he embodiment
of all that is highest and holiest, the supreme object of reverence,
the ultimate source of authority. Peter but expresses the mind of the
company when he says, 'To whom can we go but unto Thee, Thou hast the
words of eternal life.' Nor was it only the disciples who manifested
this personal trust. Many others, the Syrophenician woman, the Roman
Centurion, Zacchaeus, Bartimaeus, also evinced it. It was, indeed, to
this element in the human heart that Jesus invariably appealed; and
while He was quick to detect its presence, He was equally sensitive to
its absence. Even among the twelve, when, in the face of some new
emergency, there was evidence of mistrust, He exclaimed, 'O ye of
little faith.' And when, beyond His own immediate circle, He met with
suspicion and unbelief, it caused Him surprise and pain.[20]

From these and other incidents it is obvious that faith for Jesus had a
variety of meanings and degrees.

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(_a_) Sometimes it meant simply _trust in divine providence_; as when
He bids His disciples take no thought for their lives, because He who
feeds the ravens and clothes the lilies cares for them. (_b_) It meant
again _belief in His own divine power_; as when He assures the
recipients of His healing virtue that their faith hath made them whole.
(_c_) It is regarded by Jesus as _a condition of forgiveness and
salvation_. Thus to the woman who had sinned He said, 'Thy faith hath
saved thee,' and to the man who was sick of the palsy, 'Son, thy sins
be forgiven thee.'[21]

The essential and vital mark in all Christ's references is the personal
appropriation of the good which He Himself had brought to man. In His
various modes of activity--in His discourses, His works of healing and
forgiveness--it is not too much to say that Jesus regarded Himself as
the embodiment of God's message to the world; and to welcome His word
with confidence and joy, and unhesitatingly act upon it, was faith.
Hence it did not mean merely the mental acceptance of some abstract
truth, but, before all else, personal and intimate devotion to Himself.
It seems the more necessary to emphasise this point since Harnack has
affirmed 'that, while Christ was the special object of faith for Paul
and the other apostles, He did not enter as an element into His own
preaching, and did not solicit faith towards Himself.'[22] It is
indeed true that Jesus frequently associated Himself with His Father,
whose immediate repres