The two titles ' Son of God ' and ' Son of Man ' modify and explain one another. Taken together they constitute our Lord's own most characteristic way of expressing the nature of His person. It was in this way that He chose to teacli men His humanity and His Divinity and the miracle of
their union. Thus the Incarnation is found to be implied in our Lord's attitude towards His own consciousness of Himself in relation to God and man. For a deeper insight into this profound sub- ject we must turn to those passages m which that consciousness is most fully revealed : Mt 11" 25^1*-, Mk 8*^f-, Lk 10=>«f-, Jn 5'™- 8=^"^ KP" 17'-> etc. With thU is connected our Lord's consciousness of Himself as the bond of union among His disciples, uniting them to God and to one another : Jn 14-'" 151-11 1^22. 23_ j^iso He presents Himself as the means of communication between God and man : .Jn 10' 14*. These truths are aspects of His Incar- nation.
Our Lord represented the work of His life as a work of salvation : Lk 19»- 1" ; cf. Mt 15-", Lk loi-'". This idea, though prominent in the Gospels from the first (see Mt V-\ Lk 2", Jn 1-"-'), and implied in all our Lord's language about Himself and His relation to men, yet remains undeveloped in His teaching until the end of His ministry. As the Gospels proceed, however, and His death ap- proaches, sudden gleams of light are tliroA\'n upon the deeper meaning of salvation. In Jn GF'^"-, the thought of Christ as the Bread of Life passes into that of the Paschal Lamb by whose death and blood-shedding the people of God are delivered. In Jn 10"*-, He is the Good Shenherd who lays down His life for the sheep. On the last journey to Jerusalem our Lord's mind was much occupied by the dreadful events which He knew were await- ing Him (Mk l(y»- **, also Mt 20"»-, Lk W^-'^). Before this He had told His disciples of the facts (Mt 16=S Mk 8^1 9^', Lk 9=^), but now He declares something of their meaning and purpose. The occasion of the declaration was the ambitious peti- tion of the sons of Zebedee. In reply to the two brothers, our Lord promises, in veiled language, participation in His sufterings ; and to the whole body of the disciples He gives this teaching : ' Who- soever would become great anion" you shall be 3'our minister ; and whosoever would be first among you, shall be servant of all. For verily the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to mini- ster, and to give His life a ransom for many.' It is the first clear statement in our Lord's own lan- guage of the purpose of His death. With this passage must be connected Jn 12^-", in which,
declaration which He made at the Last Supper. There are four accounts in the NT (Mt 26=«-=», i\lk 14===-^, Lk 22"--», 1 Co 11=3-2=). No t,„.„ of the.se correspond exactly. But all agree that our Lord connected the rite with tho ronception of His death as a sacrifice on lidi.ilf nf men. He gave
His body over to ilcntli. Hi- M 1 to be shed 'for
many unto the rrmi- i.in i,f >iiis.' And, as St. John tells II- li- It 111 lint very night our Lord addres.sed II i! i l.ii-tli on FIi> love and
His relation . 'i I 1 i- 1 .iiid to tlicm, and said, 'Greater lo\( iiinii no m.in than this, tliat a man lay down his lite tor Ins triends.'
In the teaching of our Lord, then, the atonement is the redemption of men fi-om sin by the givin" of His life. It is the remission of sins through His
death and the shedding of His blood. It is the work of love. It is the com of wheat falling into the ground that it may perish and, through perish- ing, bear much fniit. "The impressiveness of this teaching is greatly increased when it is taken in connexion with certain events and fragmentary utterances Avhich give the testimony of our Lord's own inner consciousness to the fact that, in His Passion and Death, Ho injnjo.l in .1 great conflict with evil, a work givin Hiin ly 11 !■< Father, a work which He was bouii.l lo arK.nii.li-h. The follow- ing passages are the iuo.>l important: Mt 16^^-,
IDEAS (LEADlKCx)
IDEAS (LEADING)
(75
Lk 22"^ Jn 12" 14»', Mt 26^»f-, Mk 14»"-, Lk 22^"'-, Mt 27'"', Mk 15**. Most impressive of all is the Agony in the garden. It supplies the key to all the rest.
3. Faith. — But though the fuller explanation of the purpose of our Lord's life and death took place only towards the end, He had from the beginning made a demand which implied all that afterwards became explicit. He insisted on a faith which found its supreme object in Himself. The great- ness of Hi.s personal claim has been already pointed out (see list of passages given above). We have been able to discern something of the meaning of this claim in relation to the doctrine of our Lord's person. But it is necessary also to observe that there is involved a very ilcar doctrine of the nature of faith. Jesus tauj;lit I he supn'ine necessity of faith in God, the grc.ii I'.iJ Imt. lli^ also taught the necessity of faitli in ilim 'll. l!y the demands which He made, the promisi's He j;:ae, the blessings He bestowed, He made it clear tliat He sought for a faith which should take the form of an absolute trust directed towards Himself. See Mt 8-- "• '"