Ver. 6.-" Ecce Homo I" Observe the spirit In which Pilate uttered these words. We discern in them pity for Jesus, whose character was innocent, whose position was sad and grievous, whose attitude was one of calm and patient endurance. Contempt mingled with pity-contempt for a fanatic who deemed himself possessor of the trnth, and for a prisoner who held himself to be a King. In the governor's mind was perplexity as to how he should deal with the accused, in whom he felt was something mysterious and unaccountable. Towards the Jews l'ilate felt a sentiment of disgu..e, for he read their motives and despised their malice, even though he knew not how, without danger to himself, to protect his prisoner from his foes. Observe, too, the spirit in which the Jewish rulers and multitude heard these words. They were unt<Yuched by the pathos of his position and demeanour, by the Divine dignity of his character, by the appeal of Pilate to their compassion, by any concern for themselves and their posterity as to the consequences of their injustice and malevolence. The same Jesus who was exhibited by Pilate to the people of Jerusalem is set before us who hear his gosl)el, and these words which the Roman governor employed before the Praitorinm are addressed to all to whom the Word is preached : "Behold the_ Man I n I. WHOM DO WE BEHOLD? 1. The Man whom God sent into this world-his Repre- sentative and Herald, his Anointed One, his only Son. 2. The Man whom, as a matter of history, the Jews, in their infatuation, rejected. 3. The Man whom his own disciples forsook in the hour of his distress. 4. 'l'he Ma.n whom the Romans, unconscious instruments of a Divine purpose, crucified and slew. 6. The Man who was destined, as events have shown, to rule and bless the world where he met with a treatment so undeserved, Reading the Gospels as ordinary narratives, gazing upon the fi,,"'lll'e of the Nazarene as a great figure in huma.n history, we see thus much. But as Christians we are not satisfied to behold him thus. We see in him what the lessons of inspiration and of experience have taught us to see, a.nd what we wish the world to see for its own enlightenment and salvation. IL WHAT DO WE BEHOLD IN llDl? The Man: more tha.n meets the eye, the ear, far more than Pilate understood by the words he used. We behold: 1. The faultless Man. He alone of all who have appeared on earth claims sinlessness, and is admitted to have been without a stain. 1n his character he fulfilled the law of holiness. 2. The benevolent, self-sacrificing Man. Not only was he without sin; in him was exempli- fied every active, self-denying virtue. He lived and died for others-for the race whose nature he assumed, 3. The Man, the Mediator, bringing about reconciliation between heaven and earth, introducing the Divine grace and the Divine life into human hearts. 4. Thus the ideal Man, and the Head and Founder of the new humanity. Wonderful is the correspondence between Christ and man as he first proceeded from the plastic h11.nd of the Eternal, between Christ and man as he shall be presented at the last before the Author of his being and his salvation. III. How SHOULD WE BEHOLD HI'ld? 1. With sincere interest and concern. Well may the world be asked concerning Christ, " Is it nothing to rou, all ye that pa.."8 by? n etc. 2. With admiration and reverence. The hero-worshipper has often been dis- appointed in the object of his adoration, in whom he has discovered unsuspected ilaws. But the longer we gaze at :Jesus, the brighter grows his _glo~y, the more harmonious his perfections. 3. With gratitude and love. To behold him 1s to remember what he has done what he has suffered for us, is to cherish towards him those feelings to which in the e'ame rnea,ure no other has a claim. 4. ,vith faith and trust, dispositions of the IOU! which fiud in him their supreme Object. 5. With consecration and obedience. H@ 442 'l'IIE GOSPEL AOOORDING TO ST. JOHN. [on. ux. 1-41!.
who find~ it hard to 11erve God is bidden to behold his Saviour AB he stood orowned with thorns before bis murdere111: there is no 1110h rebuke to selfishness and wilfulness no ~uch motive to devotion and self-denial. 6. With the hope of beholding him ~ore nearly and fur ever, not in lowlineBB end shame, but in beauty tre.neoendent, tn glory eternal.-T.