nor shuns pain. Neither joy nor sorrow is for
Him an end in itself. Both are but incidents upon the way of holiness
and love which He had chosen to travel.

2. Everywhere there was manifest in the life and teaching of Jesus a
note of _self-mastery and authority_ which impressed His contemporaries
and goes far to explain and unify the various features of His personality
and influence. It is remarkable to notice how often the word 'power' is
applied to Jesus in the New Testament.[3] Whether we regard His attitude
to God, or His relation to others, it is this note of quiet strength, of
vital moral force which arrests our attention. It will be sufficient to
mention in passing three directions in which this quality of power is
manifest.

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(1) It is revealed in the consciousness of a _divine mission_. He goes
steadily forward with the calmness of one who knows himself and his work.
He has no fear or hesitancy. Courage, earnestness, and singleness of
purpose mark His career. He is conscious that His task has been given
Him by God, and that He is the chosen instrument of His Father's will.
Life has a greatness and worth for Him because it may be made the
manifestation and vehicle of the divine purpose.

(2) His power is revealed again in the _realisation of Holiness_.
Holiness is to be differentiated, on the one hand, from innocence; and,
on the other, from sinlessness. Innocence is untried goodness;
sinlessness is negative goodness; holiness is achieved and victorious
goodness. It was not mere absence of sin that distinguished Jesus. His
was a purity won by temptation, an obedience perfected through suffering,
a peace and harmony of soul attained not by self-suppression, but by the
consecration of His unfolding life to the will of God.

(3) His power is manifested once more in His _Sympathy with man_. His
purity was pervasive. It flowed forth in acts of love. He went about
doing good, invading the world of darkness and sorrow with light and joy.
It is the wealth of His interests and the variety of His sympathy which
give to the ministry of the Son of Man its impressiveness and charm.
With gladness as with grief, with the playfulness of childhood and the
earnestness of maturity, with the innocent festivities and the graver
pursuits of His fellow-men, with the cares of the rich and the trials of
the poor, He disclosed the most intimate and tender feeling. His
parables show that He had an open and obse