, who has any true sense of what is great and
excellent. What is now to be said of this character is not eulogy. It is
part of an argument for the reality of the events recorded in the gospel
history. Here it is important to notice not only the character itself,
but the manner of the portraiture, and its power over the human heart.

The character of Jesus is perfectly _original_. Nothing like it was ever
conceived of by the loftiest minds of antiquity. Nothing like it has
appeared since his day, in actual life, or even in the conceptions of
the most gifted writers. As there is one sun in the firmament, so there
is one Jesus Christ in the history of the world. His character has a
_human_ and a _divine_ element; and these two interpenetrate each other,
so as to constitute together one indivisible and glorious whole. Jesus
could not be, even in idea, what he is as man, unless he were God also.
And what he is as God, he is as God made flesh, and dwelling as man
among men. It is the _God-man_ which the gospel narratives present to
us. If we consider the qualities which belong to our Saviour as man, we
notice the union in full measure and just proportion of all those
qualities which belong to perfect humanity. In the case of mere men, the
abundant possession of one quality implies almost of necessity
deficiency elsewhere, and consequently one-sidedness of character. Not
so in the case of Jesus. He has all the attributes of a perfect man in
perfect fulness and in perfect harmony with each other. Let us
reverently look at some particulars.

His character unites the deepest _tranquillity_ with the deepest
_fervor_ of spirit. Our Lord's tranquillity shines forth through the
whole course of his ministry, and manifests itself alike in great things
and small. It is evident to all who read the narratives of the
evangelists that he performed his mighty works as one conscious that
divine power belonged to him of right, and that the exercise of it, even
in its highest forms, was nothing new nor strange. In connection with
his greatest miracles he calmly gave directions, as if they had been
ordinary occurrences. When he had fed many thousands with a few loaves
and fishes, he said, "Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing
be lost." When he had raised from the dead the daughter of Jairus, "he
commanded that something should be given her to eat." When he had called
out of the grave one who had lain there four days, he directed, "L