traveller by the well of Samaria, hungry and athirst, He said, "My meat is to do the will of Him that sent me, and to fulfil his work." When his disciples were disputing, not about who of them should be servant, but who should be the greatest master, He mildly reproved them, saying, "Whosoever would be great among you shall be your minister, and whoever of you will be chiefest shall be least of all and servant of all." "For," adds He, (and can we conceive a stronger motive to humble obedience?) "the Son of Man is come not to be served, but to serve, and to give (not his labour merely but) his life a ransom for many." And what was his highest consolation in leaving the world, but to be able to say with his expiring breath, "It is finished?" "Father, I have glorified thee on the earth, I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do." Never can condescension sink lower than this. Though the Holy One of Israel-the wonderful Counsellor, the mighty God, He veils his high glories and is not ashamed to be called-nay to be a servant, and that not in the likeness of cherubim or seraphim, but in the likeness of men; He is found in fashion, not as an angel or archangel, but as a poor, mean, frail, dying man. Though He was in the form of God and equal with God, He takes upon Him the form of a servant, and yields not a common-place obedience, but becomes obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. This is a sight which (with reverence be it spoken,) seems to call forth the admiring astonishment of the Eternal Father himself, for again and again does He in his Word earnestly invite us to behold it. "Behold, I bring forth my servant, the Branch! Behold my servant whom I uphold; mine elect in whom my soul delighteth. Behold my servant, who will deal prudently!" This expression may refer generally to the fidelity with which He discharged all the functions of his mediatorial office; for, according to the idea of the ancients, prudence included in it all the virtues,and He could say of Himself, "I do always the things which please my father." His every word and action showed how bent He was on the service assigned Him -a haughty disobedient thought never crossed his faithful and devoted mind. But the word prudence seems to point more specially to the wisdom and discretion of his public conduct in the very difficult circumstances in which He was placed. And then this passage will be parallel to one in the eleventh chapter of this prophecy, where it is said of the Branch that was to grow out of the stem of Jesse, that the Spirit of Jehovah should rest upon Him,-the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord; and should make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord, so that he would not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears-i. e., not rashly nor unadvisedly -not after the manner of men, according to outward appearances, but prudently. Reflect on the circumstances in which He found himself placed when he began his public ministry, and you will see how much he required in order to the successful prosecution of his work, to combine the wisdom of the serpent with the harmlessness of the dove. His countrymen were in a condition the most degraded,―galled by the yoke of the Romans, yet smothering their discontent under the guise of a willing subjection. The rich oppressed the poor, the poor were exasperated against the rich. As for religion it had almost disappeared either in Sadducean infidelity and licentiousness, or under the no less desolating influence of Pharisaic hypocrisy; while even the great mass of those who looked for redemption, limited their views to the expectation of a temporal deliverer. Yet amid all the difficulties and dangers of his position, Jesus of Nazareth delivered his discourses-wrought his miracles—and performed all the other duties of his high enterprise with consummate prudence, as the elect apostle-the chosen missionary of Jehovah. The writers of his life present Him before us under every variety and combination of circumstances, and He appears equally admirable in all. In every scene of apparent perplexity we recognise in Him the same prudence and propriety of deportment, the same holy meekness of wisdom and spotless purity of heart. Let us select a few instances. His enemies, who were ever on the alert to entangle him, bring before Him a woman taken in adultery, and the ensnaring question put to Him is, whether the law of Moses should be broken, or the unhappy criminal be stoned to death? It was no easy matter to come to a decision which would be followed by no unpleasant consequences. He at first endeavoured to evade the inquiry, knowing that their sole object was to gather from his answer some ground of accusation. But when they persisted in pressing the question, He answered, "He that is without sin among you let him first cast a stone at her." And they which heard it went away one by one, beginning with the eldest, Ꭰ (their own heavy-burdened consciences first convicting them,) even to the last or youngest of the company. There was the servant of Jehovah dealing prudently. Upon another occasion, the Pharisees tempting Him, asked, "What thinkest thou? Is it lawful to give tribute to Cæsar or not?" The malicious craft of the question lay in this, that if He had replied in the affirmative, they would have roused against Him the passions of the common people, as against one who was an enemy of their liberties and an abettor of that foreign oppression under which they groaned. If, on the other hand, He had denied the lawfulness of paying tribute to the Roman Emperor, they would immediately have delivered Him up to the civil power, that He might die the death of a rebel. But pointing out to them the image and superscription of Cæsar on the current coin of the country, He silenced them with the admirable injunction so full of the spirit of wisdom, "Render unto Cæsar the things that are Cæsar's, and unto God the things that are God's." There was the servant of Jehovah dealing prudently. Once more they come to Him again, and, prompted by a similar motive, ask, "By what authority doest thou these things? And Jesus answering, said, The baptism of John, whence was it?-from Heaven or of men? And they reasoned among themselves, saying—If we shall say from heaven, He will say, Why did ye not then believe on him? But if we say, of men, we shall offend the people, for all men hold John as a prophet. And they answered, We cannot tell. And He answered, Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things." It was the servant of Jehovah dealing prudently. The fame of Solomon was spread far and wide for his wise and understand ing heart, but behold a greater, a wiser than Solomon is here! Never had pilot to steer his bark across a sea so dark and tempestuous, but He failed not nor was discouraged until his great task was happily accomplished. And in this respect, therefore, we say Jesus Christ stands forth to our admiring view, holy, harmless, undefiled, and in this point, as in every other, separate from sinners, in that He abounded in all wisdom and prudence. And the same striking feature so necessary to the perfection of his character as our teacher and advocate, still continues to mark his dealings with the people of his love. In all the dispensations of his providence, and in all the operations of his grace in the gifts He bestows as well as in those He withholds-in the allotment of their respective labours, and sufferings, and trials, the servant of Jehovah ever deals prudently,-instructing them as they are able to bear it, accommodating the nature of his lessons and the peculiarities of his discipline, and the supplies of his grace, to the special wants and weaknesses of his children. The Lord his God having given Him the tongue of the learned, He knows how to speak a word in season to him that is weary,—and thus, in the comprehensive language of the apostle, "Christ is all in all:" or as an old Christian poet hath sweetly sung, He is a path, if any be misled, He is a robe, if any naked be, If any chance to hunger, He is bread, To dead men life He is to sick men health, To blind men sight, and to the needy wealth; A pleasure without loss, a treasure without stealth. |