((■) The exercises appropriate to devotion, which, however, so far from confining itself to them, en- riches the entire nature and attects ovory relation of life, are praise and prayer (see sep. artt. ), with the addition of meditation, and occasionally of fasting or some form of self-discipline. The prayer and praise are not exactly such as accompany public worship, but assume rather the character of com- munion or reverent conversation, the element of specific supplication being of ton, not always, absent. In the case of Christ the praiso i- ilhwtiato.l in .such passages as Lk 10-"-, the iira(ti(o ..f mrditation and prayer in the lonely ni-lif \ desert in Mk G^ Lk 5^\ whil>i becomes more specific in Lk (>' \ in 1 h 1 hscmane, and perhaps also on the Mount ni Tiaii-liumation. Of actual fasting by Jesus as a doliiiitf process of devotion, there is no certain case in the Gospels ; but there is no reason to suppose that He did not follow the usage of His country on the Day of Atonement. Fasting, too, is associated with the Temptation (Mt 4"), of which one lesson is that a pure conscience and an ideal conformity with (iod can be attained or rotainod only by self-discipline and hard steadfastno- iiihl^ r i. -I in- And even in 1 1 10 Sermon on the M- i . 1 i,-e is guarded
iinni abuse, and iniplh n h n^^ iJ-d in Mt e'""' ;
ami the supposition i~ \,,,i 1,1 m .1 Hut our Lord was prepared to exemplify in His own iierson what- ever He recommended to His disciples. His life, as well as His teaching, .shows tliat fasting in itself has no devotional or any other religious
.iiid the |ilioation
456
DEVOTION
DEVOTION
value, but is serviceable only when and in so far as it promotes the closeness of communion with God. See Fasting.
(f/) The plenai-y presence of the Holy Spirit >vith Christ is an implication of the NT, which, how- ever, is comparatively reticent as to the Spirit's influence in the interval from the Temptation to the eve of the P;ission. The action of the Spirit at the Temptation is referred to by all the Synoptlsts (Mt 4\ Mk 1'^ Lk 4'), and Ills aid iim'st be re- garded as part of the explanation .'t ('liii~rs sin- lessness on this and all Kuli>u.[uint nnasions. Not only were His miracles wruuyht in tlic power of the Spirit (Mt 12^, Lk 4"- '»), but His oneness with the Spirit made His life uninteiTupted devo- tion, and ' through the eternal Spirit ' He ' ottered himself without blemish unto God' (He 9"). The rapture of His soul is attributed to the influence of the Spirit in Lk ICPi, though this particular is omitted in the corresponding narrative of Mt 11-^. And the devotion of niii>t is un rxanij.le f..r man, not only becau~r it cxhiiiit- liuinan triiunitli over temptation ami Iminau tollowsliip \\itU (lod, but also because ot the Munlarity of tin- uuaus and aids. His complete unction is the promise and measme of the anointing available to every one.
2. In the case of man, devotion appears in the Gospels as an act or state of the entire personality, with all its powers haDjionionsly and intensely engaged. Prominenc- i- -Im n to tlie same ele- ments as are traceable in tho .l.M.tion of Christ Himself, wliilst ample saicgtiai.ls against error and fanaticism are provided. The great rule of I)t 6* is adopted by Christ, and applied in each of the Sj-noptics (Mt aSS', Mk 12^", Lk 10-'') with little variations of phrase that add to the uncom- promising vigour. In the Sermon on the Mount the exclusiveness of devotion, as admitting no rival claim and absorbing supreme affection, is recognized in Mt 6-''^; so in another connexion in Lk 16". And in the clo.sing discourses Christ puts Himself forward as actually and solely central to the life of His disciples (Jn 14^), the source of all their strength, the rirfit object of their trust and love (IS""" 16~), with the recurring refrain, emphasized by its modifications, ' Abide in me ' ( IS-*- '^ et al. ). Fruitfulness in the graces of personal character, and then secondarily in obedience and ser\'ice, results from the deliberate regarding of Christ as ' all in all,' as so filling up the sphere of thought and desire as to control everj'tliing else therein. The last clause in Jn 15' means by im- plication that possibOities to the disciple are pro- portionate to the closeness of his devout union with his Lord : and that union may, and should, reacli a >taji' of completeness, in wdiich the in- dwilliiii: rliii-t li.iomes the unquestioned ruler of all « iihin tin- luait, and the whole life in the flesh is li\ (jd • in faitli, the faith wliifh is in the Son of God' (Gal 2="). It is tlu- ciown of Cliristian devo- tion, not the joint somk i-nty of Clirist and the ego, but the loving aii.l lauei n tircinent of the ego that Christ may be siib.stiluted, appropriatitv^- its functions and reigning in its stead. Thn- Christ Himself teaches in one of the most san. 1
Earts of Scripture: 'I in them' (Jn \1'^-^) is the nal and fullest blessing and privUege conceival>le in that hour of vision for those whom He loved ' to the uttermost' (13' RVni).