Part 3 (1/2)

And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them sleeping, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. Again a second time he went away, and prayed, saying, My Father, if this cannot pa.s.s away, except I drink it, thy will be done. And he came again and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. And he left them again, and went away, and prayed a third time, saying again the same words.

Then cometh he to the disciples, and saith unto them, Sleep on now, and take your rest: behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Arise, let us be going: behold, he is at hand that betrayeth me.-Matt. 26:36-46.

Jesus was personally very sociable. He evidently enjoyed mixing with people. He liked the give-and-take of life. He had friends.h.i.+ps. A group of men and women gathered around him who gave him their devoted loyalty. He in turn needed them. The denial of Peter and the betrayal of Judas hurt him, partly because they were defections from the comrades.h.i.+p of his group. In Gethsemane he craved friends.h.i.+p. He prayed to G.o.d, but he reached out for Peter and John. The longing for friends.h.i.+p and the unrest of loneliness are proof of a truly human and social nature.

_In how far is a need for others a sign of strength or of weakness?_

_What connection has the spirit of a team, or the loyalty of a college cla.s.s, with the Christian law of love?_

Third Day: Restoring Solidarity

Then came Peter and said to him, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? until seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times; but, Until seventy times seven.-Matt. 18:21-22.

Love binds together; hate and anger cut apart. They destroy fellows.h.i.+p.

Therefore the chief effort of the Christian spirit must be to reestablish fellows.h.i.+p wherever men have been sundered by ill-will. This is done by confession and forgiveness. Forgiveness was so important to Jesus because social unity was so important to him. In the Lord's Prayer he makes full fellows.h.i.+p with men a condition of full fellows.h.i.+p with G.o.d: ”Forgive us our debts, as we have forgiven our debtors.”

Are there any personal injuries which are beyond forgiveness?

_Think back to any striking experience of forgiving or being forgiven.

What was the religious and moral reaction on your life?_

Fourth Day: The Christian Intensification of Love

Hereby know we love, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoso hath the world's goods, and beholdeth his brother in need, and shutteth up his compa.s.sion from him, how doth the love of G.o.d abide in him? My little children, let us not love in word, neither with the tongue; but in deed and truth.-1 John 3:16-18.

Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of G.o.d; and every one that loveth is begotten of G.o.d, and knoweth G.o.d. He that loveth not knoweth not G.o.d; for G.o.d is love. Herein was the love of G.o.d manifested in us, that G.o.d hath sent his only begotten Son into the world that we might live through him.-1 John 4:7-9.

Beloved, if G.o.d so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No man hath beheld G.o.d at any time: if we love one another, G.o.d abideth in us, and his love is perfected in us.-1 John 4:11-12.

These are quotations from one of the early Christian writings. They are evidence of the emphasis put on love as a distinctive doctrine of the new religion. Note how the natural social instinct of human affection is intensified and uplifted by religious motives and forces. Which of these motives are directly taken from the personality and life of Christ?

_Do you remember any quotations from non-Christian literature in which a similar love for love is expressed?_

Fifth Day: Solidaristic Responsibility

Then began he to upbraid the cities wherein most of his mighty works were done, because they repented not. Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works had been done in Tyre and Sidon which were done in you, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I say unto you, it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment, than for you. And thou, Capernaum, shalt thou be exalted unto heaven? thou shalt go down unto Hades: for if the mighty works had been done in Sodom which were done in thee, it would have remained until this day. But I say unto you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for thee.-Matt. 11:20-24.

We know that by constant common action a social group develops a common spirit and common standards of action, which then a.s.similate and standardize the actions of its members. Jesus felt the solidarity of the neighborhood groups in Galilee with whom he mingled. He treated them as composite personalities, jointly responsible for their moral decisions.