ministry they questioned Him about His disciples and fasting . ' The da3's will come when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then shall they fast in those days ' (Lk 5^*5). And as soon as Peter had made his confession of belief in Him as Messiah, Jesus began to prepare His disciples for sufferings and death (Mk S^u- 3i). That is clear evidence that though His dis- ciples had never dreamed of the tragic ending, jet it had long been in their Master's thought. The joyousness and serenity of the early Galilsean ministry is no proof that Jesus dreamed then of success ; it only proves how absolute was His conquest over all self-assertion and all natural shrinkings of the flesh. Death was His goal, seen from the beginning. "Lo\e's kingdom could be set up only by lo\e's absolute devotion and self-sacrifice. The Father had laid upon Him the task of laying down His life for the sheep. And when Jesus went up to Jerusalem, He recog- nized that this His hour was come. He read the signs of the times (Mt 163).
2. Jesus' teaching. — His teaching follows the lines of His conduct. As in His conduct, there is a prudential side. He counsels men to lay up treasure in heaven, for that treasure abides (Mt 619- 2», Lk 1233). He bids them count the cost of discipleship (Lk 14^^-33) j^ ^l^Q parables of the Unjust Steward and the Ten Virgins, He expresses His surprise at the lack of forethought and con- sideration on the part of the children of light. (See Foolishness). And He bids them pluck out their right eye, cut ofl" their hand or foot, whichever it be that gives offence, and enter maimed into the Kingdom of God rather than perish (Mk Q-^^-^^, Mt 529- 30). This has been called ' the distinctive principle of Christian asceticism ' (Gore) ; and this may be granted, with the proviso that such asceti- cism has nothing to do with self-ajtpointed penances or mortifications, but only with the self-denial which wise self-knowledge brings amid the inflow of life upon one. But it is rather Christian prudence, as St. Augustine has defined it, ' love making wise distinction between what hinders and what helps itself ' : it is a vivid commentary on the prayer, ' Lead us not into temptation.'
In Jesus' teaching, as in His life, these pruden- tial maxims are always subservient to the ultimate principle of conduct, love's paradox, ' Whosoever will save his life shall lose it, and whosover will lose his life for my sake shall find it' (Mt 16^^ Lk 1733, Jn 12^^). Self-forgetfulness through loving service of God enriches the spirit with life's trea- sures of wisdom and joy. That is the secret hid from the wise and prudent and revealed unto babes (Lk 102»- 21).
Literature. — W. M. Sinclair, The Servant of Christ (1892), 102 ; H. p. Liddon, Sermons on Some Words of Christ (1892), 191 ; S. A. Brooke, The Ship of the Soul (1898), 4 ; D. T. Young, The Crimson Book (1903), 157 ; W. C. E. Newbolt, The Cardinal Virtites (1903), 25. RlCHARD GlAISTER.
PSALMS. — In discussing the relation of Christ to the Psalms, two questions must be kept apart : (1) His use of the Psalter, (2) His presence in the Psalter. Even if we did not know, by direct quotation and indirect allusion, that the Psalter was a favourite book of Christ's, we could have safely inferred as much from His general attitude to the OT. The Psalter, as, on the whole, the simplest and purest expression of tlie devotional life of Israel, must have commended itself pecu- liarly to Christ.
1. The influence of the Psalter upon the mind of Jesus was proliably larger and more profound than His recorded allusions to it, numerous and subtle as they are, would lead us to suppose. There were indeed elements in it which He could not have appropriated — cries for vengeance upon foes (Ps 41" (i»), cf. 6824(23)), oi- of an almost cruel delight at their defeat (18*3(42)^^ q^. sorrowful laments at the prospect of a death in which fellowship with God was believed to be interrupted (6« (^l 39^* <i3) ggii-13 (10-12)) g^^ there were other elements which were well fitted to express, as they may have helped to nourish, His piety. Especially must He have
PSALMS
PSALMS
451
been attracted by those psalms which breathe the spirit of quiet conHdence in God : ' Thou art my God; my times are in thy hand ' (Sl'^f- ('■«•)) ; 'In thy presence is fuhiess of joy' (16") ; 'As for me, I am continually with tliee : thou hast holden my right hand. Thou wilt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory' (73-'*^-). The joy wiucii comes from fellowship with God and from tiie contemplation of His acts in history (95-100), tlie humble and ciuldlike spirit which lifts meek eyes to tiie God who looks down in pity from tlie iieavens (123. 130) — these and other such tempers and aspirations cannot have been without their influence upon the spirit of Jesus. Most Avelcome of all would be those fine interpretations of the character of God scattered throughout the Psalter — as of one wiio is not only Lord of all space and time (90. 1.39), but who is also 'good and ready to forgive anil rich in love to all that call upon him ' (86' 103^), who opens His hand and satisfies the desire of every living thing (145"^), who is father of the fatherless and judge of the widow (68*'^'), who rises up at the oppression of the poor and the sighing of the needy (12^(^*).