4. His nnxoorldly standard of personal worth. — While drawing a sharp distinction between the two kinds of worth,— the material and the spiritual (Mt 6'®- 2»- 25)^ _ Jesus did not denounce material success, though for Himself He never sought it. What He did denounce was the disposition to take material success as the measure of a man's value (Lk 121^-21). It is a false measure, and He refused to be judged by it Himself, or to apply it in judging any man. Content to be estimated by His soul-qualities. He estimated others by the same test, not by their temporal status or means (Lk 16i»-26, Mk 12^1-4*).
5. His perfect candour in the bestoival of ap- preciation or reproof. — Though disdaining to flatter, Jesus was ever ready to recognize good, even when found in unexpected quarters, as we see in His praise of the faith of the centurion at Capernaum (Mt 8"), and of the oflering of the
poor widow at the Temple (Mk 12''2-4*). Prompt and warm, too, was His approval of the genuine feeling which He found struggling to assert itself in any soul, even when others condemned, as when He threw tiie shield of His graciousness over Zacchi3eus of Jericho (Lk ly'*), the erring woman amid her penitence (7^'*'^*), and Mary of Bethany in the scene of the anointing (Jn 12="'). On the other hand, while benignly charitable towards natural human frailty. He could not suffer the flagrant follies and misdoings that met His eye to pass without remonstrance. The fault - finders who challenged the piety of His disciples because they did not fast (Mt O^^-i^ Lk b^-^^), the illiberal formalists who sought to convert the Sabbath into a dreary bondage (Mk 2-3-28, li^ 1315. 16)^ t^g hard- ened censors who had no mercy on a woman caught in transgression (Jn 8'), the scribes and Pharisees who turned religion into a pretentious show (Mt 2313-35^^ — were made to feel the baseness of the spirit by which they were animated. There was a clear-purposed directness in the intercourse of Jesus with men ; and even the chosen Twelve were not spared when they gave way to presump- tion, intolerance, or jealousy (Mt 16^2. 23^ ^^ 934-36^ Lk 9'''*'^'*)- At the risk of alienating those men. He shrank not from speaking the straight word when their errors or failings called for rebuke.
6. His downrightness in dealing with popidar expectations. — Not even to gain a following would Jesus trifle in the slightest with truth and sin- cerity. When the multitudes, excited by the fame of His deeds, pressed round, expecting Him to take some step which would lift Israel to new heights of glory, instead of playing on their credulity, as for a while He might have done, He struck directly at their sensuous and extravagant hopes, insisting on their deeper needs and the more vital work which had first to be effected in their hearts (Jn 62"''-). With His eye on the moral and spiritual regeneration of men. He made it abundantly plain that He had no reliance on any such political and social revolution as they were looking for, unless it were brought about through a change of character. And when the inevitable reaction came, He let the once eager throng go their way, rather than accept their allegiance on a false understanding of what He was and sought to accomplish (6''°-66).
7. His reverent sobriety amid popular enthusi- asm.— Dazzling as the outbursts of such enthusiasm were, Jesus would never permit Himself to indulge in the luxury of self-gratulation, but, anxious to preserve the purity of His high spiritual aims, He deliberately seized the earliest opportunity of escaping to the mountains or the wilderness for solitary communion with the Father (Mt 142^, Mk 31* &^). Even during the triumphal entry into Jerusalem He detached His mind from the ringing hosannas, and thought of the sins of the nation and the threatening doom (Lk lO'*^) ; and when the ovation was over He withdrew to the quiet of Bethany (Mt 2P''), maintaining His spirit clear and true.
8. His scrupulous honesty with regard to the risks of discipleship. — That none might be misled by too sanguine expectations, Jesus took pains to give warning of the hardship and sacrifice which the adoption of His cause would involve. He told those willing to rally round Him to count the cost (Lk 1428-33), i^Q ][jg prepared for the endurance of privation and the rupture of old ties (Mt 10^', Lk 1(57-62)^ the severities of the world's disfavour (Mt 511), the cross of self-denial (Mt 16-'«, Mk 8^*). Standing on the clear ground of truth. He spoke without evasion or concealment, and shrank from any hovuage that was not founded on a heartfelt sense of His spiritual worth.
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9. His consistent devotion to an unselfish purpose. — The freedom of Jesus from strictly personal aims is ' writ large ' on every page of the Gospel narratives. Even when constrained to assert His higii claim as the bearer of a special Divine com- mission, there is not the slightest trace of His liaving- any end to serve but the will of God and the good of men ; and from that end the world had no bribes by which He couKl be tempted aside (Jn 143").
10. His calm resoluteness in facing the conse- quences of His teaching and ivork. — Though fully alive to the deadly hostility which His teaching and general line of conduct would inevitably arouse, Jesus refused to make His path smoother by any prudential concessions to conventional taste. The i)olicy of concession was urged u[)on Him at various stages, fi'om the Temptation in the wilder- ness to the Agony in Gethsemane, but was always energetically repelled. When Peter at Cfesarea Pliilippi ventured to dissuade Him from carrying His principles to the point of personal danger. He treated the suggestion as a voice from the realm of darkness (Mt 16-^'-). Conscious of a testimony to bear for God to which He could not be untrue, and intent on disseminating ideas which He felt to be essential to the spiritual well - being of humanity, He confronted the malice of priests, Pharisees, and scribes, and amid gathering troubles ' steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem ' (Lk O"'^), where that malice at its fiercest had to be encountered. Knowing that a baptism of suttering awaited Him as the result of the work He had undertaken. He was ' straitened till it should be accomplished' (Lk 12^"), and with serene inflexibility of purpose He moved on towards the tragic climax, and braved the death which had cast its shadow over Him for many a day. See also art. Sincerity.