r
MAJESTY
MALCHUS
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in the Church, and finds expre:<siou in the so-called 'Letter of Lentulus' (see vol. i. p. 315). It gave rise to a type of presentment that ha*; doniinatetl Christian art ever since ; but it is right to re- member that this conventional conception of a Christ who was tall in stature, beautiful in countenance, dignified and even majestic in figiue and bearing, rests ujmju no real basis of authentic tradition, as it is supported by no single word of the NT ; and that Augustine has stated the simple truth when he says, ' Qua fuerit ille facie penitus ignoramus ' {dc Trin. viii. 5).
(c) But there is a moral majcstij, a majesty of purity and truth and goodness, that is indepen- dent of all outward seeming : and the Gospels give abundant illustration of Christs endowment with this majestj- of soul. Milton tells us how, face to face with the cherub :
' abash'd the devil stood, And felt how awful goodness is' (Par. Lost, iv. 846).
And no one can read the Gospel narratives with- out perceiving how good men and bad alike were smitten at times with a sense of subduing awe a.s they stood in the presence of Jesus Christ. This was the experience of the Baptist when lie ex- claimed, ' I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?' (Mt 3'^). It was the feeling of Simon Peter when he cried, ' Depart from me ; for I am a sinful man, O Lord" (Lk 5-). This majesty of Christs character forces itself upon us at every jKiint, rising higher and higher until it reaches a culmination in the awful scenes of the judgmeDt-hall and the cross. Was it not this majesty of a pure soul that arrested and troubled Pilate himself in the midst of his keen concern for his own selfish interests and iiis lofty Roman con- tempt for a mere Jew ? And was it not this same majesty of holiness that smote VL\)on the heart of the very centurion who carried out the sentence of crucifixion, so that he exclaimed, 'Certainly tiiis was a righteous man' (Lk 23^")? Sometimes we see Christ's moral majesty tlasliing out so over- whelmingly that it works with a kind of physical effect, a-s when the profane traffickers in tlie Temple cringe and flee before Him ; or when, in the Gai-den, as He steps out of the shadows, say- ing, 'I am he," His enemies go backward, and fall to the ground (Jn 18*').
(d) But besides the unconscious majesty of good- ness, we see in Jesus Christ throughout His public ministry a ronsiious maje-ifi/ of the most positive kind. This man, so meek and lowly in heart, does not hesitate to make the most astounding claims. He claims a. personal authority that sweeps aside in a moment all tiie traditional learning of the nation's religious teachers (Mt 7^-^). Never, surely, in the worlds history has there been another series of utterances so clothed in tiie majesty of spiritual power as the Sermon on tiie Mount. And this poor Carpenter of Nazareth further assumes without the least hesitation the name and dignity of the promised Messiah of Israel : He affirms, in a sense altogether unique, that He is the Son of God, unto whom all things have been delivei^ed of the Father (Mt 11-"^, Lk 10-; cf. Jn 14-17); He invites everv burdened and weary soul to come unto Him for rest (Mt 11^). And what could be more majestic than the language in which Christ assumes the office of the universal Judge of men, and describes the events and issues of that solemn day when the Son of Man shall come in His glorv. and all the nations shall be gathered before Him '- (Mt •25^^'^-\.
(2) It is unnecessary to dwell in any detail upon tlie majesty of tfie exalted Chnst". From St. P'Pter's first sermon on the*Day of Pentecost (Ac 2^^) down to the last utterance of the Apostolic Church, the Christ of the NT is the Christ en-
throned in glory, dignity, and power. His fol- lowers do not think of Him * according to the flesh' (2 Co 5'"i — a* the Prophet of Galilee or the Man of Sorrows. The Christ of whom they do habitually think is risen, ascended, glorified, and set down on the right hand of the Majestj' on high (cf. Ro 8^, 1 Co Ib^"^-, Gal 2^', Ph •2>^-, 1 Th 4'^"*-, He I^- and pdssim). Apart from the evi- dence of their own writings, no better proof of this can be found than the fact that for more than a century after the death of Jesus the Church appears never to have concerned itself in anj- way as to His earthlj- apj>earance, or to have had any desire for ])ictorial representations of His human face and form. And is it not highly significant that, on the one solitary occasion on which a NT writer has set himself to describe the Lords i>er- sonal appearance, the attempt is based uix)n no recollections or traditions regarding Jesus of Naza- reth, but u[>on a splendid conception of the majesty of the exalted Chiist— His eyes as a flame of fire. His voice as the sound of many waters, in His right hand seven stars, and His countenance as the sun shineth in his strength (Rev \^^^-) >