but revolutionary; so was it understood by the Pharisees. They and
Jesus spoke indeed the same words and appealed to the same authorities,
but they rightly saw in him a revolutionist who threatened the existence
of their most cherished hopes. The Messianic kingdom which they sought
was opposed point by point to the kingdom of which he spoke, and their
God and his Father--though called by the same sacred name--were
different. Hence almost from the beginning of his public ministry they
constantly opposed him, the conflict deepening into complete antagonism.

Jesus has already been termed unique, one of the common people yet
separated from them, and this description applies to the breadth, depth
and reality of his sympathy. In the meagre records of his life there is
evidence that he deemed no form of suffering humanity foreign to
himself. This was not a mere sentiment, nor was his sympathy
superficial, for it constituted the essential characteristic of his
personality--"He went about doing good." In him the will of the Father
for the redemption of the race was incarnate. This led him into the
society of those outcasts who were condemned and rejected by the
respectable and righteous classes. In contemptuous condemnation he was
called the friend of the outcasts (Matt. xi. 19; Mark ii. 16-17), and on
his part he proclaimed that these sinners would enter into the Kingdom
of Heaven before the self-righteous saints (Matt. xxi. 31). Even the
most repulsive forms of disease and sin drew from him only loving aid,
while he recognized in all other men who laboured for the welfare of
their fellows the most intimate relationship to himself. These
constituted his family, and these were they whom his Father will bless.

Jesus recognized his unique position; he could not be ignorant of his
powers. Even the prophets had spoken in the name of God; they accepted
neither book nor priesthood as authoritative, but uttered their truth as
they were inspired to speak, and commanded men to listen and obey. As in
Jesus the whole prophetic line culminates, so does its consciousness.
Reverent toward the Holy Scriptures, he spoke not as their expositor but
with a divine power which invests his words with immediate and full
authority. The prophets use the formula, "Thus saith the Lord," but he
goes beyond them and speaks in his own name, "Amen, I say unto you." He
knew himself as greater than the prophets, indeed as him of whom the
prophets spoke--the M