who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly of heart, and you shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."1 The extraordinary gentleness of these words is equalled only by their incredible assurance. We cannot and ought not to go beyond them. We can think no differently of Jesus from what he has thought of himself, and what he thought we know only in part. Let us accept this ignorance. God has not permitted that we should know more of him, and very daring are the constructors of dogmatic theory who build upon a basis so insufficient. They must be reminded of this saying, “No one knows the Son but the Father, and no one knows the Father but the Son and he to whom the Son will reveal him." Then, no one comprehends God except Jesus, and he who believes in him and finds God by him; and as to the Son himself, no one knows him but the Father. Thus, the nearer we live to Jesus Christ, the nearer we live to God. Let us not ask more, and, 1 Matt. xi. 28, 29, 30. in the name of this saying, let us not hesitate to call them too daring who formulate and make precise statements. It was the great error of the fourth century to have forgotten this passage. Jesus was the Son of God, but he seems never to have conceived the idea that he might be an incarnation of God. The Jews calumniated him when they insisted that he made himself equal to God,2 and it is certain that these expressions applied to his death-the blood of God, the death of God-would have horrified him. He was less than his Father; the Father had not revealed all things to him. If he was Son of God in a special sense, he was that as all men are or may become his sons.5 We cannot go further without entering the domain of dogmatics, and we abide by the expression"divine sonship." Already during the eighteen years of his preparation at 3 1 Matt. xix. 17; Mark x. 18; Luke xviii. 19. 4 Mark xiii. 31. 5 Matt. v. 9, 45; Luke vi. 35, xx. 36; John i. 12, 13, x. 34, 35. Cf. Acts xvii. 28, 29; Rom. viii. 14, 19, 21, ix. 26; 2 Cor. vi. 18; Gal. iii. 26, and in the Old Testament, Deut. xiv. 1; Wisdom ii. 13, 18. All who are raised from the dead will be sons of God, Luke xx. 36. Nazareth it was in his consciousness of being the Son of God that Jesus found the strength and joy of his heart, and because he felt himself to be the Son of God he was convinced that he was the bringer of a new covenant. It was because he felt himself to be the Son of God that in the days of the temptation he transformed the notion of the Messiah and that of the preparation for the Messianic kingdom; and upon this divine sonship, as we have shown, he built the idea of salvation. He was the Son of God in a special sense, for he said my Father, your Father, but never our Father in common with his disciples. He separated himself from the rest of humanity; but this was only an appearance, for his purpose was to raise humanity up to himself, to create among men and within them that normal relation to God which sin had destroyed. To this end he preached the Father, he revealed the Father, he desired that humanity should know God as Father. He felt that he must awaken the sentiment of divine sonship; then the kingdom would come. CHAPTER XIV THE REQUIREMENTS OF JESUS To study the names which Jesus took is still not enough. At the moment at which we have arrived, at the hour when he was going up to Jerusalem, where his approaching death loomed up before him, we must understand the words which he spoke about himself. These words are of so imperative a nature that any elucidation, any development, can only weaken their import. They are such as were never before heard, and their character is absolute. Men must follow him, love him, serve him, believe in him, and give themselves to him, because he first gave himself, and because he brings to us not a new doctrine but a person, his own. Men must live only for him, love only him, prefer no other being to him.1 1 Matt. x. 37-39, xvi. 24, 25; Luke ix. 23-25, xiv. 26, 27; John xii. 26. The replies which he gave to those who desired to follow him are equally distinct and uncompromising.1 Where the question is of himself, what one owes to him, what his disciples are bound to do for his sake, he refuses all half-way measures and approximations. He asks for all; he will have all. Renunciation must be complete,2 all that one has, without restriction. One must flee from all that binds him to earth; and his illustrations are frightfully strong, one must cut off the hand, pluck out the eye, which cause him to fall into sin.3 One may take upon himself to renounce marriage, but this he does not absolutely ask.4 In every case he requires a total renunciation of property, of the family, and the rupture of all ties of blood. His disciples must make no provision for a journey, not a change of clothing, not even a wallet, they are to live upon alms. They must 1 Matt. viii. 21, 22; Luke ix. 59-62. 2 Luke xiv. 33. 3 Matt. xviii. 8, 9; Mark ix. 43 ff. 4 Matt. xix. 10 ff. 5 Luke xviii. 29, 30; Matt. x. 37 ff.; Luke xiv. 26, 27. 6 Matt. x. 8 f.; Mark vi. 8 f.; Luke ix. 3 f., x. 1 f Cf. Midrash Jalkouth sur Deuter. Sur. 824. |