2. The Son. — The second stage of our Lord's teaching is concerned mainly with Himself and His work for man. It is one of the great para- doxes of His personality, that while humility was one of His most marked characteristics, He yet jneached Himself as none else ever dared to do. Sometimes the humility and the self-assertion occur side by side, expressed in a single utterance. ' Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me ; for I am meek and lowly in heart : and ye shall find rest unto your souls' (Mt IP^- ^). The invitation and jjromise here constitute a great claim. Yet He adds, 'I am meek and lowly in heart ' ; and the story of His life proves the truth of the assertion. Further- more, these words follow one of the greatest statements ever made of the dignity of our Lord's person, and the extent of His authority: 'All things have been delivered unto me of my Father : and no one knoweth the Son, save the Father ; neither doth any know the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son willeth to reveal him' (Mt 11^). This passage is but one out of many. Jesus continually asserted His right to the absolute devotion of the hearts of men. No sacrifice is too great to be made in His service. Even the dearest of human relationships must be counted as nothing in comparison with Him. He claims, as His right, the utmost allegiance (Mt 1037-39 162-1-26 19=8. 29 253J«'-, Mk %^-^ 9^- ^^ 10=" IS'^ 14'-», Lk 925f- ■'8- s'ff- 10-= 128"'- 142Sff- 18™, and through- out St. John's Gospel. See, especially, Jn 5"»- S'^^- 1030 i46(r.).
The only adequate explanation of these facts is that which the NT supplies, and which the Chris- tian Church has always held : Jesus is Divine ; He is til.- Ill, an, at.' Word of God {.Jn 1"). No other durliiiir .an justify the claim which He makes, ami i\|ilaiii the life, work, and teaching by which that claim is sustained. Our Lord did not
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IDEAS (LEADING)
IDEAS (LEADING)
declare Himself Divine, nor did He even make open proclamation of His Messiahship. That was not His method. He avoided anything which would have inflamed the minds of the multitude (Mk P-- **• «• ■" 3'-, Lk 4^'- « 5'« p, Jn 6^% Further, He knew that faith springs into being not from names and titles, but from the recognition by the soul of that which is alone worthy to be the object of faith. Therefore He chose to reveal Himself gradually in HLs daily intercourse ^vith His fol- lowers, and so lead them to discover the great truth for themselves (Mt IS"-"). That our Lord deliberately followed this method is shown by the terms whicli He used when referring to Himself. For example, He habitually called Himself the Son of Man. The name presented a problem to all who heard it. It suggested a reference to Dn V^, but was not so definitely Messianic as to con- stitute a claim. It evoked the question, ' Who is this Son of Man?' (Jn 12*^). The name occurs about eighty times in the Gospels, and always as used by our Lord of Himself. It is so character- istic of His o^Ya point of view that it is not used by others. It clearly implies His humiliation, yet it is employed by Him pointedly in those passages in which His gloiy is described. See Mt 13*i 19^ 253"f-, Lk 2\KJn 5^ 6^- etc.
The title Son of Man expresses the hunmnity of our Lord. It is His own testimony to His perfect Brotherhood with men. It marks His sympathy with human infirmity, and is used impressively in connexion with His mission of salvation (e.g. ilt 20-», Lk W). It presents Him a-s the Ideal Man. This has been questioned as not in accordance with the thought of the time, but the OT had its ideal figures. Abraham, Moses, Da\'id, Elijah came to be regarded as typical representatives of whole peoples or classes. In the latter Isaiah this mode of tnought reaches its most i)erfect development. The ideal Israel is depicted as the 'Servant of Jehovah,' and, a-s the jnophet proceeds, the con- ception grows, until in Is 53 there rises into view the wonderful form of the Suffering Servant who is contrasted with, yet is one with, the people of God. There is therefore no anachronism in supposing that when our Lord styled Himself the Son of Man He intended to set Himself forth a.-* the repre- sentative of the human race, the Ideal Man. See, further, art. Son of Man.
The title Son of God was not often used by Jesus Himself {see Mt 27* Jn 5^ ^), yet in many ways He imijlied His right to it. His constant and peculiar use of the expression ' My Father ' (see above), and the freqxient occurrence of the title 'Son of God,' as attributed to Him liy oHipr-^ and not disclaimed by Himself, show wli;ii «,i Hi position in regard to this question iM' I ■> ' I t 27*'- « Mk 3", Lk 4« 22™, Jn l'^- « 3'" \> 1 1 ri,-. i. This title was naturally seized upon l)y His dis- ciples as the simplest way of expressing the mys- tery of His person. The essence of that niy.stery, as manifested in every instance in which He dis- closed His inner mind, Avas the close relationship in which He stood to the Father (see Mt ll^'). And so it was by means of this title that His Divinity was represented to the minds of His first followers. And for the practical puriH)ses of the religious life, as distinguished from the definitions of theology, no mode of expression could have been so useful ; the critical faculties were held in sus- pense while the needs of the soul were satisfied. See also art. Son of God.