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"WE WOULD SEE JESUS"

BY

DAVID JAMES BURRELL
Minister to the Marble Collegiate Church

AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY
Park Avenue and Fortieth Street
New York

Copyright, 1914, by
American Tract Society.

This Little Book is Dedicated
To My Friend.

CONTENTS PAGE
I. Why Would We See Him ?  7
II. Where Can He Be Found?  10
III. Who Is He?  16
IV. What Shall the Doubter Do?  23
V. Will You Look at This Singular Man?  30
VI. Can Our Eyes Be Opened ?  37
VII. How Peter Saw Him  '44
VIII. How John Saw Him  52
IX. How Paul Saw Him  -59
X. How Pilate Saw Him  66
XI. Look Around You  72
XII. See Him at Your Door  80
Conclusion  86
Afterword  , ,  87

I.
WHY WOULD WE SEE HIM?
It is related that a company of Greeks who had come up to
Jerusalem to attend one of the annual feasts, hearing much
about Jesus the prophet of Nazareth, resolved to verify for
themselves the current rumors concerning his wonderful words
and works. They accordingly spoke to Philip, one of the dis
ciples, saying, "Sir, we would see Jesus." These men ought
to interest us, because they were, in a way, relatives of ours.
It was not strange that the Jews wanted to see Jesus, since
their Oracles were full of him ; but these Greeks were Gen
tiles, belonging to the great body of outsiders who were
regarded as having neither part nor lot in the Messianic
heritage. Nevertheless when they heard of Jesus they wanted
to see him.
In truth, everybody would like to see Jesus. The deepest
longing of the average man is to solve certain questions that
revolve about him. If he were to come to our city to-day
what a turnout of the people there would be — old and young,
rich and poor, thronging the thoroughfares to catch a glimpse
of him! How shall we account for this universal desire to see Jesus ?
To make it more distinctly personal, why are you, my friend,
eager to see him?
Well, to begin with, because he is the most talked-about of
all the distinguished personages who have ever lived in this
world of ours. His' name is exploited everywhere. And this
is the more remarkable when we remember that he lived in a
remote corner of the earth and died above eighteen hundred
years ago. How many times have you heard the name of Plato
mentioned in the last twelve months, or that of Marcus Aure-
z

8 "we would see jesus"
lius, or Epictetus, or Sakya Muni, or any other of the great
teachers whom the nations honored in their day?
The influence of Jesus confronts us everywhere. Go into
an art gallery and look around you. Here is a picture of the
Annunciation, and there of the Immaculate Conception, and
yonder of the Nativity, the Crucifixion or the Resurrection. Go
into any library and read the titles of the books ; observe how
many of them have to do with his life, his teachings, his mir
acles, his atonement, his influence on the welfare of men and
nations. Go into the universities and ask what studies are
being pursued, and you will find the history, philosophy, sociol
ogy, political economy, all centering on him. Go into the pub
lic schools in most places, and observe how the attention of the
children is directed to him. In some of our New York schools
the teachers are not permitted to mention Christ, the only dis
cernible reason being that there are eight hundred thousand
Jews in this city and they control a formidable number of
votes. This is a singular discrimination, when one reflects
upon it. There is no such ban on the names of Plato or Aris
totle, Caesar, Alexander or the Duke of Wellington, Kaiser
Wilhelm, or even Abdul Hamid. Why then on the solitary
name of Jesus? Can it be because there is reason to fear that
some of the little people might come to believe in him? In
any case, the interdict itself is a tremendous tribute to the in
fluence which Christ wields in the world to-day.
Another reason why everybody wants to see Jesus is be
cause he has divided the world in two.
As it was in England in the time of the Stuarts, when
the people sharply separated into two parties — "Jacobites," or
such as were attached to the cause of the Pretender James III.,
and such as were opposed to him — so is the population of the
civilized world to-day divided into Christians or friends of
Jesus, on the one hand, and non-Christians on the other. Half
the world believes him to be the Messiah, 'as he claimed, and
the other half denies it.
Line up, my friend ! You are with one party or the other ;
and it behooves you as a thoughtful man to be able to give
a reason for being where you are.
Still another reason why everybody wants to see Jesus is

WHY WOULD WE SEE HIM t 9
because everybody knows that he needs him or somebody just
like him.
You and I need a prophet or teacher who is able to advise
us as to the problems of the spiritual life; we need a priest
who is able to atone for our sins ; and we need a king to con
trol and direct us. Here is One who claims to be Prophet and
Priest and King; and there are some hundreds of millions of
people in the world who have thus received him. It is natural
that you should want to see him in order to discover whether
or no he is what he claims to be.

II
WHERE CAN HE BE FOUND?
To begin with, in the Bible. Here is where the chancellor
of Queen Candace found him. It was on the desert road lead
ing down to Gaza that, sitting in his chariot, he was reading
from the prophecy of Isaiah: "Who hath believed our mes
sage and to whom hath the arm of Jehovah been revealed?
For he grew up before him as a tender plant, and as a root
out of a dry ground; he hath no form nor comeliness; and
when we see him there is no beauty that we should desire him.
He was despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and
acquainted with grief ; and as one from whom men hide their
face, he was despised; and we esteemed him not." As the man
went on reading he was joined by Philip the Evangelist, who
explained to him that Isaiah referred to Jesus of Nazareth,
who had come into the world to suffer and die for our salva
tion. And then and there, seeing Jesus, he accepted him.
The Old Testament is full of him. He walks through it
from Genesis to Malachi. He appears under many guises and
many names: the Seed of Woman, the Messiah, the Son of
David, Immanuel, the Redeemer, the Counselor, the Man of
Sorrows, Jehovah, the Angel of the Covenant, the King of
Kings, the Rose of Sharon, the Lawgiver, the Avenger, the
Prince of Peace, the Lamb of God.
And the New Testament contains nothing but him. The
four Gospels are biographies of Jesus written from different
standpoints by four of his familiar friends. The Acts of the
Apostles is the record of the beginning of his influence in
history after his death. The Epistles are formulations of his
teaching ; and the book of Revelation is a prophecy of events
10

WHERE CAN HE BE FOUND? II
leading on to his final advent when the whole world shall bow
before him.
It is a singular thing, nevertheless, that some people read
the Bible and do not see Jesus. Once on a time-there were two
disciples who walked seven miles with him along a country
road and yet did not recognize him ; and the reason given is,
"Their eyes were holden that they should know him not."
In like manner one may read his Bible with eyes holden, and
not discover Christ at all. But there he is, looking out from
every page : and the man whose eyes are open, the sincere and
unprejudiced seeker for truth, will have no difficulty in finding
him. Or, failing there, suppose we search for him in the newspa
pers. Look at some of the headlines, for example : "THE
SUBLIME PORTE IN TROUBLE."
What does that mean? Not only that the unspeakable
Turk is trembling on his throne, but also that his unspeakable
superstition is passing. The Crescent is on the wane. Thus
all false religions are doomed by the fatal logic of events. The
path of history is lined with the graveyards of so-called re
ligions. The paganism of the Pantheon, the philosophies of
Greece, Zoroastrianism, the gods of Walhalla, Confucianism,
Brahmanism, Buddhism, all alike are dead or moribund. Islam
alone survives ; the religion of the sword, the slave-pen and the
harem. Who now is shaking the pillars of the Sublime Porte?
Who drove Abdul Hamid from his throne? The Christ of
progress, who by the spreading light of the Evangel has been
dissipating darkness all along the centuries and is now invad
ing the last strongholds of the shadow of death!
The next headline reads: "WOMEN DEMAND THE
BALLOT."
Whether the demand is just or not we do not here presume
to say. The question is : How have women come into a posi
tion where they can demand anything? Was this possible be
fore the beginning of the Christian era? Were the women
who looked forth from behind the lattices of the Orient able
to demand anything from their lords and masters? Did an
cient Egypt or Assyria have any "suffragettes"? What has
wrought this stupendous change in the relation of women to

12 WE WOULD SEE JESUS
the social fabric? This fact and this only: "The God of all
good Christians was of a woman born." By the cumulative
power of his influence he has so exalted womanhood that the
very names of wife and mother and sister are revered among
all the children of men.
Take another of the headlines : "CAR-DRIVERS ON A
STRIKE." To pass judgment on the merits of this or any other phase
of the industrial problems is not germane to the matter in
hand. The question is : How have the laboring classes come
into such independence that they can demand an increase of
wages or anything else? Did the men who drove the bullock-
carts in Babylon three thousand years ago ever think of strik
ing for higher wages? If not, why not? Because they were
abject slaves. Who liberated them ? Jesus the carpenter, who
dignified labor for evermore by taking part in it ; Jesus the
carpenter, who pronounced that great manifesto which in the
process of the years has introduced the wage-^system through
out the civilized world: "The laborer is worthy of his hire!"
One more headline : "THE CORNER IN WHEAT BRO
KEN."
It appears that the broker who organized this particular
"corner" has been driven into hiding by popular indignation.
What is back of this ? The Egyptians and the Assyrians had
corners in wheat, and who cared? But many things have
happened since then, and chief and foremost among these hap
penings is the promulgation of Christ's Golden Rule, "As ye
would that men should do to you, do ye also to them like
wise." It is obvious from such happenings as these that the world
has been moving. Has it been moving automatically? No,
nothing moves that way, not even the great ball of snow which
children make on a winter's day. There must be something
or somebody behind it. Who is behind the progress of these
centuries? Jesus of Nazareth! His hand is discernible in
every great movement of the day. He is behind our schools
and colleges, our hospitals and reformatories, social and polit
ical reform, civil and ecclesiastical freedom, light and civil
ization. But for the great forces of his gospel, so far as we

WHERE CAN HE BE FOUND? 13
can perceive, the world would have stood stock still. The
Acts of the Apostles begins with a reference to "all that Jesus
began both to do and to teach," and it ends with a dash — ¦
because the "doing" of Jesus which then began is still going
on. It is really a great art to read a newspaper in the right way.
The philosophy of history is there ; and a man whose eyes
are not holden is certain to find Christ in the course of his
reading. But suppose he fails to see him either in the Bible
or the newspaper, where else shall he look for him?
At church. The reason why people go to church is because
they expect to find him there. The bell rings thus, "Come!
Come! Come! The Lord is in his Holy Temple! Come and
worship him!"
The man in the pulpit is in commission and under bonds
to so preach Christ that the people shall be able to see him.
He has entered into a covenant vow to lift something up ; and
that something is not himself but Christ; as Christ himself
said, "I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men
unto myself!" He is the great magnet. His is the drawing
power. All adventitious attractions are ruled out. Art,
science, philosophy, politics, the hurdy-gurdy and the stereop-
ticon are not helps but hindrances except as they contribute to
the seeing of Jesus in the house of God.
It happens now and then that people who go to church to
see Jesus are disappointed. I once attended a service in Ire
land on a holy day, in answer to an announcement that Jesus
was to be seen there entombed and awaiting his resurrection ;
but the space before the altar was so covered with votive offer
ings of flowers as to completely hide the sepulcher from view.
Not infrequently, in like manner, the worshippers' view of
Jesus is obscured by flowers of speech, of music or of cere
monialism. But the church is his sanctuary; and usually the
worshipper can there commune with him and go away grate
fully saying, "I have seen Jesus."
But failing even there, where shall the seeker look for him ?
Let him inquire within.
If he be a Christian he is able to say, "It is no longer I that
live, but Christ liveth in me." Otherwise he will not find

14 "we Would s£e jesus"
Christ within. Then what ? The heart is an aching void with
out him.
But the seeker is sure to find two things within, in any case.
One is sin, felt and acknowledged sin. To persuade men of
sin is like carrying coals to Newcastle, since every one is
aware of it. And the other is a conscious desire to be deliv
ered from the consequences of sin. This also is intuitive and
universal, as witness all the altars of the earth and all the
bended knees.
It may be, however, that some reader of these lines is say
ing, "I have not yet seen Jesus." If so, my friend, here
and now you shall look upon him.
Let me make the vision clear. Jesus came into this world
of ours, out of his pre-existent glory, to expiate our sins. He
took our flesh upon him, that he might be able to suffer; and
kept his Godhood also, that he might be able to suffer suffi
ciently for all. He lived as a man among men ; preached such
sermons respecting the problems of the spiritual life that his
hearers were moved to say, "Never man spake like this man ;"
and wrought such wonderful works of grace and mercy that
those who beheld were moved to ask, "When the Christ shall
come will he do more?"
But this was not his main errand : he had come to die for
the world's sin. No, let us make it more personal — he came
to die, my friend, for your sins, for yours as really as if there
had been no other sinner in the world but you. To that end
he "set his face steadfastly" toward the cross ; and there he
hung in mortal agony for six mortal hours, groaning under
the burden of your sins, till his great heart broke and he cried,
"It is finished !" By this he meant that he had accomplished all
that God himself could do to save you.
And then, rising triumphant over death, he sent forth his
messengers, of whom I am one, to say, as I say now, that all
the benefits of that redeeming work are to be secured by simple
faith in him. Faith is acceptance, a hand stretched forth to
take. This is the sole condition : he that believeth shall enter
into life ! Do you believe ? You have seen Jesus : do you ac
cept him? If so, it only remains to prove the sincerity of

WHERE CAN HE BE FOUND? 1 5
your faith by publicly confessing him and then going forth
to follow him.
We do not know the outcome of this interview of the
Greeks with Jesus. They saw him and conversed with him ;
but did they accept him? Let us hope they went away rejoic
ing in him. But perhaps not. The Greeks were the philos
ophers of their time ; and to those who are wise in their own
conceit the story of Christ crucified is "foolishness." But there
was one school of philosophers who were ready to accept the
truth wherever they found it ; they were called "Zetetics," or
seekers. To all such Christ is commended as "the wisdom
and the power of God."
Are you, frankly and without prejudice, seeking a Saviour ?
The promise is, "Ye shall seek me and find me when ye shall
search for me with all your heart." If you are seeking him
thus, putting away self-will and prejudice, it is quite certain
that you will find him. For the seeking sinner ever finds a
seeking Saviour; and, finding the chiefest of ten thousand,
how can he fail to accept him?

Ill
WHO IS HE?
A visit to the Jordan will, perhaps, satisfy us on that
point. John the Baptist had been going up and down crying,
"Repent ye; for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand! Pre
pare ye the way for the coming of one the latchet of whose
shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose !" He was
now at the ford of Bethabara baptizing his converts with "the
baptism of repentance unto the remission of sins." The tower
ing cliffs by the river echoed his cry, "Repent ye! Repent
ye!" Thieves and harlots came bowing low, and he baptized
them. Publicans came professing sorrow for sin, and he bap
tized them. Soldiers came promising to quit their evil ways,
and he baptized them. Scribes and Pharisees came, and he
baptized them not, but cried, "Ye offspring of vipers, who
hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come ? Bring forth
fruits meet for repentance. For the Seed of woman cometh to
bruise the serpent's head. The Winnower cometh to purge his
floor; he will gather the wheat into his garner and burn up
the chaff with unquenchable fire. The Messiah cometh to
deliver the world from sin !"
It came to pass, on one of those days, that Jesus the car
penter left his shop at Nazareth and never went back to it.
The clock had struck. The fields were white unto the harvest
and with sickle in hand he went forth. In his heart he had
long been saying, "I have a baptism to be baptized with ; and
how am I straitened till it be accomplished !" He now tight
ened his girdle and, with staff in hand, set forth upon a jour
ney which was not to end until, having accomplished his mis
sion, he should return to the glory which he had with the
Father before the world was. ,16

WHO IS he? iy
He turned his steps toward the south and, pursuing the
mountain road which skirted the historic battlefield of Es-
draelon, came out at length into the valley of the Jordan. At
the water's edge stood the prophet of the wilderness with the
people about him. His voice rang clear above the murmur of
the river and the voices of the multitude, "Repent ye! Re
pent ye !" And Jesus, making his way through the throng, pre
sented himself to John, saying, "I also would be baptized of
thee." John answered, "Nay, not thou, the Sinless One! I
have need to be baptized of thee; and comest thou to me?"
But Jesus said, "Suffer it now ; for thus it becometh us to
fulfil all righteousness." And thereupon, as a penitent, he
was baptized "for the remission of sins."
How could that be ? Why should he, who alone of living
men was without sin, be thus baptized with the baptism of
repentance ?
The event has a profound significance. It marked the be
ginning of the ministry of Jesus. He here received his cre
dentials as the Messiah or "Hope of Israel." The three dis
tinctive titles by which this Messiah was familiarly known
among the Jews were these, "Son of Man," "Son of David,"
and "Son of God" ; and they were typified in the ceremony of
this day's baptism.
He was truly the Son of Man. He was indeed a veritable
man. His flesh was shown to be like our flesh, quivering un
der pain and weary with labor at the close of day. His mind
was like our mind; so that "he grew in wisdom." His con
science was like our conscience, able to distinguish between
right and wrong. He was "tempted in all points like as we
are, yet without sin." His body never triumphed over his
soul ; his mind was never clouded with a veil of darkness ; his
conscience was never warped or deflected from the right. He
was human, like us, only without sin. The first Adam yielded
to temptation and fell ; the second Adam ate of no forbidden
fruit. He was absolutely without sin.
How then could he be baptized unto repentance, for the
remission of sins ? In order to answer that question we must
pass on to the next of the Messianic titles.
Jn his baptism he was also publicly shown to be the Son

1 8 "we would see jesus"
of David. He was of the chosen people and of its royal line.
For "Salvation is of the Jews." As a Jew he was "made un
der the law." Wherefore it became him to fulfill all righteous
ness. He submitted to the ordinance of baptism as a Levitical
prescript. The time would come when this ordinance would
be merged into another form of baptism of larger significance ;
but as yet it was of binding force, and it devolved upon him
as a true Israelite to bow obediently to it. In the Old Econo
my there were ablutions of divers kinds. The priests and
Levites were required to purge themselves at the laver.
Proselytes were received into the Jewish Church in the same
way. Here, at Bethabara, instead of the laver was the flowing
river, and instead of the gilded roof of the Temple was the
over-arching sky; but the ordinance was the same. It was
meet that Jesus should submit to it.
Moreover, as the Son of David he was made not only un
der the ceremonial but under the moral law. This is the law
whose verdict is, "The soul that sinneth it shall die." It is
the Author of that law who now presents himself as a peni
tent to pass under its yoke ! Thus it is written, "Who existing
in the form of God, counted not the being on an equality with
God a thing to grasp, but emptied himself, taking the form
of a servant, being made in the likeness of men ; and being
found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, becoming
obedient even unto death." The very depth of this self-empty
ing was reached when, as a penitent, he presented himself to
be baptized for the remission of sins.
He was, indeed, the Sinless One. There was no guile in
his heart, no guile on his lips ; yet our sins were imputed to
him. There lies the deep secret of his atoning grace. He so
appropriated our sins that they became, as it were, his very
own. In order to suffer vicariously for us he must identify
himself with us. In order to serve as our substitute at the bar
of the offended law he must, as it were, change personalities
with us. In order to bear the death sentence which had been
pronounced upon us he must appropriate our guilt. He must
lose his own self-consciousness in the consciousness of our
despairing need ; and must be penitent for our transgressions
as if they were his very own. He must come with us into the

WHO IS HE? 19
bondage of the law if he is to deliver us into the glorious liber
ty of the children of God.
So he approached the water's edge bearing, like Atlas, the
world's burden upon him. Of all who came that day to ask
for the baptism of repentance he alone could say, "I need it
not"; yet as the world's substitute he needed it most of all.
His challenge was "Who layeth anything to my charge ?" Yet
he voluntarily bore the charge of immeasurable guilt, He was
holy, harmless and undefiled ; yet here he stood, the sinless sin
ner of the world ! It was the sinful world that, in him as its
divine substitute, came down to Bethabara to be baptized unto
repentance. Thus he fitly began the Campaign of Redemption
which was to end in his tasting death for every man.
Is the thought abhorrent ? Aye, infinitely so ! But the fault
is ours. The further we follow him into his ministry the
more abhorrent will it seem. We shall see him bowing under
the olive-trees in Gethsemane and pressing to his lips a purple
cup in which is the world's sin. It is the broken law that pre
sents it to his lips, saying, "The soul that sinneth it shall die !"
Every nerve and sinew of his body quivers and shrinks from
it. He cries, "My Father, if it be possible let this cup pass
away from me!" He sweats as it were great drops of blood
as he passes into the deep darkness of vicarious conviction.
He cannot save the world until he makes that cup of death his
own. At length he cries, "Not what I will, but what thou
wilt !" So, passing into the awful consciousness of the world's
guilt, he drinks the bitter cup.
If we follow him to Golgotha, we shall see him, at the
very climax of his vicarious pain, descending lower and lower
into the penalty of sin, until at iength the silence of the un
natural night is broken with a cry such as the world had never
heard before and shall never hear again, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sa-
bachthani!" that is, "My God, my God, why hast thou for
saken me?" What is death but exile from God? What hell
could be more frightful than divine abandonment? This is
the deepest depth of his substitutionary pain. He bore it to
the uttermost, that he might take away forevermore the shame,
the penalty and the bondage of our sin. Thus it is written,
"Him who knew no sin he made to be sin on our behalf ; that

20 WE WOULD SEE JESUS
we might become the righteousness of God in him." And
again that he was made "a curse for us, for it is written,
Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree." So in our historic
creed we say, with reason, "He descended into hell !"
In this baptism of Jesus he was moreover designated as
the Son of God. We have seen him taking his place, with
those who thronged to the water's edge, as the Son of Man.
Thus he pushes his way to our side, consenting to be numbered
with transgressors in seeking the remission of their sins.
We have seen him also, as the Son of David, bowing his
head, not only to the prescript of the ceremonial law, but to
the dark sentence of the moral law. Hosanna to the Son of
David !
It remains for him to verify his title as the Son of God.
This he must do if he would be mighty to save even unto the
uttermost all that will come unto him.
Behold now three marvelous things which occurred at his
baptism, by which a threefold testimony was given to his
mission as the veritable Son of God.
First, the heavens were opened as if to signify the interest
of angels and archangels and saints triumphant in the great
campaign which was about to begin. And we shall see that
heavenly host attending him all along the way.
Then, a voice was heard saying, "This is my beloved Son,
in zvhom I am well pleased." There are other sons of God;
but he alone is, by eminence, the well beloved. There are
many sons ; but he is the only-begotten Son. There are many
younger sons ; but he is the "firstborn among many brethren."
He stands solitary and alone as the Father's co-equal Son, of
whom it is written, "Thou art my Son; this day have I be
gotten thee. Ask of me and I will give thee the nations for
thine inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy
possession." Did Jesus ever ask that? On the cross his
stretched-out hands uttered the mightiest prayer that ever was
offered : "Give me, O Father, the nations for my inheritance
and the uttermost parts of the earth for my possession!" Is
he cut off in the midst of his days? Is he "without genera
tion" ? Nay, "he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days,
and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand." .We

WHO IS HE? 21
are "the fruit of the travail of his soul"; and the gates of
heaven are thronged with a great multitude who through him
have received the spirit of adoption whereby they cry, "Abba,
Father !" They are all sinners saved by grace ; and unto him
they ascribe the praise.
Lastly, the Spirit as a dove descended upon him. Thus
we are given to understand that the three Persons of the
ineffable Godhead, the Father, the Son and the Holy .Ghost,
are in mutual accord and co-operation at the outset of the
ministry of Christ.
This is his inauguration. At his baptism he receives his
credentials as the long-looked-for Messiah and shows himself
ready for the task before him. His face will henceforth be
"set steadfastly" toward the cross. All along the way we shall
find him persistently claiming his Messiahship as indicated in
the three titles. We shall see him presently returning to his
home at Nazareth ; where he announces the fulfillment of the
Messianic prophecy, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, be
cause he anointed me to preach good tidings," saying, "To
day hath this scripture been fulfilled in your ears." We shall
see him pausing at Jacob's well to converse with a sinful wo
man ; to whose deep longing for the coming of the Messiah he
answers, "I that speak unto thee am he!" We shall hear him
in his itineraries among the villages of Galilee claim
ing always that he is the Christ. We shall see him in
the Mount of Transfiguration, his homespun garments flutter
ing aside to reveal the royal purple, while his face is "as the.
sun shining in his strength." We shall see him standing in the
presence of the Sanhedrin ; and when the High Priest cries, "I
adjure thee, by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou
art the Christ, the Son of God," we shall hear him answer
ing, "I am." We shall hear Pilate asking, "Art thou the King
of the Jews?" that is, the Messiah; and his reply is couched
in the strongest possible terms of affirmation, "Thou sayest."
We shall see him hanging on the cross with the titulum above
his head, on which his Messianic title is inscribed, "The King
of the Jews." And if we pass on to Olivet we shall see him
ascending from the midst of his disciples into the open heav
ens, where now he sits upon his Messianic throne, "expecting,

22 "WE WOULD SEE JESUS"
until his enemies be made the footstool of his feet," while the1
redeemed host, a great multitude that no man can number, as
cribe unto him glory and honor and power and dominion for
ever and ever.
And there by God's grace we shall see him. Aye, we shall
see him with these eyes. Hisce oculis! When we appear to give
an account of the deeds done in the body, and all alike plead
guilty, we shall hear him say, "I bore thy sins in mine own body
on the tree. I was wounded for thy transgressions and bruised
for thine iniquities, that by my stripes thou mightest be healed.
I promised life to all who would believe in me. My promise
is Yea and Amen. Wherefore enter into the joy of thy Lord.
Thy sins, which were many, are forgiven thee."
The day after this baptism, as John was standing by the
Jordan with two of his disciples, he saw Jesus in the distance
and said, "Behold the Lamb of God !" The two disciples im
mediately left John and followed Jesus. In this they showed
themselves to be reasonable men. "Seeing is believing"; but
"faith without works is dead." What could they do but fol
low him?

IV
WHAT SHALL THE DOUBTER DO?
A group of young men were bound together by a com
mon interest in "the Hope of Israel" ; that is, the hope of the
Messiah, whom for centuries "kings and prophets had longed
to see and died without the sight." There was a feeling every
where that "the fulness of time" was at hand. Rabbis were
searching the oracles and astrologers were scrutinizing the
heavens for signs of his appearing. Expectancy was in the
air. These young men were not of noble birth, like the knights
of the Round Table who went in quest of the Holy Grail, but
humble men, most of them fishermen. They had been reading
their Bibles and conferring with one another concerning the
matter nearest to their hearts. They were greatly perplexed
by the paradoxical terms in the Messianic prophecies ; now he
was spoken of as a King, with "the government upon his
shoulder," and again as "a man of sorrows and acquainted
with griefs." He was to reign from the river unto the ends
of the earth, but he was also to be led from prison and judg
ment to an ignominious death. How could these things be?
It was reported that Jesus, a carpenter of Nazareth, who
was going about proclaiming himself to be the Messiah, was
doing so many wonderful works and preaching so eloquently
that multitudes were thronging after him.
John the Prophet of the Wilderness was preaching and
baptizing at the fords of the Jordan; and these young men
went to hear him. Strange to say they heard John approve of
the carpenter's claims ! He said, "This is he that cometh after
me, whose shoe's latchet I am not worthy to unloose." On
23

24 WE WOULD SEE JFSUS
seeing Jesus walking by the river he cried, "Behold the Lamb
of God!" All of these young men but one were satisfied that Jesus
was the Christ. Nathanael held out. He could not reconcile
the humble station of Jesus with the glowing prophecies of
Scripture. So when Philip came to him saying, "We have
found him of whom Moses in the law and the prophets, wrote,"
his answer was, "Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?"
The fact that Nathanael was a doubter was nothing against
him. For that matter, we are all doubters. The great problems of
the eternal life are constantly before us ; and I seriously ques
tion if there is any living man who does not at times feel a
trembling of his faith — like the oscillation of the magnetic
needle in the compass — as to God and immortality and all the
great propositions which lie within the province of the un
seen and eternal. And I am inclined to think that all these
doubts are centered at a common point, namely: "Has God
revealed himself to men?" or, in other words, "Is Jesus the
Christ?" That is the vital question. Let that be answered,
and all other problems are easy of solution. If Jesus is the
Christ, if he is "the fulness of the Godhead bodily," then all
perplexities as to life and immortality are brought to light;
then a ransom has been provided for sin ; then God "can be just
and yet the justifier of the ungodly"; then those who believe
can look forward to "an inheritance incorruptible and unde-
filed and that fadeth not away" ; then heaven is our home and
we are pilgrims living our life here with a view to life eter
nal, and moving on toward "a better country and a city that
hath foundations, whose Builder and Maker is God."
But just here is where doubt begins. "Can any good thing
come out of Nazareth?" Is it possible that this Man in home
spun, who proclaimed himself to be the King eternal, immor
tal, invisible, and who died for "making himself equal with
God," was what he claimed to be ?
It was seven hundred years before the Advent that Isaiah
wrote, "Who hath believed our report; and to whom is the
arm of the Lord revealed ? . He is despised and re
jected of men ; and we hid as it were our faces from him."-

WHAT SHALL THE DOUBTER DO? 25
The attitude of men with reference to Christ has never
changed. Paul echoed the prophet's lament in these words:
"The Jews ask for signs and Greeks seek after wisdom ; but
we preach Christ crucified, unto Jews a stumbling-block and
unto Gentiles foolishness, but unto them that are called, both
Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom
of God." But while Nathanael erred at this point of common de
parture from faith, there were other considerations which
made his case a hopeful one.
He was a devout man. It would appear that he had a tryst-
ing-place under a certain fig-tree. The habit of retirement for
prayer and meditation was common to the Orientals of those
days. The shadow of the fig-tree was this man's closet, where
he retired that he might be alone with God. It was here that
Nathanael gave himself to earnest thought. The truth-seeker
must always arrive at his destination by a pathway of his
own. He may attend church to hear the argument; but he
must go apart by himself to consider it. He cannot farm
out his thinking to any church or ecclesiastical court, to any
Pope or College of Cardinals, to any minister or mortal man.
He must do his own thinking, else he will never solve the
problem whether Jesus is the Christ or not.
It was here, under the fig-tree, that he turned to the
oracles for the satisfaction of his doubt. We search the Scrip
tures for light. The first Bible that I ever owned was given
me by my mother, on the fly-leaf of which was written in her
dear hand, "The entrance of thy Word giveth light." The
Book is like a mountain-top to which a man climbs that he
may behold the break of day. He who doubts as to the deity
of Jesus need not expect to solve the problem unless he is
willing to "search the Scriptures," for "these are they which
bear witness of me," said Jesus.
It was in this trysting-place that Nathanael was accustomed
to offer his prayer for light; a prayer which God is always
more willing to answer than we are to offer it.
And this is all that Christ asks. He calls for a calm, pray
erful, intelligent and unbiased consideration of his claims:
"Come now and let us reason together." He does not appeal

26 "we would see jesus"
to credulous simpletons or to indolent dullards who are gov
erned by hearsay, but addresses himself to the common sense of
the average man. He bids us weigh the evidence pro and
contra, weigh it well, and decide whether he is the Christ or
not. So far, then, there was hope for Nathanael ; because,
though a doubter, he was facing the problem for himself, like
a man. But this is not all.
He was an honest man. Otherwise Jesus would not have
referred to him as "an Israelite in whom is no guile."
By this we are to understand that he was without preju
dice. Doubt is common to all, owing to the prevalence of sin ;
but prejudice is a deep-rooted aversion to truth. Doubt is a
film over the eyes, which may be removed ; but prejudice is a
disease of the optic nerve. Doubt is a fog rising from the
low valley of sin, which vanishes at the break of day ; but
prejudice is a miasm which no sunlight can dispel. Doubt is
a ship becalmed, which a rising wind can speed upon her way ;
but prejudice is a ship with an anchor astern and a hawser
at her bow, which only a cyclone can move. Doubters are
healed of their blindness by the divine touch ; but prejudice
requires a miracle; as in the case of Saul of Tarsus, a sun
burst straight from God!
The mind is so perverted by prejudice that no evidence can
affect it. Prejudice is pre-judgment. When a case is pre
judged there is nothing more to be said. A man who has
"made up his mind" on a case pending in court is rejected as
a juror because argument will not avail with him. There is
many a man who calls himself an honest doubter, with refer
ence to the deity of Jesus, who is simply an out-and-out in
fidel, because he has prejudged the case. His mind is so made
up that evidence cannot change it.
The heart likewise is so affected by prejudice that truth
cannot enter it. It has many guests, like the Inn at Bethle
hem, such as avarice, sensuality, inordinate ambition; but
Christ knocks in vain.
It is related that when Paul, in the judgment hall at Caesa
rea, told of his own conversion and of the death and resur
rection, Agrippa was so impressed that he said, "Almost thou

WHAT SHALL THE DOUBTER DO? 27
persuadest me to be a Christian." In fact, however, he was
far from being "persuaded." He was convinced but set
against Christ, because his heart was wholly preoccupied. It
was full of his mistress, Bernice, who sat beside him.
The young ruler who came running to Jesus and pros
trated himself, crying, "Good Teacher, what shall I do that I
may inherit eternal life?" was in no condition to consider the
problem of eternal life, because his heart was filled with the
passionate love of gold. It was for this reason that Jesus said,
"Go part with everything that thou hast; then come and fol
low me." In other words, the preoccupation of the heart must
be disposed of by repentance before Christ can enter in.
The will, in like manner, is so stiffened by prejudice that
any vital grasp of truth is impossible. When Galileo was
summoned before the Inquisition to be tried for heresy, in that
he affirmed the revolution of the earth, he said to his judges,
"I can convince you. Here is my telescope; look through it,
and you shall see the moons of Jupiter!" But they refused to
look. They were convinced that the earth did not revolve
around the sun, and no amount of evidence could unconvince
them. In such a case, where mind, heart and will are warped
against truth, there is little or no hope. A doubter of this sort
is self-doomed to unbelief. He thinks obliquely, prays, if at
all, to himself and reads the Bible with jaundiced eyes. Jesus
told the Pharisees that it was vain for them to search the
Scriptures, which testified plainly for him, because, as he
said, "Ye will not come unto me, that ye might have life."
The effect of prejudice is likened to witchcraft by Paul
where he says, "O foolish Galatians, who did bewitch you,
before whose eyes Jesus Christ was evidently set forth cruci
fied among you ?"
But Nathanael, though a doubter, was open to conviction.
Therefore, his doubts vanished and he became
A believer As he sat under the fig-tree his friend Philip ap
proached, saying, "We have found the Messiah!" And when
Nathanael gave expression to his incredulity, the answer was,
"Come and see !"
He came and saw and was conquered. His doubt as to
the Messiahship of Jesus was solved by the fact that his mind

28 "WE WOULD SEE JESUS"
was ready to weigh the evidence, his heart was open to the
entrance of truth, and his will was in a condition to act upon
it. At the close of his interview with Christ, being convinced
of the validity of his claims, he made his confession, "Thou
art the Son of God!"
And thence onward the pathway was plain before him.
Christ promised that he should "see the angels of God ascend
ing and descending upon the Son of Man" ; that is, that the
truth of his Messiahship should be made clearer and clearer
until Nathanael should behold all the divine glory centering
in and resting upon him. So it is written "We shall know if
we follow on to know." We hear of Nathanael only once
more ; when, three years later, he stood with the disciples on
the lake-shore and saw Jesus with the splendor of the resur
rection shining in his face. By this we are given to under
stand that he persevered as a faithful follower of Christ.
The appeal of the gospel is to honest doubters ; for honest
doubters are reasonable men. The question of the deity of
Jesus must be settled, like other great problems, by an appeal
to the facts. The final argument is, "Come and see !"
A hundred years ago a book was written in England to
prove that it was impossible for a vessel to cross the ocean by
the power of steam, for the reason that no vessel could store
enough coal. The first copy of the book that reached this
country was brought over in a steamship ! The argument was
refuted by the fact ; and there was no controverting it.
In "Harper's Magazine," fifty years ago, there appeared
a cartoon representing a man speaking into a hole in the wall
and holding a trumpet to his ear. Presently the telephone was
at hand and the cartoon lost its force. So I say the ultimate
appeal in every argument is to facts ; and the greatest fact in
the moral universe is Christ.
To every honest doubter, therefore, we address the words
of Philip, "Come and see!" Open your Bible and you shall
see the majestic figure of Christ walking through it from the
prophecy m Genesis, "The Seed of woman shall bruise the ser
pent's head," down to the prophecy of Malachi, "Unto you that
fear my name shall the Sun of Righteousness arise with heal
ing in its wings." Open your history and you shall see the

WHAT SHALL THE DOUBTER DO? 29
figure of Christ looming up more and more in the progress
of the centuries until all the Caesars and Alexanders seem like
pigmies beside him ! Then listen to the testimony of hundreds
of millions of people who certify out of their personal experi
ence that Christ has power on earth to forgive sin. And hav
ing done all this, look within. Hear the cry of your own soul
for pardon and peace ; and, lifting your eyes, behold the Lamb
of God! No more than this is asked of honest men, and surely no
less. Do you own reading; do your own thinking; face the
problem as men who must stand alone at the great assize. Here
is Jesus. He is his own best argument. Behold him ! Let him
speak for himself. He is able to save unto the uttermost all
who will come unto him. Take no man's word for it. Come
and see !

V
WILL YOU LOOK AT THIS SINGULAR MAN?
It is related that Jesus on one of his journeys came to
Sychar, where Jacob's well was ; and "being wearied with his
journey he sat thus" (that is, like any weary man) "by the
well." _
This man on the well-curb is well worth looking at because,
though obviously a man, he claims to be the only begotten
Son of God. He claims to have been "in the glory of the
Father before the world was." He claims to have come into
the world on a definite errand ; namely, to deliver men from
the power of sin. He claims that when his errand is accom
plished he will return again to the glory which he had with the
Father before the world was. These are stupendous claims. It
behooves us to know whether they are true or not ; for in them
are involved the issues of life.
Observe, he is a man. This is easy to see. He is "bone of
our bone and flesh of our flesh" ; that is, "able to be touched
with a feeling of our infirmities" because he is one of us.
He is a poor man. Not a prince in purple, nor a beggar in
rags, but one of the Third Estate of toiling men. He has no
home of his own. "The foxes have holes," he said, "and the
birds of the air have nests ; but the Son of Man hath not
where to lay his head." He has no well-filled purse. He has
come to Sychar afoot. No doubt many travellers passed him
on beasts of burden or borne in gilded palanquins and char
iots ; but he trudged on, staff in hand.
If he was what he claimed to be, then all the wealth in
the bosom of the everlasting hills belonged to him; but he
had stooped to share the struggles of the poor, that he might
be able to sympathize with all "prisoners of poverty," and that
30

Will you look at this singular man? 31
we, by his poverty, might become rich toward God. 2 Cor. 8 :g.
He is a man of sorrows. You may read that in his face.
The chastening touch is there. He is bearing some burden
that weighs heavily upon him. What is it? "Surely he hath
borne our griefs and carried our sorrows." Nay, more, "the
chastisement of our peace was upon him." If we follow this
wayfaring man we shall presently see him coming to Calvary,
bearing his cross. This is the burden of the world's sin, and
he will bear that burden until his great heart shall break under
it. He is a benevolent man. That is written in his face. This
journey to Sychar is a labor of love. "He must needs go
through Samaria," a roundabout way, to meet a sinful woman
who needed him. This was his habit. His biography is writ
ten in the brief monograph "He went about doing good." On
his itineraries among the villages the sick were laid on couches
along the way and "he had compassion upon them and healed
them all."
He is a sinless man. And here we part company with him.
"For there is no distinction ; for all have sinned, and fall short
of the glory of God." It is recorded of Adam that he was
made without sin but also without positive character. For
that he must be exposed to trial. He was tempted accordingly
and fell! This man at the well is "the second Adam," who
was also born in innocence and subject to trial. He too was
tempted, and won out!
In this he stands solitary and alone among all the children
of men. He never committed a wrong act ; he never spoke a
wrong word ; he never entertained a wrong thought. He was
"in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin." His
challenge was "Who convicteth me of sin?" The answer was
made by Pilate, who sentenced him to death : "Behold the man ;
I find no fault in him at all !" And this is the testimony of all
the succeeding ages. Not even the bitterest of the foes of Jesus
has found a joint in the harness of his perfect righteousness.
He stands alone, the one incomparable man.
For this reason he calls himself "the Son of Man." Ob
serve, he never calls himself a Son of Man, but always "the
Son of Man"; thus setting himself apart as the perfect or

32 "WE WOULD SEE JESUS*'
ideal man. He stands for man as God planned him : man with
out sin, man worthy of his birthright as the child of a holy
God. And therefore he is an unaccountable man. This perfection
of his is like the "x" in an algebraic problem, which must be
reduced to known terms. How shall that be done? It is im
possible unless we are prepared to consent that he was more
than a man.
The problem was attempted by Theodore Parker, the great
leader of radical Unitarianism, who was forced to this con
clusion: "The mightiest heart that ever beat, stirred by the
Spirit of God, wrought in his bosom. What deep divinity of
soul ! He unites in himself the sublimest precepts and divinest
practices, more than realizing the dream of prophets and sages.
He gives free range to the. Spirit of God. He sets aside the
law, sacred and time-honored as it was, its forms, its sacrifice,
its Temple and its priest. He puts away the doctors of the
law, subtle, learned, irrefragable, and pours out a doctrine
beautiful as the light, sublime as heaven and true as God!"
The infidel David Strauss faced the same problem and
reached this conclusion: "If in Jesus the union of self-con
sciousness with the consciousness of God has been real, and
expressed not only in words but in all the conditions of life,
then he represents within the religious sphere the highest point,
beyond which posterity cannot go: yea, which it cannot even
equal: inasmuch as every one who hereafter should climb to
the same height could only do so with the help of Jesus who
first attained it."
The infidel Renan faced the problem likewise and arrived
at this conclusion: "The highest consciousness of God which
ever existed in the breast of humanity was that of Jesus.
Whatever may be the surprises of the future, he will never
be surpassed. His worship will grow young without ceasing;
his legend will call forth tears without end ; his sufferings will
melt the noblest hearts ; all ages will proclaim that among the
sons of men there is none born greater than Jesus. Repose
now in thy glory, noble founder! Thy work is finished, thy
divinity is established. Take possession of thy kingdom,

WILL YOU LOOK AT THIS SINGULAR MAN ? 33
whither by the royal road which thou hast traced ages of
worshippers shall follow thee !"
The infidel Rousseau, own brother of Voltaire in revolu
tionary thought, faced the problem and reached this conclu
sion : "Is it possible that this sacred personage should be a
mere man? What sweetness and purity of manner! What sub
limity in his maxims ! How great the command over his pas
sions! Where is the man who could so live and die without
weakness and without pride ? When Plato describes his imag
inary 'Just Man' he portrays precisely the character of Christ.
I cannot understand the blindness of those who compare Soc
rates with him. If the life and death of Socrates were those
of a sage, the life and death of Jesus are those of a god !"
All this however, is lame logic, from beginning to end. It
either goes too far or not far enough. The algebraic "x" is
not reduced to known terms by saying that Jesus was "more
than a man." This is to journey up a blind alley and arrive
at a stone wall. To stay there is impossible ; one must go fur
ther or go back: To go back is to affirm that Jesus was an
impostor ; to go further is to acknowledge that he was what he
claimed to be.
But this is to affirm that he was the Divine Man; that is,
"the only begotten Son of God," and therefore equal with,
God. It had been prophesied that when the Messiah came it
would be as God's only begotten Son. "I will declare the de
cree; the Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son: this day
have I begotten thee."
At the baptism of Jesus a voice was heard from heaven
saying, "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased,"
and again on the Mount of Transfiguration, "This is my Son,
my chosen: hear ye him."
The disciples thus recognized him, saying, "Of a truth thou
art the Son of God" ; and Peter particularly in his good con
fession, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God."
And Christ himself repeatedly affirmed it. At his trial,
when the High Priest said, "I adjure thee by the living God
that thou tell us whether thou art the Christ, the Son of God,"
he answered, "Thou hast said ; nevertheless I say unto you,

34 "WE WOULD SEE JESUS"
henceforth ye shall see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand
of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven !" That he in
tended this to be the strongest possible affirmation is evident
from what followed: "Then the High Priest rent his clothes,
saying, He hath spoken blasphemy ; what further need have
we of witnesses ? . . . What think ye ? They answered,
He is worthy of death." Thus he died for "making himself
equal with God."
The importance of a definite understanding in this matter
is emphasized in the words, "He that believeth is not con
demned; but he that believeth not is condemned already; be
cause he hath not believed in the name of the only-begotten
Son of God." It is clear, therefore, that there can be no
middle ground. We are bound to conclude that Jesus, in set
ting up his claim as God's equal, was an impostor and a char
latan or else he was what he claimed to be.
To my mind the only solution of the problem is that which
was arrived at by Napoleon when he said, "I know men ; and
I tell you that Jesus was not a mere man ! Superficial minds
see a resemblance between him and the founders of empires ;
but there is none. Everything in him astonishes me. His
spirit overawes me ; his will confounds me. His birth and his
life, the profundity of his doctrine, his march across the cen
turies, are for me a mystery insoluble. Here is a grandeur
which overpowers me. In his death sin is expiated and jus
tice satisfied. What a mysterious symbol, this cross of the
God-man. You speak of Caesar and Alexander, of their con
quests and the enthusiasm which they kindled in the hearts of
their soldiers ; but can you conceive of a dead man making
conquests with an army devoted to his memory? Can you
conceive of Caesar governing an empire from the depths of his
mausoleum? Such is the perpetual miracle of progress; the
power of the Christian's God ! He has founded his empire on
love ; so that at this hour millions would die for him. What a
proof of his divinity! He speaks and generations are bound
to him by the closest of ties. Here am I at St. Helena, chained
to this rock; and who thinks of me? Behold the destiny of
Napoleon the Great ! What an abyss between my misery and

Will you look at this singular man ? 35
the eternal reign of Christ. By this I perceive that Jesus is
God!" The point I am trying to make is this: that the deity of
Jesus is conclusively proven by his perfect humanity. I know
there are other ways. You may demonstrate his deity by
showing his perfect correspondence with the prophecies of
Scripture ; or by showing how he marches through history in
the vanguard of civilization toward the Golden Age: but to
my mind a stronger argument is based upon his character as
the unaccountable man. It seems impossible that any one
should look fixedly at him without perceiving that he was more
than man: and if so, then by the force of irresistible logic we
are driven to the conclusion that he was the very Son of
God. The centurion who took charge of the crucifixion of Jesus
was a Roman soldier, hardened to the contemplation of pain.
As he beheld the mortal anguish of the sufferer on the cross
there was something that baffled him. In view of the meek
ness and calm patience of Jesus he was moved to say, "Cer
tainly this was a righteous man !" But that was not enough ;
it did not satisfy him. As the hours passed, the great truth
broke upon him, and he was driven at length to exclaim
"Truly, this was the Son of God!"
The weary man at the well sits waiting. The woman whom
he came to meet — a Samaritan woman, a woman with a past — >
approaches with a pitcher on her shoulder. He asks for a
drink; and in the conversation which follows he opens up to
her the doctrine of spiritual life. She expresses a hope in the
coming Christ: he says "I that speak to thee am he!" and
thereupon he offers her of the living water, of which, if a
man drink "he shall never thirst," which "shall become in him
a well of water springing up unto eternal life."
The man at the well is waiting still. Let him that is athirst
take of the water of life freely. Oh, for a drink "from the
well beside the gate at Bethlehem !" He that drinketh of this
water shall doubt no more that Jesus is the Christ of God.
For when all is said it still remains that the strongest argu
ment for the divinity of Christ is found in personal experi
ence. The doubter will never know until, like doubting

36 "we would see jesus"
Thomas, he thrusts his fingers into the Saviour's wounds. Not
until he touches the uttermost depths of his great humanity
will he reach the supreme truth of his perfect divinity. To see
him living is to wonder ; to see him dying is to believe ! The
man whose heart and conscience have been purged by the
blood of Jesus never halts at the confession of Thomas who,
in the moment of his great discovery, cried, "My Lord and
my God!"

VI.
CAN OUR EYES BE OPENED?
The ninth chapter of John is like a finger-post, pointing
the way for those who really wish to see Jesus and know the
truth about him. It is a drama, in five scenes, entitled
OUT OF DARKNESS INTO LIGHT:
or
FIVE STEtPS TO A SAVING FAITH.
Its Dramatis Personae are as follows:
Jesus the Wonder-worker.
His Disciples.
A Blind Man.
His Parents.
Friends and Neighbors.
Members of the Sanhedrin.
Scene I. At the Gateway of the Temple. — The blind man
sits beside the gate, his hand extended for alms. Jesus return
ing from Bethany, where he has passed the night, enters with
his disciples, preparatory to preaching in Solomon's Porch.
The sight of the blind man suggests to the disciples the old
question of Original Sin, which they refer to Jesus for settle
ment: "Master, who did sin, this man or his parents, that he was
born blind?"
- He answers, "Neither hath this man sinned nor his
parents, but that the works of God should be made manifest
in him." We are not to understand by this that either the blind
man or his forebears had been sinless ; since "there is no
difference; all have sinned and come short of the glory of
God ;" but what Jesus meant was that the point raised by his
17.

38 "we would see jesus"
disciples was not germane to the matter in hand. It was not
so important to discover the cause of the man's blindness as
it was to determine what should be done about it. We busy
ourselves going round and round in the mazes of "fixed fate,
free-will, foreknowledge absolute," while men are suffering
and dying about us. So Jesus continues, "I must work the
works of Him that sent me while it is day ; the night cometh
when no man can work. As long as I am in the world I am
the Light of the world."
He then spat on the ground and made clay, with which he
anointed the eyes of the blind man, saying, "Go wash in the
pool of Siloam;" and, with this, he and his disciples passed
on. "Go wash in the pool of Siloam." Why so? Was it not
enough for the Wonder-worker to touch his eyes and say,
"Receive thy sight" ? No ; God helps those who help them
selves. His boundless grace is free ; but it is conditioned upon
our acceptance of it and our co-operation with him.
Scene II. On the Way to the Pool. — The blind man is
groping, leaning on a staff, accompanied by friends and
acquaintances who are curious to see what will come of it.
Some are saying, "Why wash in Siloam? There is no
virtue in the waters of the intermittent spring. You'll simply
have your labor for your pains."
"Who is Jesus," others are asking, "that you should obey
him? The rabbis have pronounced him a charlatan and
mischief-maker. It is rumored that they mean to destroy
him." Still others urge the danger of his course; for the San-
hedrin has decreed that any who espouse the cause of Jesus
shall be cast out of the synagogue.
To all of whom he answers, "I am going to the pool. It is,
indeed, a forlorn hope. I know little about Jesus save that he
has performed many wonderful cures. They say he has
cleansed lepers, restored paralytics and given sight to other
blind men. Had you ever been blind, you would know why I
am resolved to obey him. It may heal me."
He has reached the pool. Was there any kind hand to
help him to the water's edge ? He is bending over it. He dips

can our eyes be opened? 39
up the water in the hollow of his hands and washes his eyes.
The light begins to dawn! He dips it up again. "My sight
returns!" he cries. "I see the blue sky! I see the golden
dome of the Temple ! O blessed light ! I see ! I see !"
Scene III. In the Streets of Jerusalem. — A crowd has
gathered about the man. He is the observed of all observers.
A discussion is going on.
"Is not this he that sat and begged by the Temple gate?"
Some say, "This is he," others, "He is like him," but he
settles the matter by saying, "I am he."
"Tell us, how were thine eyes opened?"
"A man that is called Jesus," he answers, "made clay and
anointed mine eyes and said unto me 'Go wash in the Pool of
Siloam.' I went and washed and received my sight."
"Where is this Jesus?"
"I know not. I would, indeed, that I did know ; for I
should rejoice to thank him. O blessed light of the sun ! This
Jesus has opened mine eyes!"
Scene IV. In the hall Gazith of the Temple. — The mem
bers of the Sanhedrin are assembled for important business.
The man whose sight was restored has been summoned and is
present with his parents. The rabbis proceed to catechize
him. He proves to be no dull fellow in this contest of wits.
"Art thou the blind man who sat by the gate of the
Temple?" "I am."
"How didst thou receive thy sight?"
"A man that is called Jesus put clay upon mine eyes, and
I washed and received my sight."
"When did this occur?"
"Yesterday."
At this there is a lifting of eyebrows ; for yesterday was
the Sabbath. Some of the rabbis are saying, "This Jesus is
evidently a sinner, since he has broken the Hoiy Day." Others
say, "How could a sinner do such miracles?" So there is a
division of opinion among them. They refer the matter to the
blind man.
"What sayest thou of him in that he hath opened thine
eyes ?"

40 WE WOULD see JESUS
"He is a prophet" ; that is, a great man.
As there are still some in the Sanhedrin who question the
validity of the miracle, the parents of the blind man are called,
at this point, and examined respecting it.
"Is this your son who was born blind ?"
"It is."
"How then doth he now see?"
"We know that this is our son, and we know that he was
born blind ; but by what means he now seeth we know not, or
who hath opened his eyes we know not. He is of age; ask
him. Let him speak for himself."
They are thus non-committal for prudential reasons. They
do not propose to be put out of the synagogue if they can
avoid it.
The fact of the cure being now indubitable, the inquisi
tors turn again to< the blind man, saying, "Give God the praise,
for he hath wrought a great work upon thee. As for this
Jesus, he is a sinner and thou shouldst have nothing to do
with him."
"Whether he be a sinner or no," he answers, "I know not.
One thing I know, that whereas I was blind, now I see."
"Tell us," they continue, "what did he unto thee? How
opened he thine eyes?"
"I have told you already," he answers, "and ye did not
hear; wherefore would ye hear it again? Will ye also be
his disciples?"
Thereupon they lose their tempers and revile him : "Thou
art his disciple! As for us, we are Moses' disciples. We
know that God spake unto Moses, but as for this fellow, we
know not whence he is."
"Why, herein is a marvellous thing," he exclaims, "that
ye know not whence he is, and yet he hath opened mine eyes.
Since the world began was it not heard that any man opened
the eyes of one born blind. God heareth not sinners. If this
Jesus were not of God he could do nothing." Sound reason
ing, indeed ; but it only served to further anger them.
"Thou wast altogether born in sins," they cry, "and dost
thou presume to teach us?" and they cast him out.
So he went forth, with the awful ban of excommunication

CAN OUR EYES BE OPENED? 41
upon him. Let no Jew extend a helping hand to him! Let
none put a cup of water to his lips ! He is anathema ; an out
cast for Jesus' sake.
Scene V. A Lonely Place, outside the City Walls. — The
Outcast wanders alone. There is a sound of approaching
footsteps. Jesus draws near. He has come to seek the Out
cast. Oh, blessed, seeking Saviour ! He speaks to the man :
"Dost thou believe on the Son of God?"
"Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him?"
"Thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with
thee." "Lord, I believe!" And he worships him.
So ends the drama, "Out of Darkness Into Light." So
always ends the drama of spiritual deliverance, with the sin
ner prone at the feet of Jesus worshiping him.
In the course of this narrative we observe the Five Steps
in the Development of Saving Faith.
At first the man could say no more of his deliverer than
that he was "a man called Jesus."
In this there was obviously no power to save. All the
world believes in the historic Christ, to wit: that once on a
time there lived a man called Jesus, who went about doing
good, working miracles, preaching great sermons, and end
ing his career in a shameful death on an accursed tree.
The second development of this man's faith was when he
affirmed that Jesus was a "prophet," or great man.
It is true that Jesus uttered "thoughts that breathe in
words that burn." He preached the Sermon on the Mount.
The praises of his wisdom are sung by multitudes who totally
reject his power to save. The French freethinker, Renan,
says, "Whatever may be the surprises of the future, this
Jesus will never be surpassed. His worship will grow young
without ceasing. His legend will call forth tears, without end.
His sufferings will melt the noblest hearts; and all ages will
proclaim that among the sons of men there is none born
greater than he !"
A third step was taken when the blind man affirmed in the
presence of his hostile judges that Jesus was "of God."
But the confession has still no saving power in it. To

42 WE WOULD SEE JESUS
affirm that the life of Jesus was a reflection of the divine
beneficence is but satirical praise if the claim be denied
that he was vastly more than any other man. To say that
he was "a man at his best" is but to mock his honesty. Spi
noza, the Jewish pantheist, confesses that "Christ was the
very temple of God since in him we have the fullest revelation
of God." David Strauss, the German infidel, says, "In Jesus
the union of self-consciousness with the consciousness of God
has been real, so that he represents within the religious sphere
the highest point, beyond which posterity cannot go." Theo
dore Parker, while denying the divine claims of Jesus, cries,
"How did the spirit of God work in his bosom ! What deep
divinity of soul ! In whom did ever the tide of humanity rise
so high as in him?" Unitarians have generally approved the
saying, "In Jesus we observe the highest manifestation of
God that ever was seen in mortal man."
The fourth step was taken when the blind man said, "I
believe in the Son of God."
But even this, if it were merely an intellectual apprehen
sion of his divineness, had no power to save. To be ortho
dox is not necessarily to be Christian. One may believe in the
incarnation and yet not follow Christ. Intellectual assent is
not faith. Napoleon conceded everything that Jesus claimed
for himself as the very Son of God ; yet his life was infinitely
far from the life which is hid in Christ with God.
The fifth and final step was taken when the blind man,
having said, "Lord, I believe," fell down and "worshiped
him." This means that he then and there took this Son of God
to be his Lord and Saviour. This is faith ; a hand stretched
forth to appropriate. It is the first personal pronoun possess
ive that brings us into the kingdom of God. "My" and
"mine" ; these are the touchstones of spiritual life.
Not long ago I was assigned to a room in a hotel, where,
as I entered, I observed a coil of rope suspended from the
window casing. It was a fire-escape with the slip-noose and
a succession of knots ; simple enough, but so adapted to its
purpose that I said within myself, "I believe in it." But sup
pose a fire had occurred that night and every avenue of escape

CAN OUR EYES BE OPENED? 43
had been cut off ? I would have uncoiled that rope, bound the
loop about my waist and committed myself to it. That would
have made the fire-escape a very different thing for me. I
should have made it experimentally mine; my faith would
have put an effectual seal of approval upon it because it had
saved me.
The Drama, "Out of Darkness into Light," has no re
corded sequel. Its central figure is a nameless man ; and no
more is heard of him. The day came, however, when his
eyes were closed to this world and opened in the kingdom of
light, and again he saw Jesus, not clad in homespun, but
crowned with glory. The King in his beauty ! The blind man
had come at last out of darkness into the marvelous light.
So may we realize the possibilities of faith in creed and
practice — so may we worship Christ and follow on — until the
day break and the shadows flee away! Then with open eyes
beholding, we shall be able to say, "Whereas I was blind, now
I see."

VII
HOW PETER SAW HIM
It was toward the close of Peter's career that he wrote a
"General Epistle" — that is, a letter addressed to. no Church in
particular but "to all whom it may concern" — in which he de
fended his faith in Jesus Christ as the only-begotten Son of
God. Now Peter was not a doctrinaire. He was unfamiliar with
the learning of the schools. He was frank to acknowledge
his ignorance of many things that university professors knew
then and know now ; but with respect to the power and coming
of Christ he professed an absolute certainty. His creed was
short; but it embraced all the essentials of Christian faith,
and it was based on the authority of the Word of God.
The truth for which he thus stood had been called in
question. The trustworthiness of Scripture was denied, with
out which there is no ultimate authority for the deity of
Christ or any other fundamental truth. There were those
who affirmed that many of the events recorded in the Gospels
were "cunningly devised fables" : such as the virgin birth, the
miracles, and the resurrection of Christ. (Strange, is it not,
how history repeats itself?) What has Peter to say to the
objections of these men? He has one transcendent recollec
tion with which to answer it. An incident had occurred thirty
years before which had so impressed itself upon his mind and
conscience and heart that he never could forget it. He had
seen Jesus with the glory of Godhood shining in his face !
Let him tell his own story: "It was at the close of our
Lord's journey through Csesarea-Philippi. By the way he had
44

HOW PETER SAW HIM 45
much to say respecting his approaching death. We could not
understand it. His death ! We expected him to take his place
upon the Messianic throne and rule in splendor as the long-
predicted Son of David. But he spoke of suffering many
things at the hands of the priests and rabbis and of being
crucified. At length we came to Mount Hermon. It was to
ward the close of the day and the Master signified that he
would go apart for a season. So he climbed the mountain
path, the two sons of Zebedee and myself following close after,
at his desire. Far to the west lay the Mediterranean, glorious
in the sunset ; and in the distant east the Euphrates ran like a
torrent of blood among its mountains and historic ruins. At
length we paused, and, wearied with climbing, fell asleep.
"We were presently awakened by the murmur of voices.
The Master was changed ! His coarse blue garments were
like ermine; his face was all aflame as the sun shineth in his
strength. And two companions were with him, whom we
knew, as by intuition, to be Moses the lawgiver and Elijah the
prophet who had ascended a thousand years, before in a chariot
of fire. We were awestruck, amazed. I spoke at length:
'Master, let us make here three tabernacles ; one for thee, and
one for Moses and one for Elijah.' I knew not what I said.
There was no answer. Then came the luminous cloud, the
Shekinah which long centuries before had disappeared from
above the mercy-seat ; and as it folded us in we were afraid.
And there came a voice out of the most excellent glory, 'This
is my beloved Son !' We had fallen upon our faces ; the Mas
ter touched us ; we arose and looked about us. The glory
had faded; the celestial visitants were gone and Jesus stood
alone. "The years have passed, but the scene is as fresh in mem
ory as if it had been but yesterday. We are under no delu
sion. We have not followed cunningly devised fables, when
we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord
Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For
he received from God the Father the honor and glory, when
there was borne such a voice to him by the Majestic Glory.
This voice we ourselves heard borne out of heaven, when we
were with him in the holy mount. And we have the word

46 "we would see jesus"
of prophecy made more sure; whereunto ye do well that ye
take heed, as unto a lamp shining in a dark place, until the
day dawn and the day-star arise in your hearts ; knowing this
first, that no prophecy of scripture is of private interpreta
tion. For no prophecy ever came by the will of man: but
men spake from God, being moved by the Holy Spirit. We
saw this foregleam of the Parousia, his final coming to be
King over all and blessed forever. How can our faith trem
ble? We believe in his power. We believe in his coming.
We shall see him in his glory in that day !"
No more important problem could be presented for our
consideration than the one before us, "What think ye of this
Jesus which is called the Christ?" He claimed to be very
God of very God. He might have escaped the cross by with
drawing that claim, but he refused to do so. He died for
making himself equal with God ! There is, therefore, no> mid
dle ground. It will not do to say that he was "the best of
men." He was either an impostor or else he was what he
claimed to be. What think ye ? The rabbis were wont to say,
"The secret of Messiah is the secret of man." If so, it be
hooves us to solve this problem and to solve it aright ; for out
of it flow the issues of eternal life.
There are three ways of approaching the question and
only three :
The first is the Zetetic Method. The Zetetics were a
school of philosophers who were so called because they pro
fessed to be "seekers after the truth." They proposed to ar
rive at truth by the processes of pure reason, without any aid
whatsoever. We may attempt to solve this problem in the same man
ner, that is, by reasoning it out ; but the result is a foregone
conclusion. We shall find ourselves going further and fur-
, ther into the dark. A man might as well undertake to sail a
vessel to Liverpool without chart or compass or skipper or
pilot or the slightest knowledge of navigation. He would go
round and round and get nowhere, or else go down on the
open sea. The attempts of philosophers to arrive at spiritual
truth in this manner have always led them up a blind-alley
with nothing but confusion to show for it. "Canst thou by

HOW PETER SAW HIM 47
wisdom find out God?" How then can we expect, by the
ordinary processes of reason, to find out the only-begotten Son
of God? The second method of procedure is the Scientific Method.
This involves the use of all possible aids : and it is as sensible
as it is scientific. If one wishes to know about the life and
character of Caesar how does he go about it? Does he sit
down alone in a solitary place to reason it out? In that case
nothing would come of it. He would have his labor for his
pains. On the contrary, he gets all the documentary evidence
he can; he consults the original documents, the Orations and
"Commentaries" of Caesar, the writings of Livy and Josephus
and Suetonius, the biographical dictionaries and everything
else germane to the question ; and from these he forms a con
clusion as to the matter in hand.
Any one who is sincerely desirous of knowing about Christ
will pursue a like method, and he will examine three books in
particular with the utmost care.
One of these is the Old Testament ; to which Peter refers
as "the word of prophecy made more sure, whereunto ye do
well that ye take heed, as unto a lamp shining in a dark
place." No man who reads the Old Testament without bias
can fail to see Christ walking through it from the first proph
ecy in Genesis, "The Seed of woman shall bruise the serpent's
head," down to the last prophecy of Malachi, "Unto you that
fear my name shall the Sun of Righteousness arise with heal
ing in its wings." His name is written between all its lines.
His face, so marred yet so divinely beautiful, shines forth on
every page. The red trail of his atoning blood runs from the
beginning to the end of it.
The second book is the New Testament; which agrees in
the minutest details and particulars with the prophecies re
ferred to. It chronicles their fulfillment ; as claimed, "Thus it
is written and thus it must be." The two volumes comple
ment each other in perfect accord like the counterparts of an
indenture. Can this be a mere coincidence? Surely not to an
unprejudiced mind.
The third book to be consulted is History; the history of
the nineteen centuries which have elapsed since the beginning

48 "we would see jesus"
of the Christian era. In this we find an irrefutable demon
stration of the power of Jesus Christ to reconstruct, the char
acter of nations and of the children of men. He walks through
these centuries like the majestic figure which Isaiah saw on
the heights of Bozrah, "marching in the greatness of his
strength with dyed garments from Bozrah."
The history of civilization has been coextensive with the
influence of the gospel. Not without reason are the enlight
ened nations of the earth embraced in a charmed circle known
as "Christendom" ; for there has been no continuous progress
save under the luminous shadow of the Cross. Thus does his
tory demonstrate the power of Christ; and thus does it pre
dict His coming also ; since all the lines of advancing civiliza
tion converge toward "one supreme divine event"; namely, the
ultimate reign of the Saviour in the Golden Age, when every
knee shall bow and every tongue confess that he is the Christ
of God. But this method of approaching the problem, while dis
tinctly rational and scientific, is not ultimately conclusive or
satisfactory. In any mind open to conviction it must produce
an intellectual apprehension of the fact that Jesus was the
veritable Son of God. But this does not go deep enough
to affect one's practical life and character. Many a man is
convinced of the Godhood of Christ without being a Christian.
Orthodoxy is not piety. The truth must take hold not of the
intellect only, but of the heart and conscience and will, before
our lives can truly be said to be "hid with Christ in God."
The third method is the Empirical or Experimental
Method. It is illustrated in the words of the people of Samaria
who came to interview Jesus at the suggestion of the woman at
the well. She' had summoned them to "see a man who had
told her all things that ever she did," adding, "Is not this the
Christ?" They went out to see for themselves; and after
coming into personal touch with Him, they said to her, "Now
we believe, not because of thy speaking, for we have heard for
ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Saviour of the
world!" It is this sort of experience with Christ that leads to
practical faith in him. "Come and see," said Philip to Na-

HOW PETER SAW HIM 49
thanael: and Nathanael came and saw and believed. Seeing
is believing. It was because Peter had been with Jesus in Hermon, and
had seen his earthly garments flutttering aside for a mo
ment to reveal his divine majesty, that he believed in him.
Faith came to him then with a certainty that nothing could
ever shake, a certainty that deepened and broadened as the
years passed on.
No greater mistake can be made than to' suppose, as many
do, that science rather than faith furnishes a safe working
basis of life. This is to confuse science with wisdom and
faith with credulity. Natural science has to do with things
which are seen and temporal; and it depends for verification
upon the evidences of the physical senses. Faith has to do
with things which are unseen and eternal : and, so far from
being insubstantial or without evidence, it is the very "sub
stance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not
seen." One of the greatest scientists of the last century, Alfred
Russell Wallace, has recently passed away at the extreme age
of ninety-one. He shared with Charles Darwin, more than
half a century ago, the credit of originating the dogma of
Natural Selection as the fundamental fact in the naturalistic
theory of Evolution. But as time passed Professor Wallace
frankly abandoned the evolution hypothesis as a working basis.
He turned from theory and hypothesis to a consideration of
the more positive tenets of the spiritual life. He was con
vinced of "a purpose in creation" and therefore of an "ulti
mate God," as he expressed it. On this foundation he built
for himself a tabernacle of faith, in which he found, what
Science could not give, an unwavering hope of life and immor
tality. His experience in the unseen and eternal was to him
more substantial than mere intellectual conclusions could be.
The objective contemplation of any spiritual fact must be
meagre in its results, in the necessity of the case. "Experi
ence teaches." The historic council at Nicaea (A. D. 312) was
called to formulate the doctrine of the Person of Christ. All
manner of heresies had arisen with respect to it. The great
majority of those who> attended the council believed that he

56 "we would see jesus"
was very God as he claimed to be ; but there were others who
affirmed that he was simply the "best of men." For the final
adjustment of the controversy delegates were sent from all
Christendom; and among them came two from Alexandria,
who proved to be the most conspicuous figures in the discus
sion. One of these was Arius, the father of Unitarianism,
that is, the denial of Christ's divinity. The other was Athan-
asius, a mere stripling of twenty-five years, who soon forged
to the front as the defender of the orthodox view.
The question at issue was discussed, pro and contra, for
many weeks, and finally ended in a dramatic incident which
the world can never forget. The delegates rose to vote; and
among them were many victims of persecution. They had vin
dicated their loyalty to Christ in prison and torture cham
bers, had faced all manner of suffering and death itself for
the truth's sake. They held up their mutilated hands in vindi
cation of their faith : saying, "That which we have heard, that
which we have seen with our eyes, that which our hands han
dled, do we certify this day!" Not all the wise arguments of
the theologians at Nicsea were so weighty as this testimony
of personal experience in the following of Christ. These men
had seen the vision in the holy mountain and had heard the
Voice out of the most excellent glory, calling, "This is my
beloved Son!"
I venture to emphasize again the importance of solving
this problem of the Messiah and of solving it in the right way.
If Jesus was indeed the veritable Son of God we should know
it and act accordingly; for, if so, he alone "hath authority
on earth to forgive sins." No prudent man will evade this
question or postpone the settlement of it. We have light
enough for its solution, if only we will follow it.
The humblest man on earth has free access to the presence
of Christ. He claims to be a living Christ and waits to be
interviewed. He invites us into the secret place of his pavilion
where, if so disposed, we may become personally acquainted
with him. No fair-minded man has ever accepted that invi
tation and failed to arrive at the truth concerning him.
A Jew came to Mr. Moody saying that he sincerely wished
to know whether Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah or not.

HOW PETER SAW HIM 51
The difficulty was that he "could not believe in a Messiah who
had died on an accursed tree." Mr. Moody read the conver
sation of Christ with Nicodemus, in the third of John, and
then knelt in prayer. In his prayer he said, "O Lord, this
man really wants to know. Show thyself to him as thou didst
to Nicodemus ! Tell him why thou didst leave the glory which
thou hadst with the Father before the world was ! Show him
the necessity of the cross, on which thou didst pay the ransom
for our sins ! He believes that Moses lifted up the serpent in
the wilderness so that whosoever looked might live; show
him how thou thyself must even so be lifted up, that whoso
ever believeth in thee might not perish but have eternal life !"
At these words the Jew sprang to his feet, crying, "I see it ! I
see it ! 'As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness !' The
light has come. O blessed Christ of God!"
It is in the light of such an experience as this, that the
Scriptures become "a word of prophecy made more sure."
He who truly believes in Christ will believe also that the Book
which was good enough for Christ is good enough for him.
And the more he searches that Book, as "a light shining in a
dark place," the more sure will it become to him "until the
day break and the day-star arise in his heart." Thus is the
written word confirmed by personal experience in the love and
service of the incarnate Word of God.

VIII
HOW JOHN SAW HIM
The old exile in Patmos is dreaming dreams and seeing
visions. In one of these visions he sees an army issuing from
the gates of heaven to meet the marshalled hosts of evil. This
army is led by one arrayed in garments dipped in blood, whose
eyes are as a flaming fire. Who is this ?
"And I saw the heaven opened ; and behold, a white horse,
and he that sat thereon called Faithful and True ; and in right
eousness he doth judge and make war. And his eyes are a
flame of fire, and upon his head are many diadems; and he
hath a name written which no man knoweth but he himself.
And he is arrayed in a garment sprinkled with blood ; and his
name is called The Word of God. And the armies which are
in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine
linen, white and pure. And out of his mouth proceedeth a
sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations ; and he
shall rule them with a rod of iron ; and he treadeth the wine
press of the fierceness of the wrath of God, the Almighty. And
he hath on his garment and on his thigh a name written,
King of Kings and Lord of Lords."
The same imposing figure may be seen in the pages of in
spired prophecy, going forth conquering and to conquer, on
his way to bring deliverance to this sin-stricken world of
ours. In the fulness of time he came riding into Jerusalem, with
a multitude going before and coming after, shouting, "Ho
sanna! Hosanna! Blessed is he that cometh in the name of
the Lord!" The people of the city, looking from their win
dows, cried, "Who is this ?" and the answer was, "This is Je
sus, the prophet of Nazareth." 52

HOW JOHN SAW HIM '53
His is the central figure in history. In him concenter all the
happenings of time — the past and future meeting in him as
at a focal point. He is the Alpha and Omega of chronicles,
the beginning and end of all.
In this vision of the Holy War he is seen by the Evangelist
going forth to conquest; the knight-errant of truth against
error, of good against evil, of right against wrong, of light
against darkness.
In the light of this vision all current events find their in
terpretation ; for he who thus, like Henry of Navarre with
his white plume, leads the White Battalion to the Holy War,
is arbiter of the destinies of nations and of the children of
men. It will be observed that in this apocalyptic vision he is
called by four singular names ; and in these we shall find the
answer to the question, "Who is he?"
One of these names is illegible. "No one knoweth it but
he himself." To those who love and follow him, the most fa
miliar of his names is Jesus ; but even within that name there
are depths of mystery which no intellectual plummet can
fathom. How vain the current controversy about "the virgin
birth !" Is it not written, "Great is the mystery of godliness — >
God manifested in the flesh — which things angels de
sire to look into." But it is also written, elsewhere, "Fools
rush in where angels fear to tread." The name "Jesus" is
ours by birthright. In it, as in a golden casket, are the price
less treasures of our spiritual inheritance. "And thou shalt
call his name Jesus; for it is he that shall save his people from
their sins." The aged Christian murmurs it with trembling
lips. The little people sing it :
"There is no name so sweet on earth,
No name so sweet in heaven;
The name, before his wondrous birth,
To Christ the Saviour given."
The last word about Jesus has not been spoken yet. The
sweetest of his names cannot reveal the fullness of his infi
nite excellency to the wisest of finite minds. But the saints
triumphant know. So runs the promise, "To him that over-
cometh will I give , , , a white stone, and upon the stone

54 WE WOULD SEE JESUS
a new name written, which no one knoweth but he that re
ceiveth it." Those who have gone before us to the Heavenly
Country have learned the incommunicable Name ; for they see
no longer "as in a glass darkly," but face to face; and they
know no longer "in part," but even as they are known. And
to us also this privilege shall be given; for "if he shall be
manifested, we shall be like him; for we shall see him even
as he is."
The second of the names referred to in this vision is The
Faithful and True.
True to what ? And faithful in what ? True to the eternal
plan and faithful in performing it.
For this Jesus is "the Lamb slain from the foundation of
the world." In Peter's address to. the Jews at Pentecost he
spoke of him as "delivered up by the determinate counsel and
foreknowledge of God."
I confess to some diffidence in ever approaching the doc
trine of the divine Decrees. The fact alone is clear; as to its
details and particulars, we may learn a lesson from those fallen
angels who are represented in "Paradise Lost" as wandering
aimlessly in "the mazes of fixed fate, free-will, foreknowledge
absolute." It is certain, however, that God has marked out a
definite plan for. each individual life; and success, in every
case, is measured by our compliance with and adjustment to
it. But alas, we cross the lines of the divine purpose ; we fail
because we take issue with God and insist on having our own
way. Not so with Christ. He was eternally elected to do a
mighty work. He was foreordained and predestinated to live
on earth, to suffer and to die vicariously for men. His path
was thus clearly marked out ; and he proved himself the per
fect Man in never swerving from it. Not an inch, not a hair's
breadth, did he swerve from it! The shadow of the cross
loomed up at the end of his pathway; and he "set his face
steadfastly to go" toward it. He never flinched! He never
compromised! His name is deservedly called The True, be
cause he knew the appointed road and went straight on.
And being "true" to prophecy thus far, he will be "faith
ful" until all shall be fulfilled.' Not one jot or tittle of that

HOW JOHN SAW HIM 55
which is written shall pass away until all is fulfilled concern
ing him. Here is the foregleam of his final triumph. The
red cross is destined to tower on all the headlands of the
earth; and he who is The True and Faithful shall reign
where'er the sun doth his successive journeys run.
The third of the names of Christ referred to in this vision
is The Word of God.
Here the dreamer harks back to the Prologue of his Gos
pel : "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with
God, and the Word was God. . . . And the Word became
flesh and dwelt among us."
The significance of this title lies in the fact that speech is
our common medium of communication. It .is through our
word, passing from one to another, that we become mutually
acquainted. And thus it is that Christ, as the Logos, be
comes the full and complete revelation of God. The Incarna
tion is, so to speak, the articulation of the speech of God. And
through it we become acquainted with him ; as Jesus said,
"He that hath seen me hath seen the Father: how sayest
thou, Show us the Father? Believest thou not that I am in
the Father, and the Father in me ?"
In Christ we have, in particular, a clear unveiling of the
three moral attributes of God :
First, his holiness. Its symbol, in the vision, is the sword
proceeding out of his mouth.
By this we are given to understand that God's holiness is
not merely negative, that is, freedom from defilement. It is
not enough to say that God sits upon his throne, encompassed
by angels and archangels crying, "Holy, holy, hoiy, is the Lord
God, the Almighty !" Nor is it enough to say of Christ that he
is "the holy harmless and undefiled One."
His holiness makes itself seen and felt in an unceasing
and implacable war upon sin. It is thus that he "treadeth the
winepress of the fierceness of the wrath of Almighty God." It
is thus that "in righteousness he doth judge and make war."
He hates sin with an inextinguishable hatred, by reason of
all the evil that has been wrought by it. At the head of his
militant host he goes forth against "the beast," until he shall
utterly destroy it,

56 "we would see jesus"
How could it be otherwise? If a vandal had broken into
the studio of Phidias and shattered his famous statue of
Apollo to atoms, would he have viewed that vandal with com
placency, think you? Man is God's masterpiece. Sin, the
beast, has discrowned and corrupted him, blinded him to the
beauty of spiritual things, polluted his heart, perverted his
conscience, enfeebled his intellect and paralyzed his will. It
has put a poisoned chalice to his lips, saying, "Drink and die !"
And for this reason The Word, as very God of very God,
hates sin with all the fury possible to an infinite nature ; and
he goes forth against it. This is the Holy War. To this end
the Captain on his white horse sets out with his White Bat
talion ; and one who reads history aright must see how all
events are moving toward the final consummation when the
carcass of the beast, as portrayed in the sequel of this vision,
shall be given to the fowls of the air to feast on.
So the Word becomes our avenger; as it is written, "I
looked, and there was' none to help, and I wondered that there
was none to uphold: therefore mine own arm brought salva
tion unto me ; and my wrath it upheld me !" Here is the key
to all those passages of Scripture which refer to the divine
wrath. A recent article in one of our Reviews inveighs against
"the Old Testament conception of God." There is no such
thing as "the Old Testament conception of God." He is the
same yesterday and to-day and for ever. The New Testament
is true to the Old Testament ; Christ is the revelation of God
as he is and was and ever will be. And throughout the in
spired Book he is consistently set forth as the implacable foe
of sin. Whatever of wrath or fury or holy indignation there
is in his administration of affairs is always against sin; and
it is always in the behalf of the children of men.
The second of the moral attributes of God, namely, his
justice, is set forth symbolically in the "vesture dipped in
blood." It is a mistake to think of God as always sitting in court
and administering on the lives of nations and men. This is
only the negative side of his justice. Its positive side is seen
most conspicuously a| the Cross, For here is where God,

HOW JOHN SAW HIM 57
manifest in Christ, vindicates the offended law by paying to
the last farthing all that was due to it. The blood on Christ's
vesture is his own blood. He was wounded for our trans
gressions and bruised for our iniquities, that by his stripes we
might be healed. Oh, stupendous cost of justice! Thus is the
question answered, "How shall God be just and yet the justifier
of the ungodly ? And that other question, "How can a man be
just with God?" This is the red vintage of our salvation:
The winepress! The winepress! The voice is from God:
The floor of his fury is now to be trod;
The sins of all nations are full to o'erflowing,
And the blast of th' avenger from heaven is blowing;
In the red robe of vengeance triumphant he stands,
And blots out our sentence with blood in his hands.
The third of God's moral attributes, namely, his Good
ness, is apparent in the personnel of the army that follows
Christ, clothed in fine linen, white and pure. Who are they ?
These are the saints triumphant, whom the dreamer saw in
a former vision, standing before the Throne, clothed in white
robes and with palms in their hands, crying with a loud voice,
"Salvation unto our God !" They are the redeemed in heaven,
who "have washed their robes and made them white in the
blood of the Lamb."
It would be another mistake, however, to think of the
redeemed as having nothing to do but to encircle the throne
and sing the praises of the Lamb. They go forth to war
with him., In that White Battalion are, no doubt, many of
our own beloved who have passed on before us. For "are they
not all ministering spirits, sent forth to do service for the sake
of them that shall inherit salvation ?" They have blessed work
to do as "laborers together with God." They are enlisted
in the Holy War under the Captain of our Salvation in his
crusade against the beast. As Havelock went out to the relief
of Lucknow, so do the glorified saints march to the deliver
ance of those who are beleaguered by the hosts of sin.
But the Captain of our Salvation has still another name:
"He hath on his garment and on his thigh a name written,
King of Kings and Lord of Lords."
In this we have the sure token of his power to save. "He

58 "we WOULD SEE JESUS''
is able to save to the uttermost them that draw near unto God
through him."
But more than this, here is the token of his final triumph.
On his head are many crowns or circlets. He is the King
of Kings ; for the kings of the earth do bring their glory and
their honor unto him.
On the lonely island of St. Helena the exiled Napoleon
said, "Tell me, Bertrand, how you account for the great abyss
between my misery and the eternal reign of Jesus. I am for
gotten ; so it is with Caesar and Alexander. Our exploits are
given to pupils in school who sit in judgment upon us; but
behold the destiny of Christ ! His kingdom extends over the
whole earth ; and there are millions who would die for him."
The reason for the difference is plain. The name of Napo
leon, "Imperator," was written on a sword-hilt; while the
name of this King of Kings was written on his vesture and
thigh, as upon an empty scabbard. The swords of Caesar and
Alexander were ever ready for bloody uses ; but the sword of
Jesus is the pacific speech of Shiloh, Prince of Peace. His
right of conquest is not in slaughter, but in self-sacrifice. His
ultimate triumph is by "the sword of the Spirit, which is the
Word of God."
Ride on! Ride on in majesty!
In lowly pomp ride on to die!
Bow thy meek head to mortal pain;
Then take, O Christ, thy power and reign!
The crowning day is coming ! The dreamer in Patmos saw
an angel standing in the sun, calling to the fowls that fly in the
midst of heaven to come and feast upon the banquet of slain
sin. Then he heard the voice of another angel calling out oi
heaven, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men: and he
shall dwell with them, and they shall be his peoples, and God
himself shall be with them, and be their God !"
Then the Hallelujah Chorus! All angels and archangels
join with the innumerable company of saints redeemed in the
shout, "The Lord God omnipotent reigneth !"

IX
HOW PAUL SAW HIM
The most important event, apart from the Atonement, in
the opening century of the Christian era, was the conversion of
Saul of Tarsus. As chief inquisitor of the Sanhedrin he had
been the foremost figure in the persecution of the followers of
Christ. And this he did with a good conscience: as he says,
"I verily thought with myself that I ought to do many things
contrary to the name of Jesus." He was acting under the
strict compulsion of duty when he "desired letters to the syna
gogues in Damascus" for the arrest and imprisonment of the
Christians there. It was on this journey that the whole tenor
of his life and character was changed. "Suddenly there shone
round about him a light out of heaven; and he fell to the
earth." A moment later he arose another man. He was so
utterly transformed that the things which he had previously
loved he now "counted but loss," and the things which he had
hated he now loved better than life itself. From that hour
he was as zealous in following Christ as he had been in de
nouncing him and in persecuting those who loved him. By
what power was this sudden transformation wrought? There
is no effect without a cause. How are we to account for it?
As a citizen of Jerusalem, and probably a member of the
Sanhedrin, he must have been familiar with the singular life
of Jesus. He had heard the common rumors of his wonderful
words and miracles: but he shared in the opinion of his asso
ciates that Jesus was an impostor, claiming to be the Messiah
but with nothing to support his claim. The power of the won
derful life did not convince him.
He must have been familiar also with the circumstances
attending the death of Jesus. It is more than possible that
59

60 "we would see jesus"
he had a voice in the Council that passed sentence upon him.
To many minds the Cross is the great argument in demon
stration of the gospel. The infidel Rousseau confessed that it
baffled him: "If Socrates died like a philosopher, then Jesus
died like a god !" But Saul of Tarsus was proof against all
this. The power of the wonderful death did not convince
him. What, then, was it that turned this man right about face?
It was "the power of his resurrection." He had supposed that
Jesus was dead and disposed of; but here, on the Damascus
highway, a living voice calls, "I am Jesus !" This voice, with
the attendant circumstances, carries conviction with it. The
conclusion is instant and inevitable : "He whom I supposed to
be dead is risen and alive! The story of the resurrection,
which his followers have been telling far and wide, is no empty
tale !"
Now Saul was distinctly a logician. He was the most dis
tinguished controversialist of his time. He knew the force of
an argument when he saw it. To this voice in the sunburst he
could find no rational reply but immediate and unconditional
surrender: "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?"
The power of the wonderful life had been ineffective : the
power of the wonderful death had been equally so ; but the
power of the resurrection of Jesus was sufficient to convert
Saul of Tarsus into Paul the Apostle. The thought of the
living Christ became, then and there, the dynamic of all his
plans and purposes ; and, from that hour on the Damascus
highway up to the moment when his head fell from the block
beneath the walls of Rome, his constant ambition was to live
up to it.
Let us inquire as to the significance of this argument, the
argument based on the resurrection of Christ as its postulate,
which so profoundly influenced the character of this man.
First, it was to his mind a demonstration that Christ, by
virtue of his indestructible life, was very God of very God.
The primal attribute of God is self-existence. He is not
only the living God ; he is the Source and Fountain of life. "In
him we live and move and have our being" ; but he "sits on
no precarious throne nor borrows leave to be." His name,

HOW PAUL SAW HIM 6l
Jehovah, suggests pure, underived, essential, self-sustaining
life. The same truth is. involved in the name by which he de
clared himself at the burning bush, "I am that I am" or "I
am because I am."
Jesus claimed to be the only-begotten Son of God; not
created, nor born, but begotten, and therefore partaker of
this primal attribute. "In him was life." He said, "I am the
life." He also said, "I have power to lay it down, and I have
power to take it again" ; in other words life was his in such
wise that he could do what he pleased with it. When Pilate
said, "Knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee?"
his answer was, "Thou wouldest have no power against me
except it were given thee from above." If his life were taken
from him it was because he chose to surrender it : and in that
case he had "power to take it again." What a stupendous
claim ! No mortal man could make it. If he could prove that
assertion he would vindicate his Godhood. Could he prove it ?
It is recorded that when the chief priests and Pharisees
came to Pilate asking that the sepulchre of Jesus might be
made sure, "lest haply his disciples come and steal him away,"
he answered, "Go, make it as sure as ye can." They went ac
cordingly and made the sepulchre sure. They rolled a massive
stone before it whereon was affixed the great seal of the Em
pire, and stationed guards round about to defend it. He that
sitteth in the heavens shall laugh! As well might Pilate un
dertake to imprison the beams of the ascending sun !
As the night wore on the sentinels were pacing to and fro,
when suddenly the ground began to tremble. A crash! The
rocks were reeling and tottering ! A vivid light from heaven !
The seal was broken ; the stone was rolled away ; the guards
were lying prostrate as dead men ! Then from the shining
heights a troop of angels came gliding down and the Prince
of Life arose from his tomb, wiping the death-dew from
his brow ; and the angels thronged his chariot and bore him
aloft to the glory that awaited him. Listen ! Voices from
the distance : "Lift up your heads, O ye gates ; and be ye lifted
up, ye everlasting doors, and the king of glory will come in !"
So Jesus "was declared to be the Son of God with power by
the resurrection from the dead." He rose not at the behest

62 "we would see jesus"
of a voice from without but by his own volition. This was
the crucial test. Had it failed he would have shown himself,
like Samson shorn of his locks, "weak as other men."
A few years ago, when Schliemann was excavating among
the ruins of Mycenae, he came upon the tomb of Agamemnon,
known as "the King of Men." There were three swords, a
dented shield, and a golden mask ; all else was dust ! Had the
body of Jesus returned in like manner to its elemental dust,
his boasted sovereignty of life would have vanished into thin
air. But the grave could not confine him. To the mind of
Saul of Tarsus this power of an underived and indestructible
life verified his claim as very God of very God.
Second, by the power of his resurrection it was made clear
that Jesus was able to bestow spiritual life.
We are smitten unto death by the power of sin. For
"there is no distinction ; for all have sinned" ; and the sentence
of the law is, "The soul that sinneth it shall die." The death
here indicated is alienation from God. It is impossible to
imagine a hell deeper than this ; to be for ever away from
God! "There is a death whose pang
Outlives this fleeting breath;
Oh, what eternal horrors hang
Around the second death!"
But Jesus claimed that he had power to restore life to those
who were thus "dead in trespasses and sins." He said, "I came
that they may have life, and may have it abundantly." The
life to which he referred was restoration to the favor of God.
This could only be effected by a deliverance from the penalty
and power of sin. This was accomplished by Christ who "his
own self bare our sins in his body upon the tree," and whose
"blood cleanseth us from all sin." He said, "The Son of Man
hath power on earth to forgive sins." Could he prove it?
All the miracles of Jesus are directed to the demonstration
of that claim. It was a matter of comparatively small import
that he should heal a few blind men and lepers in a world full
of lepers and blind men : but it was a matter of vast impor
tance that by opening blind eyes he should demonstrate his
power to purge our spiritual vision, and that by wiping away

HOW PAUL SAW HIM 63
the leper's spots he should demonstrate his ability to cleanse
the soul. Now his resurrection was simply the culmination
of all his miracles. It proved not only that he was the self-
existent God, but that he was also the "quickening Spirit" ;
able to restore spiritual life to those who were "dead under
the law." Wherefore it is written, "You did he make alive
when ye were dead through your trespasses and sins" ; and
again, "God made us alive together with Christ and made us
to sit with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus."
The key to the mystery of regeneration is in this electric
touch of Christ as the quickening Spirit, by whom we receive
the joy of pardon, the peace of a good conscience and restora
tion to the complacent love of God. Thus is the saying of
Christ fulfilled, "I am the resurrection and the life; he that
believeth on me, though he die, yet shall he live; and whoso
ever liveth and believeth on me shall never die."
Third, the power of the resurrection of Christ is an un
answerable argument as to his ability to confer eternal life on
those who believe in him.
Eternal life does not mean immortality. Our perpetual ex
istence is a fact, whether or no we desire it. The breath in
our nostrils is God's breath; and there is nothing in the uni
verse that can quench it. We are bound to live forever, some
where. But that is not what is meant by eternal life. It means
an unending existence in communion with God, in perfect har
mony with all his plans and purposes concerning us, and in
happy obedience to his holy will.
All are to rise in the general resurrection; but "some to
everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt."
The dead in Christ shall rise first ; and shall hear his voice say
ing, "Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom pre
pared for you from the foundation of the world." This is
"the resurrection of the just," of which it is written, "Blessed
is he that hath part in the first resurrection!" All true be
lievers, who have suffered with Christ, shall then reign with
him. For "if we have become united with him in the likeness
of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrec
tion." And again, "We shall be like him, for we shall see him
even as he is."

64 "WE WOULD SEE JESUS"
Our Lord claimed the power to confer this eternal life:
"This is the will of my Father, that every one that beholdeth
the Son and believeth on him, should have eternal life; and I
will raise him up at the last day." Here is another and equally
stupendous claim. Could he prove it?
The ultimate proof awaits the "consummation of all
things." It would appear, however, that the argument which
has been so irresistible thus far shall not fail in that day. As
to our loved ones who are fallen asleep, we do not mourn for
them as others who are without hope ; "for if we believe that
Jesus died and rose again, even so them also that are fallen
asleep in Jesus will God bring with him." He who came forth
from the sepulchre as "the first born from the dead" will
not forget his kinsfolk. His resurrection as "the firstfruits of
them that sleep" is an earnest and prophecy of our resurrec
tion. As the first sheaf of wheat was waved before the altar in
prediction of the coming harvest, so is the risen Christ our as
surance that God's Acre shall be garnered in the great day.
It is not to be wondered at that the argument thus pre
sented to the mind of Saul of Tarsus was conclusive. The fact
that Christ had conquered death was a vindication of all his
mighty claims. The faith which emerged from the experience
of that memorable day was never shaken. It rings with a tri
umphant note of certainty in the resurrection hymn : "I make
known unto you the gospel: . . . that Christ died for our
sins according to the Scriptures, and that he was buried and
that he hath been raised on the third day. . . . How then say
some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? But
if there is no resurrection of the dead, neither hath Christ been
raised ; and if Christ hath not been raised, then is our preach
ing vain : your faith also is vain. . . . Ye are yet in your
sins ! Then they also that*are fallen asleep in Christ have per
ished! If we have only hoped in Christ in this life, we are of
all men most pitiable. But now hath Christ been raised from
the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that are asleep.
. . . . Then shall come to pass the saying that is written,
Death is swallowed up in victory! O death, where is thy
victory? O death, where is thy sting? The sting of death is

HOW PAUL SAW HIM 65
/
sin ; and the power of sin is the law ; but thanks to God, who
giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."
Oh for Paul's vision of the living Christ ! I have read the
legend of a monk who stood weeping under his crucifix, weary
of penance, when suddenly his Lord appeared saying, "Weep
not for me nor for thyself. Because I live, thou livest also.
Hear thou the call for help ! The world needs thee. Go forth
to thy duty ; and I will ever be with thee." It was the very
voice that Saul of Tarsus heard on the highway : and it speaks
in like manner to us.
There is only one answer, "Lord, what wilt thou have me
to do?" "If ye then were raised together with Christ, seek
the things which are above, where Christ is seated on the right
hand of God." He is a living, loving friend, and never far
from every one of us.
"Wherefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmov-
able, always abounding in the work of the Lord ; forasmuch as
ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord."

X
HOW PILATE SAW HIM
Look well at this man : for he saw Jesus, knew who he was,
trembled at his gaze and still rejected him!
It would be hard to find a more striking contrast than was
witnessed in the Judgment Hall. Pilate sat on an ivory throne,
clothed in purple, his famous ruby blazing in his turban : while
Jesus stood in the prisoner's box, pale, worn with a night of
weary vigils, and bearing the scars of a whip of scorpions.
And Pilate said, "Behold the man !" No need to say it. We
cannot avoid beholding him. He stands perpetually at Gab-
batha, demanding, "What think. ye of me?" Listen, and you
will hear the world talking about him. Turn to the oracles,
and lo, from every page his face, marred but divinely beautiful,
looks out upon you. Open your newspaper, and mark his influ
ence upon current events. "Behold the man !" He is the com
manding figure in the record of nations and the children of
men. And observe the "fan in his hand," with which he ever
purges his floor. He draws a line through the midst of the
people, setting them apart, believers on one side and non-be
lievers on the other, saying, "He that is not with me is against
me." No, we cannot avoid him. We are bound to decide for
or against him. And every hour is the hour of decision. His
eyes are like those in Domenichino's portrait ; wherever we go
they follow us.
But just now it is with the other man that we have to do —
Pilate, the pilloried coward. Ecce homo ! Behold that man ! —
the truckler, the compromiser, the man who knew his duty and
did it not. 66

HOW PILATE SAW HIM 6/
Who was he? In early life he went to war and distin
guished himself on the field of battle. He then entered politics,
and by rapid steps of promotion rose to be the Governor of
Judaea. His headquarters were now in the Roman capital at
Caesarea ; but he had recently come up to Jerusalem to preserve
order during the Passover, because the Jews were proverbially
a turbulent race. He was in charge of the garrison at the Castle
of Antonia, where doubtless he kept well indoors, being the
best hated man in the country. Not long before this he had
built an aqueduct and paid for it out of Corbah, the sacred
treasury of Israel. A little later he set up a Roman standard
in Jerusalem on which was the name of the emperor, to which
divine honors were paid ; and when the Jews rebelled and beset
the governor's gates, he recalled the idolatrous symbol, allow
ing them to have their way. It was only recently that a band of
Galilean peasants were worshiping at the altar, when Pilate,
having an accusation against them, sent a detachment of Ro
man troops and "mingled their blood with their sacrifices." No
wonder the Jews hated and gnashed their teeth at him !
But just now they had need of this man. As a subjugated
people they had lost the power of life and death. In order to
crucify Christ they must have the governor's approval. So on
the morning of this April day he was awakened bright and
early by their beating at his gates. No doubt he arose from his
couch with reluctance and muttering maledictions on these mal
contents. Seeing their prisoner, he demanded of them, "What
accusation bring ye against this man ?" All night in the San
hedrin they had sat in judgment on this prisoner, the charge
being blasphemy, in that, claiming to be the Messiah, he "made
himself equal with God." But as no Roman magistrate would
take cognizance of religious matters they must needs trump up
a new indictment. It was practically a charge of rebellion in
three specifications : First, he had "perverted the nation." Sec
ond, he had forbidden the payment of tribute to Caesar. And,
third, he had proclaimed himself a king. This was the case
on which Pilate must determine; and there was no escape
from it.
Pilate knew about Christ. No one could be living in Jeru
salem at that time without knowing about him. His wonderful

68 "WE WOULD SEE JESUS"
words and works were in the air. And besides, Pilate had just
had a personal interview with him, in which he asked, "Art
thou the king of the Jews?" to which Jesus answered, "Thou
sayest. . . . My kingdom is not of this world. ... To
this end am I come into the world, that I should bear witness
unto the truth." So, being fully informed as to his prisoner,
the question was, what should he do with him ?
Pilate was fully persuaded as to the character of Christ.
This was evidenced in his statement, "I find no fault in this
man." It is a singular fact that even the enemies of Jesus have
been always united in bearing this testimony. He himself had
uttered the challenge, "Which of you convicteth me of sin?"
Who, indeed? Not his friends, who believe him to be chiefest
among ten thousand and altogether lovely. Not his enemies,
for never have nobler eulogiums been passed upon him than by
such infidels as Lucian, Porphyry, Spinoza, Rousseau,
Goethe, David Strauss, Theodore Parker and Renan. All are
agreed that he was the Blameless One.
Pilate had been warned concerning him. Not only had his
conscience rung the alarm — as conscience is ever "accusing or
else excusing" us — but he had received a special admonition.
His wife Procula had dreamed in the waking hours of the
morning — the hour when it was popularly supposed all dreams
came true — and tradition gives her dream. She saw a confla
gration consuming temples and palaces, licking up forests and
burning the heavens like a parched scroll, s.o that nothing could
extinguish it. There were cries of the homeless and fear-
stricken. Thereupon a lamb appeared, and as it mounted the
flaming pyre its side was pierced, blood gushed forth, and the
fires were quenched. Then the lamb assumed a human form,
the appearance, as the dreamer said,
"Of a man divine and passing fair,
And like your august prisoner there."
Wherefore she said, "Have thou nothing to do with that right
eous man!"
Pilate's cowardice was aggravated by his repeated attempts
at evasion. He made seven appeals, in his desperate effort to
shift the responsibility of passing judgment on Christ. His.

HOW PILATE SAW HIM 69
first was to the prisoner himself : "Hearest thou not how many
things they witness against thee ?" And Jesus answered never
a word, insomuch that the governor marveled greatly. He was
probably not aware of- the prophecy which had been written
concerning him, "As a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he
openeth not his mouth."
His second appeal was to the religious leaders : "I, having
examined him before you, found no fault in him touching those
things whereof ye accuse him." Their reply was simply a more
vehement outburst against him.
His third appeal was to the mob. It would have been as
well to sing a lullaby to a cyclone ; they cried the more loudly,
"Crucify him ! Crucify him !"
His fourth appeal was to diplomacy. At this time Herod
the Tetrarch happened to be on a visit to Jerusalem ; and it
-occurred to Pilate that the case of his prisoner, who was a Gali
lean, fell properly within his colleague's jurisdiction. A happy
thought ! He straightway sent him to Herod. But the Galilean
tetrarch returned the prisoner with his. compliments, being too
old a schemer to be caught that way. In point of fact no man
can evade the responsibility of passing personal judgment on
Christ. Herod always sends him back.
The fifth appeal of Pilate was to custom. A prisoner was
usually released at the time of the Passover. The governor
now gave the people an alternative between Jesus and Barab-
bas, who was a notorious thief and murderer. To his dismay
they demanded the release of Barabbas ! "What then shall I
do unto Jesus, who is called the Christ ?" he inquired. "Crucify
him ! Crucify him !"
His sixth appeal was to compromise. "I will chastise him,"
he said, "and release him." Shame upon him for a Roman
magistrate! His prisoner was either innocent or guilty; if
guilty, let him suffer the just penalty ; if innocent, set him free !
Compromise never pays. "Nothing is settled until it is settled
right." No man or church can "split the difference" in moral
or spiritual things.
The seventh and last appeal was to his own accusing con
science. He took water and washed his hands before the mul
titude, saying, "I am innocent of the blood of this righteous

70 "WE WOULD SEE JESUS"
man; see ye to it." Shakespeare probably caught from this
tragic incident his thought of Macbeth's remorse :
"Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood
Clean from my hand? No; this my hand will rather
The multitudinous seas incarnadine,
Making the green one red."
The question arises, How did Pilate descend so low in cow
ardice? In all probability it began with trifling in religious
things. He lived in an age of cynicism, when the foundations
of religion were broken up. It may be that, mingling with the
soldiers at the camp-fire, he had made sport of the gods ; and
the habit grew upon him until, facing the great problem, he
curled his lip in the satirical question, "What is truth?"
In addition to this he was constitutionally a truckler. If he
had convictions he was ever ready to waive them in deference
to public opinion. Just here is the test of moral heroism. There
is many a man who, like Pilate, has distinguished himself on
the high places of the field, who finds himself unable to face
a pointed finger.
Still further, Pilate was a sycophant. As an office-holder,
he knew himself to be in. the line of promotion and must do
nothing to forfeit his chance. The people touched the raw
spot when they said, "If thou release this man, thou art not
Caesar's friend." The Csesar at that time was Tiberius, a jeal
ous tyrant who owned his subordinates, body and soul. It
would be bad policy_for Pilate to offend him.
What was the result ? Tiberius was presently off the throne
and Caligula was in power. Pilate was summoned before him
to answer to certain charges of malfeasance in office ; and a
little later he found himself an exile and wanderer in Gaul. He
ended his life at Lake Lucerne, where the peasants say that
once a year a spectre rises from the water, wringing its hands
in impotent despair.
"By God abhorred, by man despised,
Shunned by the fiends below,
Where shall the wretch, to hide himself
And hide his meanness, go?"
But let us not be too severe in our judgment of Pilate.
Rather, let him that is without sin cast the first stone at him.

HOW PILATE SAW HIM 71
There stands Jesus at Gabbatha ; and the demand is upon us,
What shall we do with him ? Will we also chastise him and let
him go ? Will we send him to Herod ? Nay ; he will evermore
return to us ! Shall we praise him in mock heroics, and, while
admiring his splendid character, reject his divine claims?
From the dishonesty of mere sentiment, good Lord, deliver us !
The most despicable thing that ever was said about Jesus was
"Behold the man !" Let us be logical and say again that Christ
was what he claimed to be or else an impostor who deserved
the death that befell him. There is no middle ground. He
either bore our sins in his own body on the tree, or else the
Christian world for nineteen centuries has been under a delu
sion respecting him.

XI
LOOK AROUND YOU
There were two strings to Paul's harp. One of them
sounded the story of his conversion; the other "This Jesus is
the Christ." In the synagogue at Thessalonica he is said to
have reasoned with the Jews on three successive Sabbaths,
"opening and alleging that it behooved the Christ (that is, the
Messiah) to suffer, and to rise again from the dead; and that
this Jesus whom I proclaim unto you is the Christ."
I imagine him with the scrolls of scripture in his hands
thus "opening and alleging" that Jesus of Nazareth whom
they with wicked hands had crucified was really their Messiah,
"whom kings and prophets longed to see and died without the
sight." Paul was a great master of dialectics and a biblical expert
as well ; but the task before him was no easy one. His hearers
believed in the scriptures and they also believed in the Messiah ;
but they did not believe that Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ.
The odds were greatly against Paul in his effort to convince
them, because it was only twenty years before that their re
ligious leaders had hung this same Jesus on an accursed tree.
Was that a frightful mistake? Or, if so, was it to be expected
that they would acknowledge it ?
The apostle's mode of procedure on this occasion was to
open the Scriptures and show how precisely Jesus corresponded
with the silhouette which the prophets had drawn. It was a
wise method, and should have been satisfactory to all. No un
biased reader of the Old Testament can fail to perceive the
correspondence referred to. It is so exact in the minutest
details and particulars relating to His birth, His character, His
72

LOOK AROUND YOU 73
preaching, His miracles, His death and His resurrection, that
it is difficult to escape the force of it.
Let us, however, pursue a different line of argument. A
good many people in our time reject the Scriptures altogther
as ultimate authority for anything, while others, know little'
about them and some care less. It is safe to say, nevertheless,
that even these are interested in the question whether Jesus
is the Christ or not. It is for their benefit that the argument
is now presented from another point of view.
We are living nineteen centuries away from the Messianic
drama. Meanwhile the world has been moving and there are
existing facts which need to be accounted for ; and these facts
are such, in my opinion, that they can only be accounted for
on the assumption that Jesus of Nazareth was what He claimed
to be. To begin with, take the dynamic truths which are now prev
alent and uppermost in the religious thought of the whole civ
ilized world.
First, there is the Doctrine of God. It is agreed on all
hands that "God is. Love." We are so familiar with the phrase
that we accept it as a matter of course. In fact, however, it is
peculiar to those Christian nations over whom has fallen the
blessing of the wonderful words of Jesus, "When ye pray say,
Our Father." It is not claimed, nor is it necessary for the
argument in hand to affirm, that Jesus originated this concep
tion of God. Let it suffice to say that he emphasized it, and
that it prevails in Christendom and nowhere else.
The second of the prevalent thoughts is that man is the way
ward child of God. All are agreed, whether Christians or not,
that there is something divine in man and that something has
gone wrong with him. To put it in Christian phrase, he was
created in the divine likeness but has fallen from his high estate ;
so that "there is none that doeth good, no not one." Here again
it is not necessary to affirm that Jesus originated either the doc
trine of the divine origin of man or the doctrine of the fall.
We say merely that this was the conception of man set forth
constantly in the preaching of Christ and that it is universally
accepted in the civilized world to-day.
The third of the generally accepted truths is that no effective

74 WE WOULD SEE JESUS"
plan has been devised for reconciling a sinful man with a holy
God by the blotting out of past sin unless it can be found in the
atonement of Christ. In all the sacred books of the false relig
ions there is no intimation of any such plan. In the teaching
of Christ we are advised that he "tasted death for every man,"
so that whosoever believeth in Him should have eternal life. All
men do not accept that suggestion ; but all practically agree that
there is no other way ; which is precisely what he said : "No one
cometh unto the Father but by me."
It thus appears that the three salient truths that were pre
sented in the teachings of Jesus — as to' God, man and reconcil
iation with God — are the three potent conceptions in the relig
ious thought of the world to-day. In other words, he of whom
it was said, "Never man spake like this man," has in the logic
of events come to be the supreme teacher of religion, even
among those who do not concede his Messianic claims. This
is a marvelous thing and surely worthy of consideration. How
can it be accounted for?
We turn now to the moral principles which prevail
among the civilized people of the world. All these center in
the Decalogue. It is not claimed that Jesus made any revolu
tionary change in the Ten Commandments, or even that they
are peculiar to the Word of God. On the other hand, the
moral principles which they formulate are in the nature of a
generic intuition, having been written in the nerve and sinew
of the human constitution before they were inscribed on tables
of stone. But Jesus charged those Commandments with a
practical significance such as they never had before ; and his
interpretation of the Decalogue is now accepted by all.
First, he simplified them by reducing them to a brief sum
mary, as follows : "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all
thy heart," and "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself," or,
more briefly still, as Paul puts it, "Love is the fulfilment of the
law." Second, he analyzed them, going beneath the surface and
placing the motive behind the overt act. This analysis is now
recognized in every court of justice. Listen to this : "Ye have
heard that it was said to them of old time, Thou shalt not kill ;
but I say unto you that every one who is angry with his brother

LOOK AROUND YOU 75
shall be in danger of the judgment. Ye have heard that it
was said, Thou shalt not commit adultery, but I say unto you
that the offence is committed in an unclean glance ! Wherefore,
if thy right eye causeth thee to stumble, pluck it out ; and if
thy right hand causeth thee to stumble, cut it off and cast it
from thee." In such teaching as this the law becomes "quick
and powerful even to the dividing asunder of the joints and
marrow," and is seen to be "a discerner of the thoughts and
intents of the heart."
Third, he gave the Moral Law a personal application which
it never had before. He yoked up precept with practice when
he said, "By their fruits ye shall know them." It is no uncom
mon thing in the Orient to find a very devout Hindu or Moham
medan who is nevertheless a notoriously wicked man ; but under
the teaching of Christ it has. come to be understood that faith
and conduct must go with even pace. Here are some words
that have come ringing down through the centuries : "Ye are
the salt of the earth ; but if the salt have lost its savor where
with shall it be salted ? It is thenceforth good for nothing but
to be cast out and trodden under foot of men. Ye are the light
of the world. . . . Let your light so shine before men that
they may see your good works and glorify your Father who
is in heaven."
Now this interpretation of the Ten Commandments is ac
cepted by the civilized world. The very criticisms which are
directed at Christians for not living up to their profession are a
splendid tribute to Christ as a moral teacher. In charging them
with inconsistency these critics allow that he was the teacher of
a consistent faith. Thus they magnify the significance of his
ethics. Can this be said of any other of the great moralists ?
Has Seneca, or Epictetus or Marcus Aurelius left such an im
pression on the minds of nations and the children of men? How
shall we explain it?
Let us now take the miracles of Jesus. I do not mean the
miracles of healing which he wrought during his ministry.
Great was their evidential value ; but there are other and more
wonderful miracles which this same Jesus is working now.
First, the miracle of Regeneration. Nicodemus was greatly
puzzled when Jesus said, "Except a man he born anew he can-

76 "we WOULD SEE jesus"
not see the kingdom of God" ; but his amazement was quite
uncalled for. Regeneration is one of the common miracles, oc
curring constantly, all about us. Go down to Cremorne Mis
sion and you shall see a man who was a reeling drunkard not
long ago ; he rises, clothed in his right mind, and says, "I have
found Jesus which is called the Christ." Go down to any of
our Midnight Missions and you shall see a woman, who until
recently was a common drab, rejoicing in peace and self-re
spect ; and she will tell you that Jesus has done it. This is a
miracle. more wonderful than the opening of blind eyes or the
wiping away of lepers' spots. And thousands of such miracles
are being wrought, in Jesus' name, every day.
It is related that Napoleon once said to the members of his
old guard, who were discussing the question before us, "Do
you mean to tell me that a dead man could reach a dead hand
across these eighteen hundred years and demand the surrender
of a human heart and get it?"
Second, the miracle of Sanctification. Those who have been
converted in the name of Jesus proceed at once to the building
of character: and this. they do by imitating him. The glory
of his gospel is that it makes men like our Christian fathers,
and women like our Christian mothers, who have lived in grace
and died without fear. Were they perfect ? By no means ; but
they were sincerely trying to be.
The third miracle is Philanthropy. The great enterprises
which make for the betterment of humanity are practically con
fined to those nations which are under the luminous shadow of
the Cross. We do not look for hospitals, asylums or reforma
tories anywhere else. The Church itself is a great philan
thropy. Let me enter here, as documentary evidence in this
case, a book called "The Charities Directory of New York
City." Here are more than eleven thousand organizations de
signed for the relief of the poor and needy. By whom are
they sustained and carried on ? Look for yourself. They are
almost without exception under the substantial patronage of
religious bodies. Let those who criticise the Church reflect
upon this fact. I grant you, the Church is not what it should
be; but it has more charitable strength in its little finger than
all its cavilling critics have in their loins.

LOOK AROUND YOU 77
The fourth miracle is Progress — the greatest miracle of
all. Take a map of the world and draw a line around all civil
ized lands. What have you done ? You have outlined "Chris
tendom." The name is significant. It means that civilization
and evangelization have been practically identical. The pro
gress of the centuries has been in the name of Jesus. The
moral forces which he set in motion have been at work like
leaven, leavening the lump. Call the roll of the nations : Chris
tian Italy ! Christian Germany ! Christian France ! Christian
Russia ! Christian Austria ! Christian England ! Christian
America! And pause a moment before you say, "Christian
China" ; for China, with her six hundred millions even now, as
she emerges from barbaric night, is turning her eyes with un
certain but pathetic longing toward the Cross. Can you ac
count for this? Can you explain Christendom? We do not
have to explain it. This Jesus is the Christ! He came into
the world to establish a kingdom of truth and righteousness ;
and he is here personally to see that the gates of hell shall not
prevail against it.
Let us turn to another fact in the circumstances of our time
which is still more difficult to account for; namely, the per
sonal presence of Jesus in the world.
This is claimed to be a real presence; no less real, no less
living, no less energetic than when he was visibly dwelling
among men. His promise to his disciples was, "I will not
leave you. Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of
the world." Is that promise fulfilled? The other mighties of
the past have lived, served their generations, died and left
nothing but dust and a memory behind them. Not so with
Jesus. There are some hundreds of millions of people in the
world who will tell you that they constantly walk and talk
with him. And these witnesses are of such a character that
their testimony cannot be ruled out of court. A derisive smile
or a lifting of one's eyebrows will not answer it.
Moreover, it is claimed that Jesus, thus personally present
with his people, is the only perfect One. Along with a con
fession of the sinfulness of all others, there is a singular una
nimity — notwithstanding the fiercest scrutiny and the most un
sparing criticism — as to the sinlessness of Christ. The judg-

78 "we would see jesus"
ment that was passed upon him by the man who sentenced him
to death is echoed by the world to-day, "I find no fault in this
Man !"
Still further, this Jesus is the colossal figure, not only
in the history of the past nineteen centuries, but in current
events. He stands in solitary majesty as the mightiest of the
mighty. He leads the van of every praiseworthy enterprise in
the world. We are reminded of what Charles Lamb once said
of Him, during a discussion as to the relative influence of
Jesus and other historic leaders, "Gentlemen, if Shakespeare
were to come in among us, we would rise and uncover ; but if
Jesus were to enter, we would with one consent fall upon our
knees before him." This is true. The foremost man of our
time would not presume to say that he is worthy to unloose
the latchet of the shoes of this Jesus which is called the Christ.
The argument which I have thus presented has been with
out reference to the Scriptures in any way; but the time has
now come to take down the old Book, in order to confirm it.
If our minds are open to conviction, we shall be able to follow
the prophecies from Genesis to Malachi, after the manner of
Paul, and see the face of Jesus shining forth on every page
and his name written between all the lines. It will now be a
different Book, because we shall read it with different eyes.
An Oriental weaver, who had made an elaborate piece of
tapestry, stretched it on tenter-hooks in his yard. That night
it was stolen. The officers found a fabric which seemed to
answer the description, but as the pattern was not unlike that
of others there must be definite proof. Accordingly it was
brought to the weaver's yard ; and there the perforations in
the fabric were found to correspond exactly to the tenter
hooks. This was demonstration. In like manner the life and
character of Jesus are placed over against the prophecies of
the Holy Writ and found to correspond point by point. The
conclusion would seem to be inevitable. This Jesus is the
Christ. It is painful to be an "honest doubter," for while infidelity
rests in unbelief, honest doubt ever agonizes toward the light
The Pilgrims on their way to the Celestial City were given
over to despondency when they found themselves in Doubting

LOOK AROUND YOU 79
Castle. They had been beaten by Giant Despair with a crab-
tree cudgel and feared lest the Lord had forgotten them. On
Saturday about midnight they began to pray, and continued
thus until almost the breaking of day. Then Christian, as one
amazed, broke out into this passionate speech : "What a fool
am I, to thus lie in a dungeon when I may as well walk at lib
erty ! I have a key in my bosom, called Promise, that will, I
am persuaded, open any lock in Doubting Castle." Hopeful
said, "This is good news, my brother; pluck it out of thy
bosom and try." And, as he turned the key in door after door,
they flew open with ease and Christian and Hopeful came
forth into the light of day.
A willingness to believe — not blind credulity, but a simple
rational faith, a faith founded on evidence and backed by the
authority of Scripture — is the key which will solve the honest
doubt of every thinking man. Have you been questioning as
to whether or no this Jesus is the Christ ? Pluck the key out
of your bosom and try !

XII
SEE HIM AT YOUR DOOR
If you knew a stranger was knocking at your door just
now what would you do about it? In common courtesy you
would inquire as to his errand, and, if well disposed, you
would admit him.
The Saviour stands knocking at the door of every heart,
saying, "If any man hear my voice and open the door, I will
come in to him and will sup with him, and he with me." Look
out of your window and you shall see him. What will you do
about it?
In Holman Hunt's picture, "The Light of the World," the
patient Christ is represented waiting thus before a closed door,
his locks wet with the dews of night. A little child who saw
this picture looked at it long and earnestly and then, turning
to her father, asked with a pathetic tremor in her voice, "Did
he get in, father ; did he get in ?"
All the world knows how Henry the Fourth of Germany,
the proudest sovereign of his time, was brought to his knees
by the Pope's anathema; so that, having crossed the moun
tains in the dead of winter and presented himself at Canossa
as a suppliant in sackcloth, he was kept waiting three days
and nights at the closed door of the so-called Vicar of God.
Volumes have been written about that visit, because it deter
mined the policy of empires ; but here is a visit, told in a single
sentence, which is fraught with greater interest, forasmuch as
the issues of eternal life and death are involved in it.
This august visitor comes to let us know that he has not
forgotten us. "Can a woman forget her sucking child, that
she should not have compassion on the son of her womb ? Yea,
80

SEE HIM AT Y0R DOOR 8l
she may forget ; yet will I not forget thee." How can he for
get us, when our names are written on the palms of his hands ?
It is not because of any personal merit that we are thus re
membered, nor because of anything we have ever done for
him ; but rather on account of what he has done for us. Is this
singular? Love is oftentimes engendered by benefits conferred
where there are no benefits received. In a letter written by
Captain Marryat to his mother, when he was a midshipman in
the English Navy, he speaks of a sailor who had provoked his
bitter resentment by inflicting petty wrongs and affronts upon
him. The time came, however, when that sailor fell over
board and was rescued by the young midshipman: and then
he wrote his mother again, telling of this occurrence and say
ing, "I do not understand why this should be ; but I never in
my life loved another as I love this man." So the love of
Christ is grounded in itself: he loves us because he gave him
self for us. Wherefore he has written our names as a per
petual memorial on his wounded hands, so that he can never
forget us.
He comes, also, to reprove us of sin. It is true that of
reprovers there is no lack : but there is none like him. We are
compassed about by witnesses who look askance at our short
comings and point their fingers at us. We need no monitors
to cry "Aha ! aha !" The most lynx-eyed of critics is not more
aware of our backslidings than we are. But Christ's reproof
is not like theirs. On the night before his crucifixion, when
he stood before Pilate as a prisoner at the bar, he was thrice
denied by Peter, who was warming his hands at a fire in the
open court near by. "And the Lord turned and looked upon
Peter: . . . and he went out and wept bitterly." Oh, that
loving, heart-breaking look! No fault-finder in the world
looks at us that way. It is as if he said, "Is this thy grati
tude for all that I have done for thee?" The only answer is
to cry, "Sorrie I am, my Lord; sorrie I am!" And the evi
dence of that true repentance which needeth not to be repented
of is not only to weep bitterly, but to forsake our besetting sins.
He comes, again, to assure us of his pardoning grace.
When he met Peter on the lakeshore, not long after the denial,
and asked, "Simon, son of John, lovest thou me?" Peter

82 "WE WOULD SEE JESUS"
answered, "Yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee." And
Jesus said, "Feed my sheep." There were whole volumes of
tender mercies in those words. It was as if he had said, "Let
the dead past bury its dead ; the future calls thee !"
So in the reproof of the Saviour there is always a promise
of better things. I am like a boy at school with a slate before
me, trying with knit brows to do a difficult sum in addition.
The Master asks, "How are you getting on?" I tearfully
show him my slate full of errors, saying "It's all wrong; what
shall I do?" He rubs it out and says, "Don't be discouraged:
try again." Blessed be his name for the provision which he
has made for blotting out our sins ! And blessed be his name
for that "Try again !" He is not "a hard man." He does not
"break the bruised reed nor quench the smoking flax." He
does not cherish the memory of our past misdeeds but "casts
them behind his back" and promises to remember them no
more against us. Let us take him at his word and start afresh.
This is the secret of the Christian life, to "forget the steps
already trod and onward urge our way."
He comes, moreover, to renew his covenant with us. What
is that covenant? "Be thou faithful unto death, and I will
give thee the crown of life." It takes two to make a covenant.
"The party of the first part" offers the crown ; but "the party
of the second part" must so run as to obtain it. And when
Christ asks us to renew our covenant with him, he offers
therewith all the strength and courage and equipment neces
sary to the keeping of it. He brings our armor with the call
to battle : the girdle of truth, the breastplate of righteousness,
the helmet of salvation, the sandals of the preparation of the
gospel of peace, the shield of faith wherewith we shall be able
to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked, and the sword of
the Spirit which is the Word of God. And having thus har
nessed us for all the trials and responsibilities of life, he bids
us "withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand."
If we fail, under such circumstances, it is not his fault but
ours; for we can do all things in him that strengtheneth us.
He comes, still further, to manifest his presence: as he
said, "If a man love me he will keep my word ; and my Father
will love him ; and we will come unto him and make our abode

SEE HIM AT YOUR DOOR 83
with him." Here is a promise of companionship all along the
way. It has one condition affixed to it, namely, "If a man
love me." A great "if" with immeasurable hopes and dis
appointments flowing out of it ! Could we but realize his con
stant presence what Christians we would be! It is never I
alone who address myself to an appointed task; but Christ
and I. It is never I alone who lift the burden of trial and
sorrow; but Christ and I. It is never I alone who confront
the adversary in the close grapple of temptation: but always
Christ and I. Say not, "Who shall ascend into heaven to
bring Christ down?" or "Who shall descend into the abyss
to bring him up?" O dearest Friend, closest of companions,
thou art ever beside us!
It is thus that Jesus visits us, knocking and pleading to
come in. His arms are laden with loving kindnesses. He
wants nothing but to make our life worth living and heaven
worth striving for. Shall he enter? Not unless we open the
door. Shall we let him in?
A man's heart is his castle. Reason and Will are two
mighty bolts by which it is fastened even against God. He
addresses himself to the reason, saying, "Come, now, and let
us reason together ; though your sins be as scarlet, they shall
be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they
shall be as wool." But suppose our intellectual powers are
convinced, what then? Though the upper bolt' be drawn,
the lower bolt holds fast. We may yield a mental assent to
all the arguments and entreaties of divine grace and yet be
unreconciled with God : for, in the last reduction, the stubborn
will must yield or God cannot come in. There lies the trouble.
"Ye will not come to me that ye may have life."
It is difficult to imagine how God could have created a
man in his own likeness and after his image without endowing
him with a sovereign will. He might have made a graven
image or a mannikin ; but this would not have been a child
of God. It is obvious that the possession of a sovereign will
carries with it the power of disobedience. In this we are dif
ferentiated from all the lower orders of life. The stars of
heaven obey God. The fowls of the air and the beasts of the
forest and the fishes of the sea all yield to his behest ; but man

84 "we WOULD SEE JESUS"
has the power to say, "I will not." It thus appears that the
token of our divine birthright is the danger signal of our
destiny. The same endowment that brings us into filial rela
tion with the Father involves the possibility of an awful re
volt and infinite departure from him. If, therefore, God
would have access to my soul he must stand there and knock
and abide my decision. It is written of him that he will not
"turn aside the right of a man." If he draw me, he must
draw me with "the cords of a man."
But why should the man in the closed house — a sinner,
eating his heart out with shame and misgiving — refuse to ad
mit the gracious Son of God ? Oh, surely there must be some
misunderstanding here ! He comes to sup with us ! The
feasts of Vitellius have gone into history. It was not an un
common thing for him to spend on a single banquet the rev
enues of an entire province. His table was furnished with
lampreys from distant seas, with nightingales' tongues and
peacocks' brains and all manner of rare delicacies. Those
were famous feasts ; but they were nothing to those which
the Son of Man proposes to furnish for the delectation of all
who will open unto him. Here is water from the King's well,
wine from the King's vineyard, apples and pomengranates
from the King's orchard. Here is the joy of pardon, "Son,
thy sins be forgiven thee." Here is "the peace of God which
passeth all understanding." Here is "the hope that maketh
not ashamed." Here are all the consolations of the heavenly
grace; and here is the benignant presence of the King of
Kings shining like a benediction upon all.
But what a wonder is here: "// any man will open unto
me!" Who shall explain that if? In one of Doctor Arnot's
letters he says that, hearing of the distress of a poor widow
who was to be evicted for non-payment of rent, he took with
him one evening a sum of money and knocked at her door.
He thought he heard a sound of shuffling feet and a turning
of the window blind, but, as his repeated knockings were un
answered, he went his way. The next morning he came again,
and, on his mentioning his previous visit, the woman cried,
"Oh, minister, was that you? I heard the knock; but I sup
posed it was my landlord coming to dispossess me." Did we

SEE HIM AT YOUR DOOR 85
but know the goodness in the heart of Him who stands waiting
at our door we surely would not exclude him. It is written,
"God sent not the Son into the world to judge the world ; but
that the world should be saved through him." Salvation is
the gift he brings us. Why then this attitude toward Him?
Hark! The voice is pleading still: "Behold, I stand and
knock; if thou wilt open unto me I will come in and sup
with thee." Knocking, knocking; what, still there?
Waiting, waiting, grand and fair!
Yes, the pierced hand still knocketh;
And, beneath the crowned hair,
Beam the patient eyes so tender
Of thy Saviour waiting there.
What say you? Let gratitude unbolt the door. Let love
cry, "Welcome, thou kindest of friends, thou most sovereign
of kings, thou only Saviour ! come in and sup with me !"

CONCLUSION
We have seen him. The question now is, "What shall we
do with this Jesus which is called the Christ ?"
There he stands! You and I and each for himself must
say whether he shall be our Christ or not. It is cowardice
to be convinced of the truth and still unwilling to close in
with it. Postponement is rejection. Not to decide is to decide
not. Opportunity is responsibility : and opportunity is here
and now.
To hide our faces from him is the only unpardonable sin:
unpardonable in the necessity of the case, because it closes
the only door that has ever been opened out of sin into salva
tion. To accept him is to lay everything at his feet and to knit
our destiny with his in spiritual and eternal life.
And what then ? Eye hath not seen nor ear heard, neither
have entered into the heart of man the things which await us !
"Now are we children of God, and it is not yet made manifest
what we shall be. We know that, if he shall be manifested,
we shall be like him, for we shall see him even as he is,"
86

AFTERWORD.
The reader will perhaps remember the words with which
this volume opened :
This little book is dedicated
To My Friend.
I met him for the first time on an October evening in 1856.
This is the fifty-eighth anniversary of our acquaintance. It
would appear that I have known him long enough to
prove him. I have summered and wintered with him. I have
been with him at the cross-roads of conduct and he has al
ways pointed out the right way. I have been with him in the
Valley of Baca, and he has given me good cheer. I have
been with him in the Mount of Transfiguration and seen his
face shining as the sun shineth in its strength. I have been
with him in bright and dark days, in evil and good report,
and he has never failed me yet. And I expect to go with him
presently through the Valley of the Shadow of Death; and I
am confident that there his rod and his staff will comfort me.
I had known about him before that October day; but we
were not on what would be called intimate terms ; indeed, we
were scarcely speaking acquaintances. I had read of him, had
heard him spoken of in the village church and in the family
circle; but he had seemed to me as "a root out of a dry
ground," and when I casually saw him there was no form nor
comeliness in him that I should desire. What led me to change
my mind? I scarcely know. It was as if a veil were lifted.
So that when I saw him that October day he seemed to me
the chiefest among ten thousand and altogether lovely. Qh
happy day! 87

88 "we would see jesus"
And we have walked together pleasantly ever since. Not
that we have never disagreed; but the fault has always been
with me. And now that fifty-eight years have passed, I am
prepared to say that there has never been a moment when I
would willingly have parted company with him. He has never
wronged me; never deceived me; never failed me. He has
been as true as steel. When I have stumbled he has helped me
up ; when I have been perplexed he has counseled me. He is
a friend that sticketh closer than a brother. I only wish that
everybody knew him!
Go with me and I will introduce you. He is to be found
in a quiet trysting-place that I know of. You will be expected :
for I have already spoken to him about the matter; and he
said, "Bring him to me." There will be no need of knocking.
Go right in ; you will find him waiting for you. I will re
main without, however, lest I intrude. But before you cross
the threshold let me advise you as to what you are about
to see. To begin with, you will find him a mom; a man in all points
such as you are.
He has been painted by the old masters with a halo en
circling his head ; do not look for anything of the sort. You
will be more likely to find him in homespun ; his hands marked
with the callous ridges of toil. For he is an average man ; a
man of the people, knowing what it is to be weary at the day's
close. He will not address you in the terminology of the
schools; but will show himself possessed of great common
sense. His usual greeting is, "Come, now, and let us reason
together." He is familiar with all the thoroughfares of hu
man experience, and can, therefore, be touched with a feeling
•of your infirmities. You will find him a man of deep sym
pathy, a very human man.
But you will discover that he is a singular man in some
ways ; particularly in this, that he is without sin.
The world has never seen another such. We have known
men without eyes, without hands, without feet; but never
a man without sin. "For there is no distinction; for all have
sinned, and fall short of the glory of God" : that is, all except
this friend of mine. He has been in all points tempted like

AFTERWORD 189
as we are, yet without sin. He never did a wrong act ; never
spoke a wrong word ; never had a wrong thought. He is nega
tively perfect, in that he never broke the law. He is posi
tively perfect, in that he has obeyed the law even to the last
jot and tittle of it. His life is recorded in this brief mono
graph, "He went about doing good." He did good always as
he had opportunity unto all men.
He once issued a challenge on this wise : "Which of you
convicteth me of sin?" It would have been infinite presump
tion in any other man to speak that way. His challenge was
accepted ; he was arrested, haled to court and put through
"the third degree," and when the case was concluded, the pre
siding judge summed up the evidence in these memorable
words : "Behold the man ! . . . I find no fault in him." The
united testimony of the world for nineteen centuries has been
an echo of those words. All the searchlights of history have
been turned upon my friend, and no flaw has been found in
the harness of his righteousness. There are spots on the noon
day sun ; but there is not a fleck discernible in the character
of this man. He stands solitary and alone, as the one perfect,
incomparable, unaccountable man.
You will find him, furthermore, claiming to be the Son
of God. Now, there is a sense in which we are all sons of God.
We are his sons by creation: as it is written, "God created
man in his own image : in the image of God created he him."
Some are sons of God by adoption : as it is written, "We have
received the spirit of adoption whereby we cry, 'Abba,
Father.' " But this friend of mine is God's Son not by crea
tion, for he never was created ; nor by adoption, for he never
was adopted; but by an eternal begetting. He stands alone
and solitary as "the only-begotten Son."
He is the pre-existent Son. He speaks of "the glory which
he had with the Father before the world was." Our life had
a beginning: his never. From everlasting to everlasting he is
God's only-begotten Son.
He is the co-equal Son. He arrogates to himself every one
of the divine attributes. He claims omnipotence, omniscience,
omnipresence. He was charged by his accusers with bias-

90 WE WOULD SEE JESUS"
phemy, in that "he made himself equal with God." The charge
of blasphemy was false; but the specifications were true.
There is no question as to his claim ; and there is no escape
from the consequent dilemma ; he was a blasphemer unless he
was what he claimed to be.
And, further still, he is identical with God. A man once
said to him, "Show us the Father, and it sufficeth us." Listen
to his answer : "Have I been so long time with you, and dost
thou not know me? He that hath seen me hath seen the
Father; how sayest thou, Show us the Father. Believest
thou not that I am in the Father and the Father in me ?" On
another occasion he said more plainly still, "I and my Father
are one."
It will be found, also, as this interview proceeds, that my
friend claims to be the Messiah.
The word Messiah means "anointed." In old times men
were anointed when they were set apart to important tasks.
Kings were anointed to rule ; priests to minister at the altar ;
prophets to teach. And Christ was anointed because he had
something definite to do.
What was the errand which brought him into this world
of ours? A Book was written about this matter in which his
mission is made very clear. The Book referred to, which is
called The Old Testament, opens with a statement that the
Messiah is to come in the fullness of time to "bruise the ser
pent's head" and repair the damage wrought by sin. The
theme of the entire Book is this Mission of the Messiah. It
states specifically how he is to accomplish the work marked
out for him. He comes into the world to die as a ransom,
or in payment of the penalty of sin. He is to be "wounded
for our transgressions, . . . bruised for our iniquities, . . .
by his stripes we are healed." The Book presents an elaborate
cult or ceremonial system, the center of which is an altar on
which a lamb is sacrificed. This is "the Lamb of God slain
from the foundation of the world," whose blood cleanseth from
all sin. The people who were divinely "chosen" to hold this
Book were accustomed to speak of the Messiah as "the Hope
of Israel" ; they confidently expected him to come in the full
ness of time.

AFTERWORD 9 1
My friend claims to be that Messiah. To the woman of
Samaria, who pathetically expressed a desire for the coming
of "Messiah, he that is called Christ," he said plainly, "I that
speak unto thee am he."
He emphasizes the fact that the saving power of his gospel
is his death: a singular death, differing from that of all other
men in that it was vicarious. He tasted death not for him
self but "for eyery man."
We must needs pass through the little wicket-gate of eter
nity all alone, each for himself; but he changed places with
many, dying their death that he might accomplish their sal
vation. Wherefore his praises are sung by a great multitude
which no man can number in these words : "Worthy art thou,
for thou wast slain, and didst purchase unto God with thy
blood men of every tribe and tongue and people and nation,
and madest them to be unto our God a kingdom and priests!"
But, despite the fact that my friend is thus distinguished
above all, he presents himself to you as a suppliant.
He has a request to make: a great request, namely, that
he may be permitted to save you. He wants you to receive
the benefit of his vicarious death so that, with sins forgiven,
you may enter into the glory of the endless life.
This proffer is addressed to all the children of men. There
is blood enough in the fountain opened for uncleanness on
Calvary to cleanse all sinners even unto the uttermost. The
cross of Christ proclaimed a Universal Amnesty: through it
the Messiah stretches forth his hands with the invitation,
"Look unto me and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth !"
But there is one condition affixed to the gift of spiritual
and eternal life. It is that you shall appropriate it. This ap
propriation is faith, a hand stretched out to take it. Is this
asking too much ? "What is not worth the taking is not worth
the having." My friend wants you to be free from the handi
cap of a mislived past, so that, unhampered, you may run up
the heavenly way : but to that end you must give up all other
plans of salvation whatsoever and be willing to be saved in
his way. This is the great doctrine known as "Justification by
Faith" reduced to its simplest terms. Only believe ! "He that

92 WE WOULD SEE JESUS"
will, let him take the water of life freely." The water is free,
but the thirsty must dip it up and drink it.
If you refuse, what then? Then you remain just where
you were. In no event can there be any ground of complaint.
You stay where you elect to stay, and take your chances
under the law. He that doeth the law shall live by it! But
if you have broken the law, what then? The law explicitly
says, "The soul that sinneth, it shall die"; and soul-death is
hopeless alienation from a holy God.
If you accept the overtures of my friend, he has somewhat
further to say. He proposes to be your taskmaster, from this
time on. His words are, "If any man would come after me,
let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me."
He claims the right of mastery over those who are saved
through him. "Ye call me, Teacher and Lord, and ye say
well, for so I am." The man who is forgiven must, straight
way pass under the yoke. Conversion is subjugation. My
friend wants you to "come" ; but the moment you come he
insists that you shall "go." Go where? Wherever he says.
I'll go where you want me to go, dear Lord,
Over mountain and plain and sea;
I'll do what you want me to do, dear Lord,
I'll be what you want me to bei
His word must be henceforth your law. You are to believe
what he says, no matter what the world thinks about it. And
in your walk and conversation you are bound to follow in his
steps. No man passes into heaven who does not first pass into
commission as a servant of Christ. He is engaged in a great
work, the setting up of his Kingdom in this world of ours.
He said, "My Father worketh hitherto, and I work." He is
the reaper of the world's harvest. He comes this way with
sickle in hand ; and if he find a man with "Christ" on his fore
head and apparently nothing to do, he addresses him thus:
"Why stand ye idle all the day ? Say not, It is yet four months
and then cometh the harvest. Lift up your eyes and see!
The fields are white already unto the harvest. I go to reap.
Here is a sickle for thee ; thrust it in and reap. As the Father
sent me into the world, so send I you. Work while it is day !"

AFTERWORD - 93
I doubt not that my friend could accomplish his purpose
without any assistance from you or me. He could restore the
world to truth and righteousness by the sheer dead-lift of his
omnipotence; but he has chosen otherwise. He calls us to
co-operate with him. It is infinite condescension on his part
thus to include us in the partnership of grace. How splendidly
the possibilities of manhood are exalted by it! The greatest
thing in the world is this co-partnership of saved sinners with
the Saviour in the work of universal salvation. Lend a hand,
my brother, if you would make your life tell.
One thing more you will discover in this interview, to wit,
that my friend is a sure paymaster.
He asks nothing for nothing. We are saved by his grace and
not by any works of our own. Yet none -of our good works is
for naught. He says, "Whosoever shall give to drink unto one
of these little ones a cup of cold water only, in the name of a
disciple, verily I say unto you he shall in no wise lose his re
ward." We go to heaven by grace ; but the kind of heaven
we find when we get there will depend upon the faithful serv
ice which we render here and now.
In the parable of The Vineyard, he is said to have agreed
with his laborers for "a penny a day." But what a penny!
On one side of it is the image and superscription of the King ;
on the other is this legend, "Enter thou into the joy of thy
Lord !" # I
It means something to be a Christian. It means giving
up some things, but nothing which is not tinctured with sin.
It means taking on other things, but nothing which has not to
do with the kingdom of God. And for all that we surrender
we are promised "manifold more in this time and in the world
to come eternal life." Manifold here and now ! This is better
than the best gold-bearing bonds. And in the time to come
life eternal! Who shall define that? It means heaven, eternal
felicity, the Master's "Well done!" It means to eat of the
hidden manna and to drink of the river of life. Oh, it pays,
it pays splendidly and eternally, to serve in the retinue of the
only-begotten Son of God!
This is my friend to whom I would introduce you. Will
you enter and commune with him? Do not stand upon cere-

94 "we would see jesus"
mony. Be quite free. If you have aught against him, tell
him so. Bring forth your strong arguments. But dispossess
yourself of all prejudgments ; and look candidly, dispassion
ately, earnestly into his face. To see him is to wonder; to
know him is to love.
It was the red-letter day of my life when I made his ac
quaintance fifty-eight years ago. It will be the red-letter day
of your life if you shall now receive him, saying, "My Lord,
my life, my sacrifice, my Saviour and my all !"
New York, October I, 1914.