How much the friendship of His disciples was to Jesus, the whole narrative bears witness. "Their faith in Him was the greatest encouragement, apart from immediate Divine assurances, that He could receive as He faced the appalling diHi- culties of His task. There is an unmistakable note of pathos in His clinging to His disciples, when the natural support of family loyalty is denied Him. They were to Him brother, sister, mother. There can be no doubt that, had His three most intimate friends watched unto prayer, His last agony would have been alleviated. It is
the pathos of His position that His friends never knew how much He depended on them. To them He was the Strong One upon whom they leaned, from whom they took everything, to whom, in un- conscious selfishness, they gave but little. Love must have been to Jesus a constant hunger. Never in all His life did He get it satisfied ; and yet it never failed, but remained the master pas- sion of His soul. ' Having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end.'
(2) His self-communications to them.—1\\e chief thing a friend can give to a friend is himself ; and Jesus poured out on His friends the wealth of His personality : His love (Jn 13**), His knowledge (15"), His example (13'^); so that, when He re- views His life. He can plead with His Father His own jjerfect fulfilment of love's obligations (17*' *• '=). The riches of Christ, thus bestowed upon them, vivified their imagination, quickened their emotion, enlightened their understanding, subdued and renewed their wills, till they came to be not wholly unfit representatives of Him on whose errand they went. This influence, which Jesus exerted, had none of the aspect of an impersonal force. It consisted in the touch of spirit upon spirit in the mystic depths of fellowship ; and this touch is not to be conceived as having the equal pressure of the atmosphere. Under certain con- ditions, which are necessarily too deep and deli- cate for analysis, the love of Christ gathered an intensity which made His friendship in these in- stances special and emphatic (Jn lP-° 13-'). Yet so exquisite was His tact, so evident His goodwill, that those about Him, though they might quarrel among themselves for pre-eminence, never brought against Him the charge of favouritism. They knew He loved them according to the measure of their receptivity, and w ith a reserve of tenderness and power for ever at their disposal. They assented as in a dream to His own word, ' Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends ' (Jn 15"). Afterwards they awoke, and remembered, and understood.
(3) Their response to Him.— It is impossible to miss the brighter aspect of their attitude towards Him. They were, glad in His company, happier than the disciples of the Pharisees or of John, happy as sons of the bride-chamber (Mk 2'"). This joy of theirs in His presence throws a vei-y lovely light upon His character. He knew the goal toward which His steps were taking Him, and was standing within sight of the cross. Yet no shadow from His spirit clouded theirs. They rejoiced in Him, and in the new world of religious experience to which He introduced them. They knew themselves to be possessed of privileges, which from the point of view of the OT had been no more than an aspiration. In the fellowship of their Master and Friend they stood nearer to God than the ripest saint of the OT, immeasurably nearer than any legalist of their own day. This joy of theirs in Him is, besides, reflection and proof of His joy in them. It is strange, when we consider the spiritual elevation at which He lived, but it is certain, that He had a very real joy in their presence. He delighted to stimulate their minds by questioning, to enrich their conceptions by definite teaching. He welcomed every indica- tion of their growing intelligence ; and when He discerned that they were awake to His meaning, ' He rejoiced in the Holy Spirit ' (Lk 10=')-
They trusted Him.— The result at which Jesus aimed in all His dealings with them was the pro- duction in them of faith ; and by faith He meant a trust in Himself as complete as that which men ought to repose in God. Without doubt, this raises far-reaching questions regarding His per- sonal relation to God. But the fact itself remains.
CHARACTER OF CHRIST
CHARACTER OF CHRIST 291
as an element in the portrait of Christ, whether presente<l by the Synoptics or by the Fourth Gos- pel, that Jesiis directed men to Himself as the source of all good, whether lower or higher (Mt 8'°- ", and many instances connected with the healing of the body ; Lk 7*", and other instances where spiritual effects are secured by faith, which are to be found in the Synoptics, and more copi- ously in the Fourth Gospel). His 'training of the Twelve ' was not wholly fruitless. They gave Him what He sought, though not with the largeness and simplicity for which He longed.
It is noteworthy that their faith in Him is not to be gauged by its verbal expression. That might be surprisingly full, while the faith might be most rudimentary ; or the expression of faith might well- nigh be silent, while yet the trust itself remained, scarce distinguishable from despair, and yet a root whence life might come. From the beginning Jesus produced an impression upon those admitted to His company, for which they felt there was only one possible interpretation ; and this, even at that early stage, they stated with great fulness (Jn !•"• «. «). Jesus, however, did not consider that His end was gained, but proceeded with His education of these men, and allowed all factors in the case, especially such as seemed to exclude the possibility of Messianic glory, to make their due impress. Then, at the proper psychological moment, He put the supreme question—' Who say ye that I am ! ' and received from Peter's lips the confession of His Messiahship (Mt 16"'). Even then Jesus was under no illusion with respect to the faith which had received such emphatic expression. He made allowances for an eclipse of faith which mi^ht seem total ; but still, in spite of all appearances, He believed in His disciples' faith in Him, not indeed in their intellectual or emotional utterances, but in the surrender of their wills to Him, and their personal loyalty.