YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY THE LIBRARY OF THE DIVINITY SCHOOL THE SELF-REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST THE SELF-REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST WITH AN EXAMINATION OF SOME NATURALISTIC HYPOTHESES By JOHN KENNEDY M.A. D.D. HONORARY PROFESSOR NEW COLLEGE LONDON" LONDON Wm. ISBISTER Limited 56 LUDGATE HILL 1887 BY THE SAME AUTHOR. The Age and Authoeshu' of the Gospels, teaced from the Foueth into the First Century (pp. 193). The Resurrection of Jesus Christ an Histoeioal Fact (pp. 188). The Age and Authorship of the Pentateuch (pp. 92). A Popular Handbook of Cheistian Evidences : Part First- Theism and Related subjects. Part Second — Christ and Christianity. Part Third — The Divine Book, or the Super natural in the Bible its own witness, with especial reference to. the Old Testament (pp. 404). PEE FACE. Some years ago the Author published a small volume entitled Pilate's Question, 'Whence art Thou?' An Essay on the Personal claims asserted by Jesus Christ, and how to account for them. But he has long felt a desire to treat the subject more adequately, or, at least, less inadequately ; and the present volume, in which some portions of the former volume are freely used, is an endeavour to realize that desire. The subject is of supreme importance. If the Prophet of Nazareth was what He professed to be, we are bound to receive Him with a faith that will actuate our whole spiritual nature and life. To do less is both an intellectual and a moral offence. If He was not what He professed to be, no zeal could be too burning to root out the idolatry of which His name has been the symbol and object for more than eighteen cen turies. But in order to a due impression of what He really professed to be, it is not enough to quote a few words of His own, such as ' I and My Father are One, PREFACE. and ' Before Abraham was I am ; ' or the words of Peter at Cfesarea-Philippi, or the words which Thomas addressed to Him after His resurrection. We must read His whole history continuously, and mark, leam, and inwardly digest what He said and how He said it, what He did and how He did it, and what others said to Him and of Him and how He received their sayings. In the first part of this work I have endeavoured to aid the reader to do this by reviewing, with very little comment, the words and acts of Jesus in their bearings on the doctrine of His Person and work. The doubter will find that in this review, and in the arguments which follow, I assume no more as a beginning or basis of discussion than is commonly admitted even by those who have passed beyond doubt into unbelief. But it is claimed that advancing from this basis, he shall follow the argument to a legitimate conclusion. Apart from certainties, which are such although dependent on historic evidence, there are two facts lying before us — first, the Gospels, and secondly, the portraiture which they contain. The Gospels exist — they are in our hands, whencesoever they have come and by whomsoever they were written. These Gospels portray a life and character, whether it be real or ideal : and the portraiture PREFACE. not elaborated by literary skill, but shining as by a light of its own in a simply told story. What shall we do with these two facts? How shall we account them? How interpret them ? Was Rousseau wrong when he said that it would require a Jesus to forge a Jesus ? The facts have only to be studied in their own light to justify us in saying, that the arguments are many which lead to the conclusion that the Gospels and the Jesus whom they portray are not the " work of art or man's device." If our conclusion is accepted it carries with it important consequences. There are questions and problems of which, indeed, it is not itself a direct solution. But (1) it must be admitted that if Jesus of Nazareth was and is what His words seem to imply, the fact of His Divine Personality throws a conclusive light on other questions. The Person ality of God and the spirituality of man are at once established. We may still concern ourselves with argu ments, more or less satisfactory, against Pantheism and Materialism. But being once assured that in Jesus Christ we have an Incarnation of the God of Truth and Love, we shall feel that practically we are independent of these argu ments. And (2) with this assurance, we shall feel that we may well be content to leave many questions unanswered, and submit to an ignorance which is necessitated by the PREFACE. limitations of our intellectual capacities. As far as we have light to lead us, it is our duty to follow. But where the light fails, either through our incapacity to see it or from any other cause, it is our duty to bow to the inevitable, and in the face of all mysteries, intellectual or moral, to obey our Master's behest — ' Have Faith in God.' The Christ whom we find in the Gospels, we need scarcely add, is neither an ' Oriental Christ ' nor an ' Occidental,' but a 'Universal.' To make Him either Eastern or Western is to rob Him of His glory He came to redeem Man, and to reign over Man. Such at least was His own idea, and such alone is the idea that is consistent with either prophecy or history. Hampstead, October, 1887. CONTENTS. PART FIRST. Review of the "Words and Acts of Jksus Christ. PAGE. 1. At the age of twelve in Jerusalem ... 1 2. Reply to John the Baptist 2 3. Temptation in the wilderness - ° 4. The finding of Jesus by His first disciples 4 5. The miracle in Cana of Galilee * <5. The first cleansing of the Temple 7- The conversation with Nicodemus 10 8. Passing through Samaria 9. A centurion's faith 10. Healing of a leper and of a paralytic 1' 11. Visit to Nazareth 32. Peter and others called to follow Jesus, and Peter's prostration beforeJesus 13. At the Pool of Bethesda -'' 14. Several assertions in Matthew xii. 15. Lord of the Sabbath 16. ' Behold My mother and brothers ' 17. The Sermon on the Mount 18. The parables of Jesus in Matthew xiii 19. ' For My sake,' and ' In My name ' 20. Reply to inquiry of John the Baptist 19 •21 293031 31 37 38 39 CONTENTS. 5859 59 PAGE. 41 21. ' No one knoweth the Father, but the Son , 44 22. ' Come unto Me, and I will give you rest 23. Great miracles at Bethsaida 24. Jesus in the Synagogue of Capernaum, John vi. 25. Peter's confession at Csesarea-Philippi 53 28. Foretelling His sufferings and death 56 27. 'Doth your Master pay tribute?'... 28. ' Who is the greatest ? ' 29. ' "What good thing shall I do ? ' 30. Jesus is the ' Bridegroom ' 6^ 31. ' If any man thirst, let him come unto Me ' 64 32. ' The Light of the "World ' : ' From above ' : ' Before Abraham' ¦•• 66 33. ' I am the Good Shepherd ' 67 34. The Feast of the Dedication : ' I and My Father are one ... 67 35. The raising again of Lazarus : Dr. E. Abbott's scepticism ... 70 36. Royal entry into Jerusalem 73 37. ' How often would I have gathered thy children together' ... 75 3S. The second cleansing of the Temple '8 39. 'By what authority doest thou these things ? ' 79 40. ' What think ye of the Christ ? ' 80 41. The Lord's Supper 82 42. Discourses on the night of the betrayal 85 43. Ye believe in God : believe in Me . .y 86 44. He will send the Holy Spirit 87 45. The "Vine and the branches 88- 46. In the Garden of Gethsemane ... . 90 47. Jesus adjured to say if He was the Son of God 92: 48. Before Pilate , 94 49. 'EcccHomo' 9ft 50. On the way to the Cross 99 51. Calvary — The penitent robber 100 52. The confession of the centurion 10$ 53. The resurrection life 105. CONTENTS. PAGE. 54. « My Lord and My God ' 108 55. At the Sea of Galilee 110 56. On a mountain in Galilee, and His commission to His disciples 112 57. His ascension : last words 116 Two Conclusions — 1. That not one, but all the Evangelists record the claims of Christ 117 2. That these claims were asserted from the beginning of His ministry 122 PART SECOND. The Titles of Jesus Christ. I. The Son of Man Its connection with the prophecy of Daniel (a) A true and real man (J) Morally sinless (c) The only true man (d) The representative man ... (e) Doing what mere man could not do II. The Son of God His birth not a full explanation ... First charge of blasphemy, Matthew ix Dr. Edwin Abbott on forgiving sin Dr. Pye-Smith on forgiving sin The second charge of blasphemy, John viii. The third charge of blasphemy, John x The last charge of blasphemy, Matthew xxvi. ... Not to be confounded with the sonship of believers or The Pantheistic interpretation- Keim's interpretation ... . "Whom shall we worship ? Dr. E. Abbott on natural worship 133 134 136 139 147 148 149 155 155 159 160 161 162 164 166 r of mar i 368 176 179 183 ... 184 C0NTEN1S. III. The Messiah (1) The Messiah of prophecy His various attributes and functions . . . (2) The Messiah of popular expectation ... Liddon, Renan, De Pressense, Edersheiin Jesus not the popular Messiah Jesus the Messiah of prophecy Did prophecy foretell Messianic miracles ? Did the Jews expect Messianic miracles ? Jesus working and declining to work miracles The character of His miracles I'AGE. 190 192 194 195196199 203 206207 208 211 II. PART THIRD. Corroborations : Prophetic and Historic. Prophetic 217 Messianic hope peculiar to the Jews ... 217 Pointed to a greater than man could be ... ... 220 The Revised Version of I. Timothy iii. 16 223 Key to the Old Testament 226 Old Testament Theophanies 227 The mystery unveiled in Christ 232 The Book called the Bible 233 Historic Corroborations 237 The Tubingen theory 239 Its alleged foundation, not a fact... 241 The writings of the Apostle John 244 The Apostle Paul 247 Pfleiderer and Keim on Paul 247 Relevancy of Paul's testimony 253 His conference with James, Peter and John 256 Testimony thus carried back to the beg' nuing 257 Historic witness to the Epistle to the Hebrews .. 263 CONTENTS. Clement of Rome ... Justin Martyr The Alogi and Ebionites PAGE. 265266 268 PART FOURTH. Naturalistic Hypotheses Considered. Hypotheses requiring or suggesting conscious dishonesty on the part of Christ Renan's view morally inadmissible Dishonesty and imposture implied in the Tubingen theory The hypothesis of later accretions ' Supernatural Religion,' Strauss, and others The age was superstitious Neither Christ nor Christianity the product of superstition Christianity destructive of superstition The age given to deify men Intense revulsion of the Jews from idolatry All religions have had their miracles True inferences from this fact Comparison of Christian and Buddhist miracles Dr. Edwin Abbott's theories examined in detail Inference from acknowledgment of special revelations ... 273276 284 289290294 •297301 302309 310 312 314 317323 PART FIFTH. The Supernatural Hypothesis Confirmed. 1. No other consistent with Christ's words .. 329 2. In harmony with the representation of the reality and sinless- ness of Christ's humanity 331 3. In harmony with the vastness of the professed object of Christ's mission 333 CONTENTS. 4. Explains the self-consistency of His consciousness and conduct 5. The only sufficient explanation even of His miracles A moral incarnation suggested by Dr. Martineau The mystery of the Trinity admitted PAGE. 336339343 347 A CONCLUDING CHAPTER. Are these doctrines permanent and essential ? Pfleiderer's plea for liberty Paul's example not relevant Opinions of Theodore Parker, F. P. Cobbe, and Channing ... Consequences of denying Christ's claim to Divine worship ... Dr. Martineau and Paul ... What shall we do with Jesus ? .. 354 .. 354 .. 356 ..361—7 .. 367 .. 370 .. 372 PART FIRST. REVIEW OF THE WORDS AND ACTS OF JESUS CHRIST. REVIEW OF THE WORDS AND ACTS OF JESUS CHRIST. We have in our hands certain books called ' Gospels,' small in bulk but of profound interest to the world. Without for the present asking any questions as to their authenticity or authority, we open and study them to ascertain who and what manner of person He was whose life they profess to record ; and especially, and for the present exclusively, according to Himself. Whether we should receive what He says of Himself, and how to account for what He says of Himself, are questions which we hold in reserve. Meantime ours is a simple inquiry, in which all the readers of the Gospels can accom pany us, and on the substance of which they are as competent as any writer to form a correct judgment. 1. We first hear the voice of Jesus of Nazareth when, at the age of twelve, He went up to Jerusalem with Joseph and Mary to the feast of the Passover. We can imagine the deep interest with which He trod the courts of the temple for the first time. That His thoughts were not merely such thoughts as might be common to young intelligent Galileans, we know, for He claimed an interest in the place which was shared by no other. That Joseph and Mary should have gone a day's journey on their return to Nazareth 1 The authen ticity of the Gospels not assumed. Luke ii. 42—52. First visit of Jeaus 1 o the lemile. JESUS CHRIST SELF-REVEALED. My Father ! John v. 13. Matt. iii. 15. Baptism of Jesus. before they discovered that Jesus was not with the other youths of the company with which they travelled, occasions no surprise to those who know the customs of homeward travel of Jewish worshippers. To us the great significance of the incident lies in what followed. Jesus was found by Joseph and Mary where they might have expected to find Him, but did not, sitting in the midst of the doctors, probably in one of those apartments of the temple which were used as schools of the Rabbis, listening to the doctors and asking them questions. And Mary said to Him, in words of reproach, to which he was unaccustomed, ' Son, why hast Thou thus dealt with us ? Behold, Thy father and I have sought Thee sorrowing.' The defence of" Jesus was in these words : ' How is it that ye sought Me ? Wist ye not that I must be about My Father's business?' Or, as in the Revised Version, ' Wist ye not that I must be in My Father's house ? ' It matters nothing which translation we adopt. The peculiarity of the answer remains : My Father's house, My Father's business. ' Thy father,' Mary had said, using the language of their home. ' Thy father and I have sought Thee.' ' My Father,' said Jesus. I am here in My Father's house! Wist ye not that I should be found here ? Thus early did Jesus use the language Avhich, at a later period, was charged against Him as involving a claim of equality with God. 2. The reply of Jesus to John the Baptist when he said to Him, ' I have heed to be baptized of Thee and comest Thou to me,' deserves attention. It implied that John had reason for his demurrer. Jesus did not say, ' Why should not I be baptized as well as others ?.' JESUS CHRIST SELF-REVEALED. But, ' Suffer it to be so now, for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness.' He thus avowed or acknow ledged a fundamental distinction between Himself and others. The baptism of John was a baptism of repentance, but here was One whom John believed to 'need no repentance.' Why should He be baptized ? Jesus did not question the Tightness of the Baptist's judgment in the matter, but asked, notwithstanding, that He might be baptized. And the distinction, of which both John and Jesus were conscious, was fully justified by the mysterious event "which, according to three of the Gospels, occurred on the occasion. 3. Three Gospels tell us that immediately after the Baptism Jesus was tempted of the devil in the wilder ness. The only point in this story which concerns us at present is the statement that the Tempter said, ' If Thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread : ' 'If Thou be the Son of God, cast Thyself down from hence:' and that Jesus is in no wise startled by the suggestion that He was, or that it was- claimed for Him that He was, the Son of God — and that He uttered no such word as ' Far be it from me that I should call myself the Son of God.' In the minds of the writers of the Gospels the -words of the tempter are evidently connected with the words which were heard at the Baptism. 'A voice came from heaven,' they record, ' saying, Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.' And, as if the devil had heard the words, or knew that they had been spoken, he says to Jesus, ' If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones become loaves.' 1* Matt. iii. 16—17. Mark i. 10-11.Luke iii. 22. Matt. iv. Mark i. Luke iv. If Thou be the Sou oC God.' JESUS CHRIST SELF-REVEALED. 'The Lamb of God.' John i. 43-51. John ii. 25. A wondrous faculty revealed. Nathanael. Edersheim. What may or may hot be the meaning of the title, ' Son of God,' remains to be considered ; but, whatever it was, Jesus did not reject it in His replies to the tempter. 4. The story of the ' finding ' of Jesus by His first disciples is significant in its minutest details. John the Baptist said, in the hearing of two of His disciples, ' Behold the Lamb of God.' The two followed Him, and abode with Him that day. Of the converse of Jesus with them we have no record. But its impress sion was deep and permanent. One of them said to his brother Simon, 'We have found the Messias.' And when Simon was brought to Jesus, ' Jesus beheld him and said, "Thou art Simon, the son of Jona. Thou shall be called Cephas" ' — which, being Grecian- ised, is ' Peter.' This is the beginning of a self- revelation, of which it was afterwards remarked that ' He knew all men, and needed not that any should testify of man.' Very soon after, the same wondrous facult}^ was manifested. Philip, who had heard the call, ' Follow me,' found Nathanael, and said to him, ' We have found Him of whom Moses, in the law, and the prophets did write — Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.' These men of Galilee were evidently kindred souls, men who were waiting for the consolation of Israel. They had often spoken one to another of Him of whom Moses and the prophets had written. But it was evidently a surprise to Nathanael to be told that this great Coming One should be found in a son of Joseph, a man of Nazareth. It was a 'terrible anti climax ' of all his hopes and expectations. Nazareth was only a league distant from his own Cana, and he could not imagine this little neighbouring villa^a JESUS CHRIST SELF-REVEALED. enjoying so lofty a destiny. No prophecy had ever assigned to it so important a part. But Nathanael's surprise was of another kind, when Jesus, on his coming to Him, said, ' Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile ! ' ' Whence knowest Thou me ? ' he said, at once. Could any one have told Jesus of him or his manner of life ? Not so. ' Before that Philip called thee,' said Jesus, ' when thou- wast under the fig tree, I saw thee.' Nathanael saw in these words the proof of a supernatural knowledge Avhich Jesus had of him. ' Not only does he recognise that he was seen by Jesus in a place where His natural sight could not reach, but he feels that this stranger's eye has penetrated him to his inmost depths, and that it is only in virtue of this penetration that He can give him the title with which He has just accosted him.' Then was uttered the. first great (recorded) confession of the personal dignity . and Messianic office of Jesus Christ — 'Rabbi, Thou art the Son of God; Thou art the King of Israel' The in credulity with which he had received ,the announce ment that a Nazarene was the Messiah, gave place to a faith which time and further knowledge only strengthened. Jesus accepted the honour, whatever it was, which was implied in the words of Nathanael, and said, ' Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, believest thou ? Thou shalt see greater things than these. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.' We need not determine, so far as our present purpose is concerned, the exact meaning of all these words. But the ascending and descending of the angels upon the Son Godotloco. Nathanael'sconfession. / JESUS CHRIST SELF-REVEALED. Referenceto Jacob's vision. In, loco. of Man cannot refer to the ministry of angels to Christ Himself. It is impossible not to see in the words a reference to Jacob's vision at Bethel. As the ladder was the medium of communication between heaven and earth, so would Jesus have His disciples to understand that He was the Mediator between heaven. and earth. It is He that has opened heaven for the descent of angels to minister to men, and for the descent likewise of all heavenly blessings of which angels may be regarded, not only as the ministers, but as the symbols. We do not suppose that Nathanael and Philip and the others understood the full meaning of the words of Jesus, but they felt that they involved claims and powers of a very extraordinary character ; all the more extraordinary that they were uttered by a countryman who had but recently emerged from the obscurity of a Galilean village. Nor do we suppose that they under stood fully and clearly all that was implied in their own words— in the titles with which they hailed Him as the Messiah. Godet discriminates wisely when he says : ' The term Son of' God expresses, in the mouth of Nathanael, the feelings, still very vague, it is true, but immediately resulting from what has just passed, of an exceptional relation between Jesus and God. But vague as this impression is, it is nevertheless rich and full, like everything which is matter of feeling, more even, perhaps, than if it were already reduced to a dogmatic formula. As Luthardt observes, "Nathanael's faith will never possess more than it embraces at this moment" — the living person of Jesus. It will only be able to possess it more distinctly. The gold-seeker puts his hand on an ingot ; when he has coined it he has it better, but not JESUS CHRIST SELF-REVEALED. more. The two titles complete one another — Son of God bears on the relation of Jesus to God ; King of Israel on his relation to the chosen people. The second title is the logical consequence of the first. The personage who lives in so intimate a relation to God, can only be, as is alleged, the King of Israel, the Messiah. This second title corresponds to that of Israelite indeed, with which Jesus had saluted Nathanael. The faithful subject has recognised and salutes his King. Jesus is conscious that He has just taken the first step in- a new career — that of miraculous signs — and His answer breathes the most elevated feeling of the greatness of the occasion.' In this brief record of the first gathering of disciples to Jesus, we find the three titles of Messiah, Son of God, and Son of Man. 5. The disciples had not to wait long before they saw one of those ' greater things ' of which their new found Master had spoken. In Nathanael's own village, Cana of Galilee, Jesus turned water into wine at a marriage feast. And in this ' beginning of miracles ' John says that Jesus ' manifested forth His glory,' and the faith of His disciples was confirmed. ' The phrase, His glory, distinguishes profoundly between Jesus and all the divine messengers who had wrought similar wonders before Him. There was seen in their miracles the glory of Jehovah ; those of Jesus reveal His own, by testifying, in concert with the revelation contained in His sayings, to His filial relation.' That Jesus should have chosen a marriage feast for the beginning to 'manifest forth His glory "a was not Son of God and King of Israel. The three titles. John ii. 11. Exod.xvi. 7. JESUS CHRIST SELF-REVEALED. See the Author's ¦Work and Conflict,' p. 101 et seq. Significanceof His first miracle. The family claimed. John ii. —17. result of accident ; nor can we reverently imagine it possible that, in any sense, the choice was incon siderate or unintentional. With the history of the church . before us, we see in it a prophetic protest against the ascetic habits and monastic vows which have claimed to themselves a higher religious char acter than can belong to the relations and pursuits of common life. We see in the miracle more than an act of kindness to the individuals whose nuptials were celebrated in that cottage home in Cana. We see in it the rendering of transcendent honour to that state which was ' instituted of God in the time of man's innocence.' The Founder of the kingdom of heaven on earth did not begin His work by teaching His fol lowers to break every tie of earthly kindred, and neglect every earthly duty, and flee into solitudes, where they might live the life avowedly of saints, but more truly of worms or of wild beasts. He laid the foundation of His kingdom in that humble household for whose benefit He turned water into wine. Then and there did He claim the family as the first and special sphere for the growth and exercise of the Christian graces and virtues. He did not abandon human connections and interest and joys to the princedom of His rival — the devil — but took possession of them for the glory of God. The social life of man was not destroyed, but sanctified, by the Lord from heaven. And in this, as well as in the mighty power of the miracle, He ' mani fested forth His glory' 6. At His first Passover in Jerusalem Jesus asserted His authority in a remarkable manlier. ' He found in the Temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting.' These JESUS CHRIST SELF-REVEALED. Temple-bazaars, held ostensibly for the accommoda tion of the worshippers, were scenes of shameful abuses. Josephus and the Rabbis give terrible pic tures of the avarice and corruption of the infamous High-Priest family, under whose patronage and for whose profit they were held. When Jesus entered the Temple there were many Galilean pilgrims there who must have known Him. 'They would follow Him and watch what He did. Nor were they disappointed. He inaugurated His mission by fulfilling the prediction concerning Him who Avas to be Israel's refiner and purifier. Scarce had He entered the Temple-porch, and trod the court of the Gentiles, than He drove thence what profanely defiled it. There was not a hand lifted, not a word spoken to arrest Him, as He made the scourge of small cords ¦ (even this not with out significance), and with it drove out of the Temple both the sheep and the oxen ; not a word said, not a hand raised, as He poured into their receptacles the changers' money, and overthrew their tables. His presence awed them, His words awakened even their consciences. They knew only too well how true His denunciations were. And behind Him was gathered the wondering multitude, that could not but sympathise with such bold, right royal, and Messianic vindication of Temple sanctity from the nefarious traffic of a hated, corrupt, and avaricious priesthood.' On His first visit to the Temple He had said, ' Wist ye not that I must be about My Father's business ? ' Or, ' Wist ye not that I must be in My Father's house ? ' And on this, His first public visit to the Temple, He says, ' Make not My Father's house an I house of merchandise.' And throughout His ministry, See 'Eider- sheim'sLife of Jesus, the Messiah,'Vol. I., 367, et seq. Matt. iii. 1-3. Cleansingof the Temple. Edersheim,Vol. 1. 373,4. My Father'f House. 10 JESUS CHRIST SELF-REVEALED. John iii. 2. (Revised Version.) Nicodemus. Edersheim. John iii. 11 . ) Revised \ Version. ' The Son of Man 'in , heaven.' as we shall see, He called God His Father, in a sense peculiar to Himself. 7. The conversation with Nicodemus, recorded in the third chapter of John, took place during this visit to Jerusalem, and it is one great self-revelation of Christ. I ' Rabbi, we know that Thou art a teacher come from God ; for no man can do these signs that Thou doest except God be with him.' This ' man of the Pharisees ' seems to speak for others as well as for himself. He was not alone in seeing in the ' signs ' wrought by Jesus the evidence of a Divine Mission. But he was alone, though we commonly associate his name with a charge of timidity, in the courage which led him to Jesus, even ' by night.' 'It must have been a mighty power of conviction, to break down prejudice so far as to lead this old Sanhedrist to acknowledge a Galilean, untrained in the schools, as a teacher come from God, and to repair to Him for direction on, perhaps, the most delicate and important point in Jewish Theology' And that was, as we infer from the words in which Christ ' answered ' him, ' the kingdom of God.' And Nicodemus soon found that the ideas commonly entertained by the sect to which he belonged, and by the Jewish nation as well, were fundamentally wrong. But the wonder which he expressed only elicited from Jesus an averment of His authority and capacity to speak as a ' teacher come from God ' : — ' Verily, verily, we speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen ; and ye receive not our witness. If I told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe if I tell you heavenly things. And no man hath ascended into heaven, but He that descended out of heaven, even JESUS CHRIST SELF-REVEALED. 11 the Son of Man which is in heaven.' Opinion differs as to who they were whom Jesus associated with Him self when He said ' We.' That of Godet seems the most natural : — The We are Jesus Himself as the principal personage ; then His forerunner, who had been associated with Him in the revelation at His baptism ; and His disciples, whom He was already preparing to become the organs of this new doctorate. It is natural to hold that Jesus was not alone when He spoke thus, and that one or more of His disciples were present at the interview. The 'We' was soon dropped, however, and Jesus speaks for and of Himself, in words which appear mystical and even paradoxical. He speaks of Himself as ascending to heaven, and descending from heaven, and as being in heaven at that moment while there on earth conversing with Nicodemus. The general mean ing of His words seems to be : ' No one has ascended to heaven so as to be able to tell you of it de visu, except Him who has come down from it to live with you as a man, and who, even here below, remains there always.' Heaven is both a state and a place. As a state it is essentially communion with God, the spiritual vision of God, and of all things in God. As a place it is some sphere or other of the universe which is resplendent with all the glory of the manifestation of God. 'No man hath ascended to heaven' signifies ' No one hath attained to communion with God and to the immediate knowledge of divine things, nor can reveal them to others.' 'He -that descended' implies more than a divine mission : it includes the notion of pre-existence. The term ' Son of Man ' gives promi nence to this Heavenly Revealer's abasement and love. * I * instead of ' We.' Godet. Heaven a place and state. See Matt. xi. 27. 12 JESUS CHRIST SELF-REVEALED. vv. 16—21. So Eder- sheim. Godet, John iii. 10—21. Words of John or of Jesus ? The words 'which is in heaven' imply that Jesus led two lives in parallel lines — an earthly life and a heavenly life. He lived continually in His Father. This was His heavenly life. And while living thus in the Father, He gave Himself unceasingly to men in a life which was truly human. Such was this ' Teacher come from God,' according to Himself. The verses which follow are supposed by some to be, not a continuation of Christ's teaching of Nicodemus, but a comment by the Evangelist, the outburst of his own thoughts as he recalled a conversation of which he was probably an ear-witness. But, as Godet says, ' the coherence of all the parts is too close to admit the idea of a distinction between the part belonging to Jesus and that due to the Evangelist. Either the whole is an artificial composition, or the whole also should be regarded as the summary of a real conversa tion. We say the summary, for we certainly do not possess the complete report. The visit of Nicodemus lasted, of course, longer than the few minutes necessary to read the account of it. John has transmitted to us in a few salient utterances the quintessence of the communications made by Jesus in the case before us. So much is indicated by the vague transitions ex pressed by the simple and. We behold a few peaks, but not the entire chain.' The word for in verse sixteen cannot indicate a transition from the teaching of Jesus to the commen tary of the historian, but quite the contrary. Besides, the words which follow are a most natural sequence to those which go before. ' If I have told you earthly things and ye believe not, how shall^ye believe if I tell you of heavenly things ? ' The doctrine of the new birth, which takes place on earth, and is a matter JESUS CHRIST SELF-REVEALED. 13 of earthly experience, was received with wonder and incredulity. The greatest of 'heavenly things,' that which is the chiefest of heavenly mysteries, Jesus now revealed in saying, ' God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but should have everlasting life.' He had already connected eternal life with believing in Himself, the Son of Man, ' lifted up.' He now traces it to its fountain in the infinite love of the Father. He had called Himself the Son of Man, to be ' lifted up ' for the life of the world. He now calls Himself the only begotten Son of God, who had come to reveal and accomplish the purpose of the Father's love to the world. The whole is in keeping, part with part, and with the position assumed at other times by this ' Teacher come from God.' 8. Returning from Jerusalem to Galilee, Jesus must needs go through Samaria ; and the traditional Jacob's well will ever be memorable in Christian story, as the scene of a conversation in which He revealed Himself with more directness and explicitness than was His wont when addressing crowds of wondering but un believing Jews. To the woman who came thither to draw water, Jesus said, ' If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink ; thou wouldest have asked of Him, and He would have given thee living water.' In the Old Testament, a perennial spring was designated, in figurative language, ' living water,' in contrast to water accumulated in a cistern. The water in Jacob's well was in this sense living water. And the woman seeing, or seeming to see, no spiritual meaning in the words of Christ, said, ' Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, ' Heavenly things ' — what? ' The only begotten.* John iv. 7—25. The woman. of Sanmna, John iv. 10. Sec Gen. xxvi. 19, Lev. xiv. 5 (Rev. Ver.).. and Jer. ii. 13. / 14 JESUS CHRIST SELF-REVEALED. Living water. Jesus gives eternal life. John iv. 10. vv. 17, 18. John i. 48, 49. True wor ship. Revised Version. and the well is deep ; from whence then hast thou that living water ? ' Jesus replied, ' Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again : but whosoever 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 well of water springing up into everlasting life.' In the woman's rejoinder there may have been a 'mixture of ill-apprehension and rising faith.' But we are con cerned, not with the woman, but with Christ. And here we find a man who, to the outward eye, was nothing more than an ordinary traveller, wearied with his journey, hungry, and thirsty, waiting for the food which his fellow-travellers had gone in quest of, and meantime asking for the refreshment of a draught of water ; — and this man, this Jewish wayfarer, speaks of himself as having power to give eternal life. No wonder that the woman was startled and thrown into a state of mental confusion. But she would have understood the mystery if she had known 'who it was ' that was speaking to her. And this she soon discovered. His knowledge of her history, a know ledge, she felt, which must have been supernatural, produced on 'her mind an impression not unlike that of Nathanael in similar circumstances : ' Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet ? ' And He soon did a prophet's work ; ' Woman, believe Me, the hour cometh, when neither in this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, shall ye worship the Father. The hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth ; for such doth the Father seek to be His worshippers. God is a Spirit, and they that -worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.' Well may one exclaim — ' What a treasure cast to such a soul ' ! But is it not JESUS CHRIST SELF-REVEALED. 15 after the manner of this Great Teacher ? ' I thank Thee, 0 Father, that Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes.' The woman of Samaria was a ' babe ' only in the sense of being ignorant, and by this time becoming teachable. But even she could associate such teaching, and such prophecy of a time when all nations should be alike before God, and should be privileged to offer to God, without regard to place, the only worship He requires and accepts, with the advent of the Messiah. And Jesus rewarded her growing faith and intelligence with the explicit . announcement : ' I that speak unto thee am He.' In doing so there was no inconsistency with His conduct on some other occasions. Jesus had no fear, as He stood by Jacob's well, of calling forth in this woman a world of dangerous illusions like those which in the case of the Jews attached to the name of Messiah. 'The difference of soils explains the difference of seeds which the hand of Jesus drops into them.' The conversation with Nicodemus and that with the woman of Samaria discover to us the wisdom with which Jesus, adapted His teaching to His hearers, and at the same time the unity of the representations which He gave of Himself and of His ministry. 'With Nicodemus, He started from the idea which filled every Pharisee's heart, that of the kingdom of God, and deduced therefrom the most rigorous practical consequences. He knew that He had to deal with a man accustomed to the discipline of the law. Then He unveiled to him the most elevated truths of the kingdom of heaven, by connecting them with a striking Old Testament type, and thus contrasting them with the corresponding features of the Pharisaic 'I am He.' Matt. viii. 4, xvi. 20, etc. Godet. Godet on John, Vol. II. 119. 16 JESUS CHRIST SELF-REVEALED. Nicodemusand the Samaritan woman compared. A centurion. Matt. viii. 5-13. programme. Here, on the contrary, with a woman destitute of all Scriptural training, He takes His point of departure from the commonest thing imaginable, the water of the well. He suddenly exalts it by a bold antithesis, to the idea of that eternal life which quenches for ever the thirst of the " human heart. Spiritual aspiration thus awakened in her becomes the internal prophecy to which He attaches His new revelations, and thus reaches that teaching on true worship which corresponds as directly to the peculiar prepossessions of the woman, as the revelation of heavenly things corresponded, to the . inmost thoughts of Nicodemus. Before the latter He unveils Himself as the only-begotten Son, but this while avoiding the title of " Christ." With the woman He boldly uses this term ; but He does not dream of initiating into the mysteries of incarnation and redemption a soul which is yet only at the first elements of religious life and knowledge. The resemblance between the two narratives rests on the analogy which prevailed between the two meetings ; on both sides a soul wholly of the earth standing in contact with a heavenly mind, which labours to raise it to its own level. This like ness in the situations sufficiently explains the relations between the two dialogues, the diversity of which is quite as remarkable as the resemblance.' 9. From Samaria Jesus goes into Galilee and does not fail, in His own country, to make known, directly and indirectly, who and what He was. A centurion sends the elders of the Jews to Him with an earnest request that He would come and heal his servant, and when Jesus was on His way, he sends this further Lord, trouble not Thyself; for I am- not JESUS CHRIST SELF-REVEALED. 17 worthy that Thou shouldest enter under my roof; wherefore neither thought I myself worthy to come unto Thee : but say in a word, and my servant shall be healed. For I also am a man set under authority, having under me soldiers, and I say unto one, Go, and he goeth ; and to another, Come, and he cometh ; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.' ' I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel,' as in this Gentile, said Jesus. ' Although the centurion was an ordinary man, and a man in a dependent position, he had subordinates through whom he could act without always going to the place. Could not Jesus, who stood far above him in the hierarchy of being, having the powers of the invisible world at His disposal, make use, if He pleased, of a similar power ? ' So Godet. More briefly and pointedly — Even as his soldiers obeyed the centurion's word of command, so would disease obey Christ's word of command ; the powers of nature were as subject to the will and word of Christ as his hundred men were to the centurion. Jesus accepted the homage thus rendered to Him, and commended the faith which it expressed. 10. Other miracles were wrought at this time, in which there appeared more than a Divine power which might have been delegated. A leper s.iys to Him, ' If Thou wilt Thou canst make me clean.' And Jesus does not say, ' Not as I will, but as God wills.' He says, ' I will, be thou clean.' Moses lost the great honour of entering Canaan at the head of the redeemed host of Israel, because he spake ' unadvisedly with his lips,' when working a miracle which God gave him to work. Could anything be more unadvised than for a mere agent in performing a miracle to say, ' I will ' ? 2 Theauthority of the cen turion and of Jesus. Matt. viii. 2-3. 'I will.' Numb. sx. 10-11. Ps. cvi. 33. 18 JESUS CHRIST SELF-REVEALED. Matt. viii. 9. Matt. ix. 2—6. Compare Mark ii. 6-11.Luke v. 20—24. Lukevii.49. Forgiving sin. Arise and walk. But that Jesus did not err is attested by the fact that the leper was cleansed. The personal power which He claimed was illustrated by the centurion who asked Him to heal his servant, by a reference to his own authority : ' I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me ; and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth ; and to another, Come, and he cometh ' — ' speak Thou the word only and my servant shall be healed.' To a palsied man Jesus said, ' Son, be of good cheer ; thy sins are forgiven thee.' ' Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies ? ' the people reasoned in their hearts ; ' who can forgive sins but God only ? ' When Jesus perceived in His spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, He said to them, Why reason ye these things in your hearts ? Whether is it easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee ; or to say, Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk ? But that ye may know that the Son of Man hath power on earth to forgive sins — He saith to the sick man — ' I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed.' And the man arose and departed to his house. No one will dare to question of the people, or with sanctioning, by His silence, impressions respecting Himself which He knew to be wrong. It were easy to say, ' Thy sins are forgiven thee ' ; for there was no means of detecting the falsehood, if falsehood it was. Not so easy to say, ' Arise and walk ' ; for the claim which it implied could be tested at once. Jesus did say, ' Arise and walk,' and the result showed that He was not acting without Divine authority when He said, ' Thy sins are forgiven thee.' The people were right in saying, 'Who. can forgive sins but God only ? ' But the miracle proved that He, the Son of Man had power on earth charge Jesus with evading the JESUS CHRIST SELF-REVEALED. 19 to forgive sins, and was guilty of no blasphemy. The people were left to draw their own inference ; and all that we know is that they were amazed, and glorified God, and were filled with fear, saying, ' We have seen strange things to-day.' It was not the miracle that filled them with fear as well as amazement. It was the manner of the man, and His mysterious assump tions on performing it. 11. During this visit to Galilee, Jesus 'went to Naz areth,' where He had been brought up, and He entered, as His custom was, into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read. ' And there was delivered unto Him the book of the prophet Isaiah. And He opened the book, and found the place where it was written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor ; He hath sent me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. And He closed the book, and He gave it again to the minister, and sat down : and the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on Him. And He began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.' We have no occasion to consider, what is of itself a matter of much interest, the manner of worship and of instruction in the Jewish synagogues of this period. This has been done lately, with a full knowledge of the subject, by Dr. Edersheim, who has likewise ex plained fully the differences between the words of Isaiah in his sixty-first chapter, and the words as translated by Christ into the Aramaic, the then ver nacular of Christ and the Galileans, and the words 2* A myste riousassumption. Luke iv. 16-21. Rev. v. Ch. lxi. This day fulfilled. The life and times of Jesus, the Messiah,3rded., Vol. I., Ch. x. &xi. 20 JESUS CHRIST SELF-REVEALED. High expectancy. ' Joseph's son.' finally reported by Luke in the Greek of the Septua- gint. We have to do with the substance of the incident, and its bearing on the claims of Christ. 'We take it for granted that what had so lately taken place in Cana, at only four miles distance, or, to speak more accurately, in Capernaum, had become known in Nazareth. It raised to the highest pitch of expect ancy the interest and curiosity previously awakened by the reports which the Galileans had brought from Jerusalem, and by the general fame which had spread about Jesus. They were now to test whether their countrymen would be equal to the occasion, and do in His own city what they had heard had been done for Capernaum. To any ordinary man the return to Nazareth in such circumstances must have been an ordeal. Not so to the Christ, who, in utter self- forgetfulness, had only this one aim of life— to do the will of Him that sent Him. And so His bearing that day in the synagogue is itself evidence that while in, He was not of, that time.' This was made especially evident by the extraordi nary announcement — ' This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.' The Nazarenes wondered at the gracious words that were spoken by Jesus, and they wondered still more, and not with pleasure, at the presumption of their humble neighbour, whom they had known all His life as 'Joseph's son,' in declaring that He was the object of Isaiah's prophecy. That presumption is what concerns us. Seven hundred years before, the greatest prophet of the nation had written, not of himself but of some one that was to come in another age, ' The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me. The Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor.' The words were well known to JESUS CHRIST SELF-REVEALED. 21 all who waited for consolation in Israel. They were one of three passages in which the ancient synagogue found mention of the Holy Ghost in connection with the promised redemption. Very sacred they were — words which could find fulfilment only in the advent of the Messiah. And now Jesus, the carpenter, says, ' Isaiah spoke of Me ; the ages have waited for My coming ; and now I enter on My mission to heal the broken-hearted and to preach deliverance to the captives.' This He said with all deliberateness and seriousness, having first closed the book and given it again into the hands of the synagogue minister, from whom He had received it. Lowly as was His condition in life, and lowly as His spirit had ever been, He shrank not from asserting that His coming had been expected from the days of Isaiah, and that He was now set apart and anointed to fulfil a divine purpose of grace towards mankind. In fact, He was the Messiah ! And in making this announcement His Avords struck at the root of the carnal expectations which the Jews of His time cherished. Truly, as Dr. Edersheim says, it was the most un-Jewish dis course for a Jewish Messiah of those days, with which to open His ministry. The result presented in antici pation an epitome of His earthly history. He came unto His own and His own received Him not. 12. The time had now come when Jesus must gather around Him a few followers to be His personal and constant attendants, and His witnesses to the world. And this He does after a manner which reminds us of the call of Isaiah to the prophetic office. Walking by the sea of Galilee, ' He saw two brothers, Simon, called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the Jesus the carpenter,the Messiah ! Personal attendants. Matt. iv. 18 - 19. 22 John i. 40—41. Luke v, 1-11. vv. G— 7. Peter prostrate. His worship accepted. Disciples of Doctors. JESUS CHRIST SELF-REVEALED. sea, for they were fishers. And he saith unto them, Follow me. And they straightway left their nets and followed Him.' On the same occasion James and John left their father and their boat and followed Jesus. Of the circumstances in which these four young fishermen, who had already recognised in Jesus the promised Messiah, were summoned to become His personal attendants, we have a fuller account in the Third Gospel. The two boats of Andrew and Simon and of James and John had returned to the shore after a fruitless all-night toil. At the request of Jesus one of the boats was put out a little from the shore, and from the deck of this boat Jesus taught the people who stood on the land. Then He said to Simon, ' Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a draught.' To expect a draught of fishes after the experience of the night was to hope against hope. But the ' word ' of Jesus was reason enough why the attempt should be made. And the result overwhelmed Peter with wonder. ' When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, and said, Depart from me ; for I am a sinful man, 0 Lord.' The sons of Zebedee were equally amazed. And to Peter, prostrate at His knees, Jesus said, ' Fear not ; from henceforth thou shalt catch men.' Both the common and the uncommon in this narra tive should be noted. Up to a certain point Jesus may be regarded as doing only what other teachers did. Ancient prophets, such as Samuel, Elijah, and Elisha, gathered around them circles of disciples known to us as schools of the prophets. The doctors of the law in Christ's own time, such as Hillel, Shammai, and Gamaliel, had their special followings. And Jesus, as ' the Prophet of Nazareth,' may be re- JESUS CHRIST SELF-REVEALED. 23 garded as only following a common example, when He called these four Galileans to leave their fishing boats and to wait on His teaching. But even thus regarded, we are struck with the form of the call — ' I will make you fishers of men.' This neighbour of theirs, of no higher rank than their own, with no better education than their own, assumes a strange authority, and avows a strange power, of which at the time they could have but the dimmest perception — ' I — / — will make you fishers of men.' So far, however, we might regard the whole affair as parallel to the methods of other leaders of men. But what shall we say to the words and act of Peter, and the reply of Jesus : ' Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, 0 Lord ? ' ' Fear not, from henceforth thou shalt catch men.' The scene reminds us of various passages both in the Old Testament and in the New, but more especially of the grand revelation of God in the sixth chapter of Isaiah, and of the experiences of Job. When Isaiah saw the vision of the Divine Majesty in which he heard the Seraphim saying, ' Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts,' he exclaimed, ' Woe is me ! for I am undone ; because I am a man of unclean lips ; for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.' When Job had listened to sublime descriptions of the Divine greatness, majesty, and power, he said, ' I have heard of Thee by the hearing of the ear, but now mine eye seeth Thee. Wherefore I abhor myself in dust and ashes.' Now, when Peter saw a mighty work which revealed to him, he believed, the presence of God, he exclaimed, ' Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, 0 Lord.' We have no difficulty in understanding how the vision of Isaiah should lead him to exclaim, ' I am But-tbe words of Peter. Ex. xx. 19. Judg. xiii. 22. Job xl. 4. xlii. 3—6. Isaiah vi. Old Testa ment parallels. 24 JESUS CHRIST SELF-REVEALED. Whence the impression on Peter's mind P undone, because I am a man of unclean lips,' for he had heard the words, ' Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts.' But we do not so readily perceive the con nection between the cause and the effect in the case of Job and of Peter. In Job we have the Divine omnipotence and majesty contrasted with man's impotence and littleness. And the effect on Job's mind was not, as we should expect, merely reverence and awe, nor even mere confession and abasement as being ' less than nothing ' in God's sight, but a distinct and overwhelming sense of his sinfulness. "His exclamation was not, 'What is man that Thou art mindful of him,' but ' Behold I am vile.' We can only explain it by the fact, for fact it seems to be, that the strongest and most sensitive link that connects man with God is conscience. It is this that vibrates soonest to the announcement of God's presence. It is not the intellect, nor the imagination, nor even the heart, that first recognises and realises that ' God is here ' — it is the conscience. It is on the same prin ciple that we explain the feeling and cry of Peter. How or why the young fisherman rushed to the conclusion that he was in the presence of God, how ever, does not appear very obvious. Such a draught of fishes, in the circumstances, was very marvellous. But might it not be a mere coincidence, though a very strange one ; or, if a miracle, might it not be such a miracle as Divinely-commissioned men have often wrought ? But Peter saw in it much more. He felt that he was in the presence of no mere man. And, in the spirit of Job, Isaiah, Daniel, and others, he threw himself on his knees before the Mysterious One, and said, ' Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, 0 Lord.' What concerns us most is the response of Jesus. He JESUS CHRIST SELF-REVEALED. 25 was not startled by the act and words of Peter. When, years after this, Cornelius fell down at the feet of Peter, and seemed to offer him homage, the Apostle said, at once, 'Stand up, I myself also am a man.' When John fell down at the feet of a heavenly messenger to worship him, the angel said to him, ' See thou do it not : I am a fellow-servant with thee and with thy brethren that hold the testimony of Jesus ; worship God.' Was Jesus less sensitive to the Divine honour than the apostle and the angel ? And yet He did not say, ' Stand up, for I myself also am a man,' or, ' See thou do it not : I am thy fellow-servant ; worship God.' He stood upright before Peter, and, while Peter was on his knees, overwhelmed with a sense of his unworthiness, He addressed words of comfort to the prostrate, trembling man — ' Fear not ; from henceforth thou shalt catch men.' A ' Fear not ' which reminds us of the- comfort that was given to Isaiah when he was similarly overwhelmed — 'Thine iniquity is taken away and thy sin purged ' ; and which reminds us, too, of many words of comfort which Isaiah's pen was after that honoured to write, such as ' Fear not, for I have redeemed thee.' The parallel between the circumstances in which Isaiah received his prophetic commission and those in which Peter received his apostolic commission is too manifest to be accidental. And the parallel between the action of Jesus on the latter occasion and the action ascribed to Him in the Book of Revelation, is equally manifest. The seer in the Isle of Patmos had a vision of the Son of Man in His glory, when ' His countenance was as when the sun shineth in his strength.' And he writes, 'When I saw Him, I fell at His feet as one dead. And He laid His right hand upon me saying, Fear Acts x. 26. Rev. xix. 10. Rev. Ver. ' Worship God.' Oh. vi. ; Ch. xliii. 1. See Dan. x. 7—12. Parallelbetween prophet and apostle. Rev. i. 16—18. 26 JESUS CHRIST SELF-REVEALED. John v. 1-13. At the Pool of Bethesda Matt. xii. Mark ii. Luke vi. RevisedVersion. MakingHimselfequal with God. No mistake! Acts xiv. 13-15. not ; I am the first and the last, and the Living One ; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive for evermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.' Marvel lous as were the words which the seer heard, they were not more marvellous in substance than were those which the Son of Man addressed to Peter when he said ' Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, 0 Lord ' — ' Fear not, for from henceforth thou shalt catch men.' 13. On His return to Jerusalem, Jesus performed a notable miracle in healing a man who had had an in firmity thirty and eight years. 'Arise,' He said to him, ' take up thy bed and walk.' The man did so. But being the Sabbath day the Jews charged the man and his healer with breaking the Sabbath law, and Jesus defended Himself on grounds different from those on which He rested His defence on other occa sions. It was at first only in one sentence: 'My Father worketh hitherto and I work.' [Revised version, ' My Father worketh even until now, and I work.'] This defence only made things worse. ' For this cause the Jews sought the more to kill Him, because He not only brake the Sabbath, but " also called God His own Father, making Himself equal with God.' Nothing could have been easier, if the people mis understood Him or drew an unwarranted inference from His words, than for Jesus to correct the mistake- He would have done it with all the eager zeal with which Paul and Barnabas rushed in among the idolators of Lyaconia, saying, ' Sirs, why do ye these things ? We also are men of like passions with you.' But instead of this He confirmed the impression His JESUS CHRIST SELF-REVEALED. 27 first words had produced, and revealed Himself in terms which disclose a mysterious relation between 'the Father' and 'the Son'- — a relation altogether different from that which subsists between the master and the servant, or between the inspiring God and the inspired Prophet. His words should be quoted at length, and some of them must. ' Verily, verily, I say unto you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He seeth the Father doing ; for whatsoever things He doeth, these the Son also doeth in like manner. For the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth Him all things that Himself doeth : and greater works than these will He shew Him, that ye may marvel. For as the Father raiseth the dead and quicken eth them, even so the Son also quickeneth whom He will. For neither doth the Father judge any man, but He hath given all judgment unto the Son ; that all may honour the Son even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son, honoureth not the Father which sent Him. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth My word and believeth Him that sent Me, hath eternal life, and cometh not into judgment, but hath passed out of death into life. Verily, verily, I say unto you, the hour cometh 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 even so gave He to the Son, also to have life in Himself : and He gave Him authority to execute judgment also because He is the Son of Man. Marvel not at this : for the hour cometh, in which all that are in the tombs shall hear His voice, and shall come forth ; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life ; and they that have done ill, unto the resurrec tion of judgment.' John v. 19-29. Revisedversion. The Father and the Son. The dead shall hear. 23 JESUS CHRIST SELF-REVEALED. No angel could speak thus. Subordina tion and equality. See Dr. Pye Smith's' Scripture Testimonyto the Messiah' on the whole passage— Vol. I., 413-453. We hear these words with amazement. What mortal man, the highest and most privileged, could have uttered them ? Yea, what angel that stands nearest the throne could have presumed to speak thus of himself? It is not needful that I should attempt a full exposition of the words of Christ. The impression which they produced on the mind of His hearers, and which they produce on ours, is enough. The terms of subordination which He uses — ' I can do nothing from myself — 'The Father hath committed judgment unto the Son ' — 'The Father hath given to the Son to have life in Himself,' are intelligible if we accept it as true that the Son of God took upon Him the form of a servant and came to minister. But, understand them how we may, they must be inter preted consistently with those other terms which assert unequivocably the equality of ' the Son ' with ' the Father ' : 'My Father worketh hitherto, and I work' — 'As the Father raiseth up the dead and quickeneth whom He will, even so the Son quickeneth whom He will.' Even as it respects those powers or prerogatives which the Father is represented as giving or communicating to the Son, the maxim will hold that whatsoever is given must be given according to the capacity of the receiver. ' It is manifest that the Being who is competent to such a function as the giving of everlasting life to the multitude which no man can number, must have original powers of the highest kind. It is the Father's will to constitute Him the Fountain of Divine life to mankind, because He is, in Himself, adequate to such a function.' The same remark applies to the committing of the final judgment to the Son. ' Such a work as this could no more be delegated to an inferior intelligence than JESUS CHRIST SELF-REVEALED. 29 could the government of the universe. It requires the highest attributes of the Deity for its perform ance.' 14. For convenience sake we may cluster together several noticeable assertions respecting Himself which we find in the twelfth of Matthew. Greater than the prophet Jonas — greater than King Solomon — are claims which would seem strange on the lips of a Nazarene carpenter if they were not vastly trans cended by other claims. Defending His conduct with reference to the Sabbath, He said, ' In this place is one greater than the temple.' Even if we accept a differ ent reading and say ' a greater thing than the temple,' the meaning must be that He was greater than the temple. Now what could He mean by comparing Himself with the temple, and calling Himself the greater of the two ? Spirit is greater than matter, we know ; and on this ground it might be asserted that every man who entered the temple was greater than the temple. But Jesus speaks of Himself, not of all men, and defends His action on the ground that if David was justified in what he did when ' he entered into the house of God,' much more was He in that He was greater than the temple. - There seems no natural ground for any comparison between Jesus and the temple, but we have a key to what otherwise it would be difficult to understand, in words used on another occasion: 'Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.' These words were not forgotten by His enemies, and were alleged against Him when He was arraigned before the Jewish Council. But He spoke, we are told, not of the material temple, the restoration of which had been begun by Herod forty Some notableassertions,Matt. xii. 41,42. Matt. xii. 6. Greaterthan the Temple. John ii. 19. Matt. xxvi. 61. 30 JESUS CHRIST SELF-REVEALED. John ii. 20,21. Heb. i. 3. Jesus a Temple. 2 Chron. v. 14. Lord of the Sabbath. Matt. xii. 8. The Revis ers omit ' even.' Exod. xix. 16—18. Exod. xx. 8—10. and six years before, but of the temple of His body. In the original temple of the Jews there was the Shekinah, the manifestation of the Divine glory, and of the special presence of Him who is present every where. It was thus a type of that body in which, in the fulness of the times, He was manifested, who was the brightness of the Father's glory and the express image of His person. Jesus was in His own person a temple of God, a truer temple than that on which so much Herodian wealth had been expended, a truer temple even than that of which it is said that, at its dedication, the glory of the Lord filled the house of God. The comparison indicated by the words of Christ was, then, between temple and temple. And on this ground Jesus alleged that He was greater than that temple of which all around Him were proud. That His words were not understood occasions no wonder, any more than were the words in which He spoke of ' raising up ' the temple of His body in three days. But Jesus did not use them unadvisedly ; they were in harmony with all else that He said concerning Himself. 15. On the same occasion Jesus said, 'The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.' His Lordship was exercised, I believe, not in abrogating the Sabbath, but in authoritatively declaring and exemplifying its true law. But what we have to do with at present is the strange, mysterious claim involved in any lordship over the Sabbath day by this Son of Man. Amid thunders and other august manifestations of the Divine presence which made the people tremble, the law was given. ' Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. . , . The seventh day is the Sabbath of Jehovah, JESUS CHRIST SELF-REVEALED. 31 thy God.' And throughout which followed, prophets enforced this law, and denounced judgments on the neglect of it. But now, to a people who knew the awful sanctions which guarded this law, a Galilean, one of themselves, stands up, and says, ' I am Lord of the Sabbath day.' The oft recurring question might have sprung from the lips of Pharisee and Publican alike, Who art thou ? And this is the question we have to answer to-day. 16. The same question arises immediately when we hear Him say, as recorded in the same chapter, as He stretched forth His hand toward His disciples — ' Behold My mother and My brothers. For whosoever shall do the will of My Father which is in Heaven, the same is My brother, and sister, and mother.' ' My Father,' not the Father, or your Father. On this we shall have more to say. At present, mark the way in which he separates Himself from His mother and His brothers, and offers to those who do the will of God the honour of being His brothers and His sisters. Those who stood around Him were His equals ' accord ing to the flesh,' some His superiors. There were Scribes there who may have sat at the feet of Gamaliel, and even the humblest of His followers were in no wise outwardly inferior to Himself. And yet to be His brother or His sister they must regard as an honour and a privilege. 17. The significance of the 'Sermon on the Mount' is independent of all questions as to the time and place of its delivery. AVe read it now for the one purpose of endeavouring to realise what manner of man He was who spoke it, or what He thought Him- Who ar thou? Matt. xii. 4