(Ahhdngigkeit) error oif defccl, -.<• element of !'( i-(.i Christliche Gbmh. be a mistake no li;- from the domain c one of the ultimat
is obviously an account the .1 to (see his imo it would e this feeling life ; for it is being, finding
expression in a variety of ways according to the individual life which is lived.
2. The sense of dependence upon God is seen most clearly and fully in tlie life of .Jesus Christ. It is focussed, as it were, in tlie story of the Incarnation, and in the cir.uni>fau.-, , in which the Incarnate life was ]iassc.l fimn iliiMlioo.l onwards. In this, as in other rrspeiis, Mk:! IiIc is the epitome of all that is true in i\u; lite oi man. The time when
the foreordained ' mystery of God ' ( 1 Co 2', cf . Eph 33-5 gi9^ Col l-"'-) should be revealed, depended on the wisdom and will of the Father (Gal 4^ cf. Mk P'^). The manner of its revelation was conditioned by the laws of motherhood ('made of a woman, made under law,' Gal 4-', cf. Lk 2", where the natural law of parturition is referred to explicitly), and the safety of the Divine Child's life depended on the vigilance of Joseph (Mt 2''-'-^) no less than on the maternal tenderness and love of His motlier. His e<lncation -was that of a Jewish child iu a ]iious Jewish home, where the language spoken was the current ' Hebrew' or Palestinian Aramaic (see a vei-y useful article, ' The Dialects of Palestine in the time of Christ,' by Ad. Neubauer in Siudia Biblicci, vol. i. pp. 39-73 [Oxford] ; with this we may compare a similar discussion by J. B. Mayor in his Epistle of .SY. Jrancx), which was Jesus' mother-tongue (cf. M k 3" 5^' 7^"' U'^ 15", Jn I" Mt 5--). In point of fact, it is not too much to say that He was governed in His earthly life, physical and intellectual, by the ordinary laws of nature. If He violated these laws, even in the interests of His work. He had to pay the penalty which nature inexorably demand's (cf. Mt 4= = Lk 42, Mk lP= = Mt 21", Jn 4« 19=», and Mt S^-").
In the moral sphere we observe the same pheno- menon, which finds a prominent place in the ( 'hristological teaching of the Epistle to the Hebrews. Even as we are, so is He, 'compassed with infirmity ' (5-). Like ourselves in all things, 'apart from sin.' He sullercd from the assaults of tem]itation {i'\ cf. -J'"). He had, as we have, to learn slo\\ly ami «ilh ].aiu the moral virtue of obeclicmc, nol\\ ilhslamlinu the unique character of HisSonsliip (,')~). In llim aUo the law, by which
mitsi...!', aUl'iomJi I'lie l.',-i.i'i Mas l,ard C-"", cf. 5", 7-«). 'I'liat.l.-sus was lullv ,on-r|.,n,s uf the neces- sity of this l.ilior i'\|irii.i,.e i> s,.,.u from His own saying;-, in whi'li Ho .h^lns t ho thii'a.tened per.secu- lion of lleroil, and wlii.h ooiilaiiis tlie same verb as is used iu Hebrew^, to dumite the final cause of His suH'erings (riXfiovfiai, Lk 13^-).
Even in the sphere of His mental life we find Him depending on the laws \\hich govern intel- lectual growth universally. Side by side with His [ihysical growth, as the Lukan narrative tells us, there was a corresponding exjiansion of His intel- lectu.al and sjiiritual faculties ('I-z/o-ors TrpoiKovTev Trj ao(pit^ Ktti i]\iKLi^ Kai x^/"^' '^■'"■^■, Lk -''", with which we may compare tlio woi.ls in v.^", where the participle 7r\))poiV«i'oi/ in ir.n imiri ion with croipia is a distinct assertion of cmiiinnous ami gradual development). Nor have we any just reason to suppose that the operation of this law ceased a,t any given stage in His life. On the score of credi- bility it will be found as difficult to believe that gradual growth along these lines ever found a place in Jesus' life, as to believe that it entered so completely into tlie %\'arp and woof of His experi- ence that it accompanied Him all through His life, even to the very end (cf. art. ' The Baptism, Temptation, and Transfiguration : A Study,' in Ch. Quart. Rev., July 1901). There is no period in the life of Jesus when we can say, 'at this point He ceased to learn, or to advance towards per- fection' (reXeicjiTis, cf. 'Additional Note' on He 2'" iu Westcott's The Epistle to the Hebrews). His lesson was only finally 'learned' in its entirety when, yielding Himself unreservedly into His Feather's hands. He became 'obedient unto death, yea, the death of the cross' (Ph '2"), and 'the author (alTw'A of olrn.,.! s.-ilv.ation ' (He 5») to all wlio .-iro so fai 11:111,1k. 1 of His Life that they too Icaiii tho nHMiiiiiL oi |ii ifect obedience (inraKoi]). See art, AcojMMiii..ui.).\, p. 15.
DEPENDENCE
DEPENDENCE
In close connexion with what we repeated di^vowal bv Jesus of all int will (ct TO «iXra« Ti ;'^.,, Jn 5M C w, se = Lk 22«). His complete depcnden.c raay, perhaps, sujrtrest fewer difficuUit
i:«„ .i;_„ ii:., 1.: „ ; — ;„* ;
tiave been savinjr is the ntion to assert His own also ,Mt 2(PS. 42= jik 1436 3n the will of His Father •■, to the student of Jesus' I setting that will, as it
life than Hi
must remember that by tliis differentiation He deliberalelj reminds us, again and a;;ain, how complete His subordination, in the sphere of His human existence, has become, not only in word and deed, but also in His inner life of thou;,'ht and inten- tion. He has laid aside the power of doiir^^ anvthiii',' 'of liiiiiself ' (Jn530), because the will of His Fatherly fur Him the ulijeet of thought and loving service (^^ti . , . :y- ^ . . . 79 i<;>.;.ux voV T!>4«.-ro,- ^0- The accomplishing of the \Mirk (4 ■') \\ hirli that will has put before Him is the nourishing susteiianee (itto» /S^oll**) which is necessary for the building up of His life. 'The will of God' (ri »!i.r,u« nS e.o5) is the sovereign objective of Jesus' life, and perfect conformity to it in every point is the goal of His life's work. Looking over the uses of the word (/•*.:;" in the NT, we find that it is almost universally used of the carrying out by others of the purposes of God. the accom- plishment in the world of that which the Divine will ordains for execution (for other usages of this word, see Jn l", Lk 23-'', etc.). It is in this sense pre-eminentlv that the word is used in connexion with Jesus' work (cf. Jn H3«'-, where the will of God, in the redemption of humanity, is the objectof the Incarnation, and furnishes the work which Jesus avowedly sets Himself to ! thus not surprised at the transference of