spoke both of himself and of them, not unnaturally prompted this blunt yet pertinent Inquiry. I. 'l'rm QUESTION, The spirit in which this inquiry is urged makes all the difference as to the light in which it must be regarded. 1. It may be a spirit of mere Idle curiosity. 2. It may be a spirit of historical inquiry, such as on the part of one for the first time brought into cont~ct with Jesus would be becoming. 3. It may be prompted by perplexity and doubt. Many in our own da_y have listened first to one and then to another explanation of our Lord's nature and mission, until their mind~ have been utterly bewildered, and they know not what to think of him. It is well that such disturbed souls should rep,.ir to the Lord himself, and, neglecting all that men say of him, should seriously and earnestly put to him the question, "Who art thou?" 4. Some put this question for the satisfaction of their spiritual needs. Quickened from spiritual deadness, and alive to their own inability to save themselves, such earnest inquirers repair to Christ in the hope of finding in him a Divine ~:wiour _and Friend. From their burdened, anxious heart comes the entreaty for a gracious revelation. Not so much to solve a speculative doubt, as to satisfy a practical necessity and inner craving, they come to Jesus with tho imploring cry," Who a.rt thou?" II. THE REPLY OF THE REFLECTING OBSERVER. Inattention, prejudice, malice, may in various ways answer the question proposed; but none of these answers can be deemed worthy of our consideration. But the candid student of Christ's character and life comes to conc,lusions which, though in themselves incomplete and insufficient, are, as far as 'they go, ·credible and reasonable. 1. Jesus is the faultless, blameless Man, the holiest and the meekest of whom human hiGtory bears record. He alone could in conscious innocence make the appeal, "Who of you convicteth me of sin?" 2. Jesus is the perfect Model of benevolence and devotedness to the welfare of others. He " went about doing good;" and his ministry was not only a rebuke to human selfishness, it was an inspiration to self-denying beneficence. Thus much even the student of Jesus' Qharacter, who does not acknowledge his Divinity, will be prepared to concede, and will perhaps be forward to maintain. But the Christian goes further than this. • • III. THE BEPLY OF THE BELIEVING DISCIPLE. Such a one takes the answers which Jesus E\ave in th~ ~ourse.i!f his ministry, as they are recorded by the evangewts, ·and deems our Lord's witnesl! to himself worthy of all acceptation. Thus his reply is that of C)lrist himself.' Proceeding upon this principle, the Christian believes Jesus to be: 1. The Son of God, who, according to his own statements, stood in a relation to the Father altogether unique. 2. The Saviour and Friend of man, who gave his life a ransom for many, dying that men might live in God for ever. 3. The L0rd and Judge of the moral universe, empowered and commissioned to reign until all foes shall be beneath his feet.-T.
Ver. 31.-" My discipl.is." Teaching and learning are the condition alike of the intellectual and of the moral life of humanity. All men who live do both, and good m~n do both well. Of th1;1 sc)lolar of Oxenford, Chaucer says, "And gladly would he learn, and gladly teach." Christianity, being a Divine religion, accepts and adapts itself to this condition of our existence. L TB!il MASTER. Christ was acknowledged to be a Hebrew Rabbi, even a Prophet. Bu.t the enlightened knew him to be the Teacher and the Master of mankind. Witness his ministry, his sermons, his parables, his conversations and discourses. As a Master, he was wise, winning, patient. His vocation of teaching he continues to fulfil throuo-h )iiimari history. He is still and ever teaching men who are prepared to learn from~- -~d those who know him first as Teacher, come to know him &fterwa.rds in the other great mediatorial offices he sustains to man. ··II. THE S0BOLARS. As the Pharisees had their disciples, and as John had his, so the Prophet of Nazareth gathered around him those who were docile and sympathetic, and co=unicated to them his truth, and bestowttd upon them his spirit. Thus the ,t'l'l"elve, •the seventy, learned, of him. Wherever Jesus went, he made disciples: women, ~s _the WOll!-nn of Samaria a.nd Mary of Bethany; ~cbolars, as Nicodemus; persons counted socially inferior, as Zacchreus. After our Lord's ascension, "disciples n became a common designation of Christian people, as much as "saints" or " brethre11." It justly remains such throughout this spirhual dispensatioD. 384 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. JOHN. [ou. vm.1-59,
III. THE I,Es~o:-s. Christ himself has always been hie own chief Lesson, rar greater than any words cnn embody and convey. This appears from his own langnacrc "Leal'n of me," :md from the 11.postolic appeal," Ye have not so learned Christ." Hi; ~haracter and his Word m:e truth. In C½rist his disciples learn (1). to believe ~right regarding Gc>d, man, e~ermty; 11.nd, wha~ 1s even grcate~, (2) to do, viz. to acquire the practical lessons of righteousness, fo1·tltude, and patience, etc. Who has mastered Christ's teaching? Who has thorouo-hly0 learned his lessons? Who has completelv drunk into Lis spirit? •