ious of a prophetic mission have a redoubled motive for
a clean, sober, and sincere life. Especially in its initial stages an
ethical movement is identified with its leaders and tested by their
character. A good man can get a hearing for an unpopular cause by the
trust he inspires. His cause banks on his credit. The flawed private
character or dubious history of a leader is a drag. It is worse yet if a
man whose name has long been a guarantee for his message, backslides and
brings doubt upon all his previous professions. Cases could be mentioned
where noble movements were wrecked for years because a leader forfeited
his honor. Constant fighting against evil involves subtle temptations. To
stand alone, to set your own conviction against the majority, to challenge
what is supposed to be final, to disregard the conventional standards--this
may lead to dangerous habits of mind. If we propose to spread a lot of
canvas in a high wind, we need the more ballast in the hold. Through the
thin partitions of a summer hotel, a man heard Moody praying God to save
him from Moody. Imagine what it must be to lose standing and honor among
your fellow men by secret weakness. Imagine also the poignant pain if your
disgrace pulls down a cause which you have loved for years and which in
purer days you vowed to follow to its coronation.

Suggestions for Thought and Discussion

I. _Vicarious Suffering and Social Progress_

1. Does suffering benefit humanity? Titus crucified thousands of Jews
during the destruction of Jerusalem. Did their death have any saving
effect?

2. What is the connection between vicarious suffering and social
salvation?

II. _Prophetic Suffering_

1. What was the fate of the Old Testament prophets? What was their
influence in the life of Israel? To what extent is Mark 12:1-9 a fair
epitome of the treatment of the prophets by the Hebrew nation?

2. What is the significance of Isa. 53:4-8? Why and how can the sins of a
group fall on another?

3. Where did Jesus see the continuity of prophetic suffering in his own
times?

4. What place did he give to vicarious suffering in the life of his
followers and in the conquest of the Kingdom? How does the law of the
Cross connect with the fact of solidarity?

5. In what respects was Christ's Cross unique? In what respects does it
express a general spiritual law?

III. _Vicarious Suffering Today_

1. Give instances of persons in public life today whose careers we