JESUS
CHRIST-CHARACTER
[The]
identification of the suffering Servant with the promised messianic King was
never conceived as a possibility in Judaism. How can the glorious Messiah at
one and the same time be one who judges the earth, slays the wicked with the
breath of His lips, and also be one who passively suffers death by His enemies?
Here we come face to face with the revolutionary new understanding of Jesus of
Nazareth concerning the mission of the promised Messiah. He united three
different concepts of Israel’s prophecy – the coming Davidic King; the Son of
Man (in Daniel 7); the suffering Servant (in Isaiah 42-53) – all in one Person:
Himself.
The Israel
of God in Prophecy – Principles of Prophetic Interpretation, Andrews University
Press, 1983, p. 95.
Those who
have minutely studied the character of the Saviour will find it difficult to
determine whether there is most to admire or to imitate in it – there is so much of both.
Author Unknown
[Jesus Christ’s]
zeal never degenerated into passion, nor His constancy
into obstinacy, nor His benevolence into weakness, nor His tenderness into
sentimentality. His unworldliness was free from indifference
and unsociability, His dignity from pride and presumption, His affectability
from undue familiarity, His self-denial from moroseness, His temperance from
austerity. He combined child-like innocency with
manly strength, absorbing devotion to God with untiring interest in the welfare
of man, tender love to the sinner with uncompromising severity against sin,
commanding dignity with winning humility, fearless courage with wise caution, unyielding firmness with sweet gentleness!
Philip Schaff
The character
of Jesus Christ:
Humble
service (John 13:1-5)
Holiness (I
Peter 1:15-16)
Righteousness
(I John 3:7)
Purity (I
John 3:3)
Love (Ephesians
5:1-2)
Forgiveness
(Colossians 3:13)
Compassion
(Ephesians 4:32)
Endurance
(Hebrews 12:2-4)
Submission (I
Peter 2:21-4)
Humility,
obedience (Philippians 2:5-8)
Kindness
(Luke 6:35)
Generous
giving (II Corinthians 8:1-9)
All the
virtues which appeared in Christ shone brightest in the close of His life,
under the trials He then met. Eminent virtue always shows brightest in the
fire. Pure gold shows its purity chiefly in the furnace. It was chiefly under
those trials which Christ endured in the close of His life that His love to
God, His honor of God's majesty, His regard to the honor of His law, His spirit
of obedience, His humility, contempt of the world, His patience, meekness, and
spirit of forgiveness towards men, appeared. Indeed, everything that Christ did
to work out redemption for us appears mainly in the close of His life. Here
mainly is His satisfaction for sin, and here chiefly is His merit of eternal
life for sinners, and here chiefly appears the brightness of His example which
He has set us for imitation.
Jonathan Edwards
It
is impossible to contemplate the character of Jesus, with serious and devout attention,
and not be charmed with it. We see in Him, all the human passions in the
highest perfection. His joys were grave, His griefs were just. His gentleness
and His severity, His holiness and His humanity – were in perfect harmony with
each other. He manifested great tenderness, and genuine affection, and
sensibility to human woe on all occasions.
John Fawcett
Christ
Precious.