THE life of Christ Jesus is an open book, and he who fails to comprehend in some measure its divine message may be accounted ignorant, even though he be considered wise in the knowledge of this world,—a wisdom which is described by Paul as "foolishness with God." Jesus "spake as never man spake," and he proved by his works that his words were true. He revealed things "kept secret from the foundation of the world." He taught his students to speak with "new tongues." His wisdom reflected the divine, causing men to exclaim, "How knoweth this man letters, never having learned?"
If to-day there were no great colleges and universities, no public libraries glutted with books by writers famous and otherwise; if Shakespeare, Milton, Darwin, and Ruskin had never been born; if Homer and Demosthenes, Cicero and Virgil had never voiced or penned their eloquent thoughts, this world would still have a wealth of wisdom so long as the words of Christ Jesus lingered in the minds of men. Although there are not many homes where the words and works of Christ Jesus, as portrayed in the Gospels, are not to be found, still there are comparatively few people who have had a desire for a thorough course of instruction in the school of Christ, Truth. How pure is the thought of this great Teacher; how simple and practical his teachings; how strong his denunciations; how lofty his ideals! As eloquent as is the Sermon on the Mount, as beautiful as his imagery is acknowledged to be, as strong as are his philippics, and as morally beneficial and uplifting as his teachings are recognized to be, still the deplorable fact remains that thousands of college-bred men and women have spent little or no time at the feet of this most able of teachers, this prince of preachers, this master of logicians, this most efficient demonstrator of the truth he proclaimed,— the man Christ Jesus.
No two persons regard another individual in exactly the same light, hence the disparity of views and the variety of opinions regarding Christ Jesus, his words and works. And all this, simply because material eyes have failed to perceive the divine idea. They have failed to recognize the real man, "the only begotten of the Father," the "image and likeness" of God, the one born "not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." Mortal man's inability to discern in Jesus the Christ "the Son of God," gave them a material sense of the Saviour,—and of God. Nowhere in the Bible are we taught that the physical personality known as Jesus was the Christ. The Scriptures plainly state that Christ "was manifested to take away our sins." By thus "putting on" the appearance of a mortal man, Christ Jesus was able to accomplish for mankind what seemed to be impossible in any other way. Christ, manifested in Jesus, was the truth of being illustrated,—brought down to the comprehension of men. In him divine Life, Truth, and Love were sufficiently reflected to cause the ills of mortals to flee away, demonstrating the great truth that God is not afar off, but "a very present help in trouble."
