II.
The Example. *' Leaving you an example, that ye should follow his steps."
i. Christ is an example. 1. The word " example " in the text is a highly technical word. It was a word that was specifically employed by the old writers ^ to indicate the headline of a copy, given by the master for the pupil to imitate, to trace out and to follow. And if we regard the blessed Saviour's example in that light, much good fruit will be produced in our lives.
In the economy of Divine grace our blessed Master, in the three-and-thirty years of His earthly sojourn, was employed in
1 N. D. Hillis, TIte. Investment of Influence, 86.
I PETER II. 21 89
writing the great headline of the copy; and as He gathers the children of the ages round about Him, generation after generation, century after century, place after place, nation after nation, He says, " I have left you an example " ; meaning by that, that pains and diligent care must be taken to copy that great example, and also that the eye may be lovingly and constantly fixed upon that Jesus, who is alike the Author and the Finisher of our faith.
*[| How easily and contentedly we speak of Jesus Christ as our 'V/ example. Do we realize what it means ? If we did, it would ^ revolutionize our life. Do we begin to know our Bible as He did ? Do we begin to pray as He did ? How thoughtful He was X^ for others, how patient toward dulness, how quiet under insult ! Think of what it meant for Him to take a basin and towel like a slave and wash the disciples' feet ! Do we stoop to serve ? Can any one say of us, as was said of Him, that we go about " doing good " ? Think of His words, servants of His, " I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you." " Christ- like " is a word often on our lips. Do not speak it too lightly. It is the heart of God's predestination. It is our high calling.^
2. " That ye should follow." As Christ gained disciples, or as any proffered to be His disciples, the first and only direction He gave them was to become devoted followers of Himself personally. Instead of laying before them any laws of His Kingdom, or any definite rules by which to regulate their lives, His one exhortation was — forsake all and follow Me. Instead of instituting any in- quiry into their moral character or their religious experience — as men do now — the only test He applied was to their love for Him and the need they felt for His love and friendship, which of course would have to be strong in order to secure a consistent and devoted discipleship. Hence, to the words " forsake all," He often added " take up the cross and follow me."
It is clear that by following Him, He meant exactly what we mean when we present His life as an example ; He meant entering into the spirit and manner, and thereby into the very deeds of His life. To this precept, He in many ways gave great force, as, for instance, when He sent them forth on evangelic missions invested with the powers that He Himself possessed, and when He spoke such striking words as to their being one with Him, even as He was one with the Father.
1 M. D. Babcock, Thowjhtsfor Eoerij-Day Living, 50.
90 A PROPITIATION AND A PATTERN
^ And how shall I follow Jesus the Christ ? The first requisite is a personal relationship to Him. From the Cross where He has saved me I set out on the pilgrim-road of imitation. Sometimes I hear it alleged against Thomas a Kempis's golden little book, that it fails to insist on these initial experiences of pardon and reconcilement. But the good monk regards them as having been already tasted and passed through. As truly as Charles Wesley, he is persuaded that the Saviour must cover his defenceless head with the shadow of His wing. Has He done so ? I cannot wear the loveliness of Jesus till I drink deep of the forgiveness of Jesus.
And, next, I must have a constant remembrance of the real humanness of my Lord. The radiant lights of divinity and eternity gleam about His person. But His example ceases to have practical interest for me unless I feel that He was and is my real Kinsman and my very Brother. I must not lift Him into a magical world from which I am excluded. "Where He has gone in advance of me, I can walk in patience behind.
This is necessary, too, that love for Him leaps and flames in my soul. No amount of intellectual comprehension and no attention to worship and work are enough. The heart must enthrone Him, must adore Him, must turn to Him with the inevitableness and the trust of the sunflower turning to the sun. I can resemble Him only if mine is an affection profound, con- trolling, pervasive, revealing itself in look and word and deed and behaviour, not to be checked by ridicule and opposition, not to be dried up.