himself the Son of man. I will mention a number of instances. "The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head. The Son of man came eating and drinking. Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of man be risen from the dead. The Son of man goeth as it is written of him; but wo unto that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed. The Son of man is come to seek and save that which is lost. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whom do men say, that I the Son of man, am?" It is needless to transcribe all the passages in which Christ calls himself the Son of man, since he calls himself so, more than sixty times in the New Testament. By this phrase, he always meant to assert his humanity. And the Jews always understood it in this sense. For they charged him with blasphemy, because he professed to be a man, and yet made himself God. If they had mistaken his meaning, he must have certainly known it, and as certainly rectified their mistake. But it does not appear, that he ever intimated to any person, that he had been misunderstood in calling himself the Son of man. By this phrase, therefore, he must have intended to assert his true and proper humanity.

II. Let us consider what he said concerning his divinity.

Though he professed to be man, yet he made himself God; and said more about his divine than about his human nature. He said a great many things, by which he meant either directly or indirectly, to assert his divinity. Here it may be observed, in the first place, that he called himself the Son of God. "God so loved the world, that he gave his only be

1

1

gotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world, through him, might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned; but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God. Dost thou believe on the Son of God? He answered and said, who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him? And Jesus said unto him, it is he that talketh with thee. This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby." In all these passages, Christ means to assert his divinity, by calling himself the Son of God. And he means to convey the same idea of himself, by calling God his Father. "The Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father. Thinkest thou that I cannot pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels. If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: But now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father." I might go on quoting passages of this import; for Christ calls God his Father, more than fifty times in the four Evangelists. This mode of speaking was very offensive to the Jews, who understood him as asserting his divinity. Accordingly we read, "Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he had not only broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God." Again,

Christ used another phrase, which carried the idea of his divinity. He used frequently to say, that he was one with the Father. "Neither pray I for these

alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; That they may be one, as thou Father art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may know that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one." By this union with his Father, the Jews understood him to assert his divine nature. Hence we are told, when he said on a certain occasion, "I and my Father are one, then the Jews took up stones to stone him." Just after this, he said, "If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not. But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works: that ye may know and believe that the Father is in me, and I in him." It is added, "Therefore they sought again to take him: but he escaped out of their hand." Again,

Christ used an expression, which fairly implied his eternity, and consequently his divinity; and being taken in this sense, it highly displeased the Jews. "Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day; and he saw it, and was glad. Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham? Jesus said unto them, Before Abraham was, I am. Then they took up stones to cast at him, but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by." Again,

Our Lord professed to be a divine Person, by claiming a divine authority to forgive sins. "And behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus seeing their faith, said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, be of good cheer, thy sins are forgiven thee. And behold, certain of the scribes said within themselves, This man blasphemeth. And Jesus knowing their thoughts, said, Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts? For whether is it easier to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee? or to say, arise, and walk? But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (then saith he to the sick of the palsy) Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house." Again,

It belongs to a divine Person to perform divine works; and such Christ professed to perform. He said, "My Father worketh hitherto, and I work." He said, "he had power to lay down his life, and power to take it again." He said, "he had power to raise the dead, or quicken whom he would." He wrought miracles in his own name, and by his own power. When he was requested to work a miracle, his usual reply was, 1 will, and then wrought the miracle desired. The prophets wrought miracles in the name of God, and the Apostles in the name of Christ. But Christ wrought miracles in his own name, which was a public and explicit profession of his divinity.

Moreover, many persons, who came to our Savior, paid him divine homage, for which he never rebuked them. "And behold there came a leper and worship. ped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. And Jesus put forth his hand, saying, I will, be thou clean." We are told, "There came a certain ruler and worshipped him, saying, my daughter is even now dead: but comethou and lay thine hand upon her, and she shall live. And Jesus arose and followed him." When Christ had walked upon the sea, saved Peter from drowning, and came into the ship, "then they that were in the ship came and worshipped him." The women, who met him after his resurrection, as they were returning from the sepulchre, "came and held him by his feet, and worshipped him." The eleven disciples conducted in the same manner in Galilee, for "when they saw him, they worshipped him." And when believing Thomas said unto him, My Lord and my God, Jesus approved and commended his faith and worship. In such various ways, and by such various forms of speech, our Savior made himself God. And to give his expressions their full force, it may be proper to observe,

In the first place, that they convinced the Jews, that he meant to assert his divinity. When he inquired why they went about to stone him, they replied, "For a good work we stone thee not: but for blasphemy, and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God." The Jews, who knew their own language, would never have charged Christ with blasphemy, unless he had used expressions concerning himself which properly conveyed the idea of divinity. But when they heard him say, that he was the Son of God; that God was his Father; that he and his Father were one; that he did the works of his Father; that he had power to raise the dead; that he had authority to forgive sins; and that it was the will of God, that all men should honor the Son, even as they honor the Father; it was extremely natural for them to believe, that he meant to make himself God as well as man. And this leads me to observe,

In the second place, that Christ never contradicted his professions of divinity, nor explained them in any sense different from that, in which they were understood. Though he was blamed, and even charged with blasphemy, for making himself God; yet he nev er denied that he was a divine person, nor that he had professed to be so. But if he had not been a divine person, and had never intended to convey this idea of himself, then it was highly incumbent upon him, to explain his meaning, and undeceive those, whom he

)

1