skilful soldier who had fought in the Crimea and elsewhere. On accepting the commission of the Chinese Emperor, Gordon went to that country; became a Chinese military officer; wore the Chinese uniform; and generally identified himself with the interests of the Chinese people. The result was that he acquired in England the name of "Chinese Gordon." It was a strange and unusual thing for a cultured English gentleman; one who had moved in high circles of society, and had distinguished himself by deeds of valour in the service of his country, to throw in his lot with a race so unlike his own in every respect-in appearance, in dress, in religion, in language, in manner and custom-as the Chinese. Hence it was that the adjective "Chinese was prefixed in common parlance to his name. Even in China he would be spoken of by Europeans as "Chinese Gordon." But he would certainly never be thus designated by the Chinese themselves. What would be strange to them would be, not his Chinese dress, or any of those respects in which he conformed to Chinese ways; but his Aryan features, his European methods, and whatever else betokened his English origin. They would speak of him as "the Englishman," or as their "English general." To the Chinaman the thing that was striking was that their commander, the saviour of their country, was by race, birth and education, English. But to the Englishman the thing that was striking was that Gordon, a fellow-Englishman, had become as it were Chinese. Hence the name of Chinese Gordon was given him and by that name he was known until his last fatal expedition to Khartoum. When our Lord was upon earth, the marvel from the earthly and human standpoint was, that One should be seen in the midst of men, who was in all respects a man like His brethren, yet whose holiness of character, superhuman power, and effulgence of glory, revealed His divine origin. Those who perceived this expressed their sense of wonder in calling Him the, "Son of God." But from the heavenly and divine standpoint the marvellous thing about the appearance of our Lord on earth was that He, who was from all eternity in the bosom of the Father, should have humbled Himself to become fashioned as a man. And our Lord, conscious of His deity, expressed that sense of wonder, when He called Himself the "Son of Man." Applying our illustration: From the Chinese standpoint Gordon was "English Gordon "; from the English standpoint he was "Chinese Gordon." So, from the human standpoint Jesus was the "Son of God"; but from the divine standpoint He was the "Son of Man." In strict harmony with this conception are those three instances in which our Lord is called by this title by others than Himself. The martyr Stephen, permitted in his last moments to see into the glory of the upper sanctuary, beheld the "Son of Man" standing at the right hand of God (Acts vii. 56). So also the Apostle John speaks of Him, whom in the Apocalyptic vision he twice saw amid the glorious surroundings of the spiritual world (Rev. i. 13; xiv. 14). The contrast of a human figure in the midst of a scene all angelic so impressed the beholders, that the name by which they had so often heard Him designate Himself at once recurred to their memories. But when Jesus walked amongst men as a man there could be nothing to suggest such a title to others and it was therefore never applied to Him except by Himself, and its use in His quoted utterances only is a sign of the accuracy with which those utterances are recorded. Old Testament Quotations It is said by Alford (Greek Testament; vol. i. Proleg. pp. 28, 29), that "whereas the Evangelists themselves, in citing the Old Testament, usually quote from the Hebrew text, our Lord in His discourses almost uniformly quotes the Septuagint, even where it differs from the Hebrew." This statement, so far as it is borne out by fact, confirms the literal accuracy of the reports of Christ's utterances. Sometimes the reporters seem to have done their work almost mechanically. An instance of this is found in the sentence at the end of John xiv. 31, which reads as if it were part of the discourse Christ was delivering to His disciples, there being nothing else to show that our Lord and His disciples rose at that moment from their reclining posture at the table. Chapter XII EDITORIAL NOTES HE mistaken ideas which have hitherto prevailed as to the origin of the Gospels have been partly occasioned by erroneous impressions produced by a number of passages and phrases, found here and there in the course of the narratives, and which manifestly could not have been written until a considerable time after the termination of our Lord's life on earth. The following list may not be complete, but it contains most of the passages referred to : i. I. 16. 17. 18. ii. 15. 17, 18. 23. iv. 14-16. viii. 17. X. 4. xii. 17-21. xiii. 35. xxi. 4, 5. MATTHEW "The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham." "The husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ." "So all the generations from Abraham unto David are "Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: " Old Testament quotation. Old Testament quotation. xxviii. 156. i. I. iii. 19. vii. 3, 4. II. 19. ix. 10. XV. 21. "and this saying was spread abroad among the Jews and continueth until this day." MARK "The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God." "Which also betrayed him." "For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, except they wash their hands diligently, eat not, holding the tradition of the elders and when they come from the marketplace, except they wash themselves, they eat not: and many other things there be, which they have received to hold, washings of cups, and pots, and brasen vessels." "That is to say, Given to God." "This he said, making all meats clean." "And they kept the saying, questioning among themselves iii. 23. vi. 16. ix. 51. i. 1-18. ii. 6. 24, 25. iv. 9. vi. 71. "And Jesus himself, when he began to teach, was about thirty years of age, being the son (as was supposed) of Joseph." "Which was the traitor."" "And it came to pass, when the days were well-nigh come that he should be received up, he stedfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem." Prologue. JOHN "After the Jews' manner of purifying." "But he spake of the temple of his body. When there- "(For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) " 66 'Now he spake of Judas the son of Simon Iscariot: for he it was that should betray him, being one of the twelve." H |