The Manhood of Christ (3) - All The LORD is near Daily Devotionals for 2024

And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, "He has done all things well."
Mark 7:37

The Manhood of Christ (3)
See Him in the Garden of Gethsemane. There, He kneels in the profound depths of a humility which none but Himself could exhibit; but yet, before the traitor's band, He exhibits a self-possession and majesty which cause them to go backward and fall to the ground. His deportment before God is prostration; before His judges and accusers, unbending dignity. All is perfect. The self-emptiness and the self-possession, the prostration and the dignity, all are divine.

So also, when we contemplate the beauteous combination of His divine and human relations, the same perfectness is observable. He could say, "Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father's business?" And, at the same time, He could go down to Nazareth, and there set an example of perfect subjection to parental authority (Lk. 2:49-51). He could say to His mother, "Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me?" And yet, when passing through the unutterable agony of the cross, He could commit that mother to the care of the beloved disciple.

In all these things, it is needless to say, He stands in marked contrast with His most honored and devoted servants. For example, Moses, though "the meekest man in all the earth," yet "spoke unadvisedly with his lips." In Peter, we find a zeal and an energy which, at times, proved too much for the occasion; and, again, a cowardice which shrank from the place of testimony and reproach. In Paul, the most devoted of servants, we observe considerable unevenness. He uttered words to the high priest which he had to recall. He sent a letter to the Corinthians, of which at first he repented, and afterwards repented not. In all, we find some flaw, save in Him who is the fairest among ten thousand, and altogether lovely.

C. H. Mackintosh