We are thus recalled to the darker side of their relations with Him. Indeed, readers of the narra- tive are apt to be more severe in their judgment upon the disciples than was the Master Him- self. Certainly their defects and shortcomings are patent enough, and the contrast between their Master and them can scarcely be exaggerated. He has not where to lay His head; their minds are occupied with the question of rewards (Mt 19^). He is meek and lowly in heart ; they dis- i)ute about pre-eminence (Mt 18'"^, Lk 22-^). His kingdom is for the poor in spirit ; tliey lay plans for private advantage (Mt 20="). It is not of this world ; to the end they are thinking of physical force (Lk 22*^*). He invites all to His fellowship ; they are narrow and exclusive (Mk 9^'"'). Fury is not in Him ; they would invoke judgment upon adversaries (Lk 9"-«). They boasted their cour- age ; but in the hour of His uttermost peril ' they all forsook him, and fled ' (Mt 26='). There can be no doubt that these things greatly moved Him, but the note of personal ofTence is entirely lack- ing. There is astonishment at their slowness, but no bitterness or petulance : ' Do ye not remember?' (Mk 8'*) ; ' Are ye also even yet without under- standing?' (I51'') ; ' Have ye not yet faith?' (Mk 4"). Sometimes silence is His severest answer : ' Lord, here are two swords ! It is enough ! ' (Lk 22.^). He makes His very censures the occasion of further instruction : ' It is not so among you. . . . Tlie Son of Man came to minister ' (Mk 10^^ ■"). Even when His spirit was most grieved, there was no flash of resentment, but only the most poignant tenderness : ' Simon, sleepest thou ? couldest tliou not watch one hour?' . . . (Mk U"); 'The Lord turned, and looked upon Peter ' (Lk 22«")-
This ignorance and waywardness on the part of His disciples, combined with their genuine love
for Him and His abounding love for them, consti- tuted a very severe trial of Jesus' fidelity to His vocation. ' The greatest temptation,' says a keen analyst of character, ' is the temptation to love evil in those we love, or to be lowered into the colder moral atmosphere of intense human affec- tion, or to shrink from what is required of us that would pain it.' Jesus loved His friends. He knew that His course of conduct would inflict upon them unspeakable disappointment and distress ; and this knowledge must have filled His own heart with keenest pain. When, accordingly, the disciple who most clearly confessed His ^lessiahship de- nounced the path He had chosen, the path of suf- fering, as inconsistent with the rank He had led His friends to believe was His, He felt Himself assailed in what the author above quoted ventures to call His 'weakest point.' It was <Ae Tempta- tion repeated ; and as such He repelled it with hot
In the case of one of the Twelve, it is to be noted that his criticism was not a temptation, because it was not the result of uncomprehending love, but of intelligent and bitter hate. Judas discerned the inevitable issue of Jesus' line of action ; perceived that it involved all his own secret ambitions in utter ruin ; and in revenge de- termined to be the instrument of the destruction which he foresaw. Again and again Jesus inter- posed to save him by warnings, which Judas alone could comprehend in their dreadful significance : ' One of you shall betray me' (Jn 13=', ef. 6™ ' One of you [the Twelve] is a devil'). In the end He had to let him go : ' That thou doest, do quickly' (v.='). The depth of Jesus' acquaintance with God, the honour He put on human nature, may be measured by His dealing with Judas. There are some things God cannot do. This Divine inability Jesus recognized, and made it the norm of His own dealing with souls. We need not apologize for Jesus' choice of Judas. He chose him for the very qualities which led Him to the others, and which were, perhaps, present in Judas in a conspicuous degree. He loved him as He loved the others, and with a yet deeper yearning. But there came a time when, in imitation of the Father, He felt bound to stand aside. To have saved Judas by force would have violated the conditions under which the redemption of man is possible.
Even the briefest review of Christ's relations to His friends constrains the inference that, in the essential qualities of friendship, He is perfect ; and the supposition becomes altogether reason- able, that, if He were alive now and accessible, the possession of His friendship would be salva- tion, and the loss of it would be the worst fate that could befall any human being.
3. Mankind. — The attitude of Jesus toward His fellow-men is determined by the function which He had been led, through His deep sympathy with God, to assume on their behalf. He believes Him- self called to 'fulfil,' i.e. to perfect, and so to accomplish as permanent spiritual fact, the reli- gion of the OT. We must not raise premature questions, but we must not evade plain facts. Jesus springs from the OT. He transcended it in this, that He believed the privileges of the New Covenant were to be verified, consummated, and bestowed upon men, through His mission. This mission He accepted, in clear prevision of what it involved, and in deep love to God and to men. It is plain that such a position carries with it unique authority, and warrants claims of extraordinary magnitude. He who knows Himself to be the mediator of the highest good to men knows Him- self to be supreme among men. This consciousness is clear and unmistakable in the utterances of