,libraries7 ,transcriber's ,note3 ,this e-text is intended for users whose text readers cannot display the ,unicode 7utf-#h7 version of the file4 ,greek words have been transliterated and enclosed in equals signs1 e4g4 ho logos4 ,italic words have been similarly enclosed in underscores4 ,a few minor typographical errors have been silently corrected4 ,the ,table of ,contents refers to page numbers in the original text4 ,all advertising material has been placed at the end of the text4 ,,the ,,expositor',s ,,bible4 ,,edited ,,by ,,the ,,rev4 ,w4 ,,robertson ,,nicoll1 ,m4,a41 ,,ll4,d4 ,editor of ,the ,expositor4 ,,the ,,gospel ,,of ,,st4 ,,john4 ,,by ,,marcus ,,dods1 ,d4,d4 ,london3 ,,hodder ,,and ,,stoughton1 #bg1 ,,paternoster ,,row4 ,,mdcccxcii4 ,,the ,,gospel ,,of ,,st4 ,,john4 ,,by ,,marcus ,,dods1 ,d4,d41 ,,professor ,,of ,,exegetical ,,theology1 ,,new ,,college1 ,,edinburgh4 ,,in ,,two ,,volumes4 ,,vol4 ,,ii4 ,london3 ,,hodder ,,and ,,stoughton1 #bg1 ,,paternoster ,,row4 ,,mdcccxcii4 ,,contents4 ,,page ,i4 ,,the ,,anointing ,,of ,,jesus #c ,,ii4 ,,the ,,entry ,,into ,,jerusalem #ai ,,iii4 ,,the ,,corn ,,of ,,wheat #ca ,,iv4 ,,the ,,attractive ,,force ,,of ,,the ,,cross #dg ,v4 ,,results ,,of ,,christ',s ,,manifestation #fe ,,vi4 ,,the ,,foot-,,washing #ge ,,vii4 ,,judas #ia ,,viii4 ,,jesus ,,announces ,,his ,,departure #aji ,,ix4 ,,the ,,way1 ,,the ,,truth1 ,,and ,,the ,,life #abc ,x4 ,,the ,,father ,,seen ,,in ,,christ #acg ,,xi4 ,,the ,,bequest ,,of ,,peace #aei ,,xii4 ,,the ,,vine ,,and ,,the ,,branches #age ,,xiii4 ,,not ,,servants1 ,,but ,,friends #aic ,,xiv4 ,,the ,,spirit ,,christ',s ,,witness #bje ,,xv4 ,,last ,,words #bbi ,,xvi4 ,,christ',s ,,intercessory ,,prayer #bdg ,,xvii4 ,,the ,,arrest #bfc ,,xviii4 ,,peter',s ,,denial ,,and ,,repentance #bha ,,xix4 ,,jesus ,,before ,,pilate #bii ,,xx4 ,,mary ,,at ,,the ,,cross #cba ,,xxi4 ,,the ,,crucifixion #cce ,,xxii4 ,,the ,,resurrection #cea ,,xxiii4 ,,thomas' ,,test #cfe ,,xxiv4 ,,appearance ,,at ,,sea ,,of ,,galilee #chc ,,xxv4 ,,restoration ,,of ,,peter #cii ,,xxvi4 ,,conclusion #dac ,i4 ,,the ,,anointing ,,of ,,jesus4 ,jesus therefore six days before the ,passover came to ,bethany1 where ,lazarus was1 whom ,jesus raised from the dead4 ,so they made ,him a supper there3 and ,martha served2 but ,lazarus was one of them that sat at meat with ,him4 ,mary therefore took a pound of ointment of spikenard1 very precious1 and anointed the feet of ,jesus1 and wiped ,his feet with her hair3 and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment4 ,but ,judas ,iscariot1 one of ,his disciples1 which should betray ,him1 saith1 ,why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence1 and given to the poor8 ,now this he said1 not because he cared for the poor2 but because he was a thief1 and having the bag took away what was put therein4 ,jesus therefore said1 ,suffer her to keep it against the day of ,my burying4 ,for the poor ye have always with you2 but ,me ye have not always4 ,the common people therefore of the ,jews learned that ,he was there3 and they came1 not for ,jesus' sake only1 but that they might see ,lazarus also1 whom ,he had raised from the dead4 ,but the chief priests took counsel that they might put ,lazarus also to death2 because that by reason of him many of the ,jews went away1 and believed on ,jesus4--,,john xii4 #a-aa4 ,this twelfth chapter is the watershed of the ,gospel4 ,the self-manifestation of ,jesus to the world is now ended2 and from this point onwards to the close we have to do with the results of that manifestation4 ,he hides ,himself from the unbelieving1 and allows their unbelief full scope2 while ,he makes further disclosures to the faithful few4 ,the whole ,gospel is a systematic and wonderfully artistic exhibition of the manner in which the deeds1 words1 and claims of ,jesus produced1--on the one hand1 a growing belief and enthusiasm2 on the other1 a steadily hardening unbelief and hostility4 ,in this chapter the culmination of these processes is carefully illustrated by three incidents4 ,in the first of these incidents evidence is given that there was an intimate circle of friends in whose love ,jesus was embalmed1 and ,his work and memory insured against decay2 while the very deed which had riveted the faith and affection of this intimate circle is shown to have brought the antagonism of ,his enemies to a head4 ,in the second incident the writer shows that on the whole popular mind ,jesus had made a profound impression1 and that the instincts of the ,jewish people acknowledged ,him as ,king4 ,in the third incident the influence ,he was destined to have and was already to some extent exerting beyond the bounds of ,judaism is illustrated by the request of the ,greeks that they might see ,jesus4 ,in this first incident1 then1 is disclosed a devotedness of faith which cannot be surpassed1 an attachment which is absolute2 but here also we see that the hostility of avowed enemies has penetrated even the inner circle of the personal followers of ,jesus1 and that one of the chosen ,twelve has so little faith or love that he can see no beauty and find no pleasure in any tribute paid to his ,master4 ,in this hour there meet a ripeness of love which suddenly reveals the permanent place which ,jesus has won for ,himself in the hearts of men1 and a maturity of alienation which forebodes that ,his end cannot be far distant4 ,in this beautiful incident1 therefore1 we turn a page in the gospel and come suddenly into the presence of ,christ's death4 ,to this death ,he ,himself freely alludes1 because ,he sees that things are now ripe for it1 that nothing short of ,his death will satisfy ,his enemies1 while no further manifestation can give ,him a more abiding place in the love of ,his friends4 ,the chill1 damp odour of the tomb first strikes upon the sense1 mingling with and absorbed in the perfume of ,mary's ointment4 ,if ,jesus dies1 ,he cannot be forgotten4 ,he is embalmed in the love of such disciples4 ,on ,his way to ,jerusalem for the last time ,jesus reached ,bethany six days before the ,passover--that is to say1 in all probability#a on the ,friday evening previous to ,his death4 ,it was natural that ,he should wish to spend ,his last ,sabbath in the congenial and strengthening society of a family whose welcome and whose affection ,he could rely upon4 ,in the little town of ,bethany ,he had become popular1 and since the raising of ,lazarus ,he was regarded with marked veneration4 ,accordingly they made ,him a feast1 which1 as ,mark informs us1 was given in the house of ,simon the leper4 ,any gathering of ,his friends in ,bethany must have been incomplete without ,lazarus and his sisters4 ,each is present1 and each contributes an appropriate addition to the feast4 ,martha serves2 ,lazarus1 mute as he is throughout the whole story1 bears witness by his presence as a living guest to the worthiness of ,jesus2 while ,mary makes the day memorable by a characteristic action4 ,coming in1 apparently after the guests had reclined at table1 she broke an alabaster of very costly spikenard#b and anointed the feet of ,jesus and wiped ,his feet with her hair4 ,this token of affection took the company by surprise4 ,lazarus and his sisters may have been in sufficiently good circumstances to admit of their making a substantial acknowledgment of their indebtedness to ,jesus2 and although this alabaster of ointment had cost as much as would keep a labouring man's family for a year1 this could not seem an excessive return to make for service so valuable as ,jesus had rendered4 ,it was the manner of the acknowledgment which took the company by surprise4 ,jesus was a poor man1 and ,his very appearance may have suggested that there were other things ,he needed more urgently than such a gift as this4 ,had the family provided a home for ,him or given ,him the price of this ointment1 no one would have uttered a remark4 ,but this was the kind of demonstration reserved for princes or persons of great distinction2 and when paid to ,one so conspicuously humble in ,his dress and habits1 there seemed to the uninstructed eye something incongruous and bordering on the grotesque4 ,when the fragrance of the ointment disclosed its value1 there was therefore an instantaneous exclamation of surprise1 and at any rate in one instance of blunt disapproval4 ,judas1 instinctively putting a money value on this display of affection1 roundly and with coarse indelicacy declared it had better have been sold and given to the poor4 ,jesus viewed the act with very different feelings4 ,the rulers were determining to put ,him out of the way1 as not only worthless but dangerous2 the very man who objected to this present expenditure was making up his mind to sell ,him for a small part of the sum2 the people were scrutinising ,his conduct1 criticising ,him2--in the midst of all this hatred1 suspicion1 treachery1 coldness1 and hesitation comes this woman and puts aside all this would-be wisdom and caution1 and for herself pronounces that no tribute is rich enough to pay to ,him4 ,it is the rarity of such action1 not the rarity of the nard1 that strikes ,jesus4 ,this1 ,he says1 is a noble deed she has done1 far rarer1 far more difficult to produce1 far more penetrating1 and lasting in its fragrance than the richest perfume that man has compounded4 ,mary has the experience that all those have who for ,christ's sake expose themselves to the misunderstanding and abuse of vulgar and unsympathetic minds2 she receives from ,himself more explicit assurance that her offering has given pleasure to ,him and is gratefully accepted4 ,we may sometimes find ourselves obliged to do what we perfectly well know will be misunderstood and censured2 we may be compelled to adopt a line of conduct which seems to convict us of heedlessness and of the neglect of duties we owe to others2 we may be driven to action which lays us open to the charge of being romantic and extravagant2 but of one thing we may be perfectly sure--that however our motives are mis-read and condemned by those who first make their voices heard1 ,he for whose sake we do these things will not disparage our action nor misunderstand our motives4 ,the way to a fuller intimacy with ,christ often lies through passages in life we must traverse alone4 ,but we are probably more likely to misunderstand than to be misunderstood4 ,we are so limited in our sympathies1 so scantily furnished with knowledge1 and have so slack a hold upon great principles1 that for the most part we can understand only those who are like ourselves4 ,when a woman comes in with her effusiveness1 we are put out and irritated2 when a man whose mind is wholly uneducated utters his feelings by shouting hymns and dancing on the street1 we think him a semi-lunatic2 when a member of our family spends an hour or two a day in devotional exercises1 we condemn it as waste of time which might be better spent on practical charities or household duties4 ,most liable of all to this vice of misjudging the actions of others1 and indeed of misapprehending generally wherein the real value of life consists1 are those who1 like ,judas1 measure all things by a utilitarian1 if not a money1 standard4 ,actions which have no immediate results are pronounced by such persons to be mere sentiment and waste1 while in fact they redeem human nature and make life seem worth living4 ,the charge of the ,light ,brigade at ,balaclava served none of the immediate purposes of the battle1 and was indeed a blunder and waste from that point of view2 yet are not our annals enriched by it as they have been by few victories8 ,on the ,parthenon there were figures placed with their backs hard against the wall of the pediment2 these backs were never seen and were not intended to be seen1 but yet were carved with the same care as was spent upon the front of the figures4 ,was that care waste8 ,there are thousands of persons in our own society who think it essential to teach their children arithmetic1 but pernicious to instil into their minds a love of poetry or art4 ,they judge of education by the test1 ,will it pay8 can this attainment be turned into money8 ,the other question1 ,will it enrich the nature of the child and of the man8 is not asked4 ,they proceed as if they believed that the man is made for business1 not business for the man2 and thus it comes to pass that everywhere among us men are found sacrificed to business1 stunted in their moral development1 shut off from the deeper things of life4 ,the pursuits which such persons condemn are the very things which lift life out of the low level of commonplace buying and selling1 and invite us to remember that man liveth not by bread alone1 but by high thoughts1 by noble sacrifice1 by devoted love and all that love dictates1 by the powers of the unseen1 mightier by far than all that we see4 ,in the face1 then1 of so much that runs counter to such demonstrations as ,mary's and condemns them as extravagance1 it is important to note the principles upon which our ,lord proceeds in ,his justification of her action4 ,first1 ,he says1 this is an occasional1 exceptional tribute4 ,the poor always ye have with you1 but me ye have not always4 ,charity to the poor you may continue from day to day all your life long3 whatever you spend on me is spent once for all4 ,you need not think the poor defrauded by this expenditure4 ,within a few days ,i shall be beyond all such tokens of regard1 and the poor will still claim your sympathy4 ,this principle solves for us some social and domestic problems4 ,of many expenses common in society1 and especially of expenses connected with scenes such as this festive gathering at ,bethany1 the question always arises1 ,is this expenditure justifiable8 ,when present at an entertainment costing as much and doing as little material good as the spikenard whose perfume had died before the guests separated1 we cannot but ask1 ,is not this1 after all1 mere waste8 had it not been better to have given the value to the poor8 ,the hunger-bitten faces1 the poverty-stricken outcasts1 we have seen during the day are suggested to us by the superabundance now before us4 ,the effort to spend most where least is needed suggests to us1 as to these guests at ,bethany1 gaunt1 pinched1 sickly faces1 bare rooms1 cold grates1 feeble1 dull-eyed children--in a word1 starving families who might be kept for weeks together on what is here spent in a few minutes2 and the question is inevitable1 ,is this right8 ,can it be right to spend a man's ransom on a mere good smell1 while at the end of the street a widow is pining with hunger8 ,our ,lord replies that so long as one is day by day considering the poor and relieving their necessities1 he need not grudge an occasional outlay to manifest his regard for his friends4 ,the poor of ,bethany would probably appeal to ,mary much more hopefully than to ,judas1 and they would appeal all the more successfully because her heart had been allowed to utter itself thus to ,jesus4 ,there is1 of course1 an expenditure for display under the guise of friendship4 ,such expenditure finds no justification here or anywhere else4 ,but those who in a practical way acknowledge the perpetual presence of the poor are justified in the occasional outlay demanded by friendship4 #b4 ,but our ,lord's defence of ,mary is of wider range4 ,let her alone1 ,he says1 against the day of my burying hath she kept this4 ,it was not only occasional1 exceptional tribute she had paid ,him2 it was solitary1 never to be repeated4 ,against my burial she has kept this unguent2 for me ye have not always4 ,would you blame ,mary for spending this1 were ,i lying in my tomb8 ,would you call it too costly a tribute1 were it the last8 ,well1 it is the last4#c ,such is our ,lord's justification of her action4 ,was ,mary herself conscious that this was a parting tribute8 ,it is possible that her love and womanly instinct had revealed to her the nearness of that death of which ,jesus ,himself so often spoke1 but which the disciples refused to think of4 ,she may have felt that this was the last time she would have an opportunity of expressing her devotion4 ,drawn to ,him with unutterable tenderness1 with admiration1 gratitude1 anxiety mingling in her heart1 she hastens to spend upon ,him her costliest4 ,passing away from her world she knows ,he is2 buried so far as she was concerned she knew ,him to be if ,he was to keep the ,passover at ,jerusalem in the midst of ,his enemies4 ,had the others felt with her1 none could have grudged her the last consolation of this utterance of her love1 or have grudged ,him the consolation of receiving it4 ,for this made ,him strong to die1 this among other motives--the knowledge that ,his love and sacrifice were not in vain1 that ,he had won human hearts1 and that in their affection ,he would survive4 ,this is ,his true embalming4 ,this it is that forbids that ,his flesh see corruption1 that ,his earthly manifestation die out and be forgotten4 ,to die before ,he had attached to ,himself friends as passionate in their devotion as ,mary would have been premature4 ,the recollection of ,his work might have been lost4 ,but when ,he had won men like ,john and women like ,mary1 ,he could die assured that ,his name would never be lost from earth4 ,the breaking of the alabaster box1 the pouring out of ,mary's soul in adoration of her ,lord--this was the signal that all was ripe for ,his departure1 this the proof that ,his manifestation had done its work4 ,the love of ,his own had come to maturity and burst thus into flower4 ,jesus therefore recognises in this act ,his true embalming4 ,and it is probably from this point of view that we may most readily see the appropriateness of that singular commendation and promise which our ,lord1 according to the other gospels1 added3 ,verily ,i say unto you1 wherever this gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world1 this also that she hath done shall be spoken for a memorial of her4 ,at first sight the encomium might seem as extravagant as the action4 ,was there1 a ,judas might ask1 anything deserving of immortality in the sacrifice of a few pounds8 ,but no such measurements are admissible here4 ,the encomium was deserved because the act was the irrepressible utterance of all-absorbing love--of a love so full1 so rich1 so rare that even the ordinary disciples of ,christ were at first not in perfect sympathy with it4 ,the absolute devotedness of her love found a fit symbol in the alabaster box or vase which she had to break that the ointment might flow out4 ,it was not a bottle out of which she might take the stopper and let a carefully measured quantity dribble out1 reserving the rest for other and perhaps very different uses--fit symbol of our love to ,christ2 but it was a hermetically sealed casket or flask1 out of which1 if she let one drop fall1 the whole must go4 ,it had to be broken2 it had to be devoted to one sole use4 ,it could not be in part reserved or in part diverted to other uses4 ,where you have such love as this1 have you not the highest thing humanity can produce8 ,where is it now to be had on earth1 where are we to look for this all-devoting1 unreserving love1 which gathers up all its possessions and pours them out at ,christ's feet1 saying1 ,take all1 would it were more8 ,the encomium1 therefore1 was deserved and appropriate4 ,in her love the ,lord would ever live3 so long as she existed the remembrance of ,him could not die4 ,no death could touch her heart with his chilly hand and freeze the warmth of her devotion4 ,christ was immortal in her1 and she was therefore immortal in ,him4 ,her love was a bond that could not be broken1 the truest spiritual union4 ,in embalming ,him1 therefore1 she unconsciously embalmed herself4 ,her love was the amber in which ,he was to be preserved1 and she became inviolable as ,he4 ,her love was the marble on which ,his name and worth were engraven1 on which ,his image was deeply sculptured1 and they were to live and last together4 ,christ prolongs ,his days in the love of ,his people4 ,in every generation there arise those who will not let ,his remembrance die out1 and who to their own necessities call out the living energy of ,christ4 ,in so doing they unwittingly make themselves undying as ,he2 their love of ,him is the little spark of immortality in their soul4 ,it is that which indissolubly and by the only genuine spiritual affinity links them to what is eternal4 ,to all who thus love ,him ,christ cannot but say1 ,because ,i live1 ye shall live also4 ,another point in our ,lord's defence of ,mary's conduct1 though it is not explicitly asserted1 plainly is1 that tributes of affection paid directly to ,himself are of value to ,him4 ,judas might with some plausibility have quoted against our ,lord ,his own teaching that an act of kindness done to the poor was kindness to ,him4 ,it might be said that1 on our ,lord's own showing1 what ,he desires is1 not homage paid to ,himself personally1 but loving and merciful conduct4 ,and certainly any homage paid to ,himself which is not accompanied by such conduct is of no value at all4 ,but as love to ,him is the spring and regulator of all right conduct1 it is necessary that we should cultivate this love2 and because ,he delights in our well-being and in ourselves1 and does not look upon us merely as so much material in which ,he may exhibit ,his healing powers1 ,he necessarily rejoices in every expression of true devotedness that is paid to ,him by any of us4 ,and on our side wherever there is true and ardent love it must crave direct expression4 ,if ye love me1 says our ,lord1 keep my commandments2 and obedience certainly is the normal test and exhibition of love4 ,but there is that in our nature which refuses to be satisfied with obedience1 which craves fellowship with what we love1 which carries us out of ourselves and compels us to express our feeling directly4 ,and that soul is not fully developed whose pent-up gratitude1 cherished admiration1 and warm affection do not from time to time break away from all ordinary modes of expressing devotion and choose some such direct method as ,mary chose1 or some such straightforward utterance as ,peter's3 ,lord1 ,thou knowest all things1 ,thou knowest that ,i love ,thee4 ,it may1 indeed1 occur to us1 as we read of ,mary's tribute to her ,lord1 that the very words in which ,he justified her action forbid our supposing that any so grateful tribute can be paid ,him by us4 ,me ye have not always may seem to warn us against expecting that so direct and satisfying an intercourse can be maintained now1 when we no longer have ,him4 ,and no doubt this is one of the standing difficulties of ,christian experience4 ,we can love those who live with us1 whose eye we can meet1 whose voice we know1 whose expression of face we can read4 ,we feel it easy to fix our affections on one and another of those who are alive contemporaneously with ourselves4 ,but with ,christ it is different3 we miss those sensible impressions made upon us by the living bodily presence2 we find it difficult to retain in the mind a settled idea of the feeling ,he has towards us4 ,it is an effort to accomplish by faith what sight without any effort effectually accomplishes4 ,we do not see that ,he loves us2 the looks and tones that chiefly reveal human love are absent2 we are not from hour to hour confronted1 whether we will or no1 with one evidence or other of love4 ,were the life of a ,christian nowadays no more difficult than it was to ,mary1 were it brightened with ,christ's presence as a household friend1 were the whole sum and substance of it merely a giving way to the love ,he kindled by palpable favours and measurable friendship1 then surely the ,christian life would be a very simple1 very easy1 very happy course4 ,but the connection between ourselves and ,christ is not of the body that passes1 but of the spirit which endures4 ,it is spiritual1 and such a connection may be seriously perverted by the interference of sense and of bodily sensations4 ,to measure the love of ,christ by ,his expression of face and by ,his tone of voice is legitimate1 but it is not the truest measurement3 to be drawn to ,him by the accidental kindnesses our present difficulties must provoke is to be drawn by something short of perfect spiritual affinity4 ,and1 on the whole1 it is well that our spirit should be allowed to choose its eternal friendship and alliance by what is specially and exclusively its own1 so that its choice cannot be mistaken1 as the choice sometimes is when there is a mixture of physical and spiritual attractiveness4 ,so much are we guided in youth and in the whole of our life by what is material1 so freely do we allow our tastes to be determined and our character to be formed by our connection with what is material1 that the whole man gets blunted in his spiritual perceptions and incapable of appreciating what is not seen4 ,and the great part of our education in this life is to lift the spirit to its true place and to its appropriate company1 to teach it to measure its gains apart from material prosperity1 and to train it to love with ardour what cannot be seen4 ,besides1 it cannot be doubted that this incident itself very plainly teaches that ,christ came into this world to win our love and to turn all duty into a personal acting towards ,him2 to make the whole of life like those parts of it which are now its bright exceptional holiday times2 to make all of it a pleasure by making all of it and not merely parts of it the utterance of love4 ,even a little love in our life is the sunshine that quickens and warms and brightens the whole4 ,there seems at length to be a reason and a satisfaction in life when love animates us4 ,it is easy to act well to those whom we really love1 and ,christ has come for the express purpose of bringing our whole life within this charmed circle4 ,he has come not to bring constraint and gloom into our lives1 but to let us out into the full liberty and joy of the life that ,god ,himself lives and judges to be the only life worthy of ,his bestowal upon us4 ,,footnotes3 #a ,it is uncertain whether the six days are inclusive or exclusive of the day of arrival and of the first day of the ,feast4 ,it is also uncertain on what day of the week the ,crucifixion happened4 #b ,in ,the ,classical ,review for ,july #ahij ,mr4 ,bennett suggests that the difficult word pistikes should be written pistakes1 and that it refers to the ,pistacia terebinthus1 which grows in ,cyprus and ,judaea1 and yields a very fragrant and very costly unguent4 #c ,so ,stier4 ,,ii4 ,,the ,,entry ,,into ,,jerusalem4 ,on the morrow a great multitude that had come to the feast1 when they heard that ,jesus was coming to ,jerusalem1 took the branches of the palm trees1 and went forth to meet ,him1 and cried out1 ,hosanna3 ,blessed is ,he that cometh in the name of the ,lord1 even the ,king of ,israel4 ,and ,jesus1 having found a young ass1 sat thereon2 as it is written1 ,fear not1 daughter of ,zion3 behold1 thy ,king cometh1 sitting on an ass's colt4 ,these things understood not ,his disciples at the first3 but when ,jesus was glorified1 then remembered they that these things were written of ,him1 and that they had done these things unto ,him4 ,the multitude therefore that was with ,him when ,he called ,lazarus out of the tomb1 and raised him from the dead1 bare witness4 ,for this cause also the multitude went and met ,him1 for that they heard that ,he had done this sign4 ,the ,pharisees therefore said among themselves1 ,behold1 how ye prevail nothing3 lo1 the world is gone after ,him4--,,john xii4 #ab-ai4 ,if our ,lord arrived in ,bethany on ,friday evening and spent the ,sabbath with ,his friends there1 the next day of ver4 #ab is ,sunday2 and in the ,church year this day is known as ,palm ,sunday1 from the incident here related4 ,it was also the day1 four days before the ,passover1 on which the ,jews were enjoined by the law to choose their paschal lamb4 ,some consciousness of this may have guided our ,lord's action4 ,certainly ,he means finally to offer ,himself to the people as the ,messiah4 ,often as ,he had evaded them before1 and often as ,he had forbidden ,his disciples to proclaim ,him1 ,he is now conscious that ,his hour has come1 and by entering ,jerusalem as ,king of peace ,he definitely proclaims ,himself the promised ,messiah4 ,as plainly as the crowning of a new monarch and the flourish of trumpets and the kissing of his hand by the great officers of state proclaim him king1 so unmistakably does our ,lord by riding into ,jerusalem on an ass and by accepting the hosannas of the people proclaim ,himself the ,king promised to men through the ,jews1 as the ,king of peace who was to win men to ,his rule by love and sway them by a ,divine ,spirit4 ,the scene must have been one not easily forgotten4 ,the ,mount of ,olives runs north and south parallel to the east wall of ,jerusalem1 and separated from it by a gully1 through which flows the brook ,kidron4 ,the ,mount is crossed by three paths4 ,one of these is a steep footpath1 which runs direct over the crest of the hill2 the second runs round its northern shoulder2 while the third crosses the southern slope4 ,it was by this last route the pilgrim caravans were accustomed to enter the city4 ,on the occasion of our ,lord's entry the road was probably thronged with visitors making their way to the great annual feast4 ,no fewer than three million persons are said to have been sometimes packed together in ,jerusalem at the ,passover2 and all of them being on holiday1 were ready for any kind of excitement4 ,the idea of a festal procession was quite to their mind4 ,and no sooner did the disciples appear with ,jesus riding in their midst than the vast streams of people caught the infection of loyal enthusiasm1 tore down branches of the palms and olives which were found in abundance by the roadside1 and either waved them in the air or strewed them in the line of march4 ,others unwrapped their loose cloaks from their shoulders and spread them along the rough path to form a carpet as ,he approached--a custom which is still1 it seems1 observed in the ,east in royal processions1 and which has indeed sometimes been imported into our own country on great occasions4 ,thus with every demonstration of loyalty1 with ceaseless shoutings that were heard across the valley in the streets of ,jerusalem itself1 and waving the palm branches1 they moved towards the city4 ,those who have entered the city from ,bethany by this road tell us that there are two striking points in it4 ,the first is when at a turn of the broad and well-defined mountain track the southern portion of the city comes for an instant into view4 ,this part of the city was called the city of ,david1 and the suggestion is not without probability that it may have been at this point the multitude burst out in words that linked ,jesus with ,david4 ,hosanna to the ,son of ,david4 ,blessed is the ,king that cometh in the name of the ,lord4 ,blessed is the kingdom of our father ,david4 ,hosanna1 peace and glory in the highest4 ,this became the watchword of the day1 so that even the boys who had come out of the city to see the procession were heard afterwards1 as they loitered in the streets1 still shouting the same refrain4 ,after this the road again dips1 and the glimpse of the city is lost behind the intervening ridge of ,olivet2 but shortly a rugged ascent is climbed and a ledge of bare rock is reached1 and in an instant the whole city bursts into view4 ,the prospect from this point must have been one of the grandest of its kind in the world1 the fine natural position of ,jerusalem not only showing to advantage1 but the long line of city wall embracing1 like the setting of a jewel1 the marvellous structures of ,herod1 the polished marble and the gilded pinnacles glittering in the morning sun and dazzling the eye4 ,it was in all probability at this point that our ,lord was overcome with regret when ,he considered the sad fate of the beautiful city1 and when in place of the smiling palaces and apparently impregnable walls ,his imagination filled ,his eye with smoke-blackened ruins1 with pavements slippery with blood1 with walls breached at all points and choked with rotting corpses4 ,our ,lord's choice of the ass was significant4 ,the ass was commonly used for riding1 and the well-cared-for ass of the rich man was a very fine animal1 much larger and stronger than the little breed with which we are familiar4 ,its coat1 too1 is as glossy as a well-kept horse's--shiny black1 or satiny white1 or sleek mouse colour4 ,it was not chosen by our ,lord at this time that ,he might show ,his humility1 for it would have been still humbler to walk like ,his disciples4 ,so far from being a token of humility1 ,he chose a colt which apparently had never borne another rider4 ,he rather meant by claiming the ass and by riding into ,jerusalem upon it to assert ,his royalty2 but ,he did not choose a horse1 because that animal would have suggested royalty of quite another kind from ,his--royalty which was maintained by war and outward force2 for the horse and the chariot had always been among the ,hebrews symbolic of warlike force4 ,the disciples themselves1 strangely enough1 did not see the significance of this action1 although1 when they had time to reflect upon it1 they remembered that ,zechariah had said3 ,rejoice greatly1 ,o daughter of ,zion2 shout1 ,o daughter of ,jerusalem3 behold1 thy ,king cometh unto thee3 ,he is just1 and having salvation2 lowly1 and riding upon an ass1 and upon a colt the foal of an ass4 ,and ,i will cut off the chariot from ,ephraim1 and the horse from ,jerusalem1 and the battle bow shall be cut off3 and ,he shall speak peace unto the heathen4 ,when ,john says1 these things understood not ,his disciples at the first1 he cannot mean that they did not understand that ,jesus by this act claimed to be the ,messiah1 because even the mob perceived the significance of this entry into ,jerusalem and hailed ,him ,son of ,david4 ,what they did not understand1 probably1 was why ,he chose this mode of identifying ,himself with the ,messiah4 ,at any rate1 their perplexity brings out very clearly that the conception was not suggested to ,jesus4 ,he was not induced by the disciples nor led on by the people to make a demonstration which ,he ,himself scarcely approved or had not intended to make4 ,on the contrary1 from ,his first recorded act that morning ,he had taken command of the situation4 ,whatever was done was done with deliberation1 at ,his own instance and as ,his own act4#d ,this then in the first place2 it was ,his own deliberate act4 ,he put ,himself forward1 knowing that ,he would receive the hosannas of the people1 and intending that ,he should receive them4 ,all ,his backwardness is gone2 all shyness of becoming a public spectacle is gone4 ,for this also is to be noted--that no place or occasion could have been more public than the ,passover at ,jerusalem4 ,whatever it was ,he meant to indicate by ,his action1 it was to the largest possible public ,he meant to indicate it4 ,no longer in the retirement of a ,galilean village1 nor in a fisherman's cottage1 nor in dubious or ambiguous terms1 but in the full blaze of the utmost publicity that could possibly be given to ,his proclamation1 and in language that could not be forgotten or misinterpreted1 ,he now declared ,himself4 ,he knew ,he must attract the attention of the authorities1 and ,his entrance was a direct challenge to them4 ,what was it then that with such deliberation and such publicity ,he meant to proclaim8 ,what was it that in these last critical hours of ,his life1 when ,he knew ,he should have few more opportunities of speaking to the people1 ,he sought to impress upon them8 ,what was it that1 when free from the solicitations of men and the pressure of circumstances1 ,he sought to declare8 ,it was that ,he was the ,messiah4 ,there might be those in the crowd who did not understand what was meant4 ,there might be persons who did not know ,him1 or who were incompetent judges of character1 and supposed ,he was a mere enthusiast carried away by dwelling too much on some one aspect of ,old ,testament prophecy4 ,in every generation there are good men who become almost crazed upon some one topic1 and sacrifice everything to the promotion of one favourite hope4 ,but however ,he might be misjudged1 there can be no question of ,his own idea of the significance of ,his action4 ,he claims to be the ,messiah4 ,such a claim is the most stupendous that could be made4 ,to be the ,messiah is to be ,god's ,viceroy and ,representative on earth1 able to represent ,god adequately to men1 and to bring about that perfect condition which is named the kingdom of ,god4 ,the ,messiah must be conscious of ability perfectly to accomplish the will of ,god with man1 and to bring men into absolute harmony with ,god4 ,this is claimed by ,jesus4 ,he stands in ,his sober senses and claims to be that universal ,sovereign1 that true ,king of men1 whom the ,jews had been encouraged to expect1 and who when ,he came would reign over ,gentiles as well as ,jews4 ,by this demonstration1 to which ,his previous career had been naturally leading up1 ,he claims to take command of earth1 of this world in all its generations1 not in the easier sense of laying down upon paper a political constitution fit for all races1 but in the sense of being able to deliver mankind from the source of all their misery and to lift men to a true superiority4 ,he has gone about on earth1 not secluding ,himself from the woes and ways of men1 not delicately isolating ,himself1 but exposing ,himself freely to the touch of the malignities1 the vulgarities1 the ignorance and wickedness of all2 and ,he now claims to rule all this1 and implies that earth can present no complication of distress or iniquity which he cannot by the ,divine forces within ,him transform into health and purity and hope4 ,this then is ,his deliberate claim4 ,he quietly but distinctly proclaims that ,he fulfils all ,god's promise and purpose among men2 is that promised ,king who was to rectify all things1 to unite men to ,himself1 and to lead them on to their true destiny2 to be practically ,god upon earth1 accessible to men and identified with all human interests4 ,many have tested ,his claim and have proved its validity4 ,by true allegiance to ,him many have found that they have gained the mastery over the world4 ,they have entered into peace1 have felt eternal verities underneath their feet1 and have attained a connection with ,god such as must be everlasting4 ,they are filled with a new spirit towards men and see all things with purged eyes4 ,not abruptly and unintelligibly1 by leaps and bounds1 but gradually and in harmony with the nature of things1 ,his kingdom is extending4 ,already ,his ,spirit has done much3 in time ,his ,spirit will everywhere prevail4 ,it is by ,him and on the lines which ,he has laid down that humanity is advancing to its goal4 ,this was the claim ,he made2 and this claim was enthusiastically admitted by the popular instinct4#e ,the populace was not merely humouring in holiday mood a whimsical person for their own diversion4 ,many of them knew ,lazarus and knew ,jesus1 and taking the matter seriously gave the tone to the rest4 ,the people indeed did not1 any more than the disciples1 understand how different the kingdom of their expectation was from the kingdom ,jesus meant to found4 ,but while they entirely misapprehended the purpose for which ,he was sent1 they believed that ,he was sent by ,god3 ,his credentials were absolutely satisfactory1 ,his work incomprehensible4 ,but as yet they still thought ,he must be of the same mind as themselves regarding the work of the ,messiah4 ,to ,his claim1 therefore1 the response given by the people was loud and demonstrative4 ,it was indeed a very brief reign they accorded to their ,king1 but their prompt acknowledgment of ,him was the instinctive and irrepressible expression of what they really felt to be ,his due4 ,a popular demonstration is notoriously untrustworthy1 always running to extremes1 necessarily uttering itself with a loudness far in excess of individual conviction1 and gathering to itself the loose and floating mass of people who have no convictions of their own1 and are thankful to any one who leads them and gives them a cue1 and helps them to feel that they have after all a place in the community4 ,who has not stood by as an onlooker at a public demonstration and smiled at the noise and glare that a mass of people will produce when their feelings are ever so little stirred1 and marked how even against their own individual sentiments they are carried away by the mere tide of the day's circumstances1 and for the mere sake of making a demonstration8 ,this crowd which followed our ,lord with shoutings very speedily repented and changed their shouts into a far blinder shriek of rage against ,him who had been the occasion of their folly4 ,and it must indeed have been a humbling experience for our ,lord to have ,himself ushered into ,jerusalem by a crowd through whose hosannas ,he already heard the mutter of their curses4 ,such is the homage ,he has to content ,himself with--such is the homage a perfect life has won4 ,for ,he knew what was in man2 and while ,his disciples might be deceived by this popular response to ,his claim1 ,he ,himself was fully aware how little it could be built upon4 ,save in ,his own heart1 there is no premonition of death4 ,more than ever in ,his life before does ,his sky seem bright without a cloud4 ,he ,himself is in ,his early prime with life before ,him2 ,his followers are hopeful1 the multitude jubilant2 but through all this gay enthusiasm ,he sees the scowling hate of the priests and scribes2 the shouting of the multitude does not drown in ,his ear the mutterings of a ,judas and of the ,sanhedrim4 ,he knew that the throne ,he was now hailed to was the cross1 that ,his coronation was the reception on ,his own brows of all the thorns and stings and burdens that man's sin had brought into the world4 ,he did not fancy that the redemption of the world to ,god was an easy matter which could be accomplished by an afternoon's enthusiasm4 ,he kept steadily before ,his mind the actual condition of the men who were by ,his spiritual influence to become the willing and devoted subjects of ,god's kingdom4 ,he measured with accuracy the forces against ,him1 and understood that ,his warfare was not with the legions of ,rome1 against whom this ,jewish patriotism and indomitable courage and easily roused enthusiasm might tell1 but with principalities and powers a thousandfold stronger1 with the demons of hatred and jealousy1 of lust and worldliness1 of carnality and selfishness4 ,never for a moment did ,he forget ,his true mission and sell ,his spiritual throne1 hard-earned as it was to be1 for popular applause and the glories of the hour4 ,knowing that only by the utmost of human goodness and self-sacrifice1 and by the utmost of trial and endurance1 could any true and lasting rule of men be gained1 ,he chose this path and the throne it led to4 ,with the most comprehensive view of the kingdom ,he was to found1 and with a spirit of profound seriousness strangely contrasting in its composed and self-possessed insight with the blind tumult around ,him1 ,he claimed the crown of the ,messiah4 ,his suffering was not formal and nominal1 it was not a mere pageant2 equally real was the claim ,he now made and which brought ,him to that suffering4 ,,footnotes3 #d ,this is more distinctly brought out in the ,synoptic ,gospels than in ,st4 ,john3 cp4 ,mark xi4 #a-aj4 #e ,according to the reading of the scene by ,st4 ,john1 the people needed no prompting4 ,,iii4 ,,the ,,corn ,,of ,,wheat4 ,now there were certain ,greeks among those that went up to worship at the feast3 these therefore came to ,philip1 which was of ,bethsaida of ,galilee1 and asked him1 saying1 ,sir1 we would see ,jesus4 ,philip cometh and telleth ,andrew3 ,andrew cometh1 and ,philip1 and they tell ,jesus4 ,and ,jesus answereth them1 saying1 ,the hour is come1 that the ,son of man should be glorified4 ,verily1 verily1 ,i say unto you1 ,except a grain of wheat fall into the earth and die1 it abideth by itself alone2 but if it die1 it beareth much fruit4 ,he that loveth his life loseth it2 and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal4--,,john xii4 #bj-bf4 ,st4 ,john now introduces a third incident to show that all is ripe for the death of ,jesus4 ,already he has shown us that in the inmost circle of ,his friends ,he has now won for ,himself a permanent place1 a love which ensures that ,his memory will be had in everlasting remembrance4 ,next1 he has lifted into prominence the scene in which the outer circle of the ,jewish people were constrained1 in an hour when their honest enthusiasm and instincts carried them away1 to acknowledge ,him as the ,messiah who had come to fulfil all ,god's will upon earth4 ,he now goes on to tell us how this agitation at the centre was found rippling in ever-widening circles till it broke with a gentle whisper on the shores of the isles of the ,gentiles4 ,this is the significance which ,st4 ,john sees in the request of the ,greeks that they might be introduced to ,jesus4 ,these ,greeks were of those that came up to worship at the feast4 ,they were proselytes1 ,greeks by birth1 ,jews by religion4 ,they suggest the importance for ,christianity of the leavening process which ,judaism was accomplishing throughout the world4 ,they may not have come from any remoter country than ,galilee1 but from traditions and customs separate as the poles from the ,jewish customs and thoughts4 ,from their heathen surroundings they came to ,jerusalem1 possibly for the first time1 with wondering anticipations of the blessedness of those who dwelt in ,god's house1 and feeling their thirst for the living ,god burning within them as their eyes lighted on the pinnacles of the ,temple1 and as at last their feet stood within its precincts4 ,but up through all these desires grew one that overshadowed them1 and1 through all the petitions which a year or many years of sin and difficulty had made familiar to their lips1 this petition made its way3 ,sir1 we would see ,jesus4 ,this petition they address to ,philip1 not only because he had a ,greek name1 and therefore presumably belonged to a family in which ,greek was spoken and ,greek connections cultivated1 but because1 as ,st4 ,john reminds us1 he was of ,bethsaida of ,galilee1 and might be expected to understand and speak ,greek1 if1 indeed1 he was not already known to these strangers in ,jerusalem4 ,and by their request they obviously did not mean that ,philip should set them in a place of vantage from which they might have a good view of ,jesus as ,he passed by1 for this they could well have accomplished without ,philip's friendly intervention4 ,but they wished to question and make ,him out1 to see for themselves whether there were in ,jesus what even in ,judaism they felt to be lacking--whether ,he at last might not satisfy the longings of their ,divinely awakened spirits4 ,possibly they may even have wished to ascertain ,his purposes regarding the outlying nations1 how the ,messianic reign was to affect them4 ,possibly they may even have thought of offering ,him an asylum where ,he might find shelter from the hostility of ,his own people4 ,evidently ,philip considered that this request was critical4 ,the ,apostles had been charged not to enter into any ,gentile city1 and they might naturally suppose that ,jesus would be reluctant to be interviewed by ,greeks4 ,but before dismissing the request1 he lays it before ,andrew his friend1 who also bore a ,greek name2 and after deliberation the two make bold1 if not to urge the request1 at least to inform ,jesus that it had been made4 ,at once in this modestly urged petition ,he hears the whole ,gentile world uttering its weary1 long-disappointed sigh1 ,we would see4 ,this is no mere ,greek inquisitiveness2 it is the craving of thoughtful men recognising their need of a ,redeemer4 ,to the eye of ,jesus1 therefore1 this meeting opens a prospect which for the moment overcomes ,him with the brightness of its glory4 ,in this little knot of strangers ,he sees the firstfruits of the immeasurable harvest which was henceforth to be continuously reaped among the ,gentiles4 ,no more do we hear the heart-broken cry1 ,o ,jerusalem1 ,jerusalem6 no longer the reproachful ,ye will not come to ,me1 that ye might have life1 but the glad consummation of ,his utmost hope utters itself in the words1 ,the hour is come that the ,son of man should be glorified4 ,but while promise was thus given of the glorification of the ,messiah by ,his reception among all men1 the path which led to this was never absent from the mind of our ,lord4 ,second to the inspiriting thought of ,his recognition by the ,gentile world came the thought of the painful means by which alone ,he could be truly glorified4 ,he checks1 therefore1 the shout of exultation which ,he sees rising to the lips of ,his disciples with the sobering reflection3 ,verily1 verily1 ,i say unto you1 except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die1 it abideth alone3 but if it die1 it bringeth forth much fruit4 ,as if ,he said1 ,do not fancy that ,i have nothing to do but to accept the sceptre which these men offer1 to seat ,myself on the world's throne4 ,the world's throne is the ,cross4 ,these men will not know ,my power until ,i die4 ,the manifestation of ,divine presence in ,my life1 has been distinct enough to win them to inquiry2 they will be for ever won to ,me by the ,divine presence revealed in ,my death4 ,like the corn of wheat1 ,i must die if ,i would be abundantly fruitful4 ,it is through death ,my whole living power can be disengaged and can accomplish all possibilities4 ,two points are here suggested3 7,i47 ,that the life1 the living force that was in ,christ1 reached its proper value and influence through ,his death2 and 7,,ii47 that the proper value of ,christ's life is that it propagates similar lives4 ,i4 ,the life of ,christ acquired its proper value and received its fit development through ,his death4 ,this truth ,he sets before us in the illuminating figure of the corn of wheat4 ,except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die1 it abideth alone4 ,there are three uses to which wheat may be put3 it may be stored for sale1 it may be ground and eaten1 it may be sown4 ,for our ,lord's purposes these three uses may be considered as only two4 ,wheat may be eaten1 or it may be sown4 ,with a pickle of wheat or a grain of oats you may do one of two things3 you may eat it and enjoy a momentary gratification and benefit2 or you may put it in the ground1 burying it out of sight and suffering it to pass through uncomely processes1 and it will reappear multiplied a hundredfold1 and so on in everlasting series4 ,year by year men sacrifice their choicest sample of grain1 and are content to bury it in the earth instead of exposing it in the market1 because they understand that except it die it abideth alone1 but if it die it bringeth forth much fruit4 ,the proper life of the grain is terminated when it is used for immediate gratification3 it receives its fullest development and accomplishes its richest end when it is cast into the ground1 buried out of sight1 and apparently lost4 ,as with the grain1 so is it with each human life4 ,one of two things you can do with your life2 both you cannot do1 and no third thing is possible4 ,you may consume your life for your own present gratification and profit1 to satisfy your present cravings and tastes and to secure the largest amount of immediate enjoyment to yourself--you may eat your life2 or you may be content to put aside present enjoyment and profits of a selfish kind and devote your life to the uses of ,god and men4 ,in the one case you make an end of your life1 you consume it as it goes2 no good results1 no enlarging influence1 no deepening of character1 no fuller life1 follows from such an expenditure of life--spent on yourself and on the present1 it terminates with yourself and with the present4 ,but in the other case you find you have entered into a more abundant life2 by living for others your interests are widened1 your desire for life increased1 the results and ends of life enriched4 ,he that loveth his life shall lose it2 and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal4 ,it is a law we cannot evade4 ,he that consumes his life now1 spending it on himself--he who cannot bear to let his life out of his own hand1 but cherishes and pampers it and gathers all good around it1 and will have the fullest present enjoyment out of it1--this man is losing his life2 it comes to an end as certainly as the seed that is eaten4 ,but he who devotes his life to other uses than his own gratification1 who does not so prize self that everything must minister to its comfort and advancement1 but who can truly yield himself to ,god and put himself at ,god's disposal for the general good1--this man1 though he may often seem to lose his life1 and often does lose it so far as present advantage goes1 keeps it to life everlasting4 ,the law of the seed is the law of human life4 ,use your life for present and selfish gratification and to satisfy your present cravings1 and you lose it for ever4 ,renounce self1 yield yourself to ,god1 spend your life for the common good1 irrespective of recognition or the lack of it1 personal pleasure or the absence of it1 and although your life may thus seem to be lost1 it is finding its best and highest development and passes into life eternal4 ,your life is a seed now1 not a developed plant1 and it can become a developed plant only by your taking heart to cast it from you and sow it in the fertile soil of other men's needs4 ,this will seem1 indeed1 to disintegrate it and fritter it away1 and leave it a contemptible1 obscure1 forgotten thing2 but it does1 in fact1 set free the vital forces that are in it1 and give it its fit career and maturity4 ,looking at the thing itself1 apart from figure1 it is apparent that he that loveth his life shall lose it2 and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal4 ,the man who most freely uses his life for others1 keeping least to himself and living solely for the common interests of mankind1 has the most enduring influence4 ,he sets in motion forces which propagate fresh results eternally4 ,and not only so4 ,he who freely sows his life has it eternally1 not only in so far as he has set in motion an endless series of beneficent influences1 but inasmuch as he himself enters into life eternal4 ,an immortality of influence is one thing and a very great thing2 but an immortality of personal life is another1 and this also is promised by our ,lord when ,he says 7ver4 #bf71 ,where ,i am1 there shall also ,my servant be4 ,this1 then1 being the law of human life1 ,christ1 being man1 must not only enounce but observe it4 ,he speaks of ,himself even more directly than of us when ,he says1 ,he that loveth his life shall lose it4 ,his disciples thought they had never seen such promise in ,his life as at this hour3 seedtime seemed to them to be past1 and the harvest at hand4 ,their ,master seemed to be fairly launched on the tide that was to carry ,him to the highest pinnacle of human glory4 ,and so ,he was1 but not1 as they thought1 by simply yielding ,himself to be set as ,king and to receive adoration from ,jew and ,gentile4 ,he saw with different eyes1 and that it was a different exaltation which would win for ,him lasting sovereignty3 ,i1 if ,i be lifted up1 will draw all men unto ,me4 ,he knew the law which governed the development of human life4 ,he knew that a total and absolute surrender of self to the uses and needs of others was the one path to permanent life1 and that in ,his case this absolute surrender involved death4 ,a comparison of the good done by the life of ,christ with that done by ,his death shows how truly ,he judged when ,he declared that it was by ,his death ,he should effectually gather all men to ,him4 ,his death1 like the dissolution of the seed1 seemed to terminate ,his work1 but really was its germination4 ,so long as ,he lived1 it was but ,his single strength that was used2 ,he abode alone4 ,there was great virtue in ,his life--great power for the healing1 the instruction1 the elevation1 of mankind4 ,in ,his brief public career ,he suggested much to the influential men of ,his time1 set all men who knew ,him a-thinking1 aided many to reform their lives1 and removed a large amount of distress and disease4 ,he communicated to the world a mass of new truth1 so that those who have lived after ,him have stood at quite a different level of knowledge from that of those who lived before ,him4 ,and yet how little of the proper results of ,christ's influence1 how little understanding of ,christianity1 do you find even in ,his nearest friends until ,he died4 ,by the visible appearance and the external benefits and the false expectations ,his greatness created1 the minds of men were detained from penetrating to the spirit and mind of ,christ4 ,it was expedient for them that ,he should go away1 for until ,he went they depended on ,his visible power1 and ,his spirit could not be wholly received by them4 ,they were looking at the husk of the seed1 and its life could not reach them4 ,they were looking for help from ,him instead of themselves becoming like ,him4 ,and therefore ,he chose at an early age to cease from all that was marvellous and beneficent in ,his life among men4 ,he might1 as these ,greeks suggested1 have visited other lands and have continued ,his healing and teaching there4 ,he might have done more in ,his own time than ,he did1 and ,his time might have been indefinitely prolonged2 but ,he chose to cease from all this and voluntarily gave ,himself to die1 judging that thereby ,he could do much more good than by ,his life4 ,he was straitened till this was accomplished2 ,he felt as a man imprisoned and whose powers are held in check4 ,it was winter and not spring-time with ,him4 ,there was a change to pass upon ,him which should disengage the vital forces that were in ,him and cause their full power to be felt--a change which should thaw the springs of life in ,him and let them flow forth to all4 ,to use ,his own figure1 ,he was as a seed unsown so long as ,he lived1 valuable only in ,his own proper person2 but by dying ,his life obtained the value of seed sown1 propagating its kind in everlasting increase4 ,,ii4 ,the second point suggested is1 that the proper value of ,christ's life consists in this--that it propagates similar lives4 ,as seed produces grain of its own kind1 so ,christ produces men like ,christ4 ,he ceasing to do good in this world as a living man1 a multitude of others by this very cessation are raised in ,his likeness4 ,by ,his death we receive both inclination and ability to become with ,him sons of ,god4 ,the love of ,christ constraineth us1 because we thus judge that if one died for all1 then all died2 and that ,he died for all1 that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves1 but unto ,him that died for them4 ,by ,his death ,he has effected an entrance for this law of self-surrender into human life1 has exhibited it in a perfect form1 and has won others to live as ,he lived4 ,so that1 using the figure ,he used1 we may say that the company of ,christians now on earth are ,christ in a new form1 ,his body indeed4 ,that which thou sowest1 thou sowest not that body which shall be1 but bare grain3 but ,god giveth it a body as it hath pleased ,him1 and to every seed his own body4 ,christ having been sown1 lives now in ,his people4 ,they are the body in which ,he dwells4 ,and this will be seen4 ,for standing and looking at a head of barley waving on its stalk1 no amount of telling would persuade you that that had sprung from a seed of wheat2 and looking at any life which is characterised by selfish ambition and eagerness for advancement and little regard for the wants of other men1 no persuasion can make it credible that that life springs from the self-sacrificing life of ,christ4 ,what ,christ here shows us1 then1 is that the principle which regulates the development of seed regulates the growth1 continuance1 and fruitfulness of human life2 that whatever is of the nature of seed gets to its full life only through death2 that our ,lord1 knowing this law1 submitted to it1 or rather by ,his native love was attracted to the life and death which revealed this law to ,him4 ,he gave ,his life away for the good of men1 and therefore prolongs ,his days and sees ,his seed eternally4 ,there is not one way for ,him and another for us4 ,the same law applies to all4 ,it is not peculiar to ,christ4 ,the work ,he did was peculiar to ,him1 as each individual has his own place and work2 but the principle on which all right lives are led is one and the same universally4 ,what ,christ did ,he did because ,he was living a human life on right principles4 ,we need not die on the cross as ,he did1 but we must as truly yield ourselves as living sacrifices to the interests of men4 ,if we have not done so1 we have yet to go back to the very beginning of all lasting life and progress2 and we are but deceiving ourselves by attainments and successes which are not only hollow1 but are slowly cramping and killing all that is in us4 ,whoever will choose the same destiny as ,christ must take the same road to it that ,he took4 ,he took the one right way for men to go1 and said1 ,if any man follow ,me1 where ,i am there will he be also4 ,if we do not follow ,him1 we really walk in darkness and know not whither we go4 ,we cannot live for selfish purposes and then enjoy the common happiness and glory of the race4 ,self-seeking is self-destroying4 ,and it is needful to remark that this self-renunciation must be real4 ,the law of sacrifice is the law not for a year or two in order to gain some higher selfish good--which is not self-sacrifice1 but deeper self-seeking2 it is the law of all human life1 not a short test of our fidelity to ,christ1 but the only law on which life can ever proceed4 ,it is not a barter of self ,i make1 giving it up for a little that ,i may have an enriched self to eternity2 but it is a real foregoing and abandonment of self for ever1 a change of desire and nature1 so that instead of finding my joy in what concerns myself only ,i find my joy in what is serviceable to others4 ,thus only can we enter into permanent happiness4 ,goodness and happiness are one--one in the long-run1 if not one in every step of the way4 ,we are not asked to live for others without any heart to do so4 ,we are not asked to choose as our eternal life what will be a constant pain and can only be reluctantly done4 ,the very heathen would not offer in sacrifice the animal that struggled as it was led to the altar4 ,all sacrifice must be willingly made2 it must be the sacrifice which is prompted by love4 ,god and this world demand our best work1 and only what we do with pleasure can be our best work4 ,sacrifice of self and labour for others are not like ,christ's sacrifice and labour unless they spring from love4 ,forced1 reluctant1 constrained sacrifice or service--service which is no joy to ourselves through the love we bear to those for whom we do it--is not the service that is required of us4 ,service into which we can throw our whole strength1 because we are convinced it will be of use to others1 and because we long to see them enjoying it--this is the service required4 ,love1 in short1 is the solution of all4 ,find your happiness in the happiness of many rather than in the happiness of one1 and life becomes simple and inspiring4 ,nor are we to suppose that this is an impracticable1 high-pitched counsel of perfection with which plain men need not trouble themselves4 ,every human life is under this law4 ,there is no path to goodness or to happiness save this one4 ,nature herself teaches us as much4 ,when a man is truly attracted by another1 and when genuine affection possesses his heart1 his whole being is enlarged1 and he finds it his best pleasure to serve that person4 ,the father who sees his children enjoying the fruit of his toil feels himself a far richer man than if he were spending all on himself4 ,but this family affection1 this domestic solution of the problem of happy self-sacrifice1 is intended to encourage and show us the way to a wider extension of our love1 and thereby of our use and happiness4 ,the more love we have1 the happier we are4 ,self-sacrifice looks miserable1 and we shrink from it as from death and destitution1 because we look at it in separation from the love it springs from4 ,self-sacrifice without love is death2 we abandon our own life and do not find it again in any other4 ,it is a seed ground under the heel1 not a seed lightly thrown into prepared soil4 ,it is in love that goodness and happiness have their common root4 ,and it is this love which is required of us and promised to us4 ,so that as often as we shudder at the dissolution of our own personal interests1 the scattering of our own selfish hopes and plans1 the surrender of our life to the service of others1 we are to remember that this1 which looks so very like death1 and which often throws around our prospects the chilling atmosphere of the tomb1 is not really the termination1 but the beginning of the true and eternal life of the spirit4 ,let us keep our heart in the fellowship of the sacrifice of ,christ1 let us feel our way into the meanings and uses of that sacrifice1 and learn its reality1 its utility1 its grace1 and at length it will lay hold of our whole nature1 and we shall find that it impels us to regard other men with interest and to find our true joy and life in serving them4 ,,iv4 ,,the ,,attractive ,,force ,,of ,,the ,,cross4 ,now is my soul troubled2 and what shall ,i say8 ,father1 save ,me from this hour4 ,but for this cause came ,i unto this hour4 ,father1 glorify ,thy name4 ,there came therefore a voice out of heaven1 saying1 ,i have both glorified it1 and will glorify it again4 ,the multitude therefore1 that stood by1 and heard it1 said that it had thundered3 others said1 ,an angel hath spoken to ,him4 ,jesus answered and said1 ,this voice hath not come for ,my sake1 but for your sakes4 ,now is the judgment of this world3 now shall the prince of this world be cast out4 ,and ,i1 if ,i be lifted up from the earth1 will draw all men unto ,myself4 ,but this ,he said1 signifying by what manner of death ,he should die4 ,the multitude therefore answered ,him1 ,we have heard out of the law that the ,christ abideth for ever3 and how sayest thou1 ,the ,son of man must be lifted up8 who is this ,son of man8 ,jesus therefore said unto them1 ,yet a little while is the light among you4 ,walk while ye have the light1 that darkness overtake you not3 and he that walketh in the darkness knoweth not whither he goeth4 ,while ye have the light1 believe on the light1 that ye may become sons of light4--,,john xii4 #bg-cf4 ,the presence of the ,greeks had stirred in the soul of ,jesus conflicting emotions4 ,glory by humiliation1 life through death1 the secured happiness of mankind through ,his own anguish and abandonment1--well might the prospect disturb ,him4 ,so masterly is ,his self-command1 so steadfast and constant ,his habitual temper1 that one almost inevitably underrates the severity of the conflict4 ,the occasional withdrawal of the veil permits us reverently to observe some symptoms of the turmoil within--symptoms which it is probably best to speak of in ,his own words3 ,now is ,my soul troubled2 and what shall ,i say8 ,shall ,i say1 ',father1 save ,me from this hour'8 ,but for this cause came ,i unto this hour4 ,father1 glorify ,thy name4 ,this ,evangelist does not describe the agony in the ,garden of ,gethsemane4 ,it was needless after this indication of the same conflict4 ,here is the same shrinking from a public and shameful death conquered by ,his resolution to deliver men from a still darker and more shameful death4 ,here is the same foretaste of the bitterness of the cup as it now actually touches ,his lips1 the same clear reckoning of all it meant to drain that cup to the dregs1 together with the deliberate assent to all that the will of the ,father might require ,him to endure4 ,in response to this act of submission1 expressed in the words1 ,father1 glorify ,thy name1 there came a voice from heaven1 saying1 ,i have both glorified it1 and will glorify it again4 ,the meaning of this assurance was1 that as in all the past manifestation of ,christ the ,father had become better known to men1 so in all that was now impending1 however painful and disturbed1 however filled with human passions and to all appearance the mere result of them1 the ,father would still be glorified4 ,some thought the voice was thunder2 others seemed almost to catch articulate sounds1 and said1 ,an angel spake to ,him4 ,but ,jesus explained that it was not to ,him the voice was specially addressed1 but rather for the sake of those who stood by4 ,and it was indeed of immense importance that the disciples should understand that the events which were about to happen were overruled by ,god that ,he might be glorified in ,christ4 ,it is easy for us to see that nothing so glorifies the ,father's name as these hours of suffering2 but how hard for the onlookers to believe that this sudden transformation of the ,messianic throne into the criminal's cross was no defeat of ,god's purpose1 but its final fulfilment4 ,he leads them1 therefore1 to consider that in ,his judgment the whole world is judged1 and to perceive in ,his arrest and trial and condemnation not merely the misguided and wanton outrage of a few men in power1 but the critical hour of the world's history4 ,this world has commonly presented itself to thoughtful minds as a battle-field in which the powers of good and evil wage ceaseless war4 ,in the words ,he now utters the ,lord declares ,himself to be standing at the very crisis of the battle1 and with the deepest assurance ,he announces that the opposing power is broken and that victory remains with ,him4 ,now is the prince of this world cast out2 and ,i will draw all men unto ,me4 ,the prince of this world1 that which actually rules and leads men in opposition to ,god1 was judged1 condemned1 and overthrown in the death of ,christ4 ,by ,his meek acceptance of ,god's will in the face of all that could make it difficult and dreadful to accept it1 ,he won for the race deliverance from the thraldom of sin4 ,at length a human life had been lived without submission at any point to the prince of this world4 ,as man and in the name of all men ,jesus resisted the last and most violent assault that could be made upon ,his faith in ,god and fellowship with ,him1 and so perfected ,his obedience and overcame the prince of this world1--overcame him not in one act alone--many had done that--but in a completed human life1 in a life which had been freely exposed to the complete array of temptations that can be directed against men in this world4 ,in order more clearly to apprehend the promise of victory contained in our ,lord's words1 we may consider 7,i47 the object ,he had in view--to draw all men to ,him2 and 7,,ii47 the condition of ,his attaining this object--namely1 ,his death4 ,i4 ,the object of ,christ was to draw all men to ,him4 ,the opposition in which ,he here sets ,himself to the prince of this world shows us that by drawing ,he means attracting as a king attracts1 to ,his name1 ,his claims1 ,his standard1 ,his person4 ,our life consists in our pursuance of one object or another1 and our devotion is continually competed for4 ,when two claimants contest a kingdom1 the country is divided between them1 part cleaving to the one and part to the other4 ,the individual determines to which side he shall cleave1--by his prejudices or by his justice1 as it may be2 by his knowledge of the comparative capacity of the claimants1 or by his ignorant predilection4 ,he is taken in by sounding titles1 or he penetrates through all bombast and promises and douceurs to the real merit or demerit of the man himself4 ,one person will judge by the personal manners of the respective claimants2 another by their published manifesto1 and professed object and style of rule2 another by their known character and probable conduct4 ,and while men thus range themselves on this side or on that1 they really pass judgment on themselves1 betraying as they do what it is that chiefly draws them1 and taking their places on the side of good or evil4 ,it is thus that we all judge ourselves by following this or that claimant to our faith1 regard1 and devotion1 to ourself and our life4 ,what we spend ourselves on1 what we aim at and pursue1 what we make our object1 that judges us and that rules us and that determines our destiny4 ,christ came into the world to be our ,king1 to lead us to worthy achievements4 ,he came that we might have a worthy object of choice and of the devotion of our life4 ,he serves the same purpose as a king3 ,he embodies in ,his own person1 and thereby makes visible and attractive1 the will of ,god and the cause of righteousness4 ,persons who could only with great difficulty apprehend ,his objects and plans can appreciate ,his person and trust ,him4 ,persons to whom there would seem little attraction in a cause or in an undefined progress of humanity can kindle with enthusiasm towards ,him personally1 and unconsciously promote ,his cause and the cause of humanity4 ,and therefore1 while some are attracted by ,his person1 others by the legitimacy of ,his claims1 others by ,his programme of government1 others by ,his benefactions1 we must beware of denying loyalty to any of these4 ,expressions of love to ,his person may be lacking in the man who yet most intelligently enters into ,christ's views for the race1 and sacrifices his means and his life to forward these views4 ,those who gather to ,his standard are various in temperament1 are drawn by various attractions1 and must be various in their forms of showing allegiance4 ,and this1 which is the strength of ,his camp1 can only become its weakness when men begin to think there is no way but their own2 and that allegiance which is strenuous in labour but not fluent in devout expression1 or loyalty which shouts and throws its cap in the air but lacks intelligence1 is displeasing to the ,king4 ,the ,king1 who has great ends in view1 will not inquire what it is precisely which forms the bond between ,him and ,his subjects so long as they truly sympathise with ,him and second ,his efforts4 ,the one question is1 ,is ,he their actual leader8 ,of the kingdom of ,christ1 though a full description cannot be given1 one or two of the essential characteristics may be mentioned4 #a4 ,it is a kingdom1 a community of men under one head4 ,when ,christ proposed to attract men to ,himself1 it was for the good of the race ,he did so4 ,it could achieve its destiny only if ,he led it1 only if it yielded itself to ,his mind and ways4 ,and those who are attracted to ,him1 and see reason to believe that the hope of the world lies in the universal adoption of ,his mind and ways1 are formed into one solid body or community4 ,they labour for the same ends1 are governed by the same laws1 and whether they know one another or not they have the most real sympathy and live for one cause4 ,being drawn to ,christ1 we enter into abiding fellowship with all the good who have laboured or are labouring in the cause of humanity4 ,we take our places in the everlasting kingdom1 in the community of those who shall see and take part in the great future of mankind and the growing enlargement of its destiny4 ,we are hereby entered among the living1 and are joined to that body of mankind which is to go on and which holds the future--not to an extinct party which may have memories1 but has no hopes4 ,in sin1 in selfishness1 in worldliness1 individualism reigns1 and all profound or abiding unity is impossible4 ,sinners have common interests only for a time1 only as a temporary guise of selfish interests4 ,every man out of ,christ is really an isolated individual4 ,but passing into ,christ's kingdom we are no longer isolated1 abandoned wretches stranded by the stream of time1 but members of the undying commonwealth of men in which our life1 our work1 our rights1 our future1 our association with all good1 are assured4 #b4 ,it is a universal kingdom4 ,i will draw all men unto ,me4 ,the one rational hope of forming men into one kingdom shines through these words4 ,the idea of a universal monarchy has visited the great minds of our race4 ,they have cherished their various dreams of a time when all men should live under one law and possibly speak one language1 and have interests so truly in common that war should be impossible4 ,but an effectual instrument for accomplishing this grand design has ever been wanting4 ,christ turns this grandest dream of humanity into a rational hope4 ,he appeals to what is universally present in human nature4 ,there is that in ,him which every man needs1--a door to the ,father2 a visible image of the unseen ,god2 a gracious1 wise1 and holy ,friend4 ,he does not appeal exclusively to one generation1 to educated or to uneducated1 to ,orientals or to ,europeans alone1 but to man1 to that which we have in common with the lowest and the highest1 the most primitive and most highly developed of the species4 ,the attractive influence ,he exerts upon men is not conditioned by their historical insight1 by their ability to sift evidence1 by this or that which distinguishes man from man1 but by their innate consciousness that some higher power than themselves exists1 by their ability1 if not to recognise goodness when they see it1 at least to recognise love when it is spent upon them4 ,but while our ,lord affirms that there is that in ,him which all men can recognise and learn to love and serve1 ,he does not say that ,his kingdom will therefore be quickly formed4 ,he does not say that this greatest work of ,god will take a shorter time than the common works of ,god which prolong one day of our hasty methods into a thousand years of solidly growing purpose4 ,if it has taken a million ages for the rocks to knit and form for us a standing-ground and dwelling-place1 we must not expect that this kingdom1 which is to be the one enduring result of this world's history1 and which can be built up only of thoroughly convinced men and of generations slowly weeded of traditional prejudices and customs1 can be completed in a few years4 ,no doubt interests are at stake in human destiny and losses are made by human waste which had no place in the physical creation of the world2 still1 ,god's methods are1 as we judge1 slow1 and we must not think that ,he who works hitherto is doing nothing because the swift processes of jugglery or the hasty methods of human workmanship find no place in the extension of ,christ's kingdom4 ,this kingdom has a firm hold of the world and must grow4 ,if there is one thing certain about the future of the world1 it is that righteousness and truth will prevail4 ,the world is bound to come to the feet of ,christ4 #c4 ,christ's kingdom being universal1 it is also and necessarily inward4 ,what is common to all men lies deepest in each4 ,christ was conscious that ,he held the key to human nature4 ,he knew what was in man4 ,with the penetrating insight of absolute purity ,he had gone about among men1 freely mixing with rich and with poor1 with the sick and the healthy1 with the religious and the irreligious4 ,he was as much at home with the condemned criminal as with the blameless ,pharisee2 saw through ,pilate and ,caiaphas alike2 knew all that the keenest dramatist could tell ,him of the meannesses1 the depravities1 the cruelties1 the blind passions1 the obstructed goodness1 of men2 but knew also that ,he could sway all that was in man and exhibit that to men which should cause the sinner to abhor his sin and seek the face of ,god4 ,this ,he would do by a simple moral process1 without violent demonstration or disturbance or assertion of authority4 ,he would draw men4 ,it is by inward conviction1 not by outward compulsion1 men are to become ,his subjects4 ,it is by the free and rational working of the human mind that ,jesus builds up ,his kingdom4 ,his hope lies in a fuller and fuller light1 in a clearer and clearer recognition of facts4 ,attachment to ,christ must be the act of the soul's self2 everything1 therefore1 which strengthens the will or enlightens the mind or enlarges the man brings him nearer to the kingdom of ,christ1 and makes it more likely he will yield to ,his drawing4 ,and because ,christ's rule is inward it is therefore of universal application4 ,the inmost choice of the man being governed by ,christ1 and his character being thus touched at its inmost spring1 all his conduct will be governed by ,christ and be a carrying out of the will of ,christ4 ,it is not the frame of society ,christ seeks to alter1 but the spirit of it4 ,it is not the occupations and institutions of human life which the subject of ,christ finds to be incompatible with ,christ's rule1 so much as the aim and principles on which they are conducted4 ,the kingdom of ,christ claims all human life as its own1 and the spirit of ,christ finds nothing that is essentially human alien from it4 ,if the statesman is a ,christian1 it will be seen in his policy2 if the poet is a ,christian1 his song will betray it2 if a thinker be a ,christian1 his readers soon find it out4 ,christianity does not mean religious services1 churches1 creeds1 ,bibles1 books1 equipment of any kind2 it means the ,spirit of ,christ4 ,it is the most portable and flexible of all religions1 and therefore the most pervasive and dominant in the life of its adherent4 ,it needs but the ,spirit of ,god and the spirit of man1 and ,christ mediating between them4 ,,ii4 ,such being ,christ's object1 what is the condition of ,his attaining it8 ,i1 if ,i be lifted up1 will draw all men unto ,me4 ,the elevation requisite for becoming a visible object to men of all generations was the elevation of the ,cross4 ,his death would accomplish what ,his life could not accomplish4 ,the words betray a distinct consciousness that there was in ,his death a more potent spell1 a more certain and real influence for good among men than in ,his teaching or in ,his miracles or in ,his purity of life4 ,what is it1 then1 in the death of ,christ which so far surpasses ,his life in its power of attraction8 ,the life was equally unselfish and devoted2 it was more prolonged2 it was more directly useful1--why1 then1 would it have been comparatively ineffective without the death8 ,it may1 in the first place1 be answered1 ,because ,his death presents in a dramatic and compact form that very devotedness which is diffused through every part of ,his life4 ,between the life and the death there is the same difference as between sheet lightning and forked lightning1 between the diffused heat of the sun and the same heat focussed upon a point through a lens4 ,it discloses what was actually but latently there4 ,the life and the death of ,christ are one and mutually explain each other4 ,from the life we learn that no motive can have prompted ,christ to die but the one motive which ruled ,him always--the desire to do all ,god willed in men's behalf4 ,we cannot interpret the death as anything else than a consistent part of a deliberate work undertaken for men's good4 ,it was not an accident2 it was not an external necessity3 it was1 as the whole life was1 a willing acceptance of the uttermost that was required to set men on a higher level and unite them to ,god4 ,but as the life throws this light upon the death of ,christ1 how that light is gathered up and thrown abroad in world-wide reflection from the death of ,christ6 ,for here ,his self-sacrifice shines completed and perfect2 here it is exhibited in that tragic and supreme form which in all cases arrests attention and commands respect4 ,even when a man of wasted life sacrifices himself at last1 and in one heroic act saves another by his death1 his past life is forgotten or seems to be redeemed by his death1 and at all events we own the beauty and the pathos of the deed4 ,a martyr to the faith may have been but a poor creature1 narrow1 harsh and overbearing1 vain and vulgar in spirit2 but all the past is blotted out1 and our attention is arrested on the blazing pile or the bloody scaffold4 ,so the death of ,christ1 though but a part of the self-sacrificing life1 yet stands by itself as the culmination and seal of that life2 it catches the eye and strikes the mind1 and conveys at one view the main impression made by the whole life and character of ,him who gave ,himself upon the cross4 ,but ,christ is no mere hero or teacher sealing his truth with his blood2 nor is it enough to say that ,his death renders1 in a conspicuous form1 the perfect self-sacrifice with which ,he devoted ,himself to our good4 ,it is conceivable that in a long-past age some other man should have lived and died for his fellows1 and yet we at once recognise that1 though the history of such a person came into our hands1 we should not be so affected and drawn by it as to choose him as our king and rest upon him the hope of uniting us to one another and to ,god4 ,wherein1 then1 lies the difference8 ,the difference lies in this--that ,christ was the representative of ,god4 ,this ,he ,himself uniformly claimed to be4 ,he knew ,he was unique1 different from all others2 but ,he advanced no claim to esteem that did not pass to the ,father who sent ,him4 ,always he explained ,his powers as being the proper equipment of ,god's representative1 ,the words that ,i speak unto you1 ,i speak not of ,myself4 ,his whole life was the message of ,god to man1 the ,word made flesh4 ,his death was but the last syllable of this great utterance--the utterance of ,god's love for man1 the final evidence that nothing is grudged us by ,god4 ,greater love hath no man than this1 that he lay down his life for his friends4 ,his death draws us because there is in it more than human heroism and self-sacrifice4 ,it draws us because in it the very heart of ,god is laid bare to us4 ,it softens1 it breaks us down1 by the irresistible tenderness it discloses in the mighty and ever-blessed ,god4 ,every man feels it has a message for him1 because in it the ,god and ,father of us all speaks to us4 ,it is this which is special to the death of ,christ1 and which separates it from all other deaths and heroic sacrifices4 ,it has a universal bearing--a bearing upon every man1 because it is a ,divine act1 the act of that ,one who is the ,god and ,father of all men4 ,in the same century as our ,lord many men died in a manner which strongly excites our admiration4 ,nothing could well be more noble1 nothing more pathetic1 than the fearless and loving spirit in which ,roman after ,roman met his death4 ,but beyond respectful admiration these heroic deeds win from us no further sentiment4 ,they are the deeds of men who have no connection with us4 ,the well-worn words1 ,what's ,hecuba to me or ,i to ,hecuba8 rise to our lips when we try to fancy any deep connection4 ,but the death of ,christ concerns all men without exception1 because it is the greatest declarative act of the ,god of all men4 ,it is the manifesto all men are concerned to read4 ,it is the act of ,one with whom all men are already connected in the closest way4 ,and the result of our contemplation of it is1 not that we admire1 but that we are drawn1 are attracted1 into new relations with ,him whom that death reveals4 ,this death moves and draws us as no other can1 because here we get to the very heart of that which most deeply concerns us4 ,here we learn what our ,god is and where we stand eternally4 ,he who is nearest us of all1 and in whom our life is bound up1 reveals ,himself2 and seeing ,him here full of ungrudging and most reliable love1 of tenderest and utterly self-sacrificing devotedness to us1 we cannot but give way to this central attraction1 and with all other willing creatures be drawn into fullest intimacy and firmest relations to the ,god of all4 ,the death of ,christ1 then1 draws men chiefly because ,god here shows men ,his sympathy1 ,his love1 ,his trustworthiness4 ,what the sun is in the solar system1 ,christ's death is in the moral world4 ,the sun by its physical attraction binds the several planets together and holds them within range of its light and heat4 ,god1 the central intelligence and original moral ,being1 draws to ,himself and holds within reach of ,his life-giving radiance all who are susceptible of moral influences2 and ,he does so through the death of ,christ4 ,this is ,his supreme revelation4 ,here1 if we may say so with reverence1 ,god is seen at ,his best--not that at any time or in any action ,he is different1 but here ,he is seen to be the ,god of love ,he ever is4 ,nothing is better than self-sacrifice3 that is the highest point a moral nature can touch4 ,and ,god1 by the sacrifice which is rendered visible on the cross1 gives to the moral world a real1 actual1 immovable centre1 round which moral natures will more and more gather1 and which will hold them together in self-effacing unity4 ,to complete the idea of the attractiveness of the ,cross1 it must further be kept in view that this particular form of the manifestation of the ,divine love was adapted to the needs of those to whom it was made4 ,to sinners the love of ,god manifested itself in providing a sacrifice for sin4 ,the death on the cross was not an irrelevant display1 but was an act required for the removal of the most insuperable obstacles that lay in man's path4 ,the sinner1 believing that in the death of ,christ his sins are atoned for1 conceives hope in ,god and claims the ,divine compassion in his own behalf4 ,to the penitent the ,cross is attractive as an open door to the prisoner1 or the harbour-heads to the storm-tossed ship4 ,let us not suppose1 then1 that we are not welcome to ,christ4 ,he desires to draw us to ,himself and to form a connection with us4 ,he understands our hesitations1 our doubts of our own capacity for any steady and enthusiastic loyalty2 but ,he knows also the power of truth and love1 the power of ,his own person and of ,his own death to draw and fix the hesitating and wavering soul4 ,and we shall find that as we strive to serve ,christ in our daily life it is still ,his death that holds and draws us4 ,it is ,his death which gives us compunction in our times of frivolity1 or selfishness1 or carnality1 or rebellion1 or unbelief4 ,it is there ,christ appears in ,his own most touching attitude and with ,his own most irresistible appeal4 ,we cannot further wound ,one already so wounded in ,his desire to win us from evil4 ,to strike ,one already thus nailed to the tree in helplessness and anguish1 is more than the hardest heart can do4 ,our sin1 our infidelity1 our unmoved contemplation of ,his love1 our blind indifference to ,his purpose--these things wound ,him more than the spear and the scourge4 ,to rid us of these things was ,his purpose in dying1 and to see that ,his work is in vain and ,his sufferings unregarded and unfruitful is the deepest injury of all4 ,it is not to the mere sentiment of pity ,he appeals3 rather ,he says1 ,weep not for ,me2 weep for yourselves4 ,it is to our power to recognise perfect goodness and to appreciate perfect love4 ,he appeals to our power to see below the surface of things1 and through the outer shell of this world's life to the ,spirit of good that is at the root of all and that manifests itself in ,him4 ,here is the true stay of the human soul3 ,come unto ,me1 all ye that labour and are heavy laden2 ,i am come a light into the world3 walk in the light4 ,v4 ,,results ,,of ,,christ',s ,,manifestation4 ,but though ,he had done so many signs before them1 yet they believed not on ,him3 that the word of ,isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled1 which he spake1 ,lord1 who hath believed our report8 and to whom hath the arm of the ,lord been revealed8 ,for this cause they could not believe1 for that ,isaiah said again1 ,he hath blinded their eyes1 and ,he hardened their heart2 lest they should see with their eyes1 and perceive with their heart1 and should turn1 and ,i should heal them4 ,these things said ,isaiah1 because he saw ,his glory2 and he spake of ,him4 ,nevertheless even of the rulers many believed on ,him2 but because of the ,pharisees they did not confess it1 lest they should be put out of the synagogue3 for they loved the glory of men more than the glory of ,god4 ,and ,jesus cried and said1 ,he that believeth on ,me1 believeth not on ,me1 but on ,him that sent ,me4 ,and he that beholdeth ,me beholdeth ,him that sent ,me4 ,i am come a light into the world1 that whosoever believeth on ,me may not abide in the darkness4 ,and if any man hear ,my sayings1 and keep them not1 ,i judge him not3 for ,i came not to judge the world1 but to save the world4 ,he that rejecteth ,me1 and receiveth not ,my sayings1 hath ,one that judgeth him3 the word that ,i spake1 the same shall judge him in the last day4 ,for ,i spake not from ,myself2 but the ,father which sent ,me1 ,he hath given ,me a commandment1 what ,i should say1 and what ,i should speak4 ,and ,i know that ,his commandment is life eternal3 the things therefore which ,i speak1 even as the ,father hath said unto ,me1 so ,i speak4--,,john xii4 #cg-ej4 ,in this ,gospel the death of ,christ is viewed as the first step in ,his glorification4 ,when ,he speaks of being lifted up1 there is a double reference in the expression1 a local and an ethical reference4#f ,he is lifted up on the cross1 but lifted up on it as ,his true throne and as the necessary step towards ,his supremacy at ,god's right hand4 ,it was1 ,john tells us1 with direct reference to the cross that ,jesus now used the words3 ,i1 if ,i be lifted up1 will draw all men unto ,me4 ,the ,jews1 who heard the words1 perceived that1 whatever else was contained in them1 intimation of ,his removal from earth was given4 ,but1 according to the current ,messianic expectation1 the ,christ abideth for ever1 or at any rate for four hundred or a thousand years4 ,how then could this ,person1 who announced ,his immediate departure1 be the ,christ8 ,the ,old ,testament gave them ground for supposing that the ,messianic reign would be lasting2 but had they listened to our ,lord's teaching they would have learned that this reign was spiritual1 and not in the form of an earthly kingdom with a visible sovereign4 ,accordingly1 although they had recognised ,jesus as the ,messiah1 they are again stumbled by this fresh declaration of ,his4 ,they begin to fancy that perhaps after all by calling ,himself the ,son of man ,he has not meant exactly what they mean by the ,messiah4 ,from the form of their question it would seem that ,jesus had used the designation the ,son of man in intimating ,his departure2 for they say1 ,how sayest thou1 ,the ,son of man must be lifted up8 ,up to this time1 therefore1 they had taken it for granted that by calling ,himself the ,son of man ,he claimed to be the ,christ1 but now they begin to doubt whether there may not be two persons signified by those titles4 ,jesus furnishes them with no direct solution of their difficulty4 ,he never betrays any interest in these external identifications4 ,the time for discussing the relation of the ,son of man to the ,messiah is past4 ,his manifestation is closed4 ,enough light has been given4 ,conscience has been appealed to and discussion is no longer admissible4 ,ye have light3 walk in the light4 ,the way to come to a settlement of all their doubts and hesitations is to follow ,him4 ,there is still time for that4 ,yet a little while is the light among you4 ,but the time is short2 there is none to waste on idle questionings1 none to spend on sophisticating conscience--time only for deciding as conscience bids4 ,by thus believing in the light they will themselves become children of light4 ,the children of light are those who live in it as their element1--as the children of this world are those who wholly belong to this world and find in it what is congenial2 as the son of perdition is he who is identified with perdition4 ,the children of light have accepted the revelation that is in ,christ1 and live in the day that the ,lord has made4 ,christ contains the truth for them--the truth which penetrates to their inmost thought and illuminates the darkest problems of life4 ,in ,christ they have seen that which determines their relation to ,god2 and that being determined1 all else that is of prime importance finds a settlement4 ,to know ,god and ourselves2 to know ,god's nature and purpose1 and our own capabilities and relation to ,god1--these constitute the light we need for living by2 and this light ,christ gives4 ,it was in a dim1 uncertain twilight1 with feebly shining lanterns1 the wisest and best of men sought to make out the nature of ,god and ,his purposes regarding man2 but in ,christ ,god has made noonday around us4 ,they1 therefore1 that stood1 or that stand1 in ,his presence1 and yet recognise no light1 must be asleep1 or must turn away from an excess of light that is disagreeable or inconvenient4 ,if we are not the fuller of life and joy the more truth we know1 if we shrink from admitting the consciousness of a present and holy ,god1 and do not feel it to be the very sunshine of life in which alone we thrive1 we must be spiritually asleep or spiritually dead4 ,and this cry of ,christ is but another form of the cry that ,his ,church has prolonged3 ,awake1 thou that sleepest1 and arise from the dead1 and ,christ shall give thee light4 ,the little while of their enjoyment of the light was short indeed1 for no sooner had ,he made an end of these sayings than ,he departed1 and did hide ,himself from them4 ,he probably found retirement from the feverish1 inconstant1 questioning crowd with ,his friends in ,bethany4 ,at any rate this removal of the light1 while it meant darkness to those who had not received ,him and who did not keep ,his words1 could bring no darkness to ,his own1 who had received ,him and the light in ,him4 ,perhaps the best comment on this is the memorable passage from ,comus3 ,virtue could see to do what virtue would ,by her own radiant light1 though sun and moon ,were in the great sea sunk4 ,he that has light within his own clear breast ,may sit i' the centre and enjoy bright day2 ,but he that hides a dark soul and foul thoughts ,benighted walks under the midday sun1 ,himself is his own dungeon4 ,and now the writer of this ,gospel1 before entering upon the closing scenes1 pauses and presents a summary of the results of all that has been hitherto related4 ,first1 he accounts for the unbelief of the ,jews4 ,it could not fail to strike his readers as remarkable that1 though ,he had done so many miracles before the people1 yet they believed not in ,him4 ,in this ,john sees nothing inexplicable1 however sad and significant it may be4 ,at first sight it is an astounding fact that the very people who had been prepared to recognise and receive the ,messiah should not have believed in ,him4 ,might not this to some minds be convincing evidence that ,jesus was not the ,messiah8 ,if the same ,god who sent ,him forth had for centuries specially prepared a people to recognise and receive ,him when ,he came1 was it possible that this people should repudiate ,him8 ,was it likely that such a result should be produced or should be allowed8 ,but ,john turns the point of this argument by showing that a precisely similar phenomenon had often appeared in the history of ,israel4 ,the old prophets had the very same complaint to make3 ,who hath believed our report8 and to whom hath the arm of the ,lord been revealed8 ,the people had habitually1 as a people with individual exceptions1 refused to listen to ,god's voice or to acknowledge ,his presence in prophet and providence4 ,besides1 might it not very well be that the blindness and callousness of the ,jews in rejecting ,jesus was the inevitable issue of a long process of hardening8 ,if1 in former periods of their history1 they had proved themselves unworthy of ,god's training and irresponsive to it1 what else could be expected than that they should reject the ,messiah when ,he came8 ,this hardening and blinding process was the inevitable1 natural result of their past conduct4 ,but what nature does1 ,god does2 and therefore the ,evangelist says they could not believe1 because that ,esaias said again1 ,he hath blinded their eyes1 and hardened their heart2 that they should not see with their eyes1 nor understand with their heart4 ,the organ for perceiving spiritual truth was blinded1 and their susceptibility to religious and moral impressions had become callous and hardened and impervious4 ,and while this was no doubt true of the people as a whole1 still there were not a few individuals who eagerly responded to this last message from ,god4 ,in the most unlikely quarters1 and in circumstances calculated to counteract the influence of spiritual forces1 some were convinced4 ,even among the chief rulers many believed on ,him4 ,this belief1 however1 did not tell upon the mass1 because1 through fear of excommunication1 those who were convinced dared not utter their conviction4 ,they loved the praise of men more than the praise of ,god4 ,they allowed their relations to men to determine their relation to ,god4 ,men were more real to them than ,god4 ,the praise of men came home to their hearts with a sensible relish that the praise of ,god could not rival4 ,they reaped what they had sown2 they had sought the esteem of men1 and now they were unable to find their strength in ,god's approval4 ,the glory which consisted in following the lowly and outcast ,jesus1 the glory of fellowship with ,god1 was quite eclipsed by the glory of living in the eye of the people as wise and estimable persons4 ,in the last paragraph of the chapter ,john gives a summary of the claims and message of ,jesus4 ,he has told us 7ver4 #cf7 that ,jesus had departed from public view and had hidden ,himself1 and he mentions no return to publicity4 ,it is therefore probable that in these remaining verses1 and before he turns to a somewhat different aspect of ,christ's ministry1 he gives in rapid and brief retrospect the sum of what ,jesus had advanced as ,his claim4 ,he introduces this paragraph1 indeed1 with the words1 ,jesus cried and said2 but as neither time nor place is mentioned1 it is quite likely that no special time or place is supposed2 and in point of fact each detail adduced in these verses can be paralleled from some previously recorded utterance of ,jesus4 ,first1 then1 as everywhere in the ,gospel1 so here1 ,he claims to be the representative of ,god in so close and perfect a manner that he that believeth on ,me1 believeth not on ,me1 but on ,him that sent ,me4 ,and he that seeth ,me1 seeth ,him that sent ,me4 ,no belief terminates in ,christ ,himself3 to believe in ,him is to believe in ,god1 because all that ,he is and does proceeds from ,god and leads to ,god4 ,the whole purpose of ,christ's manifestation was to reveal ,god4 ,he did not wish to arrest thought upon ,himself1 but through ,himself to guide thought to ,him whom ,he revealed4 ,he was sustained by the ,father1 and all ,he said and did was of the ,father's inspiration4 ,whoever1 therefore1 saw or understood ,him saw the ,father2 and whoever believed in ,him believed in the ,father4 ,second1 as regards men1 ,he is come a light into the world4 ,naturally there is in the world no sufficient light4 ,men feel that they are in darkness4 ,they feel the darkness all the more appalling and depressing the more developed their own human nature is4 ,more light has been the cry from the beginning4 ,what are we8 where are we8 whence are we8 whither are we going8 what is there above and beyond this world8 ,these questions are echoed back from an unanswering void1 until ,christ comes and gives the answer4 ,since ,he came men have felt that they did not any longer walk in darkness4 ,they see where they are going1 and they see why they should go4 ,and if it be asked1 as among the ,jews it certainly must have been asked1 why1 if ,jesus is the ,messiah1 does ,he not punish men for rejecting ,him8 the answer is1 ,i came not to judge the world1 but to save the world4 ,judgment1 indeed1 necessarily results from ,his coming4 ,men are divided by ,his coming4 ,the words that ,i have spoken1 the same shall judge men in the last day4 ,the offer of ,god1 the offer of righteousness1 is that which judges men4 ,why are they still dead1 when life has been offered8 ,this is the condemnation4 ,the commandment of the ,father is life everlasting4 ,this is the sum of the message of ,god to men in ,christ2 this is the commandment which the ,father has given ,me2 this is ,christ's commission3 to bring ,god in the fulness of ,his grace and love and life-giving power within men's reach4 ,it is to give life eternal to men that ,god has come to them in ,christ4 ,to refuse that life is their condemnation4 ,,footnotes3 #f ,see iii4 #ad4 ,,vi4 ,,the ,,foot-,,washing4 ,now before the feast of the ,passover1 ,jesus knowing that ,his hour was come that ,he should depart out of this world unto the ,father1 having loved ,his own which were in the world1 ,he loved them unto the end4 ,and during supper1 the devil having already put into the heart of ,judas ,iscariot1 ,simon's son1 to betray ,him1 ,jesus1 knowing that the ,father had given all things into ,his hands1 and that ,he came forth from ,god1 and goeth unto ,god1 riseth from supper1 and layeth aside ,his garments2 and ,he took a towel1 and girded ,himself4 ,then ,he poureth water into the basin1 and began to wash the disciples' feet1 and to wipe them with the towel wherewith ,he was girded4 ,so ,he cometh to ,simon ,peter4 ,he saith unto ,him1 ,lord1 dost ,thou wash my feet8 ,jesus answered and said unto him1 ,what ,i do thou knowest not now2 but thou shalt understand hereafter4 ,peter saith unto ,him1 ,thou shalt never wash my feet4 ,jesus answered him1 ,if ,i wash thee not1 thou hast no part with ,me4 ,simon ,peter saith unto ,him1 ,lord1 not my feet only1 but also my hands and my head4 ,jesus saith to him1 ,he that is bathed needeth not save to wash his feet1 but is clean every whit3 and ye are clean1 but not all4 ,for ,he knew him that should betray ,him2 therefore said ,he1 ,ye are not all clean4 ,so when ,he had washed their feet1 and taken ,his garments1 and sat down again1 ,he said unto them1 ,know ye what ,i have done to you8 ,ye call ,me1 ,master1 and1 ,lord3 and ye say well2 for so ,i am4 ,if ,i then1 the ,lord and the ,master1 have washed your feet1 ye also ought to wash one another's feet4 ,for ,i have given you an example1 that ye also should do as ,i have done to you4 ,verily1 verily1 ,i say unto you1 ,a servant is not greater than his lord2 neither one that is sent greater than he that sent him4 ,if ye know these things1 blessed are ye if ye do them4--,,john xiii4 #a-ag4 ,st4 ,john1 having finished his account of the public manifestation of ,jesus1 proceeds now to narrate the closing scenes1 in which the disclosures ,he made to ,his own form a chief part4 ,that the transition may be observed1 attention is drawn to it4 ,at earlier stages of our ,lord's ministry ,he has given as ,his reason for refraining from proposed lines of action that ,his hour was not come3 now ,he knew that ,his hour was come1 that ,he should depart out of this world unto the ,father4 ,this indeed was the last evening of ,his life4 ,within twenty-four hours ,he was to be in the tomb4 ,yet according to this writer it was not the paschal supper which our ,lord now partook of with ,his disciples2 it was before the feast of the ,passover4 ,jesus being ,himself the ,paschal ,lamb was sacrificed on the day on which the ,passover was eaten1 and in this and the following chapters we have an account of the preceding evening4 ,in order to account for what follows1 the precise time is defined in the words supper being served#g or supper-time having arrived2 not1 as in the ,authorised ,version1 supper being ended1 which plainly was not the case2#h nor1 as in the ,revised ,version1 during supper4 ,the difficulty about washing the feet could not have arisen after or during supper1 but only as the guests entered and reclined at table4 ,in ,palestine1 as in other countries of the same latitude1 shoes were not universally worn1 and were not worn at all within doors2 and where some protection to the foot was worn1 it was commonly a mere sandal1 a sole tied on with a thong4 ,the upper part of the foot was thus left exposed1 and necessarily became heated and dirty with the fine and scorching dust of the roads4 ,much discomfort was thus produced1 and the first duty of a host was to provide for its removal4 ,a slave was ordered to remove the sandals and wash the feet4#i ,and in order that this might be done1 the guest either sat on the couch appointed for him at table1 or reclined with his feet protruding beyond the end of it1 that the slave1 coming round with the pitcher and basin1#aj might pour cool water gently over them4 ,so necessary to comfort was this attention that our ,lord reproached the ,pharisee who had invited ,him to dinner with a breach of courtesy because he had omitted it4 ,on ordinary occasions it is probable that the disciples would perform this humble office by turns1 where there was no slave to discharge it for all4 ,but this evening1 when they gathered for the last supper1 all took their places at the table with a studied ignorance of the necessity1 a feigned unconsciousness that any such attention was required4 ,as a matter of course1 the pitcher of cool water1 the basin1 and the towel had been set as part of the requisite furnishing of the supper chamber2 but no one among the disciples betrayed the slightest consciousness that he understood that any such custom existed4 ,why was this8 ,because1 as ,luke tells us 7xxii4 #bd71 there had arisen among them a contention1 which of them is accounted to be the greatest4 ,beginning1 perhaps1 by discussing the prospects of their ,master's kingdom1 they had passed on to compare the importance of this or that faculty for forwarding the interests of the kingdom1 and had ended by easily recognised personal allusions and even the direct pitting of man against man4 ,the assumption of superiority on the part of the sons of ,zebedee and others was called in question1 and it suddenly appeared how this assumption had galled the rest and rankled in their minds4 ,that such a discussion should arise may be disappointing1 but it was natural4 ,all men are jealous of their reputation1 and crave that credit be given them for their natural talent1 their acquired skill1 their professional standing1 their influence1 or at any rate for their humility4 ,heated1 then1 and angry and full of resentment these men hustle into the supper-room and seat themselves like so many sulky schoolboys4 ,they streamed into the room and doggedly took their places2 and then came a pause4 ,for any one to wash the feet of the rest was to declare himself the servant of all2 and that was precisely what each one was resolved he1 for his part1 would not do4 ,no one of them had humour enough to see the absurdity of the situation4 ,no one of them was sensitive enough to be ashamed of showing such a temper in ,christ's presence4 ,there they sat1 looking at the table1 looking at the ceiling1 arranging their dress1 each resolved upon this--that he would not be the man to own himself servant of all4 ,but this unhealthy heat quite unfits them to listen to what their ,lord has to say to them that last evening4 ,occupied as they are1 not with anxiety about ,him nor with absorbing desire for the prosperity of ,his kingdom1 but with selfish ambitions that separate them alike from ,him and from one another1 how can they receive what ,he has to say8 ,but how is ,he to bring them into a state of mind in which they can listen wholly and devotedly to ,him8 ,how is ,he to quench their heated passions and stir within them humility and love8 ,he riseth from the supper-table1 and laid aside ,his garments1 and took a towel1 and girded ,himself4 ,after that ,he poureth water into the basin1 and began to wash the disciples' feet1 and to wipe them with the towel wherewith ,he was girded4 ,each separate action is a fresh astonishment and a deeper shame to the bewildered and conscience-stricken disciples4 ,who is not able to picture the scene1--the faces of ,john and ,james and ,peter2 the intense silence1 in which each movement of ,jesus was painfully audible2 the furtive watching of ,him1 as ,he rose1 to see what ,he would do2 the sudden pang of self-reproach as they perceived what it meant2 the bitter humiliation and the burning shame8 ,but not only is the time noted1 in order that we may perceive the relevancy of the foot-washing1 but the ,evangelist steps aside from his usual custom and describes the mood of ,jesus that we may more deeply penetrate into the significance of the action4 ,around this scene in the supper-chamber ,st4 ,john sets lights which permit us to see its various beauty and grace4 ,and first of all he would have us notice what seems chiefly to have struck himself as from time to time he reflected on this last evening--that ,jesus1 even in these last hours1 was wholly possessed and governed by love4 ,although ,he knew that ,his hour had come1 that ,he should depart out of this world unto the ,father1 yet having loved ,his own which were in the world ,he loved them unto the end4 ,already the deep darkness of the coming night was touching the spirit of ,jesus with its shadow4 ,already the pain of the betrayal1 the lonely desolation of desertion by ,his friends1 the defenceless exposure to fierce1 unjust1 ruthless men1 the untried misery of death and dissolution1 the critical trial of ,his cause and of all the labour of ,his life1 these and many anxieties that cannot be imagined1 were pouring in upon ,his spirit1 wave upon wave4 ,if ever man might have been excused for absorption in ,his own affairs ,jesus was then that man4 ,on the edge of what ,he knew to be the critical passage in the world's history1 what had ,he to do attending to the comfort and adjusting the silly differences of a few unworthy men8 ,with the weight of a world on ,his arm1 was ,he to have ,his hands free for such a trifling attention as this8 ,with ,his whole soul pressed with the heaviest burden ever laid on man1 was it to be expected ,he should turn aside at such a call8 ,but ,his love made it seem no turning aside at all4 ,his love had made ,him wholly theirs1 and though standing on the brink of death ,he was disengaged to do them the slightest service4 ,his love was love1 devoted1 enduring1 constant4 ,he had loved them1 and ,he loved them still4 ,it was their condition which had brought ,him into the world1 and ,his love for them was that which would carry ,him through all that was before ,him4 ,the very fact that they showed themselves still so jealous and childish1 so unfit to cope with the world1 drew out ,his affection towards them4 ,he was departing from the world and they were remaining in it1 exposed to all its opposition and destined to bear the brunt of hostility directed against ,him--how then can ,he but pity and strengthen them8 ,nothing is more touching on a death-bed than to see the sufferer hiding and making light of his own pain1 and turning the attention of those around him away from him to themselves1 and making arrangements1 not for his own relief1 but for the future comfort of others4 ,this which has often dimmed with tears the eyes of the bystanders struck ,john when he saw his ,master ministering to the wants of ,his disciples1 although ,he knew that ,his own hour had come4 ,another side-light which serves to bring out the full significance of this action is ,jesus' consciousness of ,his own dignity4 ,jesus1 knowing that the ,father had given all things into ,his hands1 and that ,he came forth from ,god1 and goeth unto ,god1 riseth from supper1 and took a towel and girded ,himself4 ,it was not in forgetfulness of ,his ,divine origin1 but in full consciousness of it1 ,he discharged this menial function4 ,as ,he had divested ,himself of the form of ,god at the first1 stripping ,himself of the outward glory attendant on recognised ,divinity1 and had taken upon ,him the form of a servant1 so now ,he laid aside ,his garments and girded ,himself1 assuming the guise of a household slave4 ,for a fisherman to pour water over a fisherman's feet was no great condescension2 but that ,he1 in whose hands are all human affairs and whose nearest relation is the ,father1 should thus condescend is of unparalleled significance4 ,it is this kind of action that is suitable to ,one whose consciousness is ,divine4 ,not only does the dignity of ,jesus vastly augment the beauty of the action1 but it sheds new light on the ,divine character4 ,still another circumstance which seemed to ,john to accentuate the grace of the foot-washing was this--that ,judas was among the guests1 and that the devil had now put into the heart of ,judas ,iscariot1 ,simon's son1 to betray him4 ,the idea had at last formed itself in ,judas' mind that the best use he could make of ,jesus was to sell ,him to ,his enemies4 ,his hopes of gain in the ,messianic kingdom were finally blighted1 but he might still make something out of ,jesus and save himself from all implication in a movement frowned upon by the authorities4 ,he clearly apprehended that all hopes of a temporal kingdom were gone4 ,he had probably not strength of mind enough to say candidly that he had joined the company of disciples on a false understanding1 and meant now quietly to return to his trading at ,kerioth4 ,if he could break up the whole movement1 he would be justified in his dissatisfaction1 and would also be held to be a useful servant of the nation4 ,so he turns traitor4 ,and ,john does not whitewash him1 but plainly brands him as a traitor4 ,now1 much may be forgiven a man2 but treachery--what is to be done with it2 with the man who uses the knowledge only a friend can have1 to betray you to your enemies8 ,suppose ,jesus had unmasked him to ,peter and the rest1 would he ever have left that room alive8 ,instead of unmasking him1 ,jesus makes no difference between him and the others1 kneels by his couch1 takes his feet in ,his hands1 washes and gently dries them4 ,however difficult it is to understand why ,jesus chose ,judas at the first1 there can be no question that throughout ,his acquaintance with him ,he had done all that was possible to win him4 ,the kind of treatment ,judas had received throughout may be inferred from the treatment he received now4 ,jesus knew him to be a man of a low type and impenitent2 ,he knew him to be at that very time out of harmony with the little company1 false1 plotting1 meaning to save himself by bringing ruin on the rest4 ,yet ,jesus will not denounce him to the others4 ,his sole weapon is love4 ,conquests which ,he cannot achieve with this ,he will not achieve at all4 ,in the person of ,judas the utmost of malignity the world can show is present to ,him1 and ,he meets it with kindness4 ,well may ,astie exclaim3 ,jesus at the feet of the traitor--what a picture6 what lessons for us6 ,shame and astonishment shut the mouths of the disciples1 and not a sound broke the stillness of the room but the tinkle and plash of the water in the basin as ,jesus went from couch to couch4 ,but the silence was broken when ,he came to ,peter4 ,the deep reverence which the disciples had contracted for ,jesus betrays itself in ,peter's inability to suffer ,him to touch his feet4 ,peter could not endure that the places of master and servant should thus be reversed4 ,he feels that shrinking and revulsion which we feel when a delicate person or one much above us in station proceeds to do some service from which we ourselves would shrink as beneath us4 ,that ,peter should have drawn up his feet1 started up on the couch1 and exclaimed1 ,lord1 do you actually propose to wash my feet6 is to his credit1 and just what we should have expected of a man who never lacked generous impulses4 ,our ,lord therefore assures him that his scruples will be removed1 and that what he could not understand would be shortly explained to him4 ,he treats ,peter's scruples very much as ,he treated the ,baptist's when ,john hesitated about baptizing ,him4 ,let ,me1 says ,jesus1 do it now1 and ,i will explain ,my reason when ,i have finished the washing of you all4 ,but this does not satisfy ,peter4 ,out he comes with one of his blunt and hasty speeches3 ,lord1 ,thou shalt never wash my feet6 ,he knew better than ,jesus1 that is to say1 what should be done4 ,jesus was mistaken in supposing that any explanation could be given of it4 ,hasty1 self-confident1 knowing better than anybody else1 ,peter once again ran himself into grave fault4 ,the first requirement in a disciple is entire self-surrender4 ,the others had meekly allowed ,jesus to wash their feet1 cut to the heart with shame as they were1 and scarcely able to let their feet lie in ,his hands2 but ,peter must show himself of a different mind4 ,his first refusal was readily forgiven as a generous impulse2 the second is an obstinate1 proud1 self-righteous utterance1 and was forthwith met by the swift rebuke of ,jesus3 ,if ,i wash thee not1 thou hast no part with ,me4 ,superficially1 these words might have been understood as intimating to ,peter that1 if he wished to partake of the feast prepared1 he must allow ,jesus to wash his feet4 ,unless he was prepared to leave the room and reckon himself an outcast from that company1 he must submit to the feet-washing which his friends and fellow-guests had submitted to4 ,there was that in the tone of our ,lord which awakened ,peter to see how great and painful a rupture this would be4 ,he almost hears in the words a sentence of expulsion pronounced on himself2 and as rapidly as he had withdrawn from the touch of ,christ1 so rapidly does he now run to the opposite extreme and offer his whole body to be washed--not my feet only1 but my hands and my head4 ,if this washing means that we are ,thy friends and partners1 let me be all washed1 for every bit of me is ,thine4 ,here again ,peter was swayed by blind impulse1 and here again he erred4 ,if he could only have been quiet6 ,if he could only have held his tongue6 ,if only he could have allowed his ,lord to manage without his interference and suggestion at every point6 ,but this was precisely what ,peter had as yet not learned to do4 ,in after-years he was to learn meekness2 he was to learn to submit while others bound him and carried him whither they would2 but as yet that was impossible to him4 ,his ,lord's plan is never good enough for him2 ,jesus is never exactly right4 ,what ,he proposes must always be eked out by ,peter's superior wisdom4 ,what gusts of shame must have stormed through ,peter's soul when he looked back on this scene6 ,yet it concerns us rather to admire than to condemn ,peter's fervour4 ,how welcome to our ,lord as ,he passed from the cold and treacherous heart of ,judas must this burst of enthusiastic devotion have been6 ,lord1 if washing be any symbol of my being ,thine1 wash hands and head as well as feet4 ,jesus throws a new light upon ,his action in ,his reply3 ,he that is washed1 needeth not save to wash his feet1 but is clean every whit3 and ye are clean1 but not all4 ,the words would have more readily disclosed ,christ's meaning had they been literally rendered3 ,he that has bathed needeth not save to wash his feet4 ,the daily use of the bath rendered it needless to wash more than the feet1 which were soiled with walking from the bath to the supper-chamber4 ,but that ,christ had in view as ,he washed the disciples' feet something more than the mere bodily cleansing and comfort is plain from ,his remark that they were not all clean4 ,all had enjoyed the feet-washing1 but all were not clean4 ,the feet of ,judas were as clean as the feet of ,john or ,peter1 but his heart was foul4 ,and what ,christ intended when ,he girt ,himself with the towel and took up the pitcher was not merely to wash the soil from their feet1 but to wash from their hearts the hard and proud feelings which were so uncongenial to that night of communion and so threatening to ,his cause4 ,far more needful to their happiness at the feast than the comfort of cool and clean feet was their restored affection and esteem for one another1 and that humility that takes the lowest place4 ,jesus could very well have eaten with men who were unwashed2 but ,he could not eat with men hating one another1 glaring fiercely across the table1 declining to answer or to pass what they were asked for1 showing in every way malice and bitterness of spirit4 ,he knew that at bottom they were good men2 ,he knew that with one exception they loved ,him and one another2 ,he knew that as a whole they were clean1 and that this vicious temper in which they at present entered the room was but the soil contracted for the hour4 ,but none the less must it be washed off4 ,and ,he did effectually wash it off by washing their feet4 ,for was there a man among them who1 when he saw his ,lord and ,master stooping at his couch-foot1 would not most gladly have changed places with ,him8 ,was there one of them who was not softened and broken down by the action of the ,lord8 ,is it not certain that shame must have cast out pride from every heart2 that the feet would be very little thought of1 but that the change of feeling would be marked and obvious8 ,from a group of angry1 proud1 insolent1 implacable1 resentful men1 they were in five minutes changed into a company of humbled1 meek1 loving disciples of the ,lord1 each thinking hardly of himself and esteeming others better4 ,they were effectually cleansed from the stain they had contracted1 and could enter on the enjoyment of the ,last ,supper with pure conscience1 with restored and increased affection for one another1 and with deepened adoration for the marvellous wisdom and all-accomplishing grace of their ,master4 ,jesus1 then1 does not mistake present defilement for habitual impurity1 nor partial stain for total uncleanness4 ,he knows whom ,he has chosen4 ,he understands the difference between deep-seated alienation of spirit and the passing mood which for the hour disturbs friendship4 ,he discriminates between ,judas and ,peter3 between the man who has not been in the bath1 and the man whose feet are soiled in walking from it2 between him who is at heart unmoved and unimpressed by ,his love1 and him who has for a space fallen from the consciousness of it4 ,he does not suppose that because we have sinned this morning we have no real root of grace in us4 ,he knows the heart we bear ,him2 and if just at present unworthy feelings prevail1 ,he does not misunderstand as men may1 and straightway dismiss us from ,his company4 ,he recognises that our feet need washing1 that our present stain must be removed1 but not on this account does ,he think we need to be all washed and have never been right in heart towards ,him4 ,these present stains1 then1 ,christ seeks to remove1 that our fellowship with ,him may be unembarrassed2 and that our heart1 restored to humility and tenderness1 may be in a state to receive the blessing ,he would bestow4 ,it is not enough to be once forgiven1 to begin the day clean every whit4 ,no sooner do we take a step in the life of the day than our footfall raises a little puff of dust which does not settle without sullying us4 ,our temper is ruffled1 and words fall from our lips that injure and exasperate4 ,in one way or other stain attaches to our conscience1 and we are moved away from cordial and open fellowship with ,christ4 ,all this happens to those who are at heart as truly ,christ's friends as those first disciples4 ,but we must have these stains washed away even as they had4 ,humbly we must own them1 and humbly accept their forgiveness and rejoice in their removal4 ,as these men had with shame to lay their feet in ,christ's hands1 so must we4 ,as ,his hands had to come in contact with the soiled feet of the disciples1 so has ,his moral nature to come in contact with the sins from which ,he cleanses us4 ,his heart is purer than were ,his hands1 and ,he shrinks more from contact with moral than with physical pollution2 and yet without ceasing we bring ,him into contact with such pollution4 ,when we consider what those stains actually are from which we must ask ,christ to wash us1 we feel tempted to exclaim with ,peter1 ,lord1 ,thou shalt never wash my feet6 ,as these men must have shivered with shame through all their nature1 so do we when we see ,christ stoop before us to wash away once again the defilement we have contracted2 when we lay our feet soiled with the miry and dusty ways of life in ,his sacred hands2 when we see the uncomplaining1 unreproachful grace with which ,he performs for us this lowly and painful office4 ,but only thus are we prepared for communion with ,him and with one another4 ,only by admitting that we need cleansing1 and by humbly allowing ,him to cleanse us1 are we brought into true fellowship with ,him4 ,with the humble and contrite spirit which has thrown down all barriers of pride and freely admits ,his love and rejoices in ,his holiness does ,he abide4 ,whoso sits down at ,christ's table must sit down clean2 he may not have come clean1 even as those first guests were not clean1 but he must allow ,christ to cleanse him1 must honestly suffer ,christ to remove from his heart1 from his desire and purpose1 all that ,he counts defiling4 ,but our ,lord was not content to let ,his action speak for itself2 ,he expressly explains 7vv4 #ab-ag7 the meaning of what ,he had now done4 ,he meant that they should learn to wash one another's feet1 to be humble and ready to be of service to one another even when to serve seemed to compromise their dignity4#aa ,no disciple of ,christ need go far to find feet that need washing1 feet that are stained or bleeding with the hard ways that have been trodden4 ,to recover men from the difficulties into which sin or misfortune has brought them--to wipe off some of the soil from men's lives--to make them purer1 sweeter1 readier to listen to ,christ1 even unostentatiously to do the small services which each hour calls for--is to follow ,him who girt ,himself with the slave's apron4 ,as often as we thus condescend we become like ,christ4 ,by putting ,himself in the servant's place1 our ,lord has consecrated all service4 ,the disciple who next washed the feet of the rest would feel that he was representing ,christ1 and would suggest to the minds of the others the action of their ,lord2 and as often as we lay aside the conventional dignity in which we are clad1 and gird ourselves to do what others despise1 we feel that we are doing what ,christ would do1 and are truly representing ,him4 ,,footnotes3 #g ,compare ,mark vi4 #b1 genomenou sabbatou2 and the ,latin posita mensa4 #h ,see ver4 #b4 #i hypolyete1 paides1 kai aponizete4 #aj ,the tusht and ibriek of modern ,palestine4 #aa ,for the formal ,foot-washing by the ,lord ,high ,almoner1 the ,pope1 or other officials1 see ,augustine's ,letters ,,lv42 ,herzog art4 ,fusswaschung2 ,smith's ,dict4 of ,christian ,antiq4 art4 ,maundy ,thursday4 ,,vii4 ,,judas4 ,i speak not of you all3 ,i know whom ,i have chosen3 but that the ,scripture may be fulfilled1 ,he that eateth ,my bread lifted up his heel against ,me4 ,from henceforth ,i tell you before it come to pass1 that1 when it is come to pass1 ye may believe that ,i am ,he4 ,verily1 verily1 ,i say unto you1 ,he that receiveth whomsoever ,i send receiveth ,me2 and he that receiveth ,me receiveth ,him that sent ,me4 ,when ,jesus had thus said1 ,he was troubled in the spirit1 and testified1 and said1 ,verily1 verily1 ,i say unto you1 that one of you shall betray ,me4 ,the disciples looked one on another1 doubting of whom ,he spake4 ,there was at the table reclining in ,jesus' bosom one of ,his disciples1 whom ,jesus loved4 ,simon ,peter therefore beckoneth to him1 and saith unto him1 ,tell us who it is of whom ,he speaketh4 ,he leaning back1 as he was1 on ,jesus' breast saith unto ,him1 ,lord1 who is it8 ,jesus therefore answereth1 ,he it is1 for whom ,i shall dip the sop1 and give it to him4 ,so when ,he had dipped the sop1 ,he taketh and giveth it to ,judas1 the son of ,simon ,iscariot4 ,and after the sop1 then entered ,satan into him4 ,jesus therefore saith unto him1 ,that thou doest1 do quickly4 ,now no man at the table knew for what intent ,he spake this unto him4 ,for some thought1 because ,judas had the bag1 that ,jesus said unto him1 ,buy what things we have need of for the feast2 or1 that he should give something to the poor4 ,he then having received the sop went out straightway3 and it was night4--,,john xiii4 #ah-cj4 ,when ,jesus had washed the disciples' feet1 apparently in dead silence save for the interruption of ,peter1 ,he resumed those parts of ,his dress ,he had laid aside1 and reclined at the table already spread for the supper4 ,as the meal began1 and while ,he was explaining the meaning of ,his act and the lesson ,he desired them to draw from it1 ,john1 who lay next ,him at table1 saw that ,his face did not wear the expression of festal joy1 nor even of untroubled composure1 but was clouded with deep concern and grief4 ,the reason of this was immediately apparent3 already1 while washing ,peter's feet1 ,he had awakened the attention and excited the consciences of the disciples by hinting that on some one of them at least1 if not on more1 uncleansed guilt still lay1 even though all partook in the symbolic washing4 ,and now in ,his explanation of the foot-washing ,he repeats this limitation and warning1 and also points at the precise nature of the guilt1 though not yet singling out the guilty person4 ,i speak not of you all2 ,i know whom ,i have chosen2 ,i have not been deceived3 but it was necessary that this part of ,god's purpose be fulfilled1 and that this ,scripture1 ',he that eateth bread with ,me1 hath lifted up his heel against ,me1' receive accomplishment in ,me4 ,it was impossible that ,jesus should undisturbedly eat out of the same dish with the man whom ,he knew to have already sold ,him to the priests2 it were unfair to the other disciples and a violence to ,his own feelings to allow such a man any longer to remain in their company4 ,but our ,lord does not name the traitor and denounce him2 he singles him out and sends him from the table on his hateful mission by a process that left every man at the table unaware on what errand he was despatched4 ,in this process there were three steps4 ,first of all1 our ,lord indicated that among the disciples there was a traitor4 ,with dismay these true-hearted men hear the firmly pronounced statement one of you shall betray ,me 7ver4 #ba74 ,all of them1 as another ,evangelist informs us1 were exceeding sorrowful1 and looked on one another in bewilderment2 and unable to detect the conscious look of guilt in the face of any of their companions1 or to recall any circumstance which might fix even suspicion on any of them1 each1 conscious of the deep1 unfathomed capacity for evil in his own heart1 can but frankly ask of the ,master1 ,lord1 is it ,i8 ,it is a question that at once proves their consciousness of actual innocence and possible guilt4 ,it was a kindness in the ,lord to give these genuine men1 who were so shortly to go through trial for ,his sake1 an opportunity of discovering how much they loved ,him and how closely knit their hearts had really become to ,him4 ,this question of theirs expressed the deep pain and shame that the very thought of the possibility of their being false to ,him gave them4 ,they must at all hazards be cleared of this charge4 ,and from this shock of the very idea of being untrue their hearts recoiled towards ,him with an enthusiastic tenderness that made this moment possibly as moving a passage as any that occurred that eventful night ,but there was one of them that did not join in the question ,lord1 is it ,i8--else must not our ,lord have broken silence8 ,the ,twelve are still left in doubt1 none noticing in the eagerness of questioning who has not asked1 each only glad to know he himself is not charged4 ,the second step in the process is recorded in the #bfth chapter of ,matthew1 where we read that1 when the disciples asked ,lord1 is it ,i8 ,jesus answered1 ,he that dippeth his hand with ,me in the dish1 the same shall betray ,me4 ,it was a large company1 and there were necessarily several dishes on the table1 so that probably there were three others using the same dish as our ,lord3 ,john we know was next ,him2 ,peter was near enough to ,john to make signs and whisper to him2 ,judas was also close to ,jesus1 a position which he either always occupied as treasurer and purveyor of the company1 or into which he thrust himself this evening with the purpose of more effectually screening himself from suspicion4 ,the circle of suspicion is thus narrowed to the one or two who were not only so intimate as to be eating at the same table1 but as to be dipping in the same dish4 ,the third step in the process of discovery went on almost simultaneously with this4 ,the impatient ,peter1 who had himself so often unwittingly given offence to his ,master1 is resolved to find out definitely who is pointed at1 and yet dare not say to ,christ ,who is it8 ,he beckons therefore to ,john to ask ,jesus privately1 as he lay next to ,jesus4 ,john leans a little back towards ,jesus and puts in a whisper the definite question ,who is it8 and ,jesus in the ear of the beloved disciple whispers the reply1 ,he it is to whom ,i shall give a sop when ,i have dipped it4 ,and when ,he had dipped the sop1 ,he gave it to ,judas ,iscariot4 ,this reveals to ,john1 but to no one else1 who the traitor was1 for the giving of the sop was no more at that table than the handing of a plate or the offer of any article of food is at any table4 ,john alone knew the significance of it4 ,but ,judas had already taken alarm at the narrowing of the circle of suspicion1 and had possibly for the moment ceased dipping in the same dish with ,jesus1 lest he should be identified with the traitor4 ,jesus therefore dips for him and offers him the sop which he will not himself take1 and the look that accompanies the act1 as well as the act itself1 shows ,judas that his treachery is discovered4 ,he therefore mechanically takes up in a somewhat colder form the question of the rest1 and says1 ,master1 is it ,i8 ,his fear subdues his voice to a whisper1 heard only by ,john and the ,lord2 and the answer1 ,thou hast said4 ,that thou doest1 do quickly1 is equally unobserved by the rest4 ,judas need fear no violence at their hands2 ,john alone knows the meaning of his abrupt rising and hurrying from the room1 and ,john sees that ,jesus wishes him to go unobserved4 ,the rest1 therefore1 thought only that ,judas was going out to make some final purchases that had been forgotten1 or to care for the poor in this season of festivity4 ,but ,john saw differently4 ,the traitor1 he says1 went immediately out2 and it was night4 ,as his ill-omened1 stealthy figure glided from the chamber1 the sudden night of the ,eastern twilightless sunset had fallen on the company2 sadness1 silence1 and gloom fell upon ,john's spirit2 the hour of darkness had at length fallen in the very midst of this quiet feast4 ,this sin of ,judas presents us with one of the most perplexed problems of life and character that the strange circumstances of this world have ever produced4 ,let us first of all look at the connection of this betrayal with the life of ,christ1 and then consider the phase of character exhibited in ,judas4 ,in connection with the life of ,christ the difficulty is to understand why the death of ,christ was to be brought about in this particular way of treachery among ,his own followers4 ,it may be said that it came to pass that ,scripture might be fulfilled1 that this special prediction in the #dast ,psalm might be fulfilled4 ,but why was such a prediction made8 ,it was of course the event which determined the prediction1 not the prediction which determined the event4 ,was it1 then1 an accident that ,jesus should be handed over to the authorities in this particular way8 ,or was there any significance in it1 that justifies its being made so prominent in the narrative8 ,certainly if our ,lord was to be brought into contact with the most painful form of sin1 ,he must have experience of treachery4 ,he had known the sorrow that death brings to the survivors2 ,he had known the pain and disappointment of being resisted by stupid1 obstinate1 bad-hearted men2 but if ,he was to know the utmost of misery which man can inflict upon man1 ,he must be brought into contact with one who could accept ,his love1 eat ,his bread1 press ,his hand with assurance of fidelity1 and then sell ,him4 ,when we endeavour to set before our minds a clear idea of the character of ,judas1 and to understand how such a character could be developed1 we have to acknowledge that we could desire a few more facts in order to certify us of what we can now only conjecture4 ,obviously we must start from the idea that with extraordinary capacity for wickedness ,judas had also more than ordinary leanings to what was good4 ,he was an ,apostle1 and had1 we must suppose1 been called to that office by ,christ under the impression that he possessed gifts which would make him very serviceable to the ,christian community4 ,he was himself so impressed with ,christ as to follow ,him3 making those pecuniary sacrifices of which ,peter boastfully spoke1 and which must have been specially sore to ,judas4 ,it is possible1 indeed1 that he may have followed ,jesus as a speculation1 hoping to receive wealth and honour in the new kingdom2 but this motive mingled with the attachment to ,christ's person which all the ,apostles had1 and mingles in a different form with the discipleship of all ,christians4 ,with this motive1 therefore1 there probably mingled in the mind of ,judas a desire to be with ,one who could shield him from evil influences2 he judged that with ,jesus he would find continual aid against his weaker nature4 ,possibly he wished by one bold abandonment of the world to get rid for ever of his covetousness4 ,that ,judas was trusted by the other ,apostles is manifest from the fact that to him they committed their common fund1--not to ,john1 whose dreamy and abstracted nature ill fitted him for minute practical affairs2 not to ,peter1 whose impulsive nature might often have landed the little company in difficulties2 not even to ,matthew1 accustomed as he was to accounts2 but to ,judas1 who had the economical habits1 the aptitude for finance1 the love of bargaining1 which regularly go hand in hand with the love of money4 ,this practical faculty for finance and for affairs generally might1 if rightly guided1 have become a most serviceable element in the ,apostolate1 and might have enabled ,judas more successfully than any other of the ,apostles to mediate between the ,church and the world4 ,that ,judas in all other respects conducted himself circumspectly is proved by the fact that1 though other ,apostles incurred the displeasure of ,christ and were rebuked by ,him1 ,judas committed no glaring fault till this last week4 ,even to the end he was unsuspected by his fellow-,apostles2 and to the end he had an active conscience4 ,his last act1 were it not so awful1 would inspire us with something like respect for him3 he is overwhelmed with remorse and shame2 his sense of guilt is stronger even than the love of money that had hitherto been his strongest passion3 he judges himself fairly1 sees what he has become1 and goes to his own place2 recognises as not every man does recognise what is his fit habitation1 and goes to it4 ,but this man1 with his good impulses1 his resolute will1 his enlightened conscience1 his favouring circumstances1 his frequent feelings of affection towards ,christ and desire to serve ,him1 committed a crime so unparalleled in wickedness that men practically make very little attempt to estimate it or measure it with sins of their own4 ,commonly we think of it as a special1 exceptional wickedness--not so much the natural product of a heart like our own and what may be reproduced by ourselves1 as the work of ,satan using a man as his scarcely responsible tool to effect a purpose which needs never again to be effected4 ,if we ask what precisely it was in the crime of ,judas that makes us so abhor it1 manifestly its most hateful ingredient was its treachery4 ,it was not an enemy that reproached me2 then ,i could have borne it2 but it was thou1 a man mine equal1 my guide1 and mine acquaintance4 ,caesar defended himself till the dagger of a friend pierced him2 then in indignant grief he covered his head with his mantle and accepted his fate4 ,you can forgive the open blow of a declared enemy against whom you are on your guard2 but the man that lives with you on terms of the greatest intimacy for years1 so that he learns your ways and habits1 the state of your affairs and your past history--the man whom you so confide in and like that you communicate to him freely much that you keep hidden from others1 and who1 while still professing friendship1 uses the information he has gained to blacken your character and ruin your peace1 to injure your family or damage your business1--this man1 you know1 has much to repent of4 ,so one can forgive the ,pharisees who knew not what they did1 and were throughout the declared opponents of ,christ2 but ,judas attached himself to ,christ1 knew that ,his life was one of unmixed benevolence1 was conscious that ,christ would have given up anything to serve him1 felt moved and proud from time to time by the fact that ,christ loved him1 and yet at the last used all these privileges of friendship against his ,friend4 ,and ,judas did not scruple to use this power that only the love of ,jesus could have given him1 to betray ,him to men whom he knew to be unscrupulous and resolved to destroy ,him4 ,the garden where the ,lord prayed for ,his enemies was not sacred to ,judas2 the cheek that a seraph would blush to kiss1 and to salute which was the beginning of joy eternal to the devout disciple1 was mere common clay to this man into whom ,satan had entered4 ,the crime of ,judas is invested with a horror altogether its own by the fact that this ,person whom he betrayed was the ,son of ,god and the ,saviour of the world1 the ,best-beloved of ,god and every man's ,friend4 ,the greatest blessing that ,god had ever given to earth ,judas was forward to reject3 not altogether unaware of the majesty of ,christ1 ,judas presumed to use ,him in a little money-making scheme of his own4 ,the best use that ,judas could think of putting ,jesus to1 the best use he could make of ,him whom all angels worship1 was to sell ,him for ,l#e4ab ,he could get nothing more out of ,christ than that4 ,after three years' acquaintanceship and observation of the various ways in which ,christ could bless people1 this was all he could get from ,him4 ,and there are still such men3 men for whom there is nothing in ,christ2 men who can find nothing in ,him that they sincerely care for2 men who1 though calling themselves ,his followers1 would1 if truth were told1 be better content and feel they had more substantial profit if they could turn ,him into money4 ,so difficult is it to comprehend how any man who had lived as the friend of ,jesus could find it in his heart to betray ,him1 should resist the touching expressions of love that were shown him1 and brave the awful warning uttered at the supper-table--so difficult is it to suppose that any man1 however infatuated1 would so deliberately sell his soul for ,l#e1 that a theory has been started to explain the crime by mitigating its guilt4 ,it has been supposed that when he delivered up his ,master into the hands of the chief priests he expected that our ,lord would save ,himself by a miracle4 ,he knew that ,jesus meant to proclaim a kingdom2 he had been waiting for three years now1 eagerly expecting that this proclamation and its accompanying gains would arrive4 ,yet he feared the opportunity was once more passing3 ,jesus had been brought into the city in triumph1 but seemed indisposed to make use of this popular excitement for any temporal advantage4 ,judas was weary of this inactivity3 might he not himself bring matters to a crisis by giving ,jesus into the hands of ,his enemies1 and thus forcing ,him to reveal ,his real power and assert by miracle ,his kingship8 ,in corroboration of this theory1 it is said that it is certain that ,judas did not expect ,jesus to be condemned2 for when he saw that he was condemned he repented of his act4 ,this seems a shallow view to take of ,judas' remorse1 and a feeble ground on which to build such a theory4 ,a crime seems one thing before1 another after1 its commission4 ,the murderer expects and wishes to kill his victim1 but how often is he seized with an agony of remorse as soon as the blow is struck8 ,before we sin1 it is the gain we see2 after we sin1 the guilt4 ,it is impossible to construe the act of ,judas into a mistaken act of friendship or impatience2 the terms in which he is spoken of in ,scripture forbid this idea2 and one cannot suppose that a keen-sighted man like ,judas could expect that1 even supposing he did force our ,lord to proclaim ,himself1 his own share in the business would be rewarded4 ,he could not suppose this after the terrible denunciation and explicit statement that still rang in his ears when he hanged himself3 ,the ,son of man goeth as it is written of ,him3 but woe unto that man by whom the ,son of man is betrayed6 it had been good for that man if he had not been born4 ,we must then abide by the more commonplace view of this crime4 ,the only mitigating circumstance that can be admitted is1 that possibly among the many perplexed thoughts entertained by ,judas he may have supposed that ,jesus would be acquitted1 or would at least not be punished with death4 ,still1 this being admitted1 the fact remains that he cared so little for the love of ,christ1 and regarded so little the good ,he was doing1 and had so little common honour in him1 that he sold his ,master to ,his deadly enemies4 ,and this monstrous wickedness is to be accounted for mainly by his love of money4 ,naturally covetous1 he fed his evil disposition during those years he carried the bag for the disciples3 while the rest are taken up with more spiritual matters1 he gives more of his thought than is needful to the matter of collecting as much as possible2 he counts it his special province to protect himself and the others against all the probable emergencies and changes of life4 ,this he does1 regardless of the frequent admonitions he hears from the ,lord addressed to others2 and as he finds excuses for his own avarice in the face of these admonitions1 and hardens himself against the better impulses that are stirred within him by the words and presence of ,christ1 his covetousness roots itself deeper and deeper in his soul4 ,add to this1 that now he was a disappointed man3 the other disciples1 finding that the kingdom of ,christ was to be spiritual1 were pure and high-minded enough to see that their disappointment was their great gain4 ,the love of ,christ had transformed them1 and to be like ,him was enough for them2 but ,judas still clung to the idea of earthly grandeur and wealth1 and finding ,christ was not to give him these he was soured and embittered4 ,he saw that now1 since that scene at ,bethany the week before1 his covetousness and earthliness would be resisted and would also betray him4 ,he felt that he could no longer endure this poverty-stricken life1 and had some rage at himself and at ,christ that he had been inveigled into it by what he might be pleased to say to himself were false pretences4 ,his self-restraint1 he felt1 was breaking down2 his covetousness was getting the better of him2 he felt that he must break with ,christ and ,his followers2 but in doing so he would at once win what he had lost during these years of poverty1 and also revenge himself on those who had kept him poor1 and finally would justify his own conduct in deserting this society by exploding it and causing it to cease from among men4 ,the sin of ,judas1 then1 first of all teaches us the great power and danger of the love of money4 ,the mere thirty pieces of silver would not have been enough to tempt ,judas to commit so dastardly and black a crime2 but he was now an embittered and desperate man1 and he had become so by allowing money to be all in all to him for these last years of his life4 ,for the danger of this passion consists very much in this--that it infallibly eats out of the soul every generous emotion and high aim3 it is the failing of a sordid nature--a little1 mean1 earthly nature--a failing which1 like all others1 may be extirpated through ,god's grace1 but which is notoriously difficult to extirpate1 and which notoriously is accompanied by or produces other features of character which are among the most repulsive one meets4 ,the love of money is also dangerous1 because it can be so easily gratified2 all that we do in the world day by day is in the case of most of us connected with money1 so that we have continual and not only occasional opportunity of sinning if we be inclined to the sin4 ,other passions are appealed to only now and again1 but our employments touch this passion at all points4 ,it leaves no long intervals1 as other passions do1 for repentance and amendment2 but steadily1 constantly1 little by little1 increases in force4 ,judas had his fingers in the bag all day2 it was under his pillow and he dreamt upon it all night2 and it was this that accelerated his ruin4 ,and by this constant appeal it is sure to succeed at one time or other1 if we be open to it4 ,judas could not suppose that his quiet self-aggrandisement by pilfering little coins from the bag could ever bring him to commit such a crime against his ,lord3 so may every covetous person fancy that his sin is one that is his own business1 and will not damage his religious profession and ruin his soul as some wild lust or reckless infidelity would do4 ,but ,judas and those who sin with him in making continually little gains to which they have no right are wrong in supposing their sin is less dangerous2 and for this reason--that covetousness is more a sin of the will than sins of the flesh or of a passionate nature2 there is more choice in it2 it is more the sin of the whole man unresisting2 and therefore it1 above all others1 is called idolatry--it1 above all others1 proves that the man is in his heart choosing the world and not ,god4 ,therefore it is that even our ,lord ,himself spoke almost despairingly1 certainly quite differently1 of covetous men in comparison with other sinners4 ,disappointment in ,christ is not an unknown thing among ourselves4 ,men still profess to be ,christians who are so only in the degree in which ,judas was4 ,they expect some good from ,christ1 but not all4 ,they attach themselves to ,christ in a loose1 conventional way1 expecting that1 though they are ,christians1 they need not lose anything by their ,christianity1 nor make any great efforts or sacrifices4 ,they retain command of their own life1 and are prepared to go with ,christ only so far as they find it agreeable or inviting4 ,the eye of an observer may not be able to distinguish them from ,christ's true followers2 but the distinction is present and is radical4 ,they are seeking to use ,christ1 and are not willing to be used by ,him4 ,they are not wholly and heartily ,his1 but merely seek to derive some influences from ,him4 ,the result is that they one day find that1 through all their religious profession and apparent ,christian life1 their characteristic sin has actually been gaining strength4 ,and finding this1 they turn upon ,christ with disappointment and rage in their hearts1 because they become aware that they have lost both this world and the next--have lost many pleasures and gains they might have enjoyed1 and yet have gained no spiritual attainment4 ,they find that the reward of double-mindedness is the most absolute perdition1 that both ,christ and the world1 to be made anything of1 require the whole man1 and that he who tries to get the good of both gets the good of neither4 ,and when a man awakes to see that this is the result of his ,christian profession1 there is no deadliness of hatred to which the bitter disappointment of his soul will not carry him4 ,he has himself been a dupe1 and he calls ,christ an impostor4 ,he know himself to be damned1 and he says there is no salvation in ,christ4 ,but to this disastrous issue any cherished sin may also in its own way lead2 for the more comprehensive lesson which this sin of ,judas brings with it is the rapidity of sin's growth and the enormous proportions it attains when the sinner is sinning against light1 when he is in circumstances conducive to holiness and still sins4 ,to discover the wickedest of men1 to see the utmost of human guilt1 we must look1 not among the heathen1 but among those who know ,god2 not among the profligate1 dissolute1 abandoned classes of society1 but among the ,apostles4 ,the good that was in ,judas led him to join ,christ1 and kept him associated with ,christ for some years2 but the devil of covetousness that was cast out for a while returned and brought with him seven devils worse than himself4 ,there was everything in his position to win him to unworldliness3 the men he lived with cared not one whit for comforts or anything that money could buy2 but instead of catching their spirit he took advantage of their carelessness4 ,he was in a public position1 liable to detection2 but this1 instead of making him honest perforce1 made him only the more crafty and studiedly hypocritical4 ,the solemn warnings of ,christ1 so far from intimidating him1 only made him more skilful in evading all good influence1 and made the road to hell easier4 ,the position he enjoyed1 and by which he might have been for ever enrolled among the foremost of mankind1 one of the twelve foundations of the eternal city1 he so skilfully misused that the greatest sinner feels glad that he has yet not been left to commit the sin of ,judas4 ,had ,judas not followed ,christ he could never have attained the pinnacle of infamy on which he now for ever stands4 ,in all probability he would have passed his days as a small trader with false weights in the little town of ,kerioth1 or1 at the worst1 might have developed into an extortionous publican1 and have passed into oblivion with the thousands of unjust men who have died and been at last forced to let go the money that should long ago have belonged to others4 ,or had ,judas followed ,christ truly1 then there lay before him the noblest of all lives1 the most blessed of destinies4 ,but he followed ,christ and yet took his sin with him3 and thence his ruin4 ,,footnotes3 #ab ,more exactly1 ,l#c #aj #h1 the legal value of a slave4 ,,viii4 ,,jesus ,,announces ,,his ,,departure4 ,when therefore he was gone out1 ,jesus saith1 ,now is the ,son of man glorified1 and ,god is glorified in ,him2 and ,god shall glorify ,him in ,himself1 and straightway shall ,he glorify ,him4 ,little children1 yet a little while ,i am with you4 ,ye shall seek ,me3 and as ,i said unto the ,jews1 ,whither ,i go1 ye cannot come2 so now ,i say unto you4 ,a new commandment ,i give unto you1 that ye love one another2 even as ,i have loved you1 that ye also love one another4 ,by this shall all men know that ye are ,my disciples1 if ye have love one to another4 ,simon ,peter saith unto ,him1 ,lord1 whither goest ,thou8 ,jesus answered1 ,whither ,i go1 thou canst not follow ,me now2 but thou shalt follow afterwards4 ,peter saith unto ,him1 ,lord1 why cannot ,i follow ,thee even now8 ,i will lay down my life for ,thee4 ,jesus answereth1 ,wilt thou lay down thy life for ,me8 ,verily1 verily1 ,i say unto thee1 ,the cock shall not crow1 till thou hast denied ,me thrice4 ,let not your heart be troubled3 ye believe in ,god1 believe also in ,me4 ,in ,my ,father's house are many mansions2 if it were not so1 ,i would have told you2 for ,i go to prepare a place for you4 ,and if ,i go and prepare a place for you1 ,i come again1 and will receive you unto ,myself2 that where ,i am1 there ye may be also4 ,and whither ,i go1 ye know the way4--,,john xiii4 #ca-xiv4 #d4 ,when ,judas glided out of the supper-room on his terrible mission1 a weight seemed to be lifted from the spirit of ,jesus4 ,the words which fell from ,him1 however1 indicated that ,he not only felt the relief of being rid of a disturbing element in the company1 but that ,he recognised that a crisis in ,his own career had been reached and successfully passed through4 ,now is the ,son of man glorified1 and ,god is glorified in ,him4 ,in sending ,judas forth ,he had in point of fact delivered ,himself to death4 ,he had taken the step which cannot be withdrawn1 and ,he is conscious of taking it in fulfilment of the will of the ,father4 ,the conflict in ,his own mind is revealed only by the decision of the victory4 ,no man in soundness of body and of mind can voluntarily give himself to die without seeing clearly other possibilities1 and without feeling it to be a hard and painful thing to relinquish life4 ,jesus had made up ,his mind4 ,his death is the beginning of ,his glorification4 ,in choosing the cross ,he chooses the crown4 ,the ,son of man is glorified in ,his perfect self-sacrifice that wins all men to ,him2 and ,god is glorified in ,him because this sacrifice is a tribute at once to the justice and the love of ,god4 ,the ,cross reveals ,god as nothing else does4 ,not only has this decision glorified the ,son of man and ,god through ,him and in ,him1 but as a consequence ,god will glorify the ,son of man in ,himself4 ,he will lift ,him to participation in the ,divine glory4 ,it was well that the disciples should know that this would straightway result from all that their ,master was now to pass through2 that the perfect sympathy with the ,father's will which ,he was now showing would be rewarded by permanent participation in the authority of ,god4 ,it must be through such an one as their ,lord1 who is absolutely at one with ,god1 that ,god fulfils ,his purpose towards men4 ,by this life and death of perfect obedience1 of absolute devotedness to ,god and man1 ,christ necessarily wins dominion over human affairs and exercises a determining influence on all that is to be4 ,in all that ,christ did upon earth ,god was glorified2 ,his holiness1 ,his fatherly love were manifested to men3 in all that ,god now does upon earth ,christ will be glorified2 the uniqueness and power of ,his life will become more manifest1 the supremacy of ,his ,spirit be more and more apparent4 ,this glorification was not the far-off result of the impending sacrifice4 ,it was to date from the present hour and to begin in the sacrifice4 ,god will glorify ,him straightway4 ,yet a little while was ,he to be with ,his disciples4 ,therefore does ,he tenderly address them1 recognising their incompetence1 their inability to stand alone1 as little children2 and in view of the exhibition of bad feeling1 and even of treachery1 which the ,twelve had at that very hour given1 ,his commandment1 ,love one another1 comes with a tenfold significance4 ,i am leaving you1 ,he says3 put away1 then1 all heart-burnings and jealousies2 cling together2 do not let quarrels and envyings divide you4 ,this was to be their safeguard when ,he left them and went where they could not come4 ,a new commandment ,i give unto you1 ,that ye love one another2 as ,i have loved you1 that ye also love one another4 ,by this shall all men know that ye are ,my disciples1 if ye have love one to another4 ,the commandment to love our neighbour as ourselves was no new commandment4 ,but to love as ,i have loved you was so new that its practice was enough to identify a man as a disciple of ,christ4 ,the manner and the measure of the love that is possible and that is commanded could not even be understood until ,christ's love was revealed4 ,but probably what ,jesus had even more directly in view was the love that was to bind ,his followers together#ac and make them one solid body4 ,it was on their mutual attachment that the very existence of the ,christian ,church depended2 and this love of men to one another springing out of the love of ,christ for them1 and because of their acknowledgment and love of a common ,lord1 was a new thing in the world4 ,the bond to ,christ proved itself stronger than all other ties1 and those who cherished a common love to ,him were drawn to one another more closely than even to blood relations4 ,in fact1 ,christ1 by ,his love for men1 has created a new bond1 and that the strongest by which men can be bound to one another4 ,as the ,christian ,church is a new institution upon earth1 so is the principle which forms it a new principle4 ,the principle has1 indeed1 too often been hidden from sight1 if not smothered1 by the institution2 too little has love been regarded as the one thing by which the disciple of ,christ is to be recognised1 the one note of the true ,church4 ,but that this form of love was a new thing upon earth is apparent4#ad ,tenderly as ,jesus made the announcement of ,his departure1 it filled the minds of the disciples with consternation4 ,even the buoyant and hardy ,peter felt for the moment staggered by the intelligence1 and still more by the announcement that he was not able to accompany his ,lord4 ,he was assured that one day he should follow ,him1 but at present this was impossible4 ,this1 ,peter considered a reflection upon his courage and fidelity2 and although his headlong self-confidence had only a few minutes before been so severely rebuked1 he exclaims1 ,lord1 why cannot ,i follow ,thee now8 ,i will lay down my life for ,thy sake4 ,this was the true expression of ,peter's present feeling1 and he was allowed in the end to give proof that these vehement words were not mere bluster4 ,but as yet he had not at all apprehended the separateness of his ,lord and the uniqueness of ,his work4 ,he did not know precisely what ,jesus alluded to1 but he thought a strong arm would not be out of place in any conflict that was coming4 ,the offers which even true fidelity makes are often only additional hindrances to our ,lord's purposes1 and additional burdens for ,him to bear4 ,on ,himself alone must ,he depend4 ,no man can counsel ,him1 and none can aid save by first receiving from ,him ,his own spirit4 ,peter thus rebuked falls into unwonted silence1 and takes no further part in the conversation4 ,the rest1 knowing that ,peter has more courage than any of them1 fear that if he is thus to fall it cannot be hopeful for themselves4 ,they feel that if they are left without ,jesus they have no strength to make head against the rulers1 no skill in argument such as made ,jesus victorious when assailed by the scribes1 no popular eloquence which might enable them to win the people4 ,eleven more helpless men could not well be4 ,sheep without a shepherd was not too strong an expression to depict their weakness and want of influence1 their incompetence to effect anything1 their inability even to keep together4 ,christ was their bond of union and the strength of each of them4 ,it was to be with ,him that they had left all4 ,and in forsaking all--father and mother1 wife and children1 home and kindred and calling--they had found in ,christ that hundredfold more even in this life which ,he had promised4 ,he had so won their hearts1 there was about ,him something so fascinating1 that they felt no loss when they enjoyed ,his presence1 and feared no danger in which ,he was their leader4 ,they had perhaps not thought very definitely of their future2 they felt so confident in ,jesus that they were content to let ,him bring in ,his kingdom as ,he pleased2 they were so charmed with the novelty of their life as ,his disciples1 with the great ideas that dropped from ,his lips1 with the wonderful works ,he did1 with the new light ,he shed upon all the personages and institutions of the world1 that they were satisfied to leave their hope undefined4 ,but all this satisfaction and secret assurance of hope depended on ,christ4 ,as yet ,he had not given to them anything which could enable them to make any mark upon the world4 ,they were still very ignorant1 so that any lawyer could entangle and puzzle them4 ,they had not received from ,christ any influential position in society from which they could sway men4 ,there were no great visible institutions with which they could identify themselves and so become conspicuous4 ,it was with dismay1 therefore1 that they heard that ,he was going where they could not accompany ,him4 ,a cloud of gloomy foreboding gathered on their faces as they lay round the table and fixed their eyes on ,him as on one whose words they would interpret differently if they could4 ,their anxious looks are not disregarded4 ,let not your heart be troubled1 ,he says3 believe in ,god1 and in ,me1 too1 believe4 ,do not give way to disturbing thoughts2 do not suppose that only failure1 disgrace1 helplessness1 and calamity await you4 ,trust ,god4 ,in this1 as in all matters1 ,he is guiding and ruling and working ,his own good ends through all present evil4 ,trust ,him1 even when you cannot penetrate the darkness4 ,it is ,his part to bring you successfully through2 it is your part to follow where ,he leads4 ,do not question and debate and vex your soul1 but leave all to ,him4 ,why art thou cast down1 ,o my soul8 and why art thou disquieted within me8 ,hope thou in ,god2 for ,i shall yet praise ,him who is the health of my countenance and my ,god4 ,and in ,me1 too1 trust4 ,i would not leave you had ,i not a purpose to serve4 ,it is not to secure ,my own safety or happiness ,i go4 ,it is not to occupy the sole available room in ,my ,father's house4 ,there are many rooms there1 and ,i go to prepare a place for you4 ,trust ,me4 ,in order that they may fully understand the reasonableness of ,his departure ,he assures them1 first of all1 that it has a purpose4 ,the parent mourns over the son who in mere waywardness leaves his home and his occupation2 but with very different feelings does he follow one who has come to see that the greater good of the family requires that he should go1 and who has carefully ascertained where and how he can best serve those he leaves behind4 ,to such an absence men can reconcile themselves4 ,the parting is bitter1 but the greater good to be gained by it enables them to approve its reasonableness and to submit4 ,and what our ,lord says to ,his disciples is virtually this3 ,i have not wearied of earth and tired of your company1 neither do ,i go because ,i must4 ,i could escape ,judas and the ,jews4 ,but ,i have a purpose which requires that ,i should go4 ,you have not found ,me impulsive1 neither am ,i now acting without good reason4 ,could ,i be of more use to you by staying1 ,i would stay4 ,this is a new kind of assertion to be made by human lips3 ,i am going into the other world to effect a a purpose4 ,often the sense of duty has been so strong in men that they have left this world without a murmur4 ,but no one has felt so clear about what lies beyond1 or has been so confident of his own power to effect any change for the better in the other world1 that he has left this for a sphere of greater usefulness4 ,this is what ,christ does4 ,but ,he also explains what ,his purpose is3 ,in ,my ,father's house are many mansions4 ,i go to prepare a place for you4 ,the ,father's house was a new figure for heaven4 ,the idea of ,god's house was1 however1 familiar to the ,jews4 ,but in the ,temple the freedom and familiarity which we associate with home were absent4 ,it was only when ,one came who felt that ,his real home was in ,god that the ,temple could be called the ,father's house4 ,yet there is nothing that the heart of man more importunately craves than the freedom and ease which this name implies4 ,to live unafraid of ,god1 not shrinking from ,him1 but so truly at one with ,him that we live as one household brightened by ,his presence--this is the thirst for ,god which is one day felt in every heart4 ,and on ,his part ,god has many mansions in ,his house1 proclaiming that ,he desires to have us at home with ,him2 that ,he wishes us to know and trust ,him1 not to change our countenances when we meet ,him at a corner1 save by an added brightness of joy4 ,and this is what we have to look forward to--that after all our coldness and distrust have been removed and our hearts thawed by ,his presence1 we shall live in the constant enjoyment of a ,father's love1 feeling ourselves more truly at home with ,him than with any one else1 delighting in the perfectness of ,his sympathy and the abundance of ,his provision4 ,into this intimacy with ,god1 this freedom of the universe1 this sense that all things are ours because we are ,his1 this entirely attractive heaven1 we are to be introduced by ,christ4 ,i go to prepare a place for you4 ,it is ,he who has transformed the darkness of the grave into the bright gateway of the ,father's home1 where all ,his children are to find eternal rest and everlasting joy4 ,as an old writer says1 ,christ is the quartermaster who provides quarters for all who follow ,him4 ,he has gone on before to make ready for those whom ,he has summoned to come after ,him4 ,if we ask why it was needful that ,christ should go forward thus1 and what precisely ,he had to do in the way of preparation1 the question may be answered in different ways4 ,these disciples in after-years compared ,christ's passing into the ,father's presence to the high priest's entrance within the veil to present the blood of sprinkling and to make intercession4 ,but in the language of ,christ there is no hint that such thoughts were in ,his mind4 ,it is the ,father's house that is in ,his mind1 the eternal home of men2 and ,he sees the ,father welcoming ,him as the leader of many brethren1 and with gladness in ,his heart going from room to room1 always adding some new touch for the comfort and surprise of the eagerly expected children4 ,if ,god1 like a grieved and indignant father whose sons have preferred other company to his1 had dismantled and locked the rooms that once were ours1 ,christ has made our peace1 and has given to the yearning heart of the ,father opportunity to open these rooms once more and deck them for our home-coming4 ,with the words of ,christ there enters the spirit a conviction that when we pass out of this life we shall find ourselves as much fuller of life and deeper in joy as we are nearer to ,god1 the source of all life and joy2 and that when we come to the gates of ,god's dwelling it will not be as the vagabond and beggar unknown to the household and who can give no good account of himself1 but as the child whose room is ready for him1 whose coming is expected and prepared for1 and who has indeed been sent for4 ,this of itself is enough to give us hopeful thoughts of the future state4 ,christ is busied in preparing for us what will give us satisfaction and joy4 ,when we expect a guest we love and have written for1 we take pleasure in preparing for his reception1--we hang in his room the picture he likes2 if he is infirm1 we wheel in the easiest chair2 we gather the flowers he admires and set them on his table2 we go back and back to see if nothing else will suggest itself to us1 so that when he comes he may have entire satisfaction4 ,this is enough for us to know--that ,christ is similarly occupied4 ,he knows our tastes1 our capabilities1 our attainments1 and he has identified a place as ours and holds it for us4 ,what the joys and the activities and occupations of the future shall be we do not know4 ,with the body we shall lay aside many of our appetites and tastes and proclivities1 and what has here seemed necessary to our comfort will at once become indifferent4 ,we shall not be able to desire the pleasures that now allure and draw us4 ,the need of shelter1 of retirement1 of food1 of comfort1 will disappear with the body2 and what the joys and the requirements of a spiritual body will be we do not know4 ,but we do know that at home with ,god the fullest life that man can live will certainly be ours4 ,it is a touching evidence of ,christ's truthfulness and fidelity to ,his people that is given in the words1 ,if it were not so1 ,i would have told you--that is to say1 if it had not been possible for you to follow ,me into the ,father's presence and find a favourable reception there1 ,i would have told you this long ago4 ,i would not have taught you to love ,me1 only to have given you the grief of separation4 ,i would not have encouraged you to hope for what ,i was not sure you are to receive4 ,he had all along seen how the minds of the disciples were working2 ,he had seen that by being admitted to familiarity with ,him they had learnt to expect ,god's eternal favour2 and had this been a deceitful expectation ,he would have undeceived them4 ,so it is with ,him still4 ,the hopes ,his word begets are not vain4 ,these dreams of glory that pass before the spirit that listens to ,christ and thinks of ,him are to be realised4 ,if it were not so1 ,he would have told us4 ,we ourselves feel that we are scarcely acting an honest part when we allow persons to entertain false hopes1 even when these hopes help to comfort and support them1 as in the case of persons suffering from disease4 ,so our ,lord does not beget hopes ,he cannot satisfy4 ,if there were still difficulties in the way of our eternal happiness1 ,he would have told us of these4 ,if there were any reason to despair1 ,he ,himself would have been the first to tell us to despair4 ,if eternity were to be a blank to us1 if ,god were inaccessible1 if the idea of a perfect state awaiting us were mere talk1 ,he would have told us so4 ,neither will the ,lord leave ,his disciples to find their own way to the ,father's home3 ,if ,i go and prepare a place for you1 ,i will come again1 and receive you unto ,myself2 that where ,i am1 there ye may be also4 ,present separation was but the first step towards abiding union4 ,and as each disciple was summoned to follow ,christ in death1 he recognised that this was the summons1 not of an earthly power1 but of his ,lord2 he recognised that to him the ,lord's promise was being kept1 and that he was being taken into eternal union with ,jesus ,christ4 ,from many all the pain and darkness of death have been taken away by this assurance4 ,they have accepted death as the needful transition from a state in which much hinders fellowship with ,christ to a state in which that fellowship is all in all4 ,,footnotes3 #ac ,that ye love one another is the twice-expressed commandment4 #ad ,any ,church that professes to be the ,church of ,christ cannot be that ,church4 ,the true ,church refuses to be circumscribed or parted by any denominational wall4 ,it knows that ,christ is repudiated when ,his people are repudiated4 ,not even a ,biblical creed can yield satisfactory evidence that a specified ,church is the true ,church4 ,true ,christians are those who love one another across denominational differences1 and exhibit the spirit of ,him who gave ,himself to death upon the cross that ,his murderers might live4 ,,ix4 ,,the ,,way1 ,,the ,,truth1 ,,and ,,the ,,life4 ,thomas saith unto ,him1 ,lord1 we know not whither ,thou goest2 how know we the way8 ,jesus saith unto him1 ,i am the ,way1 and the ,truth1 and the ,life3 no one cometh unto the ,father1 but by ,me4 ,if ye had known ,me1 ye would have known ,my ,father also3 from henceforth ye know ,him1 and have seen ,him4--,,john xiv4 #e-g4 ,it surprises us to find that words which have become familiar and most intelligible to us should have been to the ,apostles obscure and puzzling4 ,apparently they were not yet persuaded that their ,master was shortly to die2 and1 accordingly1 when ,he spoke of going to ,his ,father's house1 it did not occur to them that ,he meant passing into the spiritual world4 ,his assuring words1 ,where ,i am1 there ye shall be also1 therefore fell short4 ,and when ,he sees their bewilderment written on their faces1 ,he tentatively1 half interrogatively1 adds1 ,and whither ,i go ye know1 and the way ye know4#ae ,unless they knew where ,he was going1 there was less consolation even in the promise that ,he would come for them after ,he had gone and prepared a place for them4 ,and when ,he thus challenges them candidly to say whether they understood where ,he was going1 and where ,he would one day take them also1 ,thomas1 always the mouthpiece for the despondency of the ,twelve1 at once replies1 ,lord1 we know not whither ,thou goest2 and how can we know the way8 ,this interruption by ,thomas gives occasion to the great declaration1 ,i am the ,way1 and the ,truth1 and the ,life3 no man cometh unto the ,father1 but by ,me4 ,it is1 then1 to the ,father that ,christ is the ,way4 ,and ,he is the ,way by being the ,truth and the ,life4 ,we must first1 then1 consider in what sense ,he is the ,truth and the ,life4 ,i4 ,i am the ,truth4 ,were these words merely equivalent to ,i speak the truth1 it would be much to know this of ,one who tells us things of so measureless a consequence to ourselves4 ,the faith of the disciples was being strained by what ,he had just been saying to them4 ,here was a man in most respects like themselves3 a man who got hungry and sleepy1 a man who was to be arrested and executed by the rulers1 assuring them that ,he was going to prepare for them everlasting habitations1 and that ,he would return to take them to these habitations4 ,he saw that they found it hard to believe this4 ,who does not find it hard to believe all our ,lord tells us of our future8 ,think how much we trust simply to ,his word4 ,if ,he is not true1 then the whole of ,christendom has framed its life on a false issue1 and is met at death by blank disappointment4 ,christ has aroused in our minds by ,his promises and statements a group of ideas and expectations which nothing but ,his word could have persuaded us to entertain4 ,nothing is more remarkable about our ,lord than the calmness and assurance with which ,he utters the most astounding statements4 ,the ablest and most enlightened men have their hesitations1 their periods of agonising doubt1 their suspense of judgment1 their laboured inquiries1 their mental conflicts4 ,with ,jesus there is nothing of this4 ,from first to last ,he sees with perfect clearness to the utmost bound of human thought1 knows with absolute certainty whatever is essential for us to know4 ,his is not the assurance of ignorance1 nor is it the dogmatism of traditional teaching1 nor the evasive assurance of a superficial and reckless mind4 ,it is plainly the assurance of ,one who stands in the full noon of truth and speaks what ,he knows4 ,but in ,his endeavours to gain the confidence of men there is discernible no anger at their incredulity4 ,again and again ,he brings forward reasons why ,his word should be believed4 ,he appeals to their knowledge of ,his candour3 ,if it were not so1 ,i would have told you4 ,it was the truth ,he came into the world to bear witness to4 ,lies enough were current already4 ,he came to be the ,light of the world1 to dispel the darkness and bring men into the very truth of things4 ,but with all ,his impressiveness of asseveration there is no anger1 scarcely even wonder that men did not believe1 because ,he saw as plainly as we see that to venture our eternal hope on ,his word is not easy4 ,and yet ,he answered promptly and with authority the questions which have employed the lifetime of many and baffled them in the end4 ,he answered them as if they were the very alphabet of knowledge4 ,these alarmed and perturbed disciples ask ,him3 ,is there a life beyond8 is there another side of death8 ,yes1 ,he says1 through death ,i go to the ,father4 ,is there1 they ask1 for us also a life beyond8 shall such creatures as we find sufficient and suitable habitation and welcome when we pass from this warm1 well-known world8 ,in ,my ,father's house1 ,he says1 are many mansions4 ,confronted with the problems that most deeply exercise the human spirit1 ,he without faltering pronounces upon them4 ,for every question which our most anxious and trying experiences dictate ,he has the ready and sufficient answer4 ,he is the ,truth4 ,but more than this is contained in ,his words4 ,he says not merely ,i speak the truth1 but ,i am the ,truth4 ,in ,his person and work we find all truth that it is essential to know4 ,he is the true ,man1 the revelation of perfect manhood1 in whom we see what human life truly is4 ,in ,his own history ,he shows us our own capacities and our own destiny4 ,an angel or an inanimate law might tell us the truth about human life1 but ,christ is the ,truth4 ,he is man like ourselves4 ,if we are extinguished at death1 so is ,he4 ,if for us there is no future life1 neither is there for ,him4 ,he is ,himself human4 ,further and especially1 ,he is the truth about ,god3 ,if ye had known ,me1 ye had known ,my ,father also4 ,strenuous efforts are being made in our day to convince us that all our search after ,god is vain1 because by the very nature of the case it is impossible to know ,god4 ,we are assured that all our imaginations of ,god are but a reflection of ourselves magnified infinitely2 and that what results from all our thinking is not ,god1 but only a magnified man4 ,we form in our thoughts an ideal of human excellence--perfect holiness and perfect love2 and we add to this highest moral character we can conceive a supernatural power and wisdom1 and this we call ,god4 ,but this1 we are assured1 is but to mislead ourselves2 for what we thus set before our minds as ,divine is not ,god1 but only a higher kind of man4 ,but ,god is not a higher kind of man3 ,he is a different kind of being--a ,being to whom it is absurd to ascribe intelligence1 or will1 or personality1 or anything human4 ,we have felt the force of what is thus urged2 and feeling most deeply that for us the greatest of all questions is1 ,what is ,god8 we have been afraid lest1 after all1 we have been deluding ourselves with an image of our own creating very different from the reality4 ,we have felt that there is a great truth lying at the heart of what is thus urged1 a truth which the ,bible makes as much of as philosophy does--the truth that we cannot find out ,god1 cannot comprehend ,him4 ,we say certain things about ,him1 as that ,he is a ,spirit2 but which of us knows what a pure spirit is1 which of us can conceive in our minds a distinct idea of what we so freely speak of as a spirit8 ,indeed1 it is because it is impossible for us to have any sufficient idea of ,god as ,he is in ,himself that ,he has become man and manifested ,himself in flesh4 ,this revelation of ,god in man implies that there is an affinity and likeness between ,god and man--that man is made in ,god's image4 ,were it not so1 we should see in ,christ1 not ,god at all1 but only man4 ,if ,god is manifest in ,christ1 it is because there is that in ,god which can find suitable expression in a human life and person4 ,in fact1 this revelation takes for granted that in a sense it is quite true that ,god is a magnified ,man--that ,he is a ,being in whom there is much that resembles what is in man4 ,and it stands to reason that this must be so4 ,it is quite true that man can only conceive what is like himself2 but that is only half the truth4 ,it is also true that ,god can only create what is consistent with ,his own mind4 ,in ,his creatures we see a reflection of ,himself4 ,and as we ascend from the lowest of them to the highest1 we see what ,he considers the highest qualities4 ,finding in ourselves these highest qualities--qualities which enable us to understand all lower creatures and to use them--we gather that in ,god ,himself there must be something akin to our mind and to our inner man4 ,christ1 then1 is the ,truth1 because ,he is the ,revealer of ,god4 ,in ,him we learn what ,god is and how to approach ,him4 ,but knowledge is not enough4 ,it is conceivable that we should have learned much about ,god and yet have despaired of ever becoming like ,him4 ,it might gradually have become our conviction that we were for ever shut out from all good1 although that is incompatible with a true knowledge of ,god2 for if ,god is known at all1 ,he must be known as ,love1 as self-communicating4 ,but the possibility of having knowledge which we cannot use is precluded by the fact that ,he who is the ,truth is also the ,life4 ,in ,him who is the ,revealer we at the same time find power to avail ourselves of the revelation4 ,for3 ,,ii4 ,i am the ,life4 ,the declaration need not be restricted to the immediate occasion1 ,christ imparts to men power to use the knowledge of the ,father ,he gives them4 ,he gives men desire1 will1 and power to live with ,god and in ,god4 ,but is not all life implied in this8 ,this is life as men are destined to know it4 ,in every man there is a thirst for life4 ,everything that clogs1 impedes1 or retards life we hate2 sickness1 imprisonment1 death1 whatever diminishes1 enfeebles1 limits1 or destroys life1 we abhor4 ,happiness means abundant life1 great vitality finding vent for itself in healthy ways4 ,great scope or opportunity of living to good purpose is useless to the invalid who has little life in himself2 and1 on the other hand1 abundant vitality is only a pain to the man who is shut up and can spend his energy only in pacing a cell eight feet by four4 ,our happiness depends upon these two conditions--perfect energy and infinite scope4 ,but can we assure ourselves of either8 ,is not the one certainty of life1 as we know it1 that it must end8 ,is it not certain that1 no matter what energy the most vigorous of us enjoy1 we shall all one day lie in cold obstruction8 ,naturally we fear that time1 as if all life were then to end for us4 ,we shrink from that apparent termination1 as if beyond it there could be but a shadowy1 spectral life in which nothing is substantial1 nothing lively1 nothing delightsome1 nothing strong4 ,that state which we shrink from our ,lord chooses as a condition of perfect life1 abundant and untrammelled4 ,and what ,he has chosen for ,himself ,he means to bestow upon us4 ,why should we find it so hard to believe in that abundant life8 ,there is a sufficient source of physical life which upholds the universe and is not burdened1 which in continuance and exuberantly brings forth life in inconceivably various forms4 ,the world around us indicates a source of life which seems always to grow and expand rather than to be exhausted4 ,so there is a source of spiritual life1 a force sufficient to uphold all men in righteousness and in eternal vitality of spirit1 and which can give birth to ever new and varied forms of heroic1 holy1 godly living--a force which is ever pressing forward to find expression through all moral beings1 and capable of making all human action as perfect1 as beautiful1 and infinitely more significant than the products of physical life which we see around us4 ,if the flowers profusely scattered by the wayside are marvels of beauty1 if the bodily frame of man and of the other animals is continually surprising us with some new revelation of exquisite arrangement of parts1 if nature is so lavish and so perfect in physical life1 may we not believe that there is as rich a fountain of moral and spiritual life8 ,nay1 the youths may faint and be weary1 and the young men utterly fall1 physical life may fail and in the nature of things must fail1 but they that wait upon the ,lord shall renew their strength1 they shall run and not be weary4 ,it is ,jesus ,christ who brings us into connection with this source of life eternal--,he bears it in ,his own person4 ,in ,him we receive a new spirit2 in ,him our motive to live for righteousness is continually renewed2 we are conscious that in ,him we touch what is undying and never fails to renew spiritual life in us4 ,whatever we need to give us true and everlasting life we have in ,christ4 ,whatever we need to enable us to come to the ,father1 whatever we shall need between this present stage of experience and our final stage1 we have in ,him4 ,the more1 then1 we use ,christ1 the more life we have4 ,the more we are with ,him and the more we partake of ,his ,spirit1 the fuller does our own life become4 ,it is not by imitating successful men we become influential for good1 but by living with ,christ4 ,it is not by adopting the habits and methods of saints we become strong and useful1 but by accepting ,christ and ,his ,spirit4 ,nothing can take the place of ,christ4 ,nothing can take ,his words and say to us1 ,i am the ,life4 ,if we wish life1 if we see that we are doing little good and desire energy to overtake the good that needs to be done1 it is to ,him we must go4 ,if we feel as if all our efforts were vain1 and as if we could not bear up any longer against our circumstances or against our wicked nature we can receive fresh vigour and hopefulness only from ,christ4 ,we need not be surprised at our failures if we are not receiving from ,christ the life that is in ,him4 ,and nothing can give us the life that is in ,him but our own personal application to ,him1 our direct dealing with ,himself4 ,ordinances and sacraments help to bring ,him clearly before us1 but they are not living and cannot give us life4 ,it is only in so far as through and in them we reach ,christ and receive ,him that we partake of that highest of all forms of life--the life that is in ,him1 the living ,one1 by whom all things were made1 and who in the very face of death can say1 ,because ,i live ye shall live also4 ,,iii4 ,being the ,revealer of the ,father1 and giving men power to approach ,god and live in ,him1 ,jesus legitimately designates ,himself the ,way4 ,jesus never says ,i am the ,father2 ,he does not even say ,i am ,god1 for that might have produced misunderstanding4 ,he uniformly speaks as if there were ,one on whom ,he ,himself leant1 and to whom ,he prayed1 and with whom1 as with another person1 ,he had fellowship4 ,i am the ,way1 ,he says2 and a way implies a goal beyond itself1 some further object to which it leads and brings us4 ,he is not the ,being revealed1 but the ,revealer2 not the terminal object of our worship1 but the image of the invisible ,god1 the ,priest1 the ,sacrifice4 ,christ announces ,himself to ,thomas as the ,way1 in order to remove from the mind of the disciple the uncertainty he felt about the future4 ,he knew there were heights of glory and blessedness to which the ,messiah would certainly attain1 but which seemed dim and remote and even quite unattainable to sinful men4 ,jesus defines at once the goal and the way4 ,all our vague yearnings after what will satisfy us ,he reduces to this simple expression3 the ,father4 ,this1 ,he implies1 is the goal and destiny of man2 to come to the ,father1 who embraces in ,his loving care all our wants1 our incapacities1 our sorrows2 to reach and abide in a love that is strong1 wise1 educative1 imperishable2 to reach this love and be so transformed by it as to feel more at home with this perfectly holy ,god than with any besides4 ,and to bring us to this goal is the function of ,christ1 the ,way4 ,it is ,his to bring together what is highest and what is lowest4 ,it is ,his to unite those who are separated by the most real obstacles3 to bring us1 weak and unstable and full of evil imaginings1 into abiding union with the ,supreme1 glad to be conformed to ,him and to accomplish ,his purposes4 ,in proclaiming ,himself the ,way1 ,christ pronounces ,himself able to effect the most real union between parties and conditions as separate as heaven and earth1 sin and holiness1 the poor creature ,i know myself to be and the infinite and eternal ,god who is so high ,i cannot know ,him4 ,further1 the way to which we commit ourselves when we seek to come to the ,father through ,christ is a ,person4 ,i am the ,way4 ,it is not a cold1 dead road we have to make the most of for ourselves1 pursuing it often in darkness1 in weakness1 in fear4 ,it is a living way--a way that renews our strength as we walk in it1 that enlivens instead of exhausting us1 that gives direction and light as we go forward4 ,often we seem to find our way barred2 we do not know how to get farther forward2 we wonder if there is no book in which we can find direction2 we long for some wise guide who could show us how to proceed4 ,at such times ,christ would have us hear ,him saying1 ,i am the ,way4 ,if you abide in ,me1 if you continue in ,my love1 you are in the way and must be carried forward to all good4 ,often we seem to lose ourselves and cannot tell whether our faces and our steps are directed aright or not2 we become doubtful whether we have been making any progress or have not rather been going back4 ,often we lose heart and begin to doubt whether it is possible for us men ever to reach any purer1 higher life2 we are going1 we say1 we know not whither2 this life is full of blunders and failures4 ,many of the best and most earnest and gifted men have owned their ignorance of the purpose of life and of its end4 ,no voice comes to us out of the unseen world to give us assurance that there is life there4 ,how can lonely1 ignorant1 irresolute1 weak1 and helpless creatures such as we are ever attain to anything we can call blessedness8 ,to all such gloom and doubting ,christ1 with the utmost confidence1 says1 ,i am the ,way4 ,wherever you are1 at whatever point of experience1 at whatever stage of sin1 this way begins where you are1 and you have but to take it and it leads to ,god1 to that unknown ,highest you yearn for even while you shrink from ,him4 ,from your person1 as you are at this moment1 there leads a way to the ,father4 ,,footnotes3 #ae ,or1 ,and whither ,i go ye know the way4 ,x4 ,,the ,,father ,,seen ,,in ,,christ4 ,philip saith unto ,him1 ,lord1 show us the ,father1 and it sufficeth us4 ,jesus saith unto him1 ,have ,i been so longtime with you1 and dost thou not know ,me1 ,philip8 he that hath seen ,me hath seen the ,father2 how sayest thou1 ,show us the ,father8 ,believest thou not that ,i am in the ,father1 and the ,father in ,me8 the words that ,i say unto you ,i speak not from ,myself3 but the ,father abiding in ,me doeth ,his works4 ,believe ,me that ,i am in the ,father1 and the ,father in ,me3 or else believe ,me for the very works' sake4 ,verily1 verily1 ,i say unto you1 ,he that believeth on ,me1 the works that ,i do shall he do also2 and greater works than these shall he do2 because ,i go unto the ,father4 ,and whatsoever ye shall ask in ,my name1 that will ,i do1 that the ,father may be glorified in the ,son4 ,if ye shall ask ,me anything in ,my name1 that will ,i do4 ,if ye love ,me1 ye will keep ,my commandments4 ,and ,i will pray the ,father1 and ,he shall give you another ,comforter1 that ,he may be with you for ever1 even the ,spirit of truth3 whom the world cannot receive2 for it beholdeth ,him not1 neither knoweth ,him3 ye know ,him2 for ,he abideth with you1 and shall be in you4 ,i will not leave you desolate3 ,i come unto you4 ,yet a little while1 and the world beholdeth ,me no more2 but ye behold ,me3 because ,i live1 ye shall live also4 ,in that day ye shall know that ,i am in ,my ,father1 and ye in ,me1 and ,i in you4 ,he that hath ,my commandments1 and keepeth them1 he it is that loveth me3 and he that loveth ,me shall be loved of ,my ,father and ,i will love him1 and will manifest ,myself unto him4--,,john xiv4 #h-ba4 ,a third interruption on the part of one of the disciples gives the ,lord occasion to be still more explicit4 ,philip is only further bewildered by the words1 from henceforth ye know the ,father and have seen ,him4 ,he catches1 however1 at the idea that the ,father can be seen1 and eagerly exclaims1 ,lord1 show us the ,father1 and it sufficeth us4 ,in this exclamation there may be a little of that vexed and almost irritated feeling that every one at times has felt in reading the words of ,christ4 ,we feel as if ,he might have made things plainer4 ,we unconsciously reproach ,him with making a mystery1 with going about and about a subject and refusing to speak straight at it4 ,philip felt that if ,christ could show the ,father1 then there was no need of any more enigmatical talk4 ,ignorant as this request may be1 it sprang from the thirst for ,god which was felt by an earnest and godly man4 ,it arose from the craving that now and again visits every soul to get to the heart of all mystery4 ,here in this life we are much in the dark4 ,we feel ourselves to be capable of better enjoyments1 of a higher life4 ,the whole creation groaneth and travaileth1 as if striving towards some better and more satisfying state4 ,there is a something not yet attained which we feel we must reach4 ,were this life all1 we should pronounce existence a failure4 ,and yet there is great uncertainty over our future4 ,there is no familiar intercourse with those who have passed on and are now in the other world4 ,we have no opportunity of informing ourselves of their state and occupations4 ,we go on in great darkness and often with a feeling of great insecurity and trepidation2 feeling lost1 in darkness1 not knowing whither we are going1 not sure that we are in the way to life and happiness4 ,why1 we are tempted to ask1 should there be so much uncertainty8 ,why should we live so remote from the centre of things1 and have to grope our way to life and light1 clouded by doubts1 beset by misleading and disturbing influences8 ,show us the ,father1 we are tempted to say with ,philip--show us the ,father and it sufficeth us4 ,show us the ,supreme4 ,show us the eternal ,one who governs all4 ,take us but once to the centre of things and show us the ,father in whom we live4 ,take us for once behind the scenes and let us see the hand that moves all things2 let us know all that can be known1 that we may see what it is we are going to1 and what is to become of us when this visible world is done4 ,give us assurance that behind all this dumb1 immovable mask of outward things there is a living ,god whose love we can trust and whose power can preserve us to life everlasting4 ,to ,philip's eager request ,jesus replies3 ,have ,i been so long time with you1 and hast thou not known ,me1 ,philip8 ,he that hath seen ,me hath seen the ,father2 how sayest thou1 ,show us the ,father8 ,and it is thus our ,lord addresses all whose unsatisfied craving finds voice in ,philip's request4 ,to all who crave some more immediate1 if not more sensible manifestation of ,god1 to all who live in doubt and feel as if more might be done to give us certitude regarding the relation we hold to ,god and to the future1 ,christ says3 ,no further revelation is to be made1 because no further revelation is needed or can be made4 ,all has been shown that can be shown4 ,there is no more of the ,father you can see than you have seen in ,me4 ,god has taken that form which is most comprehensible to you--your own form1 the form of man4 ,you have seen the ,father4 ,i am the truth1 the reality4 ,it is no longer a symbol telling you something about a distant ,god1 but the ,father ,himself is in ,me1 speaking and acting among you through ,me4 ,what do we find in ,christ8 ,we find perfection of moral character1 superiority to circumstances1 to the elements1 to disease1 to death4 ,we find in ,him ,one who forgives sin and brings peace of conscience1 who bestows the ,holy ,spirit and leads to perfect righteousness4 ,we cannot imagine anything in ,god which is not made present to us in ,christ ,in any part of the universe we should feel secure with ,christ4 ,in the most critical spiritual emergency we should have confidence that ,he could right matters4 ,in the physical and in the spiritual world ,he is equally at home and equally commanding4 ,we can believe ,him when ,he says that he that has seen ,him has seen the ,father4 ,what precisely does this utterance mean8 ,does it only mean that ,jesus in ,his holy and loving ways and in the whole of ,his character was ,god's very image8 ,as you might say of a son who strongly resembles his father1 ,if you have seen the one1 you have seen the other4 ,it is true that the self-sacrifice and humility and devotedness of ,jesus did give men new views of the true character of ,god1 that ,his conduct was an exact transcript of ,god's mind and conveyed to men new thoughts of ,god4 ,but it is plain that the connection between ,jesus and ,god was a different kind of connection from that which subsists between every man and ,god4 ,every man might in a sense say1 ,i am in the ,father and the ,father in me4 ,but plainly the very fact that ,jesus said to ,philip1 ,believest thou not that ,i am in the ,father and the ,father in ,me8 is proof that it was not this ordinary connection ,he had in view4 ,philip could have had no difficulty in perceiving and acknowledging that ,god was in ,jesus as ,he is in every man4 ,but if that were all that ,jesus meant1 then it was wholly out of place to appeal to the works the ,father had given ,him to do in proof of this assertion4 ,when1 therefore1 ,jesus said1 ,he that hath seen ,me hath seen the ,father1 ,he did not merely mean that by ,his superior holiness ,he had revealed the ,father as no other man had done 7although even this would be a most surprising assertion for any mere man to make--that ,he was so holy that whoever had seen ,him had seen the absolutely holy ,god71 but ,he meant that ,god was present with ,him in a special manner4 ,so important was it that the disciples should firmly grasp the truth that the ,father was in ,christ that ,jesus proceeds to enlarge upon the proof or evidence of this4 ,in the course of doing so ,he imparts to them three assurances fitted to comfort them in the prospect of ,his departure3 first1 that so far from being weakened by ,his going to the ,father1 they will do greater works than even those which had proved that the ,father was present with ,him2 second1 that ,he would not leave them friendless and without support1 but would send them the ,paraclete1 the ,spirit of truth1 who should abide with them2 and third1 that although the world would not see ,him1 they would1 and would recognise that ,he was the maintainer of their own life4 ,but all this experience would serve to convince them that the ,father was in ,him4 ,he had1 ,he says1 lived among them as the representative of the ,father1 uttering ,his will1 doing ,his works4 ,these works might have convinced them even if they were not spiritual enough to perceive that ,his words were ,divine utterances4 ,but a time was coming when a satisfying conviction of the truth that ,god had been present with them in the presence of ,jesus would be wrought in them4 ,when1 after ,his departure1 they found themselves doing the works of ,god1 greater works than ,jesus had done1 when they found that the ,spirit of truth dwelt in them1 imparting to them the very mind and life of ,christ ,himself1 then they should be certified of the truth that ,jesus now declared1 that the ,father was in ,him and ,he in the ,father4 ,at that day ye shall know that ,i am in ,my ,father1 and you in ,me1 and ,i in you4 ,what their understanding could not at present quite grasp1 the course of events and their own spiritual experience would make plain to them4 ,when in the prosecution of ,christ's instructions they strove to fulfil ,his commands and carry out ,his will upon earth1 they would find themselves countenanced and supported by powers unseen1 would find their life sustained by the life of ,christ4 ,jesus1 then1 speaks here of three grades of conviction regarding ,his claim to be ,god's representative3 three kinds of evidence--a lower1 a higher1 and the highest4 ,there is the evidence of ,his miracles1 the evidence of ,his words or ,his own testimony1 and the evidence of the new spiritual life ,he would maintain in ,his followers4 ,miracles are not the highest evidence1 but they are evidence4 ,one miracle might not be convincing evidence4 ,many miracles of the same kind1 such as a number of cures of nervous complaints1 or several successful treatments of blind persons1 might only indicate superior knowledge of morbid conditions and of remedies4 ,a physician in advance of his age might accomplish wonders4 ,or had all the miracles of ,jesus been such as the multiplication of the loaves and fishes1 it might1 with a shade of plausibility1 have been urged that this was legerdemain4 ,but what we see in ,jesus is not power to perform an occasional wonder to make men stare or to win for ,himself applause1 but power as ,god's representative on earth to do whatever is needful for the manifestation of ,god's presence and for the fulfilment of ,god's will4 ,it may surely at this time of day be taken for granted that ,jesus was serious and true4 ,the works are given ,him by the ,father to do3 it is as an exhibition of ,god's power ,he performs them4 ,they are therefore performed not in one form only1 but in every needed form4 ,he shows command over all nature1 and gives evidence that spirit is superior to matter and rules it4 ,the miracles of ,christ are also convincing because they are performed by a miraculous ,person4 ,that an ordinary man should seem to rule nature1 or should exhibit wonders on no adequate occasion1 must always seem unlikely1 if not incredible4 ,but that a ,person notoriously exceptional1 being what no other man has ever been1 should do things that no other man has done1 excites no incredulity4 ,that ,christ was supremely and absolutely holy no one doubts2 but this itself is a miracle2 and that this miraculous ,person should act miraculously is not unlikely4 ,moreover1 there was adequate occasion both for the miracle of ,christ's person and the miracle of ,his life and separate acts4 ,there was an end to be served so great as to justify this interruption of the course of things as managed by men4 ,if miracles are possible1 then they could never be more worthily introduced4 ,if at any time it might seem appropriate and needful that the unseen1 holy1 and loving ,god should assert ,his power over all that touches us ,his children1 so as to give us the consciousness of ,his presence and of ,his faithfulness1 surely that time was precisely then when ,christ came forth from the ,father to reveal ,his holiness and ,his love1 to show men that supreme power and supreme holiness and love reside together in ,god4 ,at present men are swinging from an excessive exaltation of miracles to an excessive depreciation of them4 ,they sometimes speak as if no one could work a miracle1 and sometimes as if any one could work a miracle4 ,having discovered that miracles do not convince every one1 they leap to the conclusion that they convince no one2 and perceiving that ,christ does not place them on the highest platform of evidence1 they proceed to put them out of court altogether4 ,this is inconsiderate and unwise4 ,the miracles of ,christ are appealed to by ,himself as evidence of ,his truth2 and looking at them in connection with ,his person1 ,his life1 and ,his mission or object1 considering their character as works of compassion1 and their instructive revelation of the nature and purpose of ,him who did them1 we cannot1 ,i think1 but feel that they carry in them a very strong claim upon our most serious attention and do help us to trust in ,christ4 ,but ,christ ,himself1 in the words before us1 expects that those who have listened to ,his teaching and seen ,his life should need no other evidence that ,god is in ,him and ,he in ,god--should not require to go down and back to the preliminary evidence of miracles which may serve to attract strangers4 ,and1 obviously1 we get closer to the very heart of any person1 nearer to the very core of their being1 through their ordinary and habitual demeanour and conversation than by considering their exceptional and occasional acts4 ,and it is a great tribute to the power and beauty of ,christ's personality that it actually is not ,his miracles which solely or chiefly convince us of ,his claims upon our confidence1 but rather ,his own character as it shines through ,his talks with ,his disciples and with all men ,he met4 ,this1 we feel1 is the ,person for us4 ,here we have the human ideal4 ,the characteristics here disclosed are those which ought everywhere to prevail4 ,but the crowning evidence of ,christ's unity with the ,father can be enjoyed only by those who share ,his life4 ,the conclusive evidence which for ever scatters doubt and remains abidingly as the immovable ground of confidence in ,christ is our individual acceptance of ,his ,spirit4 ,christ's life in ,god1 ,his identification with the ultimate source of life and power1 is to become one of the unquestioned facts of consciousness1 one of the immovable data of human existence4 ,we shall one day be as sure of ,his unity with the ,father1 and that in ,christ our life is hid in ,god1 as we are sure that now we are alive4 ,faith in ,christ is to become an unquestioned certainty4 ,how then is this assurance to be attained8 ,it is to be attained when we ourselves as ,christ's agents do greater works than ,he ,himself did1 and when by the power of ,his spiritual presence with us we live as ,he lived4 ,christ calls our attention to this with ,his usual formula when about to declare a surprising but important truth3 ,verily1 verily1 ,i say unto you1 ,he that believeth on ,me shall do greater works than these4 ,beginning with such evidence and such trust as we can attain1 we shall be encouraged by finding the practical strength which comes of union with ,christ4 ,it speedily became apparent to the disciples that our ,lord meant what ,he said when ,he assured them that they would do greater works than ,he had done4 ,his miracles had amazed them and had done much good4 ,and yet1 after all1 they were necessarily very limited in number1 in the area of their exercise1 and in the permanence of their results4 ,many were healed2 but many1 many more remained diseased4 ,and even those who were healed were not rendered permanently unassailable by disease4 ,the eyes of the blind which were opened for a year or two must close shortly in death4 ,the paralysed1 though sent from ,christ's presence healed1 must yield to the debilitating influences of age and betake themselves again to the crutch or the couch4 ,lazarus given back for a time to his sorrowing sisters must again1 and this time without recall1 own the power of death4 ,and how far did the influence of ,christ penetrate into these healed persons8 ,did they all obey ,his words and sin no more8 or did some worse thing than the disease ,he freed them from fall upon some of them8 ,was there none who used his restored eyesight to minister to sin1 his restored energies to do more wickedness than otherwise would have been possible8 ,in one word1 the miracles of ,christ1 great as they were and beneficent as they were1 were still confined to the body1 and did not directly touch the spirit of man4 ,but was this the object of ,christ's coming8 ,did ,he come to do a little less than several of the great medical discoverers have done8 ,assuredly not4 ,these works of healing which ,he wrought on the bodies of men were1 as ,john regularly calls them1 signs2 they were not acts terminating in themselves1 and finding their full significance in the happiness communicated to the healed persons2 they were signs pointing to a power over men's spirits1 and suggesting to men analogous but everlasting benefits4 ,christ wrought ,his miracles that men1 beginning with what they could see and appreciate1 might be led on to believe in and trust ,him for power to help them in all their matters4 ,and now ,he expressly announces to ,his disciples that these works which ,he had been doing were not miracles of the highest kind2 that miracles of the highest kind were works of healing and renewal wrought not on the bodies but on the souls of men1 works whose effects would not be deleted by disease and death1 but would be permanent1 works which should not be confined to ,palestine1 but should be coextensive with the human race4 ,and these greater works ,he would now proceed to accomplish through ,his disciples4 ,by ,his removal from earth ,his work was not to be stopped1 but to pass into a higher stage4 ,he had come to earth not to make a passing display of ,divine power1 not to give a tantalising glimpse of what the world might be were ,his power acting freely and continuously in it2 but ,he had come to lead us to apprehend the value of spiritual health and to trust ,him for that4 ,and now that ,he had won men's trust and taught a few to love ,him and to value ,his ,spirit1 ,he removes ,himself from their sight1 and puts ,himself beyond the reach of those who merely sought for earthly benefits1 that ,he may through the ,spirit come to all who understood how much greater are spiritual benefits4 ,this crowning evidence of ,christ's being with the ,father and in ,him the disciples very soon enjoyed4 ,on the day of ,pentecost they found such results following from their simple word as had never followed the word of ,christ4 ,thousands were renewed in heart and life4 ,and from that day to this these greater works have never ceased4 ,and why8 ,because ,i go to the ,father4 ,and two reasons are given in these simple words4 ,in the first place1 no such results could be accomplished by ,christ because not till ,he died was the ,father's love fully known4 ,it was the death and resurrection of ,christ that convinced men of the truth of what ,christ had proclaimed in ,his life and in ,his words regarding the ,father4 ,the tender compunction which was stirred by ,his death gave a purchase to the preacher of repentance which did not previously exist4 ,it is ,christ's death and resurrection which have been the converting influence through all the ages1 and these ,christ ,himself could not preach4 ,it was only when ,he had gone to the ,father that the greater works of ,his kingdom could be done4 ,besides1 it was only then that the greater works could be understood and longed for4 ,the fact is1 that the death and resurrection of ,christ radically altered men's conceptions of the spiritual world1 and gave them a belief in a future life of the spirit such as they previously had not and could not have4 ,when men came experimentally into contact with ,one who had passed through death1 and who now entered the unseen world full of plans and of vitality to execute them1 a new sense of the value of spiritual benefits was born within them4 ,the fact of being associated with a living ,christ at ,god's right hand has refined the spiritual conceptions of men1 and has given a quality to holiness which was not previously conspicuous4 ,the spiritual world is now real and near1 and men no longer think of ,christ as a worker of miracles on physical nature1 but as the ,king of the world unseen and the willing ,source of all spiritual good4 ,we sometimes wonder ,christ preached so little and spoke so little as men do now in directing sinners to ,him2 but ,he knew that while ,he lived this was almost useless1 and that events would proclaim ,him more effectually than any words4 ,but when ,christ gives as a reason for the greater works of ,his disciples that ,he ,himself went to the ,father1 ,he also means that1 being with the ,father1 ,he would be in the place of power1 able to respond to the prayers of ,his people4 ,i go unto the ,father1 and whatsoever ye shall ask in ,my name that will ,i do4 ,no man in ,christ's circumstances would utter such words at random4 ,they are uttered with a perfect knowledge of the difficulties and in absolute good faith4 ,but praying in ,christ's name is not so easy an achievement as we are apt to think4 ,praying in ,christ's name means1 no doubt1 that we go to ,god1 not in our own name1 but in ,his4 ,he has given us power to use ,his name1 as when we send a messenger we bid him use our name4 ,sometimes when we send a person to a friend we are almost afraid to give him our name1 knowing that our friend will be anxious for our sakes to do all he can and perhaps too much for the applicant4 ,and in going to ,god in the name of ,christ1 as those who can plead ,his friendship and are identified with ,him1 we know we are sure of a loving and liberal reception4 ,but praying in ,christ's name means more than this4 ,it means that we pray for such things as will promote ,christ's kingdom4 ,when we do anything in another's name1 it is for him we do it4 ,when we take possession of a property or a legacy in the name of some society1 it is not for our own private advantage but for the society we take possession4 ,when an officer arrests any one in the ,queen's name1 it is not to satisfy his private malice he does so2 and when he collects money in the name of government1 it is not to fill his own pocket4 ,yet how constantly do we overlook this obvious condition of acceptable prayer6 ,to pray in ,christ's name is to seek what ,he seeks1 to ask aid in promoting what ,he has at heart4 ,to come in ,christ's name and plead selfish and worldly desires is absurd4 ,to pray in ,christ's name is to pray in the spirit in which ,he ,himself prayed and for objects ,he desires4 ,when we measure our prayers by this rule1 we cease to wonder that so few seem to be answered4 ,is ,god to answer prayers that positively lead men away from ,him8 ,is ,he to build them up in the presumption that happiness can be found in the pursuit of selfish objects and worldly comfort8 ,it is when a man stands1 as these disciples stood1 detached from worldly hopes and finding all in ,christ1 so clearly apprehending the sweep and benignity of ,christ's will as to see that it comprehends all good to man1 and that life can serve no purpose if it do not help to fulfil that will--it is then a man prays with assurance and finds his prayer answered4 ,christ had won the love of these men and knew that their chief desire would be to serve ,him1 that their prayers would always be that they might fulfil ,his purposes4 ,their fear was1 not that ,he would summon them to live wholly for the ends for which ,he had lived1 but that when ,he was gone they should find themselves unfit to contend with the world4 ,and therefore ,he gives them the final encouragement that ,he would still be with them1 not indeed in a visible form apparent to all eyes1 but in a valid and powerful spiritual manner appreciable by those who loved ,christ and strove to do ,his will4 ,if ye love ,me1 keep ,my commandments4 ,and ,i will pray the ,father1 and ,he shall give you another ,comforter1 another ,advocate1 one called to your aid1 and who shall so effectually aid you that in ,his presence and help you will know ,me present with you4 ,i will not leave you comfortless1 like orphans3 ,i will come to you4 ,christ ,himself was still to be with them4 ,he was not merely to leave them ,his memory and example1 but was to be with them1 sustaining and guiding and helping them even as ,he had done4 ,the only difference was to be this--that whereas up to this time they had verified ,his presence by their senses1 seeing ,his body1 hearing ,his words1 and so forth1 they should henceforward verify ,his presence by a spiritual sense which the world of those who did not love ,him could not make use of4 ,yet a little while1 and the world seeth ,me no more2 but ye see ,me3 because ,i live1 ye shall live also4 ,they would find that their life was bound up in ,his2 and as that new life of theirs grew strong and proved itself victorious over the world and powerful to subdue men's hearts to ,christ and win the world to ,christ's kingdom1 they should feel a growing persuasion1 a deepening consciousness1 that this life of theirs was but the manifestation of the continued life of ,christ4 ,at that day they would know that ,christ was in the ,father1 and they in ,him1 and ,he in them4 ,consciousness1 then1 of ,christ's present life and of ,his close relation to ourselves is to be won only by loving ,him and living in ,him and for ,him4 ,lower grades of faith there are on which most of us stand1 and by which1 let us hope1 we are slowly ascending to this assured and ineradicable consciousness4 ,drawn to ,christ we are by the beauty of ,his life1 by ,his evident mastery of all that concerns us1 by ,his knowledge1 by the revelation ,he makes2 but doubts assail us1 questionings arise1 and we long for the full assurance of the personal love of ,god and of the continued personal life and energy of ,christ which would give us an immovable ground to stand on4 ,according to ,christ's explanation given in this passage to ,his disciples1 this deepest conviction1 this unquestionable consciousness of ,his presence1 is attained only by those who proceed upon the lower grades of faith1 and with true love for ,him seek to find their life in ,him4 ,it is a conviction which can only be won experimentally4 ,the disciples passed from the lower to the higher faith at a bound4 ,the sight of the risen ,lord1 the new world vividly present to them in ,his person1 gave their devotedness an impulse which carried them at once and for ever to certainty4 ,there are many still who are so drawn by spiritual affinity to ,christ that unhesitatingly and unrepentingly they give themselves wholly to ,him1 and have the reward of a conscious life in ,christ4 ,others have more slowly to win their way upwards1 fighting against unbelief1 striving to give themselves more undividedly to ,christ1 and encouraging themselves with the hope that from their hearts also all doubts will one day for ever vanish4 ,certain it is that ,christ's life can only be given to those who are willing to receive it--certain it is that only those who seek to do ,his work seek to be sustained by ,his life4 ,if we are not striving to attain those ends which ,he gave ,his life to accomplish1 we cannot be surprised if we are not sensible of receiving ,his aid4 ,if we aim at worldly ends1 we shall need no other energy than what the world supplies2 but if we throw ourselves heartily into the ,christian order of things and manner of life1 we shall at once be sensible of our need of help1 and shall know whether we receive it or not4 ,christ's promise is explicit--a promise given as the stay of ,his friends in their bitterest need3 ,he that hath ,my commandments1 and keepeth them1 he it is that loveth ,me3 and he that loveth ,me shall be loved of ,my ,father1 and ,i will love ,him1 and will manifest ,myself to him4 ,it will still be a spiritual manifestation which can be perceived only by those whose spirits are exercised to discern such things2 but it will be absolutely satisfying4 ,we shall find one day that ,christ's work has been successful1 that ,he has brought men and ,god into a perfect harmony4 ,that day shall arrive for us also1 when we shall find that ,christ has actually accomplished what ,he undertook1 and has set our life and ourselves on an enduring foundation--has given us eternal life in ,god1 a life of perfect joy4 ,things are under ,god's guidance progressive1 and ,christ is the great means ,he uses for the progress of all that concerns ourselves4 ,and what ,christ has done is not to be fruitless or only half effective2 ,he will see of the travail of ,his soul and be satisfied--satisfied because in us the utmost of happiness and the utmost of good have been attained1 because greater and richer things than man has conceived have been made ours4 ,these utterances are fitted to dispel a form of unbelief which seriously hinders many sincere inquirers4 ,it arises from the difficulty of believing in ,christ as now alive and able to afford spiritual assistance4 ,many persons who enthusiastically admit the perfectness of ,christ's character and of the morality ,he taught1 and who desire above all else to make that morality their own1 are yet unable to believe that ,he can give them any real and present assistance in their efforts after holiness4 ,a teacher is a very different thing from a ,saviour4 ,they are satisfied with ,christ's teaching2 but they need more than teaching--they need not only to see the road1 but to be enabled to follow it4 ,unless a man can find some real connection between himself and ,god1 unless he can rely upon receiving inward support from ,god1 he feels that there is nothing which can truly be called salvation4 ,this form of unbelief assails almost every man4 ,very often it results from the slow-growing conviction that the ,christian religion is not working in ourselves the definite results we expected4 ,when we read the ,new ,testament1 we see the reasonableness of faith1 we cannot but subscribe to the theory of ,christianity2 but when we endeavour to practise it we fail4 ,we have tried it1 and it does not seem to work4 ,at first we think this is something peculiar to ourselves1 and that through some personal carelessness or mistake we have failed to receive all the benefit which others receive4 ,but as time goes on the suspicion strengthens in some minds that faith is a delusion3 prayer seems to be unanswered2 effort seems to be unacknowledged4 ,the power of an almighty spirit within the human spirit cannot be traced4 ,perhaps this suspicion1 more than all other causes put together1 produces undecided1 heartless ,christians4 ,what1 then1 is to be said in view of such doubts8 ,perhaps it may help us past them if we consider that spiritual things are spiritually discerned1 and that the one proof of ,his ascension to ,god's right hand which ,christ ,himself promised was the bestowal of ,his ,spirit4 ,if we find that1 however slowly1 we are coming into a truer harmony with ,god2 if we find that we can more cordially approve the ,spirit of ,christ1 and give to that ,spirit a more real place in our life2 if we are finding that we can be satisfied with very little in the way of selfish and worldly advancement1 and that it is a greater satisfaction to us to do good than to get good2 if we find ourselves in any degree more patient1 more temperate1 more humble1--then ,christ is manifesting in us ,his present life in the only way in which ,he promised to do so4 ,even if we have more knowledge1 more perception of what moral greatness is1 if we see through the superficial formalisms which once passed for religion with us1 this is a step in the right direction1 and if wisely used may be the foundation of a superstructure of intelligent service and real fellowship with ,god4 ,every discovery and abandonment of error1 every unmasking of delusion1 every attainment of truth1 is a step nearer to permanent reality1 and is a true spiritual gain2 and if in times past we have had little experience of spiritual joy and confidence1 if our thoughts have been sceptical and questioning and perplexed1 all this may be the needful preliminary to a more independent and assured and truer faith1 and may be the very best proof that ,christ is guiding our mind and attending to our prayers4 ,it is for the world to refuse to believe in the ,spirit1 because it beholdeth ,him not1 neither knoweth ,him4 ,it may also be said that to think of ,christ as a good man who has passed away like other good men1 leaving an influence and no more behind ,him1 to think of ,him as lying still in ,his tomb outside ,jerusalem1 is to reverse not only the belief of those who knew ,christ best1 but the belief of godly men in all ages4 ,for in all ages both before and after ,christ it has been the clear conviction of devout souls that ,god sought them much more ardently and persistently than they sought ,god4 ,the truth which shines most conspicuously in the experience of all the saved is that they were saved by ,god and not by themselves4 ,if human experience is to be trusted at all1 if it in any case reflects the substantial verities of the spiritual world1 then we may hold it as proved in the uniform experience of men that ,god somehow communicated to them a living energy1 and not only taught them what to do1 but gave them strength to do it4 ,if under the ,christian dispensation we are left to make the best we can for ourselves of the truth taught by ,christ and of the example ,he set us in ,his life and death1 then the ,christian dispensation1 so far from being an advance on all that went before1 fails to supply us with that very thing which is sought through all religions--actual access to a living source of spiritual strength4 ,i believe that the resurrection of ,christ is established by stronger evidence than exists for any other historical fact2 but apart altogether from the historical evidence1 the entire experience of ,god's people goes to show that ,christ1 as the mediator between ,god and man1 as the representative of ,god and the channel of ,his influence upon us1 must be now alive1 and must be in a position to exert a personal care and a personal influence1 and to yield a present and inward assistance4 ,were it otherwise1 we should be left without a ,saviour to struggle against the enemies of the soul in our own strength1 and this would be a complete reversal of the experience of all those who in past ages have been engaged in the same strife and have been victorious4 ,,xi4 ,,the ,,bequest ,,of ,,peace4 ,judas 7not ,iscariot7 saith unto ,him1 ,lord1 what is come to pass that ,thou wilt manifest ,thyself unto us1 and not unto the world8 ,jesus answered and said unto him1 ,if a man love ,me1 he will keep ,my word3 and ,my ,father will love him1 and ,we will come unto him1 and make our abode with him4 ,he that loveth ,me not keepeth not ,my words3 and the word which ye hear is not ,mine1 but the ,father's who sent ,me4 ,these things have ,i spoken unto you1 while yet abiding with you4 ,but the ,comforter1 even the ,holy ,spirit1 whom the ,father will send in ,my name1 ,he shall teach you all things1 and bring to your remembrance all that ,i said unto you4 ,peace ,i leave with you2 ,my peace ,i give unto you3 not as the world giveth1 give ,i unto you4 ,let not your heart be troubled1 neither let it be fearful4 ,ye heard how ,i said to you1 ,i go away1 and ,i come unto you4 ,if ye loved ,me1 ye would have rejoiced1 because ,i go unto the ,father3 for the ,father is greater than ,i4 ,and now ,i have told you before it come to pass1 that1 when it is come to pass1 ye may believe4 ,i will no more speak much with you1 for the prince of the world cometh3 and he hath nothing in ,me2 but that the world may know that ,i love the ,father1 and as the ,father gave ,me commandment1 even so ,i do4 ,arise1 let us go hence4--,,john xiv4 #bb-ca4 ,the encouraging assurances of our ,lord are interrupted by ,judas ,thaddeus4 ,as ,peter1 ,thomas1 and ,philip had availed themselves of their ,master's readiness to solve their difficulties1 so now ,judas utters his perplexity4 ,he perceives that the manifestation of which ,jesus has spoken is not public and general1 but special and private2 and he says1 ,lord1 what has happened1 that ,thou art to manifest ,thyself to us1 and not to the world8 ,it would seem as if ,judas had been greatly impressed by the public demonstration in favour of ,jesus a day or two previously1 and supposed that something must have occurred to cause ,him now to wish to manifest ,himself only to a select few4 ,apparently ,judas' construction of the future was still entangled with the ordinary ,messianic expectation4 ,he thought ,jesus1 although departing for a little1 would return speedily in outward ,messianic glory1 and would triumphantly enter ,jerusalem and establish ,himself there4 ,but how this could be done privately he could not understand4 ,and if ,jesus had entirely altered ,his plan1 and did not mean immediately to claim ,messianic supremacy1 but only to manifest ,himself to a few1 was this possible8 ,by ,his reply our ,lord shows for the hundredth time that outward proclamation and external acknowledgment were not in ,his thoughts4 ,it is to the individual and in response to individual love ,he will manifest ,himself4 ,it is therefore a spiritual manifestation ,he has in view4 ,moreover1 it was not to a specially privileged few1 whose number was already complete1 that ,he would manifest ,himself4 ,judas supposed that to him and his fellow-,apostles1 us1 ,jesus would manifest ,himself1 and over against this select company he set the world4 ,but this mechanical line of demarcation our ,lord obliterates in ,his reply1 ,if any man loveth ,me1 444 ,we will come to him4 ,he enounces the great spiritual law that they who seek to have ,christ's presence manifested to them must love and obey ,him4 ,he that longs for more satisfying knowledge of spiritual realities1 he that thirsts for certainty and to see ,god as if face to face1 must expect no sudden or magical revelation1 but must be content with the true spiritual education which proceeds by loving and living4 ,to the disciples the method might seem slow--to us also it often seems slow2 but it is the method which nature requires4 ,our knowledge of ,god1 our belief that in ,christ we have a hold of ultimate truth and are living among eternal verities1 grow with our love and service of ,christ4 ,it may take us a lifetime--it will take us a lifetime--to learn to love ,him as we ought1 but others have learned and we also may learn1 and there is no possible experience so precious to us4 ,it is1 then1 to those who serve ,him that ,christ manifests ,himself1 and manifests ,himself in an abiding1 spiritual1 influential manner4 ,that those who do not serve ,him do not believe in ,his presence and power is to be expected4 ,but were those who have served ,him asked if they had become more convinced of ,his spiritual and effectual presence1 their voice would be that this promise had been fulfilled4 ,and this is the very citadel of the religion of ,christ4 ,if ,christ does not now abide with and energetically aid those who serve ,him1 then their faith is vain4 ,if ,his spiritual presence with them is not manifested in spiritual results1 if they have no evidence that ,he is personally and actively employed in and with them1 their faith is vain4 ,to believe in a ,christ long since removed from earth and whose present life cannot now influence or touch mankind is not the faith which ,christ ,himself invites4 ,and if ,his promise to abide with those who love and serve ,him is not actually performed1 ,christendom has been produced by a mistake and has lived on a delusion4 ,at this point 7ver4 #be7 ,jesus pauses2 and feeling how little ,he had time to say of what was needful1 and how much better they would understand their relation to ,him after ,he had finally passed from their bodily sight1 ,he says3 ,these things ,i have spoken to you1 while yet ,i remain with you2 but the ,paraclete1 the ,holy ,spirit1 which the ,father will send in ,my name1 ,he will teach you all things1 and will remind you of all that ,i have said to you4 ,jesus cannot tell them all ,he would wish them to know2 but the same ,helper whom ,he has already promised will especially help them by giving them understanding of what has already been told them1 and by leading them into further knowledge4 ,he is to come in the name of ,jesus--that is to say1 as ,his representative--and to carry on ,his work in the world4#af ,here1 then1 the ,lord predicts that one day ,his disciples will know more than ,he has taught them4 ,they were to advance in knowledge beyond the point to which ,he had brought them4 ,his teaching would necessarily be the foundation of all future attainment1 and whatever would not square with that they must necessarily reject2 but they were to add much to the foundation ,he had laid4 ,we cannot therefore expect to find in the teaching of ,jesus all that ,his followers ought to know regarding ,himself and ,his connection with them4 ,all that is absolutely necessary we shall find there2 but if we wish to know all that ,he would have us know1 we must look beyond4 ,the teaching which we receive from the ,apostles is the requisite and promised complement of the teaching which ,christ ,himself delivered4 ,he being the subject taught as much as the teacher1 and ,his whole experience as living1 dying1 rising1 and ascending1 constituting the facts which ,christian teaching was to explain1 it was impossible that ,he ,himself should be the final teacher4 ,he could not at once be text and exposition4 ,he lived among men1 and by ,his teaching shed much light on the significance of ,his life2 ,he died1 and was not altogether silent regarding the meaning of ,his death1 but it was enough that ,he furnished matter for ,his ,apostles to explain1 and confined ,himself to sketching the mere outline of ,christian truth4 ,again and again throughout this last conversation ,jesus tries to break off1 but finds it impossible4 ,here 7ver4 #bg71 when ,he has assured them that1 although ,he ,himself leaves them in ignorance of many things1 the ,spirit will lead them into all truth1 ,he proceeds to make ,his parting bequest4 ,he would fain leave them what will enable them to be free from care and distress2 but ,he has none of those worldly possessions which men usually lay up for their children and those dependent on them4 ,house1 lands1 clothes1 money1 ,he had none4 ,he could not even secure for those who were to carry on ,his work an exemption from persecution which ,he ,himself had not enjoyed4 ,he did not leave them1 as some initiators have done1 stable though new institutions1 an empire of recent origin but already firmly established4 ,not as the world giveth1 give ,i unto you4 ,but ,he does give them that which all other bequests aim at producing3 ,peace ,i leave with you4 ,men may differ as to the best means of attaining peace1 or even as to the kind of peace that is desirable1 but all agree in seeking an untroubled state4 ,we seek a condition in which we shall have no unsatisfied desires gnawing at our heart and making peace impossible1 no stings of conscience1 dipped in the poison of past wrong-doing1 torturing us hour by hour1 no foreboding anxiety darkening and disturbing a present which might otherwise be peaceful4 ,the comprehensive nature of this possession is shown by the fact that peace can be produced only by the contribution of past1 present1 and future4 ,as health implies that all the laws which regulate bodily life are being observed1 and as it is disturbed by the infringement of any one of these1 so peace of mind implies that in the spiritual life all is as it should be4 ,introduce remorse or an evil conscience1 and you destroy peace2 introduce fear or anxiety1 and peace is impossible4 ,introduce anything discordant1 ambition alongside of indolence1 a sensitive conscience alongside of strong passions1 and peace takes flight4 ,he1 therefore1 who promises to give peace promises to give unassailable security1 inward integrity and perfectness1 all which goes to make up that perfect condition in which we shall be for ever content to abide4 ,jesus further defines the peace which ,he was leaving to the disciples as that peace which ,he had ,himself enjoyed3 ,my peace ,i give unto you1--as one hands over a possession he has himself tested1 the shield or helmet that has served him in battle4 ,that which has protected ,me in a thousand fights ,i make over to you4 ,the peace which ,christ desires ,his disciples to enjoy is that which characterised ,himself2 the same serenity in danger1 the same equanimity in troublous circumstances1 the same freedom from anxiety about results1 the same speedy recovery of composure after anything which for a moment ruffled the calm surface of ,his demeanour4 ,this is what ,he makes over to ,his people2 this is what ,he makes possible to all who serve ,him4 ,there is nothing which more markedly distinguishes ,jesus and proves ,his superiority than ,his calm peace in all circumstances4 ,he was poor1 and might have resented the incapacitating straitness of poverty4 ,he was driven from place to place1 ,his purpose and motives were suspected1 ,his action and teaching resisted1 the good ,he strove to do continually marred2 but ,he carried ,himself through all with serenity4 ,it is said that nothing shakes the nerve of brave men so much as fear of assassination3 our ,lord lived among bitterly hostile men1 and was again and again on the brink of being made away with2 but ,he was imperturbably resolute to do the work given ,him to do4 ,take ,him at an unguarded moment1 tell ,him the boat is sinking underneath ,him1 and you find the same undisturbed composure4 ,he was never troubled at the results of ,his work or about ,his own reputation2 when ,he was reviled1 ,he reviled not again4 ,this unruffled serenity was so obvious a characteristic of the demeanour of ,jesus1 that as it was familiar to ,his friends1 so it was perplexing to ,his judges4 ,the ,roman governor saw in ,his bearing an equanimity so different from the callousness of the hardened criminal and from the agitation of the self-condemned1 that he could not help exclaiming in astonishment1 ,dost ,thou not know that ,i have power over ,thee8 ,therefore without egotism our ,lord could speak of ,my peace4 ,the world had come to ,him in various shapes1 and ,he had conquered it4 ,no allurement of pleasure1 no opening to ambition had distracted ,him and broken up ,his serene contentment2 no danger had filled ,his spirit with anxiety and fear4 ,on one occasion only could ,he say1 ,now is ,my soul troubled4 ,out of all that life had presented to ,him ,he had wrought out for ,himself and for us peace4 ,by calling it specifically ,my peace our ,lord distinguishes it from the peace which men ordinarily pursue4 ,some seek it by accommodating themselves to the world1 by fixing for themselves a low standard and disbelieving in the possibility of living up to any high standard in this world4 ,some seek peace by giving the fullest possible gratification to all their desires2 they seek peace in external things--comfort1 ease1 plenty1 pleasant connections4 ,some stifle anxiety about worldly things by impressing on themselves that fretting does no good1 and that what cannot be cured must be endured2 and any anxiety that might arise about their spiritual condition they stifle by the imagination that ,god is too great or too good to deal strictly with their shortcomings4 ,such kinds of peace1 our ,lord implies1 are delusive4 ,it is not outward things which can give peace of mind1 no more than it is a soft couch which can give rest to a fevered body4 ,restfulness must be produced from within4 ,there are1 in fact1 two roads to peace--we may conquer or we may be conquered4 ,a country may always enjoy peace1 if it is prepared always to submit to indignities1 to accommodate itself to the demands of stronger parties1 and absolutely to dismiss from its mind all ideas of honour or self-respect4 ,this mode of obtaining peace has the advantages of easy and speedy attainment--advantages to which every man naturally attaches too high a value4 ,for in the individual life we are daily choosing either the one peace or the other2 the unrighteous desires which distract us we are either conquering or being conquered by4 ,we are either accepting the cheap peace that lies on this side of conflict1 or we are attaining or striving towards the peace that lies on the other side of conflict4 ,but the peace we gain by submission is both short-lived and delusive4 ,it is short-lived1 for a gratified desire is like a relieved beggar1 who will quickly find his way back to you with his request rather enlarged than curtailed2 and it is delusive1 because it is a peace which is the beginning of bondage of the worst kind4 ,any peace that is worth the having or worth the speaking about lies beyond1 at the other side of conflict4 ,we cannot long veil this from ourselves3 we may decline the conflict and put off the evil day2 but still we are conscious that we have not the peace our natures crave until we subdue the evil that is in us4 ,we look and look for peace to distil upon us from without1 to rise and shine upon us as to-morrow's sun1 without effort of our own1 and yet we know that such expectation is the merest delusion1 and that peace must begin within1 must be found in ourselves and not in our circumstances4 ,we know that until our truest purposes are in thorough harmony with our conscientious convictions we have no right to peace4 ,we know that we can have no deep and lasting peace until we are satisfied with our own inward state1 or are at least definitely on the road to satisfaction4 ,again1 the peace of which ,christ here speaks may be called ,his1 as being wrought out by ,him1 and as being only attainable by others through ,his communication of it to them4 ,we do at first inquire with surprise how it is possible that any one can bequeath to us his own moral qualities4 ,this1 in fact1 is what one often wishes were possible--that the father who by long discipline1 by many painful experiences1 has at last become meek and wise1 could transmit these qualities to his son who has life all before him4 ,as we read the notices of those who pass away from among us1 it is the loss of so much moral force we mourn2 it may be1 for all we know1 as indispensable elsewhere1 but nevertheless it is our loss1 a loss for which no work done by the man1 nor any works left behind him1 compensate2 for the man is always1 or generally1 greater than his works1 and what he has done only shows us the power and possibilities that are in him4 ,each generation needs to raise its own good men1 not independent1 certainly1 of the past1 but not altogether inheriting what past generations have done2 just as each new year must raise its own crops1 and only gets the benefit of past toil in the shape of improved land1 good seed1 better implements and methods of agriculture4 ,still1 there is a transmission from father to son of moral qualities4 ,what the father has painfully acquired may be found in the son by inheritance4 ,and this is analogous to the transfusion of moral qualities from ,christ to ,his people4 ,for it is true of all the graces of the ,christian1 that they are first acquired by ,christ1 and only from ,him derived to the ,christian4 ,it is of ,his fulness we all receive1 and grace for grace4 ,he is the ,light at whom we must all kindle1 the ,source from whom all flows4 ,how1 then1 does ,christ communicate to us ,his peace or any of ,his own qualities--qualities in some instances acquired by personal experience and personal effort8 ,he gives us peace1 first1 by reconciling us to ,god by removing the burden of our past guilt and giving us access to ,god's favour4 ,his work sheds quite a new light upon ,god2 reveals the fatherly love of ,god following us into our wandering and misery1 and claiming us in our worst estate as ,his1 acknowledging us and bidding us hope4 ,through ,him we are brought back to the ,father4 ,he comes with this message from ,god1 that ,he loves us4 ,am ,i1 then1 troubled about the past1 about what ,i have done8 ,as life goes on1 do ,i only see more and more clearly how thoroughly ,i have been a wrong-doer8 ,does the present1 as ,i live through it1 only shed a brighter and brighter light on the evil of the past8 ,do ,i fear the future as that which can only more and more painfully evolve the consequences of my past wrong-doing8 ,am ,i gradually awaking to the full and awful import of being a sinner8 ,after many years of a ,christian profession1 am ,i coming at last to see that above all else my life has been a life of sin1 of shortcoming or evasion of duty1 of deep consideration for my own pleasure or my own purpose1 and utter or comparative regardlessness of ,god8 ,are the slowly evolving circumstances of my life at length effecting what no preaching has ever effected8 are they making me understand that sin is the real evil1 and that ,i am beset by it and my destiny entangled and ruled by it8 ,to me1 then1 what offer could be more appropriate than the offer of peace8 ,from all fear of ,god and of myself ,i am called to peace in ,christ4 ,reconcilement with ,god is the foundation1 manifestly and of course1 of all peace2 and this we have as ,christ's direct gift to us4 ,but this fundamental peace1 though it will eventually pervade the whole man1 does in point of fact only slowly develop into a peace such as our ,lord ,himself possessed4 ,the peace which our ,lord spoke of to ,his disciples1 peace amidst all the ills of life1 can only be attained by a real following of ,christ1 and a hearty and profound acceptance of ,his principles and spirit4 ,and it is not the less ,his gift because we have thus to work for it1 to alter or be altered wholly in our own inward being4 ,it is not therefore a deceptive bequest4 ,when the father gives his son a good education1 he cannot do so irrespective of the hard work of the son himself4 ,when the general promises victory to his men1 they do not expect to have it without fighting4 ,and our ,lord does not upset or supersede the fundamental laws of our nature and of our spiritual growth4 ,he does not make effort of our own unnecessary2 ,he does not give us a ready-made character irrespective of the laws by which character grows1 irrespective of deep-seated thirst for holiness in ourselves and long-sustained conflict with outward obstacles and internal weaknesses and infidelities4 ,but ,he helps us to peace1 not only though primarily by bringing us back to ,god's favour1 but also by showing us in ,his own person and life how peace is attained and preserved1 and by communicating to us ,his ,spirit to aid us in our efforts to attain it4 ,he found out more perfectly than any one else the secret of peace2 and we are stirred by ,his example and success1 not only as we are stirred by the example of any dead saint or sage with whom we have no present personal living fellowship1 but as we are stirred by the example of a living ,father who is always with us to infuse new heart into us1 and to give us effectual counsel and aid4 ,while we put forth our own efforts to win this self-conquest1 and so school all within us as to enter into peace1 ,christ is with us securing that our efforts shall not be in vain1 giving us the fixed and clear idea of peace as our eternal condition1 and giving us also whatever we need to win it4 ,these words our ,lord uttered at a time when1 if ever1 ,he was not likely to use words of course1 to adopt traditional and misleading phrases4 ,he loved the men ,he was speaking to1 ,he knew ,he was after this to have few more opportunities of speaking with them1 ,his love interpreted to ,him the difficulties and troubles which would fall upon them1 and this was the armour which ,he knew would bear them scathless through all4 ,that ,his promise was fulfilled we know4 ,we do not know what became of the majority of the ,apostles1 whether they did much or little2 but if we look at the men who stood out prominently in the early history of the ,church1 we see how much they stood in need of this peace and how truly they received it4 ,look at ,stephen1 sinking bruised and bleeding under the stones of a cursing mob1 and say what characterises him--what makes his face shine and his lips open in prayer for his murderers8 ,look at ,paul1 driven out of one city1 dragged lifeless out of another1 clinging to a spar on a wild sea1 stripped by robbers1 arraigned before magistrate after magistrate--what keeps his spirit serene1 his purpose unshaken through a life such as this8 ,what put into his lips these valued words and taught him to say to others1 ,rejoice evermore1 and let the peace of ,god which passeth understanding keep your heart and mind8 ,it was the fulfilment of this promise--a promise which is meant for us as for them4 ,it will be fulfilled in us as in these men1 not by a mere verbal petition1 not by a craving however strong1 or a prayer however sincere1 but by a true and profound acceptance of ,christ1 by a conscientious following of ,him as our real leader1 as that ,one from whom we take our ideas of life1 of what is worthy and what is unworthy4 ,,footnotes3 #af ,in this designation of the teaching ,spirit as holy1 there lie lessons for two classes of people4 ,all fanatical professions of possessing ,divine illumination1 which are not warranted and sealed by purity of life1 are lies or self-delusion4 ,and1 on the other hand1 cold-blooded intellectualism will never force the locks of the palace of ,divine truth2 but they that come there must have clean hands and a pure heart2 and only those who have the love and the longing for goodness will be wise scholars in ,christ's school4--,,maclaren4 ,,xii4 ,,the ,,vine ,,and ,,the ,,branches4 ,arise1 let us go hence4 ,i am the true ,vine1 and ,my ,father is the ,husbandman4 ,every branch in ,me that beareth not fruit1 ,he taketh it away3 and every branch that beareth fruit1 ,he cleanseth it1 that it may bear more fruit4 ,already ye are clean because of the word which ,i have spoken unto you4 ,abide in ,me1 and ,i in you4 ,as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself1 except it abide in the vine2 so neither can ye1 except ye abide in ,me4 ,i am the ,vine1 ye are the branches3 ,he that abideth in ,me1 and ,i in him1 the same beareth much fruit3 for apart from ,me ye can do nothing4 ,if a man abide not in ,me1 he is cast forth as a branch1 and is withered2 and they gather them1 and cast them into the fire1 and they are burned4 ,if ye abide in ,me1 and ,my words abide in you1 ask whatsoever ye will1 and it shall be done unto you4 ,herein is ,my ,father glorified1 that ye bear much fruit2 and so shall ye be ,my disciples4 ,even as the ,father hath loved ,me1 ,i also have loved you2 abide ye in ,my love4 ,if ye keep ,my commandments1 ye shall abide in ,my love2 even as ,i have kept ,my ,father's commandments1 and abide in ,his love4 ,these things have ,i spoken unto you1 that ,my joy may be in you1 and that your joy may be fulfilled4 ,this is ,my commandment1 that ye love one another1 even as ,i have loved you4--,,john xiv4 #ca-xv4 #ab4 ,like a friend who cannot tear himself away and has many more last words after he has bid us good-bye1 ,jesus continues speaking to the disciples while they are selecting and putting on their sandals and girding themselves to face the chill night air4 ,he had to all appearance said all ,he meant to say4 ,he had indeed closed the conversation with the melancholy words1 ,henceforth ,i will not talk much with you4 ,he had given the signal for breaking up the feast and leaving the house1 rising from table ,himself and summoning the rest to do the same4 ,but as ,he saw their reluctance to move1 and the alarmed and bewildered expression that hung upon their faces1 ,he could not but renew ,his efforts to banish their forebodings and impart to them intelligent courage to face separation from ,him4 ,all ,he had said about ,his spiritual presence with them had fallen short3 they could not as yet understand it4 ,they were possessed with the dread of losing ,him whose future was their future1 and with the success of whose plans all their hopes were bound up4 ,the prospect of losing ,him was too dreadful2 and though ,he had assured them ,he would still be with them1 there was an appearance of mystery and unreality about that presence which prevented them from trusting it4 ,they knew they could effect nothing if ,he left them3 their work was done1 their hopes blighted4 ,as ,jesus1 then1 rises1 and as they all fondly cluster round ,him1 and as ,he recognises once more how much ,he is to these men1 there occurs to ,his mind an allegory which may help the disciples to understand better the connection they have with ,him1 and how it is still to be maintained4 ,it has been supposed that this allegory was suggested to ,him by some vine trailing round the doorway or by some other visible object1 but such outward suggestion is needless4 ,recognising their fears and difficulties and dependence on ,him as they hung upon ,him for the last time1 what more natural than that ,he should meet their dependence and remove their fears of real separation by saying1 ,i am the ,vine1 ye the branches8 ,what more natural1 when ,he wished to set vividly before them the importance of the work ,he was bequeathing to them1 and to stimulate them faithfully to carry on what ,he had begun1 than to say1 ,i am the ,vine1 ye the fruit-bearing branches3 abide in ,me1 and ,i in you8 ,doubtless our ,lord's introduction of the word true or real--,i am the true ,vine--implies a comparison with other vines1 but not necessarily with any vines then outwardly visible4 ,much more likely is it that as ,he saw the dependence of ,his disciples upon ,him1 ,he saw new meaning in the old and familiar idea that ,israel was the vine planted by ,god4 ,he saw that in ,himself#ag and ,his disciples all that had been suggested by this figure was in reality accomplished4 ,god's intention in creating man was fulfilled4 ,it was secured by the life of ,christ and by the attachment of men to ,him that the purpose of ,god in creation would bear fruit4 ,that which amply satisfied ,god was now in actual existence in the person and attractiveness of ,christ4 ,seizing upon the figure of the vine as fully expressing this1 ,christ fixes it for ever in the mind of ,his disciples as the symbol of ,his connection with them1 and with a few decisive strokes ,he gives prominence to the chief characteristics of this connection4 ,i4 ,the first idea1 then1 which our ,lord wished to present by means of this allegory is1 that ,he and ,his disciples together form one whole1 neither being complete without the other4 ,the vine can bear no fruit if it has no branches2 the branches cannot live apart from the vine4 ,without the branches the stem is a fruitless pole2 without the stem the branches wither and die4 ,stem and branches together constitute one fruit-bearing tree4 ,i1 for my part1 says ,christ1 am the ,vine2 ye are the branches1 neither perfect without the other1 the two together forming one complete tree1 essential to one another as stem and branches4 ,the significance underlying the figure is obvious1 and no more welcome or animating thought could have reached the heart of the disciples as they felt the first tremor of separation from their ,lord4 ,christ1 in ,his own visible person and by ,his own hands and words1 was no longer to extend ,his kingdom on earth4 ,he was to continue to fulfil ,god's purpose among men1 no longer however in ,his own person1 but through ,his disciples4 ,they were now to be ,his branches1 the medium through which ,he could express all the life that was in ,him1 ,his love for man1 ,his purpose to lift and save the world4 ,not with ,his own lips was ,he any longer to tell men of holiness and of ,god1 not with ,his own hand was ,he to dispense blessing to the needy ones of earth1 but ,his disciples were now to be the sympathetic interpreters of ,his goodness and the unobstructed channels through which ,he might still pour out upon men all ,his loving purpose4 ,as ,god the ,father is a ,spirit and needs human hands to do actual deeds of mercy for ,him1 as ,he does not ,himself in ,his own separate personality make the bed of the sick poor1 but does it only through the intervention of human charity1 so can ,christ speak no audible word in the ear of the sinner1 nor do the actual work required for the help and advancement of men4 ,this ,he leaves to ,his disciples1 ,his part being to give them love and perseverance for it1 to supply them with all they need as ,his branches4 ,this1 then1 is the last word of encouragement and of quickening our ,lord leaves with these men and with us3 ,i leave you to do all for ,me2 ,i entrust you with this gravest task of accomplishing in the world all ,i have prepared for by ,my life and death4 ,this great end1 to attain which ,i thought fit to leave the glory ,i had with the ,father1 and for which ,i have spent all--this ,i leave in your hands4 ,it is in this world of men the whole results of the ,incarnation are to be found1 and it is on you the burden is laid of applying to this world the work ,i have done4 ,you live for ,me4 ,but on the other hand ,i live for you4 ,because ,i live1 ye shall live also4 ,i do not really leave you4 ,if ,i say1 ,abide in ,me1 ,i none the less say1 and ,i in you4 ,it is in you ,i spend all the ,divine energy you have witnessed in my life4 ,it is through you ,i live4 ,i am the ,vine1 the life-giving ,stem1 sustaining and quickening you4 ,ye are the branches1 effecting what ,i intend1 bearing the fruit for the sake of which ,i have been planted in the world by ,my ,father1 the ,husbandman4 ,,ii4 ,the second idea is that this unity of the tree is formed by unity of life4 ,it is a unity brought about1 not by mechanical juxtaposition1 but by organic relationship4 ,as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself1 but must abide in the vine1 so neither can ye except ye abide in ,me4 ,a ball of twine or a bag of shot cannot be called a whole4 ,if you cut off a yard of the twine1 the part cut off has all the qualities and properties of the remainder1 and is perhaps more serviceable apart from the rest than in connection with it4 ,a handful of shot is more serviceable for many purposes than a bagful1 and the quantity you take out of the bag retains all the properties it had while in the bag2 because there is no common life in the twine or in the shot1 making all the particles one whole4 ,but take anything which is a true unity or whole--your body1 for example4 ,different results follow here from separation4 ,your eye is useless taken from its place in the body4 ,you can lend a friend your knife or your purse1 and it may be more serviceable in his hands than in yours2 but you cannot lend him your arms or your ears4 ,apart from yourself1 the members of your body are useless1 because here there is one common life forming one organic whole4 ,it is thus in the relation of ,christ and ,his followers4 ,he and they together form one whole1 because one common life unites them4 ,as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself1 so neither can ye4 ,why can the branch bear no fruit except it abide in the vine8 ,because it is a vital unity that makes the tree one4 ,and what is a vital unity between persons8 ,it can be nothing else than a spiritual unity--a unity not of a bodily kind1 but inward and of the spirit4 ,in other words1 it is a unity of purpose and of resources for attaining that purpose4 ,the branch is one with the tree because it draws its life from the tree and bears the fruit proper to the tree4 ,we are one with ,christ when we adopt ,his purpose in the world as the real governing aim of our life1 and when we renew our strength for the fulfilment of that purpose by fellowship with ,his love for mankind and ,his eternal purpose to bless men4 ,we must be content1 then1 to be branches4 ,we must be content not to stand isolated and grow from a private root of our own4 ,we must utterly renounce selfishness4 ,successful selfishness is absolutely impossible4 ,the greater the apparent success of selfishness is1 the more gigantic will the failure one day appear4 ,an arm severed from the body1 a branch lopped off the tree1 is the true symbol of the selfish man4 ,he will be left behind as the true progress of mankind proceeds1 with no part in the common joy1 stranded and dying in cold isolation4 ,we must learn that our true life can only be lived when we recognise that we are parts of a great whole1 that we are here not to prosecute any private interest of our own and win a private good for ourselves1 but to forward the good that others share in and the cause that is common4 ,how this unity is formed received no explanation on this occasion4 ,the manner in which men become branches of the true ,vine was not touched upon in the allegory4 ,already the disciples were branches1 and no explanation was called for4 ,it may1 however1 be legitimate to gather a hint from the allegory itself regarding the formation of the living bond between ,christ and ,his people4 ,however ignorant we may be of the propagation of fruit trees and the processes of grafting we can at any rate understand that no mere tying of a branch to a tree1 bark to bark1 would effect anything save the withering of the branch4 ,the branch1 if it is to be fruitful1 must form a solid part of the tree1 must be grafted so as to become of one structure and life with the stem4 ,it must be cut through1 so as to lay bare the whole interior structure of it1 and so as to leave open all the vessels that carry the sap2 and a similar incision must be made in the stock upon which the branch is to be grafted1 so that the cut sap-vessels of the branch may be in contact with the cut sap-vessels of the stock4 ,such must be our grafting into ,christ4 ,it must be a laying bare of our inmost nature to ,his inmost nature1 so that a vital connection may be formed between these two4 ,what we expect to receive by being connected with ,christ is the very ,spirit which made ,him what ,he was4 ,we expect to receive into the source of conduct in us all that was the source of conduct in ,him4 ,we wish to be in such a connection with ,him that ,his principles1 sentiments1 and aims shall become ours4 ,on ,his side ,christ has laid bare ,his deepest feelings and spirit4 ,in ,his life and in ,his death ,he submitted to that severest operation which seemed to be a maiming of ,him1 but which in point of fact was the necessary preparation for ,his receiving fruitful branches4 ,he did not hide the true springs of ,his life under a hard and rough bark2 but submitting ,himself to the ,husbandman's knife1 ,he has suffered us through ,his wounds to see the real motives and vital spirit of ,his nature--truth1 justice1 holiness1 fidelity1 love4 ,whatever in this life cut our ,lord to the quick1 whatever tested most thoroughly the true spring of ,his conduct1 only more clearly showed that deepest within ,him and strongest within ,him lay holy love4 ,and ,he was not shy of telling men ,his love for them3 in the public death ,he died ,he loudly declared it1 opening ,his nature to the gaze of all4 ,and to this open heart ,he declined to receive none2 as many as the ,father gave ,him were welcome2 ,he had none of that aversion we feel to admit all and sundry into close relations with us4 ,he at once gives ,his heart and keeps back nothing to ,himself2 ,he invites us into the closest possible connection with ,him1 with the intention that we should grow to ,him and for ever be loved by ,him4 ,whatever real1 lasting1 and influential connection can be established between two persons1 this ,he wishes to have with us4 ,if it is possible for two persons so to grow together that separation in spirit is for ever impossible1 it is nothing short of this ,christ seeks4 ,but when we turn to the cutting of the branch1 we see reluctance and vacillation and much to remind us that1 in the graft we now speak of1 the ,husbandman has to deal1 not with passive branches which cannot shrink from his knife1 but with free and sensitive human beings4 ,the hand of the ,father is on us to sever us from the old stock and give us a place in ,christ1 but we feel it hard to be severed from the root we have grown from and to which we are now so firmly attached4 ,we refuse to see that the old tree is doomed to the axe1 or after we have been inserted into ,christ we loosen ourselves again and again1 so that morning by morning as the ,father visits ,his tree ,he finds us dangling useless with signs of withering already upon us4 ,but in the end the ,vinedresser's patient skill prevails4 ,we submit ourselves to those incisive operations of ,god's providence or of ,his gentler but effective word which finally sever us from what we once clung to4 ,we are impelled to lay bare our heart to ,christ and seek the deepest and truest and most influential union4 ,and even after the graft has been achieved the husbandman's care is still needed that the branch may abide in the vine1 and that it may bring forth more fruit4 ,there are two risks--the branch may be loosened1 or it may run to wood and leaves4 ,care is taken when a graft is made that its permanent participation in the life of the tree be secured4 ,the graft is not only tied to the tree1 but the point of juncture is cased in clay or pitch or wax1 so as to exclude air1 water1 or any disturbing influence4 ,analogous spiritual treatment is certainly requisite if the attachment of the soul to ,christ is to become solid1 firm1 permanent4 ,if the soul and ,christ are to be really one1 nothing must be allowed to tamper with the attachment4 ,it must be sheltered from all that might rudely impinge upon it and displace the disciple from the attitude towards ,christ he has assumed4 ,when the graft and the stock have grown together into one1 then the point of attachment will resist any shock2 but1 while the attachment is recent1 care is needed that the juncture be hermetically secluded from adverse influences4 ,the husbandman's care is also needed that after the branch is grafted it may bring forth fruit increasingly4 ,stationariness is not to be tolerated4 ,as for fruitlessness1 that is out of the question4 ,more fruit each season is looked for1 and arranged for by the vigorous prunings of the husbandman4 ,the branch is not left to nature4 ,it is not allowed to run out in every direction1 to waste its life in attaining size4 ,where it seems to be doing grandly and promising success1 the knife of the vinedresser ruthlessly cuts down the flourish1 and the fine appearance lies withering on the ground4 ,but the vintage justifies the husbandman4 ,,iii4 ,this brings us to the third idea of the allegory--that the result aimed at in our connection with ,christ is fruit-bearing4 ,the allegory bids us think of ,god as engaged in the tendance and culture of men with the watchful1 fond interest with which the vinedresser tends his plants through every stage of growth and every season of the year1 and even when there is nothing to be done gazes on them admiringly and finds still some little attention he can pay them2 but all in the hope of fruit4 ,all this interest collapses at once1 all this care becomes a foolish waste of time and material1 and reflects discredit and ridicule on the vinedresser1 if there is no fruit4 ,god has prepared for us in this life a soil than which nothing can be better for the production of the fruit ,he desires us to yield2 ,he has made it possible for every man to serve a good purpose2 ,he does ,his part not with reluctance1 but1 if we may say so1 as ,his chief interest2 but all in the expectation of fruit4 ,we do not spend days of labour and nights of anxious thought1 we do not lay out all we have at command1 on that which is to effect nothing and give no satisfaction to ourselves or any one else2 and neither does ,god4 ,he did not make this world full of men for want of something better to do1 as a mere idle pastime4 ,he made it that the earth might yield her increase1 that each of us might bring forth fruit4 ,fruit alone can justify the expense put upon this world4 ,the wisdom1 the patience1 the love that have guided all things through the slow-moving ages will be justified in the product4 ,and what this product is we already know3 it is the attainment of moral perfection by created beings4 ,to this all that has been made and done in the past leads up4 ,the whole creation groaneth and travaileth1--for what8 ,for the manifestation of the sons of ,god4 ,the lives and acts of good men are the adequate return for all past outlay1 the satisfying fruit4 ,the production of this fruit became a certainty when ,christ was planted in the world as a new moral stem4 ,he was sent into the world not to make some magnificent outward display of ,divine power1 to carry us to some other planet1 or alter the conditions of life here4 ,god might have departed from ,his purpose of filling this earth with holy men1 and might have used it for some easier display which for the moment might have seemed more striking4 ,he did not do so4 ,it was human obedience1 the fruit of genuine human righteousness1 of the love and goodness of men and women1 that ,he was resolved to reap from earth4 ,he was resolved to train men to such a pitch of goodness that in a world contrived to tempt there should be found nothing so alluring1 nothing so terrifying1 as to turn men from the straight path4 ,he was to produce a race of men who1 while still in the body1 urged by appetites1 assaulted by passions and cravings1 with death threatening and life inviting1 should prefer all suffering rather than flinch from duty1 should prove themselves actually superior to every assault that can be made on virtue1 should prove that spirit is greater than matter4 ,and ,god set ,christ in the world to be the living type of human perfection1 to attract men by their love for ,him to ,his kind of life1 and to furnish them with all needed aid in becoming like ,him--that as ,christ had kept the ,father's commandments1 ,his disciples should keep ,his commandments1 that thus a common understanding1 an identity of interest and moral life1 should be established between ,god and man4 ,perhaps it is not pressing the figure too hard to remark that the fruit differs from timber in this respect--that it enters into and nourishes the life of man4 ,no doubt in this allegory fruit-bearing primarily and chiefly indicates that ,god's purpose in creating man is satisfied4 ,the tree ,he has planted is not barren1 but fruitful4 ,but certainly a great distinction between the selfish and the unselfish man1 between the man who has private ambitions and the man who labours for the public good1 lies in this--that the selfish man seeks to erect a monument of some kind for himself1 while the unselfish man spends himself in labours that are not conspicuous1 but assist the life of his fellows4 ,an oak carving or a structure of hard wood will last a thousand years and keep in memory the skill of the designer3 fruit is eaten and disappears1 but it passes into human life1 and becomes part of the stream that flows on for ever4 ,the ambitious man longs to execute a monumental work1 and does not much regard whether it will be for the good of men or not2 a great war will serve his turn1 a great book1 anything conspicuous4 ,but he who is content to be a branch of the ,true ,vine will not seek the admiration of men1 but will strive to introduce a healthy spiritual life into those he can reach1 even although in order to do so he must remain obscure and must see his labours absorbed without notice or recognition4 ,does the teaching of this allegory1 then1 accord with the facts of life as we know them8 ,is it a truth1 and a truth we must act upon1 that apart from ,christ we can do nothing8 ,in what sense and to what extent is association with ,christ really necessary to us8 ,something may of course be made of life apart from ,christ4 ,a man may have much enjoyment and a man may do much good apart from ,christ4 ,he may be an inventor1 who makes human life easier or safer or fuller of interest4 ,he may be a literary man1 who by his writings enlightens1 exhilarates1 and elevates mankind4 ,he may1 with entire ignorance or utter disregard of ,christ1 toil for his country or for his class or for his cause4 ,but the best uses and ends of human life cannot be attained apart from ,christ4 ,only in ,him does the reunion of man with ,god seem attainable1 and only in ,him do ,god and ,god's aim and work in the world become intelligible4 ,he is as necessary for the spiritual life of men as the sun is for this physical life4 ,we may effect something by candle-light2 we may be quite proud of electric light1 and think we are getting far towards independence2 but what man in his senses will be betrayed by these attainments into thinking we may dispense with the sun8 ,christ holds the key to all that is most permanent in human endeavour1 to all that is deepest and best in human character4 ,only in ,him can we take our place as partners with ,god in what ,he is really doing with this world4 ,and only from ,him can we draw courage1 hopefulness1 love to prosecute this work4 ,in ,him ,god does reveal ,himself1 and in ,him the fulness of ,god is found by us4 ,he is in point of fact the one moral stem apart from whom we are not bearing and cannot bear the fruit ,god desires4 ,if1 then1 we are not bringing forth fruit1 it is because there is a flaw in our connection with ,christ2 if we are conscious that the results of our life and activity are not such results as ,he designs1 and are in no sense traceable to ,him1 this is because there is something about our adherence to ,him that is loose and needs rectification4 ,christ calls us to ,him and makes us sharers in ,his work2 and he who listens to this call and counts it enough to be a branch of this ,vine and do ,his will is upheld by ,christ's ,spirit1 is sweetened by ,his meekness and love1 is purified by ,his holy and fearless rectitude1 is transformed by the dominant will of this ,person whom he has received deepest into his soul1 and does therefore bring forth1 in whatever place in life he holds1 the same kind of fruit as ,christ ,himself would bring forth2 it is indeed ,christ who brings forth these fruits1 ,christ at a few steps removed--for every ,christian learns1 as well as ,paul1 to say1 ,not ,i1 but ,christ in me4 ,if1 then1 the will of ,christ is not being fulfilled through us1 if there is good that it belongs to us to do1 but which remains undone1 then the point of juncture with ,christ is the point that needs looking to4 ,it is not some unaccountable blight that makes us useless2 it is not that we have got the wrong piece of the wall1 a situation in which ,christ ,himself could bear no precious fruit4 ,the ,husbandman knew ,his own meaning when ,he trained us along that restricted line and nailed us down2 ,he chose the place for us1 knowing the quality of fruit ,he desires us to yield4 ,the reason of our fruitlessness is the simple one1 that we are not closely enough attached to ,christ4 ,how1 then1 is it with ourselves8 ,by examining the results of our lives1 would any one be prompted to exclaim1 ,these are trees of righteousness1 the planting of the ,lord that ,he may be glorified8 ,for this examination is made1 and made not by one who chances to pass1 and who1 being a novice in horticulture1 might be deceived by a show of leaves or poor fruit1 or whose examination might terminate in wonder at the slothfulness or mismanagement of the owner who allowed such trees to cumber his ground2 but the examination is made by ,one who has come for the express purpose of gathering fruit1 who knows exactly what has been spent upon us and what might have been made of our opportunities1 who has in ,his own mind a definite idea of the fruit that should be found1 and who can tell by a glance whether such fruit actually exists or no4 ,to this infallible ,judge of produce what have we to offer8 ,from all our busy engagement in many affairs1 from all our thought1 what has resulted that we can offer as a satisfactory return for all that has been spent upon us8 ,it is deeds of profitable service such as men of large and loving nature would do that ,god seeks from us4 ,and ,he recognises without fail what is love and what only seems so4 ,he infallibly detects the corroding spot of selfishness that rots the whole fair-seeming cluster4 ,he stands undeceivable before us1 and takes our lives precisely for what they are worth4 ,it concerns us to make such inquiries1 for fruitless branches cannot be tolerated4 ,the purpose of the tree is fruit4 ,if1 then1 we would escape all suspicion of our own state and all reproach of fruitlessness1 what we have to do is1 not so much to find out new rules for conduct1 as to strive to renew our hold upon ,christ and intelligently to enter into ,his purposes4 ,abide in ,him4 ,this is the secret of fruitfulness4 ,all that the branch needs is in the ,vine2 it does not need to go beyond the ,vine for anything4 ,when we feel the life of ,christ ebbing from our soul1 when we see our leaf fading1 when we feel sapless1 heartless for ,christian duty1 reluctant to work for others1 to take anything to do with the relief of misery and the repression of vice1 there is a remedy for this state1 and it is to renew our fellowship with ,christ--to allow the mind once again to conceive clearly the worthiness of ,his aims1 to yield the heart once again to the vitalising influence of ,his love1 to turn from the vanities and futilities with which men strive to make life seem important to the reality and substantial worth of the life of ,christ4 ,to abide in ,christ is to abide by our adoption of ,his view of the true purpose of human life after testing it by actual experience2 it is to abide by our trust in ,him as the true ,lord of men1 and as able to supply us with all that we need to keep ,his commandments4 ,and thus abiding in ,christ we are sustained by ,him2 for ,he abides in us1 imparts to us1 ,his branches now on earth1 the force which is needful to accomplish ,his purposes4 ,,footnotes3 #ag ,that the vine was a recognised symbol of the ,messiah is shown by ,delitzsch in the ,expositor1 #crd series1 vol4 iii41 pp4 #fh1 #fi4 ,see also his ,iris1 pp4 #ahj-aij1 ,e4 ,tr4 ,,xiii4 ,,not ,,servants1 ,,but ,,friends4 ,greater love hath no man than this1 that a man lay down his life for his friends4 ,ye are ,my friends1 if ye do the things which ,i command you4 ,no longer do ,i call you servants2 for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth3 but ,i have called you friends2 for all things that ,i heard from ,my ,father ,i have made known unto you4 ,ye did not choose ,me1 but ,i chose you1 and appointed you1 that ye should go and bear fruit1 and that your fruit should abide3 that whatsoever ye shall ask of the ,father in ,my name1 ,he may give it you4 ,these things ,i command you1 that ye may love one another4--,,john xv4 #ac-ag4 ,these words of our ,lord are the charter of our emancipation4 ,they give us entrance into true freedom4 ,they set us in the same attitude towards life and towards ,god as ,christ ,himself occupied4 ,without this proclamation of freedom and all it covers we are the mere drudges of this world1--doing its work1 but without any great and far-reaching aim that makes it worth doing2 accepting the tasks allotted to us because we must1 not because we will2 living on because we happen to be here1 but without any part in that great future towards which all things are running on4 ,but this is of the very essence of slavery4 ,for our ,lord here lays ,his finger on the sorest part of this deepest of human sores when ,he says1 ,the slave knows not what his master does4 ,it is not that his back is torn with the lash1 it is not that he is underfed and overworked1 it is not that he is poor and despised2 all this would be cheerfully undergone to serve a cherished purpose and accomplish ends a man had chosen for himself4 ,but when all this must be endured to work out the purposes of another1 purposes never hinted to him1 and with which1 were they hinted1 he might have no sympathy1 this is slavery1 this is to be treated as a tool for accomplishing aims chosen by another1 and to be robbed of all that constitutes manhood4 ,sailors and soldiers have sometimes mutinied when subjected to similar treatment1 when no inkling has been given them of the port to which they are shipped or the nature of the expedition on which they are led4 ,men do not feel degraded by any amount of hardship1 by going for months on short rations or lying in frost without tents2 but they do feel degraded when they are used as weapons of offence1 as if they had no intelligence to appreciate a worthy aim1 no power of sympathising with a great design1 no need of an interest in life and a worthy object on which to spend it1 no share in the common cause4 ,yet such is the life with which1 apart from ,christ1 we must perforce be content1 doing the tasks appointed us with no sustaining consciousness that our work is part of a great whole working out the purposes of the ,highest4 ,even such a spirit as ,carlyle is driven to say3 ,here on earth we are soldiers1 fighting in a foreign land1 that understand not the plan of campaign and have no need to understand it1 seeing what is at our hand to be done1--excellent counsel for slaves1 but not descriptive of the life we are meant for1 nor of the life our ,lord would be content to give us4 ,to give us true freedom1 to make this life a thing we choose with the clearest perception of its uses and with the utmost ardour1 our ,lord makes known to us all that ,he heard of the ,father4 ,what ,he had heard of the ,father1 all that the ,spirit of the ,father had taught ,him of the need of human effort and of human righteousness1 all that as ,he grew up to manhood ,he recognised of the deep-seated woes of humanity1 and all that ,he was prompted to do for the relief of these woes1 ,he made known to ,his disciples4 ,the irresistible call to self-sacrifice and labour for the relief of men which ,he heard and obeyed1 ,he made known and ,he makes known to all who follow ,him4 ,he did not allot clearly defined tasks to ,his followers2 ,he did not treat them as slaves1 appointing one to this and another to that3 ,he showed them ,his own aim and ,his own motive1 and left them as ,his friends to be attracted by the aim that had drawn ,him1 and to be ever animated with the motive that sufficed for ,him4 ,what had made ,his life so glorious1 so full of joy1 so rich in constant reward1 ,he knew would fill their lives also2 and ,he leaves them free to choose it for themselves1 to stand before life as independent1 unfettered1 undriven men1 and choose without compulsion what their own deepest convictions prompted them to choose4 ,the friend is not compelled blindly to go through with a task whose result he does not understand or does not sympathise with2 the friend is invited to share in a work in which he has a direct personal interest and to which he can give himself cordially4 ,all life should be the forwarding of purposes we approve1 the bringing about of ends we earnestly desire3 all life1 if we are free men1 must be matter of choice1 not of compulsion4 ,and therefore ,christ1 having heard of the ,father that which made ,him feel straitened until the great aim of ,his life could be accomplished1 which made ,him press forward through life attracted and impelled by the consciousness of its infinite value as achieving endless good1 imparts to us what moved and animated ,him1 that we may freely choose as ,he chose and enter into the joy of our ,lord4 ,this1 then1 is the point of this great utterance3 ,jesus takes our lives up into partnership with ,his own4 ,he sets before us the same views and hopes which animated ,himself1 and gives us a prospect of being useful to ,him and in ,his work4 ,if we engage in the work of life with a dull and heartless feeling of its weariness1 or merely for the sake of gaining a livelihood1 if we are not drawn to labour by the prospect of result1 then we have scarcely entered into the condition our ,lord opens to us4 ,it is for the merest slaves to view their labour with indifference or repugnance4 ,out of this state our ,lord calls us1 by making known to us what the ,father made known to ,him1 by giving us the whole means of a free1 rational1 and fruitful life4 ,he gives us the fullest satisfaction moral beings can have1 because ,he fills our life with intelligent purpose4 ,he lifts us into a position in which we see that we are not the slaves of fate or of this world1 but that all things are ours1 that we1 through and with ,him1 are masters of the position1 and that so far from thinking it almost a hardship to have been born into so melancholy and hopeless a world1 we have really the best reason and the highest possible object for living4 ,he comes among us and says1 ,let us all work together4 ,something can be made of this world4 ,let us with heart and hope strive to make of it something worthy4 ,let unity of aim and of work bind us together4 ,this is indeed to redeem life from its vanity4 ,he says this1 and lest any should think1 ,this is fantastic2 how can such an one as ,i am forward the work of ,christ8 ,it is enough if ,i get from ,him salvation for myself1 ,he goes on to say1 ,ye have not chosen ,me1 but ,i have chosen you1 and ordained you that ye should go and bring forth fruit1 and that your fruit should remain4 ,it was1 ,he says1 precisely in view of the eternal results of your work that ,i selected you and called you to follow ,me4 ,it was true then1 and it is true now1 that the initiative in our fellowship with ,christ is with ,him4 ,so far as the first disciples were concerned ,jesus might have spent ,his life making ploughs and cottage furniture4 ,no one discovered ,him4 ,neither does any one now discover ,him4 ,it is ,he who comes and summons us to follow and to serve ,him4 ,he does so because ,he sees that there is that which we can do which no one else can3 relationships we hold1 opportunities we possess1 capacities for just this or that1 which are our special property into which no other can possibly step1 and which1 if we do not use them1 cannot otherwise be used4 ,does ,he1 then1 point out to us with unmistakable exactness what we are to do1 and how we are to do it8 ,does ,he lay down for us a code of rules so multifarious and significant that we cannot mistake the precise piece of work ,he requires from us8 ,he does not4 ,he has but one sole commandment1 and this is no commandment1 because we cannot keep it on compulsion1 but only at the prompting of our own inward spirit3 ,he bids us love one another4 ,he comes back and back to this with significant persistence1 and declines to utter one other commandment4 ,in love alone is sufficient wisdom1 sufficient motive1 and sufficient reward for human life4 ,it alone has adequate wisdom for all situations1 new resource for every fresh need1 adaptability to all emergencies1 an inexhaustible fertility and competency2 it alone can bring the capability of each to the service of all4 ,without love we beat the air4 ,that love is our true life is shown further by this--that it is its own reward4 ,when a man's life is in any intelligible sense proceeding from love1 when this is his chief motive1 he is content with living1 and looks for no reward4 ,his joy is already full2 he does not ask1 ,what shall ,i be the better of thus sacrificing myself8 what shall ,i gain by all this regulation of my life8 what good return in the future shall ,i have for all ,i am losing now8 ,he cannot ask these questions1 if the motive of his self-sacrificing life be love2 just as little as the husband could ask what reward he should have for loving his wife4 ,a man would be astounded and would scarcely know what you meant if you asked him what he expected to get by loving his children or his parents or his friends4 ,get8 ,why he does not expect to get anything2 he does not love for an object3 he loves because he cannot help it2 and the chief joy of his life is in these unrewarded affections4 ,he no longer looks forward and thinks of a fulness of life that is to be2 he already lives and is satisfied with the life he has4 ,his happiness is present2 his reward is that he may be allowed to express his love1 to feed it1 to gratify it by giving and labouring and sacrificing4 ,in a word1 he finds in love eternal life--life that is full of joy1 that kindles and enlivens his whole nature1 that carries him out of himself and makes him capable of all good4 ,this truth1 then1 that whatever a man does from love is its own reward1 is the solution of the question whether virtue is its own reward4 ,virtue is its own reward when it is inspired by love4 ,life is its own reward when love is the principle of it4 ,we know that we should always be happy were we always loving4 ,we know that we should never weary of living nor turn with distaste from our work were all our work only the expression of our love1 of our deep1 true1 and well-directed regard for the good of others4 ,it is when we disregard our ,lord's one commandment and try some other kind of virtuous living that joy departs from our life1 and we begin to hope for some future reward which may compensate for the dulness of the present--as if a change of time could change the essential conditions of life and happiness4 ,if we are not joyful now1 if life is dreary and dull and pointless to us1 so that we crave the excitement of a speculative business1 or of boisterous social meetings1 or of individual success and applause1 then it should be quite plain to us that as yet we have not found life1 and have not the capacity for eternal life quickened in us4 ,if we are able to love one human being in some sort as ,christ loved us--that is to say1 if our affection is so fixed upon any one that we feel we could give our life for that person--let us thank ,god for this2 for this love of ours gives us the key to human life1 and will better instruct us in what is most essential to know1 and lead us on to what is most essential to be and to do than any one can teach us4 ,it is profoundly and widely true1 as ,john says1 that every one that loveth is born of ,god and knoweth ,god4 ,if we love one human being1 we at least know that a life in which love is the main element needs no reward and looks for none4 ,we see that ,god looks for no reward1 but is eternally blessed because simply ,god is eternally love4 ,life eternal must be a life of love1 of delight in our fellows1 of rejoicing in their good and seeking to increase their happiness4 ,sometimes1 however1 we find ourselves grieving at the prosperity of the wicked3 we think that they should be unhappy1 and yet they seem more satisfied than ourselves4 ,they pay no regard whatever to the law of life laid down by our ,lord2 they never dream of living for others2 they have never once proposed to themselves to consider whether ,his great law1 that a man must lose his life if he is to have it eternally1 has any application to them2 and yet they seem to enjoy life as much as anybody can4 ,take a man who has a good constitution1 and who is in easy circumstances1 and who has a good and pure nature2 you will often see such a man living with no regard to the ,christian rule1 and yet enjoying life thoroughly to the very end4 ,and of course it is just such a spectacle1 repeated everywhere throughout society1 that influences men's minds and tempts all of us to believe that such a life is best after all1 and that selfishness as well as unselfishness can be happy2 or at all events that we can have as much happiness as our own disposition is capable of by a self-seeking life4 ,now1 when we are in a mood to compare our own happiness with that of other men1 our own happiness must obviously be at a low ebb2 but when we resent the prosperity of the wicked1 we should remember that1 though they may flourish like the green bay tree1 their fruit does not remain3 living for themselves1 their fruit departs with themselves1 their good is interred with their bones4 ,but it is also to be considered that we should never allow ourselves to get the length of putting this question or of comparing our happiness with that of others4 ,for we can only do so when we are ourselves disappointed and discontented and have missed the joy of life2 and this again can be only when we have ceased to live lovingly for others4 ,but this one essential of ,christian service and human freedom--how are we to attain it8 ,is it not the one thing which seems obstinately to stand beyond our grasp8 ,for the human heart has laws of its own1 and cannot love to order or admire because it ought4 ,but ,christ brings1 in ,himself1 the fountain out of which our hearts can be supplied1 the fire which kindles all who approach it4 ,no one can receive ,his love without sharing it4 ,no one can dwell upon ,christ's love for him and treasure it as his true and central possession without finding his own heart enlarged and softened4 ,until our own heart is flooded with the great and regenerating love of ,christ1 we strive in vain to love our fellows4 ,it is when we fully admit it that it overflows through our own satisfied and quickened affections to others4 ,and perhaps we do well not too curiously to question and finger our love1 making sure only that we are keeping ourselves in ,christ's fellowship and seeking to do ,his will4 ,affection1 indeed1 induces companionship1 but also companionship produces affection1 and the honest and hopeful endeavour to serve ,christ loyally will have its reward in a deepening devotion4 ,it is not the recruit but the veteran whose heart is wholly his chief's4 ,and he who has long and faithfully served ,christ will not need to ask where his heart is4 ,we hate those whom we have injured1 and we love those whom we have served2 and if by long service we can win our way to an intimacy with ,christ which no longer needs to question itself or test its soundness1 in that service we may most joyfully engage4 ,for what can be a happier consummation than to find ourselves finally overcome by the love of ,christ1 drawn with all the force of a ,divine attraction1 convinced that here is our rest1 and that this is at once our motive and our reward8 ,,xiv4 ,,the ,,spirit ,,christ',s ,,witness4 ,if the world hateth you1 ye know that it hath hated ,me before it hated you4 ,if ye were of the world1 the world would love its own3 but because ye are not of the world1 but ,i chose you out of the world1 therefore the world hateth you4 ,remember the word that ,i said unto you1 ,a servant is not greater than his lord4 ,if they persecuted ,me1 they will also persecute you2 if they kept ,my word1 they will keep yours also4 ,but all these things will they do unto you for ,my name's sake1 because they know not ,him that sent ,me4 ,if ,i had not come and spoken unto them1 they had not had sin3 but now they have no excuse for their sin4 ,he that hateth ,me hateth ,my ,father also4 ,if ,i had not done among them the works which none other did1 they had not had sin3 but now have they both seen and hated both ,me and ,my ,father4 ,but this cometh to pass1 that the word may be fulfilled that is written in their law1 ,they hated ,me without a cause4 ,but when the ,comforter is come1 whom ,i will send unto you from the ,father1 even the ,spirit of truth1 which proceedeth from the ,father1 ,he shall bear witness of ,me3 and ye also bear witness1 because ye have been with ,me from the beginning4 ,these things have ,i spoken unto you1 that ye should not be made to stumble4 ,they shall put you out of the synagogues3 yea1 the hour cometh1 that whosoever killeth you shall think that he offereth service unto ,god4 ,and these things will they do1 because they have not known the ,father1 nor ,me4 ,but these things have ,i spoken unto you1 that when their hour is come1 ye may remember them1 how that ,i told you4 ,and these things ,i said not unto you from the beginning1 because ,i was with you4 ,but now ,i go unto ,him that sent ,me2 and none of you asketh ,me1 ,whither goest ,thou8 ,but because ,i have spoken these things unto you1 sorrow hath filled your heart4 ,nevertheless ,i tell you the truth2 ,it is expedient for you that ,i go away3 for if ,i go not away1 the ,comforter will not come unto you2 but if ,i go1 ,i will send ,him unto you4 ,and ,he1 when ,he is come1 will convict the world in respect of sin1 and of righteousness1 and of judgment3 of sin1 because they believe not on ,me2 of righteousness1 because ,i go to the ,father1 and ye behold ,me no more2 of judgment1 because the prince of this world hath been judged4 ,i have yet many things to say unto you1 but ye cannot bear them now4 ,howbeit when ,he1 the ,spirit of truth1 is come1 ,he shall guide you into all the truth3 for ,he shall not speak from ,himself2 but what things soever ,he shall hear1 these shall ,he speak3 and ,he shall declare unto you the things that are to come4 ,he shall glorify ,me3 for ,he shall take of ,mine1 and shall declare it unto you4 ,all things whatsoever the ,father hath are ,mine3 therefore said ,i1 that ,he taketh of ,mine1 and shall declare it unto you4--,,john xv4 #ah-xvi4 #ae4 ,having shown ,his disciples that by them only can ,his purposes on earth be fulfilled1 and that ,he will fit them for all work that may be required of them1 the ,lord now adds that their task will be full of hazard and hardship3 ,they shall put you out of the synagogues3 yea1 the time cometh that whosoever killeth you will think that he offereth service unto ,god4 ,this was but a dreary prospect1 and one to make each ,apostle hesitate1 and in the privacy of his own thoughts consider whether he should face a life so devoid of all that men naturally crave4 ,to live for great ends is no doubt animating1 but to be compelled in doing so to abandon all expectation of recognition1 and to lay one's account for abuse1 poverty1 persecution1 calls for some heroism in him that undertakes such a life4 ,he forewarns them of this persecution1 that when it comes they may not be taken aback and fancy that things are not falling out with them as their ,lord anticipated4 ,and ,he offers them two strong consolations which might uphold and animate them under all they should be called upon to suffer4 ,i4 ,if the world hateth you1 ye know that it hath hated ,me before it hated you4 ,if ye were of the world1 the world would love its own2 but because ye are not of the world1 but ,i chose you out of the world1 therefore the world hateth you4 ,persecution is thus turned into a joy1 because it is the testimony paid by the world to the disciples' identity with ,christ4 ,the love of the world would be a sure evidence of their unfaithfulness to ,christ and of their entire lack of resemblance to ,him2 but its hate was the tribute it would pay to their likeness to ,him and successful promotion of ,his cause4 ,they might well question their loyalty to ,christ1 if the world which had slain ,him fawned upon them4 ,the ,christian may conclude he is reckoned a helpless and harmless foe if he suffers no persecution1 if in no company he is frowned upon or felt to be uncongenial1 if he is treated by the world as if its aims were his aims and its spirit his spirit4 ,no faithful follower of ,christ who mixes with society can escape every form of persecution4 ,it is the seal which the world puts on the choice of ,christ4 ,it is proof that a man's attachment to ,christ and endeavour to forward ,his purposes have been recognised by the world4 ,persecution1 then1 should be welcome as the world's testimony to the disciple's identity with ,christ4 ,no idea had fixed itself more deeply in the mind of ,john than this of the identity of ,christ and ,his people4 ,as he brooded upon the life of ,christ and sought to penetrate to the hidden meanings of all that appeared on the surface1 he came to see that the unbelief and hatred with which ,he was met was the necessary result of goodness presented to worldliness and selfishness4 ,and as time went on he saw that the experience of ,christ was exceptional only in degree1 that ,his experience was and would be repeated in every one who sought to live in ,his ,spirit and to do ,his will4 ,the future of the ,church accordingly presented itself to him as a history of conflict1 of extreme cruelty on the part of the world and quiet conquering endurance on the part of ,christ's people4 ,and it was this which he embodied in the ,book of ,revelation4 ,this book he wrote as a kind of detailed commentary on the passage before us1 and in it he intended to depict the sufferings and final conquest of the ,church4 ,the one book is a reflex and supplement to the other2 and as in the ,gospel he had shown the unbelief and cruelty of the world against ,christ1 so in the ,revelation he shows in a series of strongly coloured pictures how the ,church of ,christ would pass through the same experience1 would be persecuted as ,christ was persecuted1 but would ultimately conquer4 ,both books are wrought out with extreme care and finished to the minutest detail1 and both deal with the cardinal matters of human history--sin1 righteousness1 and the final result of their conflict4 ,underneath all that appears on the surface in the life of the individual and in the history of the race there are just these abiding elements--sin and righteousness4 ,it is the moral value of things which in the long run proves of consequence1 the moral element which ultimately determines all else4 ,,ii4 ,the second consolation and encouragement the ,lord gave them was that they would receive the aid of a powerful champion--the ,paraclete1 the one effectual1 sufficient ,helper4 ,when the ,paraclete is come1 whom ,i will send unto you from the ,father1 even the ,spirit of truth1 which proceedeth from the ,father1 he shall bear witness of ,me3 and ye also bear witness1 because ye have been with ,me from the beginning4 ,inevitably the disciples would argue that1 if the words and works of ,jesus ,himself had not broken down the unbelief of the world1 it was not likely that anything which they could say or do would have that effect4 ,if the impressive presence of ,christ ,himself had not attracted and convinced all men1 how was it possible that mere telling about what ,he had said and done and been would convince them8 ,and ,he has just been reminding them how little effect ,his own words and works had had4 ,if ,i had not come and spoken unto them1 they had not had sin3 444 if ,i had not done among them the works which none other did1 they had not had sin3 but now have they both seen and hated both ,me and ,my ,father4 ,what power1 then1 could break down this obstinate unbelief8 ,our ,lord assures them that together with their witness-bearing there will be an all-powerful witness--the ,spirit of truth2 one who could find access to the hearts and minds to which they addressed themselves and carry truth home to conviction4 ,it was on this account that it was expedient that their ,lord should depart1 and that ,his visible presence should be superseded by the presence of the ,spirit4 ,it was necessary that ,his death1 resurrection1 and ascension to the right hand of the ,father should take place1 in order that ,his supremacy might be secured4 ,and in order that ,he might be everywhere and inwardly present with men1 it was necessary that ,he should be visible nowhere on earth4 ,the inward spiritual presence depended on the bodily absence4 ,before passing to the specific contents of the ,spirit's testimony1 as stated in vv4 #h-aa1 it is necessary to gather up what our ,lord indicates regarding the ,spirit ,himself and ,his function in the ,christian dispensation4 ,first1 the ,spirit here spoken of is a personal existence4 ,throughout all that our ,lord says in this last conversation regarding the ,spirit personal epithets are applied to ,him1 and the actions ascribed to ,him are personal actions4 ,he is to be the substitute of the most marked and influential ,personality with whom the disciples had ever been brought in contact4 ,he is to supply ,his vacated place4 ,he is to be to the disciples as friendly and staunch an ally and a more constantly present and efficient teacher than ,christ ,himself4 ,what as yet was not in their minds ,he was to impart to them2 and ,he was to mediate and maintain communication between the absent ,lord and themselves4 ,was it possible that the disciples should think of the ,spirit otherwise than as a conscious and energetic ,person when they heard ,him spoken of in such words as these3 ,howbeit when ,he1 the ,spirit of truth1 is come1 ,he shall guide you into all the truth3 for ,he shall not speak from ,himself2 but what things soever ,he shall hear1 these shall ,he speak3 and ,he shall declare unto you the things that are to come4 ,he shall glorify ,me3 for ,he shall take of ,mine1 and shall declare it unto you8 ,from these words it would seem as if the disciples were justified in expecting the presence and aid of ,one who was very closely related to their ,lord1 but yet distinct from ,him1 who could understand their state of mind and adapt ,himself to them1 who is not identical with the ,master they are losing1 and yet comes into still closer contact with them4 ,what underlies this1 and what is the very nature of the ,spirit and ,his relation to the ,father and the ,son1 we do not know2 but our ,lord chose these expressions which to our thought involve personality because this is the truest and safest form under which we can now conceive of the ,spirit4 ,the function for the discharge of which this ,spirit is necessary is the glorification of ,christ4 ,without ,him the manifestation of ,christ will be lost4 ,he is needed to secure that the world be brought into contact with ,christ1 and that men recognise and use ,him4 ,this is the most general and comprehensive aspect of the ,spirit's work3 ,he shall glorify ,me 7ver4 #ad74 ,in making this announcement our ,lord assumes that position of commanding importance with which this ,gospel has made us familiar4 ,the ,divine ,spirit is to be sent forth1 and the direct object of ,his mission is the glorifying of ,christ4 ,the meaning of ,christ's manifestation is the essential thing for men to understand4 ,in manifesting ,himself ,he has revealed the ,father4 ,he has in ,his own person shown what a ,divine nature is2 and therefore in order to ,his glorification all that is required is that light be shed upon what ,he has done and been1 and that the eyes of men be opened to see ,him and ,his work4 ,the recognition of ,christ and of ,god in ,him is the blessedness of the human race2 and to bring this about is the function of the ,spirit4 ,as ,jesus ,himself had constantly presented ,himself as the revealer of the ,father and as speaking ,his words1 so1 in a rivalry of ,divine humility1 the ,spirit glorifies the ,son and speaks what ,he shall hear4 ,to discharge this function a twofold ministry is undertaken by the ,spirit3 ,he must enlighten the ,apostles1 and ,he must convince the world4 ,he must enlighten the ,apostles4 ,from the nature of the case much had to be left unsaid by ,christ4 ,but this would not prevent the ,apostles from understanding what ,christ had done1 and what applications ,his work had to themselves and their fellow-men4 ,i have yet many things to say unto you1 but ye cannot bear them now4 ,howbeit when ,he1 the ,spirit of truth1 is come1 ,he will guide you into all the truth4 ,a great untravelled country lay before them4 ,their ,master had led them across its border1 and set their faces in the right direction2 but who was to find a way for them through all its intricacies and perplexities8 ,the ,spirit of truth1 ,he who is ,himself perfect knowledge and absolute light1 will guide you2 ,he will go before you and show you your way4#ah ,there may be no sudden impartation of truth1 no lifting of the mist that hangs on the horizon1 no consciousness that now you have mastered all difficulties and can see your way to the end2 there may be no violation of the natural and difficult processes by which men arrive at truth2 the road may be slow1 and sometimes there may even be an appearance of ignominious defeat by those who use swifter but more precarious means of advance2 much will depend on your own patience and wakefulness and docility2 but if you admit the ,spirit1 ,he will guide you into all the truth4 ,this promise does not involve that the ,apostles1 and through them all disciples1 should know everything4 ,all the truth is relative to the subject taught4 ,all that they need to know regarding ,christ and ,his work for them they will learn4 ,all that is needed to glorify ,christ1 to enable men to recognise ,him as the manifestation of ,god1 will be imparted4 ,to the truth which the ,apostles learn1 therefore1 nothing need be added4 ,nothing essential has been added4 ,time has now been given to test this promise1 and what time has shown is this--that while libraries have been written on what the ,apostles thought and taught1 their teaching remains as the sufficient guide into all the truth regarding ,christ4 ,even in non-essentials it is marvellous how little has been added4 ,many corrections of misapprehensions of their meaning have been required1 much laborious inquiry to ascertain precisely what they meant1 much elaborate inference and many buildings upon their foundations2 but in their teaching there remain a freshness and a living force which survive all else that has been written upon ,christ and ,his religion4 ,this instruction of the ,apostles by the ,spirit was to recall to their minds what ,christ ,himself had said1 and was also to show them things to come4 ,the changed point of view introduced by the dispensation of the ,spirit and the abolition of earthly hopes would cause many of the sayings of ,jesus which they had disregarded and considered unintelligible to spring into high relief and ray out significance1 while the future also would shape itself quite differently in their conception4 ,and the ,teacher who should superintend and inspire this altered attitude of mind is the ,spirit4#ai ,not only must the ,spirit enlighten the ,apostles2 ,he must also convince the world4 ,he shall bear witness of ,me1 and by ,his witness-bearing the testimony of the ,apostles would become efficacious4 ,they had a natural fitness to witness about ,christ1 because they had been with ,him from the beginning4 ,no more trustworthy witnesses regarding what ,christ had said or done or been could be called than those men with whom ,he had lived on terms of intimacy4 ,no men could more certainly testify to the identity of the risen ,lord4 ,but the significance of the facts they spoke of could best be taught by the ,spirit4 ,the very fact of the ,spirit's presence was the greatest evidence that the ,lord had risen and was using all power in heaven in behalf of men4 ,and possibly it was to this ,peter referred when he said3 ,we are ,his witnesses of these things2 and so is also the ,holy ,ghost1 whom ,god hath given to them that obey ,him4 ,certainly the gifts of the ,holy ,ghost1 the power to speak with tongues or to work miracles of healing1 were accepted by the primitive ,church as a seal of the ,apostolic word and as the appropriate evidence of the power of the risen ,christ4 ,but it is apparent from our ,lord's description of the subject-matter of the ,spirit's witness that here ,he has especially in view the function of the ,spirit as an inward teacher and strengthener of the moral powers4 ,he is the fellow-witness of the ,apostles1 mainly and permanently1 by enlightening men in the significance of the facts reported by them1 and by opening the heart and conscience to their influence4 ,the subject-matter of the ,spirit's testimony is threefold3 ,he will convict the world in respect of sin1 and of righteousness1 and of judgment4 ,i4 ,he should convict the world of sin4 ,no conviction cuts so deeply and produces results of such magnitude as the conviction of sin4 ,it is like subsoil ploughing3 it turns up soil that nothing else has got down to4 ,it alters entirely a man's attitude towards life4 ,he cannot know himself a sinner and be satisfied with that condition4 ,this awakening is like the waking of one who has been buried in a trance1 who wakes to find himself bound round with grave-clothes1 hemmed in with all the insignia of corruption1 terror and revulsion distracting and overwhelming his soul4 ,in spirit he has been far away1 weaving perhaps a paradise out of his fancies1 peopling it with choice and happy society1 and living through scenes of gorgeous beauty and comfort in fulness of interest and life and felicity2 but suddenly comes the waking1 a few brief moments of painful struggle and the dream gives place to the reality1 and then comes the certain accumulation of misery till the spirit breaks beneath its fear4 ,so does the strongest heart groan and break when it wakes to the full reality of sin1 when the ,spirit of ,christ takes the veil from a man's eyes and gives him to see what this world is and what he has been in it1 when the shadows that have occupied him flee away and the naked inevitable reality confronts him4 ,nothing is more overwhelming than this conviction1 but nothing is more hopeful4 ,given a man who is alive to the evil of sin and who begins to understand his errors1 and you know some good will come of that4 ,given a man who sees the importance of being in accord with perfect goodness and who feels the degradation of sin1 and you have the germ of all good in that man4 ,but how were the ,apostles to produce this8 how were they to dispel those mists which blurred the clear outline of good and evil1 to bring to the self-righteous ,pharisee and the indifferent and worldly ,sadducee a sense of their own sin8 ,what instrument is there which can introduce to every human heart1 howsoever armoured and fenced round1 this healthy revolution8 ,looking at men as they actually are1 and considering how many forces are banded together to exclude the knowledge of sin1 how worldly interest demands that no brand shall be affixed to this and that action1 how the customs we are brought up in require us to take a lenient view of this and that immorality1 how we deceive ourselves by sacrificing sins we do not care for in order to retain sins that are in our blood1 how the resistance of certain sins makes us a prey to self-righteousness and delusion--considering what we have learnt of the placidity with which men content themselves with a life they know is not the highest1 does there seem to be any instrument by which a true and humbling sense of sin can be introduced to the mind8 ,christ1 knowing that men were about to put ,him to death because ,he had tried to convict them of sin1 confidently predicts that ,his servants would by ,his ,spirit's aid convince the world of sin and of this in particular--that they had not believed in ,him4 ,that very death which chiefly exhibits human sin has1 in fact1 become the chief instrument in making men understand and hate sin4 ,there is no consideration from which the deceitfulness of sin will not escape1 nor any fear which the recklessness of sin will not brave1 nor any authority which self-will cannot override but only this3 ,christ has died for me1 to save me from my sin1 and ,i am sinning still1 not regarding ,his blood1 not meeting ,his purpose4 ,it was when the greatness and the goodness of ,christ were together let in to ,peter's mind that he fell on his face before ,him1 saying1 ,depart from me1 ,o ,lord1 for ,i am a sinful man4 ,and the experience of thousands is recorded in that more recent confession3 ,in evil long ,i took delight1 unawed by shame or fear1 ,till a new object struck my sight and stopped my wild career3 ,i saw ,one hanging on a tree in agonies and blood4 ,who fixed ,his languid eyes on me as near ,his cross ,i stood4 ,sure never till my latest breath can ,i forget that look2 ,it seemed to charge me with ,his death1 though not a word ,he spoke4 ,of other convictions we may get rid2 the consequences of sin we may brave1 or we may disbelieve that in our case sin will produce any very disastrous fruits2 but in the death of ,christ we see1 not what sin may possibly do in the future1 but what it actually has done in the past4 ,in presence of the death of ,christ we cannot any longer make a mock of sin or think lightly of it1 as if it were on our own responsibility and at our own risk we sinned4 ,but not only does the death of ,christ exhibit the intricate connections of our sin with other persons and the grievous consequence of sin in general1 but also it exhibits the enormity of this particular sin of rejecting ,christ4 ,he will convince the world of sin1 because they believe not on ,me4 ,it was this sin in point of fact which cut to the heart the crowd at ,jerusalem first addressed by ,peter4 ,peter had nothing to say of their looseness of life1 of their worldliness1 of their covetousness3 he did not go into particulars of conduct calculated to bring a blush to their cheeks2 he took up but one point1 and by a few convincing remarks showed them the enormity of crucifying the ,lord of glory4 ,the lips which a few days before had cried out ,crucify ,him1 crucify ,him6 now cried1 ,men and brethren1 what shall we do1 how escape from the crushing condemnation of mistaking ,god's image for a criminal8 ,in that hour ,christ's words were fulfilled2 they were convinced of sin because they believed not on ,him4 ,this is ever the damning sin--to be in presence of goodness and not to love it1 to see ,christ and to see ,him with unmoved and unloving hearts1 to hear ,his call without response1 to recognise the beauty of holiness and yet turn away to lust and self and the world4 ,this is the condemnation--that light is come into the world and we have loved darkness rather than the light4 ,if ,i had not come and spoken unto them1 they had not had sin3 but now they have no cloke for their sin4 ,he that hateth ,me1 hateth ,my ,father also4 ,to turn away from ,christ is to turn away from absolute goodness4 ,it is to show that however much we may relish certain virtues and approve particular forms of goodness1 goodness absolute and complete does not attract us4 ,,ii4 ,the conviction of righteousness is the complement1 the other half1 of the conviction of sin4 ,in the shame of guilt there is the germ of the conviction of righteousness4 ,the sense of guilt is but the acknowledgment that we ought to be righteous4 ,no guilt attaches to the incapable4 ,the sting of guilt is poisoned with the knowledge that we were capable of better things4 ,conscience exclaims against all excuses that would lull us into the idea that sin is insuperable1 and that there is nothing better for us than a moderately sinful life4 ,when conscience ceases to condemn1 hope dies4 ,a mist rises from sin that obscures the clear outline between its own domain and that of righteousness1 like the mist that rises from the sea and mingles shore and water in one undefined cloud4 ,but let it rise off the one and the other is at once distinctly marked out2 and so in the conviction of sin there is already involved the conviction of righteousness4 ,the blush of shame that suffuses the face of the sinner as the mist-dispelling ,sun of righteousness arises upon him is the morning flush and promise of an everlasting day of righteous living4 ,for each of us it is of the utmost importance to have a fixed and intelligent persuasion that righteousness is what we are made for4 ,the righteous ,lord loveth righteousness and made us in ,his image to widen the joy of rational creatures4 ,he waits for righteousness and cannot accept sin as an equally grateful fruit of men's lives4 ,and though in the main perhaps our faces are turned towards righteousness1 and we are on the whole dissatisfied and ashamed of sin1 yet the conviction of righteousness has much to struggle against in us all4 ,sin1 we unconsciously plead1 is so finely interwoven with all the ways of the world that it is impossible to live wholly free from it4 ,as well cast a sponge into the water and command that it absorb none nor sink as put me in the world and command that ,i do not admit its influences or sink to its level4 ,it presses in on me through all my instincts and appetites and hopes and fears2 it washes ceaselessly at the gateways of my senses1 so that one unguarded moment and the torrent bursts in on me and pours over my wasted bulwarks1 resolves1 high aims1 and whatever else4 ,it is surely not now and here that ,i am expected to do more than learn the rudiments of righteous living and make small experiments in it2 endeavours will surely stand for accomplishment1 and pious purposes in place of heroic action and positive righteousness4 ,men take sin for granted and lay their account for it4 ,will not ,god also1 who remembers our frailty1 consider the circumstances and count sin a matter of course8 ,such thoughts haunt and weaken us2 but every man whose heart is touched by the ,spirit of ,god clings to this as his hopeful prayer3 ,teach me to do ,thy will1 for ,thou art my ,god3 ,thy ,spirit is good2 lead me into the land of uprightness4 ,but1 after all1 it is by fact men are convinced2 and were there no facts to appeal to in this matter conviction could not be attained4 ,it does seem that we are made for righteousness1 but sin is in this world so universal that there must surely be some way of accounting for it which shall also excuse it4 ,had righteousness been to be our life1 surely some few would have attained it4 ,there must be some necessity of sin1 some impossibility of attaining perfect righteousness1 and therefore we need not seek it4 ,here comes in the proof our ,lord speaks of3 ,the ,spirit will convince of righteousness1 because ,i go to the ,father4 ,righteousness has been attained4 ,there has lived ,one1 bone of our bone1 and flesh of our flesh1 tempted in all points like as we are1 open to the same ambitious views of life1 growing up with the same appetites and as sensitive to bodily pleasure and bodily pain1 feeling as keenly the neglect and hatred of men1 and from the very size of ,his nature and width of ,his sympathy tempted in a thousand ways we are safe from1 and yet in no instance confounding right and wrong1 in no instance falling from perfect harmony with the ,divine will to self-will and self-seeking2 never deferring the commandments of ,god to some other sphere or waiting for holier times2 never forgetting and never renouncing the purpose of ,god in ,his life2 but at all times1 in weariness and lassitude1 in personal danger and in domestic comfort1 putting ,himself as a perfect instrument into ,god's hand1 ready at all cost to ,himself to do the ,father's will4 ,here was ,one who not only recognised that men are made to work together with ,god1 but who actually did so work2 who not only approved1 as we all approve1 of a life of holiness and sacrifice1 but actually lived it2 who did not think the trial too great1 the privation and risk too dreadful1 the self-effacement too humbling2 but who met life with all it brings to all of us--its conflict1 its interests1 its opportunities1 its allurements1 its snares1 its hazards4 ,but while out of this material we fail to make a perfect life1 ,he by ,his integrity of purpose and devotedness and love of good fashioned a perfect life4 ,thus ,he simply by living accomplished what the law with its commands and threats had not accomplished3 ,he condemned sin in the flesh4 ,but it was open to those whom the ,apostles addressed to deny that ,jesus had thus lived2 and therefore the conviction of righteousness is completed by the evidence of the resurrection and ascension of ,christ4 ,of righteousness1 because ,i go to ,my ,father1 and ye see ,me no more4 ,without holiness no man shall see ,god4 ,it was this that the ,apostles appealed to when first moved to address their fellow-men and proclaim ,christ as the ,saviour4 ,it was to ,his resurrection they confidently appealed as evidence of the truth of ,his claim to have been sent of ,god4 ,the ,jews had put ,him to death as a deceiver2 but ,god proclaimed ,his righteousness by raising ,him from the dead4 ,ye denied the ,holy ,one and the ,just1 and desired a murderer to be granted unto you1 and killed the ,prince of life whom ,god hath raised from the dead1 whereof we are witnesses4 ,probably1 however1 another idea underlies the words because ,i go to ,my ,father1 and ye see ,me no more4 ,so long as ,christ was on earth the ,jews believed that ,jesus and ,his followers were plotting a revolution3 when ,he was removed beyond sight such a suspicion became ludicrous4 ,but when ,his disciples could no longer see ,him1 they continued to serve ,him and to strive with greater zeal than ever to promote ,his cause4 ,slowly then it dawned on men's minds that righteousness was what ,christ and ,his ,apostles alone desired and sought to establish on earth4 ,this new spectacle of men devoting their lives to the advancement of righteousness1 and confident they could establish a kingdom of righteousness and actually establishing it--this spectacle penetrated men's minds1 and gave them a new sense of the value of righteousness1 and quite a new conviction of the possibility of attaining it4 ,,iii4 ,the third conviction by which the ,apostles were to prevail in their preaching of ,christ was the conviction of judgment1 because the prince of this world is judged4 ,men were to be persuaded that a distinction is made between sin and righteousness1 that in no case can sin pass for righteousness and righteousness for sin4 ,the world that has worldly ends in view and works towards them by appropriate means1 disregarding moral distinctions1 will be convicted of enormous error4 ,the ,spirit of truth will work in men's minds the conviction that all and every sin is mistake and productive of nothing good1 and can in no instance accomplish what righteousness would have accomplished4 ,men will find1 when truth shines in their spirit1 that they have not to await a great day of judgment in the end1 when the good results of sin shall be reversed and reward allotted to those who have done righteously1 but that judgment is a constant and universal element in ,god's government and to be found everywhere throughout it1 distinguishing between sin and righteousness in every present instance1 and never for one moment allowing to sin the value or the results which only righteousness has4 ,in the minds of men who have been using the world's unrighteous methods and living for the world's selfish ends1 the conviction is to be wrought that no good can come of all that--that sin is sin and not valid for any good purpose4 ,men are to recognise that a distinction is made between human actions1 and that condemnation is pronounced on all that are sinful4 ,and this conviction is to be wrought in the light of the fact that in ,christ's victory the prince of this world is judged4 ,the powers by which the world is actually led are seen to be productive of evil1 and not the powers by which men can permanently be led or should at any time have been led4 ,the prince of this world was judged by ,christ's refusal throughout ,his life to be in anything guided by him4 ,the motives by which the world is led were not ,christ's motives4 ,but it is in the death of ,christ the prince of this world was especially judged4 ,that death was brought about by the world's opposition to unworldliness4 ,had the world been seeking spiritual beauty and prosperity1 ,christ would not have been crucified4 ,he was crucified because the world was seeking material gain and worldly glory1 and was thereby blinded to the highest form of goodness4 ,and unquestionably the very fact that worldliness led to this treatment of ,christ is its most decided condemnation4 ,we cannot think highly of principles and dispositions which so blind men to the highest form of human goodness and lead them to actions so unreasonable and wicked4 ,as an individual will often commit one action which illustrates his whole character1 and flashes sudden light into the hidden parts of it1 and discloses its capabilities and possible results1 so the world has in this one act shown what worldliness essentially is and at all times is capable of4 ,no stronger condemnation of the influences which move worldly men can be found than the crucifixion of ,christ4 ,but1 besides1 the death of ,christ exhibits in so touching a form the largeness and power of spiritual beauty1 and brings so vividly home to the heart the charm of holiness and love1 that here more than anywhere else do men learn to esteem beauty of character and holiness and love more than all the world can yield them4 ,we feel that to be wholly out of sympathy with the qualities and ideas manifested in the ,cross would be a pitiable condition4 ,we adopt as our ideal the kind of glory there revealed1 and in our hearts condemn the opposed style of conduct that the world leads to4 ,as we open our understanding and conscience to the meaning of ,christ's love and sacrifice and devotedness to ,god's will1 the prince of this world is judged and condemned within us4 ,we feel that to yield to the powers that move and guide the world is impossible for us1 and that we must give ourselves to this ,prince of holiness and spiritual glory4 ,in point of fact the world is judged4 ,to adhere to worldly motives and ways and ambitions is to cling to a sinking ship1 to throw ourselves away on a justly doomed cause4 ,the world may trick itself out in what delusive splendours it may2 it is judged all the same1 and men who are deluded by it and still in one way or other acknowledge the prince of this world destroy themselves and lose the future4 ,such was the promise of ,christ to ,his disciples4 ,is it fulfilled in us8 ,we may have witnessed in others the entrance and operation of convictions which to all appearance correspond with those here described4 ,we may even have been instrumental in producing these convictions4 ,but a lens of ice will act as a burning-glass1 and itself unmelted will fire the tinder to which it transmits the rays4 ,and perhaps we may be able to say with much greater confidence that we have done good than that we are good4 ,convinced of sin we may be1 and convinced of righteousness we may be--so far at least as to feel most keenly that the distinction between sin and righteousness is real1 wide1 and of eternal consequence--but is the prince of this world judged8 has the power that claims us as the servants of sin and mocks our strivings after righteousness been1 so far as we can judge from our own experience1 defeated8 ,for this is the final test of religion1 of our faith in ,christ1 of the truth of ,his words and the efficacy of ,his work4 ,does ,he accomplish in me what ,he promised8 ,now1 when we begin to doubt the efficacy of the ,christian method on account of its apparent failure in our own case1 when we see quite clearly how it ought to work and as clearly that it has not worked1 when this and that turns up in our life and proves beyond controversy that we are ruled by much the same motives and desires as the world at large1 two subjects of reflection present themselves4 ,first1 have we remembered the word of ,christ1 ,the servant is not greater than his ,lord8 ,are we so anxious to be ,his servants that we would willingly sacrifice whatever stood in the way of our serving ,him8 ,are we content to be as ,he was in the world8 ,there are always many in the ,christian ,church who are1 first1 men of the world1 and1 secondly1 varnished with ,christianity2 who do not seek first the kingdom of ,god and ,his righteousness2 who do not yet understand that the whole of life must be consecrated to ,christ and spring from ,his will1 and who therefore without compunction do make themselves greater in every worldly respect than their professed ,lord4 ,there are also many in the ,christian ,church at all times who decline to make more of this world than ,christ ,himself did1 and whose constant study it is to put all they have at ,his disposal4 ,now1 we cannot too seriously inquire to which of these classes we belong4 ,are we making a bona-fide thing of our attachment to ,christ8 ,do we feel it in every part of our life8 ,do we strive1 not to minimise our service and ,his claims1 but to be wholly ,his8 ,have ,his words1 ,the servant is not greater than his ,lord1 any meaning to us at all8 ,is ,his service truly the main thing we seek in life8 ,i say we should seriously inquire if this is so2 for not hereafter1 but now1 are we finally determining our relation to all things by our relation to ,christ4 ,but1 secondly1 we must beware of disheartening ourselves by hastily concluding that in our case ,christ's grace has failed4 ,if we may accept the ,book of ,revelation as a true picture1 not merely of the conflict of the ,church1 but also of the conflict of the individual1 then only in the end can we look for quiet and achieved victory--only in the closing chapters does conflict cease and victory seem no more doubtful4 ,if it is to be so with us1 the fact of our losing some of the battles must not discourage us from continuing the campaign4 ,nothing is more painful and humbling than to find ourselves falling into unmistakable sin after much concernment with ,christ and ,his grace2 but the very resentment we feel and the deep and bitter humiliation must be used as incentive to further effort1 and must not be allowed to sound permanent defeat and surrender to sin4 ,,footnotes3 #ah hodegesei4 #ai ,godet says3 ,the saying xiv4 #bf gives the formula of the inspiration of our ,gospels2 ver4 #ac gives that of the inspiration of the ,epistles and the ,apocalypse4 ,,xv4 ,,last ,,words4 ,a little while1 and ye behold ,me no more2 and again a little while1 and ye shall see ,me4 ,some of ,his disciples therefore said one to another1 ,what is this that ,he saith unto us1 ,a little while1 and ye behold ,me not2 and again a little while1 and ye shall see ,me3 and1 ,because ,i go to the ,father8 ,they said therefore1 ,what is this that ,he saith1 ,a little while8 ,we know not what ,he saith4 ,jesus perceived that they were desirous to ask ,him1 and ,he said unto them1 ,do ye inquire among yourselves concerning this1 that ,i said1 ,a little while1 and ye behold ,me not1 and again a little while1 and ye shall see ,me8 ,verily1 verily1 ,i say unto you1 that ye shall weep and lament1 but the world shall rejoice3 ye shall be sorrowful1 but your sorrow shall be turned into joy4 ,a woman when she is in travail hath sorrow1 because her hour is come3 but when she is delivered of the child1 she remembereth no more the anguish1 for the joy that a man is born into the world4 ,and ye therefore now have sorrow3 but ,i will see you again1 and your heart shall rejoice1 and your joy no one taketh away from you4 ,and in that day ye shall ask ,me nothing4 ,verily1 verily1 ,i say unto you1 ,if ye shall ask anything of the ,father1 ,he will give it you in ,my name4 ,hitherto have ye asked nothing in ,my name3 ask1 and ye shall receive1 that your joy may be fulfilled4 ,these things have ,i spoken unto you in proverbs3 the hour cometh1 when ,i shall no more speak unto you in proverbs1 but shall tell you plainly of the ,father4 ,in that day ye shall ask in ,my name3 and ,i say not unto you1 that ,i will pray the ,father for you2 for the ,father ,himself loveth you1 because ye have loved ,me1 and have believed that ,i came forth from the ,father4 ,i came out from the ,father1 and am come into the world3 again1 ,i leave the world1 and go unto the ,father4 ,his disciples say1 ,lo1 now speakest ,thou plainly1 and speakest no proverb4 ,now know we that ,thou knowest all things1 and needest not that any man should ask ,thee3 by this we believe that ,thou camest forth from ,god4 ,jesus answered them1 ,do ye now believe8 ,behold1 the hour cometh1 yea1 is come1 that ye shall be scattered1 every man to his own1 and shall leave ,me alone3 and yet ,i am not alone1 because the ,father is with ,me4 ,these things have ,i spoken unto you1 that in ,me ye may have peace4 ,in the world ye have tribulation3 but be of good cheer2 ,i have overcome the world4--,,john xvi4 #af-cc4 ,in the intercourse of ,jesus with ,his disciples ,he at all times showed one of the most delightful qualities of a friend--a quick and perfect apprehension of what was passing in their mind4 ,they did not require to bring their mental condition before ,him by laboured explanations4 ,he knew what was in man1 and ,he especially knew what was in them4 ,he could forecast the precise impression which ,his announcements would make upon them1 the doubts and the expectations they would give rise to4 ,sometimes they were surprised at this insight1 always they profited by it4 ,in fact1 on more occasions than one this insight convinced them that ,jesus had this clear knowledge of men given to ,him that ,he might effectually deal with all men4 ,it seemed to them1 as of course it is1 one of the essential equipments of ,one who is to be a real centre for the whole race and to bring help to each and all men4 ,how could a person who was deficient in this universal sympathy and practical understanding of the very thoughts of each of us offer himself as our helper8 ,there is therefore evidence in the life of ,jesus that ,he was never non-plussed1 never at a loss to understand the kind of man ,he had to do with4 ,there is evidence of this1 and it would seem that we all receive this evidence2 for are we not conscious that our spiritual condition is understood1 our thoughts traced1 our difficulties sympathised with8 ,we may feel very unlike many prominent ,christians2 we may have no sympathy with a great deal that passes for ,christian sentiment2 but ,christ's sympathy is universal1 and nothing human comes wrong to ,him4 ,begin with ,him as you are1 without professing to be1 though hoping to be1 different from what you are1 and by the growth of your own spirit in the sunshine of ,his presence and under the guidance of ,his intelligent sympathy your doubts will pass away1 your ungodliness be renounced4 ,he is offered for your help as the essential condition of your progress and your growth4 ,seeing the perplexity which certain of ,his expressions had created in the minds of ,his disciples1 ,he proceeds to remove it4 ,they had great need of hopefulness and courage1 and ,he sought to inspire them with these qualities4 ,they were on the edge of a most bitter experience1 and it was of untold consequence that they should be upheld in it4 ,he does not hide from them the coming distress1 but ,he reminds them that very commonly pain and anxiety accompany the birth-throes of a new life2 and if they found themselves shortly in depression and grief which seemed inconsolable1 they were to believe that this was the path to a new and higher phase of existence and to a joy that would be lasting4 ,your grief1 ,he says1 will shortly end3 your joy never4 ,your grief will soon be taken away3 your joy no one shall take away4 ,when ,christ rose again1 the disciples remembered and understood these words2 and a few chapters further on we find ,john returning upon the word and saying1 ,when they saw the ,lord1 they were glad1--they had this joy4 ,it was a joy to them1 because love for ,christ and hope in ,him were their dominant feelings4 ,they had the joy of having their ,friend again1 of seeing ,him victorious and proved to be all and more than they had believed4 ,they had the first glowing visions of a new world for which the preparation was the life and resurrection of the ,son of ,god4 ,what were they not prepared to hope for as the result of the immeasurably great things they had themselves seen and known8 ,it was a mere question now of ,christ's will3 of ,his power they were assured4 ,the resurrection of ,christ was1 however1 meant to bring lasting joy1 not to these men only1 but to all4 ,these greatest of all events1 the descent to earth of the ,son of ,god with all ,divine power and love1 and ,his resurrection as the conqueror of all that bars the path of men from a life of light and joy1 became solid facts in this world's history1 that all men might calculate their future by such a past1 and might each for himself conclude that a future of which such events are the preparation must be great and happy indeed4 ,death1 if not in all respects the most desolating1 is the most certain of all human ills4 ,anguish and mourning it has brought and will bring to many human hearts4 ,do what we will we cannot save our friends from it2 by us it is unconquerable4 ,yet it is in this most calamitous of human ills ,god has shown ,his nearness and ,his love4 ,it is to the death of ,christ men look to see the full brightness of ,god's fatherly love4 ,it is this darkest point of human experience that ,god has chosen to irradiate with ,his absorbing glory4 ,death is at once our gravest fear and the spring of our hope2 it cuts short human intercourse1 but in the cross of ,christ it gives us a never-failing1 divinely loving ,friend4 ,the death of ,christ is the great compensation of all the ill that death has brought into human life2 and when we see death made the medium of ,god's clearest manifestation1 we are almost grateful to it for affording material for an exhibition of ,god's love which transforms all our own life and all our own hopes4 ,lasting joy is the condition in which ,god desires us to be1 and ,he has given us cause of joy4 ,in ,christ's victory we see all that is needed to give us hopefulness about the future4 ,each man finds for himself assurance of ,god's interest in us and in our actual condition3 assurance that whatever is needful to secure for us a happy eternity has been done2 assurance that in a new heavens and a new earth we shall find lasting satisfaction4 ,this true1 permanent1 all-embracing joy is open to all1 and is actually enjoyed by those who have something of ,christ's ,spirit1 whose chief desire is to see holiness prevail and to keep themselves and others in harmony with ,god4 ,to such the accomplishment of ,god's will seems a certainty1 and they have learned that the accomplishment of that will means good to them and to all who love ,god4 ,the holiness and harmony with ,god that win this joy are parts of it4 ,to be the friends of ,christ1 imbued with ,his views of life and of ,god1 this from first to last is a thing of joy4 ,that which the disciples at length believed and felt to be the culmination of their faith was that ,jesus had come forth from ,god4 ,he ,himself more fully expresses what ,he desired them to believe about ,him in the words3 ,i came forth from the ,father1 and am come into the world3 again ,i leave the world1 and go to the ,father4 ,no doubt there is a sense in which any man may use this language of himself4 ,we can all truthfully say we came forth from ,god and came into the world2 and we pass out from the world and return to ,god4 ,but that the disciples did not understand the words in this sense is obvious from the difficulty they found in reaching this belief4 ,had ,jesus merely meant that it was true of ,him1 as of all others1 that ,god is the great existence out of whom we spring and to whom we return1 the disciples could have found no difficulty and the ,jews must all have believed in ,him4 ,in some special and exceptional sense1 then1 ,he came forth from ,god4 ,what1 then1 was this sense8 ,when ,nicodemus came to ,jesus1 he addressed ,him as a teacher come from ,god1 because1 he added1 no man can do these miracles which ,thou doest except ,god be with ,him4 ,in ,nicodemus' lips1 therefore1 the words a teacher come from ,god meant a teacher with a ,divine mission and credentials4 ,in this sense all the prophets were teachers come from ,god4 ,and accordingly many careful readers of the ,gospels believe that nothing more than this is meant by any of those expressions our ,lord uses of ,himself1 as sent from ,god1 come forth from ,god1 and so on4 ,the only distinction1 it is supposed1 between ,christ and other prophets is that ,he is more highly endowed1 is commissioned and equipped as ,god's representative in a more perfect degree than ,moses or ,samuel or ,elijah4 ,he had their power to work miracles1 their authority in teaching2 but having a more important mission to accomplish1 ,he had this power and authority more fully4 ,now1 it is quite certain that some of the expressions which a careless reader might think conclusive in proof of ,christ's divinity were not intended to express anything more than that ,he was ,god's commissioner4 ,indeed1 it is remarkable how ,he ,himself seems to wish men to believe this above all else--that ,he was sent by ,god4 ,in reading the ,gospel of ,john one is tempted to say that ,jesus almost intentionally avoids affirming ,his divinity explicitly and directly when there seemed opportunity to do so4 ,certainly ,his main purpose was to reveal the ,father1 to bring men to understand that ,his teaching about ,god was true1 and that ,he was sent by ,god4 ,there are1 however1 some expressions which unquestionably affirm ,christ's pre-existence1 and convince us that before ,he appeared in this world ,he lived with ,god4 ,and among these expressions the words ,he uses in this passage hold a place3 ,i came forth from the ,father1 and am come into the world3 again1 ,i leave the world1 and go to the ,father4 ,these words1 the disciples felt1 lifted a veil from their eyes2 they told ,him at once that they found an explicitness in this utterance which had been a-wanting in others4 ,and1 indeed1 nothing could be more explicit3 the two parts of the sentence balance and interpret one another4 ,i leave the world1 and go to the ,father1 interprets ,i came forth from the ,father1 and am come into the world4 ,to say ,i leave the world is not the same as to say ,i go to the ,father3 this second clause describes a state of existence which is entered upon when existence in this world is done4 ,and to say ,i came forth from the ,father is not the same as to say ,i came into the world2 it describes a state of existence antecedent to that which began by coming into the world4 ,thus the ,apostles understood the words1 and felt therefore that they had gained a new platform of faith4 ,this they felt to be plain-speaking1 meant to be understood4 ,it so precisely met their craving and gave them the knowledge they sought1 that they felt more than ever ,christ's insight into their state of mind and ,his power to satisfy their minds4 ,at length they are able to say with assurance that ,he has come forth from ,god4 ,they are persuaded that behind what they see there is a higher nature1 and that in ,christ's presence they are in the presence of ,one whose origin is not of this world4 ,it was this pre-existence of ,christ with ,god which gave the disciples assurance regarding all ,he taught them4 ,he spoke of what ,he had seen with the ,father4 ,this belief1 however1 assured though it was1 did not save them from a cowardly desertion of ,him whom they believed to be ,god's representative on earth4 ,they would1 when confronted with the world's authorities and powers1 abandon their ,master to ,his fate1 and would leave ,him alone4 ,he had always1 indeed1 been alone4 ,all men who wish to carry out some novel design or accomplish some extensive reform must be prepared to stand alone1 to listen unmoved to criticism1 to estimate at their real and very low value the prejudiced calumnies of those whose interests are opposed to their design4 ,they must be prepared to live without reward and without sympathy1 strong in the consciousness of their own rectitude and that ,god will prosper the right4 ,jesus enjoyed the affection of a considerable circle of friends2 ,he was not without the comfort and strength which come of being believed in2 but in regard to ,his purpose in life ,he was always alone4 ,and yet1 unless ,he won men over to ,his views1 unless ,he made some as ardent as ,himself regarding them1 ,his work was lost4 ,this was the special hardship of ,christ's solitariness4 ,those whom ,he had gathered were to desert ,him in the critical hour2 but the sore part of this desertion was that they were to go each to his own--oblivious1 that is to say1 of the great cause in which they had embarked with ,christ4 ,at all times this is the problem ,christ has to solve3 how to prevail upon men to look at life from ,his point of view1 to forget their own things and combine with ,him1 to be as enamoured of ,his cause as ,he ,himself is4 ,he looks now upon us with our honest professions of faith and growing regard1 and ,he says3 ,yes1 you believe2 but you scatter each to his own at the slightest breath of danger or temptation4 ,this scattering1 each to his own1 is that which thwarts ,christ's purpose and imperils ,his work4 ,the world with its enterprises and its gains1 its glitter and its glory1 its sufficiency for the present life1 comes in and tempts us2 and apart from the common good1 we have each our private schemes of advantage4 ,and yet there is nothing more certain than that our ultimate advantage is measured by the measure in which we throw in our lot with ,christ--by the measure in which we practically recognise that there is an object for which all men in common can work1 and that to scatter each to his own is to resign the one best hope of life1 the one satisfying and remunerative labour4 ,in revealing what sustained ,himself ,christ reveals the true stay of every soul of man4 ,his trial was indeed severe4 ,brought without a single friend to the bar of unsympathetic and unscrupulous judges3 the ,friend of man1 loving as no other has ever loved1 and craving love and sympathy as no other has craved it1 yet standing without one pitying eye1 without one voice raised in ,his favour4 ,alone in a world ,he came to convince and to win2 at the end of ,his life1 spent in winning men1 left without one to say ,he had not lived in vain2 abandoned to enemies1 to ignorant1 cruel1 profane men4 ,he was dragged through the streets where ,he had spoken words of life and healed the sick1 but no rescue was attempted4 ,so outcast from all human consideration was ,he1 that a ,barabbas found friendly voices where ,he found none4 ,hearing the suborned witnesses swear ,his life away1 ,he heard at the same time ,his boldest disciple deny that he knew any person of the name of ,jesus4 ,but through this abandonment ,he knew the ,father's presence was with ,him4 ,i am not alone1 because the ,father is with ,me4 ,times which in their own degree try us with the same sense of solitariness come upon us all4 ,all pain is solitary2 you must bear it alone3 kind friends may be round you1 but they cannot bear one pang for you4 ,you feel how separate and individual an existence you have when your body is racked with pain and healthy people are by your side2 and you feel it also when you visit some pained or sorrowing person and sit silently in their presence1 feeling that the suffering is theirs and that they must bear it4 ,we should not brood much over any apparent want of recognition we may meet with2 all such brooding is unwholesome and weak4 ,many of our minor sufferings we do best to keep to ourselves and say nothing about them4 ,let us strive to show sympathy1 and we shall feel less the pain of not having it4 ,to a large extent every one must be alone in life--forming his own views of things1 working out his own idea of life1 conquering his own sins1 and schooling his own heart4 ,and every one is more or less misunderstood even by his most intimate friends4 ,he finds himself congratulated on occurrences which are no joy to him1 applauded for successes he is ashamed of2 the very kindnesses of his friends reveal to him how little they understand his nature4 ,but all this will not deeply affect a healthy-minded man1 who recognises that he is in the world to do good1 and who is not always craving applause and recognition4 ,but there are occasional times in which the want of sympathy is crushingly felt4 ,some of the most painful and enduring sorrows of the human heart are of a kind which forbid that they be breathed to the nearest friend4 ,even if others know that they have fallen upon us they cannot allude to them2 and very often they are not even known4 ,and there are times even more trying1 when we have not only to bear a sorrow or an anxiety all our own1 but when we have to adopt a line of conduct which exposes us to misunderstanding1 and to act continuously in a manner which shuts us off from the sympathy of our friends4 ,our friends remonstrate and advise1 and we feel that their advice is erroneous3 we are compelled to go our own way and bear the charge of obstinacy and even of cruelty2 for sometimes1 like ,abraham offering ,isaac1 we cannot satisfy conscience without seeming to injure or actually injuring those we love4 ,it is in times like these that our faith is tested4 ,we gain a firmer hold of ,god than ever before when we in actual life prefer ,his countenance and fellowship to the approbation and good-will of our friends4 ,when in order to keep conscience clean we dare to risk the good-will of those we depend upon for affection and for support1 our faith becomes a reality and rapidly matures4 ,for a time we may seem to have rendered ourselves useless1 and to have thrown ourselves out of all profitable relations to our fellow-men3 we may be shunned1 and our opinions and conduct may be condemned1 and the object we had in view may seem to be further off than ever2 but such was the experience of ,christ also1 till even ,he was forced to cry out1 not only ,why have ye1 ,my friends1 forsaken ,me8 but ,my ,god1 why hast ,thou forsaken ,me8 ,but as in ,his case1 so in ours--this is only the natural and necessary path to the perfect justification of ourselves and of the principles our conduct has represented4 ,if in obedience to conscience we are exposed to isolation and the various loss consequent upon it1 we are not alone--,god is with us4 ,it is in the line of our conduct ,he is working and will carry out ,his purposes4 ,and well might such an one be envied by those who have feared such isolation and shrunk from the manifold wretchedness that comes of resisting the world's ways and independently following an unworldly and ,christian path4 ,for really in our own life1 as in the life of ,christ1 all is summed up in the conflict between ,christ and the world2 and therefore the last words of this ,his last conversation are3 ,in the world ye shall have tribulation3 but be of good courage4 ,i have overcome the world4 ,when ,christ speaks of the world as comprising all that was opposed to ,him1 it is not difficult to understand ,his meaning4 ,by the world we sometimes mean this earth2 sometimes all external things1 sun1 moon1 and stars as well as this earth2 sometimes we mean the world of men1 as when we say ,all the world knows such and such a thing1 or as when ,christ said ,god so loved the world that ,he gave ,his only-begotten ,son4 ,but much more commonly ,christ uses it to denote all in the present state of things which opposes ,god and leads man away from ,god4 ,we speak of worldliness as fatal to the spirit1 because worldliness means preference for what is external and present to what is inward and both present and future4 ,worldliness means attachment to things as they are--to the ways of society1 to the excitements1 the pleasures1 the profits1 of the present4 ,it means surrender to what appeals to the sense--to comfort to vanity1 to ambition1 to love of display4 ,worldliness is the spirit which uses the present world without reference to the lasting and spiritual purposes for the sake of which men are in this world4 ,it ignores what is eternal and what is spiritual2 it is satisfied with present comfort1 with what brings present pleasure1 with what ministers to the beauty of this present life1 to the material prosperity of men4 ,and no soul whatsoever or wheresoever situated can escape the responsibility of making his choice between the world and ,god4 ,to each of us the question which determines all else is1 ,am ,i to live for ends which find their accomplishment in this present life1 or for ends which are eternal8 ,am ,i to live so as to secure the utmost of comfort1 of ease1 of money1 of reputation1 of domestic enjoyment1 of the good things of this present world8 or am ,i to live so as to do the most ,i can for the forwarding of ,god's purposes with men1 for the forwarding of spiritual and eternal good8 ,there is no man who is not living for one or other of these ends4 ,two men enter the same office and transact the same business2 but the one is worldly1 the other ,christian3 two men do the same work1 use the same material1 draw the same salary2 but one cherishes a spiritual end1 the other a worldly1--the one works1 always striving to serve ,god and his fellows1 the other has nothing in view but himself and his own interests4 ,two women live in the same street1 have children at the same school1 dress very much alike2 but you cannot know them long without perceiving that the one is worldly1 with her heart set on position and earthly advancement for her children1 while the other is unworldly and prays that her children may learn to conquer the world and to live a stainless and self-sacrificing life though it be a poor one4 ,this is the determining probation of life2 this it is which determines what we are and shall be4 ,we are1 every one of us1 living either with the world as our end or for ,god4 ,the difficulty of choosing rightly and abiding by our choice is extreme3 no man has ever found it easy2 for every man it is a sufficient test of his reality1 of his dependence on principle1 of his moral clear-sightedness1 of his strength of character4 ,therefore ,christ1 as the result of all ,his work1 announces that ,he has overcome the world4 ,and on the ground of this conquest of ,his ,he bids ,his followers rejoice and take heart1 as if somehow ,his conquest of the world guaranteed theirs1 and as if their conflict would be easier on account of ,his4 ,and so indeed it is4 ,not only has every one now who proposes to live for high and unworldly ends the satisfaction of knowing that such a life is possible1 and not only has he the vast encouragement of knowing that ,one has passed this way before and attained ,his end2 but1 moreover1 it is ,christ's victory which has really overcome the world in a final and public way4 ,the world's principles of action1 its pleasure-seeking1 its selfishness1 its childish regard for glitter and for what is present to sense1 in a word1 its worldliness when set over against the life of ,christ1 is for ever discredited4 ,the experience of ,christ in this world reflects such discredit upon merely worldly ways1 and so clearly exhibits its blindness1 its hatred of goodness1 its imbecility when it strives to counterwork ,god's purposes1 that no man who morally has his eyes open can fail to look with suspicion and abhorrence on the world4 ,and the dignity1 the love1 the apprehension of what is real and abiding in human affairs1 and the ready application of ,his life to a real and abiding purpose--all this1 which is so visible in the life of ,christ1 gives certainty and attractiveness to the principles opposed to worldliness4 ,we have in ,christ's life at once an authoritative and an experimental teaching on the greatest of all human subjects--how life should be spent4 ,christ has overcome the world1 then1 by resisting its influence upon ,himself1 by showing ,himself actually superior to its most powerful influences2 and ,his overcoming of the world is not merely a private victory availing for ,himself alone1 but it is a public good1 because in ,his life the perfect beauty of a life devoted to eternal and spiritual ends is conspicuously shown4 ,the man who can look upon the conflict between the world and ,christ as ,john has shown it1 and say1 ,i would rather be one of the ,pharisees than ,christ1 is hopelessly blind to the real value of human life4 ,but what says our life regarding the actual choice we have made8 ,,xvi4 ,,christ',s ,,intercessory ,,prayer4 ,these things spake ,jesus2 and lifting up ,his eyes to heaven1 ,he said1 ,father1 the hour is come2 glorify ,thy ,son1 that the ,son may glorify ,thee3 even as ,thou gavest ,him authority over all flesh1 that whatsoever ,thou hast given ,him1 to them ,he should give eternal life4 ,and this is life eternal1 that they should know ,thee the only true ,god1 and ,him whom ,thou didst send1 even ,jesus ,christ4 ,i glorified ,thee on the earth1 having accomplished the work which ,thou hast given ,me to do4 ,and now1 ,o ,father1 glorify ,thou ,me with ,thine own self with the glory which ,i had with ,thee before the world was4 ,i manifested ,thy name unto the men whom ,thou gavest ,me out of the world3 ,thine they were1 and ,thou gavest them to ,me2 and they have kept ,thy word4 ,now they know that all things whatsoever ,thou hast given ,me are from ,thee3 for the words which ,thou gavest ,me ,i have given unto them2 and they received them1 and knew of a truth that ,i came forth from ,thee1 and they believed that ,thou didst send ,me4 ,i pray for them3 ,i pray not for the world1 but for those whom ,thou hast given ,me2 for they are ,thine3 and all things that are ,mine are ,thine1 and ,thine are ,mine3 and ,i am glorified in them4 ,and ,i am no more in the world1 and these are in the world1 and ,i come to ,thee4 ,holy ,father1 keep them in ,thy name which ,thou hast given ,me1 that they may be one1 even as ,we are4 ,while ,i was with them1 ,i kept them in ,thy name which ,thou hast given ,me3 and ,i guarded them1 and not one of them perished1 but the son of perdition2 that the ,scripture might be fulfilled4 ,but now ,i come to ,thee2 and these things ,i speak in the world1 that they may have ,my joy fulfilled in themselves4 ,i have given them ,thy word2 and the world hated them1 because they are not of the world1 even as ,i am not of the world4 ,i pray not that ,thou shouldest take them from the world1 but that ,thou shouldest keep them from the evil one4 ,they are not of the world1 even as ,i am not of the world4 ,sanctify them in the truth3 ,thy word is truth4 ,as ,thou didst send ,me into the world1 even so sent ,i them into the world4 ,and for their sakes ,i sanctify ,myself1 that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth4 ,neither for these only do ,i pray1 but for them also that believe on ,me through their word2 that they may all be one2 even as ,thou1 ,father1 art in ,me1 and ,i in ,thee1 that they also may be in ,us3 that the world may believe that ,thou didst send ,me4 ,and the glory which ,thou hast given ,me ,i have given unto them2 that they may be one1 even as ,we are one2 ,i in them1 and ,thou in ,me1 that they may be perfected into one2 that the world may know that ,thou didst send ,me1 and lovedst them1 even as ,thou lovedst ,me4 ,father1 that which ,thou hast given ,me1 ,i will that1 where ,i am1 they also may be with ,me2 that they may behold ,my glory1 which ,thou hast given ,me3 for ,thou lovedst ,me before the foundation of the world4 ,o righteous ,father1 the world knew ,thee not1 but ,i knew ,thee2 and these knew that ,thou didst send ,me2 and ,i made known unto them ,thy name1 and will make it known2 that the love wherewith ,thou lovedst me may be in them1 and ,i in them4--,,john xvii4 ,this prayer of ,christ is in some respects the most precious relic of the past4 ,we have here the words which ,christ addressed to ,god in the critical hour of ,his life--the words in which ,he uttered the deepest feeling and thought of ,his ,spirit1 clarified and concentrated by the prospect of death4 ,what a revelation it would be to us had we ,christ's prayers from ,his boyhood onwards6 what a liturgy and promptuary of devotion if we knew what ,he had desired from ,his early years--what ,he had feared1 what ,he had prayed against1 what ,he had never ceased to hope for2 the things that one by one dropped out of ,his prayers1 the things that gradually grew into them2 the persons ,he commended to the ,father and the manner of this commendation2 ,his prayers for ,his mother1 for ,john1 for ,peter1 for ,lazarus1 for ,judas6 ,but here we have a prayer which1 if it does not so abundantly satisfy pardonable curiosity1 does at least bring us into as sacred a presence4 ,for even among the prayers of ,christ this stands by itself as that in which ,he gathered up the retrospect of ,his past and surveyed the future of ,his ,church2 in which1 as if already dying1 ,he solemnly presented to the ,father ,himself1 ,his work1 and ,his people4 ,recognising the grandeur of the occasion1 we may be disposed to agree with ,melanchthon1 who1 when giving his last lecture shortly before ,his death1 said3 ,there is no voice which has ever been heard1 either in heaven or in earth1 more exalted1 more holy1 more fruitful1 more sublime1 than this prayer offered up by the ,son of ,god ,himself4 ,the prayer was the natural conclusion to the conversation which ,jesus and the disciples had been carrying on4 ,and as the ,eleven saw ,him lifting ,his eyes to heaven1 as if the ,father ,he addressed were visible1 they no doubt felt a security which had not been imparted by all ,his promises4 ,and when in after-life they spoke of ,christ's intercession1 this instance of it must always have risen in memory and have formed all their ideas of that part of the ,redeemer's work4 ,it has always been believed that those who have loved and cared for us while on earth continue to do so when through death they have passed nearer to the ,source of all love and goodness2 this lively interest in us is supposed to continue because it formed so material an element in their life here below2 and it was impossible that those who heard our ,lord thus awfully commending them to the ,father should ever forget this earnest consideration of their state or should ever come to fancy that they were forgotten4 ,beginning with prayer for ,himself1 our ,lord passes at the sixth verse into prayer for ,his disciples1 and at the twentieth verse the prayer expands still more widely and embraces the world1 all those who should believe on ,him4 ,first1 ,jesus prays for ,himself2 and ,his prayer is1 ,father1 glorify ,thy ,son2 glorify ,thou ,me with ,thine own self with the glory which ,i had with ,thee before the world was4 ,the work for which ,he came into the world was done2 ,i have finished the work which ,thou gavest ,me to do4 ,there remains no more reason why ,he should stay longer on earth2 the hour is come1 the hour for closing ,his earthly career and opening to ,him a new period and sphere4 ,he does not wish and does not need a prolongation of life4 ,he has found time enough in less than a half of three-score years and ten to do all ,he can do on earth4 ,it is character1 not time1 we need to do our work4 ,to make a deep and abiding impression it is not longer life we need1 but intensity4 ,jesus did not find ,himself cramped1 limited1 or too soon hurried out of life4 ,he viewed death as the suitable timely step1 and took it with self-command and in order to pass to something better than earthly life4 ,how immeasurably beneath this level is the vaunted equanimity of the thinker who says1 ,death can be no evil because it is universal6 ,how immeasurably beneath it is the habit of most of us6 ,which of us can stand in that clear air on that high point which separates life from what is beyond and can say1 ,i have finished the work which ,thou gavest ,me to do8 ,a broken column is the fit monument of our life1 unfinished1 frustrated1 useless4 ,wasted energy1 ill-repaired blunders1 unfulfilled purposes1 fruitless years1 much that is positively evil1 much that was done mechanically and carelessly and for the day2 plans ill conceived and worse executed2 imperfect ideals of life imperfectly realised2 pursuits dictated by uneducated tastes1 unchastened whims1 accidental circumstances1--such is the retrospect which most of us have as we look back over life4 ,few men even recognise the reality of life as part of an eternal order1 and1 of the few who do so1 still fewer seriously and persistently aim at fitting in their life as a solid part of that order4 ,before we know whether we have finished the work given us to do we must know what that work is4 ,at the outset of his account of ,christ's work ,john gives us his conception of it4 ,the ,word was made flesh1 and dwelt among us2 and we beheld ,his glory1 the glory as of the ,only-begotten of the ,father4 ,this work was now accomplished1 and ,jesus can say1 ,i have glorified ,thee on the earth2 ,i have manifested ,thy name unto the men which ,thou gavest ,me out of the world4 ,we may all add our humble responsive ,amen to this account of ,his finished work4 ,john has carried us through the scenes in which ,jesus manifested the glory of the ,father and showed the full meaning of that name1 displaying the ,father's love in ,his self-sacrificing interest in men1 the ,father's holiness and supremacy in ,his devoted filial obedience4 ,never again can men separate the idea of the true ,god from the life of ,jesus ,christ2 it is in that life we come to know ,god1 and through that life ,his glory shines4 ,this many a man has felt is the true ,divine glory2 this ,god yearning over ,his lost and wretched children1 coming down and sharing in their wretchedness to win them to ,himself and blessedness--this is the ,god for us4 ,this alone is glory such as we bow before and own to be infinitely worthy of trust and adoration1 almightiness applying itself to the necessities and fears of the weak1 perfect purity winning to itself the impure and the outcast1 love showing itself to be ,divine by its patience1 its humility1 its absolute sacrifice4 ,it is ,christ who has found entrance for these conceptions of ,god once for all into the human mind2 it is to ,christ we owe it that we know a ,god we can entirely love and increasingly worship4 ,with the most assured truth ,he could say1 ,i have finished the work which ,thou gavest ,me to do2 ,i have glorified ,thee on the earth2 ,i have manifested ,thy name unto the men which ,thou gavest ,me out of the world4 ,but ,christ recognises a work which ran parallel with this1 a work which continually resulted from ,his manifestation of the ,father4 ,by ,his manifesting the ,father ,he gave eternal life to those who accepted and believed ,his revelation4 ,the power to reveal the ,father which ,christ had received ,he had not on ,his own account1 but that ,he might give eternal life to men4 ,for this is life eternal1 that they might know ,thee the only true ,god1 and ,jesus ,christ1 whom ,thou hast sent4 ,eternal life is not merely life indefinitely prolonged4 ,it is rather life under new conditions and fed from different sources4 ,it can be entered upon now1 but a full understanding of it is now impossible4 ,the grub might as well try to understand the life of the butterfly1 or the chick in the shell the life of the bird4 ,to know what ,christ revealed1 this is the birth to life eternal4 ,to know that love and holiness are the governing powers in conformity with which all things are carried onward to their end2 to know what ,god is1 that ,he is a ,father who cannot leave us ,his children of earth behind and pass on to ,his own great works and purposes in the universe1 but stoops to our littleness and delays that ,he may carry every one of us with ,him1--this is life eternal4 ,this it is that subdues the human heart and cleanses it from pride1 self-seeking1 and lust1 and that inclines it to bow before the holy and loving ,god1 and to choose ,him and life in ,him4 ,this it is that turns it from the brief joys and imperfect meanings of time and gives it a home in eternity--that severs it in disposition and in destiny from the changing1 passing world and gives it an eternal inheritance as ,god's child4 ,to as many as believed ,christ1 to them ,he gave power to become the sons of ,god4 ,to believe ,him and to accept the ,god ,he reveals is to become a son of ,god and is to enter into life eternal4 ,to be conquered by the ,divine love shown us2 to feel that not in worldly ambition or any self-seeking1 but only in devotion to interests that are spiritual and general1 is the true life for us2 to yield ourselves to the ,spirit of ,christ and seek to be animated and possessed by that ,spirit1--this is to throw in our lot with ,god1 to be satisfied in ,him1 to have eternal life4 ,the earthly work of ,christ1 then1 being finished1 ,he asks the ,father to glorify ,him with ,his own self1 with the glory ,he had with ,him before the world was4 ,it seems to me vain to deny that this petition implies on ,christ's part a consciousness of a life which ,he had before ,he appeared on earth4 ,his mind turns from the present hour1 from ,his earthly life1 to eternity1 to those regions beyond time into which no created intelligence can follow ,him1 and in which ,god alone exists1 and in that ,divine solitude ,he claims a place for ,himself4 ,if ,he merely meant that from eternity ,god had conceived of ,him1 the ideal man1 and if the existence and glory ,he speaks of were merely existence in ,god's mind1 but not actual1 ,his words do not convey ,his meaning4 ,the glory which ,he prayed for now was a conscious1 living glory2 ,he did not wish to become extinct or to be absorbed in the ,divine being2 ,he meant to continue and did continue in actual1 personal1 living existence4 ,this was the glory ,he prayed for1 and this therefore must also have been the glory ,he had before the world was4 ,it was a glory of which it was proper to say1 ,i had it1 and not merely ,god conceived it3 it was enjoyed by ,christ before the worlds were1 and was not only in the mind of ,god4 ,what that glory was1 who can tell8 ,we know it was a glory not of position only1 but of character--a glory which disposed and prepared ,him to sympathize with suffering and to give ,himself to the actual needs of men4 ,from that glory ,he came to share with men in their humiliation1 to expose ,himself to their scorn and abuse1 to win them to eternal life and to some true participation in ,his glory4 ,but ,christ's removal from the earthly and visible life involved a great change in the condition of the disciples4 ,hitherto ,he had been present with them day by day1 always exhibiting to them spiritual glory1 and attracting them to it in ,his own person4 ,so long as they saw ,god's glory in so attractive and friendly a form it was not difficult for them to resist the world's temptations4 ,while ,i was with them in the world1 ,i kept them in ,thy name--that is1 by revealing the ,father to them2 but now ,i am no more in the world1 but these are in the world1 and ,i come to ,thee4 ,holy ,father1 keep through ,thine own name those whom ,thou hast given ,me4 ,sanctify them through ,thy truth3 ,thy word is truth4 ,christ had been the ,word ,incarnate1 the utterance of ,god to men2 in ,him men recognised what ,god is and what ,god wills4 ,and this sanctified them2 this marvellous revelation of ,god and ,his love for men drew men to ,him3 they felt how ,divine and overcoming a love this was2 they adored the name ,father which ,christ the ,son made known to them2 they felt themselves akin to ,god and claimed by ,him1 and spurned the world2 they recognised in themselves that which could understand and be appealed to by such a love as ,god's4 ,their glory was to be ,god's children4 ,but now the visible image1 the ,incarnate ,word1 is withdrawn1 and ,christ commits to the ,father those whom ,he leaves on earth4 ,holy ,father1 ,thou whose holiness moves ,thee to keep men separate to ,thyself from every evil contagion1 keep through ,thine own name those whom ,thou hast given ,me4 ,it is still by the recognition of ,god in ,christ that we are to be kept from evil1 by contemplating and penetrating this great manifestation of ,god to us1 by listening humbly and patiently to this ,incarnate ,word4 ,knowledge of the ,god whose the world and all existence is1 knowledge of ,him in whom we live and whose holiness is silently judging and ruling all things1 knowledge that ,he who rules all and who is above all gives ,himself to us with a love that thinks no sacrifice too great--it is this knowledge of the truth that saves us from the world4 ,it is the knowledge of those abiding realities which ,christ revealed1 of those great and loving purposes of ,god to man1 and of the certainty of their fulfilment1 which recalls us to holiness and to ,god4 ,there is reality here2 all else is empty and delusive4 ,but these realities are obscured and thrust aside by a thousand pretentious frivolities which claim our immediate attention and interest4 ,we are in the world1 and day by day the world insists that we shall consider it the great reality4 ,christ had conquered it and was leaving it4 ,why1 then1 did ,he not take with ,him all whom ,he had won to ,himself out of the world8 ,he did not do so because they had a work to accomplish which could only be accomplished in the world4 ,as ,he had consecrated ,himself to the work of making known the ,father1 so must they consecrate themselves to the same work4 ,as ,christ in ,his own person and life had brought clear before their minds the presence of the ,father1 so must they by their person and life manifest in the world the existence and the grace of ,christ4 ,they must make permanent and universal the revelation ,he had brought1 that all the world might believe that ,he was the true representative of ,god4 ,christ had lighted them1 and with their light they were to kindle all men1 till the world was full of light4 ,a share in this work is given to each of us4 ,we are permitted to mediate between ,god and men1 to carry to some the knowledge which gives life eternal4 ,it is made possible to us to be benefactors in the highest kind1 to give to this man and that a ,god4 ,to parents it is made possible to fill the opening and hungry mind of their child with a sense of ,god which will awe1 restrain1 encourage1 gladden him all his life through4 ,to relieve the wants of to-day1 to refresh any human spirit by kindness1 and to forward the interests of any struggler in life is much2 but it is little compared with the joy and solid utility of disclosing to a human soul that which he at last recognises as ,divine1 and before which at last he bows in spontaneous adoration and absolute trust4 ,to the man who has long questioned whether there is a ,god1 who has doubted whether there is any morally perfect ,being1 any ,spirit existent greater and purer than man1 you have but to show ,christ1 and through ,his unconquerable love and untemptable holiness reveal to him a ,god4 ,but as it was not by telling men about ,god that ,christ convinced men that somewhere there existed a holy ,god who cared for them1 but by showing ,god's holiness and love present to them in ,his own person1 so our words may fail to accomplish much if our life does not reveal a presence men cannot but recognise as ,divine4 ,it was by being one with the ,father ,christ revealed ,him2 it was the ,father's will ,his life exhibited4 ,and the extension of this to the whole world of men is the utmost of ,christ's desire4 ,all will be accomplished when all men are one1 even as ,christ and the ,father are already one4 ,this text is often cited by those who seek to promote the union of churches4 ,but we find it belongs to a very different category and much higher region4 ,that all churches should be under similar government1 should adopt the same creed1 should use the same forms of worship1 even if possible1 is not supremely desirable2 but real unity of sentiment towards ,christ and of zeal to promote ,his will is supremely desirable4 ,christ's will is all-embracing2 the purposes of ,god are wide as the universe1 and can be fulfilled only by endless varieties of dispositions1 functions1 organisations1 labours4 ,we must expect that1 as time goes on1 men1 so far from being contracted into a narrow and monotonous uniformity1 will exhibit increasing diversities of thought and of method1 and will be more and more differentiated in all outward respects4 ,if the infinitely comprehensive purposes of ,god are to be fulfilled1 it must be so4 ,but also1 if these purposes are to be fulfilled1 all intelligent agents must be at one with ,god1 and must be so profoundly in sympathy with ,god's mind as revealed in ,christ that1 however different one man's work or methods may be from another's1 ,god's will shall alike be carried out by both4 ,if this will can be more freely carried out by separate churches1 then outward separation is no great calamity4 ,only when outward separation leads one church to despise or rival or hate another is it a calamity4 ,but whether churches abide separate or are incorporated in outward unity1 the desirable thing is that they be one in ,christ1 that they have the same eagerness in ,his service1 that they be as regiments of one army fighting a common foe and supporting one another1 diverse in outward appearance1 in method1 in function1 as artillery1 infantry1 cavalry1 engineers1 or even as the army and navy of the same country1 but fighting for one flag and one cause1 and their very diversity more vividly exhibiting their real unity4 ,but why should unity be the ultimate desire of ,christ1 the highest point to which the ,saviour's wishes for mankind can reach8 ,because spirit is that which rules2 and if we be one with ,god in spirit the future is ours4 ,this mighty universe in which we find ourselves1 apparently governed by forces compared to which the most powerful of human engines are weak as the moth--forces which keep this earth1 and orbs immeasurably larger1 suspended in space1--this universe is controlled by spirit1 is designed for spiritual ends1 for ends of the highest kind and which concern conscious and moral beings4 ,it is as yet only by glimpses we can see the happiness of those who are one with ,god2 it is only by inadequate comparisons and with mental effort we can attain to even a rudimentary conception of the future that awaits those who are thus eternally blessed4 ,of them well may ,paul say1 ,all things are yours2 for ye are ,christ's1 and ,christ is ,god's4 ,it is for ,christ all things are governed by ,god2 to be in ,him is to be above the reach of catastrophe--to be1 as ,christ ,himself expresses it1 beside ,himself on the throne1 from which all things are ruled4 ,having been attracted by ,his character1 by what ,he is and does1 and having sought here on earth to promote ,his will1 we shall be ,his agents hereafter1 but in a life in which spiritual glory irradiates everything1 and in which an ecstasy and strength which this frail body could not contain will be the normal and constant index of the life of ,god in us4 ,to do good1 to utter by word or deed the love and power that are in us1 is the permanent joy of man4 ,with what alacrity does the surgeon approach the operation he knows will be successful6 with what pleasure does the painter put on canvas the idea which fills his mind and which he knows will appeal to every one who sees it6 ,and whoever learns to do good by partaking of ,god's spirit of communicative goodness will find everlasting joy in imparting what he has and can4 ,he will do so1 not with the feeble and hesitating mind and hand which here make almost every good action partly painful1 but with a spontaneity and sense of power which will be wholly pleasure2 he will know that being one with ,god he can do good1 can accomplish and effect some solid and needful work4 ,slowly1 very slowly1 is this arrived at2 but time is of no consequence in work that is eternal1 so long only as we are sure we do not idly miss present opportunities of learning1 so long only as we know that our faces are turned in the right direction1 and that a right spirit is in us4 ,if there lingers in our minds a feeling that the end ,christ proposes and utters as ,his last prayer for men does not draw us with irresistible force1 it might be enough to say to our own heart that this is our weakness1 that certainly in this prayer we do touch the very central significance of human life1 and that however dimly human words may be able to convey thoughts regarding eternity we have here in ,christ's words sufficient indication of the one abiding end and aim of all wisely directed human life4 ,whatever the future of man is to be1 whatever joy life is to become1 in whatever far-reaching and prolonged experiences we are to learn the fruitfulness and efficacy of ,god's love1 whatever new sources and conditions of happiness we may in future worlds be introduced to1 whatever higher energies and richer affections are to be opened in us1 all this can only be by our becoming one with ,god1 in whose will the future now lies4 ,and it may also be said1 if we think this the prayer of ,one who was not in the full current of actual human life1 and had little understanding of men's ways1 that this prayer is fulfilled in very many who are deeply involved and busily occupied in this world4 ,they give their mind to their employment1 but their heart goes to higher aims and more enduring results4 ,to do good is to them of greater consequence than to make money4 ,to see the number of ,christ's sincere followers increasing is to them truer joy than to see their own business extending4 ,in the midst of their greatest prosperity they recognise that there is something far better than worldly prosperity1 and that is1 to be kept from the evil that is in the world and to extend the knowledge of ,god4 ,they feel in common with all men that it is not always easy to remember that great spiritual kingdom with its mighty but unobtrusive interests1 but they are kept by the ,father's name1 and they do on the whole live under the influence of ,god and hoping in ,his salvation4 ,and it would help us all to do so were we to believe that ,christ's interest in us is such as this prayer reveals1 and that the great subject of ,his intercession is1 that we be kept from the evil that is in the world and be helpful in the great and enduring work of bringing into truer fellowship men's lives and ,god's goodness4 ,alongside of all our profitless labour and unworthiness of aim there runs this lofty aim of ,christ for us2 and while we are greedily following after pleasure1 or thoughtlessly throwing ourselves into mere worldliness1 our ,lord is praying the ,father that we be lifted into harmony with ,him and be used as channels of ,his grace to others4 ,,xvii4 ,,the ,,arrest4 ,when ,jesus had spoken these words1 ,he went forth with ,his disciples over the brook ,kidron1 where was a garden1 into the which ,he entered1 ,himself and ,his disciples4 ,now ,judas also1 which betrayed ,him1 knew the place3 for ,jesus ofttimes resorted thither with ,his disciples4 ,judas then1 having received the band of soldiers1 and officers from the chief priests and the ,pharisees1 cometh thither with lanterns and torches and weapons4 ,jesus therefore1 knowing all the things that were coming upon ,him1 went forth1 and saith unto them1 ,whom seek ye8 ,they answered ,him1 ,jesus of ,nazareth4 ,jesus saith unto them1 ,i am ,he4 ,and ,judas also1 which betrayed ,him1 was standing with them4 ,when therefore ,he said unto them1 ,i am ,he1 they went backward1 and fell to the ground4 ,again therefore ,he asked them1 ,whom seek ye8 ,and they said1 ,jesus of ,nazareth4 ,jesus answered1 ,i told you that ,i am ,he3 if therefore ye seek ,me1 let these go their way3 that the word might be fulfilled which ,he spake1 ,of those whom ,thou hast given ,me ,i lost not one4 ,simon ,peter therefore having a sword drew it1 and struck the high priest's servant1 and cut off his right ear4 ,now the servant's name was ,malchus4 ,jesus therefore said unto ,peter1 ,put up the sword into the sheath3 the cup which the ,father hath given ,me1 shall ,i not drink it8 ,so the band and the chief captain1 and the officers of the ,jews1 seized ,jesus and bound ,him1 and led ,him to ,annas first2 for he was father-in-law to ,caiaphas1 which was high priest that year4 ,now ,caiaphas was he which gave counsel to the ,jews1 that it was expedient that one man should die for the people4--,,john xviii4 #a-ad4 ,jesus having commended to the ,father ,himself and ,his disciples1 left the city1 crossed the ,kidron1 and entered the ,garden of ,gethsemane1 where ,he frequently went for quiet and to pass the night4 ,the time ,he had spent in encouraging ,his disciples and praying for them ,judas had spent in making preparations for ,his arrest4 ,in order to impress ,pilate with the dangerous nature of this ,galilean he asks him for the use of the ,roman cohort to effect ,his capture4 ,it was possible ,his arrest might occasion a tumult and rouse the people to attempt a rescue4 ,perhaps ,judas also had an alarming remembrance of the miraculous power he had seen ,jesus put forth1 and was afraid to attempt ,his apprehension with only the understrappers of the ,sanhedrim or the ,temple guard2 so he takes the ,roman cohort of five hundred men1 or whatever number he would reckon would be more than a match for a miracle4 ,and though the moon was full1 he takes the precaution of furnishing the expedition with lanterns and torches1 for he knew that down in that deep ,kidron gully it was often dark when there was plenty of light above2 and might not ,jesus hide ,himself in some of the shadows1 in some thicket or cavern1 or in some garden-shed or tower8 ,he could not have made more elaborate preparations had he been wishing to take a thief or to surprise a dangerous chief of banditti in his stronghold4 ,the futility of such preparations became at once apparent4 ,so far from trying to hide ,himself or slip out by the back of the garden1 ,jesus no sooner sees the armed men than ,he steps to the front and asks1 ,whom seek ye8 ,jesus1 in order that ,he might screen ,his disciples1 wished at once to be identified by ,his captors themselves as the sole object of their search4 ,by declaring that they sought ,jesus of ,nazareth1 they virtually exempted the rest from apprehension4 ,but when ,jesus identified ,himself as the person they sought1 instead of rushing forward and holding ,him fast1 as ,judas had instructed them1 those in front shrank back2 they felt that they had no weapons that would not break upon the calmness of that spiritual majesty2 they went backward and fell to the ground4 ,this was no idle display2 it was not a needless theatrical garnishing of the scene for the sake of effect4 ,if we could imagine the ,divine nobility of ,christ's appearance at that critical moment when ,he finally proclaimed ,his work done and gave ,himself up to die1 we should all of us sink humbled and overcome before ,him4 ,even in the dim and flickering light of the torches there was that in ,his appearance which made it impossible for the bluntest and rudest soldier to lay a hand upon ,him4 ,discipline was forgotten2 the legionaries who had thrown themselves on spear-points unawed by the fiercest of foes saw in this unarmed figure something which quelled and bewildered them4 ,but this proof of ,his superiority was lost upon ,his disciples4 ,they thought that armed force should be met by armed force4 ,recovering from their discomfiture1 and being ashamed of it1 the soldiers and servants of the ,sanhedrim advance to bind ,jesus4 ,peter1 who had with some dim presentiment of what was coming possessed himself of a sword1 aims a blow at the head of ,malchus1 who having his hands occupied in binding ,jesus can only defend himself by bending his head to one side1 and so instead of his life loses only his ear4 ,to our ,lord this interposition of ,peter seemed as if he were dashing out of ,his hand the cup which the ,father had put into it4 ,disengaging ,his hands from those who already held them ,he said1 ,suffer ye thus far#bj 7,permit ,me to do this one thing72 and laying ,his hand on the wound ,he healed it1 this forgiving and beneficent act being the last done by ,his unbound hands--significant1 indeed1 that such should be the style of action from which they prevented ,him by binding ,his hands4 ,surely the ,roman officer in command1 if none of the others1 must have observed the utter incongruity of the bonds1 the fatuous absurdity and wickedness of tying hands because they wrought miracles of healing4 ,while our ,lord thus calmly resigned ,himself to ,his fate1 ,he was not without an indignant sense of the wrong that was done ,him1 not only in ,his being apprehended1 but in the manner of it4 ,are ye come out as against a thief with swords and with staves8 ,i sat daily teaching in the ,temple1 and ye laid no hold on ,me4 ,many of the soldiers must have felt how ungenerous it was to treat such a ,person as a common felon1--coming upon ,him thus in the dead of night1 as if ,he were one who never appeared in the daylight2 coming with bludgeons and military aid1 as if ,he were likely to create a disturbance4 ,commonly an arrest is considered to be best made if the culprit is seized red-handed in the very act4 ,why1 then1 had they not thus taken ,him8 ,they knew that the popular conscience was with ,him1 and they dared not take ,him on the streets of ,jerusalem4 ,it was the last evidence of their inability to understand ,his kingdom1 its nature and its aims4 ,yet surely some of the crowd must have felt ashamed of themselves1 and been uneasy till they got rid of their unsuitable weapons1 stealthily dropping their sticks as they walked or hurling them deep into the shade of the garden4 ,this1 then1 is the result produced by our ,lord's labours of love and wisdom4 ,his conduct had been most conciliatory--conciliatory to the point of meekness unintelligible to those who could not penetrate ,his motives4 ,he had innovated certainly1 but ,his innovations were blessings1 and were so marked by wisdom and sanctioned by reason that every direct assault against them had broken down4 ,he did not seek for power further than for the power of doing good4 ,he knew ,he could lift men to a far other life than they were living1 and permission to do so was ,his grand desire4 ,the result was that ,he was marked as the object of the most rancorous hatred of which the human heart is capable4 ,why so8 ,do we need to ask8 ,what is more exasperating to men who fancy themselves the teachers of the age than to find another teacher carrying the convictions of the people8 ,what is more painful than to find that in advanced life we must revolutionise our opinions and admit the truth taught by our juniors8 ,he who has new truths to declare or new methods to introduce must recognise that he will be opposed by the combined forces of ignorance1 pride1 self-interest1 and sloth4 ,the majority are always on the side of things as they are4 ,and whoever suggests improvement1 whoever shows the faultiness and falseness of what has been in vogue1 must be prepared to pay the price and endure misunderstanding1 calumny1 opposition1 and ill-usage4 ,if all men speak well of us1 it is only while we go with the stream4 ,as soon as we oppose popular customs1 explode received opinions1 introduce reforms1 we must lay our account for ill-treatment4 ,it has always been so1 and in the nature of things it must always be so4 ,we cannot commit a crime more truly hated by society than to convince it there are better ways of living than its own and a truth beyond what it has conceived1 and it has been the consolation and encouragement of many who have endeavoured to improve matters around them and have met with contempt or enmity that they share the lot of ,him whose reward for seeking to bless mankind was that ,he was arrested as a common felon4 ,when thus treated1 men are apt to be embittered towards their fellows4 ,when all their efforts to do good are made the very ground of accusation against them1 there is the strongest provocation to give up all such attempts and to arrange for one's own comfort and safety4 ,this world has few more sufficient tests to apply to character than this2 and it is only the few who1 when misinterpreted and ill-used by ignorance and malignity1 can retain any loving care for others4 ,it struck the spectators1 therefore1 of this scene in the garden as a circumstance worthy of record1 that when ,jesus was ,himself bound ,he should shield ,his disciples4 ,if ye seek ,me1 let these go their way4 ,some of the crowd had perhaps laid hands on the disciples or were showing a disposition to apprehend them as well as their ,master4 ,jesus therefore interferes1 reminding ,his captors that they had themselves said that ,he was the object of this midnight raid1 and that the disciples must therefore be scatheless4 ,in relating this part of the scene ,john puts an interpretation on it which was not merely natural1 but which has been put upon it instinctively by all ,christians since4 ,it seemed to ,john as if1 in thus acting1 our ,lord was throwing into a concrete and tangible form ,his true substitution in the room of ,his people4 ,to ,john these words ,he utters seem the motto of ,his work4 ,had any of the disciples been arrested along with ,jesus and been executed by ,his side as act and part with ,him1 the view which the ,christian world has taken of ,christ's position and work must have been blurred if not quite altered4 ,but the ,jews had penetration enough to see where the strength of this movement lay4 ,they believed that if the ,shepherd was smitten the sheep would give them no trouble1 but would necessarily scatter4 ,peter's flourish with the sword attracted little attention2 they knew that great movements were not led by men of his type4 ,they passed him by with a smile and did not even arrest him4 ,it was ,jesus who stood before them as alone dangerous4 ,and ,jesus on ,his side knew that the ,jews were right1 that ,he was the responsible person1 that these ,galileans would have been dreaming at their nets had ,he not summoned them to follow ,him4 ,if there was any offence in the matter1 it belonged to ,him1 not to them4 ,but in ,jesus thus stepping to the front and shielding the disciples by exposing ,himself1 ,john sees a picture of the whole sacrifice and substitution of ,christ4 ,this figure of his ,master moving forward to meet the swords and staves of the party remains indelibly stamped upon his mind as the symbol of ,christ's whole relation to ,his people4 ,that night in ,gethsemane was to them all the hour and power of darkness2 and in every subsequent hour of darkness ,john and the rest see the same ,divine figure stepping to the front1 shielding them and taking upon ,himself all the responsibility4 ,it is thus ,christ would have us think of ,him--as our friend and protector1 watchful over our interests1 alive to all that threatens our persons1 interposing between us and every hostile event4 ,if by following ,him according to our knowledge we are brought into difficulties1 into circumstances of trouble and danger1 if we are brought into collision with those in power1 if we are discouraged and threatened by serious obstacles1 let us be quite sure that in the critical moment ,he will interpose and convince us that1 though ,he cannot save ,himself1 ,he can save others4 ,he will not lead us into difficulties and leave us to find our own way out of them4 ,if in striving to discharge our duty we have become entangled in many distressing and annoying circumstances1 ,he acknowledges ,his responsibility in leading us into such a condition1 and will see that we are not permanently the worse for it4 ,if in seeking to know ,him more thoroughly we have been led into mental perplexities1 ,he will stand by us and see that we come to no harm4 ,he encourages us to take this action of ,his in shielding ,his disciples as the symbol of what we all may expect ,he will do for ourselves4 ,in all matters between ,god and us ,he interposes and claims to be counted as the true ,head who is accountable1 as that ,one who desires to answer all charges that can be made against the rest of us4 ,if therefore1 in view of much duty left undone1 of many sinful imaginings harboured1 of much vileness of conduct and character1 we feel that it is ourselves the eye of ,god is seeking and with us ,he means to take account2 if we know not how to answer ,him regarding many things that stick in our memory and conscience1--let us accept the assurance here given us that ,christ presents ,himself as responsible4 ,it is not without surprise that we read that when ,jesus was arrested all the disciples forsook ,him and fled4 ,john1 indeed1 and ,peter speedily recovered themselves and followed to the hall of judgment2 and the others may not only have felt that they were in danger so long as they remained in ,his company1 but also that by accompanying ,him they could not mend matters4 ,still1 the kind of loyalty that stands by a falling cause1 and the kind of courage that risks all to show sympathy with a friend or leader1 are qualities so very common that one would have expected to find them here4 ,and no doubt had the matter been to be decided in ,peter's fashion1 by the sword1 they would have stood by ,him4 ,but there was a certain mysteriousness about our ,lord's purpose that prevented ,his followers from being quite sure where they were being led to4 ,they were perplexed and staggered by the whole transaction4 ,they had expected things to go differently and scarcely knew what they were doing when they fled4 ,there are times when we feel a slackening of devotion to ,christ1 times when we are doubtful whether we have not been misled1 times when the bond between us and ,him seems to be of the slenderest possible description1 times when we have as truly forsaken ,him as these disciples1 and are running no risks for ,him1 doing nothing to advance ,his interests1 seeking only our own comfort and our own safety4 ,these times will frequently be found to be the result of disappointed expectations4 ,things have not gone with us in the spiritual life as we expected4 ,we have found things altogether more difficult than we looked for4 ,we do not know what to make of our present state nor what to expect in the future1 and so we lose an active interest in ,christ and fall away from any hope that is living and influential4 ,another point which ,john evidently desires to bring prominently before us in this narrative is ,christ's willingness to surrender ,himself2 the voluntary character of all ,he afterwards suffered4 ,it was at this point of ,his career1 at ,his apprehension1 this could best be brought out4 ,afterwards ,he might say ,he suffered willingly1 but so far as appearances went ,he had no option4 ,previous to ,his apprehension ,his professions of willingness would not have been attended to4 ,it was precisely now that it could be seen whether ,he would flee1 hide1 resist1 or calmly yield ,himself4 ,and ,john is careful to bring out ,his willingness4 ,he went to the garden as usual1 knowing all things that should come upon ,him4 ,it would have been easy to seek some safer quarters for the night1 but ,he would not4 ,at the last moment escape from the garden could not have been impossible4 ,his followers could have covered ,his retreat4 ,but ,he advances to meet the party1 avows ,himself to be the man they sought1 will not suffer ,peter to use his sword1 in every way shows that ,his surrender is voluntary4 ,still1 had ,he not shown ,his power to escape1 onlookers might have thought this was only the prudent conduct of a brave man who wished to preserve ,his dignity1 and therefore preferred delivering ,himself up to being ignominiously dragged from a hiding-place4 ,therefore it was made plain that if ,he yielded it was not for want of power to resist4 ,by a word ,he overthrew those who came to bind ,him1 and made them feel ashamed of their preparations4 ,he spoke confidently of help that would have swept the cohort off the field4#ba ,and thus it was brought out that1 if ,he died1 ,he laid down ,his life and was not deprived of it solely by the hate and violence of men4 ,the hate and violence were there2 but they were not the sole factors4 ,he yielded to these because they were ingredients in the cup ,his ,father wished ,him to drink4 ,the reason of this is obvious4 ,christ's life was to be all sacrifice1 because self-sacrifice is the essence of holiness and of love4 ,from beginning to end the moving spring of all ,his actions was deliberate self-devotement to the good of men or to the fulfilment of ,god's will2 for these are equivalents4 ,and ,his death as the crowning act of this career was to be conspicuously a death embodying and exhibiting the spirit of self-sacrifice4 ,he offered ,himself on the cross through the eternal ,spirit4 ,that death was not compulsory2 it was not the outcome of a sudden whim or generous impulse2 it was the expression of a constant uniform eternal ,spirit1 which on the cross1 in the yielding of life itself1 rendered up for men all that was possible4 ,unwillingly no sacrifice can be made4 ,when a man is taxed to support the poor1 we do not call that a sacrifice4 ,sacrifice must be free1 loving1 uncompelled2 it must be the exhibition in act of love1 the freest and most spontaneous of all human emotions4 ,it is a true ,christian instinct in our language which has seized upon the word sacrifice to express the self-devotion prompted by an unselfish love for others3 we speak of the sacrifices made by a loving wife or mother2 and we test the sincerity of a ,christian by the sacrifices he will make for the love of ,christ and the brethren4444 ,the reason why ,christianity has approved itself a living principle of regeneration to the world is specially because a ,divine example and a ,divine spirit of self-sacrifice have wrought together in the hearts of men1 and thereby an ever-increasing number have been quickened with the desire and strengthened with the will to spend and be spent for the cleansing1 the restoration1 and the life of the most guilty1 miserable1 and degraded of their fellows4 ,it was in ,christ's life and death this great principle of the life of ,god and man was affirmed3 there self-sacrifice is perfectly exhibited4 ,it is to this willingness of ,christ to suffer we must ever turn4 ,it is this voluntary1 uncompelled1 spontaneous devotion of ,himself to the good of men which is the magnetic point in this earth4 ,here is something we can cleave to with assurance1 something we can trust and build upon4 ,christ in ,his own sovereign freedom of will and impelled by love of us has given ,himself to work out our perfect deliverance from sin and evil of every kind4 ,let us deal sincerely with ,him1 let us be in earnest about these matters1 let us hope truly in ,him1 let us give ,him time to conquer by moral means all our moral foes within and without1 and we shall one day enter into ,his joy and ,his triumph4 ,but when we thus apply ,john's words we are haunted with a suspicion that they were perhaps not intended to be thus used4 ,is ,john justified in finding in ,christ's surrender of ,himself to the authorities1 on condition that the disciples should escape1 fulfilment of the words that of those whom ,god had given ,him ,he had lost none8 ,the actual occurrence we see here is ,jesus arrested as a false ,messiah1 and claiming to be the sole culprit if any culprit there be4 ,is this an occurrence that has any bearing upon us or any special instruction regarding the substitution of a sin-bearer in our room8 ,can it mean that ,he alone bears the punishment of our sin and that we go free8 ,is it any more than an illustration of ,his substitutionary work1 one instance out of many of ,his habit of self-devotion in the room of others8 ,can ,i build upon this act in the ,garden of ,gethsemane and conclude from it that ,he surrenders ,himself that ,i may escape punishment8 ,can ,i legitimately gather from it anything more than another proof of ,his constant readiness to stand in the breach8 ,it is plain enough that a person who acted as ,christ did here is one we could trust2 but had this action any special virtue as the actual substitution of ,christ in our room as sin-bearer8 ,it is1 ,i think1 well that we should occasionally put to ourselves such questions and train ourselves to look at the events of ,christ's life as actual occurrences1 and to distinguish between what is fanciful and what is real4 ,so much has been said and written regarding ,his work1 it has been the subject of so much sentiment1 the basis of so many conflicting theories1 the text of so much loose and allegorising interpretation1 that the original plain and substantial fact is apt to be overlaid and lost sight of4 ,and yet it is that plain and substantial reality which has virtue for us1 while all else is delusive1 howsoever finely sentimental1 howsoever rich in coincidences with ,old ,testament sayings or in suggestions of ingenious doctrine4 ,the subject of substitution is obscure4 ,inquiry into the ,atonement is like the search for the ,north ,pole3 approach it from what quarter we may1 there are unmistakable indications that a finality exists in that direction2 but to make our way to it and take a survey all round it at once is still beyond us4 ,we must be content if we can correct certain variations of the compass and find so much as one open waterway through which our own little vessel can be steered4 ,looking1 then1 at this surrender of ,christ in the light of ,john's comment1 we see clearly enough that ,christ sought to shelter ,his disciples at ,his own expense1 and that this must have been the habit of ,his life4 ,he sought no companion in misfortune4 ,his desire was to save others from suffering4 ,this willingness to be the responsible party was the habit of ,his life4 ,it is impossible to think of ,christ as in any matter sheltering ,himself behind any man or taking a second place4 ,he is always ready to bear the burden and the brunt4 ,we recognise in this action of ,christ that we have to do with ,one who shirks nothing1 fears nothing1 grudges nothing2 who will substitute ,himself for others wherever possible1 if danger is abroad4 ,so far as the character and habit of ,christ go1 there is unquestionably here manifest a good foundation for ,his substitution in our stead wheresoever such substitution is possible4 ,it is also in this scene1 probably more than in any other1 that we see that the work ,christ had come to do was one which ,he must do entirely by ,himself4 ,it is scarcely exaggeration to say ,he could employ no assistant even in its minor details4 ,he did indeed send forth men to proclaim ,his kingdom1 but it was to proclaim what ,he alone did4 ,in ,his miracles ,he did not use ,his disciples as a surgeon uses ,his assistants4 ,here in the garden ,he explicitly puts the disciples aside and says that this question of the ,messiahship is solely ,his affair4 ,this separate1 solitary character of ,christ's work is important3 it reminds us of the exceptional dignity and greatness of it2 it reminds us of the unique insight and power possessed by ,him who alone conceived and carried it through4 ,there is no question1 then1 of ,christ's willingness to be our substitute2 the question rather is1 ,is it possible that ,he should suffer for our sin and so save us from suffering8 and does this scene in the garden help us to answer that question8 ,that this scene1 in common with the whole work of ,christ1 had a meaning and relations deeper than those that appear on the surface none of us doubts4 ,the soldiers who arrested ,him1 the judges who condemned ,him1 saw nothing but the humble and meek prisoner1 the bar of the ,sanhedrim1 the stripes of the ,roman scourge1 the material cross and nails and blood2 but all this had relations of infinite reach1 meaning of infinite depth4 ,through all that ,christ did and suffered ,god was accomplishing the greatest of ,his designs1 and if we miss this ,divine intention we miss the essential significance of these events4 ,the ,divine intention was to save us from sin and give us eternal life4 ,this is accomplished by ,christ's surrender of ,himself to this earthly life and all the anxiety1 the temptation1 the mental and spiritual strain which this involved4 ,by revealing the ,father's love to us ,he wins us back to the ,father2 and the ,father's love was revealed in the self-sacrificing suffering ,he necessarily endured in numbering ,himself with sinners4 ,of ,christ's satisfying the law by suffering the penalty under which we lay ,paul has much to say4 ,he explicitly affirms that ,christ bore and so abolished the curse or penalty of sin4 ,but in this ,gospel there may indeed be hints of this same idea1 but it is mainly another aspect of the work of ,christ which is here presented4 ,it is the exhibition of ,christ's self-sacrificing love as a revelation of the ,father which is most prominent in the mind of ,john4 ,we can certainly say that ,christ suffered our penalties in so far as a perfectly holy person can suffer them4 ,the gnawing anguish of remorse ,he never knew2 the haunting anxieties of the wrong-doer were impossible to ,him2 the torment of ungratified desire1 eternal severance from ,god1 ,he could not suffer2 but other results and penalties of sin ,he suffered more intensely than is possible to us4 ,the agony of seeing men ,he loved destroyed by sin1 all the pain which a sympathetic and pure spirit must bear in a world like this1 the contradiction of sinners1 the provocation and shame which daily attended ,him--all this ,he bore because of sin and for us1 that we might be saved from lasting sin and unrelieved misery4 ,so that even if we cannot take this scene in the garden as an exact representation of the whole substitutionary work of ,christ1 we can say that by suffering with and for us ,he has saved us from sin and restored us to life and to ,god4 ,,footnotes3 #bj ,luke xxii4 #ea4 #ba ,matt4 xxvi4 #ec4 ,,xviii4 ,,peter',s ,,denial ,,and ,,repentance4 ,so the band and the chief captain1 and the officers of the ,jews1 seized ,jesus and bound ,him1 and led ,him to ,annas first2 for he was father-in-law to ,caiaphas1 which was high priest that year4 ,now ,caiaphas was he which gave counsel to the ,jews1 that it was expedient that one man should die for the people4 ,and ,simon ,peter followed ,jesus1 and so did another disciple4 ,now that disciple was known unto the high priest1 and entered in with ,jesus into the court of the high priest2 but ,peter was standing at the door without4 ,so the other disciple1 which was known unto the high priest1 went out and spake unto her that kept the door1 and brought in ,peter4 ,the maid therefore that kept the door saith unto ,peter1 ,art thou also one of this man's disciples8 ,he saith1 ,i am not4 ,now the servants and the officers were standing there1 having made a fire of coals2 for it was cold2 and they were warming themselves3 and ,peter also was with them1 standing and warming himself4444 ,now ,simon ,peter was standing and warming himself4 ,they said therefore unto him1 ,art thou also one of ,his disciples8 ,he denied1 and said1 ,i am not4 ,one of the servants of the high priest1 being a kinsman of him whose ear ,peter cut off1 saith1 ,did not ,i see thee in the garden with ,him8 ,peter therefore denied again3 and straightway the cock crew4--,,john xviii4 #ab-ah1 #be-bg4 ,the examination of ,jesus immediately followed ,his arrest4 ,he was first led to ,annas1 who at once sent ,him to ,caiaphas1 the high priest1 that he might carry out his policy of making one man a scapegoat for the nation4#bb ,to ,john the most memorable incident of this midnight hour was ,peter's denial of his ,master4 ,it happened on this wise4 ,the high priest's palace was built1 like other large ,oriental houses1 round a quadrangular court1 into which entrance was gained by a passage running from the street through the front part of the house4 ,this passage or archway is called in the ,gospels the porch1 and was closed at the end next the street by a heavy folding gate with a wicket for single persons4 ,this wicket was kept on this occasion by a maid4 ,the interior court upon which this passage opened was paved or flagged and open to the sky1 and as the night was cold the attendants had made a fire here4 ,the rooms round the court1 in one of which the examination of ,jesus was proceeding1 were open in front--separated1 that is to say1 from the court only by one or two pillars or arches and a railing1 so that our ,lord could see and even hear ,peter4 ,when ,jesus was led in bound to this palace1 there entered with the crowd of soldiers and servants one at least of ,his disciples4 ,he was in some way acquainted with the high priest1 and presuming on this acquaintanceship followed to learn the fate of ,jesus4 ,he had seen ,peter following at a distance1 and after a little he goes to the gate-keeper and induces her to open to his friend4 ,the maid seeing the familiar terms on which these two men were1 and knowing that one of them was a disciple of ,jesus1 very naturally greets ,peter with the exclamation1 ,art not thou also one of this man's disciples8 ,peter1 confused by being suddenly confronted with so many hostile faces1 and remembering the blow he had struck in the garden1 and that he was now in the place of all others where it was likely to be avenged1 suddenly in a moment of infatuation1 and doubtless to the dismay of his fellow-disciple1 denies all knowledge of ,jesus4 ,having once committed himself1 the two other denials followed as matter of course4 ,yet the third denial is more guilty than the first4 ,many persons are conscious that they have sometimes acted under what seems an infatuation4 ,they do not plead this in excuse for the wrong they have done4 ,they are quite aware that what has come out of them must have been in them1 and that their acts1 unaccountable as they seem1 have definite roots in their character4 ,peter's first denial was the result of surprise and infatuation4 ,but an hour seems to have elapsed between the first and the third4 ,he had time to think1 time to remember his ,lord's warning1 time to leave the place if he could do no better4 ,but one of those reckless moods which overtake good-hearted children seems to have overtaken ,peter1 for at the end of the hour he is talking right round the whole circle at the fire1 not in monosyllables and guarded voice1 but in his own outspoken way1 the most talkative of them all1 until suddenly one whose ear was finer than the rest detected the ,galilean accent1 and says1 ,you need not deny you are one of this man's disciples1 for your speech betrays you4 ,another1 a kinsman of him whose ear ,peter had cut off1 strikes in and declares that he had seen him in the garden4 ,peter1 driven to extremities1 hides his ,galilean accent under the strong oaths of the city1 and with a volley of profane language asseverates that he has no knowledge of ,jesus4 ,at this moment the first examination of ,jesus closes and ,he is led across the court3 the first chill of dawn is felt in the air1 a cock crows1 and as ,jesus passes ,he looks upon ,peter2 the look and the cock-crow together bring ,peter to himself1 and he hurries out and weeps bitterly4 ,the remarkable feature of this sin of ,peter's is that at first sight it seems so alien to his character4 ,it was a lie2 and he was unusually straightforward4 ,it was a heartless and cruel lie1 and he was a man full of emotion and affection4 ,it was a cowardly lie1 even more cowardly than common lies1 and yet he was exceptionally bold4 ,peter himself was quite positive that this at least was a sin he would never commit4 ,though all men should deny ,thee1 yet will not ,i4 ,neither was this a baseless boast4 ,he was not a mere braggart1 whose words found no correspondence in his deeds4 ,far from it2 he was a hardy1 somewhat over-venturesome man1 accustomed to the risks of a fisherman's life1 not afraid to fling himself into a stormy sea1 or to face the overwhelming armed force that came to apprehend his ,master1 ready to fight for him single-handed1 and quickly recovering from the panic which scattered his fellow-disciples4 ,if any of his companions had been asked at what point of ,peter's character the vulnerable spot would be found1 not one of them would have said1 ,he will fall through cowardice4 ,besides1 ,peter had a few hours before been so emphatically warned against denying ,christ that he might have been expected to stand firm this night at least4 ,perhaps it was this very warning which betrayed ,peter4 ,when he struck the blow in the garden1 he thought he had falsified his ,lord's prediction4 ,and when he found himself the only one who had courage to follow to the palace1 his besetting self-confidence returned and led him into circumstances for which he was too weak4 ,he was equal to the test of his courage which he was expecting1 but when another kind of test was applied in circumstances and from a quarter he had not anticipated his courage failed him utterly4 ,peter probably thought he might be brought bound with his ,master before the high priest1 and had he been so he would probably have stood faithful4 ,but the devil who was sifting him had a much finer sieve than that to run him through4 ,he brought him to no formal trial1 where he could gird himself for a special effort1 but to an unobserved1 casual questioning by a slave-girl4 ,the whole trial was over before he knew he was being tried4 ,so do our most real trials come2 in a business transaction that turns up with others in the day's work1 in the few minutes' talk or the evening's intercourse with friends1 it is discovered whether we are so truly ,christ's friends that we cannot forget ,him or disguise that we are ,his4 ,a word or two with a person he never saw before and would never see again brought the great trial of ,peter's life2 and as unexpectedly shall we be tried4 ,in these battles we must all encounter1 we receive no formal challenge that gives us time to choose our ground and our weapons2 but a sudden blow is dealt us1 from which we can be saved only by habitually wearing a shirt of mail sufficient to turn it1 and which we can carry into all companies4 ,had ,peter distrusted himself and seriously accepted his ,lord's warning1 he would have gone with the rest2 but ever thinking of himself as able to do more than other men1 faithful where others were faithless1 convinced where others hesitated1 daring where others shrank1 he once again thrust himself forward1 and so fell4 ,for this self-confidence1 which might to a careless observer seem to underprop ,peter's courage1 was to the eye of the ,lord undermining it4 ,and if ,peter's true bravery and promptitude were to serve the ,church in days when fearless steadfastness would be above all other qualities needed1 his courage must be sifted and the chaff of self-confidence thoroughly separated from it4 ,in place of a courage which was sadly tainted with vanity and impulsiveness ,peter must acquire a courage based upon recognition of his own weakness and his ,lord's strength4 ,and it was this event which wrought this change in ,peter's character4 ,frequently we learn by a very painful experience that our best qualities are tainted1 and that actual disaster has entered our life from the very quarter we least suspected4 ,we may be conscious that the deepest mark has been made on our life by a sin apparently as alien to our character as cowardice and lying were to the too venturesome and outspoken character of ,peter4 ,possibly we once prided ourselves on our honesty1 and felt happy in our upright character1 plain-dealing1 and direct speech2 but to our dismay we have been betrayed into double-dealing1 equivocation1 evasive or even fraudulent conduct4 ,or the time was when we were proud of our friendships2 it was frequently in our mind that1 however unsatisfactory in other respects our character might be1 we were at any rate faithful and helpful friends4 ,alas6 events have proved that even in this particular we have failed1 and have1 through absorption in our own interests1 acted inconsiderately and even cruelly to our friend1 not even recognising at the time how his interests were suffering4 ,or we are by nature of a cool temperament1 and judged ourselves safe at least from the faults of impulse and passion2 yet the mastering combination of circumstances came1 and we spoke the word1 or wrote the letter1 or did the deed which broke our life past mending4 ,now1 it was ,peter's salvation1 and it will be ours1 when overtaken in this unsuspected sin1 to go out and weep bitterly4 ,he did not frivolously count it an accident that could never occur again2 he did not sullenly curse the circumstances that had betrayed and shamed him4 ,he recognised that there was that in him which could render useless his best natural qualities1 and that the sinfulness which could make his strongest natural defences brittle as an egg-shell must be serious indeed4 ,he had no choice but to be humbled before the eye of the ,lord4 ,there was no need of words to explain and enforce his guilt3 the eye can express what the tongue cannot utter4 ,the finer1 tenderer1 deeper feelings are left to the eye to express4 ,the clear cock-crow strikes home to his conscience1 telling him that the very sin he had an hour or two ago judged impossible is now actually committed4 ,that brief space his ,lord had named as sufficient to test his fidelity is gone1 and the sound that strikes the hour rings with condemnation4 ,nature goes on in her accustomed1 inexorable1 unsympathetic round2 but he is a fallen man1 convicted in his own conscience of empty vanity1 of cowardice1 of heartlessness4 ,he who in his own eyes was so much better than the rest had fallen lower than all4 ,in the look of ,christ ,peter sees the reproachful loving tenderness of a wounded spirit1 and understands the dimensions of his sin4 ,that he1 the most intimate disciple1 should have added to the bitterness of that hour1 should not only have failed to help his ,lord1 but should actually at the crisis of ,his fate have added the bitterest drop to ,his cup1 was humbling indeed4 ,there was that in ,christ's look that made him feel the enormity of his guilt2 there was that also that softened him and saved him from sullen despair4 ,and it is obvious that if we are to rise clear above the sin that has betrayed us we can do so only by as lowly a penitence4 ,we are all alike in this3 that we have fallen2 we cannot any more with justice think highly of ourselves2 we have sinned and are disgraced in our own eyes4 ,in this1 ,i say1 we are all alike2 that which makes the difference among us is1 how we deal with ourselves and our circumstances in connection with our sin4 ,it has been very well said by a keen observer of human nature that men and women are often more fairly judged by the way in which they bear the burden of their own deeds1 the fashion in which they carry themselves in their entanglements1 than by the prime act which laid the burden on their lives and made the entanglement fast knotted4 ,the deeper part of us shows in the manner of accepting consequences4 ,the reason of this is that1 like ,peter1 we are often betrayed by a weakness2 the part of our nature which is least able to face difficulty is assaulted by a combination of circumstances which may never again occur in our life4 ,there was guilt1 great guilt it may be1 concerned in our fall1 but it was not deliberate1 wilful wickedness4 ,but in our dealing with our sin and its consequences our whole nature is concerned and searched2 the real bent and strength of our will is tried4 ,we are therefore in a crisis1 the crisis1 of our life4 ,can we accept the situation8 ,can we humbly1 frankly own that1 since that evil has appeared in our life1 it must have been1 however unconsciously1 in ourselves first8 ,can we with the genuine manliness and wisdom of a broken heart say to ourselves and to ,god1 ,yes1 it is true ,i am the wretched1 pitiful1 bad-hearted creature that was capable of doing1 and did that thing8 ,i did not think that was my character2 ,i did not think it was in me to sink so very low2 but now ,i see what ,i am4 ,do we thus1 like ,peter1 go out and weep bitterly8 ,every one who has passed through a time such as this single night was to ,peter knows the strain that is laid upon the soul1 and how very hard it is to yield utterly4 ,so much rises up in self-defence2 so much strength is lost by the mere perplexity and confusion of the thing2 so much is lost in the despondency that follows these sad revelations of our deep-seated evil4 ,what is the use1 we think1 of striving1 if even in the point in which ,i thought myself most secure ,i have fallen8 ,what is the meaning of so perplexed and deceiving a warfare8 ,why was ,i exposed to so fatal an influence8 ,so ,peter1 had he taken the wrong direction1 might have resented the whole course of the temptation1 and might have said1 ,why did ,christ not warn me by ,his look before ,i sinned1 instead of breaking me by it after8 ,why had ,i no inkling of the enormity of the sin before as ,i have after the sin8 ,my reputation now is gone among the disciples2 ,i may as well go back to my old obscure life and forget all about these perplexing scenes and strange spiritualities4 ,but ,peter1 though he was cowed by a maid1 was man enough and ,christian enough to reject such falsities and subterfuges4 ,it is true we did not see the enormity1 never do see the enormity1 of the sin until it is committed2 but is it possible it can be otherwise8 ,is not this the way in which a blunt conscience is educated8 ,nothing seems so bad until it finds place in our own life and haunts us4 ,neither need we despond or sour because we are disgraced in our own eyes1 or even in the eyes of others2 for we are hereby summoned to build for ourselves a new and different reputation with ,god and our own consciences--a reputation founded on a basis of reality and not of seeming4 ,it may be worth while to note the characteristics and danger of that special form of weakness which ,peter here exhibited4 ,we commonly call it moral cowardice4 ,it is originally a weakness rather than a positive sin1 and yet it is probably as prolific of sin and even of great crime as any of the more definite and vigorous passions of our nature1 such as hate1 lust1 avarice4 ,it is that weakness which prompts a man to avoid difficulties1 to escape everything rough and disagreeable1 to yield to circumstances1 and which above all makes him incapable of facing the reproach1 contempt1 or opposition of his fellow-men4 ,it is often found in combination with much amiability of character4 ,it is commonly found in persons who have some natural leanings to virtue1 and who1 if circumstances would only favour them1 would prefer to lead1 and would lead1 at least an inoffensive and respectable1 if not a very useful1 noble1 or heroic life4 ,finely strung natures that are very sensitive to all impressions from without1 natures which thrill and vibrate in response to a touching tale or in sympathy with fine scenery or soft music1 natures which are housed in bodies of delicate nervous temperament1 are commonly keenly sensitive to the praise or blame of their fellows1 and are therefore liable to moral cowardice1 though by no means necessarily a prey to it4 ,the examples of its ill-effects are daily before our eyes4 ,a man cannot bear the coolness of a friend or the contempt of a leader of opinion1 and so he stifles his own independent judgment and goes with the majority4 ,a minister of the ,church finds his faith steadily diverging from that of the creed he has subscribed1 but he cannot proclaim this change because he cannot make up his mind to be the subject of public astonishment and remark1 of severe scrutiny on the one side and still more distasteful because ignorant and canting sympathy on the other4 ,a man in business finds that his expenditure exceeds his income1 but he is unable to face the shame of frankly lowering his position and curtailing his expenses1 and so he is led into dishonest appearances2 and from dishonest appearances to fraudulent methods of keeping them up the step1 as we all know1 is short4 ,or in trade a man knows that there are shameful1 contemptible1 and silly practices1 and yet he has not moral courage to break through them4 ,a parent cannot bear to risk the loss of his child's good-will even for an hour1 and so omits the chastisement he deserves4 ,the schoolboy1 fearing his parents' look of disappointment1 says he stands higher in his class than he does2 or fearing to be thought soft and unmanly by his schoolfellows1 sees cruelty or a cheat or some wickedness perpetrated without a word of honest anger or manly condemnation4 ,all this is moral cowardice1 the vice which brings us down to the low level which bold sinners set for us1 or which at any rate sweeps the weak soul down to a thousand perils1 and absolutely forbids the good there is in us from finding expression4 ,but of all the forms into which moral cowardice develops this of denying the ,lord ,jesus is the most iniquitous and disgraceful4 ,one of the fashions of the day which is most rapidly extending and which many of us have opportunity to resist is the fashion of infidelity4 ,much of the strongest and best-trained intellect of the country ranges itself against ,christianity--that is1 against ,christ4 ,no doubt the men who have led this movement have adopted their opinions on conviction4 ,they deny the authority of ,scripture1 the divinity of ,christ1 even the existence of a personal ,god1 because by long years of painful thought they have been forced to such conclusions4 ,even the best of them cannot be acquitted of a contemptuous and bitter way of speaking of ,christians1 which would seem to indicate that they are not quite at ease in their belief4 ,still1 we cannot but think that so far as any men can be quite unbiassed in their opinions1 they are so2 and we have no right to judge other men for their honestly formed opinions4 ,the moral cowards of whom we speak are not these men1 but their followers1 persons who with no patience or capacity to understand their reasonings adopt their conclusions because they seem advanced and are peculiar4 ,there are many persons of slender reading and no depth of earnestness who1 without spending any serious effort on the formation of their religious belief1 presume to disseminate unbelief and treat the ,christian creed as an obsolete thing merely because part of the intellect of the day leans in that direction4 ,weakness and cowardice are the real spring of such persons' apparent advance and new position regarding religion4 ,they are ashamed to be reckoned among those who are thought to be behind the age4 ,ask them for a reason of their unbelief1 and they are either unable to give you any1 or else they repeat a time-worn objection which has been answered so often that men have wearied of the interminable task and let it pass unnoticed4 ,such persons we aid and abet when we do either of two things3 when we either cleave to what is old as unreasoningly as they take up with what is new1 refusing to look for fresh light and better ways and acting as if we were already perfect2 or when we yield to the current and adopt a hesitating way of speaking about matters of faith1 when we cultivate a sceptical spirit and seem to connive at if we do not applaud the cold1 irreligious sneer of ungodly men4 ,above all1 we aid the cause of infidelity when in our own life we are ashamed to live godly1 to act on higher principles than the current prudential maxims1 when we hold our allegiance to ,christ in abeyance to our fear of our associates1 when we find no way of showing that ,christ is our ,lord and that we delight in opportunities of confessing ,him4 ,the confessing of ,christ is a duty explicitly imposed on all those who expect that ,he will acknowledge them as ,his4 ,it is a duty to which we might suppose every manly and generous instinct in us would eagerly respond1 and yet we are often more ashamed of our connection with the loftiest and holiest of beings than of our own pitiful and sin-infected selves1 and as little practically stimulated and actuated by a true gratitude to ,him as if ,his death were the commonest boon and as if we were expecting and needing no help from ,him in the time that is yet to come4#bc ,,footnotes3 #bb ,there is a difficulty in tracing the movements of ,jesus at this point4 ,john tells us ,he was led to ,annas first1 and at ver4 #bd he says that ,annas sent ,him to ,caiaphas4 ,we should naturally conclude1 therefore1 that the preceding examination was conducted by ,annas4 ,but ,caiaphas has been expressly indicated as chief priest1 and it is by the chief priest and in the chief priest's palace the examination is conducted4 ,the name chief priest was not confined to the one actually in office1 but was applied to all who had held the office1 and might therefore be applied to ,annas4 ,possibly the examination recorded vv4 #ai-bc was before him1 and probably he was living with his son-in-law in the palace of the chief priest4 #bc ,some of the ideas in this chapter were suggested by a sermon of ,bishop ,temple's4 ,,xix4 ,,jesus ,,before ,,pilate4 ,they led ,jesus therefore from ,caiaphas into the palace3 and it was early2 and they themselves entered not into the palace1 that they might not be defiled1 but might eat the ,passover4 ,pilate therefore went out unto them1 and saith1 ,what accusation bring ye against this man8 ,they answered and said unto him1 ,if this man were not an evil-doer1 we should not have delivered ,him up unto thee4 ,pilate therefore said unto them1 ,take ,him yourselves1 and judge ,him according to your law4 ,the ,jews said unto him1 ,it is not lawful for us to put any man to death3 that the word of ,jesus might be fulfilled1 which ,he spake1 signifying by what manner of death ,he should die4 ,pilate therefore entered again into the palace1 and called ,jesus1 and said unto ,him1 ,art ,thou the ,king of the ,jews8 ,jesus answered1 ,sayest thou this of thyself1 or did others tell it thee concerning ,me8 ,pilate answered1 ,am ,i a ,jew8 ,thine own nation and the chief priests delivered ,thee unto me3 what hast ,thou done8 ,jesus answered1 ,my kingdom is not of this world3 if ,my kingdom were of this world1 then would ,my servants fight1 that ,i should not be delivered to the ,jews3 but now is ,my kingdom not from hence4 ,pilate therefore said unto ,him1 ,art ,thou a king then8 ,jesus answered1 ,thou sayest that ,i am a king4 ,to this end have ,i been born1 and to this end am ,i come into the world1 that ,i should bear witness unto the truth4 ,every one that is of the truth heareth ,my voice4 ,pilate saith unto ,him1 ,what is truth8 ,and when he had said this1 he went out again unto the ,jews1 and saith unto them1 ,i find no crime in ,him4 ,but ye have a custom1 that ,i should release unto you one at the ,passover3 will ye therefore that ,i release unto you the ,king of the ,jews8 ,they cried out therefore again1 saying1 ,not this man1 but ,barabbas4 ,now ,barabbas was a robber4 ,then ,pilate therefore took ,jesus1 and scourged ,him4 ,and the soldiers plaited a crown of thorns1 and put it on ,his head1 and arrayed ,him in a purple garment2 and they came unto ,him1 and said1 ,hail1 ,king of the ,jews6 and they struck ,him with their hands4 ,and ,pilate went out again1 and saith unto them1 ,behold ,i bring ,him out to you1 that ye may know that ,i find no crime in ,him4 ,jesus therefore came out1 wearing the crown of thorns and the purple garment4 ,and ,pilate saith unto them1 ,behold1 the man6 ,when therefore the chief priests and the officers saw ,him1 they cried out1 saying1 ,crucify ,him1 crucify ,him4 ,pilate saith unto them1 ,take ,him yourselves1 and crucify ,him3 for ,i find no crime in ,him4 ,the ,jews answered him1 ,we have a law1 and by that law ,he ought to die1 because ,he made ,himself the ,son of ,god4 ,when ,pilate therefore heard this saying he was the more afraid2 and he entered into the palace again1 and saith unto ,jesus1 ,whence art ,thou8 ,but ,jesus gave him no answer4 ,pilate therefore saith unto ,him1 ,speakest ,thou not unto me8 knowest ,thou not that ,i have power to release ,thee1 and have power to crucify ,thee8 ,jesus answered ,him1 ,thou wouldest have no power against ,me1 except it were given thee from above3 therefore he that delivered ,me unto thee hath greater sin4 ,upon this ,pilate sought to release ,him3 but the ,jews cried out1 saying1 ,if thou release this man1 thou art not ,caesar's friend3 every one that maketh himself a king speaketh against ,caesar4 ,when ,pilate therefore heard these words1 he brought ,jesus out1 and sat down on the judgment-seat at a place called ,the ,pavement1 but in ,hebrew1 ,gabbatha4 ,now it was the preparation of the ,passover3 it was about the sixth hour4 ,and he saith unto the ,jews1 ,behold1 your ,king6 ,they therefore cried out1 ,away with ,him1 away with ,him1 crucify ,him4 ,pilate saith unto them1 ,shall ,i crucify your ,king8 ,the chief priests answered1 ,we have no king but ,caesar4 ,then therefore he delivered ,him unto them to be crucified4--,,john xviii4 #bh-xix4 #af4 ,john tells us very little of the examination of ,jesus by ,annas and ,caiaphas1 but he dwells at considerable length on ,his trial by ,pilate4 ,the reason of this different treatment is probably to be found in the fact that the trial before the ,sanhedrim was ineffective until the decision had been ratified by ,pilate1 as well as in the circumstance noted by ,john that the decision of ,caiaphas was a foregone conclusion4 ,caiaphas was an unscrupulous politician who allowed nothing to stand between him and his objects4 ,to the weak councillors who had expressed a fear that it might be difficult to convict a person so innocent as ,jesus he said with supreme contempt3 ,ye know nothing at all4 ,do you not see the opportunity we have of showing our zeal for the ,roman ,government by sacrificing this man who claims to be ,king of the ,jews8 ,innocent of course ,he is1 and all the better so1 for the ,romans cannot think ,he dies for robbery or wrong-doing4 ,he is a ,galilean of no consequence1 connected with no good family who might revenge ,his death4 ,this was the scheme of ,caiaphas4 ,he saw that the ,romans were within a very little of terminating the incessant troubles of this ,judaean province by enslaving the whole population and devastating the land2 this catastrophe might be staved off a few years by such an exhibition of zeal for ,rome as could be made in the public execution of ,jesus4 ,so far as ,caiaphas and his party were concerned1 then1 ,jesus was prejudged4 ,his trial was not an examination to discover whether ,he was guilty or innocent1 but a cross-questioning which aimed at betraying ,him into some acknowledgment which might give colour to the sentence of death already decreed4 ,caiaphas or ,annas#bd invites ,him to give some account of ,his disciples and of ,his doctrines4 ,in some cases ,his disciples carried arms1 and among them was one zealot1 and there might be others known to the authorities as dangerous or suspected characters4 ,and ,annas might expect that in giving some account of ,his teaching the honesty of ,jesus might betray ,him into expressions which could easily be construed to ,his prejudice4 ,but he is disappointed4 ,jesus replies that it is not for ,him1 arraigned and bound as a dangerous prisoner1 to give evidence against ,himself4 ,thousands had heard ,him in all parts of the country4 ,he had delivered those supposed inflammatory addresses not to midnight gatherings and secret societies1 but in the most public places ,he could find--in the ,temple1 from which no ,jew was excluded1 and in the synagogues1 where official teachers were commonly present4 ,annas is silenced2 and mortified though he is1 he has to accept the ruling of his prisoner as indicating the lines on which the trial should proceed4 ,his mortification does not escape the notice of one of those poor creatures who are ever ready to curry favour with the great by cruelty towards the defenceless1 or at the best of that large class of men who cannot distinguish between official and real dignity2 and the first of those insults is given to the hitherto sacred person of ,jesus1 the first of that long series of blows struck by a dead1 conventional religion seeking to quench the truth and the life of what threatens its slumber with awakening4 ,had the ,roman governor not been present in the city the high priests and their party might have ventured to carry into effect their own sentence4 ,but ,pilate had already shown during his six years of office that he was not a man to overlook anything like contempt of his supremacy4 ,besides1 they were not quite sure of the temper of the people2 and a rescue1 or even an attempted rescue1 of their prisoner would be disastrous4 ,prudence therefore bids them hand ,him over to ,pilate1 who had both legal authority to put ,him to death and means to quell any popular disturbance4 ,besides1 the purpose of ,caiaphas could better be served by bringing before the governor this claimant to the ,messiahship4 ,pilate was present in ,jerusalem at this time in accordance with the custom of the ,roman procurators of ,judaea1 who came up annually from their usual residence at ,caesarea to the ,jewish capital for the double purpose of keeping order while the city was crowded with all kinds of persons who came up to the feast1 and of trying cases reserved for his decision4 ,and the ,jews no doubt thought it would be easy to persuade a man who1 as they knew to their cost1 set a very low value on human blood to add one victim more to the robbers or insurgents who might be awaiting execution4 ,accordingly1 as soon as day dawned and they dared to disturb the governor1 they put ,jesus in chains as a condemned criminal and led ,him away1 all their leading men following1 to the quarters of ,pilate1 either in the fortress ,antonia or in the magnificent palace of ,herod4 ,into this palace1 being the abode of a ,gentile1 they could not enter lest they should contract pollution and incapacitate themselves for eating the ,passover1--the culminating instance of religious scrupulosity going hand in hand with cruel and blood-thirsty criminality4 ,pilate with scornful allowance for their scruples goes out to them1 and with the ,roman's instinctive respect for the forms of justice demands the charge brought against this prisoner1 in whose appearance the quick eye so long trained to read the faces of criminals is at a loss to discover any index to ,his crime4 ,this apparent intention on ,pilate's part1 if not to reopen the case at least to revise their procedure1 is resented by the party of ,caiaphas1 who exclaim1 ,if ,he were not a malefactor we would not have delivered ,him up unto thee4 ,take our word for it2 ,he is guilty2 do not scruple to put ,him to death4 ,but if they were indignant that ,pilate should propose to revise their decision1 he is not less so that they should presume to make him their mere executioner4 ,all the ,roman pride of office1 all the ,roman contempt and irritation at this strange ,jewish people1 come out in his answer1 ,if you will make no charge against ,him and refuse to allow me to judge ,him1 take ,him yourselves and do what you can with ,him1 knowing well that they dared not inflict death without his sanction1 and that this taunt would pierce home4 ,the taunt they did feel1 although they could not afford to show that they felt it1 but contented themselves with laying the charge that ,he had forbidden the people to give tribute to ,caesar and claimed to be ,himself a king4 ,as ,roman law permitted the examination to be conducted within the praetorium1 though the judgment must be pronounced outside in public1 ,pilate re-enters the palace and has ,jesus brought in1 so that apart from the crowd he may examine ,him4 ,at once he puts the direct question1 ,guilty or not guilty of this political offence with which you stand charged8--,art ,thou the ,king of the ,jews8 ,but to this direct question ,jesus cannot give a direct answer1 because the words may have one sense in the lips of ,pilate1 another in ,his own4 ,before ,he answers ,he must first know in which sense ,pilate uses the words4 ,he asks therefore1 ,sayest thou this thing of thyself1 or did others tell it thee8 ,are you inquiring because you are yourself concerned in this question8 or are you merely uttering a question which others have put in your mouth8 ,to which ,pilate with some heat and contempt replies1 ,am ,i a ,jew8 ,how can you expect me to take any personal interest in the matter8 ,thine own nation and the chief priests have delivered ,thee unto me4 ,pilate1 that is to say1 scouts the idea that he should take any interest in questions about the ,messiah of the ,jews4 ,and yet was it not possible that1 like some of his subordinates1 centurions and others1 he too should perceive the spiritual grandeur of ,jesus and should not be prevented by his heathen upbringing from seeking to belong to this kingdom of ,god8 ,may not ,pilate also be awakened to see that man's true inheritance is the world unseen8 may not that expression of fixed melancholy1 of hard scorn1 of sad1 hopeless1 proud indifference1 give place to the humble eagerness of the inquiring soul8 may not the heart of a child come back to that bewildered and world-encrusted soul8 ,alas6 this is too much for ,roman pride4 ,he cannot in presence of this bound ,jew acknowledge how little life has satisfied him4 ,he finds the difficulty so many find in middle life of frankly showing that they have in their nature deeper desires than the successes of life satisfy4 ,there is many a man who seals up his deeper instincts and does violence to his better nature because1 having begun his life on worldly lines1 he is too proud now to change1 and crushes down1 to his own eternal hurt1 the stirrings of a better mind within him1 and turns from the gentle whisperings that would fain bring eternal hope to his heart4 ,it is possible that ,jesus by ,his question meant to suggest to ,pilate the actual relation in which this present trial stood to ,his previous trial by ,caiaphas4 ,for nothing could more distinctly mark the baseness and malignity of the ,jews than their manner of shifting ground when they brought ,jesus before ,pilate4 ,the ,sanhedrim had condemned ,him1 not for claiming to be ,king of the ,jews1 for that was not a capital offence1 but for assuming ,divine dignity4 ,but that which in their eyes was a crime was none in the judgment of ,roman law2 it was useless to bring ,him before ,pilate and accuse ,him of blasphemy4 ,they therefore accused ,him of assuming to be ,king of the ,jews4 ,here1 then1 were the ,jews accusing ,jesus before the ,roman governor of that which1 in the first place1 they knew that ,jesus denied in the sense in which they urged it1 and which1 in the next place1 had the charge been true1 would have been so far from a crime in their eyes that it would have been popular with the whole nation4 ,but as ,pilate might very naturally misunderstand the character of the claim made by the accused1 ,jesus in a few words gives him clearly to understand that the kingdom ,he sought to establish could not come into collision with that which ,pilate represented3 ,my kingdom is not of this world4 ,the most convincing proof had been given of the spiritual character of the kingdom in the fact that ,jesus did not allow the sword to be used in forwarding ,his claims4 ,if ,my kingdom were of this world1 then would ,my servants fight1 that ,i should not be delivered to the ,jews3 but now is ,my kingdom not from hence4 ,this did not quite satisfy ,pilate4 ,he thought that still some mystery of danger might lurk behind the words of ,jesus4 ,there was nothing more acutely dreaded by the early emperors than secret societies4 ,it might be some such association ,jesus intended to form4 ,to allow such a society to gain influence in his province would be a gross oversight on ,pilate's part4 ,he therefore seizes upon the apparent admission of ,jesus and pushes ,him further with the question1 ,thou art a king then8 ,but the answer of ,jesus removes all fear from the mind of ,his judge4 ,he claims only to be a king of the truth1 attracting to ,himself all who are drawn by a love of truth4 ,this was enough for ,pilate4 ,aletheia was a country beyond his jurisdiction1 a ,utopia which could not injure the ,empire4 ,tush6 he says1 what is ,aletheia8 ,why speak to me of ideal worlds8 ,what concern have ,i with provinces that can yield no tribute and offer no armed resistance8 ,pilate1 convinced of the innocence of ,jesus1 makes several attempts to save ,him4 ,all these attempts failed1 because1 instead of at once and decidedly proclaiming ,his innocence and demanding ,his acquittal1 he sought at the same time to propitiate ,his accusers4 ,one generally expects from a ,roman governor some knowledge of men and some fearlessness in his use of that knowledge4 ,pilate shows neither4 ,his first step in dealing with the accusers of ,jesus is a fatal mistake4 ,instead of at once going to his judgment-seat and pronouncing authoritatively the acquittal of his ,prisoner1 and clearing his court of all riotously disposed persons1 he in one breath declared ,jesus innocent and proposed to treat ,him as guilty1 offering to release ,him as a boon to the ,jews4 ,a weaker proposal could scarcely have been made4 ,there was nothing1 absolutely nothing1 to induce the ,jews to accept it1 but in making it he showed a disposition to treat with them--a disposition they did not fail to make abundant use of in the succeeding scenes of this disgraceful day4 ,this first departure from justice lowered him to their own level and removed the only bulwark he had against their insolence and blood-thirstiness4 ,had he acted as any upright judge would have acted and at once put his ,prisoner beyond reach of their hatred1 they would have shrunk like cowed wild beasts2 but his first concession put him in their power1 and from this point onwards there is exhibited one of the most lamentable spectacles in history1--a man in power tossed like a ball between his convictions and his fears2 a ,roman not without a certain doggedness and cynical hardness that often pass for strength of character1 but held up here to view as a sample of the weakness that results from the vain attempt to satisfy both what is bad and what is good in us4 ,his second attempt to save ,jesus from death was more unjust and as futile as the first4 ,he scourges the ,prisoner whose innocence he had himself declared1 possibly under the idea that if nothing was confessed by ,jesus under this torture it might convince the ,jews of ,his innocence1 but more probably under the impression that they might be satisfied when they saw ,jesus bleeding and fainting from the scourge4 ,the ,roman scourge was a barbarous instrument1 its heavy thongs being loaded with metal and inlaid with bone1 every cut of which tore away the flesh4 ,but if ,pilate fancied that when the ,jews saw this lacerated form they would pity and relent1 he greatly mistook the men he had to do with4 ,he failed to take into account the common principle that when you have wrongfully injured a man you hate him all the more4 ,many a man becomes a murderer1 not by premeditation1 but having struck a first blow and seeing his victim in agony he cannot bear that that eye should live to reproach him and that tongue to upbraid him with his cruelty4 ,so it was here4 ,the people were infuriated by the sight of the innocent1 unmurmuring ,sufferer whom they had thus mangled4 ,they cannot bear that such an object be left to remind them of their barbarity1 and with one fierce yell of fury they cry1 ,crucify ,him1 crucify ,him4#be ,a third time ,pilate refused to be the instrument of their inhuman and unjust rage1 and flung the ,prisoner on their hands3 ,take ,him yourselves1 and crucify ,him3 for ,i find no crime in ,him4 ,but when the ,jews answered that by their law ,he ought to die1 because ,he made ,himself the ,son of ,god1 ,pilate was again seized with dread1 and withdrew his ,prisoner for the fourth time into the palace4 ,already he had remarked in ,his demeanour a calm superiority which made it seem quite possible that this extraordinary claim might be true4 ,the books he had read at school and the poems he had heard since he grew up had told stories of how the gods had sometimes come down and dwelt with men4 ,he had long since discarded such beliefs as mere fictions4 ,still1 there was something in the bearing of this ,prisoner before him that awakened the old impression1 that possibly this single planet with its visible population was not the whole universe1 that there might be some other unseen region out of which ,divine beings looked down upon earth with pity1 and from which they might come and visit us on some errand of love4 ,with anxiety written on his face and heard in his tone he asks1 ,whence art ,thou8 ,how near does this man always seem to be to breaking through the thin veil and entering with illumined vision into the spiritual world1 the world of truth and right and ,god6 ,would not a word now from ,jesus have given him entrance8 ,would not the repetition of the solemn affirmation of ,his divinity which ,he had given to the ,sanhedrim have been the one thing wanted in ,pilate's case1 the one thing to turn the scale in the favour of ,jesus8 ,at first sight it might seem so2 but so it seemed not to the ,lord4 ,he preserves an unbroken silence to the question on which ,pilate seems to hang in an earnest suspense4 ,and certainly this silence is by no means easy to account for4 ,shall we say that ,he was acting out ,his own precept1 ,give not that which is holy to dogs8 ,shall we say that ,he who knew what was in man saw that though ,pilate was for the moment alarmed and in earnest1 yet there was beneath that earnestness an ineradicable vacillation8 ,it is very possible that the treatment ,he had received at ,pilate's hand had convinced ,him that ,pilate would eventually yield to the ,jews2 and what need1 then1 of protracting the process8 ,no man who has any dignity and self-respect will make declarations about his character which he sees will do no good3 no man is bound to be at the beck of every one to answer accusations they may bring against him2 by doing so he will often only involve himself in miserable1 petty wranglings1 and profit no one4 ,jesus therefore was not going to make revelations about ,himself which ,he saw would only make ,him once again a shuttlecock driven between the two contending parties4 ,besides--and this probably is the main reason of the silence--,pilate was now forgetting altogether the relation between himself and his ,prisoner4 ,jesus had been accused before him on a definite charge which he had found to be baseless4 ,he ought therefore to have released ,him4 ,this new charge of the ,jews was one of which ,pilate could not take cognisance2 and of this ,jesus reminds him by ,his silence4 ,jesus might have made influence for ,himself by working upon the superstition of ,pilate2 but this was not to be thought of4 ,offended at ,his silence1 ,pilate exclaims3 ,speakest ,thou not unto me8 ,knowest ,thou not that ,i have power to release ,thee1 and have power to crucify ,thee8 ,here was an unwonted kind of prisoner who would not curry favour with ,his judge4 ,but instead of entreating ,pilate to use this power in ,his favour ,jesus replies3 ,thou wouldest have no power against ,me1 except it were given thee from above2 therefore he that delivered ,me unto thee hath greater sin4 ,pilate's office was the ordinance of ,god1 and therefore his judgments should express the justice and will of ,god2 and it was this which made the sin of ,caiaphas and the ,jews so great3 they were making use of a ,divine ordinance to serve their own ,god-resisting purposes4 ,had ,pilate been a mere irresponsible executioner their sin would have been sufficiently heinous2 but in using an official who is ,god's representative of law1 order1 and justice to fulfil their own wicked and unjust designs they recklessly prostitute ,god's ordinance of justice and involve themselves in a darker criminality4 ,more impressed than ever by this powerful statement falling from the lips of a man weakened by the scourging1 ,pilate makes one more effort to save ,him4 ,but now the ,jews play their last card and play it successfully4 ,if thou release this man1 thou art not ,caesar's friend4 ,to lay himself open to a charge of treason or neglect of the interests of ,caesar was what ,pilate could not risk4 ,at once his compassion for the ,prisoner1 his sense of justice1 his apprehensions1 his proud unwillingness to let the ,jews have their way1 are overcome by his fear of being reported to the most suspicious of emperors4 ,he prepared to give his judgment1 taking his place on the official seat1 which stood on a tesselated pavement1 called in ,aramaic ,gabbatha1 from its elevated position in sight of the crowds standing outside4 ,here1 after venting his spleen in the weak sarcasm ,shall ,i crucify your ,king8 he formally hands over his ,prisoner to be crucified4 ,this decision was at last come to1 as ,john records1 about noon of the day which prepared for and terminated in the ,paschal ,supper4 ,pilate's vacillation receives from ,john a long and careful treatment4 ,light is shed upon it1 and upon the threat which forced him at last to make up his mind1 from the account which ,philo gives of his character and administration4 ,with a view1 he says1 to vex the ,jews1 ,pilate hung up some gilt shields in the palace of ,herod1 which they judged a profanation of the holy city1 and therefore petitioned him to remove them4 ,but when he steadfastly refused to do so1 for he was a man of very inflexible disposition and very merciless as well as very obstinate1 they cried out1 ',beware of causing a tumult1 for ,tiberius will not sanction this act of yours2 and if you say that he will1 we ourselves will go to him and supplicate your master4' ,this threat exasperated ,pilate in the highest degree1 as he feared that they might really go to the ,emperor and impeach him with respect to other acts of his government--his corruption1 his acts of insolence1 his habit of insulting people1 his cruelty1 his continual murders of people untried and uncondemned1 and his never-ending and gratuitous and most grievous inhumanity4 ,therefore1 being exceedingly angry1 and being at all times a man of most ferocious passions1 he was in great perplexity1 neither venturing to take down what he had once set up nor wishing to do anything which could be acceptable to his subjects1 and yet fearing the anger of ,tiberius4 ,and those who were in power among the ,jews1 seeing this and perceiving that he was inclined to change his mind as to what he had done1 but that he was not willing to be thought to do so1 appealed to the ,emperor4#bf ,this sheds light on the whole conduct of ,pilate during this trial--his fear of the ,emperor1 his hatred of the ,jews and desire to annoy them1 his vacillation and yet obstinacy2 and we see that the mode the ,sanhedrim now adopted with ,pilate was their usual mode of dealing with him3 now1 as always1 they saw his vacillation1 disguised as it was by fierceness of speech1 and they knew he must yield to the threat of complaining to ,caesar4 ,the very thing that ,pilate feared1 and to avoid which he sacrificed the life of our ,lord1 came upon him six years after4 ,complaints against him were sent to the ,emperor2 he was deposed from his office1 and so stripped of all that made life endurable to him1 that1 wearied with misfortunes1 he died by his own hand4 ,perhaps we are tempted to think ,pilate's fate severe2 we naturally sympathise with him2 there are so many traits of character which show well when contrasted with the unprincipled violence of the ,jews4 ,we are apt to say he was weak rather than wicked1 forgetting that moral weakness is just another name for wickedness1 or rather is that which makes a man capable of any wickedness4 ,the man we call wicked has his one or two good points at which we can be sure of him4 ,the weak man we are never sure of4 ,that he has good feelings is nothing1 for we do not know what may be brought to overcome these feelings4 ,that he has right convictions is nothing2 we may have thought he was convinced to-day1 but to-morrow his old fears have prevailed4 ,and who is the weak man who is thus open to every kind of influence8 ,he is the man who is not single-minded4 ,the single-minded1 worldly man makes no pretension to holiness1 but sees at a glance that that interferes with his real object2 the single-minded1 godly man has only truth and righteousness for his aim1 and does not listen to fears or hopes suggested by the world4 ,but the man who attempts to gratify both his conscience and his evil or weak feelings1 the man who fancies he can so manipulate the events of his life as to secure his own selfish ends as well as the great ends of justice and righteousness1 will often be in as great a perplexity as ,pilate1 and will come to as ruinous if not to so appalling an end4 ,in this would-be equitable ,roman governor1 exhibiting his weakness to the people and helplessly exclaiming1 ,what shall ,i do with ,jesus which is called ,christ8#bg we see the predicament of many who are suddenly confronted with ,christ--disconcerted as they are to have such a prisoner thrown on their hands1 and wishing that anything had turned up rather than a necessity for answering this question1 ,what shall ,i do with ,jesus8 ,probably when ,jesus was led by the vacillating ,pilate out and in1 back and forward1 examined and re-examined1 acquitted1 scourged1 defended1 and abandoned to ,his enemies1 some pity for ,his judge mingled with other feelings in ,his mind4 ,this was altogether too great a case for a man like ,pilate1 fit enough to try men like ,barabbas and to keep the turbulent ,galileans in order4 ,what unhappy fate1 he might afterwards think1 had brought this mysterious ,prisoner to his judgment-seat1 and for ever linked in such unhappy relation his name to the ,name that is above every name8 ,never with more disastrous results did the resistless stream of time bring together and clash together the earthen and the brazen pitcher4 ,never before had such a prisoner stood at any judge's bar4 ,roman governors and emperors had been called to doom or to acquit kings and potentates of all degrees and to determine every kind of question1 forbidding this or that religion1 extirpating old dynasties1 altering old landmarks1 making history in its largest dimensions2 but ,pilate was summoned to adjudicate in a case that seemed of no consequence at all1 yet really eclipsed in its importance all other cases put together4 ,nothing could save ,pilate from the responsibility attaching to his connection with ,jesus1 and nothing can save us from the responsibility of determining what judgment we are to pronounce on this same ,person4 ,it may seem to us an unfortunate predicament we are placed in2 we may resent being called upon to do anything decided in a matter where our convictions so conflict with our desires2 we may inwardly protest against human life being obstructed and disturbed by choices that are so pressing and so difficult and with issues so incalculably serious4 ,but second thoughts assure us that to be confronted with ,christ is in truth far from being an unfortunate predicament1 and that to be compelled to decisions which determine our whole after-course and allow fullest expression of our own will and spiritual affinities is our true glory4 ,christ stands patiently awaiting our decision1 maintaining ,his inalienable majesty1 but submitting ,himself to every test we care to apply1 claiming only to be the ,king of the truth by whom we are admitted into that sole eternal kingdom4 ,it has come to be our turn1 as it came to be ,pilate's1 to decide upon ,his claims and to act upon our decision--to recognise that we men have to do1 not merely with pleasure and place1 with earthly rewards and relations1 but above all with the truth1 with that which gives eternal significance to all these present things1 with the truth about human life1 with the truth embodied for us in ,christ's person and speaking intelligibly to us through ,his lips1 with ,god manifest in the flesh4 ,are we to take part with ,him when ,he calls us to glory and to virtue1 to the truth and to eternal life1 or yielding to some present pressure the world puts upon us attempt some futile compromise and so renounce our birthright8 ,could ,pilate really persuade himself he made everything right with a basin of water and a theatrical transference of his responsibility to the ,jews8 ,could he persuade himself that by merely giving up the contest he was playing the part of a judge and of a man8 ,could he persuade himself that the mere words1 ,i am innocent of the blood of this righteous man3 see ye to it1 altered his relation to the death of ,christ8 ,no doubt he did4 ,there is nothing commoner than for a man to think himself forced when it is his own fear or wickedness that is his only compulsion4 ,would every man in ,pilate's circumstances have felt himself forced to surrender ,jesus to the ,jews8 ,would even a ,gallio or a ,claudius ,lysias have done so8 ,but ,pilate's past history made him powerless4 ,had he not feared exposure1 he would have marched his cohort across the square and cleared it of the mob and defied the ,sanhedrim4 ,it was not because he thought the ,jewish law had any true right to demand ,christ's death1 but merely because the ,jews threatened to report him as conniving at rebellion1 that he yielded ,christ to them2 and to seek to lay the blame on those who made it difficult to do the right thing was both unmanly and futile4 ,the ,jews were at least willing to take their share of the blame1 dreadful in its results as that proved to be4 ,fairly to apportion blame where there are two consenting parties to a wickedness is for us1 in many cases1 impossible2 and what we have to do is to beware of shifting blame from ourselves to our circumstances or to other people4 ,however galling it is to find ourselves mixed up with transactions which turn out to be shameful1 or to discover that some vacillation or imbecility on our part has made us partakers in sin1 it is idle and worse to wash our hands ostentatiously and try to persuade ourselves we have no guilt in the matter4 ,the fact that we have been brought in contact with unjust1 cruel1 heartless1 fraudulent1 unscrupulous1 worldly1 passionate people may explain many of our sins1 but it does not excuse them4 ,other people in our circumstances would not have done what we have done2 they would have acted a stronger1 manlier1 more generous part4 ,and if we have sinned1 it only adds to our guilt and encourages our weakness to profess innocence now and transfer to some other party the disgrace that belongs to ourselves4 ,nothing short of physical compulsion can excuse wrong-doing4 ,the calmness and dignity with which ,jesus passed through this ordeal1 alone self-possessed1 while all around ,him were beside themselves1 so impressed ,pilate that he not only felt guilty in giving ,him up to the ,jews1 but did not think it impossible that ,he might be the ,son of ,god4 ,but what is perhaps even more striking in this scene is the directness with which all these evil passions of men--fear1 and self-interest1 and injustice1 and hate--are guided to an end fraught with blessing4 ,goodness finds in the most adverse circumstances material for its purposes4 ,we are apt in such circumstances to despair and act as if there were never to be a triumph of goodness2 but the little seed of good that one individual can contribute even by hopeful and patient submission is that which survives and produces good in perpetuity1 while the passion and the hate and the worldliness cease4 ,in so wild a scene what availed it1 we might have said1 that one ,person kept ,his steadfastness and rose superior to the surrounding wickedness8 ,but the event showed that it did avail4 ,all the rest was scaffolding that fell away out of sight1 and this solitary integrity remains as the enduring monument4 ,in our measure we must pass through similar ordeals1 times when it seems vain to contend1 useless to hope4 ,when all we have done seems to be lost1 when our way is hid and no further step is visible1 when all the waves and billows of an ungodly world seem to threaten with extinction the little good we have cherished1 then must we remember this calm1 majestic ,prisoner1 bound in the midst of a frantic and blood-thirsty mob1 yet superior to it because ,he was living in ,god4 ,,footnotes3 #bd ,see note to chapter xviii4 #be ,the cry according to the best reading was simply ,crucify1 crucify1 or as it might be rendered1 ,the cross1 the cross4 #bf ,philo1 ,ad ,caium1 c4 #ch4 #bg ,mark xv4 #ab4 ,,xx4 ,,mary ,,at ,,the ,,cross4 ,they took ,jesus therefore3 and ,he went out1 bearing the cross for ,himself1 unto the place called ,the place of a skull1 which is called in ,hebrew ,golgotha3 where they crucified ,him1 and with ,him two others1 on either side one1 and ,jesus in the midst4 ,and ,pilate wrote a title also1 and put it on the cross4 ,and there was written1 ,,jesus ,,of ,,nazareth1 ,,the ,,king ,,of ,,the ,,jews4 ,this title therefore read many of the ,jews3 for the place where ,jesus was crucified was nigh to the city3 and it was written in ,hebrew1 and in ,latin1 and in ,greek4 ,the chief priests of the ,jews therefore said to ,pilate1 ,write not1 ,the ,king of the ,jews2 but1 that ,he said1 ,i am ,king of the ,jews4 ,pilate answered1 ,what ,i have written ,i have written4 ,the soldiers therefore1 when they had crucified ,jesus1 took ,his garments1 and made four parts1 to every soldier a part2 and also the coat3 now the coat was without seam1 woven from the top throughout4 ,they said therefore one to another1 ,let us not rend it1 but cast lots for it1 whose it shall be2 that the scripture might be fulfilled1 which saith1 ,they parted ,my garments among them1 ,and upon ,my vesture did they cast lots4 ,these things therefore the soldiers did4 ,but there were standing by the cross of ,jesus ,his mother1 and ,his mother's sister1 ,mary the wife of ,clopas1 and ,mary ,magdalene4 ,when ,jesus therefore saw ,his mother1 and the disciple standing by1 whom ,he loved1 ,he saith unto ,his mother1 ,woman1 behold thy son6 ,then saith ,he to the disciple1 ,behold1 thy mother6 ,and from that hour the disciple took her unto his own home4--,,john xix4 #ag-bg4 ,if we ask on what charge our ,lord was condemned to die1 the answer must be complex1 not simple4 ,pilate indeed1 in accordance with the usual custom1 painted on a board the name and crime of the ,prisoner1 that all who could understand any of the three current languages might know who this was and why ,he was crucified4 ,but in the case of ,jesus the inscription was merely a ghastly jest on ,pilate's part4 ,it was the coarse retaliation of a proud man who found himself helpless in the hands of people he despised and hated4 ,there was some relish to him in the crucifixion of ,jesus when by his inscription he had turned it into an insult to the nation4 ,a gleam of savage satisfaction for a moment lit up his gloomy face when he found that his taunt had told1 and the chief priests came begging him to change what he had written4 ,pilate from the first look he got of his ,prisoner understood that he had before him quite another kind of person than the ordinary zealot1 or spurious ,messiah1 or turbulent ,galilean4 ,pilate knew enough of the ,jews to feel sure that if ,jesus had been plotting rebellion against ,rome ,he would not have been informed against by the chief priests4 ,possibly he knew enough of what had been going on in his province to understand that it was precisely because ,jesus would not allow ,himself to be made a king in opposition to ,rome that the ,jews detested and accused ,him4 ,possibly he saw enough of the relations of ,jesus to the authorities to despise the abandoned malignity and baseness which could bring an innocent man to his bar and charge ,him with what in their eyes was no crime at all and make the charge precisely because ,he was innocent of it4 ,nominally1 but only nominally1 ,jesus was crucified for sedition4 ,if we pass1 in search of the real charge1 from ,pilate's judgment-seat to the ,sanhedrim1 we get nearer to the truth4 ,the charge on which ,he was in this court condemned was the charge of blasphemy4 ,he was indeed examined as to ,his claims to be the ,messiah1 but it does not appear that they had any law on which ,he could have been condemned for such claims4 ,they did not expect that the ,messiah would be ,divine in the proper sense4 ,had they done so1 then any one falsely claiming to be the ,messiah would thereby have falsely claimed to be ,divine1 and would therefore have been guilty of blasphemy4 ,but it was not for claiming to be the ,christ that ,jesus was condemned2 it was when ,he declared ,himself to be the ,son of ,god that the high priest rent ,his garments and declared ,him guilty of blasphemy4 ,now1 of course it was very possible that many members of the ,sanhedrim should sincerely believe that blasphemy had been uttered4 ,the unity of ,god was the distinctive creed of the ,jew1 that which had made his nation1 and for any human lips to claim equality with the one infinite ,god was not to be thought of4 ,it must have fallen upon their ears like a thunder-clap2 they must have fallen back on their seats or started from them in horror when so awful a claim was made by the human figure standing bound before them4 ,there were men among them who would have advocated ,his claim to be the ,messiah1 who believed ,him to be a man sent from ,god2 but not a voice could be raised in ,his defence when the claim to be ,son of ,god in a ,divine sense passed ,his lips4 ,his best friends must have doubted and been disappointed1 must have supposed ,he was confused by the events of the night1 and could only await the issue in sorrow and wonder4 ,was the ,sanhedrim1 then1 to blame for condemning ,jesus8 ,they sincerely believed ,him to be a blasphemer1 and their law attached to the crime of blasphemy the punishment of death4 ,it was in ignorance they did it2 and knowing only what they knew1 they could not have acted otherwise4 ,yes1 that is true4 ,but they were responsible for their ignorance4 ,jesus had given abundant opportunity to the nation to understand ,him and to consider ,his claims4 ,he did not burst upon the public with an uncertified demand to be accepted as ,divine4 ,he lived among those who were instructed in such matters2 and though in some respects ,he was very different from the ,messiah they had looked for1 a little openness of mind and a little careful inquiry would have convinced them ,he was sent from ,god4 ,and had they acknowledged this1 had they allowed themselves to obey their instincts and say1 ,this is a true man1 a man who has a message for us--had they not sophisticated their minds with quibbling literalities1 they would have owned ,his superiority and been willing to learn from ,him4 ,and had they shown any disposition to learn1 ,jesus was too wise a teacher to hurry them and overleap needed steps in conviction and experience4 ,he would have been slow to extort from any a confession of ,his divinity until they had reached the belief of it by the working of their own minds4 ,enough for ,him that they were willing to see the truth about ,him and to declare it as they saw it4 ,the great charge ,he brought against ,his accusers was that they did violence to their own convictions4 ,the uneasy suspicions they had about ,his dignity they suppressed2 the attraction they at times felt to ,his goodness they resisted2 the duty to inquire patiently into ,his claims they refused4 ,and thus their darkness deepened1 until in their culpable ignorance they committed the greatest of crimes4 ,from all this1 then1 two things are apparent4 ,first1 that ,jesus was condemned on the charge of blasphemy--condemned because ,he made ,himself equal with ,god4 ,his own words1 pronounced upon oath1 administered in the most solemn manner1 were understood by the ,sanhedrim to be an explicit claim to be the ,son of ,god in a sense in which no man could without blasphemy claim to be so4 ,he made no explanation of ,his words when ,he saw how they were understood4 ,and yet1 were ,he not truly ,divine1 there was no one who could have been more shocked than ,himself by such a claim4 ,he understood1 if any man did1 the majesty of ,god2 ,he knew better than any other the difference between the ,holy ,one and ,his sinful creatures2 ,his whole life was devoted to the purpose of revealing to men the unseen ,god4 ,what could have seemed to ,him more monstrous1 what could more effectually have stultified the work and aim of ,his life1 than that ,he1 being a man1 should allow ,himself to be taken for ,god8 ,when ,pilate told ,him that ,he was charged with claiming to be a king1 ,he explained to ,pilate in what sense ,he did so1 and removed from ,pilate's mind the erroneous supposition this claim had given birth to4 ,had the ,sanhedrim cherished an erroneous idea of what was involved in ,his claim to be the ,son of ,god1 ,he must also have explained to them in what sense ,he made it1 and have removed from their minds the impression that ,he was claiming to be properly ,divine4 ,he did not make any explanation2 ,he allowed them to suppose ,he claimed to be the ,son of ,god in a sense which would be blasphemous in a mere man4 ,so that if any one gathers from this that ,jesus was ,divine in a sense in which it were blasphemy for any other man to claim to be1 he gathers a legitimate1 even a necessary1 inference4 ,another reflection which is forced upon the reader of this narrative is1 that disaster waits upon stifled inquiry4 ,the ,jews honestly convicted ,christ as a blasphemer because they had dishonestly denied ,him to be a good man4 ,the little spark which would have grown into a blazing light they put their heel upon4 ,had they at the first candidly considered ,him as ,he went about doing good and making no claims1 they would have become attached to ,him as ,his disciples did1 and1 like them1 would have been led on to a fuller knowledge of the meaning of ,his person and work4 ,it is these beginnings of conviction we are so apt to abuse4 ,it seems so much smaller a crime to kill an infant that has but once drawn breath than to kill a man of lusty life and busy in his prime2 but the one1 if fairly dealt with1 will grow to be the other4 ,and while we think very little of stifling the scarcely breathed whisperings in our own heart and mind1 we should consider that it is only such whisperings that can bring us to the loudly proclaimed truth4 ,if we do not follow up suggestions1 if we do not push inquiry to discovery1 if we do not value the smallest grain of truth as a seed of unknown worth and count it wicked to kill even the smallest truth in our souls1 we can scarcely hope at any time to stand in the full light of reality and rejoice in it4 ,to accept ,christ as ,divine may be at present beyond us2 to acknowledge ,him as such would simply be to perjure ourselves2 but can we not acknowledge ,him to be a true man1 a good man1 a teacher certainly sent from ,god8 ,if we do know ,him to be all that and more1 then have we thought this out to its results8 ,knowing ,him to be a unique figure among men1 have we perceived what this involves8 ,admitting ,him to be the best of men1 do we love ,him1 imitate ,him1 ponder ,his words1 long for ,his company8 ,let us not treat ,him as if ,he were non-existent because ,he is not as yet to us all that ,he is to some4 ,let us beware of dismissing all conviction about ,him because there are some convictions spoken of by other people which we do not feel4 ,it is better to deny ,christ than to deny our own convictions2 for to do so is to extinguish the only light we have1 and to expose ourselves to all disaster4 ,the man who has put out his own eyes cannot plead blindness in extenuation of his not seeing the lights and running the richly laden ship on the rocks4 ,guided by the perfect taste which reverence gives1 ,john says very little about the actual crucifixion4 ,he shows us indeed the soldiers sitting down beside the little heap of clothes they had stripped off our ,lord1 parcelling them out1 perhaps already assuming them as their own wear4 ,for the clothes by which our ,lord had been known these soldiers would now carry into unknown haunts of drunkenness and sin1 emblems of our ruthless1 thoughtless desecration of our ,lord's name with which we outwardly clothe ourselves and yet carry into scenes the most uncongenial4 ,john1 writing long after the event1 seems to have no heart to record the poor taunts with which the crowd sought to increase the suffering of the ,crucified1 and force home upon ,his spirit a sense of the desolation and ignominy of the cross4 ,gradually the crowd wearies and scatters1 and only here and there a little whispering group remains4 ,the day waxes to its greatest heat2 the soldiers lie or stand silent2 the centurion sits motionless on his motionless1 statue-like horse2 the stillness of death falls upon the scene1 only broken at intervals by a groan from one or other of the crosses4 ,suddenly through this silence there sound the words1 ,woman1 behold thy son3 son1 behold thy mother4--words which remind us that all this dreadful scene which makes the heart of the stranger bleed has been witnessed by the mother of the ,crucified4 ,as the crowd had broken up from around the crosses1 the little group of women whom ,john had brought to the spot edged their way nearer and nearer till they were quite close to ,him they loved1 though their lips apparently were sealed by their helplessness to minister consolation4 ,these hours of suffering1 as the sword was slowly driven through ,mary's soul1 according to ,simeon's word1 who shall measure8 ,hers was not a hysterical1 noisy sorrow1 but quiet and silent4 ,there was nothing wild1 nothing extravagant1 in it4 ,there was no sign of feminine weakness1 no outcry1 no fainting1 no wild gesture of uncontrollable anguish1 nothing to show that she was the exceptional mourner and that there was no sorrow like unto her sorrow4 ,her reverence for the ,lord saved her from disturbing ,his last moments4 ,she stood and saw the end4 ,she saw ,his head lifted in anguish and falling on ,his breast in weakness1 and she could not gently take it in her hands and wipe the sweat of death from ,his brow4 ,she saw ,his pierced hands and feet become numbed and livid1 and might not chafe them4 ,she saw ,him gasp with pain as cramp seized part after part of ,his outstretched body1 and she could not change ,his posture nor give liberty to so much as one of ,his hands4 ,and she had to suffer this in profound desolation of spirit4 ,her life seemed to be buried at the cross4 ,to the mourning there often seems nothing left but to die with the dying4 ,one heart has been the light of life1 and now that light is quenched4 ,what significance1 what motive1 can life have any more8#bh ,we valued no past where that heart was not2 we had no future which was not concentrated upon it or in which it had no part4 ,but the absorption of common love must have been far surpassed in ,mary's case4 ,none had been blessed with such a love as hers4 ,and now none estimated as she did the spotless innocence of the ,victim2 none could know as she knew the depth of ,his goodness1 the unfathomable and unconquerable love ,he had for all2 and none could estimate as she the ingratitude of those whom ,he had healed and fed and taught and comforted with such unselfish devotedness4 ,she knew that there was none like ,him1 and that if any could have brought blessing to this earth it was ,he1 and there she saw ,him nailed to the cross1 the end actually reached4 ,we know not if in that hour she thought of the trial of ,abraham2 we know not whether she allowed herself to think at all1 whether she did not merely suffer as a mother losing her son2 but certainly it must have been with intensest eagerness she heard herself once more addressed by ,him4 ,mary was commended to ,john as the closest friend of ,jesus4 ,these two would be in fullest sympathy1 both being devoted to ,him4 ,it was perhaps an indication to those who were present1 and through them to all1 that nothing is so true a bond between human hearts as sympathy with ,christ4 ,we may admire nature1 and yet have many points of antipathy to those who also admire nature4 ,we may like the sea1 and yet feel no drawing to some persons who also like the sea4 ,we may be fond of mathematics1 and yet find that this brings us into a very partial and limited sympathy with mathematicians4 ,nay1 we may even admire and love the same person as others do1 and yet disagree about other matters4 ,but if ,christ is chosen and loved as ,he ought to be1 that love is a determining affection which rules all else within us1 and brings us into abiding sympathy with all who are similarly governed and moulded by that love4 ,that love indicates a certain past experience and guarantees a special type of character4 ,it is the characteristic of the subjects of the kingdom of ,god4 ,this care for ,his mother in ,his last moments is of a piece with all the conduct of ,jesus4 ,throughout ,his life there is an entire absence of anything pompous or excited4 ,everything is simple4 ,the greatest acts in human history ,he does on the highway1 in the cottage1 among a group of beggars in an entry4 ,the words which have thrilled the hearts and mended the lives of myriads were spoken casually as ,he walked with a few friends4 ,rarely did ,he even gather a crowd4 ,there was no advertising1 no admission by ticket1 no elaborate arrangements for a set speech at a set hour4 ,those who know human nature will know what to think of this unstudied ease and simplicity1 and will appreciate it4 ,the same characteristic appears here4 ,he speaks as if ,he were not an object of contemplation2 there is an entire absence of self-consciousness1 of ostentatious suggestion that ,he is now making atonement for the sins of the world4 ,he speaks to ,his mother and cares for her as ,he might have done had they been in the home at ,nazareth together4 ,one despairs of ever learning such a lesson1 or indeed of seeing others learn it4 ,how like an ant-hill is the world of men6 ,what a fever and excitement6 what a fuss and fret6 what an ado6 what a sending of messengers1 and calling of meetings1 and raising of troops1 and magnifying of little things6 what an absence of calmness and simplicity6 ,but this at least we may learn--that no duties1 however important1 can excuse us for not caring for our relatives4 ,they are deceived people who spend all their charity and sweetness out of doors1 who have a reputation for godliness1 and are to be seen in the forefront of this or that ,christian work1 but who are sullen or imperious or quick-tempered or indifferent at home4 ,if while saving a world ,jesus had leisure to care for ,his mother1 there are no duties so important as to prevent a man from being considerate and dutiful at home4 ,those who witnessed the hurried events of the morning when ,christ was crucified might be pardoned if their minds were filled with what their eyes saw1 and if little but the outward objects were discernible to them4 ,we are in different circumstances1 and may be expected to look more deeply into what was happening4 ,to see only the mean scheming and wicked passions of men1 to see nothing but the pathetic suffering of an innocent and misjudged person1 to take our interpretation of these rapid and disorderly events from the casual spectators without striving to discover ,god's meaning in them1 would indeed be a flagrant instance of what has been called reading ,god in a prose translation1 rendering ,his clearest and most touching utterance to this world in the language of callous ,jews or barbarous ,roman soldiers4 ,let us open our ear to ,god's own meaning in these events1 and we hear ,him uttering to us all ,his ,divine love1 and in the most forcible and touching tones4 ,these are the events in which ,his deepest purposes and tenderest love find utterance4 ,how ,he is striving to win ,his way to us to convince us of the reality of sin and of salvation6 ,to be mere spectators of these things is to convict ourselves of being superficial or strangely callous4 ,scarcely any criminal is executed but we all have our opinion on the justice or injustice of his condemnation4 ,we may well be expected to form our judgment in this case1 and to take action upon it4 ,if ,jesus was unjustly condemned1 then we as well as ,his contemporaries have to do with ,his claims4 ,if these claims were true1 we have something more to do than merely to say so4 ,,footnotes3 #bh ,see ,faber's ,bethlehem4 ,,xxi4 ,,the ,,crucifixion4 ,the soldiers therefore1 when they had crucified ,jesus1 took ,his garments1 and made four parts1 to every soldier a part2 and also the coat3 now the coat was without seam1 woven from the top throughout4 ,they said therefore one to another1 ,let us not rend it1 but cast lots for it1 whose it shall be3 that the scripture might be fulfilled1 which saith1 ,they parted ,my garments among them1 ,and upon ,my vesture did they cast lots4 ,these things therefore the soldiers did4444 ,after this ,jesus1 knowing that all things are now finished1 that the scripture might be accomplished1 saith1 ,i thirst4 ,there was set there a vessel full of vinegar3 so they put a sponge full of the vinegar upon hyssop1 and brought it to ,his mouth4 ,when ,jesus therefore had received the vinegar1 ,he said1 ,it is finished3 and ,he bowed ,his head1 and gave up ,his spirit4 ,the ,jews therefore1 because it was the ,preparation1 that the bodies should not remain on the cross upon the ,sabbath 7for the day of that ,sabbath was a high day71 asked of ,pilate that their legs might be broken1 and that they might be taken away4 ,the soldiers therefore came1 and brake the legs of the first1 and of the other which was crucified with ,him3 but when they came to ,jesus1 and saw that ,he was dead already1 they brake not ,his legs3 howbeit one of the soldiers with a spear pierced ,his side1 and straightway there came out blood and water4 ,and he that hath seen hath borne witness1 and his witness is true3 and he knoweth that he saith true1 that ye also may believe4 ,for these things came to pass1 that the scripture might be fulfilled1 ,a bone of ,him shall not be broken4 ,and again another scripture saith1 ,they shall look on ,him whom they pierced4--,,john xix4 #bc1 #bd1 #bh-cg4 ,possibly the account which ,john gives of the ,crucifixion is somewhat spoiled to some readers by his frequent reference to apparently insignificant coincidences with ,old ,testament prophecy4 ,it is1 however1 to be remembered that ,john was himself a ,jew1 and was writing for a public which laid great stress on such literal fulfilments of prophecy4 ,the wording of the narrative might lead us to suppose that ,john believed ,jesus to be intentionally fulfilling prophecy4 ,where he says1 ,after this1 ,jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished1 that the scripture might be fulfilled1 saith1 ,i thirst1 it might be fancied that ,john supposed that ,jesus said ,i thirst in order that ,scripture might be fulfilled4 ,this is1 of course1 to misconceive the ,evangelist's meaning4 ,such a fulfilment would have been fictitious1 not real4 ,but ,john believes that in each smallest act and word of our ,lord the will of ,god was finding expression1 a will which had long since been uttered in the form of ,old ,testament prophecy4 ,in these hours of dismay1 when ,jesus was arrested1 tried1 and crucified before the eyes of ,his disciples1 they tried to believe that this was ,god's will2 and long afterwards1 when they had found time to think1 and when they had to deal with men who felt the difficulty of believing in a crucified ,saviour1 they pointed to the fact that even in small particulars the sufferings of the ,messiah had been anticipated and were to be expected4 ,the first instance of this which ,john cites is the manner in which the soldiers dealt with ,his clothes4 ,after fixing ,jesus to the cross and raising it1 the four men who were detailed to this service sat down to watch4 ,such was the custom1 lest friends should remove the crucified before death supervened4 ,having settled themselves for this watch1 they proceeded to divide the clothes of ,jesus among them4 ,this also was customary among the ,romans1 as it has been everywhere usual that the executioners should have as their perquisite some of the articles worn by the condemned4 ,the soldiers parted the garments of ,jesus among them1 each of the four taking what he needed or fancied--turban1 shoes1 girdle1 or under-coat2 while for the large seamless plaid that was worn over all they cast lots1 being unwilling to tear it4 ,all this fulfilled an old prediction to the letter4 ,the reason why it had been spoken of was that it formed a weighty element in the suffering of the crucified4 ,few things can make a dying man feel more desolate than to overhear those who sit round his bed already disposing of his effects1 counting him a dead man who can no longer use the apparatus of the living1 and congratulating themselves on the profit they make by his death4 ,how furious have old men sometimes been made by any betrayal of eagerness on the part of their heirs6 ,even to calculate on a man's death and make arrangements for filling his place is justly esteemed indecorous and unfeeling4 ,to ask a sick man for anything he has been accustomed to use1 and must use again if he recovers health1 is an act which only an indelicate nature could be guilty of4 ,it was a cruel addition1 then1 to our ,lord's suffering to see these men heartlessly dividing among them all ,he had to leave4 ,it forced on ,his mind the consciousness of their utter indifference to ,his feelings4 ,his clothes were of some little value to them3 ,he ,himself of no value4 ,nothing could have made ,him feel more separated from the world of the living--from their hopes1 their ways1 their life--as if already ,he were dead and buried4 ,this distribution of ,his clothes was also calculated to make ,him intensely sensible of the reality and finality of death4 ,jesus knew ,he was to rise again2 but let us not forget that ,jesus was human1 liable to the same natural fears1 and moved by the same circumstances as ourselves4 ,he knew ,he was to rise again2 but how much easier had it been to believe in that future life had all the world been expecting ,him to rise6 ,but here were men showing that they very well knew ,he would never again need these clothes of ,his4 ,a comparison of this narrative with the other ,gospels brings out that the words ,i thirst must have been uttered immediately after the fearful cry ,my ,god1 ,my ,god1 why hast ,thou forsaken ,me8 ,for when the soldier was mercifully pressing the sponge steeped in vinegar to ,his parched lips1 some of the bystanders called out1 ,let be3 let us see whether ,elias will come to save ,him1 referring to the words of ,jesus1 which they had not rightly understood4 ,and this expression of bodily suffering is proof that the severity of the spiritual struggle was over4 ,so long as that deep darkness covered ,his spirit ,he was unconscious of ,his body2 but with the agonised cry to ,his ,father the darkness had passed away2 the very uttering of ,his desolation had disburdened ,his spirit1 and at once the body asserts itself4 ,as in the wilderness at the opening of ,his career ,he had been for many days so agitated and absorbed in mind that ,he did not once think of food1 but no sooner was the spiritual strife ended than the keen sensation of hunger was the first thing to demand ,his attention1 so here ,his sense of thirst is the sign that ,his spirit was now at rest4 ,the last act of the ,crucifixion1 in which ,john sees the fulfilment of ,old ,testament prophecy1 is the omission in the case of ,jesus of the common mode of terminating the life of the crucified by breaking the legs with an iron bar4 ,jesus being already dead1 this was considered unnecessary2 but as possibly ,he might only have swooned1 and as the bodies were immediately taken down1 one of the soldiers makes sure of ,his death by a lance thrust4 ,medical men and scholars have largely discussed the causes which might produce the outflow of blood and water which ,john affirms followed this spear thrust1 and various causes have been assigned4 ,but it is a point which has apparently only physiological interest4 ,john indeed follows up his statement of what he saw with an unusually strong asseveration that what he says is true4 ,he that saw it bare record1 and his record is true3 and he knoweth that he saith true1 that ye might believe4 ,but this strong asseveration is introduced1 not for the sake of persuading us to believe that water as well as blood flowed from the lance wound1 but for the sake of certifying the actual death of ,jesus4 ,the soldiers who had charge of the execution discharged their duty4 ,they made sure that the ,crucified was actually dead4 ,and ,john's reason for insisting on this and appending to his statement so unusual a confirmation is sufficiently obvious4 ,he was about to relate the ,resurrection1 and he knows that a true resurrection must be preceded by a real death4 ,if he has no means of establishing the actual death1 he has no means of establishing the ,resurrection4 ,and therefore for the first and only time in his narrative he departs from simple narration1 and most solemnly asseverates that he is speaking the truth and was an eyewitness of the things he relates4 ,the emphatic language ,john uses regarding the certainty of ,christ's death is1 then1 only an index to the importance he attached to the ,resurrection4 ,he was aware that whatever virtue lay in the life and death of ,christ1 this virtue became available for men through the ,resurrection4 ,had ,jesus not risen again all the hopes ,his friends had cherished regarding ,him would have been buried in ,his tomb4 ,had ,he not risen ,his words would have been falsified and doubt thrown upon all ,his teaching4 ,had ,he not risen ,his claims would have been unintelligible and ,his whole appearance and life a mystery1 suggesting a greatness not borne out--different from other men1 yet subject to the same defeat4 ,had ,he not risen the very significance of ,his life would have been obscured2 and if for a time a few friends cherished ,his memory in private1 ,his name would have fallen back to an obscure1 possibly a dishonoured1 place4 ,it is not at once obvious what we are to make of the physical sufferings of ,christ4 ,certainly it is very easy to make too much of them4 ,for1 in the first place1 they were very brief and confined to one part of ,his life4 ,he was exempt from the prolonged weakness and misery which many persons endure throughout life4 ,born1 as we may reasonably suppose1 with a healthy and vigorous constitution1 carefully reared by the best of mothers1 finding a livelihood in ,his native village and in ,his father's business1 ,his lot was very different from the frightful doom of thousands who are born with diseased and distorted body1 in squalid and wicked surroundings1 and who never see through the misery that encompasses them to any happy or hopeful life4 ,and even after ,he left the shelter and modest comforts of the ,nazareth home ,his life was spent in healthy conditions1 and often in scenes of much beauty and interest4 ,free to move about through the country as ,he pleased1 passing through vineyards and olive-groves and cornfields1 talking pleasantly with ,his little company of attached friends or addressing large audiences1 ,he lived an open-air life of a kind in which of necessity there must have been a great deal of physical pleasure and healthful enjoyment4 ,at times ,he had not where to lay ,his head2 but this is mentioned rather as a symptom of ,his want of friends than as implying any serious physical suffering in a climate like that of ,palestine4 ,and the suffering at the close of ,his life1 though extreme1 was brief1 and was not to be compared in its cruelty to what many of ,his followers have endured for ,his sake4 ,two things1 however1 the physical sufferings of ,christ do secure3 they call attention to ,his devotedness1 and they illustrate ,his willing sacrifice of self4 ,they call attention to ,his devotedness and provoke a natural sympathy and tenderness of spirit in the beholder1 qualities which are much needed in our consideration of ,christ4 ,had ,he passed through life entirely exempt from suffering1 in high position1 with every want eagerly ministered to1 untouched by any woe1 and at last passing away by a painless decease1 we should find it much harder to respond to ,his appeal or even to understand ,his work4 ,nothing so quickly rivets our attention and stirs our sympathy as physical pain4 ,we feel disposed to listen to the demands of one who is suffering1 and if we have a lurking suspicion that we are somehow responsible for that suffering and are benefited by it1 then we are softened by a mingled pity1 admiration1 and shame1 which is one of the fittest attitudes a human spirit can assume4 ,besides1 it is through the visible suffering we can read the willingness of ,christ's self-surrender4 ,it was always more difficult for ,him to suffer than for us4 ,we have no option3 ,he might have rescued ,himself at any moment4 ,we1 in suffering1 have but to subdue our disposition to murmur and our sense of pain3 ,he had to subdue what was much more obstinate--,his consciousness that ,he might if ,he pleased abjure the life that involved pain4 ,the strain upon ,his love for us was not once for all over when ,he became man4 ,he ,himself intimates1 and ,his power of working miracles proves1 that at each point of ,his career ,he might have saved ,himself from suffering1 but would not4 ,when we ask ourselves what we are to make of these sufferings of ,christ1 we naturally seek aid from the ,evangelist and ask what he made of them4 ,but on reading his narrative we are surprised to find so little comment or reflection interrupting the simple relation of facts4 ,at first sight the narrative seems to flow uninterruptedly on1 and to resemble the story which might be told of the closing scenes of an ordinary life terminating tragically4 ,the references to ,old ,testament prophecy alone give us the clue to ,john's thoughts about the significance of this death4 ,these references show us that he considered that in this public execution1 conducted wholly by ,roman soldiers1 who could not read a word of ,hebrew and did not know the name of the ,god of the ,jews1 there was being fulfilled the purpose of ,god towards which all previous history had been tending4 ,that purpose of ,god in the history of man was accomplished when ,jesus breathed ,his last upon the cross4 ,the cry ,it is finished was not the mere gasp of a worn-out life2 it was not the cry of satisfaction with which a career of pain and sorrow is terminated3 it was the deliberate utterance of a clear consciousness on the part of ,god's appointed ,revealer that now all had been done that could be done to make ,god known to men and to identify ,him with men4 ,god's purpose had ever been one and indivisible4 ,declared to men in various ways1 a hint here1 a broad light there1 now by a gleam of insight in the mind of a prophet1 now by a deed of heroism in king or leader1 through rude symbolic contrivances and through the tenderest of human affections and the highest human thoughts ,god had been making men ever more and more sensible that ,his one purpose was to come closer and closer into fellowship with them and to draw them into a perfect harmony with ,him4 ,forgiveness and deliverance from sin were provided for them1 knowledge of ,god's law and will that they might learn to know and to serve ,him--all these were secured when ,jesus cried1 ,it is finished4 ,why1 then1 does ,john just at this point of the life of ,jesus see so many evidences of the fulfilment of all prophecy8 ,need we ask8 ,is not suffering that which is the standing problem of life8 ,is it not grief and trouble and sorrow which press home upon our minds most convincingly the reality of sin8 ,is it not death which is common to all men of every age1 race1 station1 or experience8 ,and must not ,one who identifies ,himself with men identify ,himself in this if in anything8 ,it is the cross of ,jesus that stands before the mind of ,john as the completion of that process of incarnation1 of entrance into human experience1 which fills his ,gospel2 it is here he sees the completion and finishing of that identification of ,god with man he has been exhibiting throughout4 ,the union of ,god with man is perfected when ,god submits ,himself to the last darkest experience of man4 ,to some it seems impossible such a thing should be2 it seems either unreal1 unthought-out verbiage1 or blasphemy4 ,to ,john1 after he had seen and pondered the words and the life of ,jesus1 all his ideas of the ,father were altered4 ,he learned that ,god is love1 and that to infinite love1 while there remains one thing to give1 one step of nearness to the loved to be taken1 love has not its perfect expression4 ,it came upon him as a revelation that ,god was really in the world4 ,are we to refuse to ,god any true participation in the strife between good and evil8 ,is ,god to be kept out of all reality8 ,is ,he merely to look on1 to see how ,his creatures will manage1 how this and that man will bear himself heroically1 but ,himself a mere name1 a lay figure crowned but otiose1 doing nothing to merit ,his crown1 doing nothing to warrant the worship of untold worlds1 commanding others to peril themselves and put all to the proof1 but ,himself well out of range of all risk1 of all conflict1 of all tragedy8 ,how can we hope to love a ,god we remove to a throne remote and exalted1 from which ,he looks down on human life1 and cannot look on it as we do from the inside6 ,is ,god to be only a dramatist1 who arranges thrilling situations for others to pass through1 and assigns to each the part he is to play1 but ,himself has no real interests at stake and no actual entrance into the world of feeling1 of hope1 of trial8 ,and if a ,divine ,person were in the course of things to come into this human world1 to enter into our actual experiences1 and feel and bear the actual strain that we bear1 it is obvious ,he must come incognito--not distinguished by such marks as would bring the world to ,his feet1 and make an ordinary human life and ordinary human trials impossible to ,him4 ,when sovereigns wish to ascertain for themselves how their subjects live1 they do not proclaim their approach and send in advance an army of protection1 provision1 and display2 they do not demand to be met by the authorities of each town1 and to be received by artificial1 stereotyped addresses1 and to be led from one striking sight to another and from one comfortable palace to another3 but they leave their robes of state behind them1 they send no messenger in advance1 and they mix as one of the crowd with the crowd1 exposed to whatever abuse may be going1 and living for the time on the same terms as the rank and file4 ,this has been done often in sport1 sometimes as matter of policy or of interest1 but never as the serious method of understanding and lifting the general habits and life of the people4 ,christ came among us1 not as a kind of ,divine adventure to break the tedium of eternal glory1 nor merely to make personal observations on ,his own account1 but as the requisite and only means available for bringing the fulness of ,divine help into practical contact with mankind4 ,but as all filth and squalor are hidden away in the slums from the senses of the king1 so that if he is to penetrate into the burrows of the criminal classes and see the wretchedness of the poor1 he must do it incognito1 so if ,christ sought to bring ,divine mercy and might within reach of the vilest1 ,he must visit their haunts and make ,himself acquainted with their habits4 ,it is also obvious that such a ,person would concern ,himself not with art or literature1 not with inventions and discoveries1 not even with politics and government and social problems1 but with that which underlies all these and for which all these exist--with human character and human conduct1 with man's relation to ,god4 ,it is with the very root of human life ,he concerns ,himself4 ,the sufferings of ,christ1 then1 were mainly inward1 and were the necessary result of ,his perfect sympathy with men4 ,that which has made the cross the most significant of earthly symbols1 and which has invested it with so wonderful a power to subdue and purify the heart1 is not the fact that it involved the keenest physical pain1 but that it exhibits ,christ's perfect and complete identification with sinful men4 ,it is this that humbles us and brings us to a right mind towards ,god and towards sin1 that here we see the innocent ,son of ,god involved in suffering and undergoing a shameful death through our sin4 ,it was ,his sympathy with men which brought ,him into this world1 and it was the same sympathy which laid ,him open to suffering throughout ,his life4 ,the mother suffers more in the illness of a child than in her own2 the shame of wrong-doing is often more keenly felt by a parent or friend than by the perpetrator himself4 ,if ,paul's enthusiasm and devoted life for men made him truly say1 ,who is weak1 and ,i am not weak8 who shall measure the burden ,christ bore from day to day in the midst of a sinning and suffering world8 ,with a burning zeal for ,god1 ,he was plunged into an arctic region where thick-ribbed ice of indifference met ,his warmth2 consumed with devotion to ,god's purposes1 ,he saw everywhere around ,him ignorance1 carelessness1 self-seeking1 total misunderstanding of what the world is for2 linked to men with a love which irrepressibly urged ,him to seek the highest good for all1 ,he was on all hands thwarted2 dying to see men holy and pure and godly1 ,he everywhere found them weak1 sinful1 gross4 ,it was this which made ,him a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief--loving ,god and man with a love which was the chief element in ,his being1 ,he could not get man reconciled to ,god4 ,the mere sorrows of men doubtless affected ,him more than they affect the most tender-hearted of men2 but these sorrows--poverty1 failure1 sickness--would pass away and would even work for good1 and so might well be borne4 ,but when ,he saw men disregarding that which would save them from lasting sorrow2 when ,he saw them giving themselves to trivialities with all their might1 and doing nothing to recover their right relation to ,god1 the spring of all good2 when ,he saw them day by day defeating the purpose ,he lived to accomplish1 and undoing the one only work ,he thought worth doing1--who can measure the burden of shame and grief ,he had to bear8 ,but it is not the suffering that does us good and brings us to ,god1 but the love which underlies the suffering4 ,the suffering convinces us that it is love which prompts ,christ in all ,his life and death1--a love we may confidently trust to1 since it is staggered at no difficulty or sacrifice2 a love which aims at lifting and helping us2 a love that embraces us1 not seeking to accomplish only one thing for us1 but necessarily1 because it is love for us1 seeking our good in all things4 ,the power of earthly love1 of the devotedness of mother1 wife1 or friend1 we know2--we know what length such love will go3 shall we then deny to ,god the happiness of sacrifice1 the joy of love8 ,let it not enter our thoughts that ,he who is more closely related to us than any1 and who will far less disclaim this relationship than any1 does not love us in practical ways1 and cannot fit us by ,his loving care for all that ,his holiness requires4 ,,xxii4 ,,the ,,resurrection4 ,now on the first day of the week cometh ,mary ,magdalene early1 while it was yet dark1 unto the tomb1 and seeth the stone taken away from the tomb4 ,she runneth therefore1 and cometh to ,simon ,peter1 and to the other disciple1 whom ,jesus loved1 and saith unto them1 ,they have taken away the ,lord out of the tomb1 and we know not where they have laid ,him4 ,peter therefore went forth1 and the other disciple1 and they went toward the tomb4 ,and they ran both together3 and the other disciple outran ,peter1 and came first to the tomb2 and stooping and looking in1 he seeth the linen cloths lying2 yet entered he not in4 ,simon ,peter therefore also cometh1 following him1 and entered into the tomb2 and he beholdeth the linen cloths lying1 and the napkin1 that was upon ,his head1 not lying with the linen cloths1 but rolled up in a place by itself4 ,then entered in therefore the other disciple also1 which came first to the tomb1 and he saw1 and believed4 ,for as yet they knew not the scripture1 that ,he must rise again from the dead4 ,so the disciples went away again unto their own home4 ,but ,mary was standing without at the tomb weeping3 so1 as she wept1 she stooped and looked into the tomb2 and she beholdeth two angels in white sitting1 one at the head1 and one at the feet1 where the body of ,jesus had lain4 ,and they say unto her1 ,woman1 why weepest thou8 ,she saith unto them1 ,because they have taken away my ,lord1 and ,i know not where they have laid ,him4 ,when she had thus said1 she turned herself back1 and beholdeth ,jesus standing1 and knew not that it was ,jesus4 ,jesus saith unto her1 ,woman1 why weepest thou8 whom seekest thou8 ,she1 supposing ,him to be the gardener1 saith unto ,him1 ,sir1 if thou hast borne ,him hence1 tell me where thou hast laid ,him1 and ,i will take ,him away1 ,jesus saith unto her1 ,mary4 ,she turned herself1 and saith unto ,him in ,hebrew1 ,rabboni2 which is to say1 ,master4 ,jesus saith to her1 ,touch ,me not2 for ,i am not yet ascended unto the ,father3 but go unto ,my brethren1 and say to them1 ,i ascend unto ,my ,father and your ,father1 and ,my ,god and your ,god4 ,mary ,magdalene cometh and telleth the disciples1 ,i have seen the ,lord2 and how that ,he had said these things unto her4--,,john xx4 #a-ah4 ,john gives no narrative of the ,resurrection itself4 ,he gives us what is much more valuable--a brief account of the manner in which he himself was convinced that a resurrection had taken place4 ,his shy nature1 his modest reluctance to put himself forward or use the first person in his narrative1 does not prevent him from seeing that the testimony of one who1 like himself1 was an eyewitness of the facts is invaluable2 and nothing but additional interest and reality is added to his testimony by the varied periphrases with which he veils his identity1 as the disciple whom ,jesus loved1 that other disciple1 and so forth4 ,when ,mary brought the startling intelligence that the tomb was empty1 ,peter and ,john instantly made for the spot at the top of their speed4 ,the older man was left behind by ,john1 but natural reverence kept him from entering the rocky chamber4 ,he looked in1 however1 and to his surprise saw enough to convince him that the body had not been removed for interment elsewhere or to be cast out with the bodies of criminals4 ,for there were the linen cloths in which ,he had been wrapped1 carefully taken off and left behind4 ,the impression made by this circumstance was confirmed when ,peter came up1 and they both entered and examined the tomb and made their inferences together4 ,for then they saw still clearer evidence of deliberation2 the napkin which had been tied round the head of the dead body was there in the tomb1 and it was folded and laid in a place by itself1 suggesting the leisurely manner of a person changing his clothes1 and convincing them that the body had not been removed to be laid elsewhere4 ,at once ,john was convinced that a resurrection had taken place2 his ,lord's words took a new meaning in this empty tomb4 ,standing and gazing at the folded cloths1 the truth flashed into his mind3 ,jesus has ,himself risen and disencumbered ,himself from these wrappings1 and has departed4 ,it was enough for ,john3 he visited no other tomb2 he questioned no one2 he made no inquiries of his friends in the high priest's household1--he went to his own house1 filled with astonishment1 with a thousand thoughts chasing one another through his mind1 scarcely listening to ,peter's voluble tongue1 but convinced that ,jesus lived4 ,this simple narrative will be to many minds more convincing than an accumulation of elaborate arguments4 ,the style is that of an eyewitness4 ,each movement and every particular is before his eye3 ,mary bursting1 breathless1 and gasping out the startling news2 the hasty springing up of the two men1 and their rapid racing along the streets and out through the city gates to the garden2 ,john standing panting at the rock-hewn sepulchre1 his stooping down and peering into the dark chamber2 ,peter toiling up behind1 but not hesitating a moment1 and entering and gazing at this and that till the dumb articles tell their story2 and the two men leave the sepulchre together1 awed and convinced4 ,and the eyewitness who thus graphically relates what he knew of that great morning adds with the simplicity of a truthful nature1 he saw and believed--believed then for the first time2 for as yet they had not seen the significance of certain scriptures which now seemed plainly enough to point to this4 ,to some minds this simple narrative will1 ,i say1 carry home the conviction of the truth of the ,resurrection more than any elaborate argumentation4 ,there is an assuring matter-of-factness about it4 ,sceptics tell us that visions are common1 and that excited people are easily deceived4 ,but we have no word of visions here4 ,john does not say he saw the ,lord3 he tells us merely of two fishermen running2 of solid1 commonplace articles such as grave-clothes2 and of observations that could not possibly be mistaken1 such as that the tomb was empty and that they two were in it4 ,for my part ,i feel constrained to believe a narrative like this1 when it tells me the grave was empty4 ,no doubt their conclusion1 that ,jesus had ,himself emptied the tomb1 was not a certain but only a probable inference1 and1 had nothing more occurred1 even ,john himself might not have continued so confident2 but it is important to notice how ,john was convinced1 not at all by visions or voices or embodied expectations of his own1 but in the most matter-of-fact way and by the very same kind of observation that we use and rely upon in common life4 ,and1 moreover1 more did occur2 there followed just such results as were in keeping with so momentous an event4 ,one of these immediately occurred4 ,mary1 exhausted with her rapid carrying of the news to ,peter and ,john1 was not able to keep pace with them as they ran to the tomb1 and before she arrived they were gone4 ,probably she missed them in the streets as she came out of the city2 at any rate1 finding the tomb still empty and none present to explain the reason of it1 she stands there desolate and pours out her distress in tears4 ,that grave being empty1 the whole earth is empty to her3 the dead ,christ was more to her than a living world4 ,she could not go as ,peter and ,john had gone1 for she had no thought of resurrection4 ,the rigid form1 the unanswering lips and eye1 the body passive in the hands of others1 had fixed on her heart1 as it commonly does1 the one impression of death4 ,she felt that all was over1 and now she had not even the poor consolation of paying some slight additional attention4 ,she can but stand and lay her head upon the stone and let her tears flow from a broken heart4 ,and yet again in the midst of her grief she cannot believe it true that ,he is lost to her2 she returns1 as love will do1 to the search1 suspects her own eyesight1 seeks again where she had sought before1 and cannot reconcile herself to a loss so total and overwhelming4 ,so absorbing is her grief that the vision of angels does not astonish her2 her heart1 filled with grief1 has no room for wonder4 ,their kindly words cannot comfort her2 it is another voice she longs for4 ,she had but the one thought1 ,they have taken away my ,lord1--my ,lord1 as if none felt the bereavement as she4 ,she supposes1 too1 that all must know about the loss and understand what she is seeking1 so that when she sees the gardener she says1 ,sir1 if thou hast borne ,him hence4 ,what need to say who8 ,can any one be thinking of any other but of ,him who engrosses her thought8 ,in all this we have the picture of a real and profound grief1 and therefore of a real and profound love4 ,we see in ,mary the kind of affection which a knowledge of ,jesus was fitted to kindle4 ,and to ,mary our ,lord remembered ,his promise3 ,he that loveth ,me shall be loved of ,my ,father1 and ,i will love him and will manifest ,myself to him4 ,none is so unable as ,he to leave any who love ,him without any response to their expressions of affection4 ,he could not coldly look on while this woman was eagerly seeking ,him2 and it is as impossible that ,he should hide ,himself now from any who seek ,him with as true a heart4 ,sometimes it would seem as if real thirst for ,god were not at once allayed1 as if many were allowed to spend the best part of their days in seeking2 but this does not invalidate the promise1 ,he that seeketh1 findeth4 ,for as ,christ is again and again removed from the view of men1 and as ,he is allowed to become a remote and shadowy figure1 ,he can be restored to a living and visible influence in the world only by this man and that man becoming sensible of the great loss we sustain by ,his absence1 and working his own way to a clear apprehension of ,his continued life4 ,no experience which an honest man has in his search for the truth is worthless2 it is the solid foundation of his own permanent belief and connection with the truth1 and it is useful to other men4 ,mary standing without at the sepulchre weeping is a concrete representation of a not uncommon state of mind4 ,she stands wondering why she was ever so foolish1 so heartless1 as to leave the tomb at all--why she had allowed it to be possible to become separated from the ,lord4 ,she looks despairingly at the empty grave-clothes which so lately had held all that was dear to her in the world4 ,she might1 she thinks1 had she been present1 have prevented the tomb from being emptied1 but now it is empty she cannot fill it again4 ,it is thus that those who have been careless about maintaining communion with ,christ reproach themselves when they find ,he is gone4 ,the ordinances1 the prayers1 the quiet hours of contemplation1 that once were filled with ,him are now1 like the linen clothes and the napkin1 empty1 cold1 pale forms1 remembrances of ,his presence that make ,his absence all the more painful4 ,when we ask where we can find ,him1 only the hard1 mocking echo of the empty tomb replies4 ,and yet this self-reproach is itself a seeking to which ,he will respond4 ,to mourn ,his absence is to desire and to invite ,his presence2 and to invite ,his presence is to secure it4#bi ,the ,evangelist ,mark saw more in the ,lord's appearance to ,mary than a response to her seeking love4 ,he reminds his readers that this was the woman out of whom the ,lord had cast seven devils1 meaning apparently to suggest that those who have most need of encouragement from ,him are surest to get it4 ,he had not appeared to ,peter and ,john1 though these men were to build up ,his ,church and be responsible for ,his cause4 ,to the man whom ,he loved1 who had stood by ,him at ,his trial and in ,his death1 who had received ,his mother and was now to be in ,his place to her1 ,he made no sign1 but allowed him to examine the empty tomb and retire4 ,but to this woman ,he discloses ,himself at once4 ,the love which sprang from a sense of what she owed ,him kept her at the tomb and threw her in ,his way4 ,her sense of dependence was the magnetic point on earth which attracted and disclosed ,his presence4 ,observe the situation4 ,earth lay uncertain2 some manifestation is needed to guide men at this critical time2 blank disappointment or pointless waiting broods everywhere4 ,at what point shall the presence of ,christ break through and quicken expectation and faith8 ,shall ,he go to the high priest's palace or to ,pilate's praetorium and triumph over their dismay8 ,shall ,he go and lay busy plans with this and that group of followers8 ,on the contrary1 ,he appears to a poor woman who can do nothing to celebrate ,his triumph and might only discredit it1 if she proclaimed herself ,his friend and herald4 ,but thus continuous is the character of ,jesus through death and resurrection4 ,the meekness1 the true perception of the actual sorrows and wants of men1 the sense for spiritual need1 the utter disregard of worldly powers and glory1 characterise ,him now as before4 ,the sense of need is what always effectually appeals to ,him4 ,the soul that truly recognises the value and longs for the fellowship and possession of ,christ's purity1 devotion to ,god1 superiority to worldly aims and interests1 always wins ,his regard4 ,when a man prays for these things not with his lips but with his life's effort and his heart's true craving1 his prayer is answered4 ,to seek ,christ is to feel as ,mary felt1 to see with practical constraining clearness as she saw1 that ,he is the most precious of all possessions1 that to be like ,him is the greatest of all attainments2 it is to see ,his character with clearness1 and to be persuaded that1 if the world gives us opportunity of becoming like ,him and actually makes us like ,him1 it has done for us all that is vital and permanently important4 ,as ,mary answered the angels she heard a step behind or saw the tomb darkened by a shadow1 and on turning discerns dimly through her tears a figure which naturally enough she supposes to be the gardener--not because ,jesus had assumed the clothes or lifted the tools of the gardener1 but because he was the likeliest person to be going about the garden at that early hour4 ,as the heart overburdened with grief is often unconscious of the presence of ,christ and refuses to be comforted because it cannot see ,him for its sorrow1 so ,mary through the veil of her tears can see only a human form1 and turns away again1 unconscious that ,he for whom she seeks is with her4 ,as she turns1 one word wipes the tears from her eyes and penetrates her heart with sudden joy4 ,the utterance of her name was enough to tell her it was some one who knew her that was there2 but there was a responsive thrill and an awaking of old memories and a vibration of her nature under the tone of that voice1 which told her whose alone it could be4 ,the voice seemed a second time to command a calm within her and turn her whole soul to ,himself only4 ,once before1 that voice had banished from her nature the foul spirits that had taken possession of her2 she had awaked from hell beneath the smile of ,christ1 and now again the same voice brought her out of darkness into light4 ,from being the most disconsolate1 ,mary became at a word the happiest creature in the world4 ,mary's happiness is easily understood4 ,no explanation is needed of the peace and bliss she experienced when she heard herself owned as the friend of the risen ,lord1 and called by her name in the familiar tone by ,him who stood now superior to all risk1 assault1 and evil4 ,this perfect joy is the reward of all in the measure of their faith4 ,christ rose1 not that ,he might bring ecstasy to ,mary alone1 but that ,he might fill all things with ,his presence and ,his fulness1 and that our joy also might be full4 ,has ,he not called us also by name8 ,has ,he not given us at times a consciousness that ,he understands our nature and what will satisfy it1 that ,he claims an intimacy no other can claim1 that ,his utterance of our name has a significance which no other lips can give it8 ,do we find it difficult to enter into true intercourse with ,him2 do we envy ,mary her few minutes in the garden8 ,as truly as by the audible utterance of our name does ,christ now invite us to the perfect joy there is in ,his friendship2 so truly as if ,he stood with us alone1 as with ,mary in the garden1 and as if none but ourselves were present2 as if our name alone filled ,his lips1 our wants alone occupied ,his heart4 ,let us not miss true personal intercourse with ,christ4 ,let nothing cheat us of this supreme joy and life of the soul4 ,let us not slothfully or shyly say1 ,i can never be on such terms of intimacy with ,christ1--,i who am so unlike ,him2 so full of desires ,he cannot gratify2 so frivolous1 superficial1 unreal1 while ,he is so real1 so earnest2 so unloving while ,he is so loving2 so reluctant to endure hardness1 with views of life and aims so opposed to ,his2 so unable to keep a pure and elevated purpose steadfastly in my mind4 ,mary was once trodden under foot of evil1 a wreck in whom none but ,christ saw any place for hope4 ,it is what is in ,him that is powerful4 ,he has won ,his supremacy by love1 by refusing to enjoy ,his private rights without our sharing them2 and ,he maintains ,his supremacy by love1 teaching all to love ,him1 subduing to devotedness the hardest heart--not by a remote exhibition of cold1 unemotional perfection1 but by the persistence and depth of ,his warm and individual love4 ,mary had no time to reason and doubt4 ,with one quick exclamation of ecstatic recognition and joy she sprang towards ,him4 ,the one word my ,master1#cj uttered all her heart4 ,it is related of ,george ,herbert that when he was inducted into the cure of ,bemerton he said to a friend3 ,i beseech ,god that my humble and charitable life may so win upon others as to bring glory to my ,jesus1 whom ,i have this day taken to be my ,master and my ,governor1 and ,i am so proud of ,his service that ,i will always call ,him ,jesus1 my ,master4 ,his biographer adds3 ,he seems to rejoice in that word ,jesus1 and says that the adding these words 'my ,master' to it and the often repetition of them seemed to perfume his mind4 ,with ,mary the title was one of indefinite respect2 she found in ,jesus one she could always reverence and trust4 ,the firm1 loving hand that admits no soft evasion of duty2 the steadfast step that with equanimity ever goes straight forward2 the strong heart that has always room for the distresses of others2 the union with ,god which made ,him a medium to earth of ,god's superiority and availing compassion1--these things had made the words my ,master ,his proper designation in her lips4 ,and our spirit cannot be purified and elevated but by worthy love and deserved reverence1 by living in presence of that which commands our love and lifts up our nature to what is above it4 ,it is by letting our heart and mind be filled by what is above us that we grow in abiding stature and become in our turn helpful to what is at a still lower stage than we are4 ,but as ,mary sprang forward1 and in a transport of affection made as though she would embrace the ,lord1 she is met by these quick words3 ,touch ,me not1 for ,i am not yet ascended to ,my ,father4 ,various conjectural reasons for this prohibition have been supposed1--as1 that it was indecorous1 an objection which ,christ did not make when at a dinner-table a woman kissed his feet1 scandalising the guests and provoking the suspicions of the host2 or1 that she wished to assure herself by touch of the reality of the appearance1 an assurance which ,he did not object to the disciples making1 but rather encouraged them to make1 as ,he would also have encouraged ,mary had she needed any such test1 which she did not2 or1 that this vehement embrace would disturb the process of glorification which was proceeding in ,his body6 ,it is idle to conjecture reasons1 seeing that ,he ,himself gives the reason1 for ,i am not yet ascended1 implying that such touching would no longer be prohibited when ,he was ascended4 ,mary seems to have thought that already the little while of ,his absence was past1 and that now ,he was to be always with them upon earth1 helping them in the same familiar ways and training them by ,his visible presence and spoken words4 ,this was a misconception4 ,he must first ascend to the ,father1 and those who love ,him on earth must learn to live without the physical appearance1 the actual seeing1 touching1 hearing1 of the well-known ,master4 ,there must be no more kissing of ,his feet1 but homage of a sterner1 deeper sort2 there must be no more sitting at table with ,him1 and filling the mind with ,his words1 until they sit down with ,him in the ,father's presence4 ,meanwhile ,his friends must walk by faith1 not by sight--by their inward light and spiritual likings2 they must learn the truer fidelity that serves an absent ,lord2 they must acquire the independent and inherent love of righteousness which can freely grow only when relieved from the over-mastering pressure of a visible presence1 encouraging us by sensible expressions of favour1 guaranteeing us against defeat and danger4 ,thus only can the human spirit freely grow1 showing its native bent1 its true tastes and convictions2 thus only can its capacities for self-development and for choosing and fulfilling its own destiny be matured4 ,and if these words of ,jesus seemed at first chilling and repellent1 they were followed by words of unmistakable affection3 ,go to my brothers1 and say unto them1 ,i ascend unto ,my ,father and your ,father1 and to ,my ,god and your ,god4 ,this is the message of the risen ,lord to men4 ,he has become the link between us and all that is highest and best4 ,we know that ,he has overcome all evil and left it behind2 we know that ,he is worthy of the highest place1 that by ,his righteousness and love ,he merits the highest place4 ,we know that if such an one as ,he cannot go boldly to the highest heaven and claim ,god as ,his ,god and ,father1 there is no such thing as moral worth1 and all effort1 conscience1 hope1 responsibility1 are vain and futile4 ,we know that ,christ must ascend to the highest1 and yet we know also that ,he will not enter where we cannot follow4 ,we know that ,his love binds ,him to us as strongly as ,his rights carry ,him to ,god4 ,we can as little believe that ,he will abandon us and leave us out of ,his eternal enjoyment1 as we can believe that ,god would refuse to own ,him as ,son4 ,and it is this which ,christ puts in the forefront of ,his message as risen and ascending3 ,i ascend unto ,my ,father and your ,father4 ,the joy that awaits ,me with ,god awaits you also2 the power ,i go to exercise is the power of your ,father4 ,this affinity for heaven which you see in ,me is coupled with affinity for you4 ,the holiness1 the power1 the victory1 ,i have achieved and now enjoy are yours2 ,i am your ,brother3 what ,i claim1 ,i claim for you4 ,,footnotes3 #bi ,see ,pusey's sermon on this subject4 #cj ,rabboni had more of reverence in it than would be conveyed by my ,teacher1 and it is legitimate here to use ,master in its wider sense4 ,,xxiii4 ,,thomas' ,,test4 ,when therefore it was evening1 on that day1 the first day of the week1 and when the doors were shut where the disciples were1 for fear of the ,jews1 ,jesus came and stood in the midst1 and saith unto them1 ,peace be unto you4 ,and when ,he had said this1 ,he showed unto them ,his hands and ,his side4 ,the disciples therefore were glad1 when they saw the ,lord4 ,jesus therefore said to them again1 ,peace be unto you3 as the ,father hath sent ,me1 even so send ,i you4 ,and when ,he had said this1 ,he breathed on them1 and saith unto them1 ,receive ye the ,holy ,ghost3 whosesoever sins ye forgive1 they are forgiven unto them2 whosesoever sins ye retain1 they are retained4 ,but ,thomas1 one of the twelve1 called ,didymus1 was not with them when ,jesus came4 ,the other disciples therefore said unto him1 ,we have seen the ,lord4 ,but he said unto them1 ,except ,i shall see in ,his hands the print of the nails1 and put my finger into the print of the nails1 and put my hand into ,his side1 ,i will not believe4 ,and after eight days again ,his disciples were within1 and ,thomas with them4 ,jesus cometh1 the doors being shut1 and stood in the midst1 and said1 ,peace be unto you4 ,then saith ,he to ,thomas1 ,reach hither thy finger1 and see ,my hands2 and reach hither thy hand1 and put it into ,my side3 and be not faithless1 but believing4 ,thomas answered and said unto ,him1 ,my ,lord and my ,god4 ,jesus saith unto him1 ,because thou hast seen ,me1 thou hast believed3 blessed are they that have not seen1 and yet have believed4--,,john xx4 #ai-bi4 ,on the evening of the day whose dawning had been signalised by the ,resurrection1 the disciples1 and1 according to ,luke1 some others1 were together4 ,they expected that the event which had restored hope in their own hearts would certainly excite the authorities and probably lead to the arrest of some of their number4 ,they had therefore carefully closed the doors1 that some time for parley and possibly for escape might be interposed4 ,but to their astonishment and delight1 while they were sitting thus with closed doors1 the well-known figure of their ,lord appeared in their midst1 and ,his familiar greeting1 ,peace be with you1 sounded in their ears4 ,further to identify ,himself and remove all doubt or dread ,he showed them ,his hands and ,his side2 and1 as ,st4 ,luke tells us1 even ate before them4 ,there is here a strange mingling of identity and difference between the body ,he now wears and that which had been crucified4 ,its appearance is the same in some respects1 but its properties are different4 ,immediate recognition did not always follow ,his manifestation4 ,there was something baffling in ,his appearance1 suggesting a well-known face1 and yet not quite the same4 ,the marks on the body1 or some characteristic action or movement or utterance1 were needed to complete the identification4 ,the properties of the body also were not reducible to any known type4 ,he could eat1 speak1 walk1 yet ,he could dispense with eating and could apparently pass through physical obstacles4 ,his body was a glorified1 spiritual body1 not subject to the laws which govern the physical part of man in this life4 ,these characteristics are worth noticing1 not only as giving us some inkling of the type of body which awaits ourselves1 but in connection with the identification of the risen ,lord4 ,had the appearance been the mere fancy of the disciples1 how should they have required any identification8 ,having saluted them and removed their consternation1 ,he fulfils the object of ,his appearance by giving them their commission1 their equipment1 and their authority as ,his ,apostles3 ,as the ,father hath sent ,me1 even so send ,i you--to fulfil still the same purpose1 to complete the work begun1 to stand to ,him in the same intimate relation as ,he had occupied to the ,father4 ,to impart to them at once all that they required for the fulfilment of this commission ,he bestows upon them the ,holy ,spirit1 breathing on them1 to convey to them the impression that ,he was actually there and then communicating to them that which constituted the very breath of ,his own life4 ,this is ,his first act as ,lord of all power in heaven and on earth1 and it is an act which inevitably conveys to them the assurance that ,his life and theirs is one life4 ,impulse and power to proclaim ,him as risen they did not yet experience4 ,they must be allowed time to settle to some composure of mind and to some clear thoughts after all the disturbing events of these last days4 ,they must also have the confirmatory testimony to the ,resurrection1 which could only be furnished after repeated appearances of the ,lord to themselves and to others4 ,the gift of the ,spirit1 therefore1 as a spirit of powerful witness-bearing1 was reserved for six weeks4 ,with this perfect equipment our ,lord added the words3 ,whosesoever sins ye forgive1 they are forgiven unto them2 whosesoever sins ye retain1 they are retained4 ,these words have been the occasion of endless controversy4#ca ,they certainly convey the ideas that the ,apostles were appointed to mediate between ,christ and their fellow-men1 that the chief function they should be required to discharge in this mediation was the forgiving and retention of sins1 and that they were furnished with the ,holy ,spirit to guide them in this mediation4 ,apparently this must mean that the ,apostles were to be the agents through whom ,christ was to proclaim the terms of admission to ,his kingdom4 ,they received authority to say in what cases sins were to be forgiven and in what to be retained4 ,to infer from this that the ,apostles have successors1 that these successors are constituted by an external ordinance or nomination1 that they have power to exclude or admit individuals seeking entrance into the kingdom of ,god1 is to leave logic and reason a long way behind1 and to erect a kind of government in the ,church of ,christ which will never be submitted to by those who live in the liberty wherewith ,his truth has made them free4 ,the presence of the ,holy ,spirit1 and no bare external appointment1 is that which gives authority to those who guide the ,church of ,christ4 ,it is because they are inwardly one with ,christ1 not because they happen to be able to claim a doubtful outward connection with ,him1 that they have that authority which ,christ's people own4 ,but when our ,lord thus appeared on the day of ,his resurrection to ,his disciples one of their number was absent4 ,this might not have been noticed had not the absentee been of a peculiar temper1 and had not this peculiarity given rise to another visit of the ,lord and to a very significant restoration of belief in the mind of a sceptical disciple4 ,the absent disciple was commonly known as ,thomas or ,didymus1 the ,twin4 ,on various occasions he appears somewhat prominently in the gospel-story1 and his conduct and conversation on those occasions show him to have been a man very liable to take a desponding view of the future1 apt to see the darker side of everything1 but at the same time not wanting in courage1 and of a strong and affectionate loyalty to ,jesus4 ,on one occasion1 when our ,lord intimated to the disciples ,his intention of returning within the dangerous frontier of ,judaea1 the others expostulated1 but ,thomas said1 ,let us also go1 that we may die with ,him--an utterance in which his devoted loyalty to his ,master1 his dogged courage1 and his despondent temperament are all apparent4 ,and when1 some time afterwards1 ,jesus was warning ,his disciples that ,he must shortly leave them and go to the ,father1 ,thomas sees in the departure of his ,master the extinction of all hope2 life and the way to life seem to him treacherous phrases1 he has eyes only for the gloom of death3 ,lord1 we know not whither ,thou goest2 and how can we know the way8 ,the absence of such a man from the first meeting of the disciples was to be expected4#cb ,if the bare possibility of his ,lord's death had plunged this loving and gloomy heart in despondency1 what dark despair must have preyed upon it when that death was actually accomplished6 ,how the figure of his dead ,master had burnt itself into his soul is seen from the manner in which his mind dwells on the print of the nails1 the wound in the side4 ,it is by these only1 and not by well-known features of face or peculiarities of form1 he will recognise and identify his ,lord4 ,his heart was with the lifeless body on the cross1 and he could not bear to see the friends of ,jesus or speak with those who had shared his hopes1 but buried his disappointment and desolation in solitude and silence4 ,his absence can scarcely be branded as culpable4 ,none of the others expected resurrection any more than himself1 but his hopelessness acted on a specially sensitive and despondent nature4 ,thus it was that1 like many melancholy persons1 he missed the opportunity of seeing what would effectually have scattered his darkness4 ,but though he might not be to blame for absenting himself1 he was to blame for refusing to accept the testimony of his friends when they assured him they had seen ,jesus risen4 ,there is a tone of doggedness that grates upon us in the words1 ,except ,i shall see in ,his hands the print of the nails1 and put my finger into the print of the nails1 and thrust my hand into ,his side1 ,i will not believe4 ,some deference was due to the testimony of men whom he knew to be truthful and as little liable to delusion as himself4 ,we cannot blame him for not being convinced on the spot2 a man cannot compel himself to believe anything which does not itself compel belief4 ,but the obstinate tone sounds as if he was beginning to nurse his unbelief1 than which there is no more pernicious exercise of the human spirit4 ,he demands1 too1 what may never be possible--the evidence of his own senses4 ,he claims that he shall be on the same footing as the rest4 ,why is he to believe on less evidence than they8 ,it has cost him pain enough to give up his hope3 is he then to give up his hopelessness as cheaply as all this8 ,he is supremely miserable2 his ,lord dead and life left to him--a life which already during these few days had grown far too long1 a weary1 intolerable burden4 ,is he in a moment and on their mere word to rise from his misery8 ,a man of ,thomas' temperament hugs his wretchedness4 ,you seem to do him an injury if you open the shutters of his heart and let in the sunshine4 ,obviously1 therefore1 the first inference we naturally draw from this state of mind is that it is weak and wrong to lay hold of one difficulty and insist that except this be removed we will not believe4 ,let this difficulty about the constitution of ,christ's person1 or this about the impossibility of proving a miracle1 or this about the inspiration of ,scripture be removed1 and ,i will accept ,christianity2 let ,god grant me this petition1 and ,i will believe that ,he is the hearer of prayer2 let me see this inconsistency or that explained1 and ,i will believe ,he governs the course of things in this world4 ,the understanding begins to take a pride in demanding evidence more absolute and strict than has satisfied others1 and seems to display acuteness and fairness in holding to one difficulty4 ,the test which ,thomas proposed to himself seemed an accurate and legitimate one2 but that he should have proposed it shows that he was neglecting the evidence already afforded him1 the testimony of a number of men whose truthfulness he had for years made proof of4 ,true1 it was a miracle they required him to believe2 but would his own senses be better authentication of a miracle than the unanimous and explicit declaration of a company of veracious men8 ,he could have no doubt that they believed they had seen the ,lord4 ,if they could be deceived1 ten of them1 or many more1 why should his senses prove more infallible8 ,was he to reject their testimony on the ground that their senses had deceived them1 and accept the testimony of his own senses8 ,was the ultimate test in his own case to be that very evidence which in the case of others he maintained was insufficient8 ,but if this tells seriously against ,thomas1 we must not leave out of account what tells in his favour4 ,it is true he was obstinate and unreasonable and a shade vain in his refusal to accept the testimony of the disciples1 but it is also true that he was with the little ,christian community on the second ,lord's ,day4 ,this puts it beyond a doubt that he was not so unbelieving as he seemed4 ,that he did not now avoid the society of those happy1 hopeful men shows that he was far from unwilling to become1 if possible1 a sharer in their hope and joy4 ,perhaps already he was repenting having pledged himself to unbelief1 as many another has repented4 ,certainly he was not afraid of being convinced that his ,lord had arisen2 on the contrary1 he sought to be convinced of this and put himself in the way of conviction4 ,he had doubted because he wished to believe1 doubted because it was the full1 entire1 eternal confidence of his soul that he was seeking a resting-place for4 ,he knew the tremendous importance to him of this question--knew that it was literally everything to him if ,christ was risen and was now alive and to be found by ,his people1 and therefore he was slow to believe4 ,therefore also he kept in the company of believers2 it was on their side he wished to get out of the terrible mire and darkness in which he was involved4 ,it is this which distinguishes ,thomas and all right-minded doubters from thorough-going and depraved unbelievers4 ,the one wishes to believe1 would give the world to be free from doubt1 will go mourning all his days1 will pine in body and sicken of life because he cannot believe3 he waits for light1 but behold obscurity1 for brightness1 but he walks in darkness4 ,the other1 the culpable unbeliever1 thrives on doubt2 he likes it1 enjoys it1 sports it1 lives by it2 goes about telling people his difficulties1 as some morbid people have a fancy for showing you their sores or detailing their symptoms1 as if everything which makes them different from other men1 even though it be disease1 were a thing to be proud of4 ,convince such a man of the truth and he is angry with you2 you seem to have done him a wrong1 as the mendicant impostor who has been gaining his livelihood by a bad leg or a useless eye is enraged when a skilled person restores to him the use of his limb or shows him that he can use it if he will4 ,you may know a dishonest doubter by the fluency with which he states his difficulties or by the affectation of melancholy which is sometimes assumed4 ,you may always know him by his reluctance to be convinced1 by his irritation when he is forced to surrender some pet bulwark of unbelief4 ,when you find a man reading one side of the question1 courting difficulties1 eagerly seizing on new objections1 and provoked instead of thankful when any doubt is removed1 you may be sure that this is not a scepticism of the understanding so much as an evil heart of unbelief4 ,the hesitancy and backwardness1 the incredulity and niggardliness of faith1 of ,thomas have done as much to confirm the minds of succeeding believers as the forward and impulsive confidence of ,peter4 ,then1 as now1 this critical intellect1 when combined with a sound heart1 wrought two great boons for the ,church4 ,the doubts which such men entertain continually provoke fresh evidence1 as here this second appearance of ,christ to the ,eleven seems due to the doubt of ,thomas4 ,so far as one can gather it was solely to remove this doubt our ,lord appeared4 ,and1 besides1 a second boon which attends honest and godly doubt is the attachment to the ,church of men who have passed through severe mental conflict1 and therefore hold the faith they have reached with an intelligence and a tenacity unknown to other men4 ,these two things were simply brought about in ,thomas' instance4 ,the disciples were again assembled on the following ,sunday1 probably in the same place1 consecrated for ever in their memories as the place where their risen ,lord had appeared4 ,it is doubtful whether they were more expectant of a fresh appearance of their ,lord this day than they had been any day throughout the week1 but certainly every reader feels that it is not without significance that after a blank and uneventful week the first day should again be singled out to have this honour put upon it4 ,some sanction is felt to be given to those meetings of ,his followers which ever since have been assembled on the first day of the week2 and the experience of thousands can testify that this day seems still the favourite with our ,lord for manifesting ,himself to ,his people1 and for renewing the joy which a week's work has somewhat dimmed4 ,silently and suddenly as before1 without warning1 without opening of doors1 ,jesus stood in their midst4 ,but there was no terror now--exclamations only of delight and adoration4 ,and perhaps it was not in human nature to resist casting a look of triumphant interrogation at ,thomas1 a look of inquiry to see what he would make of this4 ,surprise1 unutterable surprise1 undiminished by all he had been led to expect1 must have been written on ,thomas' wide-gazing eyes and riveted look4 ,but this surprise was displaced by shame1 this eager gaze cast down1 when he found that his ,lord had heard his obstinate ultimatum and had been witness of his sullen unbelief4 ,as ,jesus repeats almost in the same words the hard1 rude1 bare1 material test which he had proposed1 and as ,he holds forth ,his hands for his inspection1 shame and joy struggle for the mastery in his spirit1 and give utterance to the humble but glowing confession1 ,my ,lord and my ,god4 ,his own test is superseded2 he makes no movement to put it in force2 he is satisfied of the identity of his ,lord4 ,it is the same penetrating knowledge of man's inmost thoughts1 the same loving treatment of the erring1 the same subduing presence4 ,and thus it frequently happens that a man who has vowed that he will not believe except this or that be made plain finds1 when he does believe1 that something short of his own requirements has convinced him4 ,he finds that though he was once so express in his demands for proof1 and so clear and accurate in his declarations of the precise amount of evidence required1 at the last he believes and could scarcely tell you why1 could not at least show his belief as the fine and clean result of a logical process4 ,thomas had maintained that the rest were too easily satisfied1 but at the last he is himself satisfied with precisely the same proof as they4 ,and it is somewhat striking that in so many cases unbelief gives way to belief1 not by the removal of intellectual difficulties1 not by such demonstration as was granted to ,thomas1 but by an undefinable conquest of the soul by ,christ4 ,the glory1 holiness1 love of ,his person1 subdue the soul to ,him4 ,the faith of ,thomas is full of significance4 ,first1 it is helpful to our own faith to hear so decisive and so full a confession coming from the lips of such a man4 ,john himself felt it to be so decisive that after recording it he virtually closes the ,gospel which he had undertaken to write in order to persuade men that ,jesus is the ,son of ,god4 ,after this confession of ,thomas he feels that no more can be said4 ,he stops not for want of matter2 many other signs truly did ,jesus in the presence of ,his disciples which are not written in this ,gospel4 ,these seemed sufficient4 ,the man who is not moved by this will not be moved by any further proof4 ,proof is not what such a doubter needs4 ,whatever we think of the other ,apostles1 it is plain that ,thomas at least was not credulous4 ,if ,peter's generous ardour carried him to a confession unwarranted by the facts1 if ,john saw in ,jesus the reflection of his own contemplative and loving nature1 what are we to say of the faith of ,thomas8 ,he had no determination to see only what he desired1 no readiness to accept baseless evidence and irresponsible testimony4 ,he knew the critical nature of the situation1 the unique importance of the matter presented to his faith4 ,with him there was no frivolous or thoughtless underrating of difficulties4 ,he did not absolutely deny the possibility of ,christ's resurrection1 but he went very near doing so1 and showed that practically he considered it either impossible or unlikely in the extreme4 ,but in the end he believes4 ,and the ease with which he passes from doubt to faith proves his honesty and sound-heartedness4 ,as soon as evidence which to him is convincing is produced1 he proclaims his faith4 ,his confession1 too1 is fuller than that of the other disciples4 ,the week of painful questioning had brought clearly before his mind the whole significance of the ,resurrection1 so that he does not hesitate to own ,jesus as his ,god4 ,when a man of profound spiritual feeling and of good understanding has doubts and hesitations from the very intensity and subtlety of his scrutiny of what appears to him of transcendent importance2 when he sees difficulties unseen by men who are too little interested in the matter to recognise them even though they stare them in the face1--when such a man1 with the care and anxiety that befit the subject1 considers for himself the claims of ,christ1 and as the result yields himself to the ,lord1 he sees more in ,christ than other men do1 and is likely to be steadier in his allegiance than if he had slurred over apparent obstacles instead of removing them1 and stifled objections in place of answering them4 ,it was not the mere seeing of ,christ risen which prompted the full confession of ,thomas4 ,but slowly during that week of suspense he had been taking in the full significance of the ,resurrection1 coming at the close of such a life as he knew the ,lord had lived4 ,the very idea that such a thing was believed by the rest forced his mind back upon the exceptional character of ,jesus1 ,his wonderful works1 the intimations ,he had given of ,his connection with ,god4 ,the sight of ,him risen came as the keystone of the arch1 which being wanting all had fallen to the ground1 but being inserted clenched the whole1 and could now bear any weight4 ,the truths about ,his person which ,thomas had begun to explain away return upon his mind with resistless force1 and each in clear1 certain verity4 ,he saw now that his ,lord had performed all ,his word1 had proved ,himself supreme over all that affected men4 ,he saw ,him after passing through unknown conflict with principalities and powers come to resume fellowship with sinful men1 standing with all things under ,his feet1 yet giving ,his hand to the weak disciple to make him partake in ,his triumph4 ,this was a rare and memorable hour for ,thomas1 one of those moments that mark a man's spirit permanently4 ,he is carried entirely out of himself1 and sees nothing but his ,lord4 ,the whole energy of his spirit goes out to ,him undoubtingly1 unhesitatingly1 unrestrained4 ,everything is before him in the person of ,christ2 nothing causes the least diversion or distraction4 ,for once his spirit has found perfect peace4 ,there is nothing in the unseen world that can dismay him1 nothing in the future on which he can spend a thought2 his soul rests in the ,person before him4 ,he does not draw back1 questioning whether the ,lord will now receive him2 he fears no rebuke2 he does not scrutinise his spiritual condition1 nor ask whether his faith is sufficiently spiritual4 ,he cannot either go back upon his past conduct1 or analyse his present feelings1 or spend one thought of any kind upon himself4 ,the scrupulous1 sceptical man is all devoutness and worship2 the thousand objections are swept from his mind2 and all by the mere presence of ,christ ,he is rapt in this one object2 mind and soul are filled with the regained ,lord2 he forgets himself2 the passion of joy with which he regains in a transfigured form his lost ,leader absorbs him quite3 he had lost a possible king of the ,jews2 he finds his ,lord and his ,god4 ,there can be no question here about himself1 his prospects1 his interests4 ,he can but utter his surprise1 his joy1 and his worship in the cry1 ,my ,lord and my ,god4 ,on such a man even the ,lord's benediction were useless4 ,this is the highest1 happiest1 rarest state of the human soul4 ,when a man has been carried out of himself by the clear vision of ,christ's worth2 when his mind and heart are filled with the supreme excellence of ,christ2 when in ,his presence he feels he can but worship1 bowing in his soul before actually achieved human perfection rooted in and expressing the true ,divine glory of love ineffable2 when face to face1 soul to soul1 with the highest and most affecting known goodness1 conscious that he now in this very moment stands within touch of the ,supreme1 that he has found and need never more lose perfect love1 perfect goodness1 perfect power1--when a man is transported by such a recognition of ,christ1 this is the true ecstasy1 this is man's ultimate blessedness4 ,and this blessedness is competent not only to those who saw with the bodily eye1 but much more to those who have not seen and yet have believed4 ,why do we rob ourselves of it1 and live as if it were not so--as if such certitude and the joy that accompanies it had passed from earth and were no more possible8 ,we cannot apply ,thomas' test1 but we can test his test2 or1 like him1 we can forego it1 and rest on wider1 deeper evidence4 ,was he right in so eagerly confessing his belief8 ,and are we right to hesitate1 to doubt1 to despond8 ,should we have counted it strange if1 when the ,lord addressed ,thomas1 he had sullenly shrunk back among the rest1 or merely given a verbal assent to ,christ's identity1 showing no sign of joy8 ,and are we to accept the signs ,he gives us of ,his presence as if it made little difference to us and did not lift us into heaven8 ,have we so little sense of spiritual things that we cannot believe in the life of ,him round whom the whole fortunes of our race revolve8 ,do we not know the power of ,christ's resurrection as ,thomas could not possibly know it8 ,do we not see as he could not see the boundless spiritual efficacy and results of that risen life8 ,do we not see the full bearing of that great manifestation of ,god's nearness more clearly8 ,do we not feel how impossible it was that such an one as ,christ should be holden of death1 that the supremacy in human affairs which ,he achieved by absolute love and absolute holiness should be proved inferior to a physical law1 and should be interrupted in its efficacious exercise by a physical fact8 ,if ,thomas was constrained to acknowledge ,christ as his ,lord and his ,god1 much more may we do so4 ,by the nature of the case our conviction1 implying as it does some apprehension of spiritual things1 must be more slowly wrought4 ,even if at last the full conviction that human life is a joy because ,christ is with us in it1 leading us to eternal partnership with ,himself1--even if this conviction flash suddenly through the spirit1 the material for it must have been long accumulating4 ,even if at last we awake to a sense of the present glory of ,christ with the suddenness of ,thomas1 yet in any case this must be the result of purified spiritual affinities and leanings4 ,but on this very account is the conviction more indissolubly intertwined with all that we truly are1 forming an essential and necessary part of our inward growth1 and leading each of us to respond with a cordial amen to the benediction of our ,lord1 ,blessed are they that have not seen and yet have believed4 ,,footnotes3 #ca ,see ,steitz' article ,schluesselgewalt in ,herzog4 #cb ,in this chapter there are reminiscences of ,trench4 ,,xxiv4 ,,appearance ,,at ,,sea ,,of ,,galilee4 ,after these things ,jesus manifested ,himself again to the disciples at the ,sea of ,tiberias2 and ,he manifested ,himself on this wise4 ,there were together ,simon ,peter1 and ,thomas called ,didymus1 and ,nathanael of ,cana in ,galilee1 and the sons of ,zebedee1 and two other of ,his disciples4 ,simon ,peter saith unto them1 ,i go a-fishing4 ,they say unto him1 ,we also come with thee4 ,they went forth1 and entered into the boat2 and that night they took nothing4 ,but when day was now breaking1 ,jesus stood on the beach3 howbeit the disciples knew not that it was ,jesus4 ,jesus therefore saith unto them1 ,children1 have ye aught to eat8 ,they answered ,him1 ,no4 ,and ,he said unto them1 ,cast the net on the right side of the boat1 and ye shall find4 ,they cast therefore1 and now they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes4 ,that disciple therefore whom ,jesus loved saith unto ,peter1 ,it is the ,lord4 ,so when ,simon ,peter heard that it was the ,lord1 he girt his coat about him 7for he was naked71 and cast himself into the sea4 ,but the other disciples came in the little boat 7for they were not far from the land1 but about two hundred cubits off71 dragging the net full of fishes4 ,so when they got out upon the land1 they see a fire of coals there1 and fish laid thereon1 and bread4 ,jesus saith unto them1 ,bring of the fish which ye have now taken4 ,simon ,peter therefore went up1 and drew the net to land1 full of great fishes1 a hundred and fifty and three3 and for all there were so many1 the net was not rent4 ,jesus saith unto them1 ,come and break your fast4 ,and none of the disciples durst inquire of ,him1 ,who art ,thou8 knowing that it was the ,lord4 ,jesus cometh1 and taketh the bread1 and giveth them1 and the fish likewise4 ,this is now the third time that ,jesus was manifested to the disciples1 after that ,he was risen from the dead4--,,john xxi4 #a-ad4 ,the removal of the doubts of ,thomas restored the ,eleven to unity of faith1 and fitted them to be witnesses of the ,lord's resurrection4 ,and the ,gospel might naturally have closed at this point1 as indeed the last verses of the twentieth chapter suggest that the writer himself felt that his task was done4 ,but as throughout his ,gospel he had followed the plan of adducing such of ,christ's miracles as seemed to throw a strong light on ,his spiritual power1 he could not well close without mentioning the last miracle of all1 and which seemed to have only a didactic purpose4 ,besides1 there was another reason for ,john adding this chapter4 ,he was writing at the very close of the century4 ,so long had he survived the unparalleled events he narrates that an impression had gone abroad that he would never die4 ,it was even rumoured that our ,lord had foretold that the beloved disciple should tarry on earth till ,he ,himself should return4 ,john takes the opportunity of relating what the ,lord had really said1 as well as of recounting the all-important event out of which the misreported conversation had arisen4 ,when the disciples had spent the ,passover week at ,jerusalem1 they naturally returned to their homes in ,galilee4 ,the house of the old fisherman ,zebedee was probably their rendezvous4 ,we need not listen to their talk as they relate what had passed in ,jerusalem1 in order to see that they are sensible of the peculiarity of their situation and are in a state of suspense4 ,they are back among the familiar scenes1 the boats are lying on the beach1 their old companions are sitting about mending their nets as they themselves had been doing a year or two before when summoned by ,jesus to follow ,him on the moment4 ,but though old associations are thus laying hold of them again1 there is evidence that new influences are also at work2 for with the fishermen are found ,nathanael and others who were there1 not for the sake of old associations1 but of the new and common interest they had in ,christ4 ,the seven men have kept together2 they participate in an experience of which their fellow-townsmen know nothing2 but they must live4 ,hints have been thrown out that seven strong men must not depend on other arms than their own for a livelihood4 ,and as they stand together that evening and watch boat after boat push off1 the women wishing their husbands and sons good-speed1 the men cheerily responding and busily getting their tackle in trim1 with a look of pity at the group of disciples1 ,peter can stand it no longer1 but makes for his own or some unoccupied boat with the words1 ,i go a-fishing4 ,the rest were only needing such an invitation4 ,the whole charm and zest of the old life rushes back upon them1 each takes his own accustomed place in the boat1 each hand finds itself once more at home at the long-suspended task1 and with an ease that surprises themselves they fall back into the old routine4 ,and as we watch their six oars flashing in the setting sun1 and ,peter steering them to the familiar fishing ground1 we cannot but reflect in how precarious a position the whole future of the world is4 ,that boat carries the earthly hope of the ,church2 and as we weigh the feelings of the men that are in it1 what we see chiefly is1 how easily the whole of ,christianity might here have broken short off1 and never have been heard of1 supposing it to have depended for its propagation solely on the disciples4 ,here they were1 not knowing what had become of ,jesus1 without any plan for preserving ,his name among men1 open to any impulse or influence1 unable to resist the smell of the fishing boats and the freshness of the evening breeze1 and submitting themselves to be guided by such influences as these1 content apparently to fall back into their old ways and obscure village life1 as if the last three years were a dream1 or were like a voyage to foreign parts1 which they might think of afterwards1 but were not to repeat4 ,all the facts they were to use for the conversion of the world were already in their possession2 the death of ,christ and ,his resurrection were not a fortnight old2 but as yet they had no inward impulse to proclaim the truth2 there was no ,holy ,ghost powerfully impelling and possessing them2 they were not endued with power from on high4 ,one thing only they seemed to be decided and agreed about--that they must live2 and therefore they go a-fishing4 ,but apparently they were not destined to find even this so easy as they expected4 ,there was ,one watching that boat1 following it through the night as they tried place after place1 and ,he was resolved that they should not be filled with false ideas about the satisfactoriness of their old calling4 ,all night they toiled1 but caught nothing4 ,every old device was tried2 the fancies of each particular kind of fish were humoured1 but in vain4 ,each time the net was drawn up1 every hand knew before it appeared that it was empty4 ,weary with the fruitless toil1 and when the best part of the night was gone1 they made for a secluded part of the shore1 not wishing to land from their first attempt empty in presence of the other fishermen4 ,but when about one hundred yards from the shore a voice hails them with the words1 ,children--or1 as we would say1 ,lads--have you taken any fish8 ,it has been supposed that our ,lord asked this question in the character of a trader who had been watching for the return of the boats that he might buy1 or that it was with the natural interest every one takes in the success of a person that is fishing1 so that we can scarcely pass without asking what take they have had4 ,the question was asked for the purpose of arresting the boat at a sufficient distance from the shore to make another cast of the net possible4 ,it has this effect2 the rowers turned round to see who is calling them1 and at the same time tell ,him they have no fish4 ,the ,stranger then says1 ,cast the net on the right side of the ship1 and ye shall find2 and they do so1 not thinking of a miracle1 but supposing that before any man would give them such express instructions he must have had some good reason for believing there were fish there4 ,but when they found that the net was at once absolutely loaded with fish1 so that they could not draw it into the boat1 ,john looks again at the ,stranger1 and whispers to ,peter1 ,it is the ,lord4 ,this was no sooner heard by ,peter than he snatched up and threw over him his upper garment1 and throwing himself into the water swam or waded ashore4 ,in every trifling act character betrays itself4 ,it is ,john who is first to recognise ,jesus2 it is ,peter who casts himself into the sea1 just as he had done once before on that same lake1 and as he had been first to enter the sepulchre on the morning of the ,resurrection4 ,john recognises the ,lord1 not because he had better eyesight than the rest1 nor because he had a better position in the boat1 nor because while the rest were busied with the net he was occupied with the figure on the beach1 but because his spirit had a quicker and profounder apprehension of spiritual things1 and because in this sudden turn of their fortune he recognised the same hand which had filled their nets once before and had fed thousands with one or two little fishes4 ,the reason of ,peter's impetuousness on this occasion may partly have been that their fishing vessel was now as near the land as they could get it1 and that he was unwilling to wait till they should get the small boat unfastened4 ,the rest1 we read1 came ashore1 not in the large vessel in which they had spent the night1 but in the little boat they carried with them1 the reason being added1 for they were not far from land--that is to say1 not far enough to use the larger vessel any longer4 ,peter1 therefore1 ran no risk of drowning4 ,but his action reveals the eagerness of love4 ,no sooner has he only heard from another that his ,lord is near1 than the fish for which he had been watching and waiting all night are forgotten1 and for him1 the master of the vessel1 the net and all its contents might have sunk to the bottom of the lake4 ,what this action of ,peter suggested to the ,lord is apparent from the question which a few minutes later ,he put to him3 ,lovest thou ,me more than these8 ,neither would ,peter have sustained any serious loss even though his nets had been carried away1 for when he reaches the shore he finds that the ,lord was to be their host1 not their guest4 ,a fire is ready lit1 fish laid on it and bread baking4 ,he who could so fill their nets could also provide for ,his own wants4 ,but there was to be no needless multiplication of miracles2 the fish already on the fire was not to be multiplied in their hands when plenty were lying in the net4 ,he directs them1 therefore1 to bring of the fish they had caught4 ,they go to the net1 and mechanically1 in their old fashion1 count the fish they had taken1 one hundred and fifty and three2 and ,john1 with a fisher's memory can tell you1 sixty years after1 the precise number4 ,from these miraculously provided fish they break their long fast4 ,the significance of this incident has perhaps been somewhat lost by looking at it too exclusively as symbolical4 ,no doubt it was so2 but it carried in the first place a most important lesson in its bare1 literal facts4 ,we have already noticed the precarious position in which the ,church at this time was4 ,and it will be useful to us in many ways to endeavour to rid our mind of all fancies about the beginning of the ,christian ,church1 and look at the simple1 unvarnished facts here presented to our view4 ,and the plain and significant circumstance which first invites our attention is1 that the nucleus of the ,church1 the men on whom the faith of ,christ depended for its propagation1 were fishermen4 ,this was not merely the picturesque drapery assumed by men of ability so great and character so commanding that all positions in life were alike to them4 ,let us recall to memory the group of men we have seen standing at a corner in a fishing village or with whom we have spent a night at sea fishing1 and whose talk has been at the best old stories of their craft or legends of the water4 ,such men were the ,apostles4 ,they were men who were not at home in cities1 who simply could not understand the current philosophies1 who did not so much as know the names of the great contemporary writers of the ,roman world1 who took only so much interest in politics as every ,jew in those troublous times was forced to take--men who were at home only on their own lake1 in their fishing boat1 and who could quite contentedly1 even after all they had recently gone through1 have returned to their old occupation for life4 ,they were in point of fact now returning to their old life--returning to it partly because they had no impulse to publish what they knew1 and partly because1 even though they had1 they must live1 and did not know how they should be supported but by fishing4 ,and this is the reason of this miracle2 this is the reason why our ,lord so pointedly convinced them that without ,him they could not make a livelihood3 that they might fish all the night through and resort to every device their experience could contrive and yet could catch nothing1 but that ,he could give them sustenance as ,he pleased4 ,if any one thinks that this is a secular1 shallow way of looking at the miracle1 let him ask what it is that chiefly keeps men from serving ,god as they think they should1 what it is that induces men to live so much for the world and so little for ,god1 what it is that prevents them from following out what conscience whispers is the right course4 ,is it not mainly the feeling that by doing ,god's will we ourselves are likely to be not so well off1 not so sufficiently provided for4 ,above all things1 therefore1 both we and the ,apostles need to be convinced that our ,lord1 who asks us to follow ,him1 is much better able to provide for us than we ourselves are4 ,they had the same transition to make as every man among ourselves has to make2 we and they alike have to pass from the natural feeling that we depend on our own energy and skill for our support to the knowledge that we depend on ,god4 ,we have to pass from the life of nature and sense to the life of faith4 ,we have to come to know and believe that the fundamental thing is ,god1 that it is ,he who can support us when nature fails1 and not that we must betake ourselves to nature at many points where ,god fails--that we live1 not by bread alone1 but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of ,god1 and are much safer in doing ,his bidding than in struggling anxiously to make a livelihood4 ,and if we carefully read our own experience1 might we not see1 as clearly as the ,apostles that morning saw1 the utter futility of our own schemes for bettering ourselves in the world8 ,is it not the simple fact that we also have toiled through every watch of the night1 have borne fatigue and deprivation1 have abandoned the luxuries of life and given ourselves to endure hardness1 have tried contrivance after contrivance to win our cherished project1 and all in vain8 ,our net is empty and light at the rising sun as it was at the setting4 ,have we not again and again found that when every boat round was being filled we drew nothing but disappointment8 ,have we not many times come back empty-handed to our starting-place8 ,but no matter how much we have thus lost or missed every man will tell you it is much better so than if he had succeeded1 if only his own ill-success has induced him to trust ,christ1 if only it has taught him really what he used with everybody else verbally to say1--that in that ,person dimly discerned through the light that begins to glimmer round our disappointments there is all power in heaven and on earth--power to give us what we have been trying to win1 power to give us greater happiness without it4 ,but this being so1 it being the case that our ,lord came this second time and called them away from their occupations to follow ,him1 and showed them how amply ,he could support them1 they could not but remember how ,he had once before in very similar circumstances summoned them to leave their occupation as fishermen and to become fishers of men4 ,they could not but interpret the present by the former miracle1 and read in it a renewed summons to the work of catching men1 and a renewed assurance that in that work they should not draw empty nets4 ,most suitably1 then1 does this miracle stand alone1 the only one wrought after the ,resurrection1 and most suitably does it stand last1 giving the ,apostles a symbol which should continually reanimate them to their laborious work4 ,their work of preaching was well symbolised by sowing2 they passed rapidly through the field of the world1 at every step scattering broadcast the words of everlasting life1 not examining minutely the hearts into which these words might fall1 not knowing where they might find prepared soil and where they might find inhospitable rock1 but assured that after a time whoso followed in their track should see the fruit of their words4 ,not less significant is the figure of the net2 they let down the net of their good tidings1 not seeing what persons were really enclosed in it1 but trusting that ,he who had said1 ,cast your net on the right side of the ship1 knew what souls it would fall over4 ,by this miracle ,he gave the ,apostles to understand that not only when with them in the flesh could ,he give them success4 ,even now after ,his resurrection and when they did not recognise ,him on the shore ,he blessed their labour1 that they might even when they did not see ,him believe in ,his nearness and in ,his power most effectually to give them success4 ,this is the miracle which has again and again restored the drooping faith and discouraged spirit of all ,christ's followers who endeavour to bring men under ,his influence1 or in any way to spread out this influence over a wider surface4 ,again and again their hope is disappointed and their labour vain2 the persons they wish to influence glide out from below the net1 and it is drawn empty2 new opportunities are watched for1 and new opportunities arrive and are used1 but with the same result2 the patient doggedness of the fisherman long used to turns of ill-success is reproduced in the persevering efforts of parental love or friendly anxiety for the good of others1 but often the utmost patience is at last worn out1 the nets are piled away1 and the gloom of disappointment settles on the mind4 ,yet this apparently is the very hour which the ,lord often chooses to give the long-sought-for success2 in the dawn1 when already the fish might be supposed to see the net and more vigilantly to elude it1 our last and almost careless effort is made1 and we achieve a substantial1 countable success--a success not doubtful1 but which we could accurately detail to others1 which makes a mark in the memory like the hundred and fifty and three of these fishers1 and which were we to relate to others they must acknowledge that the whole weary night of toil is amply repaid4 ,and it is then a man recognises who it is that has directed his labour--it is then he for the moment forgets even the success in the more gladdening knowledge that such a success could only have been given by ,one1 and that it is the ,lord who has been watching his disappointments1 and at last turning them into triumph4 ,the ,evangelist adds1 ,none of the disciples durst ask ,him1 ,who art ,thou8 knowing that it was the ,lord--a remark which unquestionably implies that there was some ground for the question1 ,who art ,thou8 ,they knew it was the ,lord from the miracle ,he had wrought and from ,his manner of speaking and acting2 but yet there was in ,his appearance something strange1 something which1 had it not also inspired them with awe1 would have prompted the question1 ,who art ,thou8 ,the question was always on their lips1 as they found afterwards by comparing notes with one another1 but none of them durst put it4 ,there was this time no certification of ,his identity further than the aid ,he had given1 no showing of ,his hands and feet4 ,it was1 that is to say1 by faith now they must know ,him1 not by bodily eyesight2 if they wished to deny ,him1 there was room for doing so1 room for questioning who ,he was4 ,this was in the most delicate correspondence with the whole incident4 ,the miracle was wrought as the foundation and encouraging symbol of their whole vocation as fishers of men during ,his bodily absence2 it was wrought in order to encourage them to lean on ,one whom they could not see1 whom they could at best dimly descry on another element from themselves1 and whom they could not recognise as their ,lord apart from the wonderful aid ,he gave them2 and accordingly even when they come ashore there is something mysterious and strange about ,his appearance1 something that baffles eyesight1 something that would no longer have satisfied a ,thomas1 something therefore which is the fit preparation for a state in which they were to live altogether by faith and not at all by sight4 ,this is the state in which we now live4 ,he who believes will know that his ,lord is near him2 he who refuses to believe will be able to deny ,his nearness4 ,it is faith then that we need3 we need to know our ,lord1 to understand ,his purposes and ,his mode of fulfilling them1 so that we may not need the evidence of eyesight to say where ,he is working and where ,he is not4 ,if we are to be ,his followers1 if we are to recognise that ,he has made a new life for us and all men1 if we are to recognise that ,he has begun and is now carrying forward a great cause in this world1 and if we see that1 let our lives deny it as they may1 there is nothing else worth living for than this cause1 and if we are seeking to help it1 then let us confirm our faith by this miracle and believe that our ,lord1 who has all power in heaven and on earth1 is but beyond eyesight1 has a perfectly distinct view of all we are doing and knows when to give us the success we seek4 ,this1 then1 explains why it was that our ,lord appeared only to ,his friends after ,his resurrection4 ,it might have been expected that on ,his rising from the dead ,he would have shown ,himself as openly as before ,he suffered1 and would specially have shown ,himself to those who had crucified ,him2 but this was not the case4 ,the ,apostles themselves were struck with this circumstance1 for in one of his earliest discourses ,peter remarks that ,he showed ,himself not to all the people1 but unto witnesses chosen before of ,god1 even to us who did eat and drink with ,him after ,he rose from the dead4 ,and it is obvious from the incident before us and from the fact that when our ,lord showed ,himself to five hundred disciples at once in ,galilee1 probably a day or two after this1 some even of them doubted--it is obvious from this that no good or permanent effect could have been produced by ,his appearing to all and sundry4 ,it might have served as a momentary triumph1 but even this is doubtful2 for plenty would have been found to explain away the miracle or to maintain it was a deception1 and that ,he who appeared was not the same as ,he who died4 ,or even supposing the miracle had been admitted1 why was this miracle to produce any more profound spiritual effect in hearts unprepared than the former miracles had produced4 ,it was not by any such sudden process men could become ,christians and faithful witnesses of ,christ's resurrection4 ,men are not easily wrought upon to be faithful advocates of any cause4 ,they advocate causes to which they are by nature attached1 or else they become alive to the merit of a cause only by gradual conviction and by deeply impressed and often repeated instruction4 ,to such a process the ,apostles were submitted2 and even after this long instruction their fidelity to ,christ was tested by a trial which shook to the foundations their whole character1 which threw out one of their number for ever1 and which revealed the weaknesses of others4 ,in other words1 they needed to be able to certify ,christ's spiritual identity as well as ,his physical sameness4 ,they were so to know ,him and so to sympathise with ,his character that they might be able after the ,resurrection to recognise ,him by the continuity of that character and the identity of purpose ,he maintained4 ,they were by daily intercourse with ,him to be gradually led to dependence upon ,him1 and to the strongest attachment to ,his person2 so that when they became witnesses to ,him they might not only be able to say1 ,jesus whom you crucified rose again1 but might be able to illustrate ,his character by their own1 to represent the beauty of ,his holiness by simply telling what they had seen ,him do and heard ,him say1 and to give convincing evidence in their own persons and lives that ,he whom they loved on earth lives and rules now in heaven4 ,and what we need now and always is1 not men who can witness to the fact of resurrection1 but who can bear in upon our spirits the impression that there is a risen ,lord and a risen life through dependence on ,him4 ,,xxv4 ,,restoration ,,of ,,peter4 ,so when they had broken their fast1 ,jesus saith to ,simon ,peter1 ,simon1 son of ,john1 lovest thou ,me more than these8 ,he saith unto ,him1 ,yea1 ,lord2 ,thou knowest that ,i love ,thee4 ,he saith unto him1 ,feed ,my lambs4 ,he saith to him again a second time1 ,simon1 son of ,john1 lovest thou ,me8 ,he saith unto ,him1 ,yea1 ,lord2 ,thou knowest that ,i love ,thee4 ,he saith unto him1 ,tend ,my sheep4 ,he saith unto him the third time1 ,simon1 son of ,john1 lovest thou ,me8 ,peter was grieved because ,he said unto him the third time1 ,lovest thou ,me8 ,and he said unto ,him1 ,lord1 ,thou knowest all things2 ,thou knowest that ,i love ,thee4 ,jesus saith unto him1 ,feed ,my sheep4--,,john xxi4 #ae-ag4 ,to the interpretation of this dialogue between the ,lord and ,peter we must bring a remembrance of the immediately preceding incident4 ,the evening before had found several of those who had followed ,jesus standing among the boats that lay by the sea of ,galilee4 ,boat after boat put out from shore2 and as the familiar sights and smells and sounds awakened slumbering instincts and stirred old associations1 ,peter with characteristic restlessness and independence turned away to where his own old boat lay1 saying1 ,i go a-fishing4 ,the rest only needed the example4 ,and as we watch each man taking his old place at the oar or getting ready the nets1 we recognise how slight a hold the ,apostolic call had taken of these men1 and how ready they were to fall back to their old life4 ,they lack sufficient inward impulse to go and proclaim ,christ to men2 they have no plans2 the one inevitable thing is that they must earn a livelihood4 ,and had they that night succeeded as of old in their fishing1 the charm of the old life might have been too strong for them4 ,but1 like many other men1 their failure in accomplishing their own purpose prepared them to discern and to fulfil the ,divine purpose1 and from catching fish worth so much a pound they became the most influential factors in this world's history4 ,for the ,lord had need of them1 and again called them to labour for ,him1 showing them how easily ,he could maintain them in life and how full their nets would be when cast under ,his direction4 ,when the ,lord made ,himself known by ,his miraculous action while yet the disciples were too far off to see ,his features1 ,peter on the moment forgot the fish he had toiled for all night1 and though master of the vessel left the net to sink or go to pieces for all he cared1 and sprang into the water to greet his ,lord4 ,jesus ,himself was the first to see the significance of the act4 ,this vehemence of welcome was most grateful to ,him4 ,it witnessed to an affection which was at this crisis the most valuable element in the world4 ,and that it was shown not by solemn protestations made in public or as part of a religious service1 but in so apparently secular and trivial an incident1 makes it all the more valuable4 ,jesus hailed with the deepest satisfaction ,peter's impetuous abandonment of his fishing gear and impatient springing to greet ,him1 because as plainly as possible it showed that after all ,christ was incomparably more to him than the old life4 ,and therefore when the first excitement had cooled down ,jesus gives ,peter an opportunity of putting this in words by asking him1 ,simon1 son of ,jonas1 lovest thou ,me more than these8 ,am ,i to interpret this action of yours as really meaning what it seems to mean--that ,i am more to you than boat1 nets1 old ways1 old associations8 ,your letting go the net at the critical moment1 and so risking the loss of all1 seemed to say that you love ,me more than your sole means of gaining a livelihood4 ,well1 is it so8 ,am ,i to draw this conclusion8 ,am ,i to understand that with a mind made up you do love ,me more than these things8 ,if so1 the way is again clear for ,me to commit to your care what ,i love and prize upon earth--to say again1 ,feed ,my sheep4 ,thus mildly does the ,lord rebuke ,peter by suggesting that in his recent conduct there were appearances which must prevent these present expressions of his love from being accepted as perfectly genuine and trustworthy4 ,thus gracefully does ,he give ,peter opportunity to renew the profession of attachment he had so shamefully denied by three times over swearing that he not only did not love ,jesus1 but knew nothing whatever about the man4 ,and if ,peter at first resented the severity of the scrutiny1 he must afterwards have perceived that no greater kindness could have been done him than thus to press him to clear and resolved confession4 ,peter had probably sometimes compared himself to ,judas1 and thought that the difference between his denial and ,judas' betrayal was slight4 ,but the ,lord distinguished4 ,he saw that ,peter's sin was unpremeditated1 a sin of surprise1 while his heart was essentially sound4 ,we also must distinguish between the forgetfulness of ,christ1 to which we are carried by the blinding and confusing throng of this world's ways and fashions and temptations1 and a betrayal of ,christ that has in it something deliberate4 ,we admit that we have acted as if we had no desire to serve ,christ and to bring our whole life within ,his kingdom2 but it is one thing to deny ,christ through thoughtlessness1 through inadvertence1 through sudden passion or insidious1 unperceived temptation--another thing consciously and habitually to betake ourselves to ways which ,he condemns1 and to let the whole form1 appearance1 and meaning of our life plainly declare that our regard for ,him is very slight when compared with our regard for success in our calling or anything that nearly touches our personal interests4 ,jesus lets ,peter breakfast first1 ,he lets him settle1 before ,he puts ,his question1 because it matters little what we say or do in a moment of excitement4 ,the question is1 what is our deliberate choice and preference--not what is our judgment1 for of that there can be little question2 but when we are self-possessed and cool1 when the whole man within us is in equilibrium1 not violently pulled one way or other1 when we feel1 as sometimes we do1 that we are seeing ourselves as we actually are1 do we then recognise that ,christ is more to us than any gain1 success1 or pleasure the world can offer8 ,there are many who when the alternative is laid before them in cold blood choose without hesitation to abide with ,christ at all costs4 ,were we at this moment as conscious as ,peter was when this question fell from the lips of the living ,person before him1 whose eyes were looking for his reply1 that we now must give our answer1 many of us1 ,god helping us1 would say with ,peter1 ,thou knowest that ,i love ,thee4 ,we could not say that our old associations are easily broken1 that it costs us nothing to hang up the nets with which so skilfully we have gathered in the world's substance to us1 or to take a last look of the boat which has so faithfully and merrily carried us over many a threatening wave and made our hearts glad within us4 ,but our hearts are not set on these things2 they do not command us as ,thou dost2 and we can abandon whatever hinders us from following and serving ,thee4 ,happy the man who with ,peter feels that the question is an easily answered one1 who can say1 ,i may often have blundered1 ,i may often have shown myself greedy of gain and glory1 but ,thou knowest that ,i love ,thee4 ,in this restoration of ,peter our ,lord1 then1 tests not the conduct1 but the heart4 ,he recognises that while the conduct is the legitimate and normal test of a man's feeling1 yet there are times at which it is fair and useful to examine the heart itself apart from present manifestations of its condition2 and that the solace which a poor soul gets after great sin1 in refusing to attempt to show the consistency of his conduct with love to ,christ1 and in clinging simply to the consciousness that with all his sin there is most certainly a surviving love to ,christ1 is a solace sanctioned by ,christ1 and which ,he would have it enjoy4 ,this is encouraging1 because a ,christian is often conscious that1 if he is to be judged solely by his conduct1 he must be condemned4 ,he is conscious of blemishes in his life that seem quite to contradict the idea that he is animated by a regard for ,christ4 ,he knows that men who see his infirmities and outbreaks may be justified in supposing him a self-deceived or pretentious hypocrite1 and yet in his own soul he is conscious of love to ,christ4 ,he can as little doubt this as he can doubt that he has shamefully denied this in his conduct4 ,he would rather be judged by omniscience than by a judgment that can scrutinise only his outward conduct4 ,he appeals in his own heart from those who know in part to ,him who knows all things4 ,he knows perfectly well that if men are to be expected to believe that he is a ,christian he must prove this by his conduct2 nay1 he understands that love must find for itself a constant and consistent expression in conduct2 but it remains an indubitable satisfaction to be conscious that1 despite all his conduct has said to the contrary1 he does in his soul love the ,lord4 ,the determination of ,christ to clear away all misunderstanding and all doubtfulness about the relation ,his professed followers hold to ,him is strikingly exhibited in ,his subjecting ,peter to a second and third interrogation4 ,he invites ,peter to search deeply into his spirit and to ascertain the very truth4 ,it is the most momentous of all questions2 and our ,lord positively refuses to take a superficial1 careless1 matter-of-course answer4 ,he will thus question1 and thrice question1 and probe to the quick all ,his followers4 ,he seeks to scatter all doubt about our relation to ,him1 and to make our living connection with ,him clear to our own consciousness1 and to place our whole life on this solid basis of a clear1 mutual understanding between ,him and us4 ,our happiness depends upon our meeting ,his question with care and sincerity4 ,only the highest degree of human friendship will permit this persistent questioning1 this beating of us back and back on our own feelings1 deeper and deeper into the very heart of our affections1 as if still it were doubtful whether we had not given an answer out of mere politeness or profession or sentiment4 ,the highest degree of human friendship demands certainty1 a basis on which it can build1 a love it can entirely trust4 ,christ had made good ,his right thus to question ,his followers and to require a love that was sure of itself1 because on ,his part ,he was conscious of such a love and had given proof that ,his affection was no mere sentimental1 unfruitful compassion1 but a commanding1 consuming1 irrepressible1 unconquerable love--a love that left ,him no choice1 but compelled ,him to devote ,himself to men and do them all the good in ,his power4 ,peter's self-knowledge is aided by the form the question now takes4 ,he is no longer asked to compare the hold ,christ has upon him with his interest in other things2 but he is asked simply and absolutely whether love is the right name for that which connects him with his ,lord4 ,lovest thou ,me8 ,separating yourself and ,me from all others1 looking straight and simply at ,me only1 is love the right name for that which connects us8 ,is it love1 and not mere impulse8 ,is it love1 and not sentiment or fancy8 ,is it love1 and not sense of duty or of what is becoming8 ,is it love1 and not mere mistake8 ,for no mistake is more disastrous than that which takes something else for love4 ,now1 to apprehend the significance of this question is to apprehend what ,christianity is4 ,our ,lord was on the point of leaving the world2 and ,he left its future1 the future of the sheep ,he loved so well and had spent ,his all upon1 in the keeping of ,peter and the rest1 and the one security ,he demanded of them was the confession of love for ,himself4 ,he did not draw up a creed or a series of articles binding them to this and that duty1 to special methods of governing the ,church or to special truths they were to teach it2 ,he did not summon them into the house of ,peter or of ,zebedee1 and bid them affix their signatures or marks to such a document4 ,he rested the whole future of the work ,he had begun at such cost on their love for ,him4 ,this security alone ,he took from them4 ,this was the sufficient guarantee of their fidelity and of their wisdom4 ,it is not great mental ability that is wanted for the furtherance of ,christ's aims in the world4 ,it is love of what is best1 devotion to goodness4 ,no question is made about their knowledge2 they are not asked what views they have about the death of ,christ2 they are not required to analyse their feelings and say whence their love has sprung--whether from a due sense of their indebtedness to ,him for delivering them from sin and its consequence1 or from the grace and beauty of ,his character1 or from ,his tender and patient consideration of them4 ,there is no omission of anything vital owing to ,his being hurried in these morning hours4 ,three times over the question comes1 and the third is as the first1 a question solely and exclusively as to their love4 ,three times over the question comes1 and three times over1 when love is unhesitatingly confessed1 comes the ,apostolic commission1 ,feed ,my sheep4 ,love is enough--enough not only to save the ,apostles themselves1 but enough to save the world4 ,the significance of this cannot be exaggerated4 ,what is ,christianity8 ,it is ,god's way of getting hold of us1 of attaching us to what is good1 of making us holy1 perfect men4 ,and the method ,he uses is the presentation of goodness in a personal form4 ,he makes goodness supremely attractive by exhibiting to us its reality and its beauty and its permanent and multiplying power in ,jesus ,christ4 ,absolutely simple and absolutely natural is ,god's method4 ,the building up of systems of theology1 the elaborate organisation of churches1 the various1 expensive1 and complicated methods of men1 how artificial do they seem when set alongside of the simplicity and naturalness of ,god's method6 ,men are to be made perfect4 ,show them1 then1 that human perfection is perfect love for them1 and can they fail to love it and themselves become perfect8 ,that is all4 ,the mission of ,christ and the salvation of men through ,him are as natural and as simple as the mother's caress of her child4 ,christ came to earth because ,he loved men and could not help coming4 ,being on earth1 ,he expresses what is in ,him--,his love1 ,his goodness4 ,by ,his loving all men and satisfying all their needs1 men came to feel that this was the ,perfect ,one1 and humbly gave themselves to ,him4 ,as simply as love works in all human affairs and relationships1 so simply does it work here4 ,and ,god's method is as effectual as it is simple4 ,men do learn to love ,christ4 ,and this love secures everything4 ,as a bond between two persons1 nothing but love is to be depended upon4 ,love alone carries us out of ourselves and makes other interests than our own dear to us4 ,but ,christ requires us to love ,him and invites us to consider whether we do now love ,him1 because this love is an index to all that is in us of a moral kind4 ,there is so much implied in our love of ,him1 and so much inextricably intertwined with it1 that its presence or absence speaks volumes regarding our whole inward condition4 ,it is quite true that nothing is more difficult to understand than the causes of love4 ,it seems to ally itself with equal readiness with pity and with admiration4 ,it is attracted sometimes by similarity of disposition1 sometimes by contrast4 ,it is now stirred by gratitude and again by the conferring of favours4 ,some persons whom we feel we ought to love we do not draw to4 ,others who seem comparatively unattractive strongly draw us4 ,but there are always some persons in every society who are universally beloved2 and these are persons who are not only good1 but whose goodness is presented in an attractive form--who have some personal charm1 in appearance or manner or disposition4 ,if some churlish person does not own the ascendency1 you know that the churlishness goes deep into the character4 ,but this poorly illustrates the ascendency of ,christ and what our denial of it implies4 ,his goodness is perfect and it is complete4 ,not to love ,him is not to love goodness2 it is to be out of sympathy with what attracts pure and loving spirits4 ,for whatever be the apparent or obscure causes of love1 this is certain--that we love that which best fits and stimulates our whole nature4 ,love lies deeper than the will2 we cannot love because we wish to do so1 any more than we can taste honey bitter because we wish to do so4 ,we cannot love a person because we know that their influence is needful to forward our interests4 ,but if love lies deeper than the will1 what power have we to love what at present does not draw us8 ,we have no power to do so immediately2 but we can use the means given us for altering1 purifying1 and elevating our nature4 ,we can believe in ,christ's power to regenerate us1 we can faithfully follow and serve ,him1 and thus we shall learn one day to love ,him4 ,but the presence or absence in us of the love of ,christ is an index not only to our present state1 but a prophecy of all that is to be4 ,the love of ,christ was that which enabled and impelled the ,apostles to live great and energetic lives4 ,it was this simple affection which made a life of aggression and reformation possible to them4 ,this gave them the right ideas and the sufficient impulse4 ,and it is this affection which is open to us all and which equally now as at first impels to all good4 ,let the love of ,christ possess any soul and that soul cannot avoid being a blessing to the world around4 ,christ scarcely needed to say to ,peter1 ,feed ,my sheep2 be helpful to those for whom ,i died1 because in time ,peter must have seen that this was his calling4 ,love gives us sympathy and intelligence4 ,our conscience is enlightened by sympathy with the person we love2 through their desires1 which we wish to gratify1 we see higher aims than our own1 aims which gradually become our own4 ,and wherever the love of ,christ exists1 there sooner or later will the purposes of ,christ be understood1 ,his aims be accepted1 ,his fervent desire and energetic endeavour for the highest spiritual condition of the race become energetic in us and carry us forward to all good4 ,indeed1 ,jesus warns ,peter of the uncontrollable power of this affection he expressed4 ,when you were younger1 ,he says1 you girded yourself and walked where you would2 but when you are old another shall gird you1 and carry you on to martyrdom4 ,for he who is possessed by the love of ,christ is as little his own master and can as little shrink from what that love carries him to as the man that is carried to execution by a ,roman guard4 ,self-possession terminates when the soul can truly say1 ,thou knowest that ,i love ,thee4 ,there is henceforth no choosing of ways of our own2 our highest and best self is evoked in all its power1 and asserts itself by complete abnegation of self and eager identification of self with ,christ4 ,this new affection commands the whole life and the whole nature4 ,no more can the man spend himself in self-chosen activities1 in girding himself for great deeds of individual glorification1 or in walking in ways that promise pleasure or profit to self2 he willingly stretches forth his hands1 and is carried to much that flesh and blood shrink from1 but which is all made inevitable1 welcome1 and blessed to him through the joy of that love that has appointed it4 ,but are we not thus pronouncing our own condemnation8 ,this is1 it is easy to see1 the true and natural education of the human spirit--to love ,christ1 and so learn to see with ,his eyes and become enamoured of ,his aims and grow up to ,his likeness4 ,but where in us is this absorbing1 educating1 impelling1 irresistible power8 ,to recognise the beauty and the certainty of ,god's method is not the difficulty2 the difficulty is to use it1 to find in ourselves that which carries us into the presence of ,christ1 saying1 ,thou knowest all things2 thou knowest that ,i love ,thee4 ,admiration we have2 reverence we have2 faith we have2 but there is more than these needed4 ,none of these will impel us to life-long obedience4 ,love alone can carry us away from sinful and selfish ways4 ,but this testing question1 ,lovest thou ,me8 was not the first but the last put to ,peter by our ,lord4 ,it was only put after they had passed through many searching experiences together4 ,and if we feel that for us to adopt as our own ,peter's assured answer would only be to deceive ourselves and trifle with the most serious of matters1 we are to consider that ,christ seeks to win our love also1 and that the ecstasy of confessing our love with assurance is reserved even for us4 ,it is possible we may already have more love than we think4 ,it is no uncommon thing to love a person and not know it until some unusual emergency or conjuncture of circumstances reveals us to ourselves4 ,but if we are neither conscious of love nor can detect any marks of it in our life1 if we know ourselves to be indifferent to others1 deeply selfish1 unable to love what is high and self-sacrificing1 let us candidly admit the full significance of this1 and even while plainly seeing what we are1 let us not relinquish the great hope of being at length able to give our heart to what is best and of being bound by an ever-increasing love to the ,lord4 ,,xxvi4 ,,conclusion4 ,verily1 verily1 ,i say unto thee1 ,when thou wast young1 thou girdedst thyself1 and walkedst whither thou wouldest3 but when thou shalt be old1 thou shalt stretch forth thy hands1 and another shall gird thee1 and carry thee whither thou wouldest not4 ,now this he spake1 signifying by what manner of death he should glorify ,god4 ,and when ,he had spoken this1 ,he saith unto him1 ,follow ,me4 ,peter1 turning about1 seeth the disciple whom ,jesus loved following2 which also leaned back on ,his breast at the supper1 and said1 ,lord1 who is he that betrayed ,thee8 ,peter therefore seeing ,him saith to ,jesus1 ,lord1 and what shall this man do8 ,jesus saith unto him1 ,if ,i will that he tarry till ,i come1 what is that to thee8 follow thou ,me4 ,this saying therefore went forth among the brethren1 that that disciple should not die3 yet ,jesus said not unto him1 that he should not die2 but1 ,if ,i will that he tarry till ,i come1 what is that to thee8 ,this is the disciple which beareth witness of these things1 and wrote these things3 and we know that his witness is true4 ,and there are also many other things which ,jesus did1 the which if they should be written every one1 ,i suppose that even the world itself would not contain the books that should be written4--,,john xxi4 #ah-be4 ,peter1 springing up in the boat1 and snatching his fisher's coat1 and girding it round him1 and dashing into the water1 seemed to ,jesus a picture of impetuous1 inexperienced1 fearless love4 ,and as ,he looked upon it another picture began to shine through it from behind and gradually take its place--the picture of what was to be some years later when that impetuous spirit had been tamed and chastened1 when age had damped the ardour though it had not cooled the love of youth1 and when ,peter should be bound and led out to crucifixion for his ,lord's sake4 ,as ,peter wades and splashes eagerly to the shore the eye of ,jesus rests on him with pity1 as the eye of a parent who has passed through many of the world's darkest places rests on the child who is speaking of all he is to do and to enjoy in life4 ,fresh from ,his own agony1 our ,lord knows how different a temper is needed for prolonged endurance4 ,but little disposed to throw cold water on genuine1 however miscalculating enthusiasm1 having it for ,his constant function to fan not to quench the smoking flax1 ,he does not disclose to ,peter all ,his forebodings1 but merely hints1 as the disciple comes dripping out of the water1 that there are severer trials of love awaiting him than those which mere activity and warmth of feeling can overcome1 ,when thou wast young1 thou girdedst thyself and walkedst whither thou wouldest3 but when thou shalt be old1 thou shalt stretch forth thy hands1 and another shall gird thee1 and carry thee whither thou wouldest not4 ,to a man of ,peter's impulsive and independent temperament no future could seem less desirable than that in which he should be unable to choose for himself and do as he pleased4 ,yet this was the future to which the love he was now expressing committed him4 ,this love1 which at present was a delightful stimulus to his activities1 diffusing joy through all his being1 would gain such mastery over him that he would be impelled by it to a course of life full of arduous undertaking and entailing much suffering4 ,the free1 spontaneous1 self-considering life to which ,peter had been accustomed2 the spirit of independence and right of choosing his own employments which had so clearly shown itself the evening before in his words1 ,i go a-fishing2 the inability to own hindrances and recognise obstacles which so distinctly betrayed itself in his leaping into the water1--this confident freedom of action was soon to be a thing of the past4 ,this ardour was not useless2 it was the genuine heat which1 when plunged in the chilling disappointments of life1 would make veritable steel of ,peter's resolution4 ,but such trial of ,peter's love did await it2 and it awaits all love4 ,the young may be arrested by suffering1 or they may be led away from the directions they had chosen for themselves2 but the chances of suffering increase with years1 and what is possible in youth becomes probable and almost certain in the lapse of a lifetime4 ,so long as our ,christian life utters itself in ways we choose for ourselves and in which much active energy can be spent and much influence exerted1 there is so much in this that is pleasing to self that the amount of love to ,christ required for such a life may seem very small4 ,any little disappointment or difficulty we meet with acts only as a tonic1 like the chill of the waters of the lake at dawn4 ,but when the ardent spirit is bound in the fetters of a disabled1 sickly body2 when a man has to lay himself quietly down and stretch forth his hands on the cross of a complete failure that nails him down from ever again doing what he would1 or of a loss that makes his life seem a living death2 when the irresistible course of events leads him past and away from the hopefulness and joy of life2 when he sees that his life is turning out weak and ineffectual1 even as the lives of others1--then he finds he has a more difficult part to play than when he had to choose his own form of activity and vigorously put forth the energy that was in him4 ,to suffer without repining1 to be laid aside from the stir and interest of the busy world1 to submit when our life is taken out of our own hands and is being moulded by influences that pain and grieve us--this is found to test the spirit more than active duty4 ,the contrast drawn by our ,lord between the youth and age of ,peter is couched in language so general that it throws light on the usual course of human life and the broad characteristics of human experience4 ,in youth attachment to ,christ will naturally show itself in such gratuitous and yet most pardonable and even touching exhibitions of love as ,peter here made4 ,there is a girding of oneself to duty and to all manner of attainment4 ,there is no hesitation1 no shivering on the brink1 no weighing of difficulties2 but an impulsive and almost headstrong commital of oneself to duties unthought of by others1 an honest surprise at the laxity of the ,church1 much brave speaking1 and much brave acting too4 ,some of us1 indeed1 taking a hint from our own experience1 may affirm that a good deal we hear about youth being warmer in ,christ's service than maturity is not true1 and that it had been a very poor prospect for ourselves if it had been true2 and that with greater truth it may be said that youthful attachment to ,christ is often delusive1 selfish1 foolish1 and sadly in need of amendment4 ,this may be so4 ,but however this may be1 there can be no doubt that in youth we are free to choose4 ,life lies before us like the unhewn block of marble1 and we may fashion it as we please4 ,circumstances may seem to necessitate our departing from one line of life and choosing another2 but1 notwithstanding1 all the possibilities are before us4 ,we may make ours a high and noble career2 life is not as yet spoiled for us1 or determined1 while we are young4 ,the youth is free to walk whither he will2 he is not yet irrecoverably pledged to any particular calling2 he is not yet doomed to carry to the grave the marks of certain habits1 but may gird on himself whatever habit may fit him best and leave him freest for ,christ's service4 ,peter heard the words ,follow ,me1 and rose and went after ,jesus2 ,john did the same without any special call4 ,there are those who need definite impulses1 others who are guided in life by their own constant love4 ,john would always absorbedly follow4 ,peter had yet to learn to follow1 to own a leader4 ,he had to learn to seek the guidance of his ,lord's will1 to wait upon that will and to interpret it--never an easy thing to do1 and least of all easy to a man like ,peter1 fond of managing1 of taking the lead1 too hasty to let his thoughts settle and his spirit fixedly consider the mind of ,christ4 ,it is obvious that when ,jesus uttered the words ,follow ,me1 ,he moved away from the spot where they had all been standing together4 ,and yet1 coming as they did after so very solemn a colloquy1 these words must have carried to ,peter's mind a further significance than merely an intimation that the ,lord wished ,his company then4 ,both in the mind of the ,lord and of ,peter there seems still to have been a vivid remembrance of ,peter's denial2 and as the ,lord has given him opportunity of confessing his love1 and has hinted what this love will lead him to1 ,he appropriately reminds him that any penalties he might suffer for his love were all in the path which led straight to where ,christ ,himself for ever is4 ,the superiority to earthly distresses which ,christ now enjoyed would one day be his4 ,but while he is beginning to take in these thoughts ,peter turns and sees ,john following2 and1 with that promptness to interfere which characterised him1 he asked ,jesus what was to become of this disciple4 ,this question betrayed a want of steadiness and seriousness in contemplating his own duty1 and met therefore with rebuke3 ,if ,i will that he tarry till ,i come1 what is that to thee8 follow thou ,me4 ,peter was prone to intermeddle with matters beyond his sphere1 and to manage other people's affairs for them4 ,such a disposition always betrays a lack of devotion to our own calling4 ,to brood over the easier lot of our friend1 to envy him his capacity and success1 to grudge him his advantages and happiness1 is to betray an injurious weakness in ourselves4 ,to be unduly anxious about the future of any part of ,christ's ,church1 as if ,he had omitted to arrange for that future1 to act as if we were essential to the well-being of some part of ,christ's ,church1 is to intermeddle like ,peter4 ,to show astonishment or entire incredulity or misunderstanding if a course in life quite different from ours is found to be quite as useful to ,christ's people and to the world as ours2 to show that we have not yet apprehended how many men1 how many minds1 how many methods1 it takes to make a world1 is to incur the rebuke of ,peter4 ,christ alone is broad as humanity and has sympathy for all4 ,he alone can find a place in ,his ,church for every variety of man4 ,coming to the close of this ,gospel1 we cannot but most seriously ask ourselves whether in our case it has accomplished its object4 ,we have admired its wonderful compactness and literary symmetry4 ,it is a pleasure to study a writing so perfectly planned and wrought out with such unfailing beauty and finish4 ,no one can read this ,gospel without being the better for it1 for the mind cannot pass through so many significant scenes without being instructed1 nor be present at so many pathetic passages without being softened and purified4 ,but after all the admiration we have spent upon the form and the sympathy we have felt with the substance of this most wonderful of literary productions1 there remains the question3 ,has it accomplished its object8 ,john has none of the artifice of the modern teacher who veils his didactic purpose from the reader4 ,he plainly avows his object in writing3 ,these signs are written that ye might believe that ,jesus is the ,christ1 the ,son of ,god1 and that believing ye might have life through ,his name4 ,after half a century's experience and consideration1 he selects from the abundant material afforded him in the life of ,jesus those incidents and conversations which had most powerfully impressed himself and which seemed most significant to others1 and these he presents as sufficient evidence of the divinity of his ,lord4 ,the mere fact that he does so is itself very strong evidence of his truth4 ,here is a ,jew1 trained to believe that no sin is so heinous as blasphemy1 as the worshipping more gods than one or making any equal with ,god--a man to whom the most attractive of ,god's attributes was ,his truth1 who felt that the highest human joy was to be in fellowship with ,him in whom is no darkness at all1 who knows the truth1 who is the truth1 who leads and enables men to walk in the light as ,he is in the light4 ,what has this hater of idolatry and of lying found as the result of a holy1 truth-seeking life8 ,he has found that ,jesus1 with whom he lived on terms of the most intimate friendship1 whose words he listened to1 the working of whose feelings he had scanned1 whose works he had witnessed1 was the ,son of ,god4 ,i say the mere fact that such a man as ,john seeks to persuade us of the divinity of ,christ goes far to prove that ,christ was ,divine4 ,this was the impression ,his life left on the man who knew ,him best1 and who was1 judging from his own life and ,gospel1 better able to judge than any man who has since lived4 ,it is sometimes even objected to this ,gospel that you cannot distinguish between the sayings of the ,evangelist and the sayings of his ,master4 ,is there any other writer who would be in the smallest danger of having his words confounded with ,christ's8 ,is not this the strongest proof that ,john was in perfect sympathy with ,jesus1 and was thus fitted to understand ,him8 ,and it is this man1 who seems alone capable of being compared with ,jesus1 that explicitly sets ,him immeasurably above himself1 and devotes his life to the promulgation of this belief4 ,john1 however1 does not expect that men will believe this most stupendous of truths on his mere word4 ,he sets himself therefore to reproduce the life of ,jesus1 and to retain in the world's memory those salient features which gave it its character4 ,he does not argue nor draw inferences4 ,he believes that what impressed him will impress others4 ,one by one he cites his witnesses4 ,in the simplest language he tells us what ,christ said and what ,he did1 and lets us hear what this man and that man said of ,him4 ,he tells us how the ,baptist1 himself pure to asceticism1 so true and holy as to command the submission of all classes in the community1 assured the people that he1 though greater and felt to be greater than any of their old prophets1 was not of the same world as ,jesus4 ,this man who stands on the pinnacle of human heroism and attainment1 reverenced by his nation1 feared by princes for the sheer purity of his character1 uses every contrivance of language to make the people understand that ,jesus is infinitely above him1 incomparable4 ,he himself1 he said1 was of the earth3 ,jesus was from above and above all2 ,he was from heaven1 and could speak of things ,he had seen2 ,he was the ,son4 ,the ,evangelist tells us how the incredulous but guileless ,nathanael was convinced of the supremacy of ,jesus1 and how the hesitating ,nicodemus was constrained to acknowledge ,him a teacher sent by ,god4 ,and so he cites witness after witness1 never garbling their testimony1 not making all bear the one uniform testimony which he himself bears2 nay1 showing with as exact a truthfulness how unbelief grew1 as how faith rose from one degree to another1 until the climax is reached in ,thomas's explicit confession1 ,my ,lord and my ,god6 ,no doubt some of the confessions which ,john records were not acknowledgments of the full and proper divinity of ,christ4 ,the term ,son of ,god cannot1 wherever used1 be supposed to mean that ,christ is ,god4 ,we1 though human1 are all of us sons of ,god--in one sense by our natural birth1 in another by our regeneration4 ,but there are instances in which the interpreter is compelled to see in the term a fuller significance1 and to accept it as attributing divinity to ,christ4 ,when1 for example1 ,john says1 ,no man hath seen ,god at any time3 the only-begotten ,son1 which is in the bosom of the ,father1 ,he hath declared ,him1 it is evident that he thinks of ,christ as standing in a unique relation to ,god1 which separates ,him from the ordinary relation in which men stand to ,god4 ,and that the disciples themselves passed from a more superficial use of the term to a use which had a deeper significance is apparent in the instance of ,peter4 ,when ,peter in answer to the inquiry of ,jesus replied1 ,thou art the ,christ1 the ,son of the living ,god1 ,jesus replied1 ,flesh and blood hath not revealed this unto thee2 but this was making far too much of ,peter's confession if he only meant to acknowledge ,him to be the ,messiah4 ,in point of fact1 flesh and blood did reveal the ,messiahship of ,jesus to ,peter1 for it was his own brother ,andrew who told ,peter that he had found the ,messiah1 and brought him to ,jesus4 ,plainly therefore ,jesus meant that ,peter had now made a further step in his knowledge and in his faith1 and had learned to recognise ,jesus as not only ,messiah1 but as ,son of ,god in the proper sense4 ,in this ,gospel1 then1 we have various forms of evidence4 ,we have the testimonies of men who had seen and heard and known ,jesus1 and who1 though ,jews1 and therefore intensely prejudiced against such a conception1 enthusiastically owned that ,christ was in the proper sense ,divine4 ,we have ,john's own testimony1 who writes his ,gospel for the purpose of winning men to faith in ,christ's ,sonship1 who calls ,christ ,lord1 applying to ,him the title of ,jehovah1 and who in so many words declares that the ,word was ,god--the ,word who became flesh in ,jesus ,christ4 ,and what is perhaps even more to the purpose1 we have affirmations of the same truth made by ,jesus ,himself3 ,before ,abraham was ,i am2 ,i and the ,father are one2 ,the glory which ,i had with ,thee before the world was2 ,he that hath seen ,me hath seen the ,father4 ,who that listens to these sayings can marvel that the horrified ,jews considered that ,he was making ,himself equal with ,god and took up stones to stone ,him for blasphemy8 ,who does not feel that when ,jesus allowed this accusation to be brought against ,him at the last1 and when ,he allowed ,himself to be condemned to death on the charge1 ,he must have put the same meaning on ,his words that they put8 ,otherwise1 if ,he did not mean to make ,himself equal with the ,father1 would ,he not have been the very first to unmask and protest against so misleading a use of language8 ,had ,he not known ,himself to be ,divine1 no member of the ,sanhedrim could have been so shocked as ,he to listen to such language or to use it4 ,but in reading this ,gospel one cannot but remark that ,john lays great stress on the miracles which ,christ wrought4 ,in fact1 in announcing his object in writing it is especially to the miracles he alludes when he says1 ,these signs are written that ye might believe4 ,in recent years there has been a reaction against the use of miracles as evidence of ,christ's claim to be sent by ,god4 ,this reaction was the necessary consequence of a defective view of the nature1 meaning1 and use of miracles4 ,for a long period they were considered as merely wonders wrought in order to prove the power and authority of the ,person who wrought them4 ,this view of miracles was so exclusively dwelt upon and urged1 that eventually a reaction came2 and now this view is discredited4 ,this is invariably the process by which steps in knowledge are gained4 ,the pendulum swings first to the one extreme1 and the height to which it has swung in that direction measures the momentum with which it swings to the opposite side4 ,a one-sided view of the truth1 after being urged for a while1 is found out and its weakness is exposed1 and forthwith it is abandoned as if it were false2 whereas it is only false because it claimed to be the whole truth4 ,unless it be carried with us1 then1 the opposite extreme to which we now pass will in time be found out in the same way and its deficiencies be exposed4 ,in regard to miracles the two truths which must be held are3 first1 that they were wrought to make known the character and the purposes of ,god2 and1 secondly1 that they serve as evidence that ,jesus was the revealer of the ,father4 ,they not only authenticate the revelation2 they themselves reveal ,god4 ,they not only direct attention to the ,teacher2 they are themselves the lessons ,he teaches4 ,during the ,irish famine agents were sent from ,england to the distressed districts4 ,some were sent to make inquiries1 and had credentials explaining who they were and on what mission2 they carried documents identifying and authenticating them4 ,other agents went with money and waggon-loads of flour1 which were their own authentication4 ,the charitable gifts told their own story2 and while they accomplished the object the charitable senders of the mission had in view1 they made it easy of belief that they came from the charitable in ,england4 ,so the miracles of ,christ were not bare credentials accomplishing nothing else than this--that they certified that ,christ was sent from ,god2 they were at the same time1 and in the first place1 actual expressions of ,god's love1 revealing ,god to men as their ,father4 ,our ,lord always refused to show any bare authentication4 ,he refused to leap off a pinnacle of the ,temple1 which could serve no other purpose than to prove ,he had power to work miracles4 ,he resolutely and uniformly declined to work mere wonders4 ,when the people clamoured for a miracle1 and cried1 ,how long dost ,thou make us doubt8 when they pressed ,him to the uttermost to perform some marvellous work solely and merely for the sake of proving ,his ,messiahship or ,his mission1 ,he regularly declined4 ,on no occasion did ,he admit that such authentication of ,himself was a sufficient cause for a miracle4 ,the main object1 then1 of the miracles plainly was not evidential4 ,they were not wrought chiefly1 still less solely1 for the purpose of convincing the onlookers that ,jesus wielded super-human power4 ,what1 then1 was their object8 ,why did ,jesus so constantly work them8 ,he wrought them because of ,his sympathy with suffering men1--never for ,himself1 always for others2 never to accomplish political designs or to aggrandise the rich1 but to heal the sick1 to relieve the mourning2 never to excite wonder1 but to accomplish some practical good4 ,he wrought them because in ,his heart ,he bore a ,divine compassion for men and felt for us in all that distresses and destroys4 ,his heart was burdened by the great1 universal griefs and weaknesses of men3 ,himself took our infirmities and bare our sicknesses4 ,but this was the very revelation ,he came to make4 ,he came to reveal ,god's love and ,god's holiness1 and every miracle ,he wrought was an impressive lesson to men in the knowledge of ,god4 ,men learn by what they see far more readily than by what they hear1 and all that ,christ taught by word of mouth might have gone for little had it not been sealed on men's minds by these consistent acts of love4 ,to tell men that ,god loves them may or may not impress them1 may or may not be believed2 but when ,jesus declared that ,he was sent by ,god1 and preached ,his gospel by giving sight to the blind1 legs to the lame1 health to the hopeless1 that was a form of preaching likely to be effectual4 ,and when these miracles were sustained by a consistent holiness in ,him who worked them2 when it was felt that there was nothing ostentatious1 nothing self-seeking1 nothing that appealed to mere vulgar wonder in them1 but that they were dictated solely by love1--when it was found that they were thus a true expression of the character of ,him who worked them1 and that that character was one in which human judgment at least could find no stain1 is it surprising that ,he should have been recognised as ,god's true representative8 ,supposing1 then1 that ,christ came to earth to teach men the fatherhood and fatherliness of ,god--could ,he have more effectually taught it than by these miracles of healing8 ,supposing ,he wished to lodge in the minds of men the conviction that man1 body and soul1 was cared for by ,god2 that the diseased1 the helpless1 the wretched were valued by ,him1--were not these works of healing the most effectual means of making this revelation8 ,have not these works of healing in point of fact proved the most efficient lessons in those great truths which form the very substance of ,christianity8 ,the miracles are themselves1 then1 the revelation1 and carry to the minds of men more directly than any words or arguments the conception of a loving ,god1 who does not abhor the affliction of the afflicted1 but feels with ,his creatures and seeks their welfare4 ,and1 as ,john is careful throughout his ,gospel to show1 they suggest even more than they directly teach4 ,john uniformly calls them signs1 and on more than one occasion explains what they were signs of4 ,he that loved men so keenly and so truly could not be satisfied with the bodily relief ,he gave to a few4 ,the power ,he wielded over disease and over nature seemed to hint at a power supreme in all departments4 ,if ,he gave sight to the blind1 was ,he not also the light of the world8 ,if ,he fed the hungry1 was ,he not ,himself the bread which came down from heaven8 ,the miracles1 then1 are evidences that ,christ is the revealer of the ,father1 because they do reveal the ,father4 ,as the rays of the sun are evidences of the sun's existence and heat1 so are the miracles evidences that ,god was in ,christ4 ,as the natural and unstudied actions of a man are the best evidences of his character2 as almsgiving that is not meant to disclose a charitable spirit1 but for the relief of the poor1 is evidence of charity2 as irrepressible wit1 and not clever sayings studied for effect1 is the best evidence of wit--so these miracles1 though not wrought for the sake of proving ,christ's union with the ,father1 but for the sake of men1 do most effectually prove that ,he was one with the ,father4 ,their evidence is all the stronger because it was not their primary object4 ,but for us the question remains1 ,what has this ,gospel and its careful picture of ,christ's character and work done for us8 ,are we to close the ,gospel and shut away from us this great revelation of ,divine love as a thing in which we claim no personal share8 ,this exhibition of all that is tender and pure1 touching and hopeful1 in human life--are we to look at it and pass on as if we had been admiring a picture and not looking into the very heart of all that is eternally real8 ,this accessibility of ,god1 this sympathy with our human lot1 this undertaking of our burdens1 this bidding us be of good cheer--is it all to pass by us as needless for us8 ,the presence that shines from these pages1 the voice that sounds so differently from all other voices--are we to turn from these8 ,is all that ,god can do to attract us to be in vain8 ,is the vision of ,god's holiness and love to be without effect8 ,in the midst of all other history1 in the tumult of this world's ambitions and contendings1 through the fog of men's fancies and theories1 shines this clear1 guiding light3 are we to go on as if we had never seen it8 ,here we are brought into contact with the truth1 with what is real and abiding in human affairs2 here we come into contact with ,god1 and can for a little look at things as ,he sees them3 are we1 then1 to write ourselves fools and blind by turning away as if we needed no such light--by saying1 ,we see1 and need not be taught8 ,printed by ,hazell ,watson1 ,viney1 ,ld41 ,london and ,aylesbury4 ,,the ,,expositor',s ,,bible4 ,,edited ,,by ,,the ,,rev4 ,w4 ,,robertson ,,nicoll1 ,m4,a41 ,,ll4,d4 ,crown #hvo1 cloth1 price #gs4 #f;d4 each vol4 ,,first ,,series1 #ahhg-hh4 ,colossians4 ,by ,a4 ,,maclaren1 ,d4,d4 ,st4 ,mark4 ,by ,very ,rev4 the ,dean of ,armagh4 ,genesis4 ,by ,prof4 ,,marcus ,,dods1 ,d4,d4 #a ,samuel4 ,by ,prof4 ,w4 ,g4 ,,blaikie1 ,d4,d4 #b ,samuel4 ,by the same ,author4 ,hebrews4 ,by ,principal ,t4 ,c4 ,,edwards1 ,d4,d4 ,,second ,,series1 #ahhh-hi4 ,galatians4 ,by ,prof4 ,g4 ,g4 ,,findlay1 ,b4,a4 ,the ,pastoral ,epistles4 ,by ,rev4 ,a4 ,,plummer1 ,d4,d4 ,isaiah ,i4--,,xxxix4 ,by ,g4 ,a4 ,,smith1 ,m4,a4 ,vol4 ,i4 ,the ,book of ,revelation4 ,by ,prof4 ,w4 ,,milligan1 ,d4,d4 #a ,corinthians4 ,by ,prof4 ,,marcus ,,dods1 ,d4,d4 ,the ,epistles of ,st4 ,john4 ,by ,rt4 ,rev4 ,w4 ,,alexander1 ,d4,d4 ,,third ,,series1 #ahhi-ij4 ,judges and ,ruth4 ,by ,rev4 ,r4 ,a4 ,,watson1 ,d4,d4 ,jeremiah4 ,by ,rev4 ,c4 ,j4 ,,ball1 ,m4,a4 ,isaiah ,,xl4--,,lxvi4 ,by ,g4 ,a4 ,,smith1 ,m4,a4 ,vol4 ,,ii4 ,st4 ,matthew4 ,by ,rev4 ,j4 ,,monro ,,gibson1 ,d4,d4 ,exodus4 ,by ,very ,rev4 the ,dean of ,armagh4 ,st4 ,luke4 ,by ,rev4 ,h4 ,,burton1 ,b4,a4 ,,fourth ,,series1 #ahij-ia4 ,ecclesiastes4 ,by ,rev4 ,,samuel ,,cox1 ,d4,d4 ,st4 ,james and ,st4 ,jude4 ,by ,rev4 ,a4 ,,plummer1 ,d4,d4 ,proverbs4 ,by ,rev4 ,r4 ,f4 ,,horton1 ,m4,a4 ,leviticus4 ,by ,rev4 ,s4 ,h4 ,,kellogg1 ,d4,d4 ,the ,gospel of ,st4 ,john4 ,by ,prof4 ,m4 ,,dods1 ,d4,d4 ,vol4 ,i4 ,the ,acts of the ,apostles4 ,by ,prof4 ,,stokes1 ,d4,d4 ,vol4 ,i4 ,,fifth ,,series1 #ahia-ib4 ,the ,psalms4 ,by ,a4 ,,maclaren1 ,d4,d4 ,vol4 ,i4 #a and #b ,thessalonians4 ,by ,,jas4 ,,denney1 ,b4,d4 ,the ,book of ,job4 ,by ,r4 ,a4 ,,watson1 ,d4,d4 ,ephesians4 ,by ,prof4 ,g4 ,g4 ,,findlay1 ,b4,a4 ,the ,gospel of ,st4 ,john4 ,by ,prof4 ,m4 ,,dods1 ,d4,d4 ,vol4 ,,ii4 ,the ,acts of the ,apostles4 ,by ,prof4 ,,stokes1 ,d4,d4 ,vol4 ,,ii4 ,,london3 ,,hodder ,,stoughton1 #bg1 ,,paternoster ,,row4 ,,works ,,by ,,the ,,same ,,author4 ,,the ,,book ,,of ,,genesis4 ,fifth ,edition4 ,crown #hvo1 #gs4 #f;d4 ,,the ,,gospel ,,of ,,st4 ,,john4 ,vol4 ,i4 ,crown #hvo1 #gs4 #f;d4 ,,the ,,first ,,epistle ,,to ,,the ,,corinthians4 ,third ,edition4 ,crown #hvo1 #gs4 #f;d4 ,,an ,,introduction ,,to ,,the ,,new ,,testament4 ,fourth ,edition4 ,crown #hvo1 #bs4 #f;d4 ,,the ,,parables ,,of ,,our ,,lord4 7,matthew47 ,seventh ,thousand4 ,crown #hvo1 #cs4 #f;d4 ,,the ,,parables ,,of ,,our ,,lord4 ,second ,series4 7,luke47 ,sixth ,thousand4 #cs4 #f;d4 ,,the ,,prayer ,,that ,,teaches ,,to ,,pray4 ,seventh ,edition4 ,crown #hvo1 #bs4 #f;d4 ,,isaac1 ,,jacob1 ,,and ,,joseph4 ,sixth ,thousand4 ,crown #hvo1 #cs4 #f;d4 ,,israel',s ,,iron ,,age3 ,sketches from the ,period of the ,judges4 ,sixth ,edition4 ,crown #hvo1 #cs4 #f;d4 ,,mohammed1 ,,buddha1 ,,and ,,christ4 ,sixth ,thousand4 ,crown #hvo1 #cs4 #f;d4 ,,erasmus ,,and ,,other ,,essays4 ,second ,edition1 ,crown #hvo1 #es4 ,,london3 ,,hodder ,,stoughton1 #bg1 ,,paternoster ,,row4 ,,works ,,by ,,the ,,rev4 ,,marcus ,,dods1 ,d4,d4 ,,the ,,book ,,of ,,genesis4 ,fifth ,edition4 ,crown #hvo1 cloth1 price #gs4 #f;d4 ,the execution of this 7,expositor's ,bible7 series has been excellent4 ,dean ,chadwick's treatment of the ,gospel of ,st4 ,mark is in almost perfect proportion1 happy in style1 just and reasonable in temper1 and full of helpful and suggestive thinking4 ,the ,colossians and ,philemon1 by ,dr4 ,maclaren1 finely illustrate those subtle1 spiritual gifts of intellect and imagination that have made him the favourite teacher of so many earnest and devout readers4 ,in the ,book of ,genesis a much more difficult and thorny piece of work fell to the lot of ,dr4 ,marcus ,dods4 ,there are at the present moment peculiar difficulties in the treatment of those early chapters of ,bible story4 ,the minds of general readers are hesitating between the old literal and somewhat secular interpretation of the narrative1 and the new1 more scientific1 but not always more ideal and spiritual reading of the record4 ,that a settlement of the problem is possible1 and indeed not far off1 is the conviction of many who have most thoroughly studied the course and meaning of current thought2 and they do not doubt that the result will be to restore to us1 in the prelude of the history of redemption1 everything the heart of faith needs and loves1 perchance in a purer and nobler form4 ,dr4 ,dods has a steady head1 a practised hand1 and a determined will4 ,with admirable address he has steered his way between the shoals and rocks of preliminary questions1 and has brought safely to port his rich cargo of exposition1 the produce of many an arduous voyage of discovery and research4--,rev4 ,prof4 ,w4 ,g4 ,elmslie1 ,d4,d4 ,,the ,,first ,,epistle ,,to ,,the ,,corinthians4 ,third ,edition4 ,crown #hvo1 price #gs4 #f;d4 ,he shows himself to be thoroughly at home with his subject1 and that his exposition is clear1 intelligent1 and characterised by a sobriety of judgment1 a candour1 and a sweet reasonableness which are worthy of all praise1 is only what might be expected from a writer of ,dr4 ,dods' well-known abilities and culture4--,scotsman4 ,the most varied of ,paul's ,epistles demands in its expositor a combination of qualities which is very rarely met with4 ,he who would read it aright from beginning to end must be theologian1 casuist1 and historian all in one2 he must be equally at home in the ancient and the modern ,church1 in ancient and in modern life4 ,there is probably no man living in whom these characters are more at one than ,dr4 ,dods2 and though the student of exegesis may sometimes look in this book for what he will not find1 the practical expositor will recognise in it a model of what his work should be4--,british ,weekly4 ,,the ,,gospel ,,of ,,st4 ,,john4 ,,in ,,two ,,volumes4 ,crown #hvo1 cloth1 price #gs4 #f;d4 each4 ,an excellent contribution to the series 7,expositor's ,bible74 ,dr4 ,dods appears to us always to write with clearness and with vigour4 ,he has the gift of lucidity of expression1 and by means of apt illustrations he avoids the cardinal sin of dryness1 so that the interest1 even of the general reader1 will not flag as he smoothly glides through these chapters4--,guardian4 ,,erasmus ,,and ,,other ,,essays4 ,second ,edition4 ,crown #hvo1 cloth1 price #es4 ,professor ,marcus ,dods is a theologian1 and much more4 ,the essays in this volume show him1 not for the first time1 as a man of much reading1 of broad and genial sympathies1 refined but liberal judgment1 possessed of no little literary culture1 and keenly appreciative of literary and mental power in other men even when they do not happen to belong to his own school4 ,they have all more or less permanent value4 ,they are good literature1 and make a book worth having and reading4--,scotsman4 ,,an ,,introduction ,,to ,,the ,,new ,,testament4 ,fourth ,edition4 ,fcap4 #hvo1 price #bs4 #f;d4 ,the compiler has placed in the hands of ordinary readers the results of the latest scholarship respecting the authorship1 genuineness1 date and place of writing1 and circumstances attending the production of all the books of the ,new ,testament4 ,the work is very well done indeed4--,english ,churchman4 ,when we compare it with even the best of the extant volumes on the same subject1 we are bound to acknowledge that ,dr4 ,dods has compressed into the #bdg pages of this little book more than is to be found in much bulkier works4--,christian ,leader4 ,it contains an admirable1 brief statement of the conclusions arrived at concerning the books of the ,new ,testament1 after the most recent and careful investigations of modern scholars4 ,dr4 ,marcus ,dods has packed away an immense amount of information in very small space4--,methodist ,recorder4 ,a more admirable manual we could not conceive4 ,the student will here find great riches in little room4--,baptist ,magazine4 ,dr4 ,dods has earned the gratitude of ,biblical students by the preparation of this work4 ,it is an invaluable manual1 so compact in form and so concise in matter as to render it specially suitable for use in public schools and colleges as a preparation for the study of larger works when time permits4 ,let any young minister master this portable volume1 and he will be well furnished indeed4--,methodist ,new ,connexion ,magazine4 ,,the ,,parables ,,of ,,our ,,lord4 ,as ,recorded by ,st4 ,matthew4 ,seventh ,thousand4 ,price #cs4 #f;d4 ,unfolded with a lucidity which ought to satisfy even ,mr4 ,matthew ,arnold4 ,the crisp1 pointed1 and graphic style of ,dr4 ,dods is in harmony with the keen and spiritual insight which marks him out as a prince among the living expositors of the sacred writings4--,christian ,leader4 ,no thoughtful reader could rise from its perusal without being imbued with holier feelings and actuated by sublimer aspirations than when he took the book up4--,liverpool ,post4 ,eminently popular in style and practical in aim4--,christian4 ,marked alike by careful language and sober thought4--,guardian4 ,intelligent1 reverent1 and spiritual1 marked by much literary beauty1 and will be read by both learned and simple4--,british ,quarterly4 ,an interesting contribution to a most important subject4--,presbyterian ,churchman4 ,,the ,,parables ,,of ,,our ,,lord4 ,second ,series4 ,parables ,recorded by ,st4 ,luke4 ,sixth ,thousand4 ,crown #hvo1 cloth1 price #cs4 #f;d4 ,dr4 ,dods is a model for all expositors4 ,he is lucid1 reverent1 and suggestive4 ,though his style is usually somewhat austere1 it frequently blossoms into rare beauty and tenderness4--,sheffield ,independent4 ,he offers an original exposition1 marked by strong common sense and practical exhortation4 ,he not only makes the circumstances of the parable stand distinctly before the reader1 introduces him into the circle that heard it1 and shows distinctly how it affected the bystanders1 but he also applies it skilfully to the conduct and practices1 the views and feelings1 of the men of our day1 and drives its lesson home to their very hearts4 ,this gives a great value to the work4--,literary ,churchman4 ,,the ,,prayer ,,that ,,teaches ,,to ,,pray4 ,seventh ,edition4 ,crown #hvo1 price #bs4 #f;d4 ,it is highly instructive1 singularly lucid1 and unmistakably for quiet personal use4--,clergyman's ,magazine4 ,it is very rarely that so much solid exposition can be found compressed into so small a space4 ,soundly evangelical1 the lectures are at the same time luminous1 refined1 and practical1 abounding not only in fine glimpses of spiritual intuition1 but also in keen analysis of human character1 and its sources and motives of action4--,freeman4 ,a work so simple in style and in structure1 breathing at every point the spirit of the ,master1 can hardly fail to find acceptance1 and is eminently fitted to be at once edifying and elevating4--,scotsman4 ,,isaac1 ,,jacob1 ,,and ,,joseph ,sixth ,thousand4 ,price #cs4 #f;d4 ,the present volume is worthy of the writer's reputation4 ,he deals with the problems of human life and character which these biographies suggest in a candid and manly fashion1 and where he discovers a spiritual significance in them his course is always marked by sobriety and caution1 yet he is not wanting in fervour and earnestness4--,spectator4 ,we commend this volume to our readers as a model of popular exposition4444 ,for insight into the depths of the character portrayed1 an insight which amounts to intimacy1 we have not for many a day found any work superior to this4--,baptist4 ,dr4 ,dods has the double qualifications for writing biography4 ,he is at once a student of books and a student of life4 ,for reality therefore1 for freshness1 for penetration1 for insight into character1 these chapters are incomparable1 and for the purposes of ',household ,exposition' we can conceive of no healthier form of literature coming into our families4--,christian4 ,,israel',s ,,iron ,,age3 ,sketches from the ,period of the ,judges4 ,sixth ,edition4 ,crown #hvo1 cloth1 price #cs4 #f;d4 ,the popularity of this volume is richly deserved4 ,the sketches are bright and forcible1 and abound in moral teaching and practical lessons for the golden age of ,victoria as well as for the iron age of ,israel4--,evangelical ,magazine4 ,powerful lectures4 ,this is a noble volume1 full of strength4 ,young men especially will find in it a rich storehouse of prevailing incentive to a godly life4 ,dr4 ,dods searches with a masterly hand4--,nonconformist4 ,the characters are vividly and truthfully drawn1 and many practical lessons in daily life are enforced from their virtues and vices4--,standard4 ,,mohammed1 ,,buddha1 ,,and ,,christ4 ,sixth ,thousand4 ,crown #hvo1 cloth1 price #cs4 #f;d4 ,four lectures by one of the most mature1 competent1 and able theologians of the sister ,church of ,scotland4 ,the book closes with an essay on ,christianity which is not only of much interest1 but full of thought and reverent ,christian speculation4 ,the last paper1 indeed1 is a decided contribution to comparative theology1 and as a summary of the leading points on which the science of comparative religion may be said to turn is of permanent usefulness and worth4--,christian4 ,its general truth few reflecting ,christians will doubt1 and its elevating tendency nobody1 ,christian or unbeliever1 will deny4 ,to us this book is specially welcome1 as an evidence1 in addition to many others1 of a new outburst of earnest religious thought and sentiment4--,spectator4 ,,london3 ,,hodder ,,stoughton1 #bg1 ,,paternoster ,,row4