The Fundamentals - 1917: Vol.2

65

Moral Glory of Jesus Christ on His breast, when the mean cloak is opened for a moment, apparently by accident.” SUPERIORITY TO HUMAN JUDGMENT AND INTERCESSION 4. The Gospels exhibit the Lord Jesus as superior to the judgment and the intercession of men. When challenged by the disciples and by enemies, as He often was, Jesus never apologizes, never excuses Himself, never confesses to a mis­ take. When the disciples, terrified by the storm on the lake, awoke Him saying, “Master, carest thou not that we perish?”, He did not vindicate His sleep, nor defend His apparent indif­ ference to their fears. Martha and Mary, each in turn, with profound grief, say, “Lord, if thou hadst been here, my broth­ er had not died.” ' There is not a minister of the gospel the world over who would not in similar circumstances explain or try to explain why he could not at once repair to the house of mourning when summoned thither. But Jesus does not excuse His not being there, nor His delay of two days in the place where He was when the urgent message of the sisters reached Him. In the consciousness of the perfect rectitude of His ways, He only replies, “Thy brother shall rise again.” Peter once tried to admonish Him, saying, “This be far from thee, Lord; this shall not be unto thee.” But Peter had to learn that it was Satan that prompted the admonition. Nor does He recall a word when the Jews rightly inferred from His lan­ guage that He “being man made Himself God” (John 10:30- 36). He pointed out the application of the name Elohim (God) to judges under the theocracy; and yet He irresistibly implies that His title to Divinity is higher than, and distinct in kind from, that of the Jewish magistrates. He thus arrives a second time at the assertion which had given so great offense, by announcing His identity with the Father, which involves His own proper Deity. The Jews understood Him. He did not retract what they accounted blasphemy, and they again sought His life. H e is never mistaken, and never retracts.

Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker