strata of tradition, and the embellishments of composition peculiar to the writer without thereby disparaging the main facts of the record.1

3. Childhood and Growth. According to Matthew's gospel, Herod became furiously angered because the Magi did not return to bring him word about the newly born babe of Bethlehem, but went back by another route to their own country in the far East. Advised of his cruel edict for the slaughter of all the children in and about Bethlehem who were less than two years old, Joseph took the child Jesus and his mother into Egypt and remained there until after Herod's death. Then they all returned to Galilee, and dwelt at Nazareth, where Jesus grew up and spent the first thirty years of his life. He became known as "the carpenter's son," and is called "the carpenter, the son of Mary, and brother of James, and Joses, and Judas, and Simon" (Mark vi, 3). Several sisters are also mentioned, from which it appears that Mary became the mother of other children besides Jesus, "her firstborn Son." But the child Jesus early showed his exceptional strength of character and wisdom. When he was twelve years old he went up with his parents to Jerusalem, and amazed the Jewish teachers in the temple by his understanding and the superior wisdom with which he asked and answered questions. But he returned to Nazareth with Joseph and Mary, and was subject unto them as a dutiful child until he was about thirty years of age. It is said of him that, during these years, he "advanced in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men" (Luke ii, 52; comp. 1 Sam. ii, 26).

4. His Baptism and Temptation. When Jesus was about thirty years old he left Nazareth and went to the river Jordan at some

1 A full critical discussion of the questions of "the virgin-birth" is quite beyond the purpose and the limits of this volume. Those interested in these questions are referred to the following literature. Charles Gore: Dissertations on Subjects connected with the Incarnation. Dissertation i, pp. 3-68. London and New York, 1895. Percy Gardner: Exploratio_Evangelica. Chapter xix. London and New York, 1899. James Thomas: Our Records of the Nativity and Modern Historical Research. London, 1900. P. W. Schmiedel, in Encyclopædia Biblica; Article, "Mary.' H. Usener: in same Encyclopædia; Article, "Nativity-Narratives." W. Sanday, in Expository Times, of April, 1903. Alexander Brown, in London Quarterly Review of April, 1903. M. S. Terry, in Methodist Review of November, 1901. T. Allan Hoben, in American Journal of Theology of July and October, 1902, and Bacon, Zenos, Rhees and Warfield in same Journal of January, 1906. C. A. Briggs: The Incarnation of the Lord. Sermon x. New York, 1902. Paul Lobstein: The Virgin Birth of Christ; trans. by V. Leuliette. London, 1903. W. M. Ramsay: Was Christ Born at Bethlehem? London, 1898. Soltau: Birth of Jesus Christ. Eng. trans. London, 1903. G. H. Box: The Gospel Narratives of the Nativity and the Alleged Influence of Heathen Ideas; in Zeitschrift für die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft for 1905, Heft i. R. J. Cooke: The Incarnation and Recent Criticism, New York, 1907.

These brothers and sisters of Jesus might have been children of Joseph by a former marriage, and so many have believed. But if this were the case, it is quite strange, not to say inexplicable, that such a fact is nowhere mentioned or even intimated in the gospels. On the other hand, the mention of Jesus as Mary's "firstborn son" most naturally implies that she had other children born after him.

place in the wilderness of Judæa where John was baptizing. When he presented himself for baptism John hesitated, feeling that he had need rather to be baptized by Jesus; but immediately after the baptism Jesus "saw the heavens rent asunder, and the Spirit as a dove descending upon him; and a voice came out of the heavens, Thou art my beloved Son, in thee I am well pleased" (Mark i, 10, 11). Thereupon he withdrew into the wilderness, and for forty days passed through a severe struggle of temptation over the manner in which he should show himself to be the Son of God. He triumphed over the evil one in that conflict, and "returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee; and a fame went out concerning him through all the region round about. And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified of all" (Luke iv, 14, 15).

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5. His Public Ministry and Death. Soon after his return to Galilee he chose twelve disciples to be intimately associated with him in his ministry, and to witness his mighty works and his teaching. He subsequently appointed seventy others to go out into the various cities and places of the land and to proclaim that the kingdom of God was nigh at hand. The mention of three passovers in the gospel of John (ii, 13; vi, 4; xii, 1) justifies the prevailing belief that the public ministry of Jesus extended over at least three years. These years were filled with the performance of many wonderful works, especially of healing, and with the inculcation of the truths and mysteries of the kingdom which he came to establish in the world. His teaching and his works provoked the bitter opposition of the Jewish leaders of that time, and he was arrested, condemned, and crucified. But his life and work made an indelible impression upon some men in high positions. He was buried in the tomb of a rich man of Arimathea, who had been deeply affected by his teachings, and had secretly become a disciple.

6. A Man Among Men. From all the traditions and records, Jesus appears to have been in every way a man among men. He passed like other children through the period of helpless infancy and dependent childhood. The lowly estate of his parents is inferred from their offering "a pair of turtle-doves, or two young pigeons" on the occasion of the purification (Luke ii, 24), a provision allowed for such as had not sufficient means to offer a lamb (Lev. xii, 8). But the family of Joseph and Mary at Nazareth, though belonging to the class of the poor, do not seem to have

The idea that it was only one year in duration_seems to have arisen from the mention of "the acceptable year of the Lord," in Luke iv, 19, and also from the fact that the first three gospels mention but one passover. But this inference is entitled to no more credit than that of Irenæus from John viii, 57, that Jesus at that time must have been nearly fifty years old.

suffered from poverty, but were in a way to earn for themselves a respectable livelihood. At a subsequent time Jesus said to one who wished to become his disciple: "The foxes have holes, and the birds of the heaven have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head" (Matt. viii, 20). Like other men he was often hungry and thirsty, and he wept and prayed. According to Heb. iv, 15, he was subject to human infirmities and was "in all points tempted like as we are." He spoke of his own trials (Luke xxii, 28). His sense of human limitation was manifest in many ways, and he declared, when speaking prophetically of a great event to come, that he did not know the time when it should come to pass (Mark xiii, 32). The tenderness of his affections appeared when he took little children in his arms, and blessed them. His amazement and sore trouble of soul in Gethsemane, and the words of his prayer that the bitter cup and hour might pass from him, reveal a depth of human emotion that is most remarkable; and his words and agony on the cross show that he was human to the last.

ness.

7. A Man of Transcendent Greatness. But while the evidence is abundant that Jesus of Nazareth was very human and subject to all those feelings of pain, emotion, anxiety, shrinking from trial, and exultation in hope and spiritual comfort, there is even more abundant evidence that he was a man of transcendent greatHis personal influence over those with whom he came in contact was of a most marvelous character; and the fact that to-day, after nearly two millenniums, the name and teachings of Jesus Christ command the reverence of the civilized world, and seem in a fair way to be the most important force in developing the highest possible civilization among all nations, indicates that this remarkable personage is second to no other that has ever appeared among men. This fact is the more astounding when we consider the obscurity of his early life; his associations with the poor and lowly, and his utter lack of friends in high places of influence who dared to show themselves in his favor; also his persistent refusal to court notoriety, or allow his mighty works to be published abroad during his lifetime. The shortness of his public career would seem to have been fatal to a successful introduction of his gospel to the world. Confucius and Buddha lived nearly half a century to formulate and propagate their doctrines, but Jesus less than four years. Furthermore, the shame and ignominy of public crucifixion would seem to have gone far to cover up the whole work of his life in reproach and oblivion. But in spite of all these adverse conditions, the teaching of Jesus has gone out into all the earth, and his personality is recognized as the

most adorable of all that have ever been honored as founders of new systems, or as opening a new era in the history of the human

race.1

8. Manner and Matter of his Teaching. This personal superiority of Jesus becomes the more impressive when we observe the remarkable manner and matter of his teaching. His method seems to have been that of simplicity itself, and there is no proof that he ever sought to thrust himself into public notice. Much of his teaching was imparted privately to his chosen disciples. Proverbs and parables and allegories fell from his lips, and were caught up by his hearers and repeated until they formed an extensive body of λóyia, sayings; and these have been incorporated in our written gospels and remain as jewels in the religious literature of the world. So potent and self-evidencing are his statements of truth that they need no arguments to make them more convincing. This fact explains how it was that he "taught as one having authority, and not as the Jewish scribes" (Matt. vii, 29), and the officers of the chief priests and Pharisees were compelled to acknowledge, "Never did man so speak" (John vii, 46). His sermon on the mount, his response to various questions put to him, and the contents of his discourses in John's gospel, though they be there cast in the peculiar style of a disciple writing long afterward, all breathe an authority and a spirituality of thought which have no parallel among the original teachings of men. So commanding is his authority as a teacher of the truth that when upon. any subject it is made clear to us what Jesus said and thought, that testimony is the end of all controversy.

9. His Marvelous Self-Expression. No less marvelous is the calm self-expression of superior authority which often appears in the sayings of this great teacher. He calls himself "the Son of man," and declares that he has power on earth to forgive sins (Luke v, 24; Matt. ix, 6). He assumes an authority in lawgiving above that of Moses (Matt. v, 21-32), and declares that his mis

1 See these facts admirably constructed into an argument for the superior personality of Jesus by Dr. John Young, of Edinburgh, in his work entitled, The Christ of History: An Argument Grounded on the Facts of his Life on Earth. New York, 1866.

2 Harnack notes the fact that there appears nowhere in the first thirty years of Jesus's life any evidence of violent soul-struggles, crises, and storms, and breaking with the past. "Everything seems to pour from him naturally, as though it could not do otherwise, like a spring from the depths of the earth, clear and unchecked in its flow. Where shall we find the man who at the age of thirty can so speak, if he has gone through bitter struggles-struggles of the soul, in which he has ended by burning what he once adored, and by adoring what he burned? Where shall we find the man who has broken with his past, in order to summon others to repentance as well as himself, but who through it all never speaks of his own repentance?" Das Wesen des Christentums, p. 21. Eng. trans. by T. B. Saunders, p. 36. New York, 1901.

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sion is to perfect (inpwoai, complete, fulfill, consummate) the law and the prophets (Matt. v, 17). He assumes to be greater than Solomon, greater than Jonah, greater than the temple, and to be Lord of the sabbath (Matt. xii, 6, 8, 41, 42; Mark ii, 28). And what shall we think or say of one who quietly and calmly employs such self-expression as the following texts contain? "All things have been delivered unto me of my Father: and no man 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. Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Matt. xi, 27, 28; comp. Luke x, 22-24). "Take and eat this bread, and drink of this cup, for these are my body and my blood of the covenant, which is shed for many" (Mark xiv, 22-24; Luke xxii, 19, 20). "Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, ye have not life in yourselves" (John vi, 53). "I am the bread of life" (John vi, 35, 48). "I am the way, and the truth, and the life" (John xiv, 6). "If I be lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men unto myself" (John xii, 32). "Before Abraham was born, I am" (John viii, 58). "I am the resurrection and the life. . . . Whosoever liveth and believeth on me shall never die" (John xi, 25, 26). Such superhuman claims would seem in any other person like the extravaganzas of insanity, but in Jesus Christ they have come to be regarded as perfectly befitting and natural.

10. His Sinlessness. Another quality of this transcendent personality is his sinlessness. All tradition and testimony unite to pronounce him "holy, guileless, undefiled, separated from sinners" (Heb. vii, 26); "in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin" (Heb. iv, 15). He "did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth" (1 Pet. ii, 22); "in him is no sin" (1 John iii, 5); and he "knew no sin” (2 Cor. v, 21). He is spoken of “as a lamb without blemish and without spot" (1 Pet. i, 19), and as "the holy and Righteous One" (Acts iii, 14). Pilate declared to the priests and to the multitudes, "I find no fault in this man" (Luke xxiii, 4), and both he and his wife referred to him as "that righteous man" (Matt. xxvii, 19, 24). Even the demons address him as "the Holy One of God" (Mark i, 24). One of his own most memorable sayings is, "Which of you convinceth me of sin?" From his childhood up to the close of his life he maintained the record of a spotless character, and while assuming authority to forgive the sins of others, he never acknowledged a need of repentance or of remission of sins on his own part. He stands sublimely apart as the one transcendent sinless personality among men.