Thi^
how tail iiviaileil in Palestine, and state that even in ili i: i s .ouches of rare and costly wood in- laid with _ II, J I I > presents from Palestine to Egypt.
KeepiiiL; tins in mind will throw light on some otherwise obscure passages in the Gospels, e.fi. where the woman is spoken of (Lk 'J^-'^) as wash- ing and anointing the feet of Jesus while He was ' sitting (reclining) at meat in the Pharisee's lii.UM-'; where our Lord washed the feet of His ili^.ii.Ie, while they were at supper (Jn 13^); and ^^h^'re it is said of the beloved disciple at the supper that he, ' leaning back, as he was, on Jesus' breast,' spoke to Him of His betrayer (v.-').
There is reason to believe, however, that among the Jewish people in general, in the most ancient times and later, the 'bed,' so far as use went, was ' bed ' and ' couch ' in one— a plain wooden frame with feet and a slightly raised end for the head (Gn 47"'), differing very little, indeed, from the bed of the Egyptians reiiresented on the monu- ments (Wilkinson, Anc. E<j. i. 416, fig. 10I> I" the daytime and at meals people sat on it, in the most ancient times, perhaps, with crossed legs ; and
372
COUNCIL, COUNCILLOR
COURTESY
then at night thej- placed it here or there, as the season or need suggested, and slept on it. In the East to-day tlie beds are often made by laying bolsters on the raised part of the floor, or on the low divans which nui along the walls, and the sitting-room of the day becomes a bedroom at night. (See BED, CLOSET). Geo. B. Eager.
CODNCIL, COUNCILLOR.— See Sanhedrix.
COUNSELS OF PERFECTION.— See Perfec- tion" (human).
COUNTENANCE.-See Face.
COURAGE.— di/opifo/uai, the Gr. equivalent for Heb. pin and ppx, is not found in the Gospels, and, e.vcept in l' Co W', not in the XT. Tlie valour of the battlefield, so often commended in the OT, nowhere comes into view. Christ's king- dom is not of tliis world. It does not call for the prowess of the warrior. But there was no taint of cowardice in Jesus, and to be His disciple did not involve any slackening of moral fibre, or impairing of true manliness. He foresaw a situation bristling with menace to His followers, and courage was therefore a prime desideratum in His disciples, as it was an outstanding quality of His own nature. With unsparing hand He lifted the curtain of the future, and disclosed to all who would follow Him the hostility and peril which discipleship must involve (Mt 5" 10'«°» 24»f-, Mk 13"'^ Lk 21""; Jn IS-" 16=). He who would follow Christ must not be faint-hearted or double-minded (Lk 9'-), he must be prepared to surrender many interests that were formerly dear to him, brace himself even to the renunciation of the closest earthly relationships, and, recognizing that the disciple is not greater than his Master, be ready to tread tlie same rougli path, and bear the same cro-;-^. Thi- .Icmand for courage is all the more serrv tli,u ii i- not the courage of resisting, but of emUiiin- \M"nu. The disciple of Jesus is called to inuekiie^. to the patient en- durance of suffering wrongfully inflicted, to the heroism of a calm and trustful lieart. But the meek temper is not the sign of weakness. It is restrained strength. It is the high courage of en- durance, in the spirit .and for the sake of Christ. It is of this sustained heroism th.at Jesus says, ' In your patience (uttomoi'^, 'patient endurance') ye shall win your souls' (Lk 21"), ' He that endure'th to the end shall be saved' (Mt 10'" 24") ; and tliuse who, in spite of pain and persecution, confess Him before men. He declares He will confess before His Father and the holy angels (Lk 12', cf. Mt 10'-").
Of this high moral courage .Fesus IlimseU' is the supreme example. The emphasis which is so rightly laid upon His gentleness and compassion tends to obscure His strength and virility. But the remark in Ac 4'' ' AVhen they saw the bold- ness of Peter and John . . . they took knowledge of them that they had been with Jesus,' is tlie record of the dominant impression made by .lesus upon His enemies. The ilepth and warmth of His sympathy had not deluded them into the thought that He was deficient in courage. They bore wit- ness to His fearlessness and fidelity to truth (.In 7-", Mt 22'"). His fearless exposure of hypocrisy (Mt 15'■'^ -Mk 7'-", Mt 2.3>-»» et al.). His disregard of, or ojjposition to, religious practices wliich had been invested with the sanctity of Divine law, and the performance of which was the hall-mark of righteousness (Mt 9» 12'- », Mk 2'«-=» 7', Lk 5™ B'-"), His defiance of social and religious caste in receiving sinners and eating Avith them were tlie iiwral utterances of a courageous righteousness ami love (Mt 9'°, Lk 15°). In circumstances of danger He is calm and self-possessed (Mt 8="). He does
not rush into danger, and more than once retires; from scenes where His life is threatened (Lk 4'°, Jn 8='' lO^'). At those times He felt that His hour had not come. His courage was inspired by faith in God (Mt 8™), and was controlled by obedience to the Divine wiU. When He knows that His hour has come. He presses to the cross with an eagerness which made those who saw Him afraid (>Ik 10*-). But it is only as we enter into the consciousness of Jesus and see Him in His perfect purity of soul taking upon Him the sin of the world, that we feel the wonder of His heroism. We do not marvel that He shrank from the cu]> His Father gave Him to drink. We are amazed equally at the love and at the courage whicli bore Him through until He said, 'It is finished' (Jn Iff"). See, further. Fear.