himself all that the Old Testament contains concern¬ ing Him who was to come. It would have been in¬ consistent with His claims and pretensions not to do so—to do so was in perfect keeping with them. His reply to John’s messengers lately quoted , 2 in which He appeals,to His miracles in proof of His Messiah- ship, contains also, evidently, a tacit appeal to well- known prophecies of the Messiah. Isaiah said : “ God will come with vengeance, even God with a recom¬ pense ; he will come and save you. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing .” 3 Jesus in describing His miracles to John’s messengers, quotes this prophecy almost literally. We have seer 1 Rev. xxii. 16 ; Isa. xi. I ; Num. xxiv. 17. 3 Isaiah xxxv. 4, 5, 6. 2 See last section CHRIST HIS 0IVIV WITNESS 36 also how in the synagogue at Nazareth, He read the prophecy: “ The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek: he hath sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound ; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.” Then He closed the book and gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fastened on Him. And He began to say unto them : This day is this Scripture fulfilled in your ears. 1 He, His work, and His preaching were that fulfillment. Of John the Baptist He said : This is he of whom it is written, Behold I send my mes¬ senger before thy face, to prepare thy way before thee . 1 2 3 John came the forerunner of Jesus. Jesus, applying this prophecy to John, claims to be the one addressed (or, as it is in the Old Testament, the one speaking) in the prophecy; therefore that He is the Messiah, the Lord, who should suddenly come to His Temple, the Messenger of the covenant whom they sought and delighted in. To the unbelieving Jews He said : Search the Scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life ; and they are they which testify of me. For had ye believed Moses ye would have believed me, for he wrote of me. 4 To His disciples : Behold, we go tip 1 Luke iv. 18-21 ; Isa. lxi. 1, 2. 'Mat. xi. 10; Luke vii. 27 ; Mai. iii. 1. The change of person from the first, as it is in the Hebrew, to the second, is of no im¬ portance in this argument. 3 John v. 39. 4 John v. 46. CLAIMS TO BE MESSIAH. 37 to Jerusalem , and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of man shall be accomplished. For he shall be delivered unto the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and spitef idly entreated, and spit upon ; A nd they shall scourge him, and put him to death, and the third day he shall rise again. 1 Of the unbelieving Jews He says: Now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father. But this cometh to pass that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law : They hated me without a cause. 2 After His parable of the husbandmen killing the heir, by which He signified His own murder by the Jews, He said : Did ye never read in the Scriptures, The Stone which the builders re¬ jected the same is become the head of the corner ? 3 Both parts of this prediction, He implies, were to be ful¬ filled in Him. At the Last Supper He said of the traitor: I speak not of you all: I know whom I have chosen: but that the Scripture may be fulfilled, He that cateth bread with me hath lifted up his heel against me A To the rest He said at the same time: 1 Luke xviii. 31-33; Mat. xx. 18, 19; Mark x. 33, 34. That He was to be delivered to the Gentiles, is, as the Apostles affirm in Acts iv. 25-28, predicted in Ps. ii. 1, 2. That He should be mocked, spitefully entreated and spitted on, Ps. xxii. 7, 8 , Ps. lxix. 7 (compare Ps. Ixix. 9 with John ii. 17), also Ps. Ixix. 12, 21. That He should be spitted on and scourged, Isa. 1. 6. That He should be killed, Dan. ix. 26 ; Isa. liii. 8, 10. Also for the abuse and sufferings of the Messiah in general, Psalms xxii. and lxxi, and Isa. liii. For the resurrection, Ps. xvi. 9, 10; compare Acts ii. 25, 26, 30, 31. 2 John xv. 24, 25. 1 2 3 Mat. xxi. 42 ; Mark xii. 10 ; Luke xx. 17. 4 John xiii. 18 ; see Ps. xli. 9. 38 CHRIST HIS OWN WITNESS . All ye shall be offended because of me this night; for it is written , I will smite the Shepherd , and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad . 1 Referring to His capture, soon to take place: This that is writ¬ ten must yet be accomplished in me, A nd he was reck¬ oned with tlie transgressors : for the things concerning me have an end (i. e., a speedy accomplishment). 2 To the two going to Emmaus after His resurrection, He said : O fools a7id slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken. Ought not Christ to have suf¬ fered these things , and to enter into his glory ? And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, He ex¬ pounded unto them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself. 3 And to the eleven the same night: These are the words which I spake unto you while I was yet with you , that all things must be ful¬ filled which were written in the law of Moses and in the Prophets and in the Psalms concerning me . 4 . . . Thus it is written and thus it behooved Christ to suffer , and to rise from the dead the third day . 5 So we see that Jesus applied to Himself everything which the Old Testament, as He understood it, con¬ tained respecting the Messiah. Was He not the Mes¬ siah ? Who has not thought wishfully of those exposi¬ tions of the Messianic prophecies made by Jesus Christ himself, heard by the two, and by the eleven, 1 Mat. xxvi. 31 ; Mark xiv. 27 ; Zech. xiii. 7. 2 Luke xxii. 37 ; Isa. liii. 12. 8 Luke xxiv. 25, 26, 27. 4 Luke xxiv. 44. 6 Luke xxiv. 46 ; compare Mat. xii. 39, 40, and supra § 6. CLAIMS TO BE ME SSI AN. 39 and by many others? But have we not at least some of them ? The disciples in their preaching and arguments afterward would be likely to bring for¬ ward those same passages which Jesus had adduced, with the very interpretations of their Master. We may feel sure, therefore, that in the recorded sermons of Peter and Paul, and in the writings of these and other disciples preserved in the New Testament, we have interpretations of Old Testament prophecies concerning Christ, which they learned from the lips of Jesus. We have thus some of JESUS’ OWN EXPO¬ SITIONS of Messianic prophecies 1 Jesus evidently well understood His Messianic mission and work in the world, and it was ever pres¬ ent in His thought. Compare Jesus, Mat. xxi. 42, with Paul, Eph. ii. 20 ; 1 Cor. i/i. 11, and Peter 1st Ep. ii. 6-8. CHAPTER VI. THE HUMAN NATURE OF JESUS. 22 . JESUS SPOKE OF HIMSELF AS A MAN. The Messiah, coming into the world to save men, became a man. As a human being He was born of a woman. Jesus referred to His birth but seldom, and that only incidentally; yet He recognized it just as other men do theirs. He said to Pilate: To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world that I should bear witness unto the truth. 1 His enemies said: “We know this man whence he is; but when Christ cometh no man knoweth whence he is.” 2 They knew the town where Pie lived, the family and house in which He grew up. Jesus ad¬ mitted all this so far as His human origin was con¬ cerned, saying: Ye both knoiv me and ye ktiow whence I am. But He immediately added, referring to His higher origin and mission: I am tiot come of myself, but he that sent me is true whom ye know not? ^ohn xviii. 37. 2 John vii. 27. 3 John vii. 28. At another time (John viii. 14) Jesus said to the Jews: Ye can not tell whence I came and whither I go ; speaking, evidently, of His origin from heaven, of which they did not know. Thus He asserts that that is true of Himself which they (40) THE HUMAN NATURE OF JESUS. 41 As born of a woman Jesus was a real man. He called Himself a man, saying to the Jews: Ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told yon the truth. 1 He spoke constantly of Himself as “the Son of man.” Whom do men say that 1 ’ the Son of man, am ? * 2 3 4 And (the Father) hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man. 3 In the Gospels we find Jesus giving Himself this appellation about fifty times, while no one else ever calls Him so but Stephen, once (Acts vii. 56 ). This fact implies some¬ thing singular about the name. What is it ? The term is very common in the Hebrew, especially the later Hebrew; but in the Chaldee and Syriac it is entirely at home. In ordinary usage it denotes simply A MAN, and in the plural MEN. 4 'When ap- had declared must be true of the Messiah (Ch. vii. 27), “ When Christ cometh no man knoweth whence he is.” 1 John viii. 40. 2 Mat. xvi. 13 ; Mark viii. 27 ; Luke ix. 18. 3 John v. 27. 4 See Num. xxiii. 19; Job xxv. 6; Psalms iv. 2 ; Ezek. ii. 1, etc. Ezekiel (who lived in Chaldea where the Chaldee was spoken) is so called in the Bible about ninety times. In the Syriac this is the usual term denoting man. It may be said to have no other. In the Syriac translation of the New Testament, it con¬ stantly occurs. Even Adam is called a Bar-nosh, “ Son of man,” (1 Cor. xv. 45), where, taken literally, it sounds awkwardly enough : “The first son of man, Adam, was made a living soul.” Evi¬ dently the idea of Son has been lost in that of Man. In further proof of this is the fact mentioned by Michaelis (in his Castelli Lexicon Syriacum) that the Syrian Ecclesiastical writers made a verb out of this term, and applied it to Christ: Ithbarnash , He was made [or, became], a man , [literally, a son of man\. Darnel, 42 CHRIST HIS 0 WN WITNESS. plied by Jesus to Himself it always has in the Greek, as in the English, the definite article: THE MAN,* and expresses at once His real humanity and also His peculiarity, as one distinct from all other men: “ that Son of man (or, that man) who is also more than man, the Messiah, Son of God.” In further illustration of Jesus’ mode of speaking of Himself as a man, we recall His words in the gar¬ den : My soul is exceeding sorroivful , even unto death. * 1 * * Also those uttered on the cross: Father , into thy hands I commend my spirit . 2 Jesus had a human soul, and when dying He commended it to God. After His resurrection He said to His disciples : Be¬ hold my hands and my feet that it is I myself: handle me and see ; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones as ye see me have? And to the doubting Thomas: Reach hither thy finger , and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand and thrust it into my side , and be not faithless , but believingd These words of Jesus show that He was “ clothed in a body like our own.” “ The Word was made flesh.” “ In all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren.” 23. THE FAMILY AND KINDRED OF JESUS. In the Gospels we read of Mary, Jesus’ mother, of • Joseph, her husband, and of brethren and sisters of writing in Chaldee, speaks of the Messiah seen by him in vision. '“1^3- a son °f man : (it is in the indefinite form) i. e. t y: ~ . like a man (Ch. vii. 13). Compare on the similar phrase, Son of God, §58, p. 123, sq. 1 Mat. xxvi. 38 ; Mark xiv. 34. 3 Luke xxiii. 46. 8 Luke xxiv. 39. 4 John xx. 27. * There is one single exception to this usage, which is noticed on page 265, note 1. THE HUMAN NATURE OF JESUS. 43 Jesus. Whether these were children of Mary, or of her brothers or sisters, is not agreed, and can not be certainly known. Jesus refers occasionally to these kindred, and recognizes their relationship, although generally in the way of showing that He has higher relationships and responsibilities than His connection with them involved. In his twelfth year he was with “ his parents ” at Jerusalem at a religious feast. When they started on their return He remained behind, interested in the religious observances, and especially in the conversation and instructions of the doctors of the law. Joseph and Mary having returned in search of Him, found Him after three days “ in the temple sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them and asking them questions.” To His mother, who chided Him for the anxiety and trouble He had caused, He said : How is it that ye sought me ? Wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business ? 1 1 Luke ii. 49: “About my father’s business.” So the Eng. Translation for the Greek, iv role tov rarqog /uov, in the (things ) of my Father. The common rendering means: “You should not have sought me at all ; for you know well that I must hence¬ forth be employed in the work given me by my heavenly Father.” But such a meaning is inconsistent both with his age at the time, and his after course ; for He went down with them to Nazareth, lived with them, was subject to them as a son, and for eighteen years longer lived a private life, engaged, doubtless, in some manual employment with Joseph, probably that of a carpenter. If, instead of business, we understand house , truth, or worship, or all these together, which the Greek permits, His meaning is, Why did you go elsewhere in search of me, and not come direct¬ ly here ? Do ye not yet know me well enough to be sure that I would be in my Father’s house, here where His worship is going on, and His truth taught? 44 CHRIST HIS 0 WN WITNESS. At the wedding in Cana, soon after His entrance on His ministry, when His mother told Him, They have no wine, He said : Woman , what ]iave I to do with thee? Mine hour is not yet coined There are several difficulties in the interpretation of these words ; but they at least express to Mary that He had now entered upon His life-work as a man, and must act upon His own convictions as to what He must do, and when. To His unbelieving brethren who urged Him to go up to Jerusalem that His miracles might be more widely known, He replied : My time is not yet come , but your time is always ready. The world cannot hate you, but me it hateth because I testify of it that the works thereof are evil. Go ye up unto this feast : I go not up yet unto this feast : for my time is not yet full come . 2 Here, too, with much that is ob¬ scure, that for which we refer now to the words, is plain, viz.: Jesus tells them that His character and His relations to the world are unlike theirs, and therefore His plans and times of action must also be different. They, therefore, are no counsellors for Him ; He can not act upon their advice. Again, when Jesus’ miracles and instructions had drawn great crowds around Him and He was devoting all His time and strength and zeal to His labors for them, His mother and brethren, feeling that He was going too far, and was indeed beside Himself, wished to withdraw Him from the crowds and from the work. They therefore came up to the outer edge of the multitude and sent one to say to Him : “ Behold, thy 2 John vii. 6, 7, 8. 1 John ii. 4. THE HUMAN NA TURE OF JESUS. 45 mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to speak with thee.” But He answered and said to him that told Him : Who is my mother ? and who are my brethren ? And He stretched forth His hand toward his disciples and said : Behold my mother and my brethren. For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven , the same is my brother and sister and mother . 1 The sentiment, so far as His kindred are concerned, is the same as before. Even His mother, yielding probably to the urgency of the rest, had engaged in an effort which showed a want of knowledge of His principles and objects, if not a lack of sympathy with them. He will not, therefore, yield to their wishes. He has other and stronger re¬ lationships than those of blood. On the cross, when about to die, with truly filial tenderness and care, He recognized His mother and the disciple standing by, whom He loved, and He said unto His mother: Woman , behold thy son. Then saith He to the disci¬ ple : Behold thy mother. And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home. 1 2 What filial love ! Jesus was a true son and brother. He recognized His higher relationships and duties, and put them highest; while He rendered to His kindred, and especially to His mother, all due affection and offices of love. He did just what He requires His disciples to do when He savs: “He that loveth father or * 1 Mat. xii. 46-50; Mark iii. 31-35 ; Luke viii. 19-21. 2 John xix. 25-27. 4 6 CHRIST HIS OWN WITNESS. mother more than me, is not worthy of me; and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.” 1 They must prefer Him, and-duties to Him, above the nearest earthly ties—so He pre¬ fers His Father and His Father’s will. Within this limit we see Him most affectionate and faithful to His mother and to Joseph : and it is pleasant, too, to know that of those called “ brethren of Jesus,” James the Less and Judas, not Iscariot, were Apos¬ tles of Christ. 2 24. JESUS IDENTIFIES HIMSELF. In following Jesus now beyond the circle of His family and kindred, we will first gather together the words and instances in which He recognizes His per¬ sonal identity. He had occasion to do this as other persons sometimes have, and He did it as other men do. Jesus had once remained behind to dismiss the multitude and to pray in solitude, sending His disci¬ ples across the lake in a boat without Him. While they were laboring with their oars, being tossed by a storm, Jesus drew near them, walking on the water. It was night, and the disciples seeing Him thought it was a spirit. But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying : Be of good cheer ; it is I: be not afraid. 3 In the Garden of Gethsemane, the band of men, headed by Judas, came upon Him, and Jesus asked them: Whom seek ye? They answered him, Jesus of Naza- 1 Mat. x. 3 7. 2 See Gal. i. 19; Jude i. ; Acts i. 13. 3 Mat. xiv. 27 ; Mark vi. 50 ; John vi. 20, Greek Ey« el/u. See on this, § 5, note. THE HUM AH NATURE OF JESUS. 47 reth. Jesus saith unto them : I am he. As soon, then, as He had said unto them, I am he, they went backward and fell to the ground. Then asked He them again: Whom seek ye ? And they said, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus answered : I have told you that I am he. 1 We have already quoted His words spoken to His disciples and to Thomas after His resurrec¬ tion. 1 2 Our object then was to show that He spoke of Himself as having a real body. But they are also and specially words of self-identification : Behold my hands and my feet that it is I myself; handle me and see. 3 Reach hither thy finger and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side : and be not faithless, but believing . 4 He was the same one that was crucified. To these identifications of Himself made when still in the flesh, we add those made after His exaltation to heaven. To Saul of Tarsus, on his way and his errand of persecution to Damascus, there appeared a light from heaven, and a voice said : Saul, Said, why per- secutest thou me? And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said : I am Jesus whom thou persccut- est. b John, also, in Patmos, saw in vision “ one like unto the Son of man ” who made Himself known to His disciple : I am he that liveth and was dead, and behold I am alive forevermore. 6 And again : /, Jesus, have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. 7 1 John xviii. 4-8. 2 See § 22, p. 42. 3 Luke xxiv. 39. * John xx. 27. 6 Acts ix. 5. 6 Rev. i. 18. 7 Rev. xxii. 16, 48 CHRIST HIS OWN WITNESS. Jesus sometimes concealed His official character from those who could not understand it and would abuse their knowledge ; but otherwise He always appeared without disguise, in His true personality, and, with some apparent exceptions after His resurrection, with¬ out any variation in His appearance. His friends and associates knew His well-defined features, voice and clothing, just as they did those of any other acquaint¬ ance. He had in all respects a confessed and rec¬ ognized personality, a name and place in society like any other man, and that name was “ JESUS of Nazareth.” Even in heaven He calls Himself by the name Jesus ; it signifies SAVIOUR. 1 In the chapter on the Pre-existence of the Mes¬ siah 2 we saw Jesus declaring His identity in refer¬ ence to that previous state. It was He, the same one who was then speaking in the flesh, that was also before the worlds in glory with His Father. Now we perceive that He claims His name Jesus which He bore in the flesh, after having “ ascended up where he was before.” The whole truth of His eternal and unchangeable identity is expressed by inspiration : “ Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to-day, and forever,” 3 and even stronger by His own words: 1 am Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last} 25. JESUS AS A JEW. We now look at Jesus beyond the circle of Elis family and the boundaries of the city “ where he was 1 Mat. i. 21. 2 § 13, p. 21. 3 Heb. xiii. 8. 4 Rev. i. 17. THE HUMAN NA TURE OF JESUS. 49 brought up,” and so in His broader relations to church and state. As a Jew, “ made under the law,” Jesus observed the prescribed festivals and other usages of the Jew¬ ish religion. He paid His half-shekel to the treasury of the Temple annually like every other Jew. He claimed indeed that as the Son of God, He was in fact exempt from this tax: Then are the children free. But He said to Peter: Lest we shoiild offend them, go thou to the sea, and cast an hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up; and when thou hast ope?ied his mouth thou shalt find a piece of money; that take and give unto them for me and thee. 1 He said of the Feast of Tabernacles : I go not up yet unto this feast; for my time is not yet fidl corned The his¬ torian adds that after abiding a while longer in Gali¬ lee He went to the feast. He observed the Passover. He said to His disciples : Go and prepare us the pass- over that we may eat. 3 Go into the city to such a man and say unto him the Master saith, My time is at hand; I will keep the passover at thy house with my disciples. 4 Mark and Luke give His words more fully : Go yc into the city, and there shall meet you a man bearing a pitcher of water : follow him. And wheresoever he shall go in, say ye to the good man of the house, The Mas¬ ter saith, Where is the guest-chamber where I shall eat the passover with my disciples ? A nd he will show you a large upper room furnished and prepared; there make ready for us. 5 When they were all gathered at the *Mat. xvii. 2\-2j. 2 Johnvii. 8. 3 Luke xxii. 8. 4 Mat. xxvi. 18. 5 Mark xiv. 13, 14, 15 ; Luke xxii. 10, 11. 3 50 CHRIST HIS 0 WN WITNESS. passover table, He said unto them: With desire 1 have desired to eat this passover with you before 1 suffer. 1 26. JESUS AS A CITIZEN. i Jesus’ position among the people was that of a private citizen. He did not possess any civil author¬ ity nor fulfill any office of public duty. Not being a civil magistrate He would not do anything which only such a one could rightly do. Therefore when He was applied to by one of two brothers who were contending about the division of their inheritance He refused to interfere, saying : Man , who 7nade me a ruler or divider over you? 2 But He took occasion from the incident to teach both the applicant and the others present how much better it was to be earnest in securing a heavenly than an earthly treasure. For the same reason, doubtless, He refused to act in the case of the adulteress who was brought to Him that He might prescribe her punishment. They who brought her having all withdrawn, Jesus said to her : Woman , where are those thine accusers? Hath no man condemned thee ? (That is, Hast thou not been con¬ demned by the proper tribunal?) And she said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said to her : Neither do I con¬ demn thee: Go and sin no more . 3 ButwhileHewould not interfere with the magistrate’s duty by condemn¬ ing her, He dealt faithfully with her as a Moral a Lukexxii. 15. 2 Luke xii. 14. 5 John viii. 11. This whole passage, John viii. 1-11, is of very doubtful authority because it is wanting in io many of the lead ing manuscripts, etc. THE HUMAN NATURE OF JESUS. 51 Teacher and Reprover. Those last words, Go and sin no more, both taught her her guilt, and warned her to repentance and a life of purity thenceforth. In all these incidents and words we see in Jesus an ever-present sense of His true position and relations in the world, and the nicest conformity to them in conduct. His words to Pilate, My kingdom is not of this world, 1 is the key to the whole. Holm xviii. 36. CHAPTER VII. THE EARTHLY LIFE OF JESUS. 27. THE FACTS IN HIS LIFE MENTIONED BY JESUS. Let us now gather together and arrange in order the various notices which occur in the words of Jesus of the incidents and experiences of His earthly life. We will present them now simply as facts without any reference to their doctrinal content or bearing. Jesus refers to them only incidentally; He has furnished us no autobiography, and given no narrative of the whole or even a part of His life-experience. The notices which occur therefore are very fragmentary, and afford by themselves a very imperfect view of His whole history. But this very character of these notices makes them more valuable as testimony. They were evidently not gotten up by the historians and put into the mouth of their hero ; they occur too naturally for this, and have their rise in the circum¬ stances of the speaker and the occasion. They are manifestly in situ , in the very connection and rela¬ tions which they had in His words as He spoke to the occasion before Him. They are therefore just so many more “ incidental coincidences ” between Jesus himself and the writers of the New Testament. His history, familiar to both, receives from both its (52) THE EARTHLY LIFE OF JESUS. 53 appropriate testimony; He in His teachings inci¬ dentally alludes to its facts ; they write their con¬ nected narratives of those facts. 28 . REFERENCES MADE BY JESUS TO HIS ABIDING PLACES, MOVEMENTS, VISITS, AND INTERVIEWS. At the Jordan the two disciples of John who heard their Master say of Jesus, “ Behold the Lamb of God/’ 1 followed Jesus and asked Him: “Rabbi, where dwellest thou ? ” He said unto them : Come and see . 2 They came and saw where He dwelt. When offense began to be taken by the Pharisees in Judea at the number of His baptisms, He went into Galilee; “for Jesus himself testified that a prophet hath no honor in his own country .” 3 In the synagogue at Nazareth, He said: Ye will surely say unto me this proverb, Physician , heal thyself: whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum do also here in thy country. A ndhe said, Verily I say unto you, No prophet is accepted in his own country. 4 Jesus resided and taught most in the towns and country around the lake of Galilee, and had frequent occasion to pass over its waters. J John i. 36. 2 v. 39. 3 John i y - 44 - 4 Luke iv. 23, 24. Here it is plain that by the words, “ in his own country,” as applied by Jesus to Himself, Nazareth is meant; but in the preceding case (John iv. 44) Judea and Jerusalem seem to be meant. These might well be calfed the native coun¬ try (rrargU) of Jesus, as He was born in Bethlehem, “ King of the Jews,” whose capital was Jerusalem, where also was the temple, the house of his “ Father.” The saying is proverbial ; its terms therefore admit of a wide application. Robinson (N. T. Lexi¬ con, yug, I. b.), supposes Nazareth referred to in both cases. 54 CHRIST IIIS 0 WN WITNESS. We find Him giving the order to His disciples : Let us go over unto the other side of the lake . 1 Again, He directs their movements on the land : Let us go into the next towns that I may preach there also. 2 I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities also. 3 4 * He said to Zaccheus in the sycamore tree: Zaccheus, make haste and come down ; for to-day L must abide at thy housed Talking to Simon, who was entertaining Him, He had occasion to say: I entered into thine house, etc. Since the time Lcame in , etc. 5 Word came to Him that His friend Lazarus was sick. He said to His disciples: Let us go into Judea again. 6 Our friend Lazarus sleepeth, but Lgo that I may awake him out of sleep. 7 Lazarus is dead. . . . nevertheless let us go unto him. 8 Certain of the Pharisees said to Him when in Galilee: “Get thee out and depart hence, for Herod will kill thee. And He said unto them : Go ye and tell that fox , Behold I cast 07it devils and I do C7ircs to-day a7id to-morrow, and the third day L shall be perfected (shall have finished my work). Nevertheless , I must walk to-day and to-morrozv, a?id the day following;for it can 77ot be that a prophet per¬ ish out of Jerusalem . 9 Jesus in these words spoke more in detail of His plans of movement and labor than in any others which are recorded. The occasion led Him to do it. His plans, as it appears, were fixed both as to’ the work to be done and the time it was to^occupy, and Herod would fail to prevent their 1 Luke viii. 22. 2 Mark i. 38. 8 Luke iv. 43. 4 Luke xix. 5. 6 Luke vii. 44, 45. H John xi. 7. T Ibid. v. 11. 8 Ibid. v. 14, 15. 0 Luke xiii. 32, 33. THE EARTHLY LIFE OF JESUS. 55 accomplishment. On His last journey through the country He said to His disciples: Behold zue go zip to Jerusalem . 1 When giving orders to bring Him the ass’s colt that He might ride into Jerusalem, He told the messengers : Say, The Lord hath need of him. 2 3 When asked by the disciples where they should pre¬ pare the Passover, He said : Go into the city to such a man and say unto him , The Master saith, My time is at hand, I zvill keep the passover at thy house with my disciples. 3 There make ready for us . 4 * * To His cap- tors in the garden He said of His habitual places of resort: I sat daily with you teaching in the temple. 5 At the last supper, in the progress of His discourse, He said: Arise , let us go hence. 6 In Gethsemane, at the close of His agony : Rise, let us be going : behold he is at hand that doth betray me. 7 On the morning of the resurrection, to the women : Go tell my brethren that they go into Galilee, and there shall they see me. 8 Go to my brethren , and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God A We can not fail to be struck with the incidental and fragmentary character of these references made by Jesus to His plans and movements, and to see also 1 Luke xviii. 31. 2 Mark xi. 3 ; Mat. xxi. 3 ; Luke xix. 31. 3 Mat. xxvi. 18; Mark xiv. 13, 14; Luke xxii. 10, 11. 4 Mark xiv. 15. 6 Mat. xxvi. 55 ; Mark xiv. 49; Luke xxii. 53. °John xiv. 31. 7 Mat. xxvi. 46 ; Mark xiv. 42. “Mat. xxviii. 10. 9 John xx. 17. CHRIST HIS 0 WN WITHESS. 56 how well they accord with the history given by the writers. They touch it only here and there, but al¬ ways consistently with the facts as recorded else¬ where. The incidents are the natural occurrences in the life of one who went about doing good. 29 . NOTICES BY JESUS OF HIS ASSOCIATES. Jesus was social in His habits, and mingled freely with all. Both enemies and friends had free access to Him. There was that in Him which drew all classes to Him. Especially did He mingle freely with the COMMON PEOPLE who pressed up to hear Him and to see and be benefited by His miracles. He speaks of these multitudes, of their coming, of their being present, and continuing with Him. When the citi¬ zens of Sychar were coming out to Him in great numbers, Jesus referring to them (perhaps pointing) said to the disciples: Say not ye, There are yet four 7nonths and then cometh the harvest ? behold I say unto you , Lift 7 ip your eyes and look on the fields ; for they are white already to harvest. 1 When Jesus then lifted up His eyes and saw a great company come unto Him, He saith unto Philip: Whence shall we buy bread that these may eat ? 2 And again : I have compassion on the multitude , for they continue with me now three days and have nothing to eat. 3 Jesus mingled even WITH TPIE WORST OF MEN; and when evil-minded Pharisees asked His disciples with significant insinuation, “ Why eateth your mas* 1 J°hn iv. 35. 2 John vi. 5. 3 Mat. xv. 32 ; Mark viii. 2. THE EARTHLY LIFE OF JESUS. 57 ter with publicans and sinners?” Jesus said: They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick; for lam not come to call the righteous, but shifters to repentance. 1 The worse they were the more they needed His merciful help. It was, according to Luke, in answer to the same reproach that He spake the parable of the lost sheep, of the lost piece of money and of the prodigal son. They all illustrate His own interest in saving men and justify His mingling with the degraded and vicious . 1 2 Women and children found access to Him. When mothers pressed up for His blessing on their babes, and the disciples endeavored to prevent them, Jesus said: Suffer the little children to come unto me and forbid them not . 3 None were too low for His notice. When the beggar Bartimeus and his com¬ panion cried, “ Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on us,” Jesus stood still and called them and said: What will ye that I shall do unto you f 4 To the pub¬ lican Zaccheus, the rich extortioner, He said : To-day I must abide at thy house. 5 Of the woman who was a sinner, repenting and weeping at His feet : Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much . 6 But Jesus’ most constant and intimate associates were His disciples. He had called them with the words, Follow me . 7 In the upper-room at the last 1 Mat. ix. 12, 13 ; Luke v. 31, 32 ; Mark ii. 17. 2 Luke, ch. xv. 3 * Mat. xix. 14 ; Mark x. 14 ; Luke xviii. 16. 4 Luke xviii. 41 ; Mat. xx. 32 ; Mark x. 51. 6 Luke xix. 5. “Luke vii. 47. 7 John i. 43, etc. 58 CHRIST HIS OWN WITNESS. passover, He said to them: Ye have been with me from the beginning . 1 Ye are they who have continued with me in my temptations . 2 Have I been so long time with you and yet hast thou not known me , Philip ? 3 But these things have I told you, that when the time shall come ye may remember that I told you of them. A nd these things I said not unto you at the beginning because I was with you . 4 These words imply the most intimate association and acquaintance with His disciples throughout His public life. 30 . JESUS MAKES MENTION OF HIS EMPLOYMENTS. Most if not all of Jesus’ time was spent in preach¬ ing and teaching and working miracles. We now refer to these merely as facts of His earthly history. Speaking of His teaching and preaching, He said : Let us go into the next towns that I may preach there also . 5 I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities also. 6 * The poor have the Gospel preached to them J If I have told you (Nicodemus and the Jerusalem pub¬ lic) earthly things and ye believe not , how shall ye be¬ lieve if I tell you of heavenly things f 8 To His disciples at the last supper : But these things have I told you. And these things I said 7iot unto you at the beginning because I was with you . 9 Hereafter I will not talk much with you . 10 These words imply His habit of 1 John xv. 27. 2 Luke xxii. 28. 3 John xiv. 9. 4 John xvi. 4. 6 Mark i. 38. 6 Luke iv. 43. 7 Mat. xi. 5 ; Luke vii. 22. 8 John iii. 12. 9 John xvi. 4. 10 John xiv. 30. THE EARTHLY LIFE OF JESUS. 59 discoursing freely with them. To His captors : I sat daily with you teaching in the temple and ye laid, no hold on me A These words are full of just reproach. It would have been far more convenient for them, as to place and time, to take Him when He was teach¬ ing in the temple. But the excellence of His doc¬ trines caused such admiration of Him by the people that it was impossible, or at least unsafe, to capture Him there. He said to the Jewish council: I spake openly to the world: I ever taught in the synagogue and in the temple. Ask them which heard me : behold they know what I said A When He was about to as¬ cend : These are the words which I spake unto you while I was yet with you . 3 31. REFERENCES MADE BY JESUS TO HIS MIRACLES. Jesus spoke of His miracles, upon occasion, as well- known facts. He noticed the demand of the people of Nazareth that He should do there what He had done in Capernaum. 4 To John’s messengers He said: The blind receive their sight and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up and the poor have the Gospel preached to them . 5 6 When the poor woman touched the hem of His gar¬ ment, He said: Who touched me? Somebody hath touched me ; for I perceive that virtue is gone out of me? In controversy with adversaries, referring to the cure 1 Mat. xxvi. 55 ; Mark xiv. 48, 49 ; Luke xxii. 52, 53. 2 John xviii. 20, 21. 3 Luke xxiv. 44. 4 Luke iv. 23. 5 Mat. xi. 5 ; Luke vii. 22. 6 Luke viii. 45, 46; Mat. ix. 22 ; Mark v. 30-34. 6o CHRIST HIS OWN WITNESS. of the man at the pool of Bethesda, He said : I have done one work and ye all marvel} . ... Are ye angry at me because I have made a, man every whit whole on the Sabbath day ? 2 Of the withered fig-tree : Ye shall 7iot only do this zvhich is done unto the fig-tree} Many good works have I shewed you from my Father ; for which of those works do ye stone me ? 4 If I had 7iot done a77iong them the works zvhich none other 7nan did , they had 7iot had sin.* Of the inhabitants of the cities in which most of His mighty works were done, because they repented not: Woe unto thee , Chorazin ! woe mito thee, Bethsaida ! for if the mighty zvorks which zvere do7ie in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon they would have repe7ited long ago in sackcloth and ashes . And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell; for if the znighty works zvhich have bee7i done in thee had bee7i done in So do 771 , it would have rei7iamed until this day. But I say unto you that it shall be 77iore tolerable for the la7id of Sodom in the day ofjudg7nent, than for thee A All those sayings, too, in which Jesus speaks of His miracles as bearing testimony to Him belong here. 7 His miracles are a part of the facts of His life mentioned by Himself. 32. PERSONAL HABITS OF JESUS IN REGARD TO BODILY COMFORTS. Of Jesus’ personal habits we have but little from the Evangelists and still less from Himself. But there is Oohnvii. 21. 2 Ibid. v. 23. 4 John x. 32. 8 Mat. xi. 21-23 ; Luke x. 13-15. 3 Mat. xxi. 21. 5 John xv. 24. 7 See § 4. THE EARTHLY LIFE OF JESUS. 61 a reference or two. He thought but little about His bodily wants and comforts. Absorbed in His great work, when directly engaged in enlightening and guiding an immortal soul He refused to eat, though hungry, saying: My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work . 1 Being hungry after forty days’ fasting He refused to make bread for Himself from stones when tempted so to do, quoting as His reason the Scripture : Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. 2 Reproving the unreasonableness of the people in rejecting both Himself and John the Baptist, and comparing them to children who could never agree what play to engage in, He said: For John came neither eating nor drinking , and they say, He hath a devil. The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold a man gluttonous, and a winebibber. 3 The incidental character of this notice is very striking. But what does it tell us in regard to Jesus’ habits? Doubtless the representation of His adversaries, which He quoted, was an exaggera¬ tion. He whose whole life was a self-denial did not indulge His appetite. But yet their words had some foundation in fact : “ The Son of man came eating and dr inkingT Jesus had no rules and habits of austerity which separated Him from other people. We have seen how freely He mingled with people of all classes. He ate also with all, Pharisee and publican, Zaccheus and 2 Mat. iv. 4 ; Lake iv. 4. 3 Mat. xi. 16-19; Luke vii. 31-35. 1 John iv. 3P 62 CHRIST HIS OWN WITNESS. Simon and Lazarus. His direction to His disciples: Eat such things as are set before you, 1 was doubtless the rule He himself followed. When hungry, He could be satisfied with last year’s figs hanging on the tree in March. When without a pillow, He could, like Jacob, lay His head upon a stone. His personal habits showed at once contempt for scrupulous, exter¬ nal rules, and a superiority to bodily appetite through devotion to higher—to the highest—objects. In refer¬ ence to His dispensing thus with gratifications and laboring for others, He says: I am among you as he that serveth . 2 33. JESUS’ VARIOUS EXPERIENCES OF BODILY WANTS. “ Though he was rich, yet for our sakes he became poor.” He received the entertainment which was given Him, and necessary supplies from those that “ ministered to him of their substance,” on the prin¬ ciple that “ the laborer is worthy of his hire." 3 But these were not always enough ; so that He was led to say : The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head. 4 These words were spoken to a certain Scribe who proposed to follow Him, and were intended to be a test of his earnestness and readiness to bear what following Jesus might bring upon him ; but in reference to Jesus himself they are exceedingly touching, contrasting, as they do, His own lack with 1 Luke x. 8. 3 Luke x. 7 ; Mat. x. 10. 2 Luke xxii. 27. 4 Mat. viii. 20 ; Luke ix. 58. THE EARTHLY LIFE OF JESUS. 63 the supplies enjoyed by beasts and birds. The inci¬ dent is the more touching if it occurred, as in Luke’s order, immediately after He had been refused a lodg¬ ing in a Samaritan village, and was on his way to seek for accommodation elsewhere. The spirit of the . words is that of ready submission to discomfort and want, in the prosecution of His great work of mercy. Jesus was sometimes hungry. He was so when, after fasting forty days, he was tempted by the devil to supply Himself by a miracle; and He refused, saying : Man shall not live by bread alone . 1 He was hungry at the well of Sychar when He refused to eat what His disciples had brought, saying: I have meat to eat that ye know not of; and then explained : My meat is to do the will of him that sent me. 2 And He was hungry when He came to the fig-tree, and finding no figs, He said : Let no fruit grow on thee hencefor¬ ward forever . 3 Jesus was thirsty when He sat at the well and asked the Samaritan woman : Give me to drink. 4 It does not appear that she gave Him any. Also when He had hung nearly three hours on the cross, He cried, feebly : / thirst. 5 Such and similar experiences were among “ the trials” of which Jesus spoke when He said to His disciples : Ye arc they which have continued with me in my temptations. (Greek, neipaofiolg; the word sig¬ nifies trials as well as temptations.) 6 1 Mat. iv. 4 ; Luke iv. 4. 3 Mat. xxi. 19 ; Mark xi. 1 6 John xix. 28. 2 John iv. 32, 34. 4 John. iv. 7. 6 Luke xxii. 28. 6 4 CHRIST HIS 0 WN WITNESS. 34. VARIOUS EXPERIENCES OF JESUS CAUSED BY TREATMENT RECEIVED FROM MEN. Jesus’ notice of these shows that He had a quick sense of kindness and unkindness. The inhospitality of the Samaritan villagers He deeply felt, though He refused to resent it; on the contrary saying : The Son of man came not to destroy mens lives, but to save them. 1 Yet, according to Luke’s order, it was very soon after that that He answered the Scribe : The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of man hath ?iot where to lay his head. 2 God’s provision for the fowls of the air had furnished Him at another time a lesson on trust in Providence. Here He feelingly, though submissively, contrasted their supplies with His own. s One of the Pharisees invited Him to dine with him ; and He went in and sat down to meat. While He was reclining at the table a woman who was a sinner brought an alabaster box of ointment and stood at His feet behind Him weeping, and began to wash His feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed His feet, and anointed them with the ointment. The Pharisee was indulging in unfavorable reflections upon Jesus at this occur¬ rence. Jesus, after an illustrative parable, said to him : Seesl thou this woman ? I entered into thine house : thou gavesi me no water for my feet; but she hath 1 Luke ix. 56. 2 Mat. viii. 20 ; Luke ix. 58. THE EARTHLY LIFE OF JESUS. 6$ washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head. Thou gavest me no kiss ; but this woman since the time I came in, hath not ceased to kiss my feet. Mine head with oil thou didst not anoint: but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment . 1 Here were, on the one side, shallow courtesy joined with indifference and suspicion ; and on the other, humble gratitude and fervent affection, and all of them appreciated by Jesus. Especially did He show His interest in her who gave such earnest expression of her love and gratitude. A Centurion that is a Captain in the Roman army, * and so not a Jew, besought Him to come and heal his servant. Jesus was going to his house ; but the centurion expressed his unworthiness to have Him enter under his roof, and proposed the alternative : “ Say in a word (that is, just where you are) and my servait shall be healed.” And he gave a strong ex¬ pression of his sense of Jesus’ power over diseases, by comparing it with his own authority over his soldiers. They went and came at his will ; so dis¬ eases would at Jesus’ word. Jesus admired his simple, beautiful faith : I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. 2 It was partly as representing the faith in Him of the Gentiles, so soon to come in multitudes into His Church, that Jesus was touched by the faith of this Roman soldier. When the women of Jerusalem saw Him led out to His crucifixion, bearing His cross and fainting from 1 Luke vii. 37-46. 9 Mat. viii. 10, 66 CHRIST HIS 0 WN WITNESS. its weight and the abuse He had received, and, being touched with compassion, loudly bewailed and la¬ mented Him, Jesus recognized their pity, and added a warning: Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me , but weep for yourselves a?id for your children . 1 2 3 Jesus recognized with pleasure the teachableness and obedience of His followers. Ye call me Master and Lord; and ye say well; for so I am? (“ Master ” here signifies Teacher. It had that meaning in En¬ glish when our translation was made, and occurs often in the Gospels in this sense). Jesus appreciated also their forsaking all and following Him. When Peter said, Behold we have forsaken all and followed thee, Jesus replied : Ye which have followed me , in the regeneration , when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory,ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones? He also appreciated their love : The Father himself loveth you because ye have loved me. 4 He appreciated their knowledge of Him as the Messiah : Blessed art thou , Simon Barjona ; for flesh and blood hath not re¬ vealed it unto thee , but my Father which is in heaven . 5 Now they have knovon that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee . 6 For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me and they have received them , and have known surely that I came out 1 Luke xxiii. 28. 2 Johnxiii. 13. Greek, diddanalog, teacher. In the Gospels it is always translated Master, except in two cases. 3 Mat. xix. 28 ; Luke xxii. 28-30. 4 John xvi. 27. 6 Mat. xvi. 17. 6 John xvii. 7. THE EARTHLY LIFE OF JESUS. 6? from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me. 1 All this caused Him joy. But Jesus also saw and felt the defects, weaknesses, and sins of His followers. When Peter protested against the cruel fate which Jesus told them awaited Him, and said, “Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee; ” Jesus turned and said unto Peter: Get thee behind me, Satan / thou art an offence unto me ; for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men. 2 Peter’s protest, though suggested by affection, was a tempta¬ tion to self-indulgence by avoiding the baptism of sorrow and suffering that was before Him. It was, therefore, “an offence,” a stumbling-block in his path of duty, and all the greater for being placed there by a friend. Jesus resisted the temptation and rebuked the tempter. The cowardice of His disciples also, and their fail¬ ure in steadfastness in the hour of danger, went to His soul. Just before He went to Gethsemane He told them : Behold the hour cometh that ye shall be scattered every man to his own, and shall leave me alone . 1 2 3 All ye shall be offended because of me this night; for it is written I will smite the Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad . 4 Peter said : “ Though all men shall be offended, yet will I never be offended.” 1 John xvii. 8. 2 Mat. xvi. 23. “ Savourest,” Greek elnag. So Mat. xxvi. 64. See p. 33, Note 6. 4 Mat. xxvi. 50, and Luke xxii. 48. 6 Luke xxii. 67, 68. 6 John xviii. 23. 7 Luke xxiik.34. THE EARTHLY LIFE OF JESUS. 71 35 . OTHER EXPERIENCES OF JOY AND SORROW HAV¬ ING THEIR OCCASION DIRECTLY IN HIS GREAT WORK. First, of joy. Jesus, though a man of sorrows, had his moments and experiences of joy. But this joy was never selfish; it was excited only at the sight of men coming to the knowledge of life through Him. When, at the well of Samaria, He refused, though hungry, to eat, His replies : I have meat to cat which ye know not of, and My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work / show how great joy His inmost soul felt in doing good to men. Just so when the disciples returned from their tour of preaching and working miracles, and reported their success, Jesus, rejoicing at their faith, at the knowl¬ edge of the Gospel spread among the people, and at the beginning of the downfall of Satan’s kingdom, broke out in triumph and thankfulness : I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. And in that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit, and said: I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heavc7i and earth, that thou hast hid these things from the zvise and prudent, and hast revealed tTicm unto babes: even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight. 1 Certain Greeks (Gentiles) had come up with Jews to the passover feast (the last passover in Jesus’ life), and expressed a wish to see Jesus. They applied to Philip to secure for them an interview, and Philip 1 John iv. 32, 34. 2 Luke x. 18-21 ; Mat. xi. 25. 72 CHRIST HIS 0 WN W 1 TNESS. with Andrew brought their request to the Master. To Him, familiar with God’s plans and purposes of grace, these few Greeks were an earnest of the incom¬ ing of the Gentile world into the Gospel church. The future was at once all before His eye ; the few are soon to be many; the door is to be thrown wide-open and to be filled with the throngs of men pressing in. Filled with serene joy, Jesus cried : The hour is come that the Son of man should be glorified. Verily, verily I say unto you, except a corn of wheat fall into the ground a?id die, it abideth alone : but if it die, it bring- eth forth much fruit} It was one of those moments when He “ saw (foresaw) of the travail of His soul and was satisfied.” When, being at a distance from Bethany, the home of Lazarus and his sisters, Jesus told His disciples plainly, Lazarus is dead, He added: A?id I am glad for your sakes that I zvas 7iot there to the intent ye may believe? Their witnessing the restoration of Lazarus to life would greatly strengthen their faith in Him¬ self, and so prepare them for the terrible trials soon to come upon them, and also enable them more read¬ ily to believe in His own resurrection. At the head of the pass over-table, with His disci¬ ples around Him, the night before His crucifixion, He said: With desire I have desired to eat this pass- over with you before I suffer? He had, as the words show, been looking to this occasion with great inter¬ est. The reasons are plain: His whole heart went 1 John xii. 23, 24. 2 John xi. 14, 15. 8 Luke xxii. 15, THE EAR THL Y LIFE OF JESUS. 73 out in strong feeling toward His disciples, so soon to be left alone; and toward the observances of that hour, unique and important in His own history and that of His Church, when, namely, the LAST VALID PASSOVER was to be observed, an old rite then so soon to “ be fulfilled” in the offering of Himself its great antitype ; and when THE Lord’s SUPPER was to be instituted, the memorial of His own offering, and the great sacrament of the new Dispensation, destined to endure to the end of time; when also He was to have His last opportunity of talking at length with His disciples, the only opportunity left for giving His last instructions, His affectionate counsels and consola¬ tions, and the precious promise of the Spirit, and for closing His career as Teacher with that heavenly high- priestly prayer. No wonder that it was with desire He desired to eat that passover, and have that inter¬ view. During its swiftly-passing hours He expe¬ rienced that deep and sweet satisfaction which breathes so strongly throughout all His words, and which only the truest self-sacrificing love can feel. Jesus speaks also of having a still deeper and higher joy—the joy ineffable derived from the pres¬ ence and love of the Father. This supported Him when earthly resources failed Him. He says : And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him . 1 We remember the testimony of the Father from heaven: “ This is my beloved Son in whom I 1 John viii. 29. A 74 CHRIST HIS OWN WITNESS. am well pleased.” It was richly fulfilled in Jesus 1 life-experience. Again He says: Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered every man to his own, and shall leave me alone : and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me} We learn thus from Jesus’ lips that during His earthly life He was not a stranger to joy. He rejoiced in making efforts to save men, and especially in seeing those efforts successful; in seeing Satan’s kingdom weakened and His own established ; in the spread of His Gospel among men ; in every event by which the knowledge, faith, and courage of His fol¬ lowers were increased and strengthened ; in His affectionate intercourse with His disciples; in ob¬ serving the ordinances of religion with them ; in instructing and comforting them, and leaving them in the care of the Spirit; and finally in that, of which we creatures can speak, but not conceive, yet which Jesus had constant experience of through life, except a little while on the cross, namely, loving communion with the Father. 36. EXPERIENCES OF DISTRESS AND SORROW WHICH HAD THEIR SOURCE DIRECTLY IN THE GREAT WORK HE WAS FULFILLING—ANTICIPATION OF THE CROSS. Jesus had not entered blindly on His great mission. Fie knew beforehand all that it involved in the way of suffering; and the sad anticipation lay often as a 1 John xvi. 32. THE EARTHLY LIFE OF JESUS. 7 5 great burden on His soul. This fact came out during the course of His ministry when He said: I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how am I straitened till it be accomplished. 1 He meant THE BAPTISM OF SORROW which His office of Saviour brought with it. It was in view of this He said : “ How am I straitened till it be over.” These words disclose an inward history of sad anticipation underlying His life of benevolent toil, and brought up afresh by every incident sad or joyful. Often, doubtless, it went through Him with a silent pang, none knowing of it, not even John lying on His bosom. This fact comes out again where James and John, led on by their mother, and filled with magnificent expectations in regard to His coming kingdom, ask Him that they may be the chief men in that king¬ dom and hold the highest places of honor. The worldly and selfish spirit of these dear disciples was painful to Him, as was a like spirit in Peter, before mentioned. But there was another source of sadness. He saw clearly that which they did not anticipate, and which had offended Peter, namely, that the com¬ ing of His kingdom, its success and glory, must have, as preceding conditions, a course of suffering and sorrow on their part, and especially on His, to be ended in His case by a violent and atoning death. When they therefore came to Him with their miser¬ able petition, His mind reverted at once to those nearer and darker events, and He said : “ Ye know 1 Luke xii. 50. ;6 CHRIST HIS OWN WITNESS. not zvhat ye ask. Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with ? And when they said, “ We are able/’ he added : “ Ye shall drink mdeed of my cup and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with / The cup means the same as the baptism, and that the baptism of suffering and sor¬ row already mentioned. That was before His mind. He knew that the first place in the kingdom was His own only by His being chief in the sufferings. On still another occasion, which we have already noticed as one of joy, when certain Greeks (Gentiles) were brought to Him by Andrew and Philip, Jesus at first rejoiced, as at the beginning of the ingathering of the Gentiles ; but His mind soon turned to sadder prospects, namely, to the events that must intervene before that joyful result. Referring to Himself and His death, He said : Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone ; but if it die, it bringcth forth much fruit '} At this anticipation of His death, although connected with a view of its joyful result, His soul quailed, for it was not ordinary death that awaited Him. Now is my soul troubled: and zvhat shall I say ? Father, save me from this hour. But for this cause came I unto this hour. Father, glorify thy name. 3 This case may help us / 1 Mat. xx. 20-23 ; Mark x. 35-40. 2 John xii. 24. 3 John xii. 27, 28. Some translate interrogatively, ‘‘What shall I say? Father, save me from this hour? But/’ etc. But this is not so simple a translation, inasmuch as the second inter¬ rogation is thereby made the object of the first: “ Shall I say, THE EARTHLY LIFE OF JESUS. 77 to understand the nature of the feelings which He described by the words already quoted: How am I straitened till it (my baptism of sorrow) be accom¬ plished. But the conflict of anticipation was severest of all and lasted longest in Gethsemane. It came mightily upon Him in that midnight hour, just before His sur¬ render into the hands of His enemies ; and He with¬ drew to pray. He said to Peter, James and John, whom He had taken to be with Him apart from the rest: My soul is exceeding sorrowful even unto death . * 1 Going a short distance from these, for an hour He struggled and prayed : Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee : take away this cup from me . 2 3 We must allow these words to express what they really mean. Jesus prayed to be released from the dreadful burden which He had assumed as the Messiah and the Saviour of men. We may perhaps understand it as the shrinking, the giving way of His human nature in the near prospect of the dreadful atoning sacrifice which He was to make. Each time, indeed, with a true heart, faithful both to God and man, He added: Nevertheless not my will, but thine be done? Yet this Father, save me,” etc. Nor is it as strong as if we understand it a direct prayer, “Father, save me from this hour.” Thus understood, the words show just such a struggle as that in Gethsemane (where Jesus prayed, “ Let this cup pass from me ”), although in the present case the struggle was neither so intense nor so protracted as in that. 1 Mat. xxvi. 38 ; Mark xiv. 34. 2 Mark xiv. 36 ; Mat. xxvi. 39 ; Luke xxii. 42. 3 Luke xxii. 42 ; Mat. xxvi. 39 ; Mark xiv. 36. 73 CHRIST HIS OWN WITNESS. act of acquiescence in the will of God did not at first restore and calm Him. His soul was appalled. The struggle was continued and intensified, and so was the distress ; so that life would have gone out under it, 1 but that there appeared an angel from heaven (sent by the loving Father!) strengthening Him. 2 Then supernaturally assisted, His struggle surpassed all mortal experience and conception. “ His sweat was as. it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.” 3 After some time, having gone and sought help in vain from the three disciples (they were asleep—another weight to His burden of woe), He withdrew again to pray alone, and said : O my Father , if this cup may not pass away fro?n me except I drink it, thy will be donel We notice here a change in the form of the prayer, indicating a difference in the mental state. There is still desire that the cup of woe may pass ; but that desire is now expressed only conditionally. Before, it was put directly and abso¬ lutely: Let this cup pass ; now, conditionally, and with a probability that it will not pass away; while the direct expression of feeling is that of submissive ac¬ quiescence even in that case : “ If it may not pass, thy will be done.” And when He went away the third time “ and prayed the same words,” the feeling of filial acceptance of the will of God, even if that in¬ volved the drinking of the cup to the dregs, obtained the upper hand decidedly, and there was little or no 1 Mat. xxvi. 38 ; Mark xiv. 34. 3 Luke xxii. 44. 2 Luke xxii. 43. 4 Mat. xxvi. 42. THE EARTHLY LIFE OF JESUS. 79 insisting on the condition. He accepts the cup bit¬ ter as it is, and becomes fixed and calm in his resolve to give His life a ransom for many. He has sus¬ tained the conflict and conquered. The distress of anticipation has passed entirely away, and now, serene and without flinching, He goes back to His still sleeping disciples no more needing their help ; meets and yields to His captors, His accusers, His abusers ; stands calm before His judges; witnesses a good confession, and is nailed to the cross. The experiences of the cross (“ He bore our sins in his own body on the tree ”*) are indescribable, and, by us, inconceivable. All that Jesus meant when He uttered those words : My God , my God , why hast thou forsaken me ? 2 can be known only to Himself and to God. The sufferings of the flesh were united with the sufferings of the spirit. The nature of these last must be inferred, if we may understand them at all, from the Old Testament words which He used. The Father’s gracious pres¬ ence He had always hitherto experienced and rejoiced in. That was now withdrawn from Him, as He bore our sins in His own body on the tree. Toward the close of His soul-struggles, His bodily anguish also reached its acme and extorted the words I thirst? A little vinegar moistened and soothed His parched tongue for a moment. * 4 He was able at last, looking back on His whole work, to say : It is finished d He 1 1 Pet. ii. 24. 3 John xix. 28. 2 Mat. xxvii. 46 ; Mark xv. 34. 4 John xix. 28, 29. 5 J°lm xix. 30. 8 o CHRIST HIS 0 WN WITNESS. looked up and said : Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit / and then breathed out His soul. He died “giving His life a ransom for many." 2 37. JESUS AFTER HIS DEATH AND RESURRECTION. Jesus on the cross said to the penitent thief: To¬ day shalt thou be with me in Paradise? After His resurrection He appeared to Mary Magdalene, when His single word “ Mary" revealed Him to her. 4 * He spoke also of His ascent to heaven : I am not yet ascended to my Father . I ascend unto my Father and your Father: and to my God and your God? He spoke from heaven to Saul of Tarsus : Whypersecutest thou me . I am Jesus whom thou persecutest? He appeared to John in Patmos and said : I am he that liveth and zvas dead, and behold I am alive for¬ evermore? Thus Jesus’ life on the earth was exchanged for an Eternal Life in Glory. The notices by Jesus of His life and life’s experi¬ ences, incidental and fragmentary as they are, are very suggestive and deeply interesting. It is a proof of their authenticity that as the words of the subject Himself, they tell much more of the INNER life of Jesus than the much longer narratives of the Evan¬ gelists. They thus give more meaning and emphasis to the outward incidents, and constitute, therefore, a very important means of understanding and appreci¬ ating the Earthly Life of the Messiah. 1 Luke xxiii. 46. 2 Mat. xx. 28. 3 Luke xxiii. 43. 4 John xx. 16. 6 John xx. 17. 6 Acts ix. 4, 5. 7 Rev. i. 18. See more on this topic. § 41, p. 93. CHAPTER VIII. CHARACTER AND ATTRIBUTES OF JESUS. 38. HUMAN TRAITS OF CHARACTER IN JESUS. We come to those words of Jesus which present His traits of Character and the Attributes which He claimed and displayed. We will begin with those traits which, as they may belong to a man, may be called HUMAN, and then pass to qualities and attri¬ butes which are SUPERHUMAN. And first, negatively : What He denied concern¬ ing Himself. He denied that He made SELF His end or His independent will His law of action. The Son of man came not to be ministered unto , lout to minister} I seek not mine own will , but the will of the Father which hath sent me. And I seek not mine own glory. 2 On this point, too, He gave a criterion for judging both Him and all who are agents commissioned to do any work: He that seeketh his glory that sent him , the same is true, and there is 710 unrighteousness in him? The im¬ plication is that there was in Himself no falsehood, no unrighteousness. Jesus also declared that He HAD NO COMMON 1 Mat. xx. 28 ; Mark x. 45. 2 John v. 30 ; viii. 50. 3 John vii. 18. (81) 82 CHRIST HIS OWN WITNESS. OBJECT OR INTEREST WITH Satan ; and therefore no relations with him of association or united action. The two were not friends, but enemies. I have not a devil. The prince of this world cometh and hath noth¬ ing in me? From the fact that He cast out devils, He argued at length that He did not do it by the aid of the devil: Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation , and every city or house divided against itself shall 7iot stand. And if Satan cast out Satan he is divided against himself: how then shall his kingdom stand? And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils , by whom do your children cast them out ? 3 Each interrogation here is a denial of the charge. He illustrated His hostile relations to Satan in His work of casting out devils by an apt comparison with the forcible capture of a well-defended house : Or else how can one enter into a strong man s house and spoil his goods , except he first bind the strong man ? and then he will spoil his house} Here the strong man is Satan ; Jesus is the attacking and conquering enemy binding His overpowered foe ; and the bodies and souls of men before possessed by Satan are the spoils taken. Such, Jesus gave men to understand, were the relations existing between Himself and the devil. Jesus also claimed to be FREE FROM SIN, both in word and action. He said with a reference to Himself: He that seeketh his glory that sent him , The same is true and there is no unrighteousness in him} As He was 1 John viii. 49. 2 3 4 John xiv. 30. 3 Mat. xii. 24-27 ; Mark iii. 23-26; Luke xi. 17-22. 4 Same passages. 6 John vii. 18. CHARACTER AND ATTRIBUTES OF JESUS. 83 led to execution, He said : If they do these things in the green tree , what shall be done in the dry ? 1 By the green tree, not easily burned, He meant Himself as free from guilt, in contrast with the people who were crucifying Him, who were the dry tree, richly deserv¬ ing and about to experience the severest punishment. Compare for illustration His words spoken in the same connection : Daughters of Jerusalem , weep not for me , but weep for yourselves and for your children . 2 He said to the J ews : Many good works have I si wived you from my Father: for which of those works do ye stone me ? 3 This word has its negative side, and was intended to be a denial of every deed deserving punishment. If they punished Him it must be for a good deed. Again : I know him (God) .* and if I should say I know him not I shall be a liar like unto you} Jesus challenged any charge against Himself of misdeed : Which of you convinceth me (proves me guilty) of sin ? 5 If I have done evil , bear witness of the evil} This is a denial and a challenge at the same time. He found therefore in His case a fulfillment of prophecy ; This cometh to pass that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law: They hated me without a causel Second, Let us attend to what Jesus maintained affirmatively concerning His moral and religious character. As He denied everything evil, so He affirmed that 1 Luke xxiii. 31. 2 Luke 23 : 28. 3 John x. 32. 4 John viii. 55. 6 John viii. 46. 6 John xviii. 23. 7 John xv. 25 ; Psalm lxix. 4. 8 4 CHRIST HIS OWN WITNESS. which is good. He claimed the qualities of meekness and humility: I am meek and lowly in heart} He showed indirectly that His rule of action was the great rule of right. His argument to John to bap¬ tize Him was: Thus it becometh us to fulfill all right¬ eousness? He claimed the trait of truthfulness: If I say the truth , why do ye not believe me ? 3 4 He that seek- eth his glory that sent him (His own case), the same is true} To this end was I born , and for this cause came I into the world that I should bear witness unto the truth? He spoke what was right and good : If I have spoken well (implying that He had), why smitest thou me ? 6 Many good works have I showed you 1 (deeds of kindness to the suffering). He was thoughtful of the liabilities of man to suffering, compassionate and prompt in acts of mercy : I have compassion on the multitude because they con¬ tinue with me now three days and have nothing to eat; and I will not send them away fasting , lest they faint in the way . How many loaves have ye? Make the men sit down? And then He multiplied the seven loaves and the few fishes into a sufficiency for the hungry thousands. At another time His compassion was directed upon the spir¬ itual wants of the people. They fainted and were scattered abroad as sheep having no shepherd. He said : The harvest tndy is great , but the laborers are few . Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest that 1 Mat. xi. 29. 2 Mat. iii. 15. 3 John viii. 46. 4 John vii. 18. 5 John xviii. 37. 6 Johnxviii 23, 7 John x. 32. 8 Mat. xv. 32, 34 ; Mark viii. 2 ; John vi 5. CHARACTER AND ATTRIBUTES OF JESUS. 85 he would send forth laborers into his harvest? As to H is disinterested interest for other men, and His self- denying efforts in their behalf, His whole life, and es¬ pecially His life with His disciples was a constant il¬ lustration : I am among yo7i as he that serveth? /, your Lord and Master , have washed your feet? The Son of man came not to be ministered unto , but to min¬ ister and to give his life a ransom for many? The Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost? Having such traits of character in reference to men, what was He toward God? In regard to this highest part of religion—right feeling and action toward God —Jesus said of Himself: I love the Father? I honor my Father? At twelve years He said: Wist ye not that I must be about my Father s business ? 8 His rule of action was God’s command: I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities also , for therefore am / sent? I must work the works of him that sent me while it is day? 0 I seek 7iot mine own will , but the will of him that sent me? x His sufficient reason for doing or not doing any particular thing was, It is written : 12 i. e., commanded in the Bible. He could say: My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work / 13 and, I do always those things that please 1 Mat. ix. 36-38 ; Luke x. 2. 2 Luke xxii. 27. 3 J°hn xiii. 14. 4 Mat. xx. 28 ; Mark x. 45. 5 Luke xix. 10 ; Mat. xviii. 11. 6 Johnxiv. 31. * 7 John. viii. 49. 8 9 Luke ii. 49. 9 Luke iv. 43. 10 John ix. 4. 11 John v. 30. 12 Mat. iv. 4, 7, 10 ; Luke iv. 2-12. 13 John iv. 34. 86 CHRIST HIS OWN WITNESS. % him} At the end of His life He declared : I have kept my Father s commandments , and abide in his love ; 2 and speaking directly to God, I have finished the work that thou gavest me to do? Speaking from heaven through His servant John, He said : These things saith he that is holy , he that is true? If then we ask: How did Jesus fill the place of a man, bound to love God supremely and His neigh¬ bor as Himself, we get an answer from His own words in its substance as follows: Jesus denied that He acted from selfish motives or sought His own glory. He declared that there was no falsehood or unrighteousness in Him; that He was not in league with Satan, but irreconcilably opposed to him; and He challenged all who saw, heard, and knew Him to fasten a crime or a sin or even a wrong word upon Him. He claimed to be meek and lowly in heart, com¬ passionate and kind: declared that He came to serve men and not to be served by them; that He was acting for them, living for them, and expected to die for them; that His rule of conduct was the rule of right; that He loved God, honored God, obeyed the law and commandments of God; that He always pleased God, and, at last, that He had finished the work that God had given Him to do. And His life testifies to all that He said. Note here, that in all these numerous declarations 1 John viii. 29. 3 John xvii. 4. 2 John xv. 10. 4 Rev, iii, 7. CHARA CTER AND A TTRIE UTES OF JESUS . g 7 showing His moral and religious principles and con¬ duct, Jesus made not one admission of fault in Him¬ self. Only an apparent exception to this is His reply to the young man who asked what good thing he should do in order to inherit eternal life (Mat. xix. 16, 17; Mark x. 17, 18; Luke xviii. 18, 19). At the first glance it would seem that Jesus in these words de¬ nies both His divinity and His goodness. But let us look more closely. First, we are not helped by the other reading of Matthew’s text preferred by some, according to which Jesus is made to say: Why asketh thou me CONCERNING THE GOOD, ^repl tov ayaOov ; (con¬ cerning Him WHO is good, or THAT WHICH is good). Such a reply from Jesus in rejoinder to the question, “ Good Master, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life ?” would imply something wrong in the SUBJECT-MATTER of the inquiry ; as if the young man should not have asked about that. But what wrong could there be in an inquiry of that kind ? Moreover, Jesus’ next words are neither a demonstration nor a correction of the wrong in such a question. But they are a correction of the epithet “ good,” which the young man had applied to Him. Besides, Jesus immediately proceeds to answer the inquirer’s question : “ If thou wilt enter into life,” etc. He could not then have in¬ tended to rebuke him for asking it. This proposed reading is therefore inconsistent with the rest of the account as given by Matthew himself, and makes the whole unmeaning. Again, if this be taken as the true reading in Matthew there is an essential and irre¬ concilable disagreement between the evangelists in 88 CHRIST HIS 0 WAT WITNESS their accounts of the conversation : and with this new difficulty in Matthew’s account, the original difficul¬ ties remain in that of Mark and Luke. Their ac¬ count is at least consistent with itself. Does Jesus then object to be called good? The strict answer is: Yes; He objects to be so called in the compli¬ mentary way of address used by His visitor. He elsewhere rebukes the scribes and lawyers for loving greetings in the markets and to be called of men Rabbi, Rabbi. He enjoins His followers, Call no man father upon earth ; for one is your Father which is in heaven. Neither be ye called Masters (Greek rcadriyrjTaL, leaders, guides, teachers), for one is your Master even Christ (Mat. xxiii. 7-11). Precisely so here He rejects for Himself one of these compliment¬ ary, honorary phrases, when given to Him just as it would have been given to any other of their teachers. He sets His people, His ministers an example. He rejects the title here for the same reason that He commands His ministers to do so, namely, because all such epithets of honor in regard to religious knowl¬ edge or excellence BELONG TO God. The right of Jesus to the epithet “good” in its true meaning, as being Himself God or a teacher of entirely different character from other teachers among the Jews, does not come into account here. Jesus is rebuking a usurpation of the rights of God by the proud teach¬ ers of the day; His own rights He will assert at another time. He saw that the young man was not ready to comprehend and concede them, as the se¬ quel shows. Jesus does not unfold to him plainly the CHARACTER AND ATTRIBUTES OF JESUS. 89 Gospel way of salvation, although his question open¬ ed the way to such an exposition. He led him about by the way of the law, and when he found that road hedged up by the youth’s high opinion of his moral¬ ity, He took him by the rough road of world-renun¬ ciation and self-denial. But this was too much for this disciple with all his regard for the “ Good Master.” So the criticism of Jesus was sustained by the event. That criticism was not directed against the propriety of the epithet in itself as applicable to Himself; but against its being applied to Him in the same way as to other teachers, and without a recog¬ nition of His higher nature and claims as the ground of it. But meek and lowly in heart as He was, He assert¬ ed that both His heart and His life were thoroughly conformed to the will of God. What holy man as Enoch, or Elijah, or John, or Paul ever said, or could say, this? Jesus asserted it not only to men, but di¬ rectly to God ; and not only in the midst of His career, before He came in sight of death, but when just about to die. He asserted it not, as a man might, out of a blinded mind, a seared conscience, or through stupidity and indifference toward God and religion; but manifesting at the same time the live¬ liest sense of duty to God and man, love to that duty and self-renunciation in its performance. More¬ over, His whole life in all its details of manifested feelings, of words, of lines of conduct, and of single actions, sustains these high pretensions, and the more wonderfully, the more it is studied. Jesus’ life is a 90 CHRIST HIS 0 WN WITNESS . transcript, “ the express image ” of God’s Law. The abundant testimony of the evangelists, of all Jesus’ followers, of the traitor, of His judges, except those who were predetermined to destroy Him, confirm the high assertion, and make it undeniable. Let us recall here the confirmatory testimony that came from heaven: “ This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.” Such was Jesus as a man. 39. SUPERHUMAN TRAITS AND ATTRIBUTES OF JESUS. If all that was true of Jesus which, in the previous section, we have seen was asserted and claimed by Him, then still more may be true. He who was a perfect man may have been more than man, and probably was. For the resources and powers by which He reached the standard of absolute human perfection, of which all other men come far short, may very likely have had a virtue and scope beyond that limit. In fact Jesus asserted of Himself still more and higher things. It is, in¬ deed, difficult to realize and to believe that one who was really a man, who once lived and talked and acted as a man among men, was actually also more than man. Nor would we admit the strongest claims of this kind which any one might put forth, who did not first realize the full ideal of a man, as did Jesus. To such a one we will listen when he claims still more. Jesus made claim for Himself of attributes, relations, authority, spheres of action, as far beyond CHARACTER AND ATTRIBUTES OF JESUS. gi those of man as heaven is higher than earth—as the infinite is beyond the finite. Let us note well that in speaking of these super¬ human facts in regard to himself, Jesus always used the simple pronouns, I, Mine, Me, like any other man. He never distinguished between a higher part and a lower part of Himself; never used any metaphysics about what constituted His personal identity ; but, just as He said “ my mother,” u my brethren,” “ my hands,” “ my head ; ” in the same way He spoke of higher things. He said to the Father : The glory which I had with thee before the world was ; 1 I pro¬ ceededforth and came from God ; 2 the Comforter .... whom I will send unto you from the Father ; 3 I and my Father are one . 4 He spoke as consciously the same being throughout the whole range of His existence, attributes, and actions. In following His words on these high themes, all we can do is humbly and carefully to interpret, endeavoring not to add to the significance of His words and not to subtract from it. 40. THE MYSTERY OF HIS NATURE. Jesus declared that He was known only by the Father: No man knoweth the Son but the Father; and He immediately added, neither knoweth any man the Father save the Son . 5 To the same purport are 1 John xvii. 5. 2 Job 1 ! y 'ui. 42. 3 John xv - 2 6* 4 J°b n x - 3 °* 6 Mat. xi. 27. “ No man,” Greek, ovdelg—ovde ng, “ no one and no one ”—not merely no man , but no being whatever. The truth declared is the same as that in John i. 18 : No man 92 . CHRIST HIS OWN WITNESS. His words in Luke : No man knoweth who the Son is but the Father} * These words assert a claim of the very highest kind. Jesus could not mean to say simply that the Father, being Omniscient, knows the Son perfectly; for just so God knows every other being. The two converse declarations here explain each other ; they express a mutuality and equality of knowledge on the part of the Father and the Son. When Jesus thus set these declarations one over against the other, He declared that there are depths in the nature of each party which are entirely within the view and comprehension of the other, and entirely beyond the mental reach and grasp of all other beings. But this amounts to an assertion of equality in nature with the Father; an equality inconsistent with the relation of a creature to its Creator. No such mutuality and equality of knowledge with God was ever asserted, except in madness and folly, by any other being but Jesus of Nazareth. Let us dwell upon this assertion of Jesus: No man knoweth the Son but the Father, in the light of its converse assertion, 7 ieither knoweth any man the Father save the So?i, until we gain some just idea of its meaning; and then, fixing our thought on Him who utters it, say, Such is our Jesus ! He “ dwells in the light which no man can approach unto.’' hath seen God at any time : the only begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him. See John viii. 14. 1 Luke x. 22. CHARACTER AND ATTRIBUTES OF JESUS. 93 41 . JESUS ASSERTED TEIAT HE WAS BEFORE ALL THINGS, THAT HE EXISTED FROM ETERNITY, AND WILL EXIST TO ETERNITY. In Jesus’ prayer made just before His capture He used these words : And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self, with the glory which I had with thee before the world was} And again : Fcr thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world'} These phrases, “ before the world was,” “ before the founda¬ tion of the world,” are popular designations of the indefinite past or of past eternity. 1 2 3 4 To John in Patmos, He said ; I am Alpha and Omega, the Begi?i- ning and the Ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come} I am Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last} These things saith the First and the Last} L am Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End} L am A Ipha and Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last} In these words Jesus asserts that His existence occupies the present, the past and the future, or the undivided 1 John xvii. 5. See on the subject of this Section, ch. iii. § 13. 2 John xvii. 24. 3 See Ps. xc. 2 : Prov. viii. 22-27. The phraseology of the He¬ brew Bible was imitated in the Septuagint and the New Testa¬ ment : Eph. i. 4; 1 Pet. i. 20 ; Mat xiii. 35, and xxv. 34. 4 Rev. i. 8. 5 Rev. i. 11. 6 Rev. ii. 8. 7 Rev. xxi. 6. 8 Rev. xxii. 13. Alpha and Omega, the first and last letters of the Greek Alphabet, designate very appropriately Him who is the First and the Last in the order of succession of beings. He who is both these must be eternal. 94 CHRIST IIIS OWN WITNESS. duration of eternity ; and that as the First and the Last, all beings except God originate in Him, have their duration through Him, and the end or object of their being in Him. When the Jews said : “ Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abra¬ ham ? ” Jesus answered: Before Abraham was, 1 am} A remarkable word : in it Jesus clearly asserted that He existed before Abraham. But His use of the present tense here, “ I AM,” must have reminded the Jews, as they remind all readers of the Bible, of that name which God gave to Himself when speaking to Moses. Moses had asked God by what name he should speak of Him to the children of Israel. God answered: “ I AM THAT I AM. Thus shalt thou say to the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.” 2 This name, a form of the verb signifying TO BE, expresses existence : ESSENTIAL, and so ETERNAL existence. Jesus gave Himself this name. It is only another form of the name Jehovah. We there¬ fore understand Jesus as claiming, in His answer to the Jews, existence the same in kind and duration as God did whem He called Himself I AM or Jehovah. Human language could not be made to express the idea of eternal existence more strongly than by these terms. God’s existence from eternity to eternity could not be more strongly expressed than by these terms used in just this way. Indeed they are used in just this manner for that purpose. 3 When, therefore, 1 John viii. 58. 2 Ex. iii. 14. 3 See Isa. xli. 4 ; and xliv. 6 ; and xlviii. 12. And with the u I am ” of Jesus compare the “ I AM he ” (Heb. of God in these same passages. CHA RAC TER A A T D AT TRIE U TE S OF JE S US. Jesus says of Himself that He existed “ before Abra¬ ham,” “ before the foundation of the world,” “ before the world was,” that He is “Alpha and Omega,” “ the Beginning and the End,” “ the First and the Last; ” and even uses the verb of existence in the present tense, “ I AM,” to cover the whole of the past duration of His Being, we can understand Him only in one way, as claiming existence eternal both in the past and the future—or, as the Apostle puts it: “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, to-day, and forever.” 1 42. JESUS ASSERTED HIMSELF THE FIRST CAUSE OF ALL THINGS ; THE CREATOR OF ALL. He indited to John in Patmos the words: These things saith the Amen , the Faithful and true Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God? On the sense of the words, “ the Beginning of the creation of God,” we must refer to the quotations made in the last section. We may also refer for illus¬ tration to John i. 3 : “ All things were made by him, and without him was not anything made that was made.” Also to Col. i. 15, 16, 17: “Who is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of every creature (not the first of created beings, but, BEFORE ALL created beings, as the very next words show): For by him were all things created that are in heaven and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers (that is all, including the highest orders of created beings) . 1 Heb. xiii. 8. 2 Rev. iii. 14. 9 6 CHRIST HIS OWN V/ITNESS. all things were created by him and for him {i. e., for his service, purposes, and glory: He is the end, ob¬ ject of all): and he is before all things, and by him all things consist ” (consist, i. e., subsist, continue in their forms, order, relations, operation). Jesus is then also the Upholder and the Controller of all things. We have quoted these words of the Apostle sim¬ ply to illustrate and corroborate our explanation of Jesus’ words, viz., that He is the creator of all created things. 43. JESUS CLAIMED SUPERHUMAN KNOWLEDGE. He knew facts and occurrences which were beyond the reach of the senses. When Nathanael came to Him, He said : Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig-tree, I saw theel He knew things on earth and things in heaven: If I have told you earthly things and ye believe not, how shall ye be¬ lieve if I tell you of heavenly things ? 2 He spoke of Himself as a prophet. To the people of Nazareth who challenged Him to do there such works as He had done in Capernaum, He said: No prophet is accepted in his own country . 3 He said the same on another occasion. 4 Again, referring to Him¬ self : It cannot be that a prophet perish out of Jerusa¬ lem l He predicted future events : Now I have told you before it come to pass I These things have I told you, Hohn i. 48. 3 Luke iv. 24; Mat. xiii. 57 ; Mark vi. 4. 6 Luke xiii. 33. 2 John iii. 12, 13. 4 John iv. 44. 6 John xiv 29. CHARACTER AND ATTRIBUTES OF JESUS. gj that when the time shall come, ye may remember that I told you of them. And these things I said not unto you at the .beginning because I was with you} He knew the things then from the beginning, but held it not necessary to speak of them. Of His predictions in regard to the destruction of Jerusalem and the end of the world, He said: Behold I have told you be¬ fore} Behold I have foretold you all things} We shall have occasion to study many of His predictions of things then future. 44. JESUS KNEW MEN, THEIR WORKS AND THEIR HEARTS, AND WAS AWARE OF THEIR PLANS AND MOVEMENTS. I know you that ye have not the love of God in you} He could not be deceived by any hiding of malicious intentions under plausible appearances. When the Pharisees and Herodians united in a plan to entangle Plim, and asked Him : “ Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar or not ? ” Jesus perceived their wickedness and said: Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites ? 5 To the multitude who crossed the lake in pursuit of Him He said, laying open their motives : Ye seek me not because ye saw the miracles, but be¬ cause ye did eat of the loaves and were filled} He knew that Judas would betray Him: Have not I chosen you twelve and one of you is a devil. He spake of Judas Iscariot. 7 Ye are clean, but not all. 1 John xvi. 4. 2 Mat. xxiv. 25. 3 Mark xiii. 23. 4 John v. 42. 6 Mat. xxii. 18 ; Mark xii. 15 ; Luke xx. 23. 6 John vi. 26. T John vi. 70, 71. 5 98 CHRIST HIS OWN WITNESS. For Fie knew who should betray Him. 1 At the last supper, when Peter asked Him who it was that should betray Him, he answered : He it is to whom 1 shall give a sop when I have dipped it; and then gave it to Judas, saying: That thou doest, do quickly? Judas went out immediately; and Jesus said in refer¬ ence to the series of events which were to be begun by the act of the traitor : Now is the Son of man glorified and God is glorified in him} As the band, led by Judas, was coming up, He said to the three disciples who were with Him : The Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise up, let us go : lo, he that betrayeth me is at hand? When Judas came up and gave the deceitful kiss, He said to Him : Friend, wherefore art thou come ? Betrayest thou the Son of man with a kiss f 5 Just so Jesus knew before¬ hand Peter’s fall: Verily, verily I say unto thee, The cock shall not crozv till thou hast denied me thrice? He knew, too, that Peter would repent and be re¬ stored : And when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren? He knew that all the disciples would for¬ sake Him : All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the Shepherd and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad? Behold the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scat¬ tered every man to his own, and shall leave me alone? 1 John xiii. io, ii. 2 John xiii. 26, 27. 3 John xiii. 31. * 4 5 6 7 Mat. xxvi. 45, 46 ; Mark xiv. 41, 42. 5 Mat. xxvi. 50 and Luke xxii. 48. 6 John xiii. 38 ; Mat. xxvi. 34 ; Mark xiv. 30 : Luke xxii. 34. 7 Luke xxii. 31, 32. 8 Mat. xxvi. 31 ; Mark xiv. 27, 9 John xvi. 32. CIIA RA C TER A ND A T TRIE U TE S OF JES US. gg Jesus knew beforehand of the reception He should receive when He should come riding into Jerusalem. Verily I say unto you, ye shall not see me until the time come when ye shall say, blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord} Assertions of a more extensive knowledge of men are as follows : I am the Good Shepherd and know my sheep? .... My sheep hear my voice, and I know them? To each of the seven churches in Asia He said: I know thy zuorks/ 4 and then added a description of the works. To the Church of Ephesus : I know thy works, and thy labor, and thy patiejice, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil; and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles and are not, a?id hast found them liars : and hast borne and hast patience, and for my names sake hast labored and hast not fainted? So He described the Church in Smyrna, 6 that in Pergamos, 7 that in Thyatira, 8 that in Sardis, 9 that in Philadelphia, 19 and that in Laodicea.' 11 So extensive, so thorough is Jesus’ knowledge of men. 45. JESUS KNEW ALSO THE FACTS ABOUT SPIRITUAL BEINGS. He often spoke of Angels and their employments, e. g., of those who had charge of His little ones, always beholding the face of God, 12 of the joy which they feel at the repentance of a single sinner, 13 of their number 1 Luke xiii. 35 ; Mat. xxiii. 39. 2 John x. 14. 3 John x. 27, 4 Rev. ii. 2, 9, 13, 19 ; ch. iii. 1, 8, 15. 6 Rev. ii. 2, 3, 4. 6 Rev. ii. 9. 7 Rev. ii. 13-15. 8 Rev. ii. 19, 20. 0 Rev. iii. 1, 4. 10 Rev. iii. 8, 10. 11 Rev. iii. 15, 17. 13 Mat. xviii. 10. 13 Luke xv. 10. 100 CHRIST HIS 0 WN WITNESS. and readiness for service. Thinkcst thou that I can not now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels ? 1 II He told Nathanael: Hereafter ye shall see heaven open and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man? Jesus knew, too, of the devil—his power, arts, and hostility—of the devil's active efforts against Him¬ self, and his certain ultimate failure and defeat. He said to Peter: Simon, Simon, Satan hath de¬ sired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for thee? He knew that Satan was the prompter and leader in His capture and death : The prince of this world cometh and hath nothing in me? This is your hour and the power of darkness? Now is the judgment of this world; now shall the prince of this w or Id be cast out? I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven? 4 6. JESUS KNEW EIIMSELF. He knew His own Origin and Destiny. I know whe?ice I came and whither I go? He knew that many would reject Him. No prophet is accepted in his own country? A prophet is not with¬ out honor save in his own country and in his own house. 10 The Son of man shall be rejected of the chief priests and scribes . n I Mat. xxvi. 53. 2 John i. 51. 3 Luke xxii. 31, 32. 4 John xiv. 30. 5 Luke xxii. 53. 6 John xii. 31. 7 Luke x. 18. * John viii. 14. 9 Luke iv. 24. 10 Mat. xiii. 57 ; Mark vi. 4 ; John iv. 44. II Luke ix. 22 ; Mat. xvi. 21 and xvii. 22. CHARACTER AND ATTRIBUTES OF JESUS. I0 I He knew of His death and its time. I must work the works of him that sent me while it is day: the night cometh in which no man can zvork? The days will come when the Bridegroom (i. e., Himself) shall be taken from them (His disciples). 2 3 The days will come when ye shall desire to see one of the days of the Son of man and ye shall not see it? The poor alzvays ye have with you, but me ye have not always? He often spoke of the time of His death as being fixed and as well known to Himself. Mine hour is not yet come? My time is not yet come: but your time is alzvays ready . . . . My time is not yet full come? The Master saith, My time is at hand? Yet a little while am I with you? Yet a little while and the zvorld seeth me no more? I go to my Father and ye see me no more . 10 I leave the world and go to the Father? y Father ! the hour is come ?' 1 .... And nozv I am no more in the zvorld .... and Icome to thee . 13 .... He knew the manner of His death and all its circum¬ stances. The Son of man goeth as it is zvritten of 1 John ix. 4. 2 Mat. ix. 15 ; Mark ii. 19 ; Luke v. 34. 3 Luke xvii. 22. 4 John xii. 8. 5 * * John ii. 4. c John vii. 6, 8. It may be doubtful whether Jesus in this and the preceding passage refers to the time of His death. He may mean the time for doing that, or such things as that, of which He or the other party was speaking at the time. Yet a compari¬ son of all the places in which this phrase occurs in Jesus’ words, strengthens the assumption that in Jesus’ mouth this is a fixed phrase with a fixed meaning : His time to die. (See next quota¬ tion ) 7 Mat. xxvi. 18. 8 9 John vii. 33 and ch. xiii. 33. 9 John xiv. 19. 10 John xvi. 10. “John xvi. 28. 12 John xvii. 1. 13 John xvii. 11. 102 CHRIST HIS 0 WN WITNESS. him} Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed: like¬ wise shall also the Son of man suffer of them} The Son of man shall be betrayed into the hands of men; and they shall kill him, and the third day he shall be raised again? We see here that He also knew what should take place after His death : The Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the chief priests and scribes, a 7 id be slain, and be raised again the third day} I have a baptism to be baptized with} Can ye drink of the cup that I drink of, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with f * 3 4 5 6 * 8 Ye shall in¬ deed drink of the cup that I drink of, and with the bap¬ tism that I am baptized withal shall ye be baptized 7 Behold we go up to Jerusalem ; and the Son of man shall be delivered unto the chief priests and unto the scribes ; and they shall condemn him to death, and shall deliver him to the Gentiles ; and they shall mock him, and shall scourge him, and shall spit upon him, and shall kill him, and the third day he shall rise again} They shall de¬ liver him to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify him} On the mode of His death, He said : As Moses liftea up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son 1 Mat. xxvi. 24 ; Mark xiv. 21. 2 Mat. xvii. 12 ; Mark ix. 13. 3 Mat. xvii. 22, 23 ; Mark ix. 31 ; Luke ix. 44. 4 Luke ix. 22 ; Mat. xvi. 21 ; Mark viii. 31. 5 Luke xii. 50. 6 Mark x. 38 ; Mat. xx. 22. 7 Mark x. 39 ; Mat. xx. 23. 8 Mark x. 33, 34; Mat. xx. 18 ; Luke xviii. 32. 8 Mat. xx. 19 ; Luke xviii. 33. CHARACTER AND ATTRIBUTES OF JESUS. i 0 $ of man be lifted up} And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. This He said sig¬ nifying what death He should die. 2 This that is written must yet be accomplished in me, And he was numbered with the transgressors: for the things con¬ cerning me have an end? He knew that His body would be broken by wounds, and His blood shed : This is my body which is broken for you} This is my blood of the New Tes¬ tament which is shed for many, for the remission of sins . * 5 Jesus knew that He should be buried : For in that she hath poured this ointment on my body, she did it for my burial} As Jonas was three days and three nights i?i the whale s belly, so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth} We have already quoted words foretelling His resurrection. There are still others: Tell the vis¬ ion (of the transfiguration) to no man till the Son of man be risen again from the dead} After I am risen again, I will go before you into Galilee} Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. But He spake of the temple of His body. 10 Jesus also knew that after His resurrection He should ascend up where he was before . u I John iii. 14. 2 John xii. 32. 3 Luke xxii. 37. 4 1 Cor. xi. 24. 6 7 Mat. xxvi. 28 ; Mark xiv. 24; Luke xxii. 20, 6 Mat. xxvi. 12 ; Mark xiv. 8 ; John xii. 7. 7 Mat. xii. 40 ; Luke xi. 30. 8 * Mat. xvii. 9 ; Mark ix. 9. 0 Mat. xxvi. 32 ; Mark xiv. 28. 10 John ii. 19, 21. II John vi. 62. 104 CHRIST HIS 0 WN WITNESS. 47. JESUS KNOWS THE FATHER. For the Father loveth the Son and sheweth him all things that himself doeth, and he will shew him greater works than these} He that sent me is true, whom ye know not. But I know him, for I am from him, and he hath sent me. 2 Ye have 7 iot known him, but I know him, and if I should say I know him not, I shall be a liar like unto you : but I know him and keep his saying . 3 Jesus claimed that He alone knows the FATHER: No man knoweth the Son but the Father, and no man knoweth the Father save the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him} This evidently intends immediate knowledge without need of revelation, like that by which the Father knows the Son. On the first declaration here, see § 40, p. 92. The second or converse declaration is properly before us now, and is more wonderful even than the other. “ No man knoweth the Father save the Son, and he to whom the Son will (wills to) reveal Him.” What must he be who knows, comprehends God? who knows Him without a revelation, i. e., immediately, intuitively? who is the only channel of the revelation of God to others ? and who reveals Him only to whom He wills ? 48. JESUS’ KNOWLEDGE AS TO THE TIME OF THE JUDGMENT. Thus far Jesus certainly seems to have ignored all limits to His knowledge. And indeed if what He 1 John v. 20. 2 John vii. 28, 29. 4 Mat. xi. 27 ; Luke x. 22. 3 John viii. 55. CHARACTER AND ATTRIBUTES OF JESUS. I 0 [j- asserted be true, it is hard to conceive of any limits to it whatever. We have learned that He knew things distant from Him and beyond the reach of His senses ; things past, present, and future; things on earth and in heaven ; the characters, thoughts, plans, efforts, and works of men, and no less of devils ; the facts concerning angels ; the acts of God and God himself. The Bible always speaks of Jesus in harmony with these declarations. Jesus himself never admitted His ignorance of anything unless it be once on one special point. This case we will now consider. He said of the time of His future coming, as Mark reports Him (according to the received text): But of that day and that hour knoweth no man (no one), no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father} The words in Matthew are : But of that day and hour knoweth no man (no one), no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only} There the words, “ neither the Son,” do not occur. Jesus’ words before he ascended : “ It is not for you to know the times and the seasons which the Father hath put in his ozvn power f 3 do not assert His own ignorance as to those times and seasons, nor do they deny it. His words to the finally rejected : I never knew you ; 4 and I know you not} have quite another meaning, namely, that He does not recognize them as His: just as Paul, quoting Old Testament words, says: “ The Lord 1 Mark xiii. 32. 4 Mat. vii. 23. 5 * 8 Acts i. 7. 5 Luke xiii. 27. 2 Mat. xxiv. 36. I0 6 CHRIST HIS OWN WITNESS. knoweth them that are his.” 1 Luke says that “ Jesus increased in wisdom,” 2 expressing the gradual de¬ velopment of His human nature. In the very dis¬ course of Jesus where the words in question occur, Jesus revealed not only a minute knowledge of all the events connected with His future coming, but also in regard to the time of it. “ But in those days, after that tribulation the sun shall be darkened. And then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory.When ye shall see these things come to pass, know that it is nigh, even at the doors.” 3 On the question of the reference of these words to the future judgment, see § 127, p. 271. These words, then, in Mark, “ neither the Son,” are entirely singular and unsupported by any other Scripture. Various methods have been tried to modify the natural meaning of the words. Some understand Jesus as asserting that the hour of the judgment is a mystery which the Son knows not as a matter to be revealed. So Paul says : “ I deter¬ mined to know nothing among you but Jesus Christ and him crucified.” 4 But it is an obvious requirement of exegesis that the words “ know not ” should have the same meaning in reference to all the subjects mentioned together. They deny the knowledge in question absolutely in reference to men and angels ; therefore they do also in reference to the Son. They 1 2 Tim. ii. 19. Mark xiii. 24, sq. 2 Luke ii. 52. 4 1 Cor. ii. 2. CHARACTER AND ATTRIBUTES OF JESUS. \ 0 J deny ignorance of the Father, and so declare a dif¬ ference in this respect between Him and the Son. Others explain : Jesus knows not that day as man, or, as the Messiah. There may be a propriety in this restriction ; just as many other things which He said of Himself can apply to Him only in one of these capacities. But here it is against such an understanding that He does not say “nor do I,” but, “ neither the Son.” It is as Son that He does not know this, while the Father does. We feel it to be vain, if not presumptuous, to at¬ tempt any explanation of the words as they now stand. If they are genuine, the true explanation must be based upon the relations of the persons in the Godhead. This subject will come up further on, in our study of the words of Jesus in regard to His Sonship, and of the derivation of the life, powers, doctrine, authority, and activities of the Son from the Father; and especially in the passages which con¬ tain what Jesus said of the Father’s showing, telling, and teaching the Son . 1 Let us also call to mind other Scriptural figures of the same relation. Speak¬ ing of the Son, the writer of the Epistle to the He¬ brews says : Who being the brightness of His glory, and the express image of His person . 2 Some¬ where and somehow, under the mystery of the Son- ship and of this derivation from the Father, lies hid the explanation of the fact (if it be a fact) of the Son’s ignorance of the time of the final judgment. 1 See § 66, p. 143, sq. 2 Heb. i. 3. io8 CHRIST HIS OWN WITNESS. But the more probable explanation is, that these words in Mark, “ neither the Son,” are not genuine. Not that there is lack of external evidence in their behalf; for they are older than the Nicene Council, and are in all the principal manuscripts and versions; but the internal evidence is against them. They are inconsistent with the rest of Scripture, whether the words of Jesus himself or of inspired men, all which ignore all limitations to His knowledge. There is also nothing in the nature of the point itself which can explain its reservation. He who knows God himself, who, as well as the Spirit, searches the deep things of God—why should He not know the single item of the time of the judgment ? a point compara¬ tively insignificant (I would speak reverently) in com¬ parison with the vast range of truth open to Him. Also, the words in question, as they occur in the passage, make a phrase by themselves and constitute an independent item in an enumeration, and could therefore either be added or fall out without affect¬ ing the construction of the sentence. Add to this the fact that they are wanting in the words as given by Matthew ; and that reasons readily occur why some early transcriber, imperfectly taught in the doc¬ trine of Christ, should insert them, thinking that he was doing God service, and there is reached what seems to the writer to be a probability that these are not the words of Jesus. 49. JESUS’ PRESENCE UNCONFINED. In regard to space, Jesus spoke of Himself as free from the limitations of creatures. And no man hath CHARACTER AND ATTRIBUTES OF JESUS. i0 g ascended up to heaven but he that came down from heaven , even the Son of man which is in heaven? He is in heaven while on the earth. He that loveth me shall be loved of my Father , and I will love him and will manifest myself to him. ... If a man love me , he will keep my zvords, and my Father will love him , and we will come unto him and make our abode with him? Jesus will be present, will manifest Himself as pres¬ ent, to the loving, obedient disciple, to every such a one, to all, however many or widely scattered. This promise is actually fulfilled in the experience of thousands of true believers at the same time. So is that other great word of Jesus : Where two or three are gathered together in my name , there am I in the midst of them? And also that royal promise attach¬ ed to that right royal command : Go ye therefore and teach all nations , baptizing them in the name of the Father , and of the Son , and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you : and lo, I am with you alway , even unto the end of the world? How could it be fulfilled by man or angel ? especially as it pledges not His blank pres¬ ence, but His hearing, knowing, helping, and mightily protecting presence with the thousands upon thou¬ sands of private Christians, and the tens of thousands of missionaries of the cross, and worshiping assem¬ blies of His people throughout the world. The use of the present tense, too, in these declarations, is cer¬ tainly significant, as it is highly characteristic : “ The 1 John iii. 13. 2 John xiv. 21, 23. 8 Mat. xviii. 20. 4 Mat. xxviii. 19, 20. CHRIST HIS 0 WN WITNESS. 110 Son of man WHICH IS IN HEAVEN : ” u There AM I IN THE MIDST OF YOU : ” “ Lo, I AM WITH YOU ALWAY.” The invitations of Jesus, too, imply the possibility of getting near to Him for all, even the v/eak and the bound : Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden ; 1 If any man thirst , let him come unto me and drink} The coming to which we are invited is in¬ deed a spiritual coming; but it involves the presence, knowledge, and power of the Helper. In short, all these promises and invitations are conceived IN THE STYLE OF Deity. Aside from God, no other being but Jesus could make them without outraging our reverential feelings. Jesus made, indeed, no general affirmation of His omnipresence. But He denied what is inconsistent with it; and asserted particulars, the truth of which is inconceivable without it, and whose truth is sus¬ tained by all the past and present experience of Christians and the Church. 50 . JESUS CLAIMED UNLIMITED POWER. In the same way Jesus declared that His power is without limits. There is no general declaration to this effect; but there are many assertions of the pos¬ session and exercise of power, with an ignoring in every case of all limitations. When the father of the possessed boy said to Jesus: “ If thou canst do any¬ thing, have mercy on us and help us ; ” Jesus replied : If thou canst, believe ; all things are possible to him that 1 Mat. xi. 28. 2 John vii. 37. CHARACTER AND ATTRIBUTES OF JESUS, m bclieveth? Diseases and devils were subject to Him, as the event immediately proved. Of His people, He said : I give unto them eternal life , and they shall never perish , neither shall any man (any one) pluck them out of my hand? He put Himself in the exer¬ cise of this power, on behalf of His people, by the side of His Father; for He immediately added : My Father which gave them me is greater than all , and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father s hand . / and my Father arc one? The argument here is just as elsewhere, namely, What the Father doeth, the Son also does, and does it as effectually. 4 No power in the universe can prevail against Him as He protects His chosen ones. Just so He said: On this rock 1 vuill build my church , and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it? He defies the powers of hell, and keeps His Church safe. In his solemn answer to the high-priest, Jesus said : Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting at the right hand of power and coming in the clouds of heaven? In these words He claimed that He will share in the exercise of Divine power, as He used phraseology borrowed from the Psalms which He also applied to Himself: The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand until I make thine enemies thy foot¬ stool? Still another passage in a Psalm, referring to 1 Mark ix. 23. 2 John x. 28. 8 John x. 29, 30. - John v. 17, 18, 19 ; see § 67. 6 7 Mat. xvi. 18, § 107 6 Mat. xxvi. 64 ; Mark xiv. 62 ; Luke xxii. 69. 7 Ps. cx. 1 ; Mat. xxii. 44. I 12 CHRIST HIS 0 WN WITNESS. Christ, says : “ Thou hast put all things under his feet.” 1 Jesus claimed thus the possession and exercise of a power superior to all bodily and mental diseases of men, and to the strength of devils, adequate also to the protection of every individual believer, and of His whole Church against the marshalled hosts of hell; that He shares in the power of God, sitting at His right hand, and shall at length subdue every foe and bring him “ under His feet.” 51 . JESUS ABOVE ALL CREATURES IN DIGNITY. In asserting His dignity, as in respect of His knowl¬ edge and power, Jesus spoke in the concrete, not in the general. He finds no one equal to Himself but the Father; He is greater than all things and all men. There is in His language about Himself an absence of limitations suggestive of infinity, some¬ thing like the shoreless ocean and the unbounded sky. Whatever else other than God is brought into competition with Flim has limitations, and so fails in the comparison. Jesus was well aware of the limitations of other beings, but knew of none in Himself. Was the temple sacred as the dwelling- place of the Most High? I say unto you that in this place is one greater than the temple? Was the Sab¬ bath established and hallowed by God ? The Son of man is Lord even of the Sabbath day? Solomon was 1 Ps. viii. 6 ; Heb. ii. 6-9. 3 Mat. xii. 8 ; Mark ii. 28 ; Luke vi. 5. 2 Mat. xii. 6. CHARACTER AND A TTRIBUTES OF JESUS. \ a great and wise king: but, A greater than Solomon is here} Jonah was a prophet of God, but Jesus, al¬ ways without fear of reaching His own limit, shrunk not from asserting: A greater than Jojias is here} Thus kings and prophets, the temple and the Sab¬ bath, are inferior to Jesus; He is greater than they all. Who is it who can rightly call himself Lord of the Sabbath? Certainly no other than He who in¬ stituted the Sabbath. As for himself, Jesus puts in a claim of honor and so of dignity, equal to that of the Father: That all men should honor the . Son even as they honor the Father: he that honoreth not the Son honoreth not the Father which hath sent him} Ele¬ ments of this dignity, and reasons for this claim to honor, appear all along our line of inquiry. 52 . JESUS’ SOVEREIGNTY OF WILL. Jesus always spoke as a sovereign—used a style which no mere subject could rightly use. Even in regard to the Father He did not speak as a mere subject. When a leper came to Him kneeling, and besought Him, saying: “Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean,” He said: I will: be thou clean} He did not rebuke the poor man for thinking that it depend¬ ed on His will: that recognition of His sovereignty pleased Him, and secured the desired help, exactly in the line of the recognition. “ If thou wilt ”—“ I will.” 1 Mat. xii. 41, 42 ; Luke xi. 31, 32. " John v. 23. 3 Mark i. 41, “ I will,” Greek, ©Mw. Mat. viii. 3 ; Luke v. 13. 1T 4 CHRIST HIS OWN WITNESS. Jesus has an elect people chosen by Himself: / know whom I have chosen} They (the angels) shall gather together his elect? He is sovereign in receiv¬ ing applicants for His grace; and regenerating them. Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out . 3 As the Father raiscth up the dead and quickeneth them , even so the Son quickeneth whom he will (quickeneth, that is, maketh spiritually alive). 4 He is sovereign in ordering the term of life of His servants: If I will that he (J ohn) tarry till I come , what is that to thee ? 5 But nowhere did Jesus make higher claims of sover¬ eignty than in those memorable words : All things are delivered unto me of my Father ; and no man (no one) knoweth the Son but the Father , neither knoweth any man (any one) the Father save the Son, and he to whom¬ soever the Son will (literally, may wish id) reveal him. 6 Jesus here claimed the prerogative of sovereignty of will in a matter of the highest possible moment to a creature, that of his salvation: for as Jesus himself said: “To know God is life eternal.” 7 To sum up the declarations of Jesus on this point of His sovereignty of will : He acts according to His own will in working miracles, in choosing His people, in receiving those who come to Him, in quickening them to a new spiritual life and revealing God tc them, and in appointing to each his time and work Hohn xiii. 18. 2 Mat. xxiv. 31 ; Mark xiii. 27. 3 John vi. 37. 4 John v. 21, ov$ 6 eael faoncHti, makes aizv whom He pleases. Jesus is speaking here of spiritual life (see v 25) ; and not till v. 28, of the resurrection of bodies. 6 John xxi. 22. 6 Mat. xi. 27 ; Luke x. 22. 7 John xvii. 3. CHARACTER AND A TTRIBUTES OF JESUS. i j 5 of life. Finally, in saying that all things were deliv¬ ered unto Flim, He claimed sovereign power over all. We must not, however, so understand the sover¬ eignty of the Son as to suppose Him independent of the Father. Fie exercises His sovereignty in the world, in the church, in heaven — everywhere, in most cordial and close harmony with the purposes of God. 1 53. JESUS CLAIMED SUPREME AUTHORITY. Jesus claimed also an unlimited Authority. He had full control over His own life, so that no creature had any power over it. / lay down my life that I might take it again. No man (no one) taketh it from me ; but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down , and I have power to take it again? What other being could say this of himself? Jesus’ authority extends to the conferring of eter¬ nal life on His people : As thou hast given him power over all flesh that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him? He has power, the author¬ ity of the possessor, over all that the Father hath: A ll things that the Father hath are mine FA nd all mine are thine , and thine are mine? His word has all authority. Heaven and earth shall pass away , but my word shall not pass away? Jesus’ word, then, has au¬ thority equal to that of God’s law, of which the same J See §65, p. 142. 2 John x. 17, 18. 3 John xvii. 2. “ Power,” Greek et-ovoiav, authority. 4 John xvi. 15. 5 John xvii. 10. 6 Mat. xxiv. 35 ; Mark xiii. 31 ; Luke xxi. 33. CHRIST HIS 0 WN WITNESS. 116 thing is said: “ Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law till all be fulfilled.” Nay, His authority is universal and su¬ preme : All things are delivered unto me of my Father} All power (authority) is given unto me in heaven and in earth} . 54. JESUS’ AUTHORITY EXTENDS OVER ANGELS AND DEVILS. The words of Jesus last quoted are not idle words ; for, first, Angels are subject to Him : Thou shalt see greater things than these: For Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man? Not as when they were seen by Jacob ascending and descending to minister to him, nor as they minister to all the “ heirs of salvation,” though of a higher order of beings than those they minister to; for that would not be “a greater thing” than the exhibition of Jesus’ supernatural knowledge which Nathanael had just witnessed. It was because they were to wait on and serve Jesus, as servants do their king, that it would appear “ a greater thing.” This they did in Gethsemane in His agony, and at His resurrection and ascent to heaven. He could have commanded their services to any extent : Thinkcst thou that I can not now pray to my Father and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions 1 Mat. xi. 27 ; Luke x. 22. 3 John i. 51. 3 Mat. xxviii. 18. CHARACTER AND ATTRIBUTES OF JESUS. \\j of atigelsP Jesus does employ them for the benefit of His people : I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches? Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thya- tira, Sardis, Philadelphia, Laodicea, write? Angels shall be agents of Jesus at the day of judgment : The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity, and shall cast them into a furnace of fire? And then shall he send his angels, and shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven? And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect? Jesus has authority also over Devils. Devils were vanquished by Him. In the wilderness, when tempted by the devil, He conquered the tempter, saying: Get thee hence, Satan. Get thee behind me, Satan? He prevailed over Devils, delivering the possessed : I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, 8 by the finger of God? He gets and holds the victory over Satan : When a strong man armed keepeth his place his goods are in peace: but when a stronger than 1 Mat. xxvi. 53. 1 2 * * Rev. xxii. 16. 3 Rev. ii. 1, 8, 12, 18 ; ch. iii. 1, 7, 14. “Angel,” Greek uyyelcp. But the word in these places is generally and perhaps rightly considered to mean the pastors of the respective churches. So the “ angel ” meant in ch. xxii. 16 may mean John himself. * Mat. xiii. 41, 42. 5 Mark xiii. 27. 6 7 Mat xxiv. 31. 7 Mat. iv. 10 ; Luke iv. 8. 8 Mat. xii. 28. 9 Luke xi. 20. 118 CHRIST HIS OWN WITNESS. h ' shall come upon him and overcome him , he taketh from him all his armor wherein he trusted and divideth his spoils} It is thus He illustrated His contest with and His victory over Satan. The success of Jesus’ kingdom is the fall of Satan’s power. The seventy returned again with joy, saying: Lord, even the Devils are subject unto us through Thy name. And He said unto them : I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heavens Now (when He, Jesus, was about to die), now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this zvorld be cast out. 1 2 3 This conquest over Satan is an important item of that sub¬ jection of all enemies to Him, which is predicted in the words which Jesus applied to Himself: The Lord said unto my Lord , Sit thou at my right hand until L make thine enemies thy footstooll The chief of these enemies and the leaders of the rest are the devil and his angels. 55. THE EXERCISE BY JESUS OF THESE POWERS AND PREROGATIVES. They are not empty possessions in Jesus’ hands: He exercises them continually and efficiently. His words already quoted show this, and they will be confirmed by those yet to be adduced. Jesus acts with the Father in Creation, Providence, and Moral Government : My Father worketli hitherto 1 Luke xi. 22 ; Mat. xii. 29 ; Mark iii. 27. See § 38, p. 82. 2 Luke x. 17, 18. 3 John xii. 31. 4 -Ps. cx. 1 ; Mat. xxii. 44 ; Mark xii. 36 ; Luke xx. 42, 43, 44. CHARACTER AND ATTRIBUTES OF JESUS. j \g and I work} What things soever he (the Father) doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise. He says to the Church in Philadelphia : Behold I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it . I will also keep thee from the hour of temptation (trial) which shall come upon all the world.' These word? present Jesus to us in the very exercise of Providential con¬ trol over men and over whatever other beings and agencies can affect the condition of His churches Again, He said : These things saith the Son of God , who hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire, and his feet are like fine brassl The eyes and the feet are in¬ struments of action ; and Jesus by such a description of His eyes and feet, declares that He maintains efficient oversight over the world. But an efficient providential oversight over the world calls for the exercise of powers and attributes just such as we have already seen Jesus claimed. 56. IN THE EXERCISE OF THESE PREROGATIVES JESUS MAKES LAWS AND ADMINISTERS THEM. He did, indeed, establish and fulfill the law of God : Think not that I am come to destroy the law and the prophets : I am not come to destroy, but to fulfilll Yet He did not act as a mere Agent. As He claimed the possession of sovereignty, He also exercised it by making laws Himself: Ye have heard that it was said by (or to) them of old time, Thou shalt not kill. 1 John v. 17. 4 Rev. ii. 18. 2 John v. 19, 20. 3 Rev. iii. 8-10. 6 Mat. v. 17. 120 CHRIST HIS OWN WITNESS. . . . . But I say unto you} Just so repeatedly in that discourse, Jesus interprets, corrects, sets aside, and establishes laws by His simple authority expressed by “ But I say unto you}' Just so elsewhere : Arid I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife except it be for fornication , and shall marry another , com¬ mit teth adultery} Jesus regarded His own instructions and laws as . binding on all men. He commanded His ministers : Go teach all nations , .... teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you} To those who obey the word of His ministers, He prom¬ ises salvation, and to the disobedient He threatens ruin : Whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken ; but on whomsoever it shall fall it will grind him to powder} To fall on the Stone (which is Jesus) is to disapprove and reject the doctrine of Christ. By this a man loses the blessings which Christ bestows, and in the end is fallen upon by the Stone, that is, punished by Jesus, the future Judge. Thus the same man who falls on the Stone is ultimately fallen on by it. The damage from falling on the Stone is fatal, but is only preliminary to the final ruin which the last sentence of the Judge shall bring upon the unbeliever. Jesus closed the Sermon on the Mount with the words : Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of 1 Mat. v. 21, 22, 28, 32, 34, 39, etc. See § 12, p. 20. 2 Mat xix. 9 ; Mark x. 11 ; Luke xvi. 18. 3 Mat. xxviii. 19, 20. 4 Mat. xxi. 44; Luke xx. 18. CIIA RA C TER AND AT TRIE U TE S OF JESUS. I2 i mine and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock: And the rain de¬ scended, and the floods came, and the zvinds blew, and beat upon that house, and it fell not; for it was found¬ ed upon a rock. A nd every one that heareth these say¬ ings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man which built his house upon the sand. And the ram descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house , and it fell, and great was the fall of it. 1 Such is the authority of what Jesus called “ these sayings of mine.” They are binding on men ; and the penalty for disobeying them will be inflicted at the last day. They who heard Jesus utter this Discourse were astonished at His doctrine, because “ he taught as one having authority, and not as the scribes/’ It was the majesty of the Teacher’s tone and bearing which impressed them. We see thus that Jesus claimed authority over His own life, over all men and their eternal destinies, and over angels and devils. His word has the same authority as the law of God, and is just as unchange¬ able. Finally, ALL AUTHORITY is in His hands both “ in heaven and in earth : ” THE UNIVERSE OF God is subject to Him. Studying closely what Jesus declared in regard to His sovereign authority and His exercise of it in the administration of the world, we shall find hinted Mat. vii. 24-27 ; Luke vi. 47-49. 6 1 122 CHRIST HIS OWN WITNESS. everywhere one controlling law of its action, namely, that of perfect harmony with the will and govern¬ ment of the Father : but this law of its action is not a limiting, restraining law ; for, if it were, His will would not be sovereign, as He declares it is. Har¬ mony with the Father’s will is the Law of its Free Action. This is a necessary result of the Perfection of each of the Persons, and of the essential relation which exists between the Father and the Son. To the study of this relation we therefore turn, listening as ever only to the words of Jesus. In the mean¬ time remember what we have already learned con¬ cerning His attributes. 57. SUMMARY OF JESUS’ TEACHINGS REGARDING HIS ATTRIBUTES. We have learned from Jesus’ own lips that He is Unsearchable in His nature to all but God, Eternal, the Creator of all created things, Unlimited in Knowl¬ edge, in Presence and in Power, in Dignity above all, Sovereign in Will and Action, Lord of all creatures, Maker and Administrator of Laws over men, and Executor of rewards and punishments on men ac¬ cording to them. Mere humanity is inadequate as a substratum for the possession and exercise of such powers and authority. Angelic or any other creature-nature would also certainly fail. Does Jesus in His teach¬ ings meet this exigency, and avow a nature in keep¬ ing with His claims? An answer to this question we seek in the next chapter. CHAPTER IX. JESUS’ RELATIONS TO THE FATHER. 58. JESUS CLAIMS TO BE THE SON OF GOD. In regard to this point we wish first to present the facts as they lie on the surface of the recorded words of J esus. He uses the term “ My Father/’ referring to God, or “ His (the Son of man’s) Father,” about sixty times ; the term “The Father” with a direct reference to Himself as Son, thirty times ; and with¬ out such direct reference many times more. In direct address He uses the terms, Father, O Father, Abba Father, My Father, fourteen times. A few specimens of each form will be given. First of the term “ My Father,” or “ His Father.” He that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven} Him will / confess before my Father which is in heaven? Every plant which my heavenly Father hath not planted? Come, ye blessed of my Father? / appoint unto you a kingdom as my Father hath ap¬ pointed unto me? I send the promise of my Father upon you? I am come in my Father s name? If I do ?iot the works of my Father? I am the true vine, and 1 Mat. vii. 21, ch. xii. 50. 2 Mat. x. 32, 33 ; Rev. iii. 5. 3 Mat. xv. 13. 4 * Mat. xxv. 34. 6 Luke xxii. 29. 6 Luke xxiv. 49. 7 John v. 43. 8 John x. 37. (123) 124 CHRIST HIS OWN WITNESS. my Father is the husbandman} The Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father? Examples of the term “ The Father,” with direct reference to Himself as Son, are as follows : No man knoweth the Son but the Father? The Son can do noth¬ ing of himself ’ but what he seeth the Father do? As the Father raiseth up the dead and quickeneth them, even so the Son quickeneth whom he will? For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judg¬ ment unto the Son : 6 That all men should honor the Son even as they honor the Father? Use of the term “ The Father” without such dis¬ tinct reference to Himself as Son, occurs as follows : The works which the Father hath given me to finish? The Father himself which hath Sent me hath borne ' witness of me? Do not think that I will accuse you to the FathcrF Him hath God the Father sealed . u The Spirit of truth which procccdeth from the Father? 2 Cases of direct address are : I thank thee, 0 Father? 3 Even so, Father S Abba Father, all things are possible unto theeS Father, the hour is come} 6 And now, O Father, glorify thou me} 1 4 * Father, if thou be willing remove this cup from meS Father, forgive them} 9 Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit? 6 1 John xv. i. 2 Mat. xvi. 27. 8 Mat. xi. 27 ; Luke x. 22. 4 John v. 19. 7 John v. 23. 10 John v. 45. 13 Mat. xi. 25, 26. 16 John xvii. 1. 19 Luke xxiii. 34. 6 John v. 2i. 8 John v. 36. 11 John vi. 27. J4 Luke x. 21. 17 John xvii. 5. 20 Luke xxiii. 46. 6 John v. 22. 9 John v. 37. 12 John xv. 26. 15 Mark xiv. 36. 18 Luke xxii. 42. JESUS’ EE LA TIO NS TO THE FA THEE. 125 As regards the name Son, the facts are similar: Jesus allowed Himself to be called the Son of God both by evil spirits and by believers in Him. Nathanael said: Rabbi, thou art the Son of God. Jesus said : Because I said , I sazv thee under the fig-tree, believest thou ? 1 Peter said : Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus answered : Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona, for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven? Jesus is nine times reported as calling Plimself the Son of God, or, in direct address to God, thy Son. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world? The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God? To the blind man cured : Dost thou believe on the Son of God? He answered and said : Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him? And Jesus said: Thou hast both seen him and it is he that talketh with thee? Say ye of him whom the Father hath sanctified and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest because I said I am the Son of God ? 6 Of Lazarus, Jesus said : This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby? These things saith the Son of God? The high-priest asked him: Art thou the Christ, the Son of the blessed ? And Jesus said : lam? His enemies said, as He hung upon the 1 John i. 50. 2 Mat. xvi. 17. As to evil spirits, see Mark iii. 11, 12 ; v. 1-7. 3 John iii. 17. 1 2 3 4 John v. 25. 5 J°hm ix. 35-37. 6 John x. 36. 7 Johnxi. 4. 3 Rev. ii. 18. 9 Mark xiv. 61, 62 ; Mat. xxvi. 63, 64 ; Luke xxii. 70. 126 CHRIST HIS OWN WITNESS. cross: He trusted in God ; let him deliver him now if he will have him ; for he said, I am the Son of God} At other times Jesus spoke of Himself as THE SON —often, as we have seen, in connection with the correlative term, Father. Other cases are : For the Father loveth the Son. 2 That every one which seeth the Son and believeth on him may have ever last mg life} If the Son , therefore , shall make you free} That the Father may be glorified in the Son. 5 Twice Jesus called Himself THE ONLY BEGOTTEN SON. God so loved the world that he gave his only be¬ gotten Son} He that believeth riot is condemned already because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God} It is manifest that the terms Father and Son were in Jesus’ mouth fixed names constantly used of God and Himself respectively. But this fact would, of itself, have but little signifi¬ cance ; for Jesus taught that God is the Father of all believers, and He authorizes them to pray, saying: “ Our Father which art in heaven.” And if God is our Father, then are we His children. Accordingly Paul says to the Galatian Christians : “ Because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts crying, Abba, Father. 8 Good men are called in the Old Testament, sons of God. “ The sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair.” 9 God called the nation of Israel His son. 1 Mat. xxvii. 43. 2 John v. 20. 8 John vi. 40. 4 John viii. 36. 6 7 John xiv. 13. 6 John iii. 16. 7 John iii. 18. 8 Gal. iv. 6. 9 Gen. vi. 2. JESUS' RELA TIONS TO THE FA THER. " Israel is my son, even my first-born.” 1 “ When Israel was a child then I loved him and called my son out of Egypt.” 2 God called Solomon and the kings of his line, sons. “ I will be his father and he shall be my son.” 3 These words of the prophet, the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews applies directly to Christ. Angels are also called sons of God. “ There was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord.” 4 “ When the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy.” 5 Is there, then, anything peculiar in Jesus’ relation as Son to God the Father ? Is He Son of God in a sense in which He has no fellow among either men or angels? The name Son occurs in Old Testament passages which were applied by the ancient Jewish interpreters to the coming Messiah. In the Psalms we read: “Yet have I set my King upon my holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree: the Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son : this day have I begotten thee.” . . . . “ Kiss the Son lest he be angry.Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.” 6 The prophet Isaiah says: “ For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.” 7 Of the same child, doubtless, the prophet 1 Ex. iv. 22. 2 Hos. xi. i. 3 2 Sam. vii. 14. 4 Job i. 6 ; ch. ii. 1. 6 Job xxxviii. 7. 6 Ps. ii. 6, 7, 12. 7 Isa. ix. 6. 128 CHRIST HIS 0 WN WITNESS. says: “ The Lord himself shall give you a sign : Be¬ hold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” 1 The New Testament writers apply the first and the last of these passages to Jesus Christ, interpreting rightly the last name to mean God WITH US. 2 The Jewish interpreters of that and earlier ages, understanding these to be prophecies of the Messiah, very naturally and rightly spoke of the Messiah as the Son of God, and this be¬ came a very common name for the Messiah. Na¬ thanael, as we have seen, declared his faith in Jesus as the Messiah by the words: Rabbi, thou art the Son of God, thou art the king of Israel. 3 Martha said to Jesus: I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world. 4 Peter, in his famous confession, said: Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. 5 But what idea did the pious and intelligent of the later Jewish teachers and people attach to this name of the Messiah ? Did they understand it as implying a more than human or angelic nature ? Reverting to the prophecies quoted, we see that He whom they understood to be the Messiah, is called “ a Son ; ” that God calls Him His “ Son,” and declares Him to be “ begotten ” of Himself. They saw, too, that He was named “Immanuel,” or God-with-us; also, “ Wonderful,” “ Counsellor,” “ the Mighty God,” “ the Everlasting Father.” They must have thought, 1 Isa. vii. 14. 2 Heb. i. 5 ; Mat. i. 23. John i. 49. 4 John xi. 27. 5 Mat xvi. 16. JESUS' RELA TIONS TO THE FA THER. I29 too, of other prophecies : “ Awake, 0 sword, against my shepherd, against the man that is my fellow, saith the Lord of hosts.” 1 Again : “ The Lord whom ye seek shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant whom ye delight in .” 2 And again : “ Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever .” 3 It is not wonderful that, placing implicit faith in these oracles^ they should form and express, as they did, more 'or less clear conceptions of A Divine NATURE in Christ. To such a result their language itself (the Chaldee) would contribute. Nebu¬ chadnezzar, king of Babylon, saw “ four men walking in the midst of the fire ” into which they had cast the three Jewish youths; “ and the form of the fourth,” said he, “is like a Son of God.” 4 In the Chaldee language, which the Babylonians spoke, the phrase, “ a Son of God,” would be equivalent to “ A God.” (See the remarks on the term “ Son of man, p. 41 ). Nebuchadnezzar was a polytheist, and he meant to say just that, namely, that the form of the fourth in that company was “ like a god,” one of the gods. A Jew, who believed in only one God, never had occasion to use this term indefinitely as Nebu¬ chadnezzar did. But when he found the Messiah 1 Zech. xiii. 7 ; Mat. xxvi. 31 ; Mark xiv. 27. 2 Mai. iii. 1. 3 Ps. xlv. 6. 4 Dan. iii. xxv., “ The Son of God.” The Chaldee is Tib’ a Son of God, or, a son of the gods. The word Son is not in the definite form. Compare on the similar phrase 55 $ '" 1 ^ 5 ’ pp. 41, 42. 6 * 130 CHRIST HIS 0WN WITNESS. called by God himself in the Scripture, “ my Son/' and as such declared to be possessed of Divine attributes, he was obliged to use the term definitely, and say, “ the Son of God ; ” and his Chaldee ver¬ nacular would help him to the conviction that the Messiah was a Divine Being, was God as a Son, nay, almost in Christian language, God the Son, one in mysterious unity of nature and essence with the Almighty. Accordingly we see that when the man Jesus said, My Father worketh hitherto and I work / the Jews sought the more to kill Him because He said that God was His Father, MAKING Himself EQUAL WITH God. They also said to Him : Thou, being a man, makest thyself God. 2 These words of the Jews show plainly that they, in calling their expect¬ ed Messiah the Son of God, attributed to Him a divine nature. And it was upon Jesus’ calling Him¬ self the Son of God that they condemned Him for blasphemy. The first believers in Jesus shared these views. Jesus also called Himself, as we have seen, “The only begotten Son of God.” By this language He claimed that He is Son of God in a sense and by a propriety altogether peculiar; that He sustains a relation as Son such as no other being in the universe sustains. More definite teachings concerning His relations to the Father will appear in what follows. 1 John* v. 17. 2 John x. 33. JESUS' RELA TIONS TO THE FA THER. 131 59. JESUS AS THE SON OF GC D IS LOVED BY THE FATHER. Who could better testify to the Father’s love than He who is its object ? In this matter He must speak that which He knows. 1 We find : The Father loveth the Son, and sheweth him all things that himself doethl As to the date and past history of the Father’s love : Thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world? Observe, Jesus affirmed this in direct address to God. He not only knew the fact Himself, but was sure the Father knew it. Again : That the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them as thou hast loved mel Thai the love wherewith thou hast loved me, may be in theml As the Father hath loved me so have I loved youl If ye keep my commandments ye shall abide in my love, even as I have kept my Father s command¬ ments and abide in his lovei Therefore doth my Father love me because I lay down my life that I might take it a gain l If, now, we attempt to sum up what Jesus testified of the love of the Father to Him, we may say, it is eternal ; it is the basis and the spirit of their.mutual intercourse, and of the communication by the Father to the Son of all His counsel and action ; it is the perpetual spring of the Father’s love to the disciples 1 John iii. 11. 2 3 4 John v. 20. 3 John xvii. 24. See for the meaning of the phrase, p. 93, note 3. 4 John xvii. 23. 5 John xvii. 26. 8 John xv. 9. 7 John xv. 10. 8 John x. 17. \ i3 2 CHRIST HIS OWN WITNESS. of Jesus; the pattern, and, as far as the difference in the objects permits, the measure of that love. The Father’s love to the Son is, in turn, nourished by the willing and perfect obedience of the Son in His Me- ditorial work, and especially by His giving His life a sacrifice for men. Heavenly truth all of it! better than the fruit of Eden’s tree of life ! revealed and vouched for by Him who knows ! And observe how God the Father, one of the Witnesses for Jesus, testifies to the same great truth : This is my beloved Son ! 1 60. THE SON LOVES THE FATHER. Going to meet His betrayers, Jesus said: But that the world may know that I love the Father . 2 That the Son reciprocates the Father’s love, we are ready to hear and to believe. But we are surprised, perhaps, that so far as His recorded words show, Jesus asserted the fact but this once. Still, though solitary in the assertion, this sentence points to a wonderful proof of its truth, namely, the whole course of His final sufferings. That the world may k7iow that T love the Father, and as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do, arise, let us go hence; 3 that is, go to the betrayal, the capture, the trials and the cross ! On x Mat. iii. 17. 2 John xiv. 31. 3 Same verse. The reader will notice that I have connected the words “ Arise,” etc., with the preceding sentence. This con¬ struction is simple, is adopted by the best commentators, and yields about the same sense as the construction found in our common Bibles. JESUS’ RELA TIONS TO THE FA THER . 133 the same principle the whole Mediatorial course and work of the Son was a demonstration of His love to the Father. And why His Mediatorial work only? All His action and work as Son, so far as the Bible reveals it, and doubtless, also, so far as created intel¬ ligences may know it, is seen to be pervaded and controlled by this supreme affection of Love to the Father. 61. THE SON IS SUBORDINATE TO THE FATHER. When human language is applied by men to the mutual relations of the Sacred Persons, of which rela¬ tions they can have no adequate conception, it were nothing strange if the incompetency of both the speak¬ ers and their language should do great injustice to the subject. Under the necessity of using some term or other, the writer feels that the one he has chosen in the heading may express as much of the truth, and as little untruth, as any that can be found. Let us note carefully how Jesus spoke of the matter. He seems never to have felt any difficulty ; He did far more with men’s language than men can do. Speaking through John in Patmos, he said: Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God , and he shall go no more out; and I will write up 071 him the name of my God , and the name of the city of my God , which is New Jerusalem , which cometh dow7i out of heaven from my God} Four times here He calls God His God. Just so in the 1 Rev. iii. 12. 134 CHRIST HIS 0 WN WITNESS. message which He sent to His disciples : I as¬ cend unto my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God} God is the God of both Jesus and His disciples. There is, then, some likeness be¬ tween the relation of Jesus to God and that of good men to God ; a likeness which justifies the same use of the possessive pronoun in both cases. In the case of mere men there is evidently subordination ; and so also there plainly appears to be in the other. When, for instance, Jesus cried out on the cross, My God ! my God ! why hast thou forsaken me? 2 and when He said, I am come in my Father's name ; 3 that is, under commission from Him, and so with His authority, we can readily apply the words to His Medi¬ atorial office and work in the world ; i. e., to Him in a subordinate place. Much stronger as to the fact of subordination, though not so clear as to the man¬ ner of it, are Jesus’ words : My Father is greater than 1} He may say this in reference to His Mediatorial character and His state of humiliation in human flesh. But the subordination of Jesus to the Father has a wider scope than His Mediatorship. The very terms u Father” and “Son” imply an order, a first place and a second place. The Father is first in that order, the Son is second, though they be essentially equal and essentially one. We shall surely go wrong if we interpret one word of Jesus forgetting another, or make one contradictory to another. 1 John xx. 17. 3 John v. 43. 2 Mat. xxvii. 46 ; Mark xv. 34. ‘‘John xiv. 28. JESUS' RELA TIONS TO THE FA THER. 135 62. JESUS IS SUBJECT TO THE FATHER’S WILL AND ORDERING. Jesus recognized His relation of subjection to the Father’s will when, speaking to Pilate, he said : Thou couldst have no power at all against me except it were given thee from above / The ordering of God put Him in Pilate’s power. When Peter in the garden drew his sword in His Master’s defense, Jesus checked him, saying : The cup which my Father hath given me shall I not drink it ? 2 He thought of nothing but submission to God’s allotment. He had, indeed, reached this point only after a mighty struggle. But during the whole course of that struggle He had recognized that it was His place to yield to His Father’s will : Not my will , but thine be donel 1 He rested at last in entire surrender, in hearty filial sub¬ jection to the will of God. He seems never to have thought of the Father’s will being reversed or even modified for His relief; but submitted Himself wholly to the good pleasure of God. 63. JESUS WAS COMMISSIONED BY THE FATHER, AND SENT INTO THE WORLD TO DO A WORK. It was the Mediatorial work that Jesus came to do ; a work to be begun on earth and completed in heaven. We have already seen Jesus claiming the name and office of Messiah. He declared that the Father sent 1 John xix. 11 . 2 John xviii. 11 . * Luke xxii. 42 . CHRIST HIS 0 WN WITNESS. IS 6 Him in that character. 1 II As many as fifty times, in one form or another, He repeated the words, “ the Father hath sent me.’' In fact the phrase, “ He that sent me,” became, in the mouth of Jesus, almost a name of God. Say ye of him whom the Father hath sanctified and- sent into the world, Thou blasphemest ? 2 “ Hath sanctified ” here means, hath consecrated, as¬ signed to a specific work and destiny. I am come in my Father s name; 3 that is, as His agent, commis¬ sioned by Him. The Father himself which hath sent me} He that sent me is true} This is the Father s will which hath sent me} I am from him and he hath sent me . 7 God sent not his Son into the world to con¬ demn ihe world} Other words which speak of His commission by the Father are : The works which the Father hath given me to finish} This commandment have I received of my Father A As my Father gave me commandment even so F do A I have kept my Father s commandments . 12 God so loved the world that he gave his ordy begotten Son. 13 Ought not Christ to have suffered these things ? 14 Thus it is written, and thus it behooved Christ to suf¬ fer A All things must be fidfilled which were written in the law of Moses , and in the Prophets , and in the Psalms concerning me A Jesus thus taught that His mission and work as I § 20. 2 John x. 6 John vii. 28. 8 John iii. 17. II John xiv. 31. 14 Luke xxiv. 26. 36. 3 John v. 43. 6 John vi. 39. 9 John v. 36. 12 John xv. 10. 15 Luke xxiv. 46. 4 John v. 37. 7 John vii. 29. 10 John x. 18. 13 John iii. 16. 16 Luke xxiv. 44. r JESUS' RE LA TIONS TO THE FA THER. 137 Messiah was laid upon Him by the Father, and was undertaken by Him and carried out under order and direction from God. Not only the work as a whole was laid upon Him, but, as appears from His words, all and singular the various parts, acts, and experi¬ ences connected therewith. All these together made up “ the cup ” which the Father put into His hands to drink, the “ baptism ” wherewith He must be baptized. No trait of the character and course of Jesus is more striking than this. He is exhibited to us as one acting under orders, following a path prescribed for Him, and meeting at each step a Divine allotment, always conscientious, and in all things obedient. His diligence found expression in the words, I must work the works of him that sent me zvhile it is day fi and at the close of His life He was able to say : I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do? 64. JESUS PRAYS TO TPIE FATHER. This is another feature of the relations existing between them. We first quote the words in which Jesus spoke of His praying. Fie told Peter: I have prayed for thee? a Sit ye here while I go and pray yonder? Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels f 4 I pray for them (the disciples). I pray not that thou shouldst take them-out of the J Johnix. 4. 2 Johnxvii. 4. 3 Mat. xxvi. 36 ; Mark xiv. 32. 2a Luke xxii. 31, 32. 4 Mat. xxvi. 53. 133 CHRIST HIS OWN WITNESS. world} Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word? I knew that thou hearest me always? Some of Jesus’ prayers are petitions : others are words of thanksgiving. In that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit and said, I thank thee, 0 Father, Lord of heaven and earth? At the grave of Lazarus : Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me? In a time of sore conflict Jesus prayed to God for help : Now is my soul troubled, and what shall I say ? Father, save me from this hour? The only prayer of Jesus, of any length, which is preserved to us, is that made the last night of His life, called His high-priestly prayer. It need not be copied here, and it can not be condensed. * 7 * In it He prayed for Himself and for His disciples ; and not only for those who were then around Him, but for all who should be brought to believe in and love Him. Finally, on the cross, He prayed for those who crucified Him : Father, forgive them for they know not what they do; 8 and, in His deepest agony, for Himself: Eli, Eli, lama sabach- thani, that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me f 9 and with His last breath He breathed out an utterance of faith and trust : Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit F From these recorded prayers of Jesus and His words about His praying we learn : that He prayed 1 John xvii. 9, 15. 2 John xvii. 20. 4 Luke x. 21 ; Mat. xi. 25. 6 John xii. 27. 7 John xvii. 9 Mat. xxvii. 46 ; Mark xv. 34. s John xi. 42. 6 John xi. 41, 42. 8 Luke xxiii. 34. 10 Luke xxiii. 46. JESUS' RELA TIONS TO THE FA THER. i ^g labitually; that in His prayers He expressed the feelings of adoration, filial confidence and love ; that He prayed in times of joy, expressing gladness and thankfulness ; that He prayed in times of sadness and anxiety, and the more earnestly in proportion to the intensity of His distress; that He persevered, wrestling in prayer until “ he was heard in that he feared; ” that He prayed in connection with the working of miracles ; that He had assurance of being always heard even in the largest petitions ; that He prayed with unreserved submission to His Father’s will ; and that He prayed for men, interceding in be¬ half of His friends, and also of His enemies. The prayers of Jesus had in them all the elements which enter into the prayers of other men, except confession of sin and petition for forgiveness. As there is no admission of personal guilt in all He ever said to men, so also there is none in what He said to God. Not even a sin of thought does He ever con¬ fess. In this there is shown a wonderful consistency. The prayers of Jesus were real prayers, differing from the real prayers of others only as His character and relations to God differed from ours. There, indeed, the difference was immeasurable, essential, unchange¬ able. At every prayer He went in, into the Holy of holies, saw Him “whom no man hath seen nor can see,” and was there “ with God.” The Scriptures put Jesus by the side of us in praise also as well as prayer, the Epistle to the Hebrews re¬ ferring to Jesus that declaration of the twenty-second Psalm (v. 22 ): “ I will declare thy name unto my 140 CHRIST HIS 0 WN WITNESS. brethren ; in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee.” 1 65. JESUS AS SON IS IN THE CLOSEST UNION WITH THE FATHER. In studying the words of Jesus on this high theme, we will attend closely to the form of His expressions, and group the passages together in reference to their form, at the risk of some repetition of the thought. A. Passages in which Jesus directly declares His union with the Father. Just before He went out to Gethsemane Jesus said : Behold the hour cometh, yea , is now come , that ye shall be scattered every man to his own , and shall leave me alone : and yet I am not alone because the Father is with me. 2 Jesus spoke here of the presence of the Father with Him as something permanent, intimate, loving, and sustaining. It was just what He had not when He cried : My God , why hast thou forsaken me ? 3 Other men have enjoyed a sense of the helping presence of God. God “ was with ” Joseph, 4 Moses, 5 Paul. 6 The words which Jesus used here of God’s presence with Himself do not in themselves mean any more than when used of these others. But the reality in the experience of Jesus may have been, and doubtless was, far greater. 2 John xvi. 32. 6 Ex. iii. 12. 1 Heb. ii. 12. 4 Gen. xxxix. 2, 3, 23. 3 Mat. xxvii. 46. 6 2 Tim. iv. 17. JESUS' RE LA TIONS TO THE FA THER. 141 B. In other passages Jesus speaks of the union subsisting between Himself and the Father as a pat¬ tern of the relation subsisting between Himself and His people or as a standard, to the likeness of which the union of Himself and His people, and even their union with one another, is to be conformed. A t that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me and I in you} That they all may be one, as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee; that they also may be one in us . And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them, that they may be one as we are. I in them and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one} Men know best about those relations in which both or one, at least, of the parties are men. We can form some good idea of the sentiments, sympathies, activi¬ ties actual and possible, among followers of Christ; also those between Jesus Christ and those men who are most like Himself, and especially if we ourselves have had any experiences of the kind. Jesus says they resem¬ ble the experiences of the relation between Himself and the Father. But however high such experiences may go, they doubtless fall immeasurably short of the realities of the union of the Father and the Son. Of the facts in regard to this last, we may learn more from further study of these words and others not yet brought forward ; but the most we must leave to the unrevealed experiences of the Godhead. C. In still other passages Jesus speaks in such a 1 John xiv. 20, See under § 96. 3 John xvii. 21, 22, 23. 142 CHRIST HIS OWN WITNESS. way of His own union with the Father as to bring it into immediate connection with His own actions : Believest thou not that I am in the Father and the Father in me ? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself; but the Father that dwelleth in me he doeth the works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works sake} Jesus here referred His speaking and His acting, His teachings and His miracles to the efficacy of the union which subsists between Himself and His Father. Again, Jesus said : He that sent me is with me: the Father hath 7iot left me alone; for I do always those things that please him} The union, therefore, has such virtue that Jesus in all His acting is NOT ALONE, but has the Father with Him ; and so all His acts please the Father. Again : Though ye believe not me (that is, my naked assertion) believe the works, that ye may know and believe that the Father is in me and I in him} Jesus claimed that His miracles proved the mutual indwell¬ ing of Himself and the Father. But they could do so only as the indwelling of the Father in Him was their source. Again : Yet if I judge, my judgment is true ; for I am not alo?ie, but I and the Father that sent me} The presence of the Father with Him had as its result His judging men with a true judgment. In short, Jesus represented the union existing 1 John xiv. io, 11. 2 John viii. 29, “ with me," Greek /J-sr’ tuov. 1 2 3 John x. 38. 4 John viii. 16. JESUS' RE LA TIONS TO THE FA TILER. 143 between Himself and the Father to be such that His teachings, His actions and His judgments of men were directly controlled by it, as an effect is control¬ led by its cause. He claimed never to speak or act separately from the Father : such independent action would be impossible. This will be confirmed by other words of Jesus which are still to follow. 66. AS SON, JESUS RECEIVES ALL HIS POWERS, AU¬ THORITY AND ACTIVITY FROM THE FATHER. As the living Father hath sent me and I live by the Father, so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me} Jesus was speaking here of Himself as “ the living bread that came down from heaven.” The expres¬ sion, I live by the Father, is a deep word, perhaps goes down to the very depths of its speaker’s being. For the life which Jesus spoke of here is certainly not His bodily life, but His existence in all its extent and essence. And the words assert a truth about Him to which He compares another truth concern¬ ing His people : As He lives by the Father, so His people live by Him. It is their spiritual life that is spoken of; of that He is the author and constant source. The simple fact of the reception of life is common to both Him and them. The nature and mode of that reception of life may be very dissimilar, as also the life itself. If it is true that the Son “ lives by the Father,” 1 John vi. 57. “By the Father,” Greek, did rbv TzaTeqa; “by me,” Greek, 61 efie. Aid, with Accusative, said of the immediate, efficient cause. 144 CHRIST BIS OWN WITNESS. then the union between them is to Him a vital one. By virtue of it His life comes constantly and directly from God the Father. Such is* the meaning of these words. What more can we do than just interpret them ? To go any further and lay open the mystery of that union, the essence of which is this eternal, un¬ ceasing passing of life from the Father to the Son, is not for man or angel. We take the words and rest with them, content with the fact that Jesus in them points to the Father, as the source of His being—He is Son. Not only His own life, but the power of conferring life on men is received by Jesus from the Father. Verily, verily , I say unto you , The hour is coming and now is when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God; and they that hear shall live. For as the Father hath life in himself, so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself} .... The hour is coming in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice and shall come forth ; they that have done good u?ito the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation . 2 Thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him} Jesus has, then, power to give SPIRITUAL LIFE to men living in the world, resurrection-life to the dead, and also eternal life to His people : and He receives that power from the Father. Again : we find, The Father hath give?i him (the 1 John v. 25 , 26 . 2 John v. 25 - 29 . 8 John xvii. 2 . JESUS' EELS FLOATS TO THE FA THEE. 145 Son) authority to execute judgment also? For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed ail judg¬ ment unto the Son. 2 Also Jesus received from the Father the power to work miracles. The Father that dzvelleth in me he doeth the works? If I with the finger of God cast out devils? Again: Jesus received from the Father all the truths which He taught to men—all that He spoke was given Him of God to speak. My doctrine is not mine, but his that se?it me. If any man will do his will he shall know of the doctrine whether it be of God or whether I speak of myself ? For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me he gave me a commandment what I should say and what I should speak. Whatsoever I speak, therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak I I speak to the world those things which I have heard of him? Then shall ye know that I do nothing of myself , but as my Father hath taught me I speak these things? 1 speak that which I have seen with my Father? Ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth which I have heard of God?* The words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself, but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works? 1 All things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you? 2 1 John v. 27. p. 265. 4 Luke xi. 20. 7 John viii. 26. 10 John viii. 40. On this part of the Messiah’s work see ch. xiv., 2 John v. 22. ? John xiv. 10. 6 John vii. 16, 17. * 6 * 8 John xii. 49, 50. 8 John viii. 28. 9 John viii. 38. 13 John xiv. 10. 12 John xv. 15. 7 146 CHRIST HIS OWN WITNESS. I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me} Broad as these declarations are, there are broader still : All things are delivered unto me of my Father : 2 And, All power (authority) is given unto me in heaven and in earth} We now sum up what Jesus has said on these in¬ teresting points : the fact of His receiving from the Father, and what He receives. On no matter, per¬ haps, does He speak more definitely or more in detail. Each declaration as to what He receives from the Father is another declaration of the fact of His re¬ ceiving. Jesus receives from His Father, Life—that is, His very Being ; also the Power of Conferring Life on men, bodily life in this world, the new life of the resurrection, spiritual life, and eternal life. He also receives from the Father the Authority to Judge men —all judgment of men is put into His hands. The Son also receives from the Father all that He Teaches. The Father “ showed ” Him, “ taught ” Him, “ gave to ” Him, and “ commanded ” Him to speak, and “ what to speak ; ” and He, the Son, saw, heard, received and then obeyed, by teaching all to men. Finally, the Father has put all things both in heaven and in earth into the hands of the Son and under His authority, and the Son holding and exercising this universal authority asserts that He received it all from God the Father. John xvii. 8. 2 Mat. xi. 27 ; Luke x. 22. 3 Mat. xxviii. 18, JESUS’ EEL A TIONS TO THE FA THEE. 14 7 Here, as before, we can only point out the mani¬ fest bearing and scope of Jesus’ words, without pre¬ suming to show or to know all that they import. Yet the suggestion may be ventured that not all that Jesus said about the derivation of His being, powers, authority, doctrine and activities from the Father is to be referred to Him as the Messiah clothed in human flesh, and in that capacity needing to receive from the Godhead, with His office, all that was neces¬ sary for its discharge; rather, this derivation of all that the Son is and has from the Father, is a neces¬ sary feature of the Sonship. It is in perfect keeping with the relation of Father and Son subsisting be¬ tween them ; and the contrary would not be so. The fact of the Sonship and the fact of the derivation of all that the Son has from the Father, explain and confirm each other; and the whole is the true solu¬ tion of that wonderful expression of the Apostle, where, speaking of the Son, he says: Who, being the brightness of his (God’s) glory and the express image of his person . 1 67 . THE SON DOES THE SAME THINGS AS THE FATHER. The Son can do nothing of himself but what he sceth the Father do ; for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise . 2 My Father worketh hith¬ erto and I work. 3 For as the Father raiscth up the dead and quickeneth them, even so the Son quickeneth whom he willl For as the Father hath life in him - 1 Heb. i. 3. 3 John v. 19. 3 Johnv. 17. 4 Johnv.2i. 148 CHRIST HIS OWN WITNESS . self, even so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself} I and my Father are one} These sayings, which have all been quoted before, are here repeated with reference simply to the point stated in the title to the section, that the Son does (and so has the authority and right to do) that which the Father does. This implies equal powers and authority with the Father ; implies association and associate action. As to the last word, I a?id my Father are one , let it be observed that Jesus had said before : I give unto them (my sheep) eternal life , and they shall tiever perish , neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand} He then went on : My Father which gave them me is greater than all , and 710 man (no one) is able to pluck them out of my Father s hand} Here, then, Jesus presented one instance of actions of the same kind on the part of Himself and His Father ; and He thereupon immediately added : I and my Father are one. The least that these words could mean in this connection is that asseited above, that the Son does the same things, with the same author¬ ity and power as the Father. And they may mean, and apparently do mean, a great deal more. They in their terms declare, namely, the essential equality and unity of the Son with the Father. If taken in this deeper sense they must have been appended to the preceding statements for the purpose of giving the ground of that equality of action. Indeed, even without these words, the very claim by Jesus of J John v. 26. 2 J°hn x. 30. 3 John x. 28. 4 J°hn x. 29, JESUS' RE LA TLONS TO TLIE FA TILER. 149 equal authority, power, and sovereignty of action with the Father, necessarily requires the assumption of an equal nature and capacities. For how could a being having a nature and capabilities less than God’s, do the same things with God, or have the right to do them ? If, then, these last quoted words do not express the essential equality of the Son to the Father, that equality is still necessarily implied. The oneness which they so plainly declare must be of a kind adequate to its resulting action. 68. IN THE SON, THE FATHER IS SEEN, KNOWN, DES¬ PISED, HATED, BELIEVED, AND RECEIVED BY MEN. When Philip said : Show us the Father and it suffic- eth us, Jesus answered him : Have I been so long time with you and yet hast thou not known me, Philip ? He that hath seen me hath seen the Father} If ye had known me ye should have known my Father also ; and from henceforth ye know him and have seen him} He that seeth me seeth him that sent me} He that despis- eth me despiscth him that sent me} He that hateth me hateth my Father also} He that believeth on me, be- lieveth not on me, but on him that sent me} He that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me! It is evident that Jesus meant to say that the see¬ ing, knowing, believing, hating Him was equivalent to, was the same as, the seeing, knowing, believing, hating the Father. This could be true only on the hy¬ pothesis of the clo est union, or rather unity, between 1 John xiv. 9. 2 John viii. 19, and xiv. 7. 3 4 John xii. 45. 4 Luke x. 16. 5 John xv. 23. 0 John xii. 44. 7 Mat. x. 40. CHRIST HIS OWN WITNESS . 150 them. Jesus did indeed say to his Apostles in refer¬ ence to their preaching : He that despiseth you despis- eth me; 1 He that receiveth you receiveth me; 2 and that was true, inasmuch as they represented Him and preached His word. Thus far there was a resem¬ blance in the two cases and relations, the lower rela¬ tion resembling the higher only in a small part of its extent, and even there imperfectly. But Jesus never said to His Apostles : He that seeeth, knoweth, hear- eth, believeth you, seeth, knoweth, heareth, believeth me. And what prophet or apostle ever said, as Jesus did: He that hath seen me hath seen the Father? Evidently there must lie, as a basis for these words of Jesus, the substratum of a union between Him and the Father, beyond that which exists in the case of any other being, a union which is in fact a unity. 69 . THE SON SHARES WITH THE FATHER IN THE OWNERSHIP OF ALL THINGS. In prayer, referring to His disciples Jesus said: / pray for them : I pray ?iot for the zvorld ‘ but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine. A?id all mine are thine , and thine are mine 2 He meant especially His apostles, and generally, all the re- 1 Luke x. 16. 2 Mat. x. 40. 3 John xvii. 9, 10. Greek, tu ejuu iruvra ad egtl. The neuter is used though persons are primarily spoken of, beautifully express¬ ing the ideas of universality and of real possession. “ All that is thine is mine”—angels, men, heaven, earth and hell; possessed by me just as gold, gems, houses, lands are possessed by their owners. JESUS' RE LA TIOUS TO THE FA THER. i5 1 deemed. He (the Spirit) shall glorify me; for he shall receive of mine a 7 id shall shew it unto you. All things that the Father hath are mine; therefore said f He shall take of mine and shall shozv it unto you} To show the extent to which His words, “ He shall take of mine and shall show it unto you,” were true, Jesus reminded them that that which is His has no narrow limit; for all that is the Father’s is His also : so that the Spirit in taking of His, has, so to speak, the range of all that is God’s. But what a claim is put in here! to a community of property with God. “ All that is God’s is mine ! ” Was He a mere man ? an angel? a creature? Who can He be whom God associates with Himself in the ownership of all exist¬ ing things ? 70. JESUS AS SON, AND HE ALONE, SEES AND KNOWS THE FATHER IMMEDIATELY AND PERFECTLY. Not that any man {any one) hath seen the Father save he which is of God; he hath seen the Father. 2 As the Father knoweth me , even so know I the Father? Ye have not known hint; but I know him ; and if I should say I know him not , I shall be a liar like unto you} No man {no one) knoweth the Son but the Father ; neither knoweth any man the Father save the Son , and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him? No language could make it plainer that the knowl- 1 John xvi. 14, 15. 2 J°lm vi. 46. 3 John x. 15, On this most astonishing assertion of a knowl¬ edge of the Father like the knowledge of the Son by the Father, see §40, p. 92. 4 J°lm viii. 55. 6 Mat. xi. 27. 152 CHRIST HIS OWN WITNESS. edge of the Father which the Son possesses is un¬ derived, immediate, perfect, and the perfect counter¬ part of the knowledge of the Son by the Father. And further, Jesus says that the knowledge of the Father which any other beings possess, be they who they may, is received from Him, the Son. Thsse words remind us of those of the beloved disciple: No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son which is in the bosom of the Father he hath declared him. 1 To the Son all the Deity lies open: and He reveals the Deity to men as He will. 71 . HIS WORK ON EARTH BEING DONE, THE SON RE¬ TURNED TO THE FATHER, AND SITS AT HIS RIGHT HAND, SHARING HIS THRONE AND HIS GLORY. Yet a little while am I with you and then I go unto him that sent me? I go my way; . . . whither I go ye cannot come? As I said unto the Jews , whither I go ye cannot come , so now I say to you? Whither I go ye know and the way ye know? I go unto my Father? If ye loved me, ye would rejoice because I said I go unto the Father? I came forth from the Father , and am come into the world: again I leave the world and go to the Father? And now I am 710 more in the world , but these are in the world , and I come to thee? I am not yet ascended to my Father ; but go to my brethren a7id say unto them, I ascend iinto my Father and your 1 John i. 18. 4 John xiii. 33. 7 John xiv. 28. 2 John vii. 33. 5 John xiv. 4. 8 John xvi. 28. 3 John viii. 21. e John xiv. 12. “John xvii. n, JESUS' RE LA TION'S TO THE FA THER. 153 Father, and to my God and your God? For David himself said by the Holy Ghost, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand till L make thine ene¬ mies thy footstool? These last words are cited by Jesus, and applied by Him to the Messiah, that is, to Himself; and they show, as do His other sayings quoted here, His place in the world above. He further said, through His servant in Patmos : To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me on my throne, even as L also overcame and am set dozvn with my Father in his throne? He also claimed equal honor with the Father: That all men should honor the Son even as they honor the Father. He that hon¬ or eth not the Son, honor eth not the Father which hath sent him? These relations of the Son to the Father are eternal: The Son abideth ever? We find, in one of the passages just quoted, the association of the Son with the Father on His throne presented by Jesus as the analogue of the association of believers with Himself. Interpreted mathematic¬ ally the words might be regarded as teaching that the people of God would share in the throne of God, or share in it as far as the Son does. The same terms are used of both ; but general language can not be construed by the rules of a mathematical equa¬ tion, and, above all, figurative language. And note well, in demonstration and illustration of the differ¬ ence in the two cases—first, the difference of attri- 1 John xx. 17. 2 Mark xii. 36 ; Mat. xxii. 44 ; Luke xx. 42. 3 Rev. iii. 21. 4 John v. 23. 6 Jolin viii. 35. 7 * 154 CHRIST HIS 0 WN WITNESS. butes and powers between mere men and the Son of God, as that difference is shown by the exhibit made of the attributes of the Son ; the sharing in authority and administration can not go further than the ca¬ pacities of the respective subjects ; and on this line men soon find their limit. Secondly note, that no such results of the union of men in the throne and honors of the Son are declared, as we see clearly de¬ clared concerning the union of the Son with the Father. Their words and acts are nowhere stated to be Christ’s, as the words and acts of the Son are declared to be the Father’s. They do not see, hear, know Him immediately, and perfectly, as He sees and knows the Father; they know the Father only by revelation made to them through the Son. Also they have not sovereign power to make the Son known to men as the Son has power to reveal the Father. They are not said to do all that Jesus does, and by the same right, as the Son is said to do in respect to the Father. Their relations through the Son to the Father are indeed blessed and glorious, 1 but are far inferior, as are their capacities and rights, to those of u the beloved Son of God.” 1 See chapters xii„ xiii. CHAPTER X. RELATIONS OF JESUS TO THE HOLY SPIRIT. 72 . JESUS, IN HIS LIFE ON EARTH, HAD THE CON¬ STANT PRESENCE AND INWORKING OF THE SPIRIT. In the Synagogue at Nazareth once, Jesus stood up and read a prediction from Isaiah: The Spirit 0 / the Lord is upon me because he hath anointed me to preach the Gospel to the poor; etc.And then he began to say unto them : This day is this Scripture ful¬ filled in your ears} It was fulfilled, namely, in Him ; the Spirit of the Lord was upon Him, because the Lord had anointed Him with it. Jesus said to the Church in Sardis : These things saith he that hath the seven spirits of God . 1 2 The language is symbolic, and derived from the prophet Zechariah. 3 The number seven represents simply the fullness of knowledge and power and work of the one Spirit. This Spirit, the exalted Jesus declares that He “ PIATH,” as a possession, an instrument, a gift for men. Speaking of the power by which He wrought His miracles, Jesus said : If I cast out devils by the Spirit 1 Isa. lxi. 1, 2 ; Luke iv. 18, 21 ; see John iii. 34. 2 Rev. iii. 1. 3 Zech. iv. 2, n-14. (i55) 156 CHRIST HIS OWN WITNESS. of God} In Luke the words are: If I with the fin¬ ger of God cast out devils} Here the Spirit is the divine instrument by which Jesus works. The charge made by His enemies that He cast out devils by Beelzebub, was blasphemy against the Spirit ; for Jesus immediately said : But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgive- ness, but is in danger of eternal damnation} Which the Evangelist explains: “ Because they said, He (Christ) hath an unclean spirit.” The fact that their act was blasphemy against the Holy Spirit implies the presence with Jesus of the Holy Spirit in His full majesty and sacredness. 73. JESUS GIVES THE SPIRIT TO MEN. He said to the woman of Samaria: Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again; but whoso¬ ever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a zvell of water springing up unto everlasting life} What the water is which Jesus gives, appears from another passage. Jesus stood in the temple and cried, saying : If any man thirst let him come unto me and drink . He that believeth on me, as the Scripture hath said , out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water} John adds : “ This spake he of the 1 Mat. xii. 28. Greek, ev Trvevjuarc Qecv, by the Spirit of God. 2 Luke xi. 20. Greek, Ev da/cTvXo) QeoD. Ev with the Dative of the Instrument or Means. 3 Mark iii. 29, 30. Compare Mat. xii. 31. 4 John iv. 13, 14. 5 J°Im vii. 37, 38. JESUS' RELATIONS TO THE HOLY SPIRIT. i$y Spirit which they that believe on him should re¬ ceive.” Here the relation of the parties is : Jesus the Pos¬ sessor and Bestower; the Spirit, the treasure held and bestowed on men. Jesus promised to send the Spirit in more abun¬ dant measure and power after His return to the Father: Wait for the promise of the Father which, said he, ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water, but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence} Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you} And be¬ hold, I se?id the promise of my Father upon you ; but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem until ye be endued with power from 071 high} I will pray the Father and he shall give you another Comforter} These things have I spoken unto you being yet present with you. But the Comforter which is the Holy Ghost whom the Father will send in my 7iame, he shall teach you all things and bring all things to your re77ie77ibrance whatsoever I have said unto you} When the Comforter is come zvho77i I will send uzito you fro7n the Father, even the Spirit of truth which proceedeth fro7n the Father, he shall testify of me} It is expedient for you that I go away • for if I go 7iot away, the Co77iforter will 7iot come unto you ; but if I depart I will send him unto you. A nd zvhen he is coi7ie he will reprove the world of sin a7id of right- eous7icss and of judgment} When he, the Spirit of 1 Acts i. 4, 5. 2 Acts i. 8. 3 Luke xxiv. 49. 4 John xiv. 16, 17. 6 John xiv. 26. 6 John xv. 26. 5 John xvi. 7, 8, i 5 8 CHRIST HIS 0 WN WITNESS. truth , is come, he will guide you into all truth : for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shozv you things to come . He shall glorify me ; for he shall receive of mine and shall show it unto you} The word “ Comforter ” used in our translation is a very inadequate representative of the original term IlapdKMjrog. Jesus Christ is called the IlapdKArjTog of His people. “ If any man sin we have an Advocate (in the original, IJapdKkr]Tog) with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 2 Here we have the proper technical meaning of the word. Jesus Christ is so called because, as the Advocate of His people He pleads for them with God, acts in their behalf, and secures their interests and safety. When Jesus, there¬ fore, declared that the Father, in answer to Hie prayers, would send to them another Paraclete, He meant one who should take the place which He him¬ self had, till then, occupied as such. The Spirit was to take the Headship of Christ’s people and Church in the place of Christ, and act in that office as Christ had done. Accordingly the Spirit sustains now the cause of Christ in the world, and defends, strengthens, enlightens, sanctifies, comforts, and guides Christians. In this way the High-priestly Prayer of the depart¬ ing Jesus is fulfilled. The Spirit is the Vicegerent of Christ on earth. 3 1 John xvi. 13, 14. 2 1 John ii. I. 3 The interesting and affecting letter of the churches of Vienne and Lyons in France, written in the second century, and giving to their brethren in Asia Minor an account of their sufferings JESUS' RELATIONS TO THE HOLY SPIRIT . 159 74. SUMMARY OF THE TEACHINGS OF JESUS CON* CERNING THE RELATIONS WHICH EXIST BETWEEN HIMSELF AND THE HOLY SPIRIT. Jesus was anointed with the Spirit to do His Mes¬ sianic work. By the Spirit He preached the Gospel and performed His miracles ; especially was the cast¬ ing out of devils performed by Him through the Spirit of God. Jesus gives the Spirit as a water of Life to those who ask Him. Having ascended to heaven, He received of the Father larger gifts of the Spirit, and He sends the Spirit to be in His Church and with His people in more abundant gifts and graces, and with authority to act in His name and place as Head, Protector, and Guide, and especially as a Teacher of His truth. In doing the work of Teacher the Spirit testifies of Christ, recalls to be¬ lievers the remembrance of what He said, shows to believers the things of Christ, convicts the world of sin in not believing on Him, and so glorifies the Son. All this implies and expresses both a distinction of personalities between the Son and the Spirit, and also entire sympathy in object and harmony in ac- from persecution, tells of a martyr, Vettius Epagathus, his suffer¬ ings, constancy and death, and then says of him : “ He was a paracletos of the Christians, having the Paracletos in himself.” That the word is used in the sense of Defender is plain from the added explanatory remark that he laid down his life in defence (dTroPi.oy/a:) of the brethren.” He had the “ Helper ” (the Holy Spirit) within him, and so he had the courage and the wisdom to “ help ” others. 160 CHRIST HIS 0 WN WITNESS. tion ; in short, not only the closest union, but essen¬ tial equality, joined with subordination in order. The similarity of many of the facts as thus stated by Jesus, in the relations of the Spirit to the Son and those of the Son to the Father, is manifest; and it points to a common union of the Three. With the deepest and the sweetest conviction I write it, as the result of this fresh and careful study of all that Jesus said of His own Attributes and Pre¬ rogatives, and of His Relations to the Father and to the Spirit, He WHO CLAIMS THESE THINGS, CLAIMS to be God : He of whom these things are true, IS God. And without this truth of the Divinity of Jesus Christ neither could those further declarations be true which are now to be studied, regarding the relations of Jesus to all men, to His people and to His Church. CHAPTER XL RELATIONS OF JESUS AS MESSIAH TO MEN IN GENERAL. 75 . JESUS RECOGNIZED THE FACT THAT MEN ARE DEPRAVED AND GUILTY, AND SO UNDER CON¬ DEMNATION. Jesus declared that men are ignorant of the Father and of Himself: And these things will they do unto you because they have not known the Father nor me} The knowledge here meant is not a merely intellec¬ tual acquaintance v/ith the name, character, or acts of God and of Christ, but an internal, spiritual knowl¬ edge which controls the heart and life—an apprehen¬ sion of the reality and excellence of the Divine Per¬ fections and Work, especially as they relate to men. It is such knowledge as Jesus had in mind when He said: No man k?ioweth the Father save the Son and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him} The masses whom He addressed were not acknowledged by Jesus as His people : Ye are not of my sheep} They were against Him: He that is not with me is against me} They refused to apply for His saving help: Ye ivill not come unto me that ye might have life} They did J Johnxvi 3. 2 Mat. xi. 27. 3 4 Johnx. 26. 4 Luke xi. 23. 5 John v. 40. (161) 162 CHRIST HIS OWN WITNESS. not believe in Him : If ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins? They preferred ignorance and sin to His instructions and assistance : Light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light? They hated Him : The world cannot hate you, but me it hateth? Now have they both see7i and hated both me and my Father? Some spoke against Him: Whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man? If they have called the Master of the house BeelzebubI They dishonored Him : I honor my Father, and ye do dishonor me? They tried to kill Him : Ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth? They per¬ secuted Him in persecuting His people : I am Jesus whom thou persecutest? They were slaves of sin: Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin . If the Son, therefore, shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed?* Blasphemy was among their sins ; and the blasphemers were Satan’s servants : I know the blasphemy of them that say they are Jews and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan?' Their actions and lives were wicked : I testify of it (the world) that the works thereof are evil . 12 But wickedness is hateful to Him : Thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate . 13 So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate? i His Jewish I John viii. 24. 2 John iii. 19. 4 John xv. 24. * 4 * 6 Mat. xii. 32. 7 John viii. 49. 9 Acts ix. 5 ; xxii. 8 ; xxvi. 15. II Rev. ii. 9. 12 John vii. 7. 14 Rev. ii. 15. 8 John vii. 7. 6 Mat. x. 25. 8 John viii. 37, 40. 10 John viii. 34, 36. 13 Rev. ii. 6. RE LA TIONS OF JESUS A S ME SSI A H TO MEN. j 63 enemies were accused before God for this their enmity to Jesus by Moses himself: Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father: there is one that accuseth you, even Moses in whom ye trust} His instructions and miracles stripped them of all excuse for their unbe¬ lief : If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin ; but now they have no cloak for their sin. . . . . If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin ; but now have they both seen and hated both me and my FatherI The inevitable result of their wickedness and rejection of Him was utter and eternal ruin : Ye shall seek me and shall die in your sins . I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins ; for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins? Many of these words of Jesus are special in their character and application, referring to particular per¬ sons or classes, whose opportunities of knowledge were peculiar, and whose guilt was, therefore, aggra¬ vated. But others of them are more general and some universal in their application. In these Jesus recognizes “ the world ” as being and doing evil, as hating and opposing Him. He speaks of men as cal¬ lous and ignorant of God and His truth, and, if not regenerated by Divine grace, developing enmity in proportion to their acquaintance with Himself and His truth. Such were men in the sight of Jesus. And therefore, as “ the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters” of primeval chaos, so Jesus, 1 John v. 45, 46. 2 John xv. 22, 24. 3 John viii. 21, 24. CHRIST HIS OWN WITNESS. 164 the Messiah, came working, and still works upon this moral chaos of humanity, to bring it into moral order, to purity, beauty, and everlasting glory. 76. JESUS DECLARES HIMSELF TEIE SAVIOUR OF MEN. Hence His Name : for “Jesus’’ (from the Hebrew, Joshua, or Jeshua), signifies SAVIOUR . 1 2 It is as Sav¬ iour He carries out the purpose for which He came into the world. By methods and means which In¬ finite Wisdom appointed, Jesus bestows on lost men eternal life. As thou hast given him power over all flesh that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him? Under various figures this great benefit which He confers on men is represented to us. Regarding men not only as mortal, but as spiritually dead, and con¬ demned to eternal death, He said to Martha : I am the Resurrection and the Life : he that believeth in me, though he zvere dead, yet shall he live ; and he that liveth and believeth in me shall never die? Here, entirely in His own manner, Jesus mingled lower and higher references together, bodily with spiritual death and condemnation, and the resurrection of the body with that of the soul to spiritual and eternal life. He is the Author of Life for the whole man. So, again, He said : The hour is coming, arid now is, when the dead (the spiritually dead) shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live. For as the Father 1 Mat. i. 21. See on object of His coming, ch. iv. 2 John xvii. 2. 3 John xi. 25, 26. RELA TIONS OF JESUS A S MESSIAH TO MEN. j 6 ^ hath life in himself , so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself} Likening the saved to a flock needing to be gath¬ ered safely into the fold, He said : / am the door of the sheep} It is through His Mediatorial work that men enter within that fold. As they need, while in the world, His constant care and protection, He says: 1 am the good shepherd? Inasmuch as that eternal life to which He brings His people is a life in the pres¬ ence and the enjoyment of God and Himself, which is the highest state of life for a creature—is, in fact, the creature’s supreme good, and inasmuch as He alone brings men to this life, Jesus says of Himself: I am the Way. Inasmuch as He is both the subject and the teacher of the Gospel truth, He says : And (I am) the Truth. And inasmuch as He is both the author of redemption and the source and peren¬ nial spring of spiritual and eternal life, He finishes this grand triplet of characters by saying : And (I am) the Life. Having said, I am the Way and the Truth and the Life, He justifies His claim to these glorious names and His exclusive claim to them, by adding: No ma7i cometh unto the Father but by me} We now, with Jesus ever as our guide, proceed to trace out the different parts and steps of this His great work of men’s salvation. Each item will be a new feature of Jesus’ Relations to Men. 1 John v. 25, 26. 1 John xiv. 6. 3 John x. 7. 8 John x. 11. CHRIST HIS 0 WN WITNESS. 166 77. JESUS DIED TO SAVE MEN. Jesus taught that the chief Corner-Stone of the whole structure of men’s salvation is HlS DEATH. As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up, that whosoever be- lieveth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begot¬ ten Son that zv ho so ever bclieveth in him should not per¬ ish, but have everlasting life} The word “ Gave ” in this last sentence means “Gave up to death.” Just as when instituting and explaining the Lord’s supper, Jesus said : This is my body which is given for you . 1 2 3 4 Paul gives the words as: This is my body, which is broken for you? Again, of the wine, Jesus said: This is my blood of the New Testament which is shed for many for the remission of sins} This cup is the New Testament in my blood, which is shed for you} It was this great result of His death, namely, the eternal life of men, that comforted Him in the anticipation of that death. Having said that the corn of wheat must die in order to bring forth fruit, for otherwise it would abide alone, He prayed, in soul-conflict at the view of death, Father, save me from this hour, but immediately added, but for this cause came I unto this 1 John iii. 14, 15, 16. 2 Luke xxii. 19, “for you,” Greek, vtt^q v/iuv. See note 3 t next page. 3 1 Cor. xi. 24, “ for you,” Greek, vnig v[iuv. 4 Mat. xxvi. 28 ; Mark xiv. 24, “ for many,” Greek, neft ttoTiXuv, 6 Luke xxii. 20, “ for you,” Greek, vney vfi&v. RE LA TIONS OF JE S US AS ME SSI A H TO MEN. 16 7 hour} He came to that hour and situation IN ORDER TO DIE, to die for men’s salvation : as the corn of wheat must die in order to produce fruit. Looking at the same result of His death at another time, He said : And /, if I be lifted up from the earth will draw all men unto me'} John adds: “ This he said, signifying what death he should die.” Jesus made this great service, which by His death He did for men, an example for His people to follow : Whoso¬ ever will be great among you, let him be your minister y and whosoever will be chief among you let him be your servant: Even as the Son of man came not to be minis¬ tered unto , but to minister and to give his life a ransom for many} 1 John xii. 24-27. 2 John xii. 32, 33. 3 Mat. xx. 26-28. “ A ransom for many,” Greek, Xvtqov avri •nuAXfiv. The importance of the subject calls us to note carefully the words employed in describing the relation between Jesus’ death and the salvation of men. We find the prepositions, rent, vtteq, and uvtl. IIeol signifies aboitt, concerning, in reference to, fer, in behalf of. Matthew and Mark use this preposition in reporting what Jesus taught concerning His blood ; it was shed, negl nol?Ev, for many. But Luke expresses the Saviour’s thought by the preposition vrey : “This is the New Testament in my blood which is shed, vtt^q vfiLv, for you.” In this connection, then, the two words are equivalent. Tt rig signifies, strictly, over, and then, over, in the way of protecting , and so, for, in behalf of, for the benefit of. Luke and Paul describe by it also what Jesus said of His body: it was “given,” “broken,” vttIq vfj.Lv, for you, in your behalf. Avri properly means, opposite, over against, and so, answering to, equivalent to, instead of, for, i. e., in ex¬ change for. It is used especially in cases of ex. hange, barter l 6 § CHRIST HIS OWN WITNESS. What then, according to the whole teaching of Jesus, is the relation between His death and men’s salvation? The answer is, He died for them, in their behalf; He gave His life a ransom for, i. e, instead of them, for their release from condemnation. His blood was shed for, i. c., so as to procure, the remission of their sins. He died, so that believers in Him might not die, as otherwise they must, but might have eter¬ nal life. His death is the means of their everlasting life. Unless He died, like the corn of wheat in the ground, the good result (His people’s life) would not follow. His death was the condition, the means of that result. Being lifted up on the cross, He draws all men unto Him. Hence His whole mis¬ sion and work as Messiah centered in His dying. For that cause He came to that hour. Jesus’ death is the ground, the sure and the only foundation of the salvation of men. Thus He Himself declared in the clearest manner the vicarious character and efficacy of His death. 1 purchase , with that for which, or in exchange for which, any person or thing is bought, sold, ransomed, redeemed. Jesus de¬ clared that He gave His life a Xjtqov dvri noXhtiv. A vtqov, from Avo), to .oose, to free, is that by which, when given in exchange, a person or thing is freed, loosed, ransomed. Jesus, therefore, gave His life a ransom in exchange for many . Paul, speaking on the same great theme, compounds these two words and adds the preposition vtteq (i Tim. ii. 6), “ Who gave himself, uvtUvtqov vrrtg ttuittuv, an exchange-ransom in behalf of alii' And in Eph. i. 7 he says: “In whom (Jesus Christ) we have uttoXvtquolv 6 ui rou ai/iaTog avrov, redemption (freedom by ransom) through his blood 1 See § 16, p. 26. RELA TIONS OF JESUS A S MESSIAH TO MEN. 169 78. JESUS TEACHES MEN THE WAY OF LIFE. This was a part of the work assigned Him as the Messiah. Though His Atoning Death is necessary for the pardon of sinners and the justification of the guilty; yet they, as rational and moral beings, depraved in heart and blinded in mind, must learn and heartily receive the Gospel truth, intelligently embrace Jesus as their Saviour, and yield a cordial obedience to His commands. Hence the necessity of Jesus’ work as a Teacher while He was in the flesh, and hence the necessity of the Inspired Record of His instructions, of its universal diffusion, and of the work of Gospel ministers and others to preach and teach it till the end of time. Jesus Christ is the Great Teacher. We have presented heretofore the incidental references which He made to His teaching, as a part of the history of His life. 1 2 We now bring forward the words in which He spoke more especially of His office as teacher, and of His preaching and teaching as a part of His Messianic work. 79. THE FACT AND OBJECT OF HIS TEACHING. Jesus often declared His office and work as Teacher : Ye call me Master (Teacher) and Lord , and ye say well; for so I am: It is enough for the disciple 1 See § 17, p- 27. 2 John xiii. 13. “Master,” Greek, <5 id da nalos, T'eacher. See p, 66, note 2. 8 CHRIST HIS OWN WITNESS. 170 that he be as his Master (Teacher). 1 But be ?iot ye called Rabbi; for one is your Master (Guide), even Christ} The object of His teaching men is negatively stated in reference to careless hearers, thus : Lest they should see with their eyes , and hear with their ears, and should imderstand with their heart and should be con¬ verted and I should heal them} Mark puts this last result in the words: And their sms should be for¬ given them} The object, then, which Jesus had in view in teaching, was that His hearers might see, hear, understand, be converted, healed and forgiven. As doing this great work He said of Himself: Light is come into the world} I am the Light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness , but shall have the Light of life} I am come a Light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness} A s long as I am in the world I am the Light of the world} To this end was / born and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth . Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice} The words that I speak unto you they are spirit and they are life} 0 These things I say that ye might be saved} 1 3 * * I know that his command¬ ment is life everlastmg: zvhatsoever I speak therefore , 'Mat. x. 25, “Master,” Greek, diddonalor, as before. 2 Mat. xxiii. 8, “ Master,” Greek, Kadrjy^TTjg, leader, guide , and so, teacher. 3 Mat. xiii. 15. 4 Mark iv. 12. 6 J°hmi Hi. 19. 'John viii. 12. 7 John xii. 46. 8 John ix. 5. 9 John xviii. 37. 10 John vi. 63. 11 John v. 34. RELA TIO NS OF JE S US AS ME SSI A H TO MEN. [ y i even as the Father said unto me, so I speak} We speak that we do know and testify that we have seen} I spake openly to the world: I ever taught in the syna¬ gogue and in the temple? I sat daily with you' teach¬ ing in the temple? a I am the Way and the Truth and the Life? Take my yoke upon you and learn of me? These things saith the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness? These words of Jesus are plain and need no com¬ ment. But they are eminently worthy of our atten¬ tion ; for they are full of important meaning, are suggestive, directive, and inspiring. They contain names of Jesus of delightful significancy : they ex¬ hibit Jesus as the Light, the Truth, the Way, the Teacher and the Guide of men ; they tell the humble inquirer that going to Jesus he will learn infallible and saving truth ; they point out the only Source of knowledge and invite to its acquisition : Learn of me. Jesus said of Mary sitting at His feet and drinking in His words: Mary hath choseit that good part, which shall not be take?i from her? If Jesus is what He in these sayings declared Himself to be, if He rightly estimated the worth of His teachings, then they are blessed who hear and do His words; and this also He Himself said : Blessed are your eyes, for they see : and your ears, for they hear. For verily I say unto you, that many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see a7id have not seen them, Hohn xii. 50. 2 John iii. 11. 3 John. xviii. 20. 3/ Mat. xxvi. 55 ; Mark xiv. 49. 4 John xiv. 6. b Mat. xi. 29. 6 Rev. iii. 14. T Luke x. 42. CHRIST HIS OWN WITNESS. 172 and to hear those things which ye hear and have not heard them} One of the best names of a Christian, one which should be among the sweetest to the be¬ liever himself, is “ disciple (learner) of Christ.” 80. THE MATTER OF JESUS’ TEACHING. Besides the instructions themselves, spread at large through the Gospels, we have words of Jesus in re¬ gard to the objects and substance of His instructions. I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me. 2 Ye seek to kill 7ne , a man that hath told you the truth . And because I tell you the truth ye be¬ lieve me not} If I have told you earthly things and ye believe not} The world cannot hate you, but me it hateth ; because I testify of it that the zvorks thereof are evil} These are the words which I spake unto you while I zvas yet with you} The reference is to His predictions of His sufferings, death and resurrection. No man knoweth the Father save the Son , and he to zvhomsoever the Son will reveal him} I have mani¬ fested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world} God’s “ name ” here signifies His at¬ tributes, character, and purposes of grace. I have declared unto them thy name , and will declare it} I have yet many thmgs to say unto you , but ye cannot bear them now. 10 In these words are summarized the instructions *Mat. xiii. 16 ; Luke x. 24. 2 John xvii. 8. 3 John viii. 40, 45. 4 John iii. 12. 6 John vii. 7. G Luke xxiv. 44. 7 Mat. xi. 27. 8 John xvii. 6. "John xvii. 26. 10 John xvi. 12. RE LA TIONS OF JESUS A S MESSIAH TO MEN. \ 73 which Jesus gave while in the world. They contain, He says, only truth, and He thereby declares His in¬ fallibility. They relate to men, to Himself, and to God. They point out the Way of Life. 8l. TEACHING BY PARABLES. Jesus explained his manner of teaching: To the multitudes He spoke generally by parables, but to His disciples He interpreted these parables, and he gives the reason : Unto yon it is giveji to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven . For zv] 10 so¬ ever hath, to him shall be given and he shall have abun¬ dance} Yet much that He said was obscure also to His disciples. Through their errors, prejudices, and small attainments in spiritual things, they found much that Jesus said enigmatical and difficult to understand. Jesus noticed this and promised a better time—was it when they should have received the Spirit on the day of Pentecost ? or was it not till they should have reached His presence in glory? These things have I spoken unto you in proverbs ; but the time cometh when I shall no more speak unto you in proverbs, hit I shall shozv you plainly of the Father? These words of Jesus suggest to us those of Paul, “ Now we see through a glass darkly, but then face to face : now I know in part, but then I shall know even as also I am known.” 3 The speaking by parables reveals a mental habit of 1 Mat. xiii. 11-15 ; Mark iv. 11; Luke viii. 10. 'John xvi. 25. 3 1 Cor. xiii. 12. 174 CHRIST HIS OWN WITNESS. Jesus which appears indeed in all His language. Everything that came before Him by eye or ear, was suggestive to Him of something else by likeness, con¬ trast or analogy. The beauty of the flowers, the provision for the birds, the light of heaven, the salt on the table ; the sowing of grain, the success and the failure of the sown seed, the lending of money, the renting of a vineyard, the work in a vineyard—all suggested analogies in spiritual things, and thus afforded illustrations and became vehicles of truth. He continually covered a higher meaning in a plain word at the same time that He used that word in its plain sense. When He spoke of the “ leaven ” of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees, He meant their doc¬ trine. By “ fishers of men ” He meant Gospel- preachers. The “ mustard-seed ” is His kingdom, small at first, but growing great.It is a style of thought and language highly characteristic, very entertaining, awakening, instructive. Jesus is the highest example among men of this style of thought. In everything He read spiritual truth ; saw the higher in the lower; made the visible the type of the invisible, the temporal of the eternal. And this is the true idea of the universe ; the lower is every¬ where the type of the higher. 82. JESUS’ INVITATIONS TO MEN. Jesus did not merely teach ; He invited men to come to Him and be saved. Plis words of invitation are full of Divine benevolence. He invited the miserable to receive the benefit of His miraculous powers. To the father of the lunatic RE LA TIONS OF JESUS A S MESSIAH TO MEN. x 75 boy : Bring him hither to me} To the man lying at the pool of Bethesda : Wilt thou be made whole ? 2 To Bartimseus : What wilt thou that I should do unto thee ? 3 This inviting the applications of the wretched, is a type of His earnest benevolence in the bestow- ment of spiritual blessings. He did not permit par¬ ents to be hindered when bringing their children to Him : Suffer the little children and forbid them not to come unto me} To the woman of Samaria: If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee , Give me to drink, thou wouldst have asked of him and he would have given thee living water? Using the same figure, He said in the midst of the multi¬ tudes in the temple : If any man thirst let him come unto me and drinkI Looking upon men as crushed down by heavy burdens, He said with infinite tender¬ ness : Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest . Learn of me, and ye shall find rest unto your souls? He gives the broadest assurance in regard to every applicant : Him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out? To the self-satisfied Loadiceans He said : I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich, and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed? And still more tenderly, to the same : Behold I stand at the door and block : if any man hear my voice and open 1 Mat. xvii. 17 ; Mark ix. 19 ; Luke ix. 41. 2 John v. 6. 3 Luke xviii. 41 ; Mat. xx. 32 ; Mark x. 51. 4 Mat. xix. 14; Mark x. 14; Luke xviii. 16. 6 John iv. 10. 6 John vii. 37. 7 Mat. xi. 28, 29. 8 John vi. 37. 9 Rev. iii. 18. CHRIST HIS OWN WITNESS. 176 the door, / will come in to him, and sup with him and he with me} At the very close of the Bible we have from the mouth of the glorified Jesus one of the freest, widest, and most earnest invitations to a par¬ ticipation in Gospel blessings : I, Jesus, have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. . . . .And the Spirit and the bride say Come: and let him that heareth say Come : and let him that is athirst come: and whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely? Human language was never used more forcibly and urgently, and was never made to express warmer, diviner compassion. We must consider, too, that the feelings of Jesus manifested in these words, came, doubtless, often to expression. All who heard Him became aware of the Spirit within Him, and testified to “ the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth.” 83. RESPONSIBILITY OF MEN CONNECTED WITH JESUS’ TEACHINGS AND INVITATIONS. The duty to believe and obey Jesus being plain, and the consequent advantages great, there is a corre¬ sponding sin in neglecting His instructions, and conse¬ quences proportionably terrible. Jesus well under¬ stood the fact and the cause of the heedlessness of men, and He met it in His own way: Therefore speak I to them in parables, because they seeing see not, and 1 Rev. iii. 20. 2 Rev. xxii. 16, 17. RE LA TIONS OF JE S US AS ME SSI A H TO MEN. \ j j hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. For this people s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted and I should heal them} To them it is not given (to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven). . . . for whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath} To some disputatious hearers, He said : Why do ye not understand my speech ? Even because ye cannot hear my word: And because I tell you the truth ye believe me not} Jesus said to the hesitating Nicodemus : This is the condemnatio?i that light is come into the world and men loved darkness rather than light} It is this He meant also when He said: For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see, and that they which see might be made blind} He fully approved the Father’s action in this respect: / thank thee, 0 Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed than unto babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight} He divided His hearers into two classes: Every one that heareth these sayings of mine aud doeth them . And every one that heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them not. 1 2 * He pronounced a woe on those who heard 1 Mat. xiii. 13-15. 2 Mat. xiii. 12; Mark iv. 11, 12; Luke viii. 10. 8 John viii. 43-45. 4 * John iii. 19. 6 John ix. 39. 6 Mat. xi. 25 ; Luke x. 21. 7 Mat. vii. 24, 26 ; Luke vi. 47, 49. 8 * 178 CHRIST HIS OWN WITNESS. Him and saw His miracles (which were a part of His instructions and their evidence), and who still repented not : Woe unto thee, Chorazin ! woe unto thee, Bethsaida ! for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes . And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought doiv'n to hell; for if the mighty works which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it woidd have remained until this day} The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas ; and behold a greater than Jonas is here. The queen of the South shall rise up in the judgment with this generation and shall condemn it: for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wis¬ dom of Solomon ; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here} 84. JESUS’ PATIENCE WITH MEN WHO DELAY TO BE¬ LIEVE AND ACCEPT HIM. He bears long with them : O faithless and perverse generation ! How long shall I be with you ? how long shall I suffer you f 1 2 3 And I gave her space to repent of her fornication and she repented not} 85. JESUS’ PITY FOR THOSE WHO REJECT HIS GRACE. Their fate is inevitable, but it moves Him with deepest pity: O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how often 1 Mat. xi. 21-24 I Luke x. 13-15. 2 Mat. xii. 41, 42 ; Luke xi. 31, 32. 3 Mat. xvii. 17 ; Mark ix. 19 ; Luke ix. 41. 4 Rev. ii. 21. RELA TIONS OF JESUS A S ME SSI A H TO MEN. \ yg would I have -gathered thy children together even as a hen gathercth her chickens under her wings , and ye would not} In these words Jesus recalled to mind the many efforts He had made to draw the people of Jerusalem to Himself; His forbearance, notwithstand¬ ing their repeated rejections; the renewed zeal with which, after each repulse, He had made a new effort; and now with tears, and only after the fullest demon¬ stration of their obstinacy in unbelief, did He give over. The further dealing by Jesus with those who finally refuse to believe and obey Him will be shown in the chapters on His relations to men as Judge. In the meantime we attend to what He explained of the methods of His grace for men’s salvation. 1 Mat. xxiii. 37 ; Luke xiii. 34. CHAPTER XII. RELATIONS OF JESUS WITH BELIEVERS. 86 . ACCEPTANCE OF JESUS’ INVITATION BY MEN. We have just studied Jesus’ representation of the rejection of His offers of mercy by many who hear them. Let us now turn to what He said of the acceptance of those offers by others, and their own consequent acceptance by Him. Jesus looked upon men as diseased with sin, as condemned, as lost. In order to appreciate Him as a Saviour, men also must take some such view of themselves and their condition. He said : They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to re¬ pentance} The sense of spiritual need out of which comes the desire for help, is here represented as like the sense of sickness, and so of danger. A man with this sense of need is a suitable subject for Jesus’ help ; and Jesus is near to such, ready to help them. The same truth is conveyed in that invitation : Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest} Here the sense of being weary, over¬ burdened, weighed down by a crushing weight, is 1 Mat. ix. 12, 13 ; Mark ii. 17 ; Luke v. 31. 2 Mat. xi. 28. ('180') RELATIONS OF JESUS WITH BELIEVERS, igI used to describe the deep feeling of need, out of which springs the desire for help. Again : If any man thirst, let him come unto me} One may have more or less clearness of knowledge as to his own actual condition ; but there must be at least an un¬ rest, a sense of need, of danger, of the desirableness of something better, to put a man upon looking out, listening, inquiring. The constitution of our nature is such that without some feeling, we will not act : with it we may. Again, Jesus explained His Father’s will : That every one which seeth the Son and believeth on him may have everlasting life} To “ see ” Jesus in the sense of the word here, is not only to have some degree of knowledge about Him as a Saviour, but to have one’s mind distinctly turned to Him, to apprehend the fact that Jesus may be one’s own Saviour ; that Jesus possesses all the necessary qualities and powers there¬ for. To the same effect is that saying: Verily, verily , / say unto you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead (the spiritually dead) shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live} A man must also “hear” Jesus; and this is not simply to learn and know the essential parts of the doctrine of Christ, but to have his mind and heart turned to them as words of truth and life, as precious truth suited to himself and necessary for himself. Jesus taught also that faith in Him is a condition 1 John vii. 37. 2 John vi. 40. 3 John v. 25. 182 CHRIST HIS 0 WN WITNESS. of acceptance for men. He that believeth on him is not condemned} God .... gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life} This is the work of God, that ye be¬ lieve on him whom he hath sent? While ye have the light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light} This is the will of him that sent me, that every one which believeth on him (the Son) may have everlast¬ ing life} Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that be¬ lieveth on me hath everlasting life} He that heareth my word and believeth on him that sent me hath ever¬ lasting life} Again, men must “come to ” Jesus: Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden} If any man thirst, let him come unto me arid drink} Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out } 0 The com¬ ing intended by Jesus is equivalent to believing in Him. For He says : lam the Bread of Life ; he that cometh to me shall never hunger, arid he that believeth on me shall never thirst . n The words explain and supplement each other. To believe in Jesus is not merely to assent with the mind to the Bible truth concerning Him, but to take up this truth for one’s • self, and act upon it as becomes a man truly in earnest. He who truly believes in Jesus, and comes to Him, applies to Him with all the earnestness of Bartimacus, lays hold of Jesus, trusts in Jesus, casts 1 John iii. t8. 4 John xii. 36. 7 John v. 24. 10 John vi. 37. 2 John iii. 16. 6 John vi. 40. 8 Mat. xi. 28. 11 John vi. 35. 8 John vi. 29. 6 John vi. 47. 9 John vii. 37. RELATIONS OF JESUS WITH BELIEVERS. ^3 himself, with all his soul-needs, on Jesus as a Saviour. Only when belief works out in such action of mind and heart is it the required faith. We have this relation of Jesus to men under anoth¬ er figure : I am the Door: by me if any man enter in he shall be saved} He who believes in and comes to Jesus as just described, passes thereby through Jesus as the “ Door ” into His fold. Jesus declared of Himself: No man cometh unto the Father but by me . 2 But to look to Jesus and put one’s self in His hands for salvation, is to enter by Him as the Door into the fold of His sheep, is to “ come unto the Father by ” Jesus Christ in whom the Father is well pleased. The terms, then, by which Jesus has expressed and described that acceptance of Himself by men, by which they secure an acceptance of themselves by Him, and the gift of salvation from Him, are these : to feel their need of salvation : to see Him as the Saviour : to hear Him : to believe on Him : to come to Him : and to pass by Him as the Door into the fold of His sheep. 87. JESUS’ JOY IN RECEIVING THOSE WHO COME TO HIM. This point has been partly elucidated by quota¬ tions under the head of Jesus’ Experiences of Joy and Sorrow , 3 and of His Exhibition of Traits of Char¬ acter . 4 But we refer again to His parables of the 1 John x. 7, 9. 2 John xiv. 6.. 3 See §§ 34 - 37 - P- 64, sq. 4 See § 38. 184 CHRIST HIS OWN WITNESS. Lost Sheep, of the Lost Piece of Silver, and of the Prodigal Son, 1 which were intended by Him to show why He mingled with publicans and sinners, namely, because of His desire to do them good, and because of the joy of Himself and of all heaven at the salvation of a soul. The silent answer at the close of each parable is, “ Such joy I feel at rescuing any sinner, and therefore I am with them.” He showed to His disciples the same zeal and joy when He refused to eat because of being engaged in teaching the Samaritan woman : My meat is to do the will of him that sent me . 2 He showed almost a transport of joy when the men of the city, excited by the woman’s story, were hastening out to Him : Say not ye, There are yet four months and then cometh harvest: behold 1 say unto you, Lift up your eyes and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest. And he that reapeth, receiveth wages and gathereth fruit unto life eternal; that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together? This joy of Jesus in saving souls is the necessary counterpart of His pity and sorrow at their rejection of His offers. Or rather, His joy in saving souls is the positive element, of which His sorrow at men’s self-caused ruin is the negative exercise. Indifferent, Jesus never was and never can be, at the decision for good or ill of a soul’s destiny. This fact explains His activity, the measures which He set on foot to have the Gospel offer made to every creature, and the 1 Luke ch. xv. 2 John iv. 34. 3 John iv. 35, 36. RELATIONS OF JESUS WITH BELIEVERS. 185 promise of His gracious presence to the end of time. That great command, “ Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature,” is the breath of His mercy breathed over the race. 88 . THE CONDITIONS OF DISCIPLESHIP AS FIXED BY JESUS. The steps (enumerated and described in section 86) by which men are to accept of Jesus, are made by Him also Conditions of Discipleship, and are neces¬ sary to the state and relation of an accepted follower throughout one’s earthly life. Jesus laid down, too, other Conditions of Discipleship which apply from the moment that a man first embraces Him by faith and thenceforward to his life’s end. Ye call me Master and Lord, and ye say well; for so lam. Disciples of Christ are, by their very name, learners in His school, receivers of His teachings and commands. This implies the duty of attention and diligence in hearing, and careful anxiety to under¬ stand, retain, and apply—just such interest and effort as He commended in His disciples and rewarded. He that loveth father or mother more than me, is not worthy of me y and he that loveth son or daughter more than me, is not worthy of me} Whosoever he be of yon that for sake th not all that he hath he cannot be my disciple} To the rich young man He said : Sell all that thou hast and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven, and come follow me} 1 Mat. x. 37. 3 Mat. xix. 21 ; Mark x. 21 ; Luke xviii. 22. 2 Luke xiv. 33. 186 CHRIST HIS OWN WITNESS. The requirement that we forsake and even hate all else—property, nearest friends, everything valuable in life—for Jesus’ sake is indeed a high one. The essence of the requirement is that we value Jesus, His grace, and our duty to Him above everything else; so that whenever and to whatever extent the love and service of Jesus may call us to give up anything else, we shall do it cheerfully. The actual exercise of this spirit by Christians has always led, and will lead, to much consecration, self-denial, and benevolent activ¬ ity in the same line of effort as that which Jesus pur¬ sued in His life. By requiring the young man, even as a condition of becoming a disciple, to sell all he had and give to the poor, a condition which he was not ready to meet, Jesus showed him that he lacked this preference of Jesus above all; that he preferred his riches to Christ. This was a special order given to him, a test for that case; not a general law, as is plain enough from the New Testament history. With like meaning we find : He that taketh not his cross a7id followeth after me is not worthy of me} Who¬ soever doth not bear his cross arid come after me cannot be my disciple . 2 If any man will come after me let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me . 3 If any man will come after me let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me} If any man serve me let him follow me? To “take up the cross,” is to prepare one’s self to bear cheerfully and patiently whatever obloquy, shame, 1 Mat. x. 38. 2 Luke xiv. 27. 9 Mat. xvi. 24; Mark viii. 34. 4 Luke ix. 23. 5 John xii. 26. RELATIONS OF JESUS WITH BELIEVERS, jg/ or loss the faithful service of Jesus may bring upon us, even unto death. To “ deny himself” is to disregard our natural shrinking from suffering and loss, and to reject that which is naturally desirable when incon¬ sistent with fidelity to Jesus. To “follow” Christ is to yield ovrselves cordially and entirely to His con¬ trol as our Pattern, Guide, and Master. Jesus further said: Whosoever shall confess me be¬ fore men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven—before the angels of God: but who¬ soever shall deity me before men , him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven . l To “confess Christ” before men is to own our¬ selves His disciples publicly and before the world. It most certainly includes, for all ordinary cases, such a public profession of His name as is implied in church membership. It implies the letting our character as Christians be known by the company we keep and by our conscientious walk among men; also by our direct declarations whenever fidelity to Him requires them, and at whatever forfeiture. So the martyrs confessed Him before their judges and in the very fires and the dens of wild beasts. Jesus looked for obedience and service from His disciples : Why call ye me Lord , Lord , and do not the things which L say ? 2 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I command you? If ye continue in my word then are ye my disciples indeed? If ye keep my commandments ye shall abide in my love? If any J Mat. x. 32, 33 ; Luke xii. 8, 9. 2 Luke vi. 46. 8 Mat. xxviii. 20. 4 John viii. 31. b John xv. 10. 138 CHRIST HIS 0 WN WITNESS. man serve me , him will my Father honorl He that hath my commandments and keepeth them , he it is that loveth me . 2 Verily I say unto you , If a man keep my sayings he shall never see death} The term “ keeping the sayings ” or “ command¬ ments ” of Jesus needs no explanation. The require¬ ment is a high one and often repeated. Confoimity to it is obviously a necessary condition of real sub¬ jection to Jesus. • Again we have: Herein is my Father glorified that ye bear much fruit: so shall ye be my disciples} To ‘‘bear fruit” is to exercise and exhibit the Christian graces, and to do good unto all men as we have opportunity, especially by efforts for their salva¬ tion. And again : A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples if ye have love o?ie to another} We endeavor now, after our manner, to gather into one view the words of Jesus on the Terms of Disciple- ship. Christ required that His disciples take Him as their Teacher and learn of Him; that they forsake every¬ thing else, even the nearest kindred and most valuable possessions, when to retain them might be inconsistent with fidelity to Him ; that they take up their cross, deny themselves, and follow Him; that they confess Him before men ; take Him as their Lord ; obey His 2 John xiv. 21. 3 John viii. 51. 6 John xiii. 34, 35. 1 John xii. 26. 4 John xv. 8. RELATIONS OF JESUS WITH RELIEFERS. ^9 commandments; abide in Him; bear fruits of piety ; and love their fellow disciples. These conditions of discipleship, established by Christ himself, are an unchangeable law for all who would be saved by Him. The demands are high : in¬ deed it does not appear how they could be higher. They show Jesus’ sense of His own worth to His peo¬ ple, and of the extent of His claims upon them. But lest we should demur and refuse to accept these con¬ ditions, it behooves us to remember that He who es¬ tablished them not only can do no wrong, but has actually done far more for us than He requires from us, and that He will give to those who obey Him far more than He requires them to surrender, yea, a hundred fold. 1 89. THOSE WHO COME TO JESUS WERE CHOSEN BY HIMSELF. Jesus, as we have seen, traced very clearly the re¬ jection of Himself by one part of men to a source in themselves, namely, to their love of sin and the world, and their hatred of His holiness and His truth. To what ultimate cause did He trace the faith and obe¬ dience of those who embrace Him ? Let us hear Him. From that time many of His disciples went back and walked no more with Him. Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away f Simon Peter answered Him, Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou 1 See Chapters XII., XIII., XIV. CHRIST HIS 0IVN WITNESS. IQO hast the words of eternal life. And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the liv¬ ing God. Jesus answered them, Have not I chosen you twelve ? and one of you is a devil} Doubtless the choice of the disciples by Jesus here spoken of, refers principally to the choice of them to the Apostleship. But that Jesus comprehended also in the scope of the word His choice of them to dis- cipleship appears from the connection. He found the reason of their adherence, while others forsook Him, in His choice of them. At the same moment He ex¬ cepted Judas from the number of those for whom Peter answered and of whom He spoke. The reference of the words “ I have chosen ” to His choice of Peter and the rest to discipleship, is con¬ firmed by Jesus’ use of this word in the same way in the passages following. After washing their feet he said : I speak not of you all; I know whom I have chosen} Judas is again ex¬ cepted, as he is in these other words : Those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost but the son of perdition, that the scripture might be fulfilled? Again : Because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you} Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you} And a John vi. 66-71, “chosen,” Greek, from knli-yu, to select from. 2 John xiii. 18, “whom I have chosen,” Greek, ovq ttjeheZu/Mjv. 3 John xvii. 12. * 2 3 4 John xv. 19. 6 John xv. 16. In these last three passages the Greek word for ‘chosen” is the same as before. RELATIONS OF JESUS WITH BELIEVERS. \g\ then shall he send forth his angels and gather together his elect from the four winds? The Son quickeneth whom he willi * 2 3 * * N'o man knoweth the Father save the San, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him? The two Greek words used in these passages, which are translated “ choose ” and “ will,” are both very plain (see Note). The latter expresses will, or de¬ liberate purpose. The former signifies literally, to select or pick out, from a larger number. In the middle voice, as here used, it means to select or choose out for one’s self. Jesus therefore asserted that He selected His followers out from the world— from the mass of men; that He selected them, not they Him, and that He selected them for Himself. They therefore are now, and will be at the judgment, His elect, or selected ones. In this action, too, He is free : He selects, quickens, whom He will. 90. THOSE WHO BELIEVED IN JESUS WERE GIVEN TO HIM BY THE FATHER. All that the Father giveth me shall come to me? As thou hast given him power over all flesh that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him? 1 J Mat. xxiv. 31 ; Mark xiii. 27, “ his elect,” Greek, rove LcleKrobc avrov, a verbal noun from the same verb, t/cTiycj, “ His selected ones.” 2 John vi. 21.— diXu, expressing deliberate purpose. 3 Mat. xi. 27, Luke x. 22. j3ov?,ofiai, which expresses more of _ desire or wish. * John vi. 37, “giveth,” Greek, bduai. 6 John xvii. 2. 192 CHRIST IIIS OWN WITNESS. have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me} I pray for them : I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine} Holy Father, keep through thine ozvn name those whom thou hast given me} Father, I will that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory which thou hast given me} In these words Jesus recognized, in His true disci¬ ples, a gift from the Father. And His repetition of the fact so often, in this prayer, shows that it was to Him a fact of importance. He urged it as a mighty plea in their behalf. “They are, Father, thy gift to me; keep them.” We must recognize the fact which is expressed by the word. The word speaks of a trans¬ action between the Father and the Son, momentous to men, but understood best by the parties to it, who also are, therefore, its best interpreters. Speaking of it, Jesus, one of the parties, uses one of the simplest words of human language, which expresses one of the most common of all human acts, and which can not be made plainer by any exposition. Those who believe, the Father gave to Jesus; they became His as the re¬ sult of this giving. This certainly determines the nature of the act. This gift by the Father to the Son had its occasion and ground in the general scheme of redemption J John xvii. 6. 2 John xvii. 9. 8 John. xvii. 11. 4 John xvii. 24. In all these passages the Greek word is the same, ditiu/u, to give. RELATIONS OF JESUS WITH BELIEVERS. 193 through Christ, and ultimately in the Divine love and mercy which are the source of that scheme. 91. THOSE WHO BELIEVE ARE TAUGHT AND QUICK¬ ENED AND DRAWN TO JESUS BY HIMSELF AND BY THE FATHER. The two steps or acts in the line of the salvation of believers which we have just considered, namely, the choice of them by the Son, and the gift of them to Him by the Father, are both of them outside of the objects themselves, that is, of the persons chosen and given. But these must themselves be reached and be individually and directly acted on. This part of the work, so far as it is external, has been already pre¬ sented and studied. It includes the Preaching of the Gospel to them, and the Invitation of them to a par¬ ticipation in Gospel blessings. But Jesus spoke of still further measures in their behalf, gracious agencies more special and spiritual. They are drawn to Jesus by the Father and the Son. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me} A T o man can come unto me except the Father which hath sent me drazv him, and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the proph¬ ets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man, therefore , that hath heard and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me} Jesus uttered the first words here quoted on occa¬ sion of the visit of certain Greeks (Gentiles), which ’John xii. 32. 9 2 John vi. 44, 45. 194 CHRIST HIS OWN WITNESS. kindled His mind with the prospect of the ingather¬ ing into His Church of multitudes from all nations. This seems to be the point and direction of the thought. He claimed the agency producing the re¬ sult—He would “ draw ” them. In the next passage, He declares that every one who comes to Him is “ drawn ” by the Father, here ascribing the same kind of agency, with the same result, to the Father. We are prepared to understand this co-working from our studies on the Relations of the Father and the Son. But of what nature is this “drawing?” Ob¬ serve, that having spoken of the Father’s drawing men to Him, Jesus immediately added : It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God, and therefrom proceeded to draw this conclusion : Every mart, therefore, that hath heard and hath learned of the Father cometh unto me. He evidently intended • to explain the Father’s “ drawing” as a “teaching” —a teaching, the result of v/hich is that every learner comes to Jesus. An example of it we have in the case of Peter, concerning whom Jesus declared on one occasion : Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona ; for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven} The Son draws men to Himself as well as the Father, and in the same way, namely, by inward, effectual teaching. It is different from His ordinary teaching while in the flesh, and from the teaching of His ministers. He claimed such an agency in His 1 Mat. xvi. 17. RE LA T 10 NS OF JESUS WITH BELIEVERS. ig* saying : No man knoweth the Father save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him} He who is thus taught by the Son “knows” the Father, and the result is eternal life: And this is life eternal to know thee, the only true God} The words that I speak unto you they are spirit and they are life } The Father and the Son draw men therefore by a teaching. The teachers are divine. The work is suited to the nature of the subjects as intellectual and moral beings. It begins with the understanding: it produces there a clear apprehension and a thorough conviction of the truth ; but it goes on to produce appropriate effects upon the will and the life. Jesus described this same Agency and its effects by other terms also. He called it a “ quickening” or making alive. This is ascribed, as before, to both the Father and Himself. As the Father raiseth up the dead and quickeneth them, even so the Son quickeneth whom he will} As the Father hath life in himself, even so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself} The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead (spiritually dead) shall hear the voice of the Son of God, arid they that hear shall live} The word “ quicken,” implies more than “ teach,” which is a work directed primarily upon the intelli¬ gence ; and also more than “ draw,” wherein there may be more or less of power. It implies a previous state of death in the subject (spiritual, of course), and 1 Mat. xi. 27 ; Luke x. 22. 1 2 John xvii. 3. 3 John vi. 63. John v. 21. Hoi 111 v - 26. 6 John v. 25. 196 CHRIST HIS OWN WITNESS. expresses the imparting to the subject a new (spirit¬ ual) life. It corresponds therefore, in meaning, to the words “new birth,” “regeneration,” “renova¬ tion,” which are applied in Scripture to this same Divine work on the souls of men. Such a work is ivrought in men by the Father. The same words of Jesus ascribe the same agency to Himself. He too quickens souls, makes them spiritually alive, and, we have a right to believe, in the same way as the Father. The same claim is made in still other words. In the interpretation of the parable of the Tares we have : He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man} Here “ the seed ” is not the word of God, as it is in the parable of the Sower; for: The good seed are the children of the king¬ dom} Jesus sows them—He is the Author and Source of their life and of their character as children. Again Jesus said, using another figure: If thou knewest the gift of God and zvho it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink , thou zvouldst have asked of him and he zvould have given thee living zvater . Who¬ soever drinketh of the zvater that I shall give him shall never thirst , but the zvater that I shall give him shall be in him a zvcll of zvater springing up into everlasting life} The living (that is, vitalizing) water, is the Spirit which He gives. So the Evangelist explains it in another placed Under still another figure Jesus described Himself as the source of spiritual life to His people : I am the 1 Mat. xiii. 37. 3 John iv. 10, 14. 2 Verse 38. 4 John vii. 38, 39. RELATIONS OF JESUS WITH BELIEVERS, igy true Vine . I am the vine, ye are the branches. He that abideth in me and I in him the same bringcth forth much fruit; for without me ye can do nothing} By this beautiful and intelligible image we see that there is a vital union established between Jesus and such as believe on Him, through which they receive spiritual life, and without which they would be dead. Finally, by that word I am the Life, in the saying, I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life? Jesus directly claimed to be the author of spiritual life to men. This is His office. Yet in this as in every¬ thing else, The Father worketh hitherto and the Son works. What can be more fundamental in a creature than a new life ? Life is the beginning and the condition of every other attribute. A new life introduces the re¬ cipient to a new career and experience, in which old things are passed away, and all things are become new. 3 The agent in such a work can not be less than Divine. Thus in this work upon men which results in their truly believing in Jesus and being accepted of Him, we have learned to recognize these Divine operations : They are “taught,” that is, made to know Jesus and the truth concerning Him, and so are “ drawn ” to the Son ; and they are “ quickened,” that is, made spir¬ itually alive, and so introduced into a new life. This “drawing,” “teaching,” and “quickening” are effect¬ ed by both the Father and the Son, and that by 1 John xv. i, 5. 2 John xiv. 6. 3 2 Cor. v. 17. iqg CHRIST HIS OWN WITNESS. means of the Spirit, who is described as “ life-giving water” conferred by the Father and the Son, and received into the soul by the subjects of the gracious work. 1 Putting all together, though told by Jesus that in working the new-birth, the Spirit is like the wind, not only unseen but entirely beyond our ken, we may, per¬ haps, venture to say, that when by the “ teaching ” of the Father and the Son, the truth is clearly and powerfully presented to the understanding of a man, and by their united “drawing” the loving invitations of the Gospel begin to work upon his heart, then the Holy Spirit, at the same time, takes off the pressure of the spiritual death, which prevents the soul’s act¬ ing in accordance with the original laws of its being, removes the hatred toward God, and truth, and good¬ ness, inspires the filial feeling toward God which be¬ longed originally to it, and so helps it to respond like a child, with love and confidence, to the offers of the Father. This is the beginning of a new life—new, because before there was in the soul only spiritual death, not new in the sense of unnatural. It is the only life fully consistent with man’s original constitution. When this life begins in a man then first he has a true life, a life in which all his powers and endowments act in harmony. The words of Jesus sustain such a view as this of the new life begun in true believers, and so does the actual experience of His people. 1 John vii. 38, 39. RELATIONS OF JESUS WITH BELIEVERS. jgg 92. THE VITAL UNION ESTABLISHED BETWEEN JESUS AND HIS PEOPLE IS PERPETUAL AND PERPETU ALLY EFFECTIVE. The new spiritual life received from Jesus through men’s accepting Him and being accepted by Him. is to be sustained in the same way that it was begun, namely, by a perpetuation of those relations to Him into which they have come. We quote more fully than before His words on this point: I am the true Vine , and my Father is the husband¬ man. Abide in me and I in you. As the branch can¬ not bear fruit of itself except it abide in the vine , no more can ye except ye abide in me. I am the vine , ye are the branches. He that abideth in me, and I in him , the same bringeth forth much fruit; for without me ye can do nothingl Here, in His own inimitable way, Jesus teaches al¬ most to the eye, the intimacy of the relation between Him and believers, and the necessity of it to them both at first and perpetually, for producing the fruits of holy living. The same truth He taught by another figure, repre¬ senting Himself as food and believers as feeding upon Him: My Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven and giveth life unto the world. . ... I am the bread of life ; he that cometh to me shall never hunger, Hohn xv. 1-5. 200 CHRIST HIS 0 WN WITNESS. and he that believeth on me shall never thirst} This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof and not die. I am the livmg bread which came down from heaven ; if any man eat of this bread he shall live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh which I zvill give for the life of the world. .... Except ye eat the flesh of the Son op man and drink his blood, ye have 710 life in yon. Whoso eat- eth my flesh a?id drinketh my blood hath eternal life. . . . For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink in - deed. He that eatcth my flesh and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me and I in him. As the livmg Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father, so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me. This is that bread which came dow7i from heaven : . ... he that eateth of this bread shall live forever. 2 These precious words of Jesus have been under¬ stood by many as referring to the Lord’s supper, and so have been made to support the doctrines of tran- substantiation and consubstantiation and also that of the efficacy of the ordinance in itself. They doubt¬ less do refer to the same truths and facts that are set forth by the Lord’s supper, namely, the receiving Jesus by believers in all the fulness of His mediatorial work, and especially as an atoning sacrifice ; the look¬ ing to Him, the resting on Him and the hoping in Him for all spiritual blessings, present and future; and, on His part, the bestowing on true believers of pardon, a title to heaven, and, through the Spirit, the 1 John vi. 32, 33, 35. 2 John vi. 50-58. RELATIONS OF JESUS WITH BELIEVERS. 2 0 I graces of true piety. Thus this figurative represen¬ tation, used by Jesus, exhibits the perpetual condition and experience of true Christian life. It conveys also the lesson that the connection with Jesus which is its basis and source, must be carefully maintained, as eating and drinking, though necessary to life, are voluntary acts. The duty of Christians to cherish carefully their close connection with Jesus, is taught by Him also in the parable of the Vine and branches, where He says : Abide in me and I in yon. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine, no more can ye except ye abide in me} Again of this union with Himself, so necessary to Christians from first to last, He said : In that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you? As thou, Father, art in me and I in thee, that they also may be one in us. . ... I in them and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one .... that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them a7id I in them? The relation, therefore, which is established be¬ tween Jesus and believers when they come to Him, is forever necessary for them, and is to be carefully maintained. 93. JESUS RECOGNIZES HIS PEOPLE’S KNOWLEDGE OF HIM, THEIR FAITH IN HIM, AND THEIR LOVE TO HIM, AND HE INVITES AND CHERISHES THEIR LOVE. Jesus recognized knowledge of Him where He found it: Hohn xv. 4. 2 John xiv. 20. 3 John xvii. 21, 23, 26 202 CHRIST HIS OWN WITNESS. I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me, and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee. These have known that thou hast sent me} Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent and hast revealed them unto babes? Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona ; for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven? Have I been so long time with you and yet hast thou not known me, Philip ? He that hath seen me hath seen the Father? The silent reasoning is, Thou hast seen me, and therefore seen the Father also. Jesus recognized the faith of ITis people. To the two blind men He said : Believe ye that lam able to do this? They said unto Him, Yea, Lord. Then touched He their eyes, saying: According to your faith be it unto you? To the Syro-Phenician woman, after her earnest perseverance : 0 woman, great is thy faith? Of the Roman Centurion who said, Speak the word only and my servant shall be healed, He said : I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel? To Peter: I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not? He recognized even their little faith, though He rebuked its littleness: O ye of little faith? To Peter, at the time He held him up from sinking in the water: O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou Hohnxvii. 8,25. 2 Mat. xi. 25. 3 Mat. xvi. 17. 4 John xiv. 9. * * 6 7 Mat. ix. 28, 29. 6 Mat. xv. 28 ; Mark vii. 29. 7 Mat. viii. 10 ; Luke vii. 9. 8 Luke xxii. 32. 8 Mat. viii. 26, ch. xvi. 8 and vi. 30 ; Luke xii. 28. RELATIONS OF JESUS WITH BELIE FEES. 203 doubt? 1 He spoke of a faith even “like a grain of mustard-seed/’ and of its virtue. 2 All this reminds us of the prophecy which the evangelist applies to Him: “A bruised reed shall he not break and smok¬ ing flax shall he not quench; ” and of His own sweet words : I am meek and lowly in heart? He recognized His people’s love to Him, and in¬ vited and cherished it: The Father himself loveth you because ye have loved me? If ye loved me ye would rejoice because I said I go unto the Father? Continue ye in my love. If ye keep my commandments ye shall abide in my love? He would have the supreme love of His people, a love greater than that for nearest kin¬ dred, or for any earthly thing: He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me ; and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is 7iot worthy of me? He recognized Mary’s love when she anointed Him with the ointment: She hath wrought a good work upon me . she did it for my burial? And so of her who washed His feet with her tears: She loved much? In instituting the Lord’s supper, He showed His high estimate of the perpetual and tender love of His people in the words: This do in remem¬ brance of 7ue?° Most striking of all, in some respects, is the scene on the lake shore after His resurrection: Simon , so7i of Jonas, lovest thou me more tha7i these ? 1 Mat. xiv. 31. 2 Mat. xvii. 20; Luke xvii. 6. 3 Mat. xii. 20 and xi. 29. 4 * John xvi. 27. 6 John xiv. 28. 6 John xv. 9, 10. . 7 Mat. x. 37, 38. 8 Mat. xxvi. 10; Mark xiv. 6. u Luke vii. 47. lu Luke xxii. 19; 1 Cor. xi. 24. 204 CHRIST HIS 0 WN WITA ESS. Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me ? Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me} Jesus, soon to ascend to heaven, inquires so earnestly after a human love ! 94. JESJS FORGIVES HIS PEOPLE’S SINS AND DE¬ LIVERS THEM FROM THE POLLUTION AND POWER OF SIN. He forgives their sins. To the man sick of the palsy, who was let down through the roof before Him, seeing their faith, He said : Son, he of good cheer, thy sins be forgiven thee . . . . The Son of mail hath power on earth to forgive si?is. z To the woman who washed His feet with her tears, Thy sins are forgiven} Among the sweetest words, these, ever uttered on earth; as the blessing they conferred is among the greatest! “ Earth hath a joy unknown in Heaven The new-born joy of sins forgiven.” Jesus also delivers His people from the pollution and power of sin. To Peter, who refused to let Him wash his feet: If I wash thee not thou hast no part with me . He that is washed, needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit: and ye are clean , but not all. For He knew who should betray Him ; therefore said He : 1 John xxi. 15, 16, 17. 2 Mat. ix. 2, 6 ; Mark ii. 5 ; Luke v. 20. 3 Luke vii. 48. RELATIONS OF JESUS WITH RELIEFERS. 205 Ye are not all clean} Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you} So careful and watchful of His people is Jesus! graciously as well as powerfully removing whatever would be injurious to them and offensive to Him in the close relationship subsisting between them. Our next theme has been essentially anticipated, but deserves a distinct place. 95. JESUS LOVES HIS PEOPLE. Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his Lord doeth ; but I have called you friends ; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you} Ye are my friends if ye do whatsoever I command you} His death is the demonstration of His love : Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends} “John xiii. 8, 10, 11. “Is washed,” in verse 10, 6 lelov/xEvos, the one that has been washed or bathed all over. “ Wash,” in verses 8 and 10, vlrpu, vtipaodai, from v'lttto, to wash the hands or feet, part of the body. Under the first of these words (XeXov/uevog) Jesus evidently meant to express regeneration or the new-birth, which He performs at first upon a believer : by the latter ( [vtipaodai ) that occasional cleansing which He performs on His people, puri¬ fying them from the pollutions which they contract in their daily life. Jesus mingled the lower and the higher meanings of the words, uniting their mechanical and spiritual applications. a John xv. 3; “clean,” Greek, mdagol. J John xv. 15; “Friends,” Greek, Luke vi. 13-16 ; Acts i. 13. 2 See Mat. xvi. 22 ; Mat. xiv. 28 ; xxvi. 33. 3 Acts ii. 14; iii. 4, 12 ; iv. 8. 222 CHRIST HIS OWN WITNESS. sent to Cornelius, he first preached the Gospel to the Gentiles, and so was the founder of the Gentile Church. 1 After the resurrection Jesus commanded Peter especially to feed His sheep and lambs. 2 Nay, even when predicting Peter’s fall, after assuring him of His own successful intercession in his behalf, Jesus added : And when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren ; as if giving him some special pastoral care over the rest. 3 4 Let us now endeavor to decide how much authority Jesus gave to Peter by these words, supposing them all to refer to him. To this end we must carefully note what authority in the Church He has given to other parties. We revert first to the fact that when about to leave the world, He promised to send the Holy Spirit as another Paracletos, that is, Defender or Head, in His own place.' 1 The Spirit is, therefore, from the day of Pentecost, the acting Head of the Church on earth, Vicegerent for its Great Head who is Himself in heaven, seated at the right hand of God. 5 Neither Jesus himself, nor the Spirit, nor those in¬ spired by the Spirit have spoken of any substitute or deputy acting in the Spirit’s place; nor, He being always present, could there be such a substitute. We note next the fact that Jesus appointed twelve Apostles, of whom Peter was one. He is always counted as one of them. They were all appointed at once and alike, and for the same work, namely, to 1 Acts x. 48. 2 John xxi. 15, 16, 17. 4 John xiv. 16, 26, etc. See § 73. 3 Luke xxii. 32. 5 Mirk xvi. 19. RELATIONS OF JESUS TO THE CHURCH. 223 perform miracles of healing, and to preach to the Jews of Palestine first, 1 and then to the whole world, 2 the Gospel of the kingdom. 3 They all obeyed the order. They went forth and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the Word with signs following. 4 This is said of them all alike, noth¬ ing special being said of Peter in relation to the work. After the resurrection, Jesus standing in the midst of the disciples, breathed on them, and said to them : Receive ye the Holy Ghost . Whosesoever sins ye remit they are remitted unto them ; and whosesoever sins ye retain they are retained? Here is an important au¬ thority conferred upon the whole College of Apostles; and while there are, and will be, differing views re¬ garding the nature and extent of that authority, every one must concede the importance of it as relat¬ ing to the forgiveness and non-forgiveness of sins. Jesus seems by these words to have empowered the Apostles, by the gift of the Holy Ghost, to announce to the world the doctrines of the Gospel, to declare especially the terms on which sins are forgiven, to establish principles of church discipline in accordance with those terms, and to embody the whole in writ¬ ings which should be the standards of the Church’s faith and practice for all time. This important au¬ thority He gave to all of the Apostles alike. They accordingly preached the Gospel and administered 1 Mat. x. 6 7, 23. 2 Mat. xxviii. 19; Mark xvi. 15. 3 Mat. x. 7, 8. 4 Mark xvi. 20. 6 John xx. 19-23. Compare Mat. xviii. 18. 224 CHRIST HIS 0 WN WITNESS. the Church while they lived, and some of them, moved thereto by the Spirit, wrote the Scriptures of the New Testament. Next: Did Jesus on any other occasion teach any¬ thing in regard to a difference of authority among the Apostles ? John was “ the disciple whom Jesus loved,” and who lay on His breast at the last supper, with opportunity to speak privately to Him. 1 We might infer that, perhaps, John held a higher place than the rest. But we have express evidence to the contrary. When James and John asked that they might have a rank above all others in His kingdom, Jesus rejected the petition, 2 and immediately went on to teach that among His disciples there should be no one exercis¬ ing lordship over the rest. He then proceeded to lay down the principle on which superior rank is deter¬ mined in His kingdom: He is the highest who stoops lowest in humility and thereby does most for others’ good : Whosoever will be great among yo2i let him be your minister ; And whosoever will be chief among you let him be your servant. His own rank in the king¬ dom was fixed in accordance with this principle: Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many? In consistency with these teachings, when He sent out His disciples to preach, and especially in His parting discourse, which is given at length, there is not a 1 John xiii. 23-25. 2 Mat. xx. 20-23 J Mark x. 35-40. 3 Mat. xx 25-28 ; Mark x. 42-45. RELATIONS OF JESUS TO THE CHURCH . 225 word directing them to obey the orders of any one. H e even forbids both the giving and the receiving of honorary titles by His followers : Be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren. A nd call no man your father upon the earth ; for one is your Father which is in heaven} Next: Is there any evidence in the New Testament history, after the Ascension of Christ, of a superior rank and authority held by one or more of the Apos¬ tles above the rest ? Some of them are more promi¬ nent than others: of the most of them, indeed, nothing is said. Peter is among the prominent ; but prominency is not authority. After the conversion of Cornelius, which occurred early, Peter almost dis¬ appears from the scene. 1 2 In the council of Jerusalem, he did not preside, but gave his evidence on the point in debate just as Paul and Barnabas did ; and then James, who seems to have presided, summed up the facts, furnished the Scripture argument, declared his opinion, and carried the sentiment and votes of the assembly. 3 Paul is by far the most prominent of the first preachers of the Gospel, and wrote far more of the New Testament than any other one man, except Luke. In his Epistle to the Romans we find no al¬ lusion to the future prominence of that Church nor to its bishops as successors of Peter, and sovereign pon¬ tiffs over the whole Church. We fail to find even the 1 Mat. xxiii. 8, 9. 2 Acts x. These events occurred probably from six to ten years after Christ’s death. 3 Acts xv. 226 CHRIST HIS 0 WN WITNESS. slightest hint of any existing authority there greater than his own. After the Jerusalem council, the history is occupied with the labors of Paul and his companions in founding churches among the Gentiles. Paul declared positively his independence, as an Apos¬ tle, of Peter and of all other men. 1 Peter, James, and John, he says, seemed to be pillars (note that he does not name Peter alone, even here), but even they conferred nothing on him. 2 He demonstrates his own independence of Peter, and his equality, to say the least, by relating an incident which occurred at Antioch. Peter was there and, at first, disregarding Jewish ceremonial rules, had eaten with the Gentile Christians. But when there came certain from Jeru¬ salem he withdrew and separated himself, fearing the obloquy which he would incur ; whereupon Paul re¬ buked him publicly for his unsteadiness and dissimu¬ lation. 3 Paul even says that as the Apostleship of the Circumcision was given to Peter, so that of the Gentiles was given to himself. 4 And as in this Epis¬ tle to the Galatians, so in all the rest he makes no allusion to any supreme authority given to any one, or to any claim or exercise of such authority by any one. The same is true of James and John and Jude in their Epistles. Peter himself, who contributes two short Epistles to the New Testament, is as ignorant of any such authority as the rest. Speaking of Jesus Christ, he 1 Gal. i. 17, 18 ; ii. 6, 9. 3 Gal. ii. 11-14. 2 Gal. ii. 6. 4 Gal. ii. 7. RELATIONS OF JESUS TO THE CHURCH. 22 ? says: “To whom coming as unto a living stone. .... Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spirit¬ ual house.” 1 In the next verse, too, he speaks again of Christ the corner-stone, and then of believers in Christ, as if there was nothing between them. Again, of elders he says: “ The elders (ngsopvTegovg) among you I exhort who am also an elder {ov/j,ngeol 3 vTegogy Feed the flock of God .... neither as lording it over God’s heritage, but being ensamples to the flock. And when the Chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.” 2 Note, that just as in the former passage he speaks first of Christ the Foundation-Stone and then of Christians built upon it, so in this last he mentions the Chief Shepherd, and then the under-shepherds, among whom he puts himself as one. Would he thus have ignored an office of chief authority under Christ if such had been conferred upon him ? He evidently knew of no such office. If it be said that Peter speaks in his Epistles very much in the style of a supreme bishop sending out an encyclical, we might certainly say the same of Paul in his Epistles, and especially in those to Timo¬ thy and Titus, exhorting and commanding with far greater fullness, and with as much apparent authority as Peter. Were they both popes? In applying to Peter, therefore, the words of Jesus, Upon this rock I will build my church , we must, first, leave intact the place and prerogative of Christ as the One Great Foundation and Corner-Stone of 1 i Peter ii. 4-6. 2 1 Pet. v. 1-4. 228 CHRIST BIS OWN WITNESS. the Church. We must next see that we keep in¬ violate the Vicegerency, or Headship of the Holy Spirit in the Church on earth, as Paracletos in the place of Christ. We must further reserve to the other Apostles all the authority that Jesus gave them when He said : Whosesoever sins ye remit they are remitted unto them, and whosesoever sins ye re¬ tain they are retained. We must remember, too, that Jesus is nowhere else reported as teaching such a superiority of Peter, but that He inculcated princi¬ ples incompatible with it, and that the Apostles in their preaching, planting churches, and writing Epistles and Gospels, proceeded, as far as can be seen, without any reference to the existence of such authority in Peter. What ground is left ? what sphere for an office to be held by Peter so important as that must be which these words describe, if they apply to him ? And I say also unto thee, that thou art Peter , and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven ; and ivhatso¬ ever thou shall bifid on earth shall be bound in heaven ; and whatsoever thou shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Peter was not especially fitted for a re¬ sponsibility and prerogative in the Church greater than the rest. We know his temperament, that he was impulsive, forward, unsteady. In fact it seems providentially ordered that an incident occurred, im¬ mediately after Jesus’ utterance of the above much- debated words, to illustrate Peter’s unsteadiness. Jesus was foretelling the sufferings and death which RELA TIONS OF JESUS TO THE CHURCH . 229 were awaiting Him, when Peter took Him and began to rebuke Him, saying: Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee. And Jesus turned and said unto Peter: Get thee behind me, Satan; thou art an offence unto me; for thou savorest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men} Singular words to one just made the Rock on which Jesus would build His Church! and based on which the powers of hell would have no power against it! Peter would have surrendered it at once to the Adversary; and the words of Jesus would have been an empty boast. Is such a man, however sincere, bold, and at times wise and efficient, adequate to be the ROCK on which the Church can rest ? The office-holder must have powers in keeping with the office ; and for such a place as that of the Foundation-Stone of the Church there are needed superhuman attributes, and among the rest infallibility. That the Church of Rome feels this necessity is manifested by the desper¬ ate measure of making the infallibility of the alleged successor of Peter an article of faith. Besides this step, which was reserved for this late day, two others were necessary to its theory, one that of declaring that Peter was first bishop of Rome, and the other that his successors in that see inherit all his special powers and authority. The first of these rests on the very slightest historical ground, and the second is without even a show of support. By these assump¬ tions, the bishop of Rome becomes a usurper of the 1 Mat. xvi. 22, 23 ; Mark viii. 32, 33. 230 CHRIST HIS 0 WN WITNESS. rights and powers of the Holy Spirit as the Paraclete, the ever-present Divine Head of the Church. On the supposition that Jesus said all these words in reference to Peter, what must be their meaning? Look at the connection of the words. Jesus had asked His disciples : Whom say ye that I c. m ? Peter, speak¬ ing for all, answered : Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God. Without doubt Jesus likewise intend¬ ed for them all what He said in reply. There was con¬ ferred on them all, therefore, the common authority of the keys. Thus understood this passage is in har¬ mony with that other utterance which has already been considered, in which Jesus gave them all the power to remit and retain sins. The powers confer¬ red in the two cases seem to be identical. If given only to Peter in the first instance, they were bestowed on all in the last. In accordance with this view, all the Apostles are represented as, in some sense, con¬ stituting a part of the foundation of the Church. Paul says to the Ephesian Christians, (Ye) are built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the Chief Corner-Stone. 1 Let this passage give us the clue to the mean¬ ing of Christ’s words, on the supposition that they refer to Peter. The Apostles were equal in office and authority. By their labors in preaching, planting churches, and authoritatively establishing the New Testament doctrine and order, they were founders of the Church. So Paul says of himself: By the grace 1 uph. ii. 2o. RELATIONS OF JESUS TO THE CHURCH. 23 1 of God given unto me I have laid the foundation and another buildeth thereon.For other founda- ♦ tion can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 1 Christ, then, is the only true foundation ; the Apostles were foundations in a secondary sense, as having founded the churches and defined the Chris¬ tian doctrine, Therefore Paul, in the text just cited, unites them with the prophets of the Old Testament. For the same reason the Apostles are represented in the Revelation as connected with the foundation of the New Jerusalem : And the wall of the City had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve Apostles of the Lamb. 2 Peter was eminent as the leading founder of the first Jewish church and as the founder of the first Gentile church in the house of Cornelius. But in all this he was no higher than the rest : they and their work will be recognized in heaven, as well as he and his, that is, after all shall have been tried by fire. 3 Such, then, must have been the meaning of Jesus if He referred at all to Peter. He made Peter one of the founders of His Church : this and no more. But there is much in favor of the old interpretation by which Jesus is understood as referring in the eight¬ eenth verse to Himself: Upon this rock (namely, my¬ self )/ will build my church. This interpretation re¬ quires, indeed, the assumption of an abrupt change in the person spoken of. But such a change occurs often in the Greek, and especially in the Hebrew, 1 1 Cor. iii. 11. 2 Rev. xxi. 14. 3 1 Cor. iii. 13. 232 CHRIST HIS OWN WITNESS. upon the idioms of which the Jewish mind and lan- gyage were formed. The reference of the phrase “ upon this rock ” to the Speaker is justified, too, by a peculiar, but well-known usage of the Greek demon¬ strative pronouns . 1 Jesus himself supplies us with one example of this usage. He had driven out the traders as profaners of the temple. The Jews asked Him by what sign He could prove His right to exercise such authority. Jesus said : Destroy this temple , and in three days I will raise it up. The Jews, as it appears, understood Him to speak of their temple, and they based an accusation against Him on these words at His last trial. But the evangelist assures us that “ he spake of the tem- 1 By this usage the two demonstrative pronouns ovrog and ode are made to refer to the speaker himself. See Liddell and Scott, Sixth edition, under ovrog, C. i, ovrog uvr/g, for tyd. Odyssey II. 40. And, under ode I. 6, they say that in Attic dialogue the Masc. and Fern, often refer to the speaker. Kfihner in his “ Ausfiihr- liche Grammatik ” says: “From the signification (of these De¬ monstratives), referring to that which is present and nearest, has been developed the usage by which they stand for iyd and ov.” Three examples from the Tragedians will illustrate this usage. Sophocles, in CEdip. Tyr., 1. 1,464, makes CEdipus say when about to die : “ My sons are men and will not want; but, Creon, have a care for these my two wretched unmarried daughters, for whom never was my table spread (dvei) rood’ dvdgog) without this man,” (/. e ., me). In the Antigone (1. 1,034), Creon says: “Old man, you all, like archers, shoot at dvdgog rovde, this man ” (he means himself). In line 43, Antigone, to her sister’s question in what adventure she wishes her help, answers, (I would know'* whether you will take up (for burial) the dead body (their brother’s) ovv ryde x e P L > with this hand (/. e., with herself). RE LA TIONS OF JESUS TO THE CHURCH. 233 pie of his body.” 1 The phrase “ this temple,” and the one under discussion, “ this rock,” are entirely similar. The change of reference is just as abrupt in the one case as in the other; as enigmatic if you please, and is made by the same pronoun in connec¬ tion with a figurative word designating Himself. “ Destroy this temple ; ” “ Upon this rock.” Just so we have a noun in connection with the pronoun in one of the classic cases adduced in the note. “ This hand,” i. e., my hand, me. The change of refer¬ ence to another person being justified, there can be no further objection to the interpretation by which Jesus, in the words, “And on this rock I will build my church,” is held to have meant Himself. In favor of this interpretation we have also all that Jesus said about Himself as the Chief Corner-Stone. See p. 220, sq. So understood, the words afford an adequate basis for those which follow. As Upholder and Master of the Church He says : And I will give thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Then also, and only then, the strong figure of the Rock receives its full and just meaning, the sense swells to its full dimensions, and gives adequate ground for the sublime and defiant assurance which follows : And the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. No ; let the powers of hell bring their rains, floods, and winds to bear upon it: the result will be, as with the house of the wise man in the parable : It fell not, for it was founded upon a rock . 2 J John ii. 18-21. 2 Mat. vii. 25. 2 34 CHRIST HIS 0 WN WITNESS. Io8. JESUS CLAIMS THE CHURCH AS HIS OWN : HE IS ITS HEAD AND KING. When Jesus spoke of the Church, He used words which denote possession : On this rock I will build my church} If they have called the Master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his hotisehold f 2 The Church is the household, He the Master. He mentioned with approval the fact that David called Him Lord. Hozv then doth David in spirit call him Lord, saying, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand? David called Him his Lord, because He is Messiah, Lord of the Church, and Lord of all. I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine . 4 His sheep (His people) constitute the Church. In the parable of the wicked husbandmen He represented the owner as at last sending his son, and the husbandmen as say¬ ing, when they saw him, “ This is the heir; come, let us kill him.” By the heir that was killed He meant himself . 5 In the parable of the virgins He says: At midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the Bridegroom cometh? By the Bridegroom He meant Himself. The Church is His Bride, who is called the Lamb’s wife . 7 1 Mat. xvi. 18. 2 Mat. x. 25. “Master of the house,” Greek, obiodeo-oTTic, master of the house, (deonoTrjr, ruler , master). The same word occurs Mark xiii. 35, where also Jesus is represented as using it of Himself—in parable. 3 Mat. xxii. 43 ; Mark xii. 35-37 ; Luke xx. 44. 4 John x. 14. 5 Mat. xxi. 38 ; Mark xii. 7 ; Luke xx. 14. 6 Mat. xxv. 6. 7 Rev. xxi. 9. RELATIONS OF JESUS TO THE CHURCH . 235 The idea of exclusive possession is, by this figure, made complete. Jesus is Head and King in the Church because it is His by redemption: He gave Himself for it. I lay dozvn my life for the sheep} He is supreme in it by the same principle that He established for all others: Whosoever will be great among you , let him be your minister; and whosoever will be chief among you, let him be yo 7 ir servant: even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many} Having thus taken the lowest, He is rewarded with the highest place. We have it from the Jews that He said that he himself is Christ a king} We have reason to believe them, for to His disciples He said : And I appoint unto you a kingdom as my Father hath appointed unto me} And when Pilate asked Him, Art thou a king, then ? Jesus answered : Thou sayest that I am a king. That is, thou sayest rightly . * * * 5 6 He had just said to the governor: My kingdom is not of this world; if my kingdom were of this zvorld, then would my servants fight . But now is my kingdom 7 iot from hence .* The expressions “my kingdom,” “his kingdom,” re¬ ferring to Himself, occur in Jesus’ reported words six times. There be some standing here which shall not taste of death till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom} In the interpretation of the parable of the 1 John x. 15. 2 Mat. xx. 26, 27, 28 ; Mark x. 43-45 ; see Phil. ii. 7-11. 3 Luke xxiii. 2. 4 Luke xxii. 29. 5 fohn xviii. 37. See p. 33, note 6. 6 Verse 36. 7 Mat. xvi. 28 ; Mark ix. 1 ; Luke ix. 27. 236 CHRIST HIS OWN WITNESS. tares, He said that at the judgment The Son of man shall send forth his angels and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend , and them which do iniquity} Looking forward to heaven, He said to His disciples : That ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom? He will be King then also ; nay, in heaven will be the consummation of His kingdom. Nothing less than the possession of the throne of the kingdom can be intended by what He said to John : These things saith he that hath the key of David? The possession of the keys is not always the token of supreme power . 4 But in this case it is plain that supreme power is indicated. There is doubtless an emphasis in the words, “ he that hath ; ” they express here DOMINANT possession. The terms by which Jesus expressed His owner¬ ship of the Church and His supreme authority over it, are the possessive pronouns “ MINE ” and “ HIS ” applied to it, the names “ LORD,” “ MASTER,” “ Bridegroom,” “ King,” applied to Himself; “Church,” “Sheep,” “Fold,” “Kingdom,” ap¬ plied to the whole company of His followers, and the words “ Throne ” and of “ Key of David ” as tokens of the possession and exercise of kingly power. IO9. JESUS MAINTAINS CONSTANT RULE AND WATCH¬ FUL CARE OVER HIS CHURCH. The ownership of the Church is not a matter of indifference to the Lord Jesus. This we see from 1 Mat. xiii. 41. 2 Luke xxii. 30. 3 Rev. iii. 7. 4 Mat. xvi. 19. See § 107. Isaiah xxii. 22. DELATIONS OF JESUS TO THE CHURCH. 237 His so frequently calling it His, and from His expres¬ sions of tenderness and love in regard to it. I am the Good Shepherd; the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep} Feed my sheep. Feed my lambs} Holy Father , keep them} Headship of the Church with Him is also no sine¬ cure : His love would not permit this. His words in reference to the Church, The gates of hell shall not prevail against it* show that He recognized the hos¬ tility felt and the active war carried on against it by the powers of darkness, and their earthly auxiliaries. They show, too, that in opposition to these, He, the Church’s King, has adopted the policy of the deter¬ mined defence of the Church. He carries out what was predicted of Him , 5 and the result is sure. Not only shall the Church be defended, but its enemies shall be put under the feet of its King. Within the Church also, the Headship of Jesus is no sinecure. He has permitted us to see something of His ways as Ruler of His redeemed. The sweet name by which He called Himself, I am the Good Shepherd , 6 expresses all possible love, care, and pro¬ vision for the Church’s well-being and assurance. My sheep hear my voice , and I knozv them , and they follow me} I know my sheep and am known of mine* This mutual knowledge implies on His part constant presence and gracious intercourse. These things saith he that .... walketh in the midst of the seven golden 3 John xvii. 11. 6 John x. 11. “Vs. 14. 1 John x. 11. 4 Mat. xvi. 18. 7 John x. 27. 2 John xxi. 15-17. 6 Ps. ii. and cx. 238 CHRIST HIS 0 WN WITNESS. candlesticks} The seven candlesticks are the seven churches . 1 2 Jesus walks in the midst of them, watch¬ ing, providing, ruling ; in love and wisdom fulfilling His office as the Church’s Shepherd and Head. There is a negative idea, also, to this Headship of Jesus in His Church : there can be no other Head of the Church but Himself, and no authority to exercise control but such as He has expressly appointed. IIO. THE HOLY SPIRIT THE AGENT OF CHRIST IN THE CHURCH ON EARTH, WITH THE OFFICE AND AUTHORITY OF PARACLETE IN CHRIST’S PLACE. The words of Jesus bearing on this point have all been quoted in the Chapter on the Relations of Jesus to the Holy Spirit . 3 A fresh reference to them and to the history of primitive and later times will sus¬ tain the following statement. As Agent of its Head the Spirit has authority in the Church . 4 He acts in this capacity in union and harmony with its Head . 5 * This union and harmony are so intimate, that whatever the Spirit does may be and is ascribed also to Jesus Christ . 0 It is in view of this intimacy of relation and action, that the Spirit is called the Spirit of Christ . 7 In fulfilling His work 1 Rev. i. 13 ; ii. i. 2 Rev. i. 20. 8 See Chapter X. 4 John xiv. 16; I Cor. xii. 11. 6 John xvi. 13, 14. 6 Mat. xxviii. 20. “ I am with you,” i. e., by my spirit. John xiv. 18. Much that Jesus says (quoted in the sections yet to come), as done by Himself, He does through the Spirit. 7 Rom. viii. 9 ; 1 Pet. i. 11. RE LA TIONS OF JESUS TO THE CHURCH. 239 in the Church, the Spirit caused the New Testament to be written, so presiding over the writing that the whole of it is the word of Jesus given to the Church . 1 The Spirit imparted to believers at first miraculous powers , 2 and bestows upon them, in all ages, spiritual gifts . 3 He makes the word effectual to conviction , 4 conversion , 5 and salvation . 6 Though the Church is not in itself infallible, nevertheless, having the New Testament as its standard of Faith and Order, and being under the rule and guidance of its Ever-Present Divine Paraclete, as Captain of the host of the Lord, it is, and shall be, so assisted as to be kept spiritually alive, so as to increase in the knowledge of the truth and in Christian graces, so as to advance in energy of action, in success of effort, in enlargement of numbers, in extension of boundaries, till it shall finally triumph over all opposition without, and error and sin within, and be made meet for its Heavenly Bridegroom . 7 The authority of the Spirit in the Church being established by the Head of the Church, is sacred, and is to be always fully recognized and loyally obeyed. Any disobedience, and especially any usurpation of His office and authority, is fearfully like “ the sin against the Holy Ghost ” which “hath never forgive¬ ness. ” His guidance and help are to be believingly sought and confidently trusted. He must not be grieved lest He withdraw and we perish. J John xvi. 13, 14. Gal. v. 22, 23. 5 John iii. 1-11. 6 John iv. 14. 2 1 Cor. xii. r-i r. 4 John xvi. 8-11. 7 Eph. v. 26, 27. 2 AO CHRIST HIS OWN WITNESS. We will not be surprised that Jesus spoke often of Himself as doing what He does by His Spirit. He does not thereby ignore the Spirit’s agency which He himself has established, and we must not ignore it. III. JESUS HAS GIVEN LAWS TO HIS CHURCH. Jesus’ authority as Law-giver extends to all men. But as King of the Church He has established Laws for its government and for the direction of its in¬ dividual members. These have been presented and studied in the section on the Conditions of Disciple- ship, and need not be repeated here . 1 As was said in the last Section, the whole of the New Testament may be considered as the w^ord of Christ, since it was indited by His Spirit. “ Holy men of God spake ” also in the Old Testament “as they were moved by the Holy Ghost,” which was even then “ the Spirit of Christ ; ” 2 and so far as their words have not al¬ ready been fulfilled in Christ, they are still valid as inspired teachings, profitable for doctrine, for reproof for correction, for instruction in righteousness . 3 112 . JESUS SANCTIONED THE UNITED WORSHIP OF HIS PEOPLE, AND HAS GIVEN A GREAT PROMISE IN REFERENCE TO IT. In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus teaches and sanctions united prayer in the opening words, Our Father which art in heave?!? He said also explicitly: Verily 1 See § 88, pp. 185-190. 3 2 Tim. iii. 16. 2 1 Pet. i. 11. 4 Mat. vi. 9 ; Luke xi. 2. RELATIONS OF JESUS TO THE CHURCH. 241 I say unto you, That if tivo of you shall agree on earth, as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. For where tzuo or three are gathered to¬ gether in my name, there am I in the midst of them} With this agrees the representation of the Psalmist, who by prophecy makes the Messiah say: “ In the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee.” 2 Jesus himself attended the synagogue and temple services, and so sanctioned united worship by His practice. It is remarkable how little He himself said on this subject. The texts just quoted are all. But they are broad in scope and full of meaning. He authorizes His people to go together to God as to a Father, as brethren to a common Father. And note those other words, the promise of His presence to two or three gathered together in His name. He will be with them to hear, to know, to love, and to bless. He gives this great promise to the smallest possible number which can be gathered. He will not despise or neglect the two or three. Of course all larger assemblies are included in the scope of the promise. Again, no matter where they meet, in the great cathedral, the church, the meeting-house, the school-house, the dwelling-house, in the woods, on the prairie, or among the mountains—wherever it be, if met in His name, obeying Him, trusting in Him, pleading His merits and intercession, they have the 1 Mat. xviii. 19, 20. 2 Ps. xxii. 22 ; Heb. ii. 12. 24<2 CHRIST HIS OWN WITNESS. promise. The single condition is that they meet in His name. He omits all about leaders, forms, serv¬ ices of song, sermons, authorization of the worship by the Church or the State. How can we even men¬ tion such things as these in close connection with this great promise, so grand in its simplicity, from the Church’s Head. 113. JESUS INSTITUTED AND EXPLAINED THE ORDI¬ NANCE OF THE LORD’S SUPPER. As they were eating at the passover-table Jesus took bread and blessed it and brake it and gave it to the disciples, saying: Take, eat; this is my body.' “ The Lord Jesus the same night in which he was be¬ trayed, took bread : and when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat; this is my body which is broken for you :" 2 “And he took bread and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave it to them, saying, This is my body which is given for yon : this do in remembrance of meT 3 “ And he took the cup and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it, for this is my blood of the new testament which is shed for many for the remission of sins .” 4 “ Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you." 5 “ This cup is the new testament in my blood; this do, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me." 6 1 Mat. xxvi. 26; Mark xiv. 22. 2 1 Cor. xi. 23, 24. 3 Luke xxii. 19. 4 Mat. xxvi. 27, 28 ; Mark xiv. 24. 6 Luke xxii. 20. 8 1 Cor. xi. 25. RELA TIONS OF JESUS TO THE CHURCH. 243 Let us review and study well these words of Jesus in regard to the holy supper. They are recorded by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and Paul. He said, “ This do in remembrance of me,” as Luke and Paul tell us in connection with the distribution of the bread, and, as Paul says, in connection also with the distribution of the cup. Evidently, then, He instituted the or¬ dinance as a memorial rite, as one means of preserv¬ ing from perversion in the Church the truth which it expresses, but also for keeping alive and tender and effective the remembrance of His love, sufferings, and death. It is exceedingly simple, as was fitting. He took of what was before Him on the passover-table, of the bread and the wine—doubtless He regarded them appropriate to His purpose—and He explained their significance and use in the new ordinance. The broken bread, He said, was His body, i. e., repre¬ sented His body broken for men. That which was in the cup, spoken of as the fruit of the vine, which was a liquid capable of being drunk, was, i. e., repre¬ sented, His blood of the new testament shed for many for the remission of sins. Note, Matthew and Mark say He took the bread and “ blessed ” ; Luke and Paul, that He took bread and “gave thanks;” Mat¬ thew and Mark say, He took the cup and “ gave thanks;” Luke and Paul use the word “Likewise” when speaking of the cup, which covers not only His taking it, but also the giving thanks. The “ blessing ” and the “ giving thanks ” in connection with the bread were doubtless the same, and just like the giving thanks in connection with the wine. Jesus 244 CHRIST HIS OWN WITNESS. told the disciples to eat the bread, and all of them to drink of the wine, and to observe this simple rite per¬ petually, in remembrance of Him, until He should come. Their eating and drinking these symbols of His body and blood was to be a lively representation of their exercise of faith in His atoning death, and so it signifies just what He meant by “ eating (his) flesh ” and u drinking (his) blood,” in His discourse to the Jews, preserved in John, chapter vi . 1 By this ordinance the central truths of Christian¬ ity, namely, Redemption by the death of Christ, and Faith in Him as the means of securing it, are taught through the eye, as by preaching they are through the ear: and the ordinance is thus well adapted to be a pillar and ground of the truth, as well as perpetual means of edification. But just upon this ordinance, which is the ark of the covenant, so to speak, of the earthly Church, the great adversary has used all his arts of perversion and destruction, and with terrible effect. The simple words, “ This is my body,” “ This is my blood,” have been construed with the strictest literalness, so as to teach that the bread and the wine used in the Lord’s supper are changed, by the priest’s consecration, into the very flesh and blood of Jesus, which are thus literally eaten and drunk by the communicant. Then what Jesus says elsewhere about eating His flesh and drinking His blood 2 has been understood of the eat¬ ing and drinking the bread and the wine of the 1 See § 92, p. 199. 5 John vi. 32-58. RELA TIONS OF JESUS TO THE CHURCH. 245 Lord’s supper, and so, the communing at the hands of a duly authorized priest has been made necessary to salvation. In order to support such a superstructure as this, its foundation, namely the strictly literal interpreta¬ tion of the words of Christ, ought to be very certain : whereas nothing could be less certain, or rather nothing more certainly erroneous. If the words of Christ had such a meaning, how careful should the sacred writers have been to retain exactly their proper form. But as Luke and Paul have recorded the words of Jesus in reference to the wine, He said : This cup is the new testament in my blood .' These words, by a rational exegesis, say the same thing as those given by Matthew and Mark, namely, that the wine (in the cup) represents His blood shed for the remission of sins, according to the terms of the cove¬ nant of grace. But on the theory of the literal inter¬ pretation, which must be applied in all its strictness to these words as well as to those referring to the bread, not the wine in the cup, but the cup itself, w r hether of earth, wood, or metal, is the blood ; or rather not the blood, but the covenant which was established in or by the blood. The literal cup is the literal covenant ; whatever that may mean. Again, it is against the assumption of such a mighty change in the elements, that no such change is asserted by Jesus. He says, in terms, “This is my body.” “ my blood,” not, They are, or have been, changed into my 1 1 Cor. xi. 25 ; Luke xxii. 20. 246 CHRIST HIS OWN WITNESS. body, my blood. How unlike also is this to the result of the miracle at Cana, where the water, changed into wine, itself made evident to the senses of the ruler of the feast, and of every guest who tasted it, the change it had undergone. In the ordinance of the Lord’s Supper, the senses of millions on millions have testified just the contrary. The alleged change is said to take place at the moment of the utterance of the words of “ consecration ; ” Jesus did not conse¬ crate the bread and the wine. He “blessed”— prayed for God’s blessing on the use of the bread, or, according to Luke and Paul, He “ gave thanks ” be¬ fore using it . 1 His words were doubtless of the import expressed by these simple phrases. His pre¬ cise language not being given, we can only infer its tenor from these compendious descriptions. If such a mighty transubstantiation was to follow, the words of “ blessing ” should have been exactly recorded and would need to be exactly repeated. Shall human words substituted for those of Jesus produce such effects ? On the contrary how appropriate are simple words of prayer and thanksgiving, in imitation of those of Jesus, when Christians obey His gracious command : “ Do this in remembrance of me .” These very words show that in partaking, believers are to “ remember ” what Christ has done; the false inter- 1 The words “ blessed ” and “ gave thanks ” ( evloyrjaag , tvTTjoag), are placed absolutely, without any object expressed. He blessed, He gave thanks (for the bread, the wine). This fact puts the assumption of a formal consecration and of a miraculous change of the elements still more in abeyance. RELATIONS OF JESUS TO THE CHURCH. 247 pretation directs their attention to what is done at the moment of communing, and leads to the forget¬ ting of Jesus himself. The doctrine of transubstantiation involves absurd, horrible, and disgusting consequences, as is plainly enough admitted in the multitude of special rules carefully observed in regard to the consecrated ele¬ ments. The doctrine is drawn from the words of Jesus only by a disregard of one of the most common laws of language, that, namely, by which one object is used to represent another. Not only the language of the Bible, but that of every other book, also the common conversation of adults and even of children, constantly shows the working of this law. When the Saviour said, The words that I speak unto you they are spirit aiid they are life , 1 He did not mean that His literal words, the articulated sounds, or vibra¬ tions of air, were the literal spirit and life of believers. By His “ words ” He evidently meant their u mean¬ ing,” the doctrine which they conveyed. And even the “ doctrine ” is not itself the life of men ; but it is the means by which, in connection with the work of the Spirit, the * life of piety is developed in them. Jesus interpreting the parable of the tares of the field, said : “ The field IS the world, the good seed ARE the children of the kingdom, and the tares ARE the children of the wicked one ; the enemy that sowed them IS the devil, the harvest IS the end of the world, and the reapers ARE the angels .” 2 Does any 1 John vi. 63. 2 Mat. xiii. 38, 39. 248 CHRIST HIS 0 WN WITHESS. one believe that by these several predications our Lord meant anything more than that the field and the seed, etc., of the parable were intended to repre¬ sent the world, etc., in the reality ? Or if a case is demanded where tangible objects are spoken of, and one is made to represent the other, we have Paul in¬ terpreting his allegory of Sarah and Hagar,“ For this Hagar is (represents in allegory) Mount Sinai in Arabia.” 1 Shall we bring in here the doctrine of tran- substantiation, and understand Paul as asserting that Sarah’s maid was changed, flesh and blood, into the granite mountain ? Let us rather use that simple law of language which we observe everywhere else and are in no danger of perverting. Jesus said : “ My sheep hear my voice .” 2 “ I am the Vine, ye are the branches.” 3 When once His disciples had forgotten to take bread, and their supply was reduced to a single loaf, Jesus said to them: “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.” They thereupon thought (but they were mistaken) that He spake “ concerning bread ; ” and even that interpre¬ tation of theirs was a departure from the most literal sense, for He said “ leaven,” not “ bread ; ” and only after some time did they come to understand that He meant by leaven the “ doctrine ” of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees . 4 The human mind delights in such transfers of signification, and, indeed, finds them necessary. Language would be intolerable, or rather, impossible without them. 1 Gal. iv. 25. 2 John x. 27. 3 John xv. 5. 4 Mat. xvi. 6-12 ; Mark viii. 14-21 ; Luke xii. 1. RELA TION’S OF JESUS TO THE CHURCH. 249 Neither is the doctrine of Consubstantiation con¬ tained in these words of Jesus in regard to the sacra¬ mental bread and wine. It has, however, a truth for its basis; namely, that in every case of worthy par¬ taking of the bread and the wine, there is also a spiritual partaking of the benefits flowing from the sacrifice of Christ’s body and blood. We have endeavored, as we could, to set forth the true meaning of the words which Jesus used in insti¬ tuting the ordinance of the Sacred Supper. The refutation of the false doctrine contributes to the illustration of the true. The certainty of the use of metaphor in Jesus’ words concerning the cup, espe¬ cially as given by Luke and Paul, justifies the assump¬ tion that metaphor is also used in those concerning the bread. So understood, all is simple, intelligible, and free from the possible perversions of superstition and priestcraft ; the efficacy of the Gospel and its ordinances is assigned to its real Divine sources; Christians are edified, and Christ is remembered and honored. 114. JESUS SELECTS AND SENDS FORTH ALL HIS MINISTERS TO THEIR WORK. At the Jordan, soon after His baptism, Jesus said to Philip, Follow me; that is, as a disciple . 1 He designed, however, as afterward appears, to appoint him further to the Apostleship. He called Matthew from his seat as tax-gatherer, saying with the same 1 John i. 43. 250 CHRIST HIS OWN WITNESS. intent: Follozv me} He called Peter and Andrew to the work of the Gospel ministry with the words : Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men} This was a lively figure of their future business drawn from their previous employment. He repeated the command to Peter just before His ascension: Follow me ; Follozv thou me ; Feed my lambs ; Feed my sheep: These last commands teach the nature of the pastoral office, and its direct relation to Jesus. Peter reiter¬ ates it to all under-shepherds. * 4 Jesus said to the Apostles, Have not I chosen you twelve ? 5 6 referring in this incidental way to their selection by Him as recorded in Mark and Luke. 5a And again : Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosc7i you , and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit} When He first sent out the Apostles, He said : Behold, I send you forth as lambs among wolves} And afterward, referring to the same occasion, He said : When I sent you without purse , and scrip , and shoes, lacked ye anything f 8 To Peter He said : And I zvill give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven ; and what soever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven , and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven . 9 And to all the eleven: Receive ye the Holy Ghost . Whoseso¬ ever sins ye remit , they are remitted unto them, and zvhosesoever sins ye retain, they are retained}* He ap- 1 Mat. ix. 9 ; Mark ii. 14 ; Luke v. 27. 2 Mat. iv. 19 ; Mark i. 17 ; Luke v. 10. 3 John xxi. 15-22. 4 1 Pet. v. 2-4. 5 John vi. 70. ba Mark iii. 13, 14; Luke vi. 13, 6 John xv. 16. 7 Mat. x. 16; Luke x. 3. 8 Luke xxii. 35. B Mat. xvi. 19. 10 John xx. 22, 23. See § 107, p. 223. RELATIONS OF JESUS TO THE CHURCH. 25 I pointed Saul of Tarsus to the ministry and apostle- ship : He is a chosen vessel unto me to hear my name before the Gentiles , and kings , and the children of Israel} Depart , for I will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles? I have appeared unto thee for this purpose to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen , and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee ; delivering thee from the people , and from the Gentiles , unto whom now I send thee? Jesus says that He holds the seven stars in His right hand. 4 The seven stars are the “angels” (prob¬ ably the pastors) of the seven churches. 5 By His holding these in His hand, is expressed His ap¬ pointing them and keeping them in office. The let¬ ter to each of the angels of the seven churches is an official document sent through His servant John, exhibiting Jesus in the actual exercise of His office and authority as Chief Shepherd, exercising oversight over both pastors and churches, just as He doubtless exercises it in all ages of His Church. 6 He said to the eleven : Ye also shall bear witness , because ye have been with me from the beginning? And ye are wit¬ nesses of these things 8 (that is, of His sufferings, death, and resurrection). Ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem and in all Judea , and in Samaria , and unto the uttermost part of the earth? As my Father hath sent me , even so send I you. 10 As thou hast sent 1 Acts ix. 15, 2 Acts xxii. 21. 3 Acts xxvi. 16, 17. * Rev. ii. 1. 5 See Rev. i. 20. 8 Rev. chs. ii. and iii. 7 John xv. 27. “ Luke xxiv. 48. 9 Acts i.*8. 19 John xx. 21. 252 CHRIST HIS OWN WITNESS. me into the world, even so have I sent them into ihe world} Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature '} Go ye therefore and teach all na¬ tions, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; teaching them to ob¬ serve all things whatsoever I have commanded you: a7id lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the zvorld? The very terms of this command show that it is a final, full, and perpetual commission, binding on all those who are qualified and authorized to preach the Gospel, and also on all Christians, to promote, each in his way and according to his means, the univeisal spread of the Gospel. I 15. JESUS ARMED THE FIRST PREACHERS OF THE GOSPEL WITH MIRACULOUS POWERS. The works that I do shall he do also , and greater works than these shall he do, because I go unto my Father} Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents arid scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy} He promised also other power: I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries shall 7iot be able to gainsay nor resist} Their converts also were to share in the miraculous powers: And these signs shall follow them that believe ; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents, arid if they driuk any 1 John xvii. 18. 2 Mark xvi. 15. 3 4 Mat. xxviii. 19, 20. 4 John xiv. 12. 6 Luke x. 19. 0 Luke xxi. 15. RELATIONS OF JESUS TO THE CHURCH. 253 deadly thing it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the siek and they shall recover} All these miraculous effects were realized in the primitive age; not always and universally, but yet very largely. The terms of the promise confine these extraordinary powers to the first preachers and their immediate converts; and it is probable that they lasted no longer, but ceased with these first receivers of them. But some of these thus gifted may have lived far into the second century. 116. JESUS ASSIGNS TO EACH WORKER HIS WORK AND ITS DURATION. Jesus said of Saul of Tarsus : He is a chosen vessel unto me to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings , and the children of Israel . For I will show him how great things he must suffer for my name s sake} And Luke reports that more than once Jesus appeared to Paul in vision for the purpose of directing his move¬ ments. Then spake the Lord to Paul in the night by a vision , Be not af raid , but speak , and hold not thy peace ; for I am with thee , and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee; for I have much people in this city} And the night following , the Lord stood by him and said , Be of good cheer , Paul; for as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem , so must thou bear witness also at Rome} And we have Paul’s own account of another similar instance of direction: I was in a trance and saw Him 1 Mark xvi. 17, 18. 8 Acts xviii. 9, 10. 2 Acts ix. 15, 16. 4 Acts xxiii. 11. 254 CHRIST HIS 0 WN WITNESS. saying unto me, Make haste and get thee quickly out of Jerusalem ; for they will not receive thy testimony con cerning me . And he said unto me, Depart: for I will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles} J esus said to His disciples : / sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labor: other men labored and ye are entered into their labors . 2 He said to Peter: Whither I go thou ca?ist not follow me now, but thou shalt folloiv me afterwards . 3 In these words He hinted at Peter’s death by crucifixion. This He predicted more plainly on a subsequent oc¬ casion, and added, Follow me, evidently meaning, Follow me in the bold and faithful teaching of the Gospel, through all thine appointed time, and then come, like me, to the cross, and by it to thy heavenly crown. 4 But that announcement about himself did not prevent Peter from curiously inquiring just then about the destiny of John : Lord, and what shall this man do ? Jesus replied : If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee ? Folloiv thou me . 5 These words of Jesus involve a claim of authority to assign to each minister His work, His experiences in it, and the time and manner of its termination. I 17. JESUS AS CHIEF SHEPHERD RECOGNIZES THE FIDELITY, THE GRACES, AND THE SUFFERINGS OF THE CHURCHES. We have seen how kindly He recognized the, graces and works of individual believers. This fact 1 Acts xxii. 17-21. 4 John xxi. 18, 19. 2 John iv. 38. 3 John xiii. 36. J John xxi. 22 RELATIONS OF JESUS TO THE CHURCH. 2 $$ appears again in His words to the Churches, sent through John in Patmos. To the Ephesian Church He said : I know thy works, and thy labor, aiid thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil; and thou hast tried them zvhieh say they are apostles and are not, and hast found them liars . And hast borne , and hast patience, and for my name’s sake hast labored and hast not fainted} The word “ works ” here and in the beginning of all the seven letters, has the general sense of “ course of action,” particularly as indicative of character. “ Patience” is constancy under persecution or under suffering from enemies. Being “ not able to bear the evil ” or wicked in the Church, shows a high tone of Christian morals in the Church as well as a vigorous state of discipline. The “ false apostles ” were prob¬ ably like those of whom Paul speaks, who taught a system of doctrines made up of mingled Christianity and Judaism. 2 To the Church in Smyrna : I know thy zvorks , and tribulation, and poverty; but thou art rich} They were persecuted, and were poor in earthly possessions, but rich in Christian graces and in the love of Jesus. To the Church in Pergamos : And thou boldest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith, even in those 1 Rev. ii. 2, 3, “works,” Greek, Iqya ; “ labor,” kotcov, i. e ., toil \ r d > ear isome labor , here in Christian duties and efforts ; “patience,” v-o/iovi/v , endurance, constancy under trials, especially under per¬ secution. “Tried,” -bmoaaae, tested, proved. 8 2 Cor, xi. 13-15 ; Gal. vi. 12, 13. 3 Rev. ii. 9, 256 CHRIST HIS OWN WITNESS. days wherein Ant ip as was my faith fill martyr} To “hold fast” Jesus’“name” is to persevere in the confession of His name before the world, and in the maintenance of Gospel truth. The whole sentence is a beautiful description of the “ patience ” spoken of in the letter to the Ephesian Church. To the Church in Thyatira : I know thy works and charity, and service, and faith , and thy patience, and thy works, and the last to be more than the first? The repetition of “ works ” may express the satisfaction with which Jesus dwells upon the fruits of piety. In reviewing these words of Jesus, we note first the earnest interest which He expresses in the Christian character and conduct of the Churches ; and secondly, the special things in them which please Him. He approves and expresses His pleasure at their opposi¬ tion to, and discipline of, immoral and wicked men within the Church, and of those who make false pre¬ tensions to office and authority in it. He is pleased with the exhibition in the Churches of faith, love, active Christian labor, with open confession of His name, with perseverance in the Christian course against opposition and persecution even unto death, and with increase in all Christian graces and labors. And He lets His mind be known to His people, that they may be encouraged to do and to bear still more, and to go forward in every good word and work. 1 18 . JESUS SEES THE SINS OF THE CHURCHES. The graces and faithfulness of His people do not blind the Chief Shepherd to their defects. He notes 2 Rev. ii. 19. 1 Rev. ii. 13. RELATIONS OF JESUS TO THE CHURCH . 257 even the first decline from a high state of religious feeling. To the Ephesian Church, after an enumera¬ tion of their graces and works, He said : Notwithstand¬ ing I have somewhat against thee , because thou hast left thy first love} To the Church in Sardis still stronger: Thou hast a name that thou livest and art dead. . ... I have not found thy works perfect before God? Thus Jesus reads the heart, and marks the general course of His people’s life. Particular sins are noted by Him. To the Church in Pergamos He directed John to write: But I have a feiv things against thee , because (or, that,) thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to cast a stumbling-block before the chil¬ dren of Israel , to eat things sacrificed unto idols , and to commit fornication. So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans , which thing I hate? The reference is to the history of Israel when in the land of Moab . 4 The orgies carried on in the temples and at the festivals of the heathen gods were obscene in the highest degree. The first converts from heathenism had themselves practiced these rites , 5 and saw them still carried on by their friends and neighbors. Some professing to be Christians, and even some Christian teachers, maintained, on the score of Christian liberty, that it was lawful for Chris¬ tians to engage in them. Jesus compares such to 1 Rev. ii. 4, “ because,” Greek, on, that. 3 Rev. ii. 14, 15. 4 Num. xxxi. 16. 2 Rev. iii. 1, 2. 6 1 Cor. vi. 9-11. 258 CHRIST HIS 0 WN WITNESS. Balaam and to the Israelites, who were seduced by his counsels into similar orgies. Of the Nicolaitans as a distinct sect and of their leader (the name is derived from a very common Greek name, Nicolaus) nothing is certainly known, though there is no lack of traditions. They are generally supposed to have been not very different from the Balaamites just de¬ scribed. This assumption would be favored by what appears to be the true rendering of verse 15th : “ So thou, too, hast there them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans,” namely, those just mentioned. “Thou too,” that is, as well others; for instance, the Church of Ephesus (v. 6). To the Church in Thyatira: Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because (or, that) thou sufferest that woman Jezebel , which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornica¬ tion, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols} We have here the same evil as before, headed by one pretending to inspiration, and defended doubtless in the same way by a perversion of the doctrine of Christian liberty. The leader is characterized by the name of another famous promoter of idolatry in Israel. 2 To the Church in Laodicea : I know thy works that thou art 7 ieither cold nor hot. I would that thou wert cold or hot. So then, because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth : Because thou say est, I am rich and increased in goods 1 Rev. ii. 20. 2 1 K. xxi. 25. RELATIONS OF JESUS TO THE CHURCH. 259 and have need of nothing; and knozuest not that thou art zvretched and miserable a 7 id poor and blind and naked} If we attach a separate moral meaning to each of the terms “ cold ” and “ hot ”—understand, for in¬ stance, “ cold ” to be said of a state of indifference to religion and duty, and “ hot ” of a state of fervor in Christian feeling, then must we also find a medium state of partial indifference and partial interest. In that case Jesus would say that this intermediate state is more offensive to Him than one of absolute indif¬ ference ; that He would rather professing Christians should be thoroughly indifferent in religion than only partially interested. This is now a common under¬ standing of the passage. But strange doctrine it is ; one not to be found elsewhere, either in the teach¬ ings of Jesus or in the Bible at large. It is, more¬ over, both false and practically immoral. The origin of it is in the usage of certain terms in modern religious language. The words “ cold ” and “ lukewarm ” are now often employed to express low states of religious feeling, and this meaning has been brought into this passage, with the result just men¬ tioned. Let us try to get at the true intention of Jesus by a different road : Verse 17 is connected with verses 15 and 16, by the conjunction Because. See the quotation above. This verse, then, contains a reason for what is said in the two preceding. But this 1 Rev. iii. 15-17. 260 CHRIST HIS 0 WN WITNESS. seventeenth verse describes very plainly, although figuratively, a state of spiritual pride, a self-satisfied spirit, which, as the Scriptures abundantly show, is displeasing and abominable to God and to Jesus. 1 The connection of verse seventeen with the preced¬ ing shows that it is this self-satisfaction which the Lord rebukes in these words. He compares it to lukewarm water, which all know is disgusting and nauseating to the stomach. Jesus says, in very plain and homely phrase, that a Church thus filled with spiritual pride, looking upon itself with such self- satisfaction, is disgusting to Him, and that if it con¬ tinues to cherish this spirit He will reject it with loathing. He counsels the Church, therefore, to come to Him with the opposite spirit, viz., a deep sense of its needs, and so furnish itself with pleasing and attractive spiritual graces. The expression, neither cold nor hot, is, then, simply a periphrasis for “ luke¬ warm,” and means negatively just what that does positively. It is not to be explained as having a spiritual sense in each of its terms, separately. The interpretation thus derived is simple, adequate, ful¬ fills all the laws of thought and language, and will bear pressing. The other, just like the common in¬ terpretation of Mat. vii. 6—Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, etc.—teaches, if pressed, what is unbiblical and unchristian. We have, then, in these words of Jesus to the Laodicean Church, a sharp re¬ buke of its spiritual pride and consequent carnal security. 1 Isa. lxv. 5 ; Mat. xxiii. 12; Luke xviii. 14. RELATIONS OF JESUS TO THE CHURCH . 261 1 19. JESUS ADMONISHES GUILTY CHURCHES AND CHURCH-MEMBERS ; COUNSELS, ENCOURAGES, AND INVITES THEM TO HIS LOVE AND GRACIOUS GIFTS. After administering to the Church in Laodicea the earnest admonition we have just been studying, lest they should be disheartened, Jesus hastened to re¬ assure them by words of mercy: As many as I love I rebuke and chasten . I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich: and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear / and anoint thine eyes with eye-salve , that thou mayest see} And then He represented Himself as desiring and patiently waiting for their love. He did not wait for them to come to Him : He comes to them : Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I zvill come in to him and will sup with him, and he with me . 2 This all-enduring, forgiving, inviting love on the part of Jesus is conceived in the highest style of grace found in the Bible. It is just like that in the story of the Prodigal Son, and in that of the Lost Sheep, and utterly without parallel in the highest conceptions of human genius; the truth is, it is not a human ideal, it is a divine reality. The admonitions which Jesus gives to some of His followers He intends for all: What I say unto you 1 say unto all: Watch . 3 1 Rev. iii. 18. 2 Rev. iii. 20. 3 Mark xiii. 37. 262 CHRIST HIS OWN WITNESS . J 20 . JESUS THREATENS PUNISHMENT TO EIEEDLESS AND IMPENITENT CHURCHES AND CHURCH- MEMBERS. To the Church in Thyatira He said : / will give unto every one of yon according to your works} To the Pergamean Church after the mention of their sins: These things saith he that hath the sharp sword with tzvo edges . Repent , or else I will come unto thee quickly and will fight against thee with the sword of my mouth} The sword of His mouth is a sharp sword with two edges, 3 and denotes His sentence of condemnation for their sins, and His orders issued for their punishment. To the Church in Sardis He said: If therefore , thou shall not watch, I will come on thee as a thief , and thou shall not know what hour I will come upon thee} The threat to the Laodiceans is , I will spezv thee out of my mouth} To the Ephesian Church He threat¬ ened extinction : Repent , and do the first works , or else I will come unto thee quickly , and will remove thy candlestick out of his place , except thou repent} The candlestick is the Church : 7 to remove it is to destroy the Church. These threats show that the King of the Church will not tolerate sin in the Churches and their mem¬ bers. They show, too, that He has both the author¬ ity and the power to punish, and uses them when necessary, even to a Church’s extinction. 'Rev. ii. 23. 2 Rev. ii. 12, 16. s Rev. i. 16. 4 Rev. iii. 3. 5 Rev. iii. 16 ; See pp, 259, 260. 6 Rev. ii. 5. 7 Ch. i. 20. RELA T 1 ONS OF JESUS TO THE CHURCH. 2 63 121. JESUS ADMINISTERS PROVIDENCE ALSO IN BE¬ HALF OF HIS CHURCHES. To the Philadelphian Church He said : 'These things saith . ... he that openeth and no man shutteth, and shutteth and no man openeth. . . . Behold, I have set before thee an open door , and no man can shut it} An “ open door ” is opportunity to enter upon and fol¬ low a desired career unhindered by opposition. Jesus can open doors for His churches and people, and by His Providence prevent successful opposition to them. He is Head over all things for the Church. 1 2 Jesus said to the Church of Philadelphia: Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan which say they are Jews and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee . Because thou hast kept the word of my patience I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation which shall come upon all the world to try them that dwell upon the earth? Again, to the Church at Thyatira : He that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations. 4 These letters to the Churches present a very clear and vivid view of Jesus acting as Head of the Church. They show what His will is in regard to the Chris¬ tian spirit, and activity of the Churches ; they show His jealousy in regard to the Churches’ losing their first love, their lapsing into errors, into spiritual 1 Rev. iii. 7, 8. 2 Rev. iii. 9, 10. 2 Eph. i. 22. 4 Rev. ii. 26. 264 CHRIST HIS 0 WN WITNESS. pride, and slothfulness ; they show His joy in the Christian graces of the Churches, in their activity, their patience under persecution, their fidelity to Him ; and they reveal His tender love to them, His forbearance toward them, as well as His watch¬ ful and efficient Providential care over them. The whole view of Him which the letters to the seven Churches present, is in entire keeping with His char¬ acter and attributes already established by our studies. CHAPTER XIV. JESUS’ RELATIONS TO ALL MEN AS THEIR JUDGE. 122 . HE WILL JUDGE MEN. Jesus says of the Father: And he hath given him (the Son) authority to execute judgment also , because he is the Son of man ; that is, because He is Messiah. 1 We learn from these words that the judgment of men is assigned to Jesus as Messiah. To judge His moral creatures is properly the prerogative of God. Both the Father and the Son share in this preroga¬ tive. 2 But since the Son has assumed the office of Messiah, the Father has assigned to Him the whole function of the judgment of men. So Jesus said : For the Father judgeth no man , but hath committed all judgment unto the Son? It is manifestly appropriate that the same Being who provided and offered salvation to men should also decide and act upon their acceptance or rejec¬ tion of His grace. This is the proper consummation of His functions as Messiah in relation to men. It is Hohn v. 27. “Son of man,” Greek, vloq uvdguirov. The article is wanting which is usually present. See § 22, pp. 41, 42. Yet probably the meaning is not different, as the words seem to have here the force of a proper name. 2 See § 69, p. 150. 3 John v. 22. (265) 12 266 CHRIST HIS 0 IVN WITNESS. an honor due to His Mediatorial character. It is plain, too, that as Messiah He is peculiarly fitted for the office of Judge of men. The Messiah certainly appreciates both the sin and guilt of men, and the honor due to God and His law. He is also certainly concerned to employ in men’s behalf the provisions of grace which He has made, so far as may be, and He will recognize, with all readiness, the repentance and faith of the sinner. The interests, therefore, of God, of man, of justice, and of mercy, are all secured by Jesus’ being the Judge of men. Jesus does indeed say: For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; 1 and: I judge him (the unbeliever) not, for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world; 2 and again : Ye judge after the flesh : I judge no man? But the meaning of these words plainly is, To judge and condemn men was not His direct, primary object in coming: that was to save men. Judging was not His present work, while in the world. The form of the words is like that which He used in reply to the two disciples who wanted permission to bring down fire from heaven on certain Samaritans: The Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them} While all this is true, the actual result of His coming may be, in some cases, as we have seen, the condemnation of men. 5 After saying as above quoted, “ I judge him not," i. e., the unbeliever, He added : The word 1 John iii. 17. 4 Luke ix. 56. 2 John xii. 47. 3 John viii. 15, r § I 9 > P- 28. JESUS' RELATIONS TO MEN AS JUDGE. . 2 67 that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day . Jesus’ word would rise up in the judgment like the Queen of the South, like the men of Nine- veh, against the men of that generation and condemn them. And just so, after saying, I judge no man , He added, And yet if I judge, my judgment is just . There is, then, in these words of Jesus, no denial, but rather an affirmation of His judicial office. The judicial functions of Jesus consist of two parts : The first is that which He is perpetually exercising over those who hear His Gospel with reference to their acceptance or rejection of it. This part is em¬ braced, though not exclusively intended, in His words: As I hear I judge, and my judgment isjust: 1 and in the words : For judgment I am come into this world , that they which see not might see, and that they which see might be made blind'} We have already seen that He deals at the time judicially with those who reject His offers of grace. 3 But this action is preliminary, and, if the sinner repents, is reversible. Otherwise it is an anticipation of the final condemnation which Jesus will pronounce at the last judgment, presiding at which is the other part of His judicial work. 123. JESUS WILL COME ONE DAY TO JUDGE THE WORLD. We have His own prediction : Then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven ; and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall sec the So?i of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and 2 John ix. 39. 1 John v. 30. 3 See § 19, p. 28. 268- CHRIST HIS OWN WITNESS. great glory? That Jesus was here speaking of His final coming to judge the world is evident from the very terms which He used. Especially is it evident from the next verse, which will be considered in the next section. 124. JESUS WILL COME SUDDENLY TO JUDGMENT. As the lightning cometh out of the east and shineth even unto the west, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be? As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all. Likewise also as it zvas in the days of Lot: they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it ramed fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed? Just so suddenly and unexpectedly, in the midst of the activities of the world’s life, shall Jesus’ final coming break upon men. This applies essentially also to all the generations of men previous to that one which shall be found living at the dawn of the last day; because as death leaves us, so will judgment find us. There is, therefore, for all men 1 Mat. xxiv. 30 ; Mark xiii. 26 ; Luke xxi. 27. See in reference to all these passages, explained of the judgment in this and the following Section, the remarks in § 127, p. 279. 2 Mat. xxiv. 27 ; Luke xvii. 24. 3 Luke xvii. 26-30; Mat. xxiv. 37, 38. JESUS' RELATIONS TO MEN AS JUDGE. 26~ the closest connection between their death and the final judgment, whatever space of time may inter¬ vene. This fact gives us a clue to the right under¬ standing of other words of Jesus which relate to this important subject. 125. THE TIME OF JESUS’ FINAL COMING IS UN¬ KNOWN TO MEN. Of that day and hour knoweth no man (no one), no , not the angels in heaven , but my Father only. Mark inserts, neither the Son. See the discussion on this point in a former chapter. 1 Again, we find : Ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. In such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh? At midnight there zuas a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh? At midnight, that is, when men least expect it and are apt to be least prepared. Some words of Jesus indeed appear to speak of the time with a degree of definiteness. In the parable of the pounds, He puts it: After a long time the Lord of those servants com¬ eth and reckoneth with them} But these words may be designed simply to make up the verisimilitude, to indicate that men have a season for showing their obedience or neglect. It indicates men’s time of life. Again, Jesus said: Behold, I come quickly. Surely I come quickly? These words, so far as they apply to individuals, are words of encouragement and J Mat. xxiv. 36 ; Mark xiii. 32. See § 48, p. 105. 2 Mat. xxiv. 42, 44. * 3 4 Mat. xxv. 6. 4 Mat. xxv. 19. 6 Rev. xxii. 7, 12, 20. 27 o CHRIST HIS OWN WITNESS. of warning, based on the fact before stated, that to each one death and the judgment are virtually in immediate connection ; and, therefore, to prepare for one is to be ready for the other. Death is always near to men ; and so the judgment is virtually near to every man. 126. JESUS TELLS MEN TO BE READY FOR HIS COM¬ ING, AND HOW THEY MAY BE READY. Therefore be ye also ready; for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh} Behold , I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth , and keepeth his garments , lest he walk naked and they see his shame. la Watch , therefore; for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come . 1 2 ' What I say unto you I say unto all , Watch} These warnings evidently apply to all of every age, and not only to those who shall be alive at the com¬ ing of the Lord. The explanation has been given already: that death brings us all virtually into imme¬ diate connection with the judgment. We are not, however, to watch idly, but to use well our time, our powers, and opportunities as faithful servants. Jesus taught this by a parable: A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return. A nd he called his ten servants , and delivered them ten pounds , and said unto them, Occupy till I come} Having described in a parable the servant 1 Mat. xxiv. 44. 2 Mat. xxiv. 42. 4 Luke xix. 12, 13 ; Mat. xxv. 14. la Rev. xvi. 15. 3 Mark xiii. 37. JESUS 1 EE LA TION'S TO MEN AS JUDGE. 27 1 whom his Lord had made ruler over his household to give them their meat in due season, He added: Blessed is that servant, whom his Lord, when he cometh , shall find so doing , 1 that is, fulfilling actively his as¬ signed duties. He expressed this also in another word : Hold fast till I come} To those who heed these admonitions death and judgment will be bless¬ ings. 127. REMARKS ON THE WORDS OF JESUS CITED IN THE FIVE PRECEDING SECTIONS AS BEARING ON HIS COMING TO JUDGE THE WORLD. There is great difficulty in the interpretation of many of the sayings of Jesus cited in these sections, arising from the fact that at the same time that He spoke of the final judgment He said much that evi¬ dently applies to judgments which were soon to come upon the Jewish people, their city, and temple. Moreover, after one of the predictions which taken by itself would hardly be understood otherwise than as referring to the last day, we find added : Verily 1 say unto you, this generation shall not pass till all these things be fulfilled} as if all He had said related only to the judgments on Jerusalem. Let the reader go afresh and carefully through the twenty-fourth chap¬ ter of Matthew, the thirteenth of Mark, and the twenty-first of Luke, and he will see the facts, appre¬ ciate the difficulties, and be ready to judge of the 1 Mat. xxiv. 46 ; Luke xii. 43. 3 Mat. xxiv. 34; Mark xiii. 30 ; Luke xxi. 32. 2 Rev. ii. 25. 272 CHRIST HIS OWN WITNESS. worth of what is offered below, looking toward a solution. Events which are widely separated in time, and which may appear to us to be independent of each other, are seen by God to be closely united, as differ¬ ent items in a long series, and as parts of a great whole in His moral administration of the world. The last judgment especially, stands in very close connection with every preceding measure of His moral government in reference to each individual man. Hence, in speaking of any divine act of retri¬ bution in time, God views it not as isolated, but as it stands in its ultimate connections and consequences : and especially, if that act or dispensation of His Providence finishes up a course of His moral dealings with an individual or a people. I need refer for illus¬ tration only to the words of Jesus in the close of the twenty-third chapter of Matthew, verses 29-38. Such a close of a course of dealings with a people, as that with the Jewish people in the time of Christ, stands in very close union with the final judgment of the same persons, and in the mind of God makes with the judgment one whole, the interval of time being no factor in the moral history. He may, therefore, speak at the same time of both the temporal judg¬ ment and the final judgment, as they are essentially one. Again, acts or dispensations of Providence be¬ longing to His moral government are, in Scripture language, called “ visitations,” or “ comings,” of God ; and so those of them which, as we have seen, are so closely united together, may, though widely separated JESUS’ RELATION'S TO MEN AS JUDGE. 273 in time, be spoken of together as one coming. The death of individual men, and the ending of the day of grace of an individual, or of a generation, are events very closely connected with the final destiny of the same persons as fixed at the last judgment. The Jewish people, that is the body of them, sealed their doom in the time of Christ by their rejection of Him ; and the judgments that came upon them, therefore, in the destruction of their temple, city, anc. national organization, were all so many elements of the doom which is to be consummated at the judg¬ ment day. God sees the unity in events, which is, indeed, of His own ordaining, and He speaks in ac¬ cordance with it. This is the reason why in these prophetic words of Christ, the temporal judgments which were to come upon that generation and the destruction which was to be pronounced and brought upon them at the last day are commingled. Many of Jesus’ words in these chapters have, accord¬ ingly, both a -lower application to the judgments in time and also a higher and fuller one to those which shall take place at time’s end. As the two objects of reference are really one, the words can not be said to be given a double meaning, but with one meaning to cover both parts of the judgment. The prophecies of Christ in this simultaneous reference to lower and higher, nearer and ultimate events, are not singular, but have the common charac¬ teristic of all prophecies. That system of interpreta¬ tion which is based on this view of the relations of events in God’s administration of the world is justi- 274 CHRIST HIS OWN WITNESS. fied by the structure of the Old and New Testament prophecies, by the inspired interpretations of Old Testament prophecies found in the New, and by His¬ tory, which is the final and clear expounder of ail prophecy. I need scarcely remind the reader how closely this manifold character of prophecy coincides with the whole manner of thought and speech of the Lord Jesus. We have had occasion already to speak of His habits of thought, His use of parables, and how He intermingled lower and higher applications, con¬ stantly passing from one to the other. 1 Nothing therefore could be more natural to Him than to speak in the way we have understood and explained His words in these predictions of the final judgment. And especially when we remember that from the point of view from which He looks at events, He sees them clearly in all their actual moral relations, as God sees them, we must admit that this method of interpreting His words is not forced or violent, but in the highest degree suitable and even necessary if we would do justice to the broad sweep of His thought. Let us now set in connection the various sayings of Jesus in which He spoke of His a coming ; ” that we may see both the single fundamental idea in His use of the term, and the variety of applications which He made of it; only premising that His use is precisely that found throughout the Scriptures of both Testa- 1 See § 81, p. 173. JESUS' RELATIONS TO MEN AS JUDGE. 2 /5 ments. Jesus “came” when He appeared in the world : To this e?id was I born, and for this cause came I into the world} But, besides this literal personal coming, there are providential “visitations ” expressed by the same word. He comes by His Spirit : I will not leave you comfortless; I will come to you. He comes in grace to the penitent : If any man hear my voice anal open the door, I will come in to him? He comes by spiritual manifestation and indwelling : If a man love me he will keep my words, and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him? He comes in judgment, even now: Remember, therefore, from whence thou art fallen, and repent, . ... or else I will come unto thee quickly and re¬ move thy candlestick out of his place? By the same word He spoke of His final coming to judgment : When he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels? And when answering the high priest under oath : Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sit¬ ting on the right hand of power and coming in the clouds of heaven? With this use of the term so familiar to Him in both lower and higher applications, and with the clearest view of the unity of the lower and the higher comings, it was, we say, perfectly natural for Jesus to speak so as to present them in that unity. We do right, then, when we refer His pregnant words to both present and remote events, the lower 1 John xviii. 37. 2 John xiv. 18. 3 Rev. iii. 20. 4 John xiv. 23. 5 Rev. ii. 5. 6 Mark viii. 3S. 7 Mat. xxvi. 64; Mark xiv. 62. CHRIST HIS 0 WN WITNESS. 2 76 reference fitting their significance in outline and form, the higher exhausting all their fullness. 128. JESUS WILL RAISE THE DEAD. We hear Him saying: The hour is coming in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth : they that have done good u?ito the resurrection of life, and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation} His “ voice ” is spoken of to represent to us His giving the order for the resurrection; its being “ heard ” expresses the power of that order and its fulfillment. The time is future : Jesus spoke, there¬ fore, not as before 2 of a spiritual resurrection, nor of His miraculous raising of some dead one to life while on the earth. The resurrection here referred to will be, He says, both of the righteous and the wicked ; and it will take place in immediate connection with their final trial and with retribution for their deeds in life. Speaking distinctively of believers Jesus said : And this is the will of him that sent me, that every 07 ie which seeth the Son and helieveth on him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day} Jesus said to Martha: I am the Resurrection and the Life: he that believeth on me, though he zvere dead, yet shall he live; and whosoever liveth and be¬ lieveth in me shall never die} By these words Jesus describes Himself as the source of the resurrection, 1 John v. 28, 29. 3 John vi. 40, 44, 54. 2 In verse 25. 4 John xi. 25. JESUS' RELATIONS TO MEN AS JUDGE. 277 and of that new and blessed life of the redeemed which shall follow, and shall itself have no end. 129. JESUS WILL GATHER ALL MEN BEFORE HIM FOR JUDGMENT. They (i. e., all the tribes of the earth) shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather to¬ gether his elect from the four winds} In the inter¬ pretation of the parable of the wheat and the tares : The Son of man shall send forth his angels and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend and them which do iniquity? In the parable of the pounds : He commanded these servants to be called unto him, to whom he had given the money, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading. Then came the first; .... and the second came, . . . . and another came? So in the parable of the talents : The Lord of those servants cometh and reckoneth with them. A nd so he that had received five talents came. . . . . Lie also that had received tivo talents came, .... Then he which had received the one talent came? Thus Jesus represents men as coming individually before Him for trial at the final judgment. In the parable of the virgins Jesus represents the gathering of His professing people in the words: At midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh : go ye out to meet him? 1 Mat. xxiv. 30, 31 ; Mark xiii. 26, 27. 1 2 Mat. xiii. 40, 41. s Luke xix. 15-19. 4 Mat. xxv. 19-24. 5 Mat. xxv. 1-6. 2 78 CHRIST HIS OWN WITNESS. And then without a parable, in full and plain terms, Jesus said: When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit tip on the throne of his glory. And before him shall be gathered all nations} By these words Jesus declares that He will be the Judge at the final and universal judgment of men. All nations, of every age and religious belief, shall appear at His judgment bar. The lofty tone maintained throughout these dec¬ larations, express fitly the majesty and serene assur¬ ance of Him who uttered them. It is in perfect keeping with His real possession of all the attributes and authority necessary for their fulfillment. The same characteristic tone appears in all that Jesus said on these subjects, and is inconceivable and incredible except on the admission of His veracity. 130 . JESUS WILL JUDGE ALL MEN ASSEMBLED BE¬ FORE HIM. He will hear and decide upon the case of each in¬ dividual, pronounce sentence, and execute it. Jesus described at different times and by various representations the proceedings of the last judgment. Let us study the different passages separately. Whosoever, therefore, shall confess me before men , hi a will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven. In Luke it 1 Mat. xxv. 31. "All nations,” Greek, 7 rclvra Wvi/. JESUS' RELATIONS TO MEN AS JUDGE. 279 is, Before the angels of God} That this confession and denial on the part of Jesus will take place at the final judgment, we learn from Mark: Whosoever, there¬ fore, shall be ashamed of me and of my words, in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels. 1 2 In these words Jesus makes prominent one single point in the former conduct of those appearing for judgment, namely, their “ denial ” or their open “ confession ” of Christ before men. Not that other points of character and life will be ignored. This is plain enough from other declarations. But, as else¬ where others, so here this point is taken as an index of character, as a proof or disproof of the fact of true disci- pleship. The same remark will explain other sayings of Jesus which refer to the judgment, as the following: Whosoever heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock. And the rain descended , and the floods ca 7 ne, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house, and it fell not; for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them not shall be likened unto a foolish ma 7 i which built his house upon the sand. And the ram descended, and, the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house, a 7 id it fell; a 7 id great was the fall of it 3 1 Mat. x. 32, 33 ; Luke xii. 8, 9. * Mark viii. 38 ; Luke ix. 26. a Mat. vii. 24-27 ; Luke vi. 47-49. 2S0 CHRIST HIS OWN WITNESS. “ The rain,” “ the floods,” and “ the wind ” of the parable are whatever go to try and test the moral foundation, the faith and religious principle of a man. They include, of course, the investigations of the final judgment. They shall stand these tests, and this final trial, who have “ done ” Jesus’ say¬ ings ; they shall fail in it who have not done them. H e will make obedience to His commands the test of character at the last judgment. In His interpretation of the parable of the tares Jesus says: So shall it be in the e?id of this world. The Son of man shall se 7 id forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend and them which do iniquity, and shall cast them mto a furnace of fire ; there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father} Here Jesus describes the characters of those judged, by the terms “ righteous ” and “ things that offend ” (i. e., hinder men from going aright), and “ those that do iniquity.” One’s own doing and one’s influence on others are the fruits by which the innermost character of each will be shown. Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answered and said, Verily L say unto you, I know you not} The lamps of these virgins had gone out. They were not in their places honoring the bridegroom. Jesus does not know as 1 Mat. xiii. 40-43. 2 Mat. xxv. 11, 12. See on Jesus’ knowledge, §§43-48, p. 96, ct seq. JESUS' RELATIONS TO MEN AS JUDGE. 281 His, and will not recognize at the judgment, those who have not the character and marks of discipleship. Again : Whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken ; but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powderk In the parable of the pounds, Jesus describes the master’s settlement with each servant: Then came the first, saying, Lord , thy pound hath gained ten pounds. And he said, unto him, Well, thou good servant; be cause thou hast been faithful in a very little, have thou authority over ten cities. And the secozid came, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained five pounds. A nd he said likewise to him, Be thou also over five cities. And an¬ other came, saying, Lord, behold, here is thy pound which I have kept laid up in a napkin ; for L feared thee be¬ cause thou art an austere man; thou takest zip that thou layedst not down, and reapest that thou didst ziot sow. And he saith unto him, Out of thine own mouth will L judge thee, thou wicked servant. Thou knewest that I was an austere man, taking up that L laid not down, and reaping that L did ?iot sow. Wherefore, then, gavest thou not my money into the bank, that at my coming I might have required mine own with usury ? And he said unto them that stood by, Take from him the pound, and give it to him that hath ten pounds. . . . . For L say unto you, That unto every one which hath shall be given ; and from him that hath not, even that he hath shall be taken away from him. But those 1 Mat. xxi. 44 ; Luke xx. 18. See for the interpretation of these words, p. 120. 28 2 CHRIST HIS OWN WITNESS. mine enemies which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither and slay them before me} The “ pounds ” are (i. e., represent) the powers and opportunities for serving Christ, given to individuals in variety of kind and measure. The bestowment carries with it the obligation to use them in the serv¬ ice of the Master. Fidelity in duty to Christ on the one hand, and unfaithfulness in duty, or refusal to come under His rule, on the other, are here the grounds of approval and rejection, of reward and punishment. The true and earnest Christian will be faithful. The professing, but false follower of Christ, will reveal his hollow-heartedness by his neglect of duty and unprofitable life. The tree is known by his fruits : fruits are the criteria of character. Solemnly sublime is Jesus’ description of the pro¬ ceedings of the judgment day as recorded by Mat¬ thew : When the Son of man shall come in his glory , and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory. And before him shall be gathered all nations; and he shall separate them one from an¬ other, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats. A nd he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats o?i the left. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, in¬ herit the kingdom prepared for you from the founda¬ tion of the zvorld. For I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty , and ye gave me drmk: I zvas 1 Luke xix. 16-27. JESUS' RELATIONS TO MEN AS JUDGE . 283 a stranger, and ye took me in ; naked , <272^ clothed pie: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered and fed thee, or thirsty and gave thee drink ? When saw we thee a stranger and took thee in ? or naked and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick or in prison and came unto thee ? A nd the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into ever¬ lasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was an hungered, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in : naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison , and ye visited me not. Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee ? Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. And these shall go away into everlasting pun¬ ishment; but the righteous into life eternal} Love, and fidelity in the duties of love to other dis¬ ciples of Christ, and especially to the little ones, those most needing sympathy and help, and at the same time most likely to be neglected ; these are the traits which Jesus distinguishes in this representation as to 1 Mat. xxv. 31-46. 284 CHRIST HIS 0 WN WITNESS be approved and rewarded, and the lack of which is to be a ground of condemnation and punishment by Him at the last day. And Jesus herein not only shows His own love for His little ones, 1 but'also teaches us that love and kindness to such are cardinal virtues in His eye, and among the best indexes of genuine piety Therefore, Jesus will, as Judge of men, approve or condemn, reward or punish, according to His own declarations, as follows : Seeing and Believing on the Son, Confession of Christ before men, Righteousness of character and life, the Hearing and Doing Christ’s sayings, Fidelity in Christ’s service and in the use of His bestowments, love and kindness to others, and especially to Christ’s little ones, will receive recognition and approval. Denying or not confessing Christ before men ; Hearing and not doing His sayings; Offending others (i. e ., causing them to fall, or hindering their progress in piety), and Doing iniquity; Falling on Him (Jesus) as a stone of stumbling; Slothfulness in His service ; Enmity to Him; Refusal to have Him for King; and finally, Lack of love toward His little ones and Neglect of them in their distresses, will be grounds of condemnation. It is plain that Jesus has not, in these representa¬ tions, made a full enumeration of all the virtues of the Christian character, or of the duties and services of the Christian life; nor, on the other hand, of the 1 See § 101, p. 210. JESUS' RELATIONS TO MEN AS JUDGE. 285 traits and deeds of the wicked and hypocritical. Nor has He expressed in set terms all the great princi¬ ples of Gospel grace. But He has taught ys here very impressively, that any defect in repentance, faith, and regeneration, all which He teaches else¬ where as conditions of salvation, will make itself visi¬ ble in the life, so that when men shall be judged “ according to their works,” the result will be in en¬ tire harmony with the conditions of salvation as pro¬ claimed in the Gospel. 13 1 . JESUS WILL PUNISH THE WICKED. The final trial and condemnation of the wicked will be followed by the execution of the sentence pronounced upon them. In words of Jesus before quoted He says that He will “ deny them ” before His Father and the holy angels : He will declare to them that He i( never knew them ” as His : They shall, when the storm of the judgment comes upon them, “ fall ” with a great destruction : they shall have the pounds once entrusted to them taken away, i. e., they shall be deprived of the advantages which they possessed in life, but neglected to improve; they shall “ depart from ” the King into outer darkness, away from the light of His presence and the joy of His kingdom. They shall be “ slain,” shall be “ broken,” shall be “ ground to powder;” they shall be “ cast into a furnace of fire ” where they shall “weep and wail and gnash their teeth:” and this punishment he designates as EVERLASTING. 286 CHRIST HIS OWN WITNESS. Some of these descriptions are certainly figurative ; but they are not, therefore, meaningless. On the contrary they are the most striking images which this world can furnish of the extreme of suffering, and were chosen evidently on that account. And there is in all these words of Jesus, so fearful in their import, a tone of determination which shows Him to be particularly in earnest. The tone also of authority is maintained, as we have before noticed, firm and un¬ faltering throughout. Both manner and language comport with what He declares Himself to be, the final Judge of men. No exegesis can explain away the meaning of the epithet “ everlasting ” as applied to the punishment of the wicked. It is the same word as that used in the corresponding clause for the duration of the life of the saved. The terms are “ everlasting punish¬ ment,” and “ everlasting life.” 1 The whole descrip¬ tion of the judgment gives it the character of a final¬ ity : it almost speaks the words, There is nothing beyond. Doubters and deniers of the fearful truth of the eternal duration of the punishment of the wicked, must go elsewhere for their proofs than to the loving Jesus. And whatever authority they may bring for the opposite doctrine, they have Jesus against them. No one whose words are recorded in the Bible has spoken so clearly and so fully of the future punish¬ ment of the wicked as Jesus himself, the Friend of sinners. Other New Testament characters only re- 3 ei< 3 Kolaaiv a viov, c'cg far'/v aiCiviov JESUS' RELATIONS TO MEN AS JUDGE . 287 peat in general terms what He has more particularly described. Jesus is the Great Authority for Ever¬ lasting Punishment: I am he that liveth and was dead; a?id behold , I am alive for evermore, Amen ; and have the keys of hell and of death . 1 % 132. JESUS WILL BLESS AND REWARD THE GOOD. We turn first to the words which were lately quoted respecting the Judgment. Jesus will “ confess ” His people before His Father and the holy angels. The wicked being “ gathered out ” from among them, they shall be freed from the presence of evil and its annoyances ; they shall “ shine as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.” Let us pause and try to realize what such words as these must mean in the mouth of Jesus. He was not given to extravagance in language; yet He takes here the brightest object in nature to represent to us the heavenly glory of the righteous when gathered home to their Father’s kingdom. Further, the right¬ eous being ready, when the Bridegroom shall come, “ shall go in with him ” to the “ marriage supper of the Lamb,” and shall partake in the love and the joy of the heavenly company. Like the servants who used well the money entrusted to them, the righteous shall be “ rewarded ” with places of honor and author¬ ity. They shall “ inherit the kingdom prepared for them from the foundation of the world.” It is a kingdom of which Jesus is King. It is the kingdom 1 Rev. i. 18. 288 CHRIST HIS OWN WITNESS . of God, originated by His grace and wisdom from eternity, and consummated as a kingdom of heaven. It was “ prepared ” for them, especially for the re¬ deemed, purchased by the Redeemer, and furnished with all that can minister to their joy. They shall “ inherit ” it, by gift indeed, but also in a sense by right, through Christ ; and it is inalienable. We quote now other words of Jesus which describe what He does for the saved: for we have by no means exhausted them. And He that sat upon the throne said : Behold , / make all things new. A?id he said unto me, Write , for these words are true and faithful} It is the New Jerusalem to which He refers, and its inhabitants. All things in it shall be “ new,” better than the best of earth, than earth's choicest provisions and happi¬ est experiences. In my Father s house are many mansions: if it were not so I zvould have told you : I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come agahi and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also? These words, simple human words as they are. are made by Jesus to express the boundlessness of heavenly love and bliss. The saved will have a home in the house of His and their Father: it will be ample for them all, yes, for each to have a mansion, or dwelling-place. He was about to leave them ; but it was only to “ go and prepare a place ” for them. 1 Rev. xxi. 5. 2 John xiv. 2, 3. JESUS' RELATIONS TO MEN AS JUDGE. 2 Sg The words express riches of love on His part, and the magnificence and abundance and fitness of the prepa¬ ration which He makes for them. Having made such preparation He will come again and receive them to Himself, that they may be with Him forever. To him that overcometh will I give to cat of the tree of life , which is in the midst of the Paradise of God} The allusion is to the garden of Eden, and the trees in it, and to the first human pair once privileged to eat freely of their fruit. But the redeemed are admitted, not to an earthly Paradise even with its tree of life, but to the Paradise of God and to its trees of life, that is, to its perennial sources of holy and happy and unending existence. To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone , and in the stone a new name written , which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it . 1 2 This is another figurative description of the condi¬ tion of safety, privilege, and peculiar intimacy to which Jesus will bring His people. The best and most sacred things on earth are chosen to represent the possessions and enjoyments of the saved. A pot of manna was laid up in the tabernacle before the Testimony to be kept for after generations as a me¬ morial of the food miraculously supplied to the chil¬ dren of Israel during their forty years’ wandering in the wilderness. 3 So in the holy of holies above, it would seem there is manna laid up ; not, however, a 1 Rev. ii. 7. 2 Rev. ii. 17. 3 Ex. xvi. 33, 34. *3 290 CHRIST HIS 0 WN WITNESS. mere sample to be kept, but provision to be partaken of freely by the redeemed and so to minister to their life and strength and joy. Or does it rather signify a special part of these provisions, namely, the pre¬ cious memories, recounted by the saints in heaven, of their rich experiences of God’s grace on earth, in which they continually discover fresh proofs of His amazing love and faithfulness. This would best an¬ swer to the “ memorial ” feature of the pot of manna. The white stone is not so easily interpreted. Some, preferring to find an explanation within the Scrip¬ tures, make reference to the precious stones, with the names of the tribes of Israel thereon, fixed upon the breast-plate of the high priest, and borne there by him when he went into the inner sanctuary. 1 But it is a decisive objection to this reference, that those stones were worn by the priest, whereas this one is not represented as worn by Jesus, the great High Priest, but as given by Him to, and possessed by, the redeemed one. Other interpreters go outside of the Scriptures to ancient customs which furnish various illustrative usages; but no one of them fully meets the case before us. The white stone as used by jurors and voters signified acceptance, favor, acquit¬ tal. The black stone, in contrast, expressed rejection, denial, condemnation. Again, pieces of wood, metal, or stone, more or less wrought and ornamented with devices, were given as tokens and carried by husbands, wives, children, betrothed ones, by agents of kings, and by persons of different countries who had formed J Ex. xxviii. 15-20. JESUS' RELATIONS TO MEN AS JUDGE. 29! relations of business or friendship. Sometimes both parties carried tokens that tallied exactly with each other, and had some mark on them known only to the parties, which certified the identity of the pos¬ sessors to each other or their friends. Let us draw from these usages our illustration of the white stone of the text. Its very color denotes favor and peace. The “ new name ” inscribed on the stone is prob¬ ably not the same as that spoken of in ch. iii. 12, “I will write upon him (the faithful servant) my new name.” For that new name of Jesus written upon a saved one in order to certify him as belonging to Jesus is known and read of all in heaven. This name on the stone is known only to the possessor. Is it that each redeemed soul, admitted into heaven, re¬ ceives from his Lord a new secret name? This, given to the faithful Christian, would be a love-token, an assurance of favor, a pledge of Christ’s enduring grace, conveying a personal title and assuring a right to all the privileges of the saved. In plain language, each saved soul shall possess a pledge given to it by Jesus himself containing some special mark of Jesus' love to it. The nature and purport of this, the re¬ ceiver of it shall well understand and shall value it as his title-deed to that love and heaven’s eternal joys. Again, the exalted Jesus says: He that overcometh and keepeth my works unto the end , to him will I give power over the nations. (A nd he shall rule them with a rod of iron, as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken in pieces:) even as I received of my Father} ! Rev. ii. 26, 27. 292 CHRIST HIS 0IVA' WITNESS. The reference in these last words is to the second Psalm, which Jesus applies to Himself: “Ask of me and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inherit¬ ance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron ; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.” 1 Jesus will subdue all His enemies either by love or by power. All His implacable foes, even the strong¬ est, shall be “ put under his feet.” 2 His people shall share His dominion over His and their enemies. That those once persecuted shall be directly em¬ ployed to punish their persecutors is more than can fairly be drawn from these words. But their condi¬ tions shall be exchanged, just as those of Dives and Lazarus were. Further, Jesus says of him that overcometh : And I will give him the Morning Star? In another place He says: I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star? In both passages the language is figurative; in the latter one the figure is explained. Jesus is the Morning Star to men, bring¬ ing light to them in darkness, the light of Life. But we can not be sure that the figure is to be understood in exactly the same sense in both places. If it is, Jesus, in the first of these passages, says that He gives himself to His redeemed as their Light and Life. And this will be about the meaning even if we 1 Ps. : i. 8, 9. 3 Rev. ii. 28. 2 1 Cor. xv. 25. 4 Rev. xxii. 16; Num. xxiv. 17. JESUS' RELATIONS TO MEN AS JUDGE . 293 interpret the Morning Star, not of Jesus himself, but of the grace and glory which He confers. For Jesus is the ultimate source of the life, glory, and joy of the redeemed, and so He is really the “ Morning Star ” which shall glitter unfactingly upon the brow of the saved soul. And yet further, He who has the key to all the treasures of heaven says : He that overcometh , the same shall be clothed in white raiment , and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life; but I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels} Jesus’ “confessing” those who on earth confessed Him has been spoken of before. 2 The “ white rai¬ ment ” is doubtless the same as the “ fine linen, clean and white,” with which the bride of Christ is de¬ scribed as arrayed, of which it is said, “ The fine linen is the righteousness of saints.” 3 Arrayed in it, the Bride will not have “ spot or wrinkle or any such thing.” The “ book of life ” has the names of the saved written therein. The name of any one found standing there at the judgment assures his blessed destiny. 4 Still again, says He that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven \.Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God , and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the 1 Rev. iii. 5. 8 Rev. xix. 8. 2 § 88, p. 187. 4 Rev. xx. 12, 15. 294 CHRIST HIS OWN WITNESS. city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God, and I will write upon him my new name} The “ temple of God ” is His spiritual temple built of lively (living) stones, namely, His believing people. 2 To be a “ pillar ” in this temple of God is to be an essential part of it, a part prominent, important, per¬ manent, beautiful. The meaning of the figure under¬ stood of the saved soul is plain. The figure of the pillar is then dropped, and another is used. A valued object has the name of its owner written upon it, and the name of the place (city or palace, or temple) to which it belongs. Thus the ownership of it, and the proper place for it, are manifest at once, and can not be disputed or disregarded. The saved, having writ¬ ten plainly on them the name of God, of the New Jerusalem, and the new name of Christ, are recog¬ nized always by all as belonging to God and Christ, and as being citizens of the New Jerusalem. Is there an intimation, in some of these last quotations, that when Jesus shall have gathered all His redeemed home to the New Jerusalem, He will also assume a “ new Name,” better and sweeter to them than all by which He is called in the Bible? We can not now conceive of any better than there are ; but “ Eye hath not seen nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.” In the last prayer of Jesus with His disciples we 1 Rev. iii. 12. 3 1 Cor. iii., and 1 Pet. ii. 4-6. JESUS' RELATIONS TO MEN AS JUDGE. 295 have these words : Father, I will that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory which thou hast given me} To those who love Jesus, the being with Him in loving communion and beholding His glory, will be perpetual sources of delight, the highest of which creatures are capable. That the redeemed are to have this privilege is made clear by other declarations also : Where I am, there shall also my servant be . 2 To Peter : Whither I go thou canst not follow me now, but thou shalt follow me afterwards? To the dying thief: This day shalt thou be with me in Paradise? At mid¬ night the bridegroom came, and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage? I will not drink henceforth of the fruit of the vine until .... I drink it new with you in my Father s kingdom? They (the saved) shall walk with me in white, for they are worthy? All these various expressions are figures drawn from earth, of familiar society and loving intercourse. What higher blessedness and honor can there be than such association with the Son of God? Yet Jesus, in setting before us the life of the saved in heaven, rises even upon this. And I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed imto me; that ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel? 1 John xvii. 24. 2 John xii. 26. 3 John xiii. 36. 4 Luke xxiii. 43. 5 Mat. xxv. 10. 6 Mat. xxvi. 29 ; Mark xiv. 25 ; Luke xxii. 18. * * 6 7 Rev. iii. 4. B Luke xxii. 29, 30. 296 CHRIST I 1 IS OWN WITNESS. The figure here is that of princes or associated kings entertained at the royal table of a King of kings. To the close association of friendship is added the honor of rank and authority, authority shared with Jesus. We dare not enter into details here, or go a step beyond the simple words. It seems neces¬ sary to confine their application to those servants of Christ who have been distinguished for consecration, self-denial, effort, endurance, success. On the prin¬ ciple heretofore mentioned, he who makes himself the servant of all, shall in heaven be chief. There shall be authorities, powers, and thrones among the saved; and the most devoted and useful on earth shall possess them. This idea we find expressed even more clearly : The glory which thou gavest me I have given them. To him that overcometh will I gra?it to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame , and am set dozvn with my Father in his throne} The general sense of these words is plain. Let us with reverence, modesty, and hope leave the details of their meaning to the discoveries and experience which surely await us if we are the Lord’s. We now put together the elements of the future blessedness as promised by Jesus in the words quoted in this section. The saved shall be in their “ Father’s House.” Jesus will “make all things new” for them; they shall be “ clothed in white raiment,” in spotless purity of character; they shall be “pillars” in God’s spiritual 1 John xvii. 22. 2 Rev. iii. 21. JESUS' RELATIONS TO MEN AS JUDGE. 297 temple in heaven, permanent and honorable parts of His glorified Church. Each of them shall possess a “white stone,” with a secret name on it inscribed by the Lord, a token and pledge of His love; they shall eat of the “hidden manna,” enjoy the sweet memo¬ ries of the grace experienced on earth; and shall partake of the fruit of the “ tree of life ” which shall impart a better and higher immortality than did the tree of life in the garden of Eden ; they shall “ see Christ’s glory,” and this shall make them happier than were the three who saw Him transfigured, al¬ though it was “good to be there;” they shall be “where Jesus is;” they shall be “with Jesus,” be admitted to His society; they shall “feast” with Him, enjoy His most intimate fellowship and share in His joy. He will give them the “morning-star” of His favor, the “ honor ” of His love, “ authority ” in His kingdom, nay, “association” in His throne. Throughout there is also conveyed the idea that all this is enduring, even everlasting. These descriptions by Jesus of the future bliss and glory of His redeemed have all one tone. Gathered from the reports of His conversations before His death, from those after His resurrection, and from the revelations made by Him from heaven, they all express the consciousness of power and infinite re¬ sources, and disclose a love which is divine in its wisdom and liberality. And all that is here said is also in perfect keeping with what Jesus did on earth ; with the compassion and kindness of His miracles; with His tenderness toward the needy and the 298 CHRIST HIS 0 WN WITNESS. guilty; with the yearning love that breathed in His last conversations; with the sufferings of the garden, the trials and the cross, and with His giving His life to save men from eternal death. This consistency of the whole, this SUSTAINED expression and exhibition of a superhuman love, in a thousand ways, from beginning to end, only growing deeper, stronger, fuller to the last, is a fact unexampled in human his¬ tory or literature—is a phenomenon which even Christians fail to appreciate, and which shall be better and better understood as the saved shall rise in spiritual experience and attainment. As they “ grow in grace ” they will also grow “ in the knowl¬ edge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.” 1 1 2 Pet. iii. 18. CHAPTER XV. THE RESULTS OF JESUS’ MESSIANIC WORK TO HIMSELF AND TO GOD. I33. JESUS SHALL BE GLORIFIED FOR ALL HIS WORK AS MESSIAH. As His life was drawing near its end, He said : The hour is come that the Son of man should be glori¬ fied} When Judas went out from the last passover to lead the band of officers to Gethsemane to capture Him, J esus said: Now is the Son of man glorified? Of His disciples, their work and its results, He said : I am glorified in them? After His resurrection He Chided the two going to Emmaus for not understand¬ ing this from the Scriptures : Ought not Christ to have suffered these thmgs and to enter into his glory ? 4 It was His glory on earth, but especially His glory in heaven, given as the reward of His redeeming work, that He spoke of. It was “the joy set before him,” to which He looked forward continually, as we see from much that He said, and as we are expressly told in the Scriptures . 5 Hohn xii. 23. 8 John xvii. 10. * Luke xxiv. 26. 2 John xiii. 31. 5 Heb. xii. 2. (299) 300 CHRIST HIS OWN WITNESS. I34. BOTH THE SPIRIT AND THE FATHER GLORIFY THE SON FOR HIS MESSIANIC WORK. When he the Spirit of truth is come , Jie will guide you into all truth. . . . He shall glorify me , for he shall receive of mine and shall show it tint0 you} The gifts and revelations made by the Spirit to the Apostles are especially meant, and also the spiritual influences so largely bestowed on the day of Pente¬ cost and ever since. These all honor Christ because He is the subject of them ; because His work and sufferings are the source of them ; and because they are worthy of Him. The Father also glorifies the Son : If I honor my¬ self (that is, if I alone honor myself) my honor is nothing: it is my Father that honor eth me I I seek not mine own glory : there is one that seeketh and judg- eth} If God be glorified in him (the Son), God shall also glorify him in himself, and shall straightway glorify him} The glory which thou gavest me I have given them} Father , the hour is come; glorify thy SonI And now , O Father , glorify thou me with thine oivn self , with the glory which I had with thee before the world was} These last words are clear and explain the rest. As the reward of all His Messianic work, the Son was glorified by the Father, being received by Him 1 John xvi. 13, 14. 2 John viii. 54. s John viii. 50. 4 John xiii. 32. 6 John xvii. 22. 6 John xvii. 1. 7 John xvii. 5. RESULTS OF JESUS' MESSIANIC IVOR FT. 301 back to His former glory with Himself. No human words of explanation could add light or significance to those by which Jesus has thus described His future glory. I35. JESUS BY ALL HIS MESSIANIC WORK GLORIFIES GOD. This is one of the evidences which He gave of His own truth : He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory / but he that seeketh his glory that sent him, the same is true, and there is no unrighteousness in him} Whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son} It was this desire and purpose to glorify His Father which sustained Jesus in His seasons of trial. Now is my soul troubled. .... Father, save me from this hour. But for this cause came I unto this hour. Father, glorify thy name} And as the scenes of sham2 and suffering were about to open, it was not only the fact that His own glory was to result there¬ from, but the Father’s also, which animated Him, and enabled Him to welcome them. It was with this spirit that He said : Now is the Son of man glori¬ fied, and God is glorified in Him. 4 1 John vii. 18. 3 John xii. 27, 28. 2 John xiv. 13. * John xiii. 31. INDEX Chap. Genesis. page 6:2. ... 126 39 : 2 » 3, 2 3. 140 Exodus. 3 :12. 140 3-i4.. 94 4 : 22. 127 16 : 33, 34. 289 28 :15-20. 290 Numbers. 23 :19. 41 24 :17. 35. 292 31:16. 257 2 Samuel. 7:14. 127 1 Kings. bi : 25. 258 Job. 1:6 and 2:1. 127 25:6 . 41 38 : 7. 127 Psalms. 2: . 237 «» 2 . 37 6, 7, 12. 127 8, 9. 292 4:2. 41 8:6. 112 16 : 9,10. 37 22.. 37 7, 8 . 37 22. 139, 208, 241 41: 9. 37, 7° 45:6 . 129 69 = 4. 8 3 7, 9. 37 12, 21. 37 7 1 . 37 90:2....,. 93 no.237 no: 1. .... in, 118 118 : 22. 220 8:22-27. Proverbs. 93 Chap. Isaiah. page 7 • x 4 . 128 9:6. 127 11 . 35 22:22..... .. - 236 35 : 4 , 5,6 . 35 4i:4. 94 44 : 6. 9^ 48 :12. 94 5o : 6. 37 53. 37 53 = 8 , *>. 37 12. 38 61:1, 2. 36, 155 i-3. 27 65 : 5. 260 16. 19 2 Ezekiel. 1. 41 Daniel. 3 :25. 129 7:13 . 42 9 •' 26. 37 n: 1 Hosea. 127 Zechariah. 4 : 2, n-14. 155 13 •' 7.3 8 , I2 9 Malachi. 3:1.36, 129 Matthew. 1:21. 23. 3 . 3: i 5 . 17.. 4 •' 4. 4, 7, 10 .. 10. 19. 5: i7. 2 T. 22 .. 28. 32 . ( 303 ) .. . 48, 164 . 123 . 3 . 84 14, 132, 212 . 61, 63 . 85 . 117 . 250 . . 2 6 y 119 . 120 . 120 . 120 . 120 304 INDEX. Chap. 5 •' 34 - 9.. . 16., 3°. 7:6 . 21 . 23 . 24-27 . 24 . 25.. .. 26.. .. 8:3. 10 .... 20 .... 26 .... 9:2. 6. 9 . 12,13. 13. 15- 22 . 28,29 . 36-38. • 10 :2-4.... 6. 7 . 8 . 10. 16. 23. 25. 3 2 . 33 - ••• 34 , 35 • 37 . 38 . 40 . 4 1 . 42 . x 1 : 2-6.... 3 - 5 -•• 10.. 16-19.. 21-24.. 25 . 26 __ 27 .... 28. .. 29.. .. 12 : 6. ... 8 . 20.. .. 24-27. 28.. .. 29 ... 3 1 • •• 32.. . 39 , 4 ° Matthew. page . 120 . 120 . .. 20 . 240 . .. 20 . 202 . 260 . 123 . 105 . I2X, 279 . 177 . 233 . 177 I . ”3 . 65, 202 j . 62, 64 . 202 . 204 . 204 .. 250 . 57, 180 . 27 . 101, 207 . 59 . 202 . 85 . 221 . 223 . 223 bis . . 223 . 62 . 250 . 223 . 69, l6 2, 170 , 234 . 123, 187, 279 . 123, 187, 279 . 28 . 46, 185, 203 . l86, 203 . 149 , I 5 °, 210 .2x0 . 210 . 6 .. S 2 , 58, 59 . 36 . 6l . 60, I78 . 7 1 , 124, 138, 177, 202 . ... 124, 176 91, 104, 114, 116, 124, 14.6, 151 161, 172, 191, 195. . no, 175, 180, 182 .84,171,175, 203 . . 112 . 112 . 203 . 82 . 117 , 156 ... Il8 . 156 . 162 | . I0 , 38, IO3 Chap. 12 : 41, 42 , 46-50.. 50. 13 : 11-15 . 11, 12 i 3 -I 5 * 15 - 16, 17. 35 . 37 . 38 , 39 38 . 40-43. 40.. . 41. ... 4 2 . 57 •••• 14 : 2 7 . 28.. ... 3 1 .... 15 : 13- 28.. .. 32, 34 - 32.. . 16 : 6-12 . 8. 13.. ., 15-17. • 16 ... 17-19 17.. .. 18 .. 19 .. 21_ 22.. .. 23 ... 24.. .. 27.. .. 28 ... 17: 5 . 9 .... 12 ... 17.. .. 20 ... 22.. .. 23.. .. 18: 5 . 10 11 18.. .. 19,20. 20.. .. 19: 9.. . . 14.. .. 16, 17. 21 ... 23.. . 28 ... 20: 18-19 20-23. 22.. .. 23.. .. Matthew. page . 113, 178 . 45 , 209 . 123 . 173 . 177 . 177 . 170 . 3 2 , I 7 2 . 93 . .. . 196 .247 .196 . 280 . 277 . 117, 236, 277 . «7 . 96, 100 . 46, 214 . 221 . 203 . 123 . 202 . 8 4 . 56 . 248 . 202 . 41 . 3 i . 128 . 220 . 66, 125, 194, 202 . hi, 218, 234, 237 . 236, 250 . 100, 102 . 221, 229 . 67, 229 . 186 . I2 4 . 235 . 14 . 103 .. 102 . 175 , 178 . 203 . 100, 102 . 102 . 210 25, 99 85 223 241 103 120 •• •• 57 , x 75 . 87 . 185 . 20 . 66 37, 102, bis . .... 76, 224 102 102 INDEX. 305 Chap. Matthew. page 20:26-28... 167, 224, 235 28. 26, 80, 81, 85, 209 02 .. ,. ^ 7 , 17 s ; Chap. Matthew. page 26 : 36. 137 37-45 . 63 21:3. 55 18. IQ . 63 39 . 77 , 42. 78 21. 60 4 ?- 46. . n8 08 ... 2 T . 4 . 42 . . 37, 20, 220 c;o. 70, Q_> 44 .... 120, 281 22 : 12. 260 18. 69, 97 40. 234 55. 55,59,69, 171 63 ... 125 44.. hi, 118, 1=;^ 27 : II.. 34 23 : 1-11. 88 8 .170, 225 Q.... 223 46. 79, 134, 13S, 140 28 : 10... 5^ 1 208 12. 260 28-38 . 272 07 . I 7 Q 18..n6,146 19-20.109,120,223,252 39 . 99 24:25. 97 27. 268 Mark. I... 3 .. 268 , 277 IT. 14 31. II 4 , H 7 , 191, 277 34. 271 oc .10, 20, IT^ 17. 250 38. 27, 54,58 41 . I T 3 36 .. 105, 269 37-38.268 42. 270 44. 269, 270 46. 271 2:5. 204 14. 25O 17. 27, 57, 180 19, 20. 207 19. IOT 25 ! 1-6. 277 6.234,269, 277 IO .. . 20 C 28. 112 3 : 11, 12. 125 11^12. 280 ifi-TQ.,.221 14 . 270 27—26. 82, 118 IQ —24 ... 277 27. 118 19 . 269, 277 20 . 277 29, 3 °. J 56 22. 8 , 277 O * D j . ..1.^. 1 J 34. 3 C. 200 24. 277 3 J - 4 6 . 283 31. 278 04. QO, 123 4 •• 11 ... 173,177 12. 170,177 5 : i -7 . 125 30—34. so 35, 36, 4°, 45. 210 26 : 10 . 303 3°. 214 6:4. 96, 100 ..46, 214 t8 . 40 . S?. IOI 7 : 20. 202 19. 269 21 . 69 22 . .. 8 8:2.56,84 14-21.248 27 . 41 23 ... 60 31 . 102 24 . 102 32 , 33 . 220 25 . 70 26 . 242 27-28 . 242 28 . 103, 166 29 . 295 3 1 . 38, 67, 98, 129 32 103 33 . .. 221 34 . 68, 98 34. 186 38..... 275,279 9:1. 235 7 . *4 9 . i °3 13. 102 19. 175, 178 23. in 31. 102 306 INDEX. Chap. Mark. page o: 77.... .. 210 Chap. Luke. page 21 40 ... 4 * 3 , 85 41. 210 IO: II..,. 120 : 52.. 106 I 4 . C 7 . 17 C 22. I4 17,18. 87 21. 185 7 A . * 27 . 102 4 : 2-12.. 85 4. 61, 63 8 . . .. 117 35-40. 76, 224 38. 102 20..... 102 18-21. 27,36,155 23, 24. 53 , 59 24. 96, 100 42-45. 224, 235 45. 81, 85, 209 C I.. t; 7 . 17 C 43 . 27, 54, 58, 85 44 . 96 c • 10 ... 2^0 11: 2. « 17 ... I 17 12-14. 63 12 : 7 . 274 20. 204 27 .. 2 CO IO.... * 27 . 220 31. 180 13-17. 69, 97 i 5 . 97 *2 C —77 . 2 7 A . 3 1 ' 32 -.’.. . 57 34. IDI ' 207 6:5.. 112 36. 118, 153 39 - 40 ... 10 12 ! 2*2. Q7 13. 2 5 ° 13-16. 221 46. 187 24, etc. 106 26_, - - T . . T . . 268, 277 47-49 . X 2 I, 279 47. 177 27 .. 11 A. 117 . IQI. 277 40 .. 177 20.... 271 7* 0. 202 OI. IO. 20, lie; IQ —23 . 6, 32 . ISI . 208 . 211 . . 208, 211 . 173 . 212 . 22, 27, 66, 203, 212 . 22, 23, IOI, 152 .. 67,74, 98, 140 . 208, 215 . I 3 8 5 213 . 101, 124, 300 . 115, 144, i6 4i 191 . « 4 , 195 . 29, 86, 137 . 21, 91, 93, 124, 300 . 172, 192 ...., . 66 . 23, 67, 141, 146, 172, 202 .... 138, 150, 192, 206, 213 . 115, I 5°» 206, 299 101,152, 192, 206, 213, 237 . 190, 215 bis. . 208 . H 5 , 138, 213 . 28 . 252 - 12, 138, 206, 213, 219 . 12, 141, 201, 213, 219 . 141, 208, 296, 300 ... 13T, 141, 206, 219, 221 . 21, 93, 131, 192, 206, 295 . 202 . 131, *7 2 , 201 . 23 . 8, 47 . 215 . 135 . 59 , I 7 I . 70, 83, 84 . 5 i, 219. 235 19, 27, 40, 84, 170, 235, 275 . 135 . 63, 79 bis. . 79 . 79 . 80 55, 80, 134, 153, 208 Chap. John. page 20:19-23.... 223 20 . 208 21 . 251 22, 23. 250 27. 42, 47 21:15-17. 204, 222, 237 15-22. 250 18, 19. 254 22 . 114,254 Acts. 1:4, 5 . 7 . 8 . 13. 21. 2: 14. 25-31 . 3:4. 12 . 4:8.. 25-28. .... 7:56. 9 : 4 , 5 . 5 . 15, 16. 10: . 48. 15: . 18 : 9, 10. 22 :8. 17-21. 21. 23 : 11. 26 : 15. 16, 17. . i 57 . 105 11, 157 , 251 .... 46, 221 . 11 . 221 . 37 . 221 .221 .221 . 37 . 4 i . 47, 80, 162 . 251 . 253 . 225 . 222 . 225 ... 216, 253 .162 . 254 . 251 .2^3 .162 .251 Romans. 238 212 2:2. 3 =. 11.. .. 13 - •• 6 : 9-11.. 9 : 10.... 11 :23, 24 24.. .. 25.. .. 12: i-ii.. 11.. .. 13 :12.... 15:25.... 28.. .. 45••• • 1 Corinthians. . 106 . 294 .39, 220, 231 . 231 .257 . 11 . 242 . 103, 166, 203 . 242, 245 . 23 9 .238 . 173 . 292 . 11 . 41 2 Corinthians. 5:17 . 11 = 13-15. 12 : 9. 197 255 216 INDEX Chap. Galatians. page 1:19 . 46 17, iS. 226 2 :6-9. . 226 bis. 7. 226 11-14. 226 4:6 . 126 25. 248 5 : 22, 23. 239 6 : 12, 13. 255 Ephesians. 1:4. 93 7. 168 22. 263 2:20. 39 3 : 18, 19. 206 5 : 26, 27 .239 Philippians. 2:6. 211 7- 11 . ••• 2 35 COLOSSIANS. 1:15,16,17. 95 i Timothy. 2:6. 168 2 Timothy. 2 : 19. 106 3 :16. 240 4:17. 140 Hebrews. * : 3. 107, 147 5. 128 2 : 6-9. 112 12. 140, 20S, 241 4: 14. 213 7 : 25. 213 8:1. 213 9:12. 212 12 : 2. 299 *3 : 8. 48, 95 1:11.... 11, 12 20.. . 2 :4-6 ... 6-8 , 24.. .. 5 :1-4 • • • 1 Peter. 23S, 240 .... 32 .... 93 227, 294 39) 220 ... 79 227, 250 2 Peter. 1:16, 17. 14 3 :18. 298 1 John. 2 r. 158 311 Chap. Jude. page v. 1. 46 1:8.... 11.. .. 13 ••• 16.. .. 17.. . 18 ... 20.. .. 2: . 1 . 2 . 3 . 4. ... 5 - 6 . 7 . 8 . 9. 12.. .. i 3 -i 5 - 13*.•• 15.. .. 16 ... 17.. .. 18.. .. 19, 20 19.. .. 20 ... 21.. .. 23.. .. 25.. .. 26 ... 27.. .. 28.. .. 1, 2 i -4 3 . 4 5 ••• 7.. . . 8_ 8-10.. 9 . 9, 10. 12.. .. 14.. .. 15 •• 15 ) 17 16.. .. 18.. .. 20.. .. 21 ... 16:15.... 19:8. 20:12, 15 21:5 -• • 6 . Revelation. . 93 . 93 . 238 .262 . 48 ... 47) 80, 287 . 238, 251. 262 . 2 5 i . 117, 238, 251 ... 99 bis, 255 . 99 ) 2 55 . 99 ) 2 57 .262, 275 . 162 .289 ....... 93, 117 99 bis , 162, 255 . 117, 262 . 99) 2 57 . 99)256 . 162 . 262 . 289 . 117, 119, 125 . 99 . 99 ) 256 . 258 . 178 .262 . 271 .. .. 263, 291 .. .... 291 . 292 . 251 . 257 . 99 .. 99, 117, 155 . 262 -. 295 123,293 86, 117, 236, 263 . 99 ) 263 . 99 ) XI 9 .. 206 .. 263 ... 133, 291, 294 19, 95, 117, 171 . 99 . 99) 259 .. 262 . 175 ) 261 ... 176, 261, 275 . 15O) 296 .. 270 . 293 . 293 . 288 . 93 312 INDEX. Chap. Revelation. page 21: 9. 234 14. 231 22 : 7 . 269 12.... 269 Chap. Revelation. page 22 :13. 93 i* 5 . 35, 47, ”7, 176, 202 17 .. 176 20. 269 I K 9 f . 9 GAYLORD PRINTED IN U.S.A