ness, but of the fatht tions, pleadings, proi its astounding decla: blasphemous :inil )m the Divint' lii n r m less. It is /„.. ,.M tional piety, > i,|.,i,i , done, the inwitu: .stitlj describing ll
typt
; in its invita- ost of all, in pride deemed
mil lit y iii'vir questioned, of --, A'-ry. .-iihl free, and fear- . ,, ,/'i.'/, icjicting conven- ,,,ii_. ;i , ciciilhcOThadnot Uj (jI ;t man .s heart Go<lward, of character requiretl in citi-
of the Kingdom in terms of such unearthly purity and loveliness, as would produce despair were any other than Himself the speaker. It is vnivcrsnl, perfecting the Law and the Prophets, in this respect also, that it declared the height of spiritual privilege to be attainable, not merely by Israel, but by man as such, irrespective of merit or privilege.
Such a voice had never been heard in Israel ; not Hosea's, with its tears of Divine compassion ; not Isaiah's, with its royal amplitude ; not his who in pure and lofty song heralded the return from Babylon ; not John's as it rang out from hill to hill his summons to reiJcntance. Aston- ished by its novelty, wooed by its charm, bowed by its authority, the multitudes followed a little way as it called them heavenward ; and some elect souls rested not till they too entered the universe of truth whence Jesus uttered His voice. The greatest foe to faith is the haste which seeks to construct dogmas about Christ before Clirist is known. To some souls the time for dogma comes late, or not at all. In any case, dogma, however accurate, must rest on the trustworthiness of Jesus in His disclosure of spiritual fact.
(3) The effect of His jirescncc.—A spiritual mind produces upon those who come under its inlluence a twofold impression, tliat of remoteness and that of nearness and sympatliy. This is conspicuously the case with Jesus. We liave abundant evidence of His having a dignity of presence, which smote with awe those who had but occasional glimpses of Him, and filled at times His most familiar friends with fear, and also of His being the kindest, gentlest, and most sympathetic of souls. It could not be otherwise. To have discerned the end which created His career, to make choice of it . with such full intelligence of all that it involved, to live for it in such entire consistency with its sco])e and requirements, means a moral grandeur unapproaclied by sage or proplict. Separated from the mass of men, remove<l fnim Ihiir ]iiirsiiit.s. He must have been. Yet the \cry mcatnrss of His vocation, the very depth of His iiisi;;lil l«ith into the purpose of God and the need of man, produced in liim, along with that deep distinctiveness, the kindliest aiqireciation of the little things which make up the life of man, the most sympathetic interest in ordinary human concerns, ana an en- tire approachableness to the humblest applicant for counsel or comfort. This combination of a majesty which smites to the ground the instruments of prostituted justice, with a maiuui si. (rmler that babes smile in His arms aii<I \\uiii. n i.ll llini the secret of their care, must h;nr ii- ^nmr,- deep in the heavenly region which w.i- Ills hnl.itiml abode.
2. Love to God. — The heavenly region which Jesus inhabited was not an abyss of being where the finite loses itself in the absolute. It was a realm of persons. Divine and human, who dwelt together in intelligent, spiritual fellowship. The doctrine of 'the One,' which is found in every climate and revives in every century, is not the clue to Jesus' thought of God. The key to His theo- logy is llie doctrine of the Father; Ilis love to tliu l'"atlicr is the motive of His life. He pro- claiiiKil Icivc to God, absorbing all energies, com- pn.'huiidiiig all activities, as the first, the great commandment, of which the second, love to man,
288 CHARACTEE, OF CHRIST
CHARACTER OF CHRIST
is the direct corollary. But when -ne compare His own obedience to the first commandment with that of other men, a very significant distinction is to be observed. The most devout souls in tlieir nearest approach to God are conscious that their love is not perfect. This defect is due in part to sin, and the chastened soul rebukes the coldness of its affection ; and in part to tinitude, and the adoring soul continually aspires after higher at- tainments. In the case of Jesus, the note, either of compunction or of aspiration, is never heard. The explanation of this is not that in later recen- sions of the tradition such notes were struck out, in deference to a mistaken sense of reverence, or to support a novel view of His person ; but that the irapressionof complete spiritual attainment belongs to the very essence of the character as set forth in the Gospels. We may dispute whether such a character ever existed; but we cannot question the fact that such a character has been poi-tnii/cd, with a verisimilitude which makes the jiortraiture a greater miracle than the actual reality of the character depicted would have been. Jesus loved God perfectly : this is the only fair interpretation of the record. There is no trace of moral disparity, no failure of mutual understanding, no sign of effort on the part of Jesus to cross a chasm, how- ever inconsiderable, between Himself and God. He receives the communications of the Father's love without perturbation or amazement, as of one overwhelmed by the Divine condescension ; and He responds witliout extravagance of emotion, in words which do not labour with overweight of meaning, but are easy, natural, simple, and glad, the very language of One who is the Son of such a Father. He and the Father are one. Tlie Synoptic pictiu'e, as well as that of the Fourth Gospel, makes this feature plain. There can be no doubt that this fact raises the Christological problem in its profoundest fonn. What man is He who thus receives and returns the love of God ? Two of love's characteristic manifestations, moreover, are found in Christ in perfect exercise.