ij) The very heart of Jesus is laid bare in .In 14-17. The Master tries once more to prepare the Eleven for the tremendous fact of His death. Nothing in life or literature approaches the touch of Christ as He makes plain the awful truth of His separation, silences the doubt of Thomas, Philip, Judas, cheers them with the promise of another Paraclete, reminds them of their liigh dignity as His friends, exhorts them to courage against the world, and promises victory in spite of tribula- tion. In the prayer that follows, a halo is around the cross in the mind of Christ, for He asks for His glorification in death (Jn 17'- ^). He had already sanctified Himself to this mission (vv."- '^), and now the hour is at hand.
{k) And yet in Gethsemane Jesus Himself is ' greatly amazed ' at His own agitation of spirit (Mk U^). He needs the Father's help, and for the moment has ditticulty in finding Him fully, for Satan has renewed his temptation with fresh energy. For a moment Satan seemed indeed to triumph, but Jesus quickly surrendered to the Father's will and won supreme mastery over Him- self (Mk 1435'-). But Kitschl is in error in saying that Jesus 'is first of all a iirie-^t in His own behalf {Justification ravl I!,;;,„rii;,,tion, p. 474). "What broke "the heart of Clni-t in Gethsemane was no thought of His own sill, hut tlie sin of the world. Here in • :<-th>iT[Kini' the lieartof Jesus was touched to the i|uirk liy tin- i>sence of the redemp- tive sacrifice. 'I Ij'' .li-ripli - gave Him no human sympathy, and S.itan i_-\rii sought to poison His heart toward the Father. The picture in Hebrews (S'-") of the strong Son of God, having learned obedience through suttering, crying out to the Father for help, is the acme of soul agony. Jesus won ths power to drink the cup, and in the dregs of the cup was the kiss of Judas. His hour has come at last, and His enemies take Him now only because He allows them. It is the hour and the power of darkness (Lk 22'^). The hour and tlie power of light will come later. Once again He speaks of tlie necessity of His death that the Scrip- tures may be fulfilled (Mt 26==«).
{I) In the trial it is a foregone conclusion that Jesus will be condemned, and on the cross He ' sees what He foresaw.' He knows that His public con- fession of His Messiahship means His death, but He asserts His ultimate triumph over His enemies (Mt26''^'')- He claims superiority over the world, and that He is now fulfilling His destiny ( Jn 18^'). On the cross itself He practises the forgiveness of enemies which He had preached (Lk 23^^), exercises saving power though djing (v.-i^), is in some sense forsaken by the Father (Mk 15^), is conscious to the last of what He is performing (Jn 19^), and proclaims the completion of His Messianic work (Jn ISP) as He dies with submission to the Father (Lk 23-'«).
After the resurrection Jesus had a new stand- point from which to teach the disciples the signifi- cance of His deatli (Lk 24='--''- '-'• *). But it is not till they receive the new light from the Holy Spirit at Pentecost that the disciples fully appreciate the moral greatness of the death of Christ, and see the glory of the cross, with something of the dignity with which Jesus Himself went into the shadow.
I.iTi- i:\ii RF — Si hwartzkop.^f, Dte Weissagungen Jesu Christi
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Hnlli ' ' Iwle, The Atone-
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ANNUNCIATION, THE {Annuntialio, EuarycX- nr^ttiis, XapiTiiTjx6^). — The announcement of the fact that the Son of God was to be born of the Virgin Mary, who at the time was espoused to Joseph, the descendant and heir of David. St. Luke (1=6-38) tells us that this announcement was made to Mary by the angel Gabriel at Nazareth si,x months after the same angel had told Zacharias in the Temple at Jerusalem that his wife Elisabeth should bear him a son, who was to be called John. St. Luke is our sole authority for this announce- ment by the angel to Mary. St. Mark and St. John are silent ; and the narrative of St. Matthew, who is our other authority for the fact that Jesus was born of a virgin, is very ditterent, being written as entirely from Joseph's point of view as St. Luke's is written from Mary's point of view (see below). Nevertheless there is no contradic- tion between the accounts, and in some important particulars they confirm one another. They are wholly independent narratives, as their wide ditt'erences show. Yet they agree, not only as- to the central fact of the virgin birth, but also as to the manner of it, viz. that it took place through the operation of the Holy Spirit. This agreement is all the more remarkable when we remember that there is nothing like this eflect of the Spirit of God upon a virgin in the Old Testament, and that, prior to the New Testament, the very ex- pression 'Holy Spirit' is rare (see the art. in Hastings' Dli ii. p. 402 fl'.); also that the fact of the Incarnation is elsewhere indicated in quite other terms, as by St. John (1"). Moreover, the t«o narratives agree as to four other points, which are of some importance. Both state that at the time of the announcement Maiy was espoused to Joseph, that the child was to be named ' Jesus,' that He was born at Bethlehem in Jtidoea, and that the parents brought Him up at Nazareth.