1 J. R. Miller, Glimpses Through Life's Windows, 31. 7 C. N. Moody. Love's Long Campaign, 255.
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refer to an incident of that dolorous procession in which the Master — Himself for a little while mastered by His foes — was struggling towards the appointed place of tragedy with the huge, rough cross upon His shoulder, ere some flickering of pity on the part of His guards impressed the more muscular Simon of Cyrene to bear the instrument of death along the road. We are invited to behold Jesus with gentle fortitude struggling to bear up under the cruel load, and even then, while the weight of the cross is pressing on His worn and sensitive frame, uttering the precept which had in that moment illustration so terrible : " If any man would come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me."
The disciple was to be as his Master, the servant was to be as his Lord ; but the Master was to be a crucified Master ; the Lord was to be not merely nailed to the tree, He was to bear His cross to the place of execution. And which of them all could have fore- seen that awful end ? Which of them could have guessed that the degrading punishment, reserved for the basest criminals, would have been assigned to the pure and sinless Jesus ? Which of them could have thought that against this humble working- man Prophet the power of Rome would accomplish that which His own nation could not do ? Which of them who had believed it possible that He would die upon the cross could have realized that, faint and weary with suffering, He Himself would bear His cross on the road to Calvary, till He could bear it no longer ?
^| Last night I had another mother's meeting for the mothers of the Free Kindergarten. This time I gave a magic-lantern show. I was the showman. The poor, ignorant women sat there bewildered; they had never seen a piano, and many of them had never been close to a foreigner before. I showed them about a hundred slides, explained through an interpreter until I was hoarse, gesticulated and orated to no purpose. They remained silent, stolid. By and by there was a stir, heads were raised and necks craned. A sudden interest swept over the room. I followed their gaze, and saw on the sheet the picture of Christ toiling up the mountain under the burden of the cross. The story was new and strange to them, but the fact was as old as life itself. At last they had found something that touched their own lives and brought the quick tears of sympathy to their eyes.1 1 The Lady of the Decoration, 107.
33Q THE COST OF DISCIPLESHIP
3. Christ appeals to the will. " If a man wills to come after me." The cross must be taken up consciously, deliberately, sympathetically. The sacrifice we see in nature is unconscious. When the outer row of petals is sacrificed to the welfare of the guelder rose, the petals are unaware of their immolation ; when the bracts wither which have cradled the young leaves of the tree, they perish without tiny sense of martyrdom. In all their sacri- ficial work the ant and wasp obey blind impulse. It is often little better in society. We suffer and die for others without realizing the fact. The thought of the genius, the statesman, the physician, and the nurse is often almost entirely self-regarding ; they really suffer for the commonwealth without either consciousness or intention. The superior civilization also suffers for the inferior unsympathetically. The bee is a self-centred creature ; when it visits a flower it does not think of adorning the plant, of filling the air witli sweetness, of delighting human eyes; it thinks only of getting a living, of enjoying itself ; yet all the while, unknown to itself, it conveys the pollen which secures the perfection and perpetuity of a thousand flowers. So the European visiting India, Africa, or China does not always realize the larger mission he is fulfilling — advancing civilization by sacrifice. The scientist explores strange lands for knowledge, the soldier for glory, the trader for gold, the emigrant for bread ; and yet, all unwittingly, above and beyond their immediate purpose, they impart to the strange regions they penetrate the ideas and qualities of a higher civilization.
In Christ the principle of self-denial became conscious, voluntary, and delightful. He entered into the work of redemp- tion with clearest knowledge, entire sympathy, absolute willing- ness, and overflowing love. From all His doing and suffering for our salvation come freedom, readiness, and joyfulness. His true disciples share His spirit of intelligent self-sacrifice : consciously, willingly, lovingly, they serve the world and one another. Self- immolation, which is unconscious in the brute, which dimly awakes to the knowledge of itself in reflective humanity, realizes itself lucidly and joyously in the light, love, and liberty of Christ. " Lo, I come to do thy will, 0 God." " I delight to do thy will, 0 my God." Such was the spirit and language of the Master in the hour of Gethsemane, in the presence of Calvary.
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The disciple must not rest until he attains something of the same conscious surrender and joy.