The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1903-03-09

against pilial self-committal. Augustine.
therefore. was incujc ting true Thought
when he made so much OF the remedial
power OF humility In the incarnate Son.
In the contemplation OF ths Jesus who
was so perfectly submitted 10 the Will or
the Father, whose obedience covered the
whole interval between Heavenly glory
and the deep shadows OF ths cross,
false pride receives the most enectual an
tidote. To be in the company OF Jesus
Is 70 dwell I'm the atmosphare or the
tri.est faith. Very htly can He demand
faith. for in q grand sehse He Is the giver
o; faith. Its author and pcrfsctor. as He
is styled In the epistle 10 the Hebrews.
s. A further lesson In this discourse OF
Jesus In In the drectiDh OF profound
emphasis on the value Of His dcAth. NO
formal mention, indeed. is made or the
death, but n receives virtual mention
in the words: THE bread which ! VIII
give is my flesh. for the life of ;hc
world The future tense I'm this dec
lsrat,on must be regarded as pointing
forward to the sacrihcisl orerirg upon
the cross Essentially tire same mean
ing meets us here as that contained In
the words with which the forerunner is
said TO have accosted Jesus: Behold.
the Lamb Of God which tsketh away the
sin OF the world Ii is the same mean
ing also az that expressed in the mem
orable sentence Of the Johannine epistle:
He is the Precipitation for our sins: and
not for ours only, but also for the whole
world"
We are apprized. therefore, by this item
In the Capernsum discourse that the full
benefit which Jesus came 70 bring TO men
was realized, and was expected 20 be
realized. only through His death. Only
as the Lamb of God, offered up in the
supreme ordeal OF death. was He 10 be-
come In the fullest sense the life giving
bread for the world
But does this imply that the life ~
Christ afforded no spiritual sustenance.
or that there is any propriety In suppos-
ing broad contrast between the life and
the death as though entirely different
orders OF virtue belonged 10 the twop We
are far from believing any such thing II
is possible profoundly 10 emphasize the
death Of Christ. and At the same time TO
place a high valuation upon His life and
70 refuse 70 interpose any real chasm be-
tween them as respects their intrinsic
virtue
LIFE AND DEATH OF CHRIST.
Two things in particular disincline US
10 separate broadly between the life and
essential office. In the first place the
authority OF his fourth Gospel stands
I'm the way OF such disjunction. II II
makes n place for the thought OF a prof.
tiatory death, IL makes no less a place
for the thought of revelation In and
through the person. word and deeds OF
Christ and to this revelation . saving
efficacy II ascribed. The incarnate Son.
IL teaches, makes manifest and glorifys
the invisible Father. He imparts the
truth which sanctifies and makes free.
His words have a cleansing power:
they are spirit and life: they are words
Of eternal life. BY obedience 10 His
words the disciple abides in Him and de-
rives the nourishment which In ever
ready to flow from the vine into the
branches. Thus q great and pervasive
emphasis In given to the thought Of the
saving efficacy which pertains to Christ
as the manifestation Of truth. As the
life Of Christ was very largely the me
dunn Of this manifestation IL Of course
follows that the life holds an important
rank in the Johannine conception OF
Christ's saving offace. It is not crowded
out or pushed aside by the important
ONCE assigned to the death.
In the second place We consider our
selves forbidden by rational grounds TO
separate broadly between the life and the
death OF Christ. Surely we do not care
10 view His death as a mere physical
event Taken In that sense what special
worth could II have for the moral king
dom? Neither do we care TO view the
y ~
would be as much as saying that II In
closes no rational meaning. and who
wants to think OF the recall OF the race
as being hinged on piece Of Opaque
and arbitrary magic? But n the death
Of Christ y not to be placed under the
ca tegory OF merely physical or magical
event, what remains except to regard II
as a great ethical deed7 And where
shall we find tho ethical quality? Can
t,,-I tp n1ht AIg0 Nan hA yivu
self sacrifice and holy obedience which
were manifested In the garden and upon
the cross?
LOFTY ETHICAL VALUES.
But these lofty ethical values Of low
ing self sacrifice and holy obedience per-
tanned to the whole life OF Christ. II
appears. therefore, that no chasm n to
be interposed between the life and the
death rather the death Is TO be regarded
as the crowning expression Of the ethical
value which ran through the whole life.
The life was a manifestation OF love: the
life was a protest against sin: the life
was a tribute TO righteousness: the life
I'm it's unswervinR obedience to the will
OF the heavenly Father was a continuous
sacrifice to God, The death gathered up.
vocalized and powerfully expressed this
meaning Of the life.
niacance and worth; II was the crown
and consumma tion of the same. So Paul
viewed II when he spoke Of the pre-
existent son exchanging the divine form
for that of servant and becoming obe-
dent even unto death. yea the death OF
the cross. The same ethical quality ex-
tends through the whole unique course
from the incarnation TO the cross.
The New Testament writers ma gnihed
the communicating stage, and were jusu-
fed In doing: for at that stage the
meaning OF the whole comes 10 most
vivid and heart subduing expression We
shall not he AZ fault In following the
New Testament example; but while we
magnify the virtue OF Christ's death let
us not feel under any compulsion to iso-'
late II AZ respects value and significance
from His life.
THE PRE-EMTNENT LESSON.
4 II remains 20 state what has been
irtimated at one point or another, name
", the pre-eminent lesson OF the Caper-