CHRIST JESUS is recorded in the Gospel of John as having said to his disciples: "This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends."
It does not seem likely that the Master's reference to laying down one's life for one's friends meant the surrender of so-called physical life, or that it was in that sense a demand for martyrdom. On the contrary, it is altogether probable that Jesus saw the need for his followers to sacrifice a material sense of life—the selfish pleasures of corporeality—if they would be of greatest service to their fellow men. He was pointing out to them that the greatest measure of service to others is to be expected from those who are ready to give up self-ease and a merely material sense of comfort and security. He was trying to help them see more clearly that worldliness and materiality are not conducive to progress along the path of true service.
No one had a greater understanding of the allness of Spirit and the consequent nothingness of that which is unspiritual than did the Nazarene. However, it is not conceivable that he lacked anything humanly necessary to his well-being. True, he said at one time, "The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head." This may have referred to the fact that during his active ministry he had no permanent place of residence. It is not to be supposed that Jesus was ever without food and shelter.
