Toiling2 up new Calvaries ever with the cross that turns not back.”
All chance of the speedy triumph of the kingdom of God, humanly speaking, in the lake country of Galilee—the battle-field chosen by himself, where his mightiest4[281] works had been done and his mightiest words spoken—the district from which his chosen companions came, and in which clamorous6 crowds had been ready to declare him king—is now over. The conviction that this is so, that he is a baffled leader, in hourly danger of his life, has forced itself on Christ. Before entering that battle-field, face to face with the tempter in the wilderness7, he had deliberately8 rejected all aid from the powers and kingdoms of this world, and now, for the moment, the powers of this world have proved too strong for him.
The rulers of that people—Pharisee, Sadducee, and Herodian, scribe and lawyer—were now marshalled against him in one compact phalanx, throughout all the coasts of Galilee, as well as in Judea.
His disciples9, rough, most of them peasants, full of patriotism10, but with small power of insight or self-control, were melting away from a leader who, while he refused them active service under a patriot11 chief at open war with C?sar and his legions, bewildered them by assuming titles and talking to them in language which they could not understand. They were longing12 for one who would rally them against the Roman oppressor, and give them a chance, at any rate, of winning their own land again, purged13 of the heathen and free from tribute. Such an one would be worth following to the death. But what could they make of this “Son of Man,” who would prove his title to that name by giving his body[282] and pouring out his blood for the life of man—of this “Son of God,” who spoke5 of redeeming14 mankind and exalting15 mankind to God’s right hand, instead of exalting the Jew to the head of mankind?
In the face of such a state of things, to remain in Capernaum, or the neighboring towns and villages, would have been to court death, there, and at once. The truly courageous16 man, you may remind me, is not turned from his path by the fear of death, which is the supreme17 test and touchstone of his courage. True; nor was Christ so turned, even for a moment.
Whatever may have been his hopes in the earlier part of his career, by this time he had no longer a thought that mankind could be redeemed18 without his own perfect and absolute sacrifice and humiliation19. The cup would indeed have to be drunk to the dregs, but not here, nor now. This must be done at Jerusalem, the centre of the national life and the seat of the Roman government. It must be done during the Passover, the national commemoration of sacrifice and deliverance. And so he withdraws, with a handful of disciples, and even they still wayward, half-hearted, doubting, from the constant stress of a battle which has turned against him. From this time he keeps away from the great centres of population, except when, on two occasions—at the Feast of Tabernacles and the Feast of the Dedication—he flashes for a day on Jerusalem, and then disappears again into some haunt of outlaws20, or of wild beasts. This portion[283] of his life comprises something less than the last twelve months, from the summer of the second year of his ministry21 till the eve of the last Passover, at Easter, in the third year.
In glancing at the main facts of this period, as we have done in the former ones, we have to note chiefly his intercourse22 with the twelve apostles, and his preparation of them for the end of his own career and the beginning of theirs; his conduct at Jerusalem during those two autumnal and winter feasts, and the occasions when he again comes into collision with the rulers and Pharisees, both at these feasts, and in the intervals23 between them.
The keynote of it, in spite of certain short and beautiful interludes, appears to me to be a sense of loneliness and oppression, caused by the feeling that he has work to do, and words to speak, which those for whom they are to be done and spoken, and whom they are, first of all men, to bless, will either misunderstand or abhor24. Here is all the visible result of his labor25 and of his travail26, and the enemy is gathering27 strength every day.
This becomes clear, I think, at once, when, in the first days after his quitting the lake shores, he asks his disciples the question, “Whom do the world, and whom do ye, say that I am?” He is answered by Peter in the well-known burst of enthusiasm, that, though the people only look on him as a prophet, such as Elijah or Jeremiah, his own chosen followers28 see in him “the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
[284]
It is this particular moment which he selects for telling them distinctly, that Christ will not triumph as they regard triumphing; that he will fall into the power of his enemies, and be humbled29 and slain30 by them. At once the proof comes of how little even the best of his own most intimate friends had caught the spirit of his teaching or of his kingdom. The announcement of his humiliation and death, which none but the most truthful31 and courageous of men would have made at such a moment, leaves them almost as much bewildered as the crowds in the lake cities had been a few days before.
Their hearts are faithful and simple, and upon them, as Peter has testified, the truth has flashed once for all, and there can be no other Saviour32 of men than this man with whom they are living. Still, by what means and to what end the salvation33 shall come, they are scarcely less ignorant than the people who had been in vain seeking from him a sign such as they desired. His own elect “understood not his saying, and it was hid from them, that they perceived it not.” Rather, indeed, they go straight from that teaching to dispute amongst themselves who of them shall be the greatest in that kingdom which they understand so little. And so their Master has to begin again at the beginning of his teaching, and, placing a little child amongst them, to declare that not of such men as they deem themselves, but of such as this child, is the kingdom of heaven.
The episode of the Transfiguration follows; and[285] immediately after it, as though purposely to warn even the three chosen friends who had been present against new delusions34, he repeats again the teaching as to his death and humiliation. And he reiterates35 it whenever any exhibition of power or wisdom seems likely to encourage the frame of mind in the twelve generally which had lately brought the great rebuke36 on Peter. How slowly it did its work, even with the foremost disciples, there are but too many proofs.
Amongst his kinsfolk and the people generally, his mission, thanks to the cabals37 of the rulers and elders, had come by this time to be looked upon with deep distrust and impatience38. “How long dost thou make us to doubt? Go up to this coming feast, and there prove your title before those who know how to judge in such matters,” is the querulous cry of the former as the Feast of Tabernacles approaches. He does not go up publicly with the caravan39, which would have been at this time needlessly to incur40 danger, but, when the feast is half over, suddenly appears in the temple. There he again openly affronts41 the rulers by justifying42 his former acts, and teaching and proclaiming that he who has sent him is true, and is their God.
It is evidently on account of this new proof of daring that the people now again begin to rally around him. “Behold, he speaketh boldly. Do our rulers know that this is Christ?” is the talk which fills the air, and induces[286] the scribes and Pharisees, for the first time, to attempt his arrest by their officers.
The officers return without him, and their masters are, for the moment, powerless before the simple word of him who, as their own servants testify, “speaks as never man spake.” But if they cannot arrest and execute, they may entangle43 him further, and prepare for their day, which is surely and swiftly coming. So they bring to him the woman taken in adultery, and draw from him the discourse44 in which he tells them that the truth will make them free—the truth which he has come to tell them, but which they will not hear, because they are of their father the devil. He ends with asserting his claim to the name which every Jew held sacred, “before Abraham was, I am.” The narrative45 of the seventh and eighth chapters of St. John, which record these scenes at the Feast of Tabernacles, have, I believe, done more to make men courageous and truly manly3 than all the stirring accounts of bold deeds which ever were written elsewhere.
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1
martyr
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| n.烈士，殉难者；vt.杀害，折磨，牺牲 | |
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2
toiling
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| 长时间或辛苦地工作( toil的现在分词 )； 艰难缓慢地移动，跋涉 | |
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3
manly
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| adj.有男子气概的；adv.男子般地，果断地 | |
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4
mightiest
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| adj.趾高气扬( mighty的最高级 )；巨大的；强有力的；浩瀚的 | |
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5
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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6
clamorous
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| adj.吵闹的，喧哗的 | |
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7
wilderness
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| n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠 | |
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8
deliberately
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| adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地 | |
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9
disciples
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| n.信徒( disciple的名词复数 )；门徒；耶稣的信徒；（尤指）耶稣十二门徒之一 | |
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10
patriotism
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| n.爱国精神，爱国心，爱国主义 | |
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patriot
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| n.爱国者，爱国主义者 | |
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12
longing
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| n.（for）渴望 | |
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13
purged
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| 清除（政敌等）( purge的过去式和过去分词 )； 涤除（罪恶等）； 净化（心灵、风气等）； 消除（错事等）的不良影响 | |
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14
redeeming
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| 补偿的，弥补的 | |
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exalting
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| a.令人激动的，令人喜悦的 | |
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courageous
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| adj.勇敢的，有胆量的 | |
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supreme
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| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
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redeemed
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| adj. 可赎回的，可救赎的 动词redeem的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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humiliation
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| n.羞辱 | |
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20
outlaws
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| 歹徒，亡命之徒( outlaw的名词复数 )； 逃犯 | |
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ministry
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| n.(政府的)部；牧师 | |
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intercourse
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| n.性交；交流，交往，交际 | |
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23
intervals
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| n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息 | |
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24
abhor
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| v.憎恶；痛恨 | |
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25
labor
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| n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦 | |
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26
travail
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| n.阵痛；努力 | |
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27
gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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28
followers
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| 追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件 | |
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29
humbled
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| adj. 卑下的，谦逊的，粗陋的 vt. 使 ... 卑下，贬低 | |
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30
slain
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| 杀死，宰杀，杀戮( slay的过去分词 )； (slay的过去分词) | |
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31
truthful
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| adj.真实的，说实话的，诚实的 | |
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32
saviour
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| n.拯救者，救星 | |
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33
salvation
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| n.（尤指基督）救世，超度，拯救，解困 | |
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34
delusions
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| n.欺骗( delusion的名词复数 )；谬见；错觉；妄想 | |
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35
reiterates
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| 反复地说，重申( reiterate的第三人称单数 ) | |
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36
rebuke
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| v.指责，非难，斥责 [反]praise | |
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37
cabals
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| n.（政治）阴谋小集团，（尤指政治上的）阴谋( cabal的名词复数 ) | |
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38
impatience
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| n.不耐烦，急躁 | |
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39
caravan
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| n.大蓬车；活动房屋 | |
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40
incur
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| vt.招致，蒙受，遭遇 | |
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41
affronts
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| n.（当众）侮辱，（故意）冒犯( affront的名词复数 )v.勇敢地面对( affront的第三人称单数 )；相遇 | |
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42
justifying
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| 证明…有理( justify的现在分词 )； 为…辩护； 对…作出解释； 为…辩解（或辩护） | |
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43
entangle
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| vt.缠住，套住；卷入，连累 | |
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44
discourse
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| n.论文，演说；谈话；话语；vi.讲述，著述 | |
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45
narrative
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| n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的 | |
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