1. In several respects the self-consciousness which the Gospels show to have been resident in Christ was of a unique kind. (1) We look in vain throughout their records for any indication that He recognizes the common call to repentance as applying to Himself. No utterance that is put into His mouth conveys a hint that the slightest shadow of condemnation ever rested upon His spirit. He speaks as if He felt Himself to be the channel rather than the needj' recipient of grace, as if, in truth. His inner life was as stain- less as it was assumed to have been in Apostolic thought. (2) Again, the self-consciousness of Christ appears to have been of a unique type as including a perfectly clear and marvellously potent sense of sonship towards God. So rounded is the filial ideal which He presents that it is impossible to find a point at which it admits of supplement. Who can imagine a more complete expression of filial trust than that whicii is contained in His jjre- cepts on putting away every anxious care about the stores which the morrow may bring (Mt 6-'^''**|j) ? Who can conceive of filial devotion ascending to a higher stage than was made manifest in the words, ' Not my will, but thine be done ' (Lk 22^'^ ||), spoken in the presence of the most bitter cup of shame and suffering? Who can think of filial intimacy more close and constant than is attested by the whole body of Christ's words and deeds ? In truth, it is impossible to review the record without being struck with the aptness of the Evangelical description which speaks of Him as the ' beloved Son ' (Mt 3" ||) and as dwelling ' in the bosom of the Father' (Jn V% (3) Still fur- ther, a unique order of self-consciousness is dis- closed in the pronounced sense of an extraordinary mediatorial vocation which was characteristic of Christ. ' No man cometh unto the Fatlier but by me ' ( Jn 14®) — that is the strong declaration which the Fourth Gospel places upon His lips ; and a full equivalent is supplied by the other Gospels in such sentences as these : ' The Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many' (Mt 20-^11). ' All things have been delivered unto me of my Father ; and no one knoweth the Son save the Father ; neither doth any know the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son willeth to reveal him ' (Mt IP' II). To what prophet or leader of tlie race beside have we any warrant for imput- ing such a conception of personal vocation ? Surely it must be admitted that in His sense of the prerog- ative and the burden of mediation Christ makes a class by Himself ; He has no Y>eev or companion. (4) Once more, the unique character of Christ's self-consciousness is seen in His extraoi'dinary sense of authority or rightful lordship. While He came not to be ministered unto, He still made it evident that in the depths of His spirit there was an unhesitating affirmation of a pre-eminent royalty. He spoke as one who needed not to accom- modate His words precisely to the instructions of Moses or to any other ancestral standard. He
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claimed an allegiance so unqualified as to reduce to a secondary place the most imperative oljliga- tions enforced by earthly ties. In words which match the significance of the Pauline declaration that in His name every knee shall bow and every tongue confess His lordship (Ph 2'"'), He pictured the gathering of all nations before His throne of judgment, to receive from His lips the merited sentence (Mt 25^^"'- )• Thus in various ways Christ gave expression to a transcendent and marvellous self-consciousness.
2. Almost rivalling the impression which comes from a consideration of the exceptional self-con- sciousness in Christ is that which is properly derived from a contemplation of the union and reconcilia- tion in Him of strongly contrasted traits. (1) He was unique in His combination of meekness with the fullest energy and force of character. With quietness of mind He accepted the yoke of parental and national requirements. He submitted to a consecration rite at the hands of one who declared that he was not worthy to unloose the latchet of His shoe (Jn 1^11). In all His conduct there was no trace of aristocratic superiority ; among all His mighty works no deed that savoured of ostentation. But while He was meek and lowly of heart, He was masterful and commanding, inflexible in pur- pose, remote from weak conciliation, perfectly resolute to march against a perverse generation, to confront its frown, its mockery, and its homi- cidal hatred. (2) Again, Christ exemplified the union of tender compassion for the sinner with sharp intolerance for sin. He was neither moved by the depth of His compassion to make unguarded allowances for the transgressor, nor incited by His intense repulsion against sin to lose the brother in the censor. In dealing with erring souls that had any longing for better things He fulfilled the prophetic picture of one who should not break the bruised reed or quench the smoking flax (Is 42^, cf. Mt 12'^°). At the same time. He showed Himself the absolutely uncompromising enemy of unright- eousness, insisting that it must be excluded from the thoughts as well as from the deeds, and requir- ing that the offending right hand should be cut off and the offending right eye be plucked out (Mt 5^^'-)- Tender as the dew where there was any place for a healing ministry. He was yet sharp and unspar- ing as the lightning against every form of iniquity. (3) In another respect also Christ exhibited a unique ability for reconciling diverse traits. We see in Him a remarkalile union of spirituality with kindly contact with the world. He knew how to be unworldly without being ascetic ; how to throw the weight of emphasis upon the treasure laid up in heaven without pati'onizing any eccentric form of self-denial. He ministered to bodily needs as well as to the needs of the spirit. Herald as He was of the Kingdom of heaven, He yet stood in sympathetic relation with the sensible world, treated it as the workmanship of His Father's hands, and used it as a book of divinity from which to read to His he.arers most beautiful and comforting messages of truth.