Christ Our Example
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that made them feel the completeness of His identification with their
interests and happiness. His instruction was so direct, His illustrations
were so appropriate, His words so sympathetic and cheerful, that His
hearers were charmed. The simplicity and earnestness with which He
addressed the needy, hallowed every word.
To Rich and Poor Alike
What a busy life He led! Day by day He might have been seen
entering the humble abodes of want and sorrow, speaking hope to
the downcast and peace to the distressed. Gracious, tender-hearted,
pitiful, He went about lifting up the bowed-down and comforting the
sorrowful. Wherever He went, He carried blessing.
While He ministered to the poor, Jesus studied also to find ways
of reaching the rich. He sought the acquaintance of the wealthy and
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cultured Pharisee, the Jewish nobleman, and the Roman ruler. He
accepted their invitations, attended their feasts, made Himself familiar
with their interests and occupations, that He might gain access to their
hearts, and reveal to them the imperishable riches.
Christ came to this world to show that by receiving power from
on high, man can live an unsullied life. With unwearying patience
and sympathetic helpfulness, He met men in their necessities. By the
gentle touch of grace, He banished from the soul unrest and doubt,
changing enmity to love, and unbelief to confidence....
Christ recognized no distinction of nationality or rank or creed.
The scribes and Pharisees desired to make a local and a national benefit
of the gifts of heaven, and to exclude the rest of God’s family in the
world. But Christ came to break down every wall of partition. He
came to show that His gift of mercy and love is as unconfined as the
air, the light, or the showers of rain that refresh the earth.
The life of Christ established a religion in which there is no caste,
a religion by which Jew and Gentile, free and bond, are linked in
a common brotherhood, equal before God. No question of policy
influenced His movements. He made no difference between neighbors
and strangers, friends and enemies. That which appealed to His heart
was a soul thirsting for the waters of life.
He passed by no human being as worthless, but sought to apply the
healing remedy to every soul. In whatever company He found Himself,