LrrERATURE. — Seeley, Ecce Homo^ ch. vii. : Latham, Pastor Pastonim; £xiKsitor,l\:iv.,llS0U286a.
E. P. Boys-Smith.
DISCIPLINE. — The Gospels reveal a twofold discipline— that which Christ Himself experienced, and that to which He subjects His servants. It will be convenient to treat these separately.
1. The discipline to v:hich Christ submitted. — The NT teaches clearly that even our Lord required to lie 'perfected' (rfXeioiS^yai) in order to ensure the consummation of the work for which He hail become incarnate. Such a rfXe/oKru consisted in His being brought ' to the full moral perfection of HLs humanity, which carries witli it the complete- ness of power and dignity' (Westcott) ; and its necessity is recognized, not by the writer of the
Epistle to the Hebrews alone (He 2"* 7^ etc.), but also by Christ Himself (Lk 13'=).
It is taught with equal clearness that our Lord attained His 'perfection' through the discipline which He voluntarily endured. This included several elements. (1) Among the must important was the discijdine of tcmptatio7i (Mk 1'--'^ 11 He 2") ; and in this connexion it is important to remember that His testing was not only search- in" in its strength, but repeated in its assaults (note plur. Lk 22=», and cf. INIk U^-"- II, He 4'5). (2) A second element in His discipline was that of delay. The incarnate Son, with His love eager for the completion of His saving work, must have exercised no ordinary self-restraint, as, amid the opposition of foes and the misconception of friends, the stages of its i progress passed slowly by (Lk 12''" ; cf. the probable force of the tenijita- tion in Mt 4«- " and of eve^piiiriaaTO t<J -KiieviMTi in Jn U*"; cf. also 2 Th 3'). (3) The discipline of sorrow was also included in this 'perfecting' of Christ. His experience of sorrow was limited to no single kind. He felt the force of all the ills that vex our human life. In a mo<it sncgpstive citation one sacred writer shows in Imw umI and literal a sense He took our human sirkm— .- npuu Him (:\It S'"- ", cf. Mk 5=«). He knew i... U-.-- the pang of regret with which a pure man views opportunities wasted by those for whom he has cherished high ideals (Lk 19^i-"— note InSavaev). His, too, were the tears shed over a family bereaved and a ' loved one lost ' (Jn 1 1^). (4) The last aspect of Christ's discipline of which mention must be made was that of pain and suffering. Of this there is no occasion for offering detailed illustra- tion. The story of His sufferings is the story of His life (for a few examples see Mk 8=» II 14^- || 15"'-=« II, He 58 ; note the use of xaiSeiiw in Lk 23"^ -). The experience of this discipline, revealing itself under different aspects and affecting His human nature at different points, was necessary to the fulfilment of our Lord's mission. It was in virtue of His 'perfection' through suffering that Ho reached His absolute sympathy with humanity, and in consequence His complete qualification to be its Saviour (He -I^' 4>=- '<> 5=). See PERFECTION.
2. The disriplme which Christ imposes upon His /',//, -r,v._r)iscipline is an essential part of the ■( hii-t iaii life-, and the NT points out several forms rnilir w liicli it is to be experienced. In some of these it is restricted to a certain number of those who call themselves by the name of Christ. (1) There is, for example, a discipline to which Christians are rendered liable hy falling into error (1 Co Ipsf-, esp. note vaLScvbiuda in v.^- ; see also vaiSevoi in Rev 3'"). (2) The discipline of persecu- tion also does not of necessity come to all Chris- tians. At the same time, as both record and exhortation prove, it is no uncommon experience. It certainly befell our Lord's early followers (Mk 13^ Mt 102=- =", Jn 15--' 16**; cf. the Epp. passim, and see esp. He 12^", where ?roi5e(a is cited in this reference), and He Himself attributed a special blessedness to those who found a place in its honoured succession (Mt 5'"-'=). (3) In a third aspect, however, discipline falls to the lot of every Christian. No man can be a true follower of Christ who is not willing from the first to practise the dis- cipline of self-renunciation. Such self-renuncia- tion, indeed, is one of the conditions of entering His service (Mk 8»">'- 11 Mt 10»»). And there is to be no limit to the sacrifice required. It must be endured even to the severance of earth's closest ties (Mt 10") and the loss of life itself (24», Jn 16^). Few things are more impressive than the manner in which, from the very beginning of His ministry (cf. Mk !"■ '8), our Lord assumed His right to claim from His followers that utter self-repudiation, and
DISCOURSE
DISCOURSE
461
confidently expected on their part b to His demand (Mt 9» 19-'>).
illing response
morbic
One particular aspect of this Christian self-denial calls for separate consideration. The Gospel teach- ing allords little support to those who have sou; to express self-renunciation in the fmii asceticism. Christ's own exanijile, in su;;>;fsnve contrast with that of His forerunncT, leads us to the very opposite conception of religious discipline (Mt 11"'-). Along the pathway of poverty {Mt 8-") and persecution (Jn 7" S"') to which He called His disciples, He Himself ^\alked ; yet alike in His own life and in His thought for them (Mt 9", cf. 1 Ti 5=^) ascetic discipline received no prominence. There appears to he just a hint of it in one of His sayings (Mt W", cf. 1 Co 7^-"^-), but even there it is distinctly stated less as a rule for the many than as an ideal for some few to whom a special call might come. In Christ's view the 'fasting' con- sequent upon real sorrow -was so inevitable, that any merely formal anticipation of it was to be deprecated rather than approved (Mt 9'"). See, further, art. Asceticism.