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 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,