132 ALWAYS AT WORK
and here is the beginning, the very first time that the word occurs on His lips, " I must."
Mark that great word " must." It was one of Jesus* earliest words, and He used it to the end. He was not ashamed to say that there were some things which He was obliged to do. Let no boy ever hesitate to say " I must." Many a man's life has been wrecked because he never learned, when a boy, to speak the words " I must." Jesus early learned the lesson, and so at thirty He could say, ** I must preach the gospel." When men stood amazed at His tireless industry He said, " I must work the works of him that sent me while it is day."
This great word " must " is used about thirty times in the New Testament in relation to the mission of Christ, His work, His sufferings. His death, His resurrection, His ascension, His mediatorial sovereignty, and His final victory over sin and Satan, and the word proceeds mostly from the lips of Christ Himself; in a few instances, it also proceeds from the sacred writers themselves ; but even then, they seem only to echo the word which He had so solemnly used, and which, by frequent repetition, He had deeply impressed on their memory. For example take the following — He showed " unto his disciples how that he must go into Jerusalem, and suffer many things " ; " the scripture must be fulfilled " ; " the Son of man must suffer many things " ; "I must preach the kingdom of God " ; "I must walk to- day, and to-morrow, and the day following " ; " But first must he suffer many things, and be rejected of this generation " ; " the pass- over must be killed " ; " this that is written must yet be accom- plished in me, And he was reckoned among the transgressors " ; " the Son of man must be delivered " ; " all things must be fulfilled " ; " even so must the Son of man be lifted up " ; " he must rise again " ; " he must reign." Sometimes, under the pressure of this awful "must," although the word itself is not used, He yet employs phrases which are equivalent, and which indicate that He is under solemn necessity. " I have a baptism to be baptized with ; and how am I straitened till it be accomplished." The word " must " is not there, but the meaning of it is, and the solemn pressure of it is felt. " Now is my soul troubled ; and what shall I say ? Father, save me from this hour ; but for this cause came I unto this hour." Again the word " must " is not in this passage,
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but we hear the echo of it, feel the pressure of it, and the meaning of it is significantly emphasized.
2. There is as Divine and as real a necessity shaping our lives, because it lies upon and moulds our wills, if we have the child's heart, and stand in the child's position. In Jesus Christ the "must" was not an external one, but He "must be about His Father's business" because His whole inclination and will was submitted to the Father's authority. And that is what will make any life sweet, calm, noble. " The love of Christ constraineth us." There is a necessity which presses upon men like iron fetters; there is a necessity which wells up within a man a fountain of life, and does not so much drive as sweetly incline the will, so that it is impossible for him to be other than a loving, obedient child.
Tl Some very little children sometimes use the word " must " very naughtily. There is an old saying, you know, " Must is for the king and not for his people." But " must " is sometimes a very nice little word. " I must do." Why did Jesus say that ? " Oh, I so love My Father that I cannot help it. My love to My Father compels Me to do it." " Wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business ? " ^
3. The words " I must " on the lips of Jesus suggest that the higher freedom implies the higher necessity. If ever any man was free that man was Jesus. He, indeed, achieved that moral and spiritual freedom after which we toil in vain. The bondage of the world, the flesh and the devil was a bondage from which He was absolutely and utterly emancipated. He at least was no slave to the opinion of society, or merely human authorities. In Herod He saw no king, but only a sinful man whose soul was in peril. In Caiaphas He saw no priest but only a fallible mortal, needing to be enlightened by the Spirit of God. He was free from all unworthy motives and inferior ambitions. He was free from the hesitation and timidities inspired by doubt. He was the free child of truth, righteousness, love. And He, the mighty Conqueror and Master of all wrong and error, was so because He was the perfect Servant of truth and right. The higher freedom was the higher necessity.