(3) Jesus' outlook on Nature was full of joy. That is shown, not so much by the abundance of His references, as bj' the liglit in which He places them, the thoughts they brought to Him. He speaks of the hen gathering lier chickens under her wings, symbol of His own prnti-etiim lovi- for Jerusalem ; tlie sparrows, objects of (l.i.l - .,in.; the grass in its beauty and the lili.s ..ul \ \ me the splendour of Solomon, symbols of tiie ( ii:it..i s joy in the Avork of His hands, seeing He tlms elotlies these casual flowers of a day with such loveliness and grace. He touches also' the common things of our life with the sudden glory of poetry— tlie growing of the corn, symbol of the upsprinj;ine ..t life in human
souls; the care of parents in tie- In. , -\ ml.ol of the
sleepless providence of the ll.in .-nl) I ,it h.T over all His children; servants wailing f.ir their lord, symbol of our duty to an unseen Master. When Jesus looked on Nature and the universal order of man's life, something great shone through — a Divine and beautiful mystery. It all spake of the Father in heaven who made and loves it all ; it was all instinct with the presence of God's Spirit. The beauty of religion, its tenderness and grace, is there; and tlie s|,iritiial 'jlory of life. That is an outlook of til. ■ full.' I I..V
ly Trench, Arnot, Dods, W.'i/J) ; .liilirhcr, Die
LlTEKATURF. I. i
Bruce; St«iniii.\. r, /" Gteichnisreden Jen , in Gleichnisse Jem ■ Wentll, §2;Plummer,art. 'Paral. nf the Life of Christ, or ; Lives of C'hri.st.
IMAGE.— This is the tr. in AV and HV of ekiix. In the Go.spels it occurs only in Mt 22-'" || Mk 12'" II Lk 20^, where, in Christ's answer as to the legality of the Roman tribute, it refers to the likeness of the niiperor Tiberius.
IMAGINATION.-
Imagination is the faculty liy which we are able to reproduce mentally the images or ' cojiies ' of past elements of sense- experience. This may be (lone in three ways : (1) passively, as when we roprortnro nnr m.nt.il pi.turos in tbc tnmi .n- .n.l.r
il>roduce visual images (artists), iiisiuians), others the ini:ij;^es of
■ dramatic gift). The i)oetie or
■ endowed with all these apti- s in the presentation I for inculcating its
Students of our Lord's personality will at once recognize that He possessed the creative tempera- ment in its noblest development. He was psychi- cally endowed with a rich and varied imagination, which was disciplined, like all His human gifts, to the finest pitch of efficiency, and consecrated to the highest uses. His discourses are crowded with bright and vivid pictures, symbolic of the great truths which He had come to reveal. They are expressed in language that is rich, musical, and full of verbal colour and rhythmic phrases. In the narrative portions and the parables there is also a striking dramatic element, which gives them wonderful life and movement.
1. Characteristics of the imagination of Jesus. — • It is the last feature— the dramatic — which is the most prominent quality in the imagination of our Lord. If the form of His teaching can be relied on as an indication of His mental endowments, it is clear that truth naturally clothed itself for Him in the form of concrete pictures and symbolic events. This is probably the key to the Tempta- tion scenes so vividly described in Mt 4'-". The temptations of His public life became visualized in these typical scenes, and in fighting them thus prophetically. He rehearsed the long drama of His tuture spiritual conflicts, and overcame them be- forehand. The same dramatic way of dealing with the critical facts of His life and work may be seen in such incidents as are detailed in Mt ^-^ 2P' 263i'-», Lk 10'», and inany others. This instinctive love of a diaiiiati.' -if nation as the vehicle of im- parting s]iiritnal tnilli. is illustrated also in the frequent use ..f ol.j.it l.'ssons full of incident and movement. S.uii.tiin.s He made a sudden and skilful use of opportunities ofl'ered to Him in the course of social intercourse, as in Mk 5*' 10" 12^', Lk S'* ?■" 14'"" 17" etc. In other cases He de- liberately created the situation, and then drew the lesson with wliieh li.' d.sire.l to impress the spec- t.-it.iis. a. iti Mk II ■. \lt is^ ', Lk 22"-»', and Jn l.'i--'-. ('I'll., ill. a. 1. ail .if llie lUastod Fig-tree, if understixi.l .is a siiii|.|.' I.ni \ n iil action-parable, loses all tlie I'llii.al liitlii nil i.s which have hidden its meanini; fi.aii s,, Miaii\- . .iiiiinentators).
The plcliiri'il siile 1.1 mil Li. Ill's imagination is soarcply l.'-s iihvion.-. than llic dramatic. He was tenipeiaiiH nlally as well iis spiritually in the ilee|i.M yiii|iailiy with Nature m all her varying
111 Is. le 1 Health of life, her process of growth;
ami He was a keen and accurate observer of her ways, showing a vivid interest in the life of plants and animals (Mt 6=8 7'° Q^Sr") and in the common experiences of human life. These impressions were all stored up, as He watched them, in the treasure-house of a faultless memory, to be after- wards used as drapery for the everlasting truths of the Kingdom in a way which makes many of His discourses a jierfect arabesque of beautiful imngery. His )iredominating love, however, was for images ilrawii from the incidents of human life and e.\]ierienee. He seldom used imagery of a ])iiiely iialni-al kiii.l. (... drawn from the imper- si.ii.al' .Liinai ..f |ili\-i.al or vital forces : there is ii...irlv.al\\a\ -..lie- Inn nan .agent or .suft'erer in view