JESUS
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JESUS
forms Peter into the rock upon which to build His
Cliurch. After two of the Apostles had fallen, Jesus
was gracious to both, though He saved only one, while
the other destroyed himself. Women in need are not
excluded from the general graciousness of Jesus: He
receives the homage of the sinful woman, He restores
the son of the widow at Nairn, He consoles the sorrow-
ing sisters Martha and Marj-, He cures the mother-in-
law of St. Peter and restores the health of numerous
other women. He accepts the ministry of the holy
women of Galilee, He has words of sympathy for the
women of Jerusalem who bewailed His sufferings, He
was subject to His mother till He reached man's es-
tate, and when dying on the Cross conuuended her to
the care of His beloved disciple. The grace of the
Master is also e\'ident in the form of His teaching: He
lays under contriliution the simple phases of nature,
the hen with her chickens, the gnat in the cup, the
camel in the narrow street, the fig tree and its fruit,
the fishermen sorting their catch. He meets with the
lightest touch, approaching sometimes the play of hu-
mour and sometimes the thrust of irony, the simple
doubts of His disciples, the selfish questions of His
hearers, and the subtlest snares of His enemies. He
feels no need of thrift in His doctrine; He lavishes
His teaching and His benefits on the few as abun-
dantly as on the vastest multitudes. He flings out His
parables into the world that those who have ears may
hear. There is a prodigality in this manifestation of
Christ's grace that can only be symbolized, but not
equalled, by the waste of seed in the reahn of nature.
(2) In the Light of J'aith.— In the light of faith the
life of Jesus is an uninterrupted series of acts of love
for man. It was love that impelled the Son of God to
take on human nature, though He did so \^'ith the full
consent of His Father: "For God so loved the world,
as to give his only begotten Son" (John, iii, 16). For
thirty years Jesus shows His love by a life of poverty,
labour, and hardship in the fulfilment of the duties of
a common tradesman. When His public ministry be-
gan. He simply spent Himself for the good of His neigh-
bour, " doing good, and healing all that were oppressed
by the devil" (Acts, x, 38). He shows a boundless
compassion for all the infirmities of the body ; He uses
His miraculous power to heal the sick, to free the pos-
sessed, to resuscitate the dead. The moral weak-
nesses of man move His heart still more effectively;
the woman at Jacob's well, Matthew the publican,
Mary Magdalen the public sinner, Zacheus the unjust
administrator, are only a few instances of sinners who
received encouragement from the hps of Jesus. He is
ready with forgiveness for all; the parable of the
Prodigal Son illustrates His love for the sinner. In
His work of teaching He is at the service of the poor-
est outcast of Galilee as well as of the theological celeb-
rities of Jerusalem. His bitterest enemies are not
excluded from the manifestations of His love; even
while He is being crucified He prays for their pardon.
The Scribes and Pharisees are treated severely, only
because they stand in the way of His love. "Come to
me, all you that labour, and are burdened, and I will
refresh you " (Matt., xi, 28) is the message of His heart
to poor suffering humanity. After laying down the
rule, " Greater love than this no man hath, that a man
lay down his life for his friends" (John, xv, 13), He
surpasses as it were His own standard by dying for His
enemies. Fulfilling the unconscious prophecy of the
godless high-priest, " It is expedient for you that one
man should die for the people" (John, xi, 50), He
freely meets His sufferings which He could have easily
avoided (Matt., xxvi, 53), undergoes the greatest in-
sults and ignominies, passes through the most severe
bodily pains, and sheds His blood for men "unto re-
mission of sins" (Matt., xxvi, 28). But the love of
Jesus embraced not only the spiritual welfare of men,
it extended also to their temporal happiness: "Seek ye
therefore first the kingdom of God, and his justice, and
all these things shall be added unto you" (Matt., vi,
33).
B. Jesus in His Relation to God. — Prescinding from the theological discussions which are usually treated in the theses " De Verbo Incarnato", we may consider the relations of Jesus to God under the headings of His sanctity and His Divinity.
(1) Sanctity of Jesus. — From a negative point of view, the sanctity of Jesus consists in His unspotted sinlessness. He can defy His enemies by asking, " Which of you shall convince me of sin? " (John, viii, 46) . Even the e vU spirits are forced to acknowledge Him as the Holy One of God (Mark, i, 24; Luke, iv, 34). His enemies charge Him with being a Samari- tan, and ha\'ing a devil (John, viii, 48), with being a sinner (John, ix, 24), a blasphemer (Matt., xxvi, 65), a violator of the Sabbath (John, Lx, 16), a malefactor (John, xviii, 30), a disturber of the peace (Luke, xxiii, 5), a seducer (Matt., xxvii, 63). But Pilate finds and declares Jesus innocent, and, when pressed by the ene- mies of Jesus to condemn Him, he washes his hands and exclaims before the assembled people, " I am inno- cent of the blood of this just man" (Matt., xxvii, 24). The Jewish authorities practically admit that they cannot prove any wrong against Jesus; they only in- sist, "We have a law; and according to the law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God " (John, xix, 7). The final charge urged against Christ by His bitterest enemies was His claim to be the Son of God.
The positive side of the sanctity of Jesus is well at- tested by His constant zeal in the service of God. At the age of twelve He asks His mother, "Did you not know, that I must be about my father's business?" He urges on His hearers the true adoration in spirit and in truth (John, iv, 23) rec)uired by His Father. Repeatedly He declares His entire dependence on His Father (John, v, 20, 30; etc.) ; He is faithful to the Will of His Father (John, Wii, 29); He tells His disciples, " My meat is to do the will of him that sent me " (John iv, 34). Even the hardest sacrifices do not prevent Jesus from complying with His Father's Will: "My Father, if this chalice may not pass away, but I must drink it, thy will be done" (Matt., xxvi, 42). Jesus honours His Father (John, viii, 49), is consumed -nnth zeal for the house of His Father (John, ii, 17), and pro- claims at the end of His life, " I have glorified thee on the earth" (John, xvii, 4). He prays almost inces- santly to His Father (Mark, i, 35; vi, 46; etc.), and teaches His Apostles the Our Father (Matt., vi, 9). He always thanks His P'ather for His bounties (Matt., xi, 25; etc.), and in brief behaves throughout as only a most loving son can behave towards his beloved father. During His Passion one of His most intense sorrows is His feeling of abandonment by His Father (Mark, xv, 34), and at the point of death He joyfully surrenders His Soul into the hands of His Father (Luke, xxiii, 46).
(2) Divinity of Jesus. — The Divinity of Jesus is proved by some writers by an appeal to prophecy and miracle. But, though Jesus fulfilled the prophecies of the Old Testament to the letter. He Himself appears to appeal to them mainly in proof of His Divine mis- sion; He shows the Jews that He fulfils in His Person and His work all that had been foretold of the Messias. The prophecies uttered by Jesus Himself differ from the predictions of the Old Testament in that Jesus does not speak in the name of the Lord, like the seers of old, but in His own name. If it could be strictly proved that they were made in virtue of His own knowledge of the future, and of His own power to dis- pose of the current of events, the prophecies would prove His Divinity; as it is they prove at least that Je- sus is a messenger of God, a friend of God, inspired by God. This is not the place to discuss the historical and philosophical truth of the miracles of Jesus, but we know that Jesus appeals to His works as bearing witness to the general truth of His mission (John, x,
