reformer, but every letter is soaked in the pathos of His death. There
must be a deep and providential reason for all this. The character of
the gospels and the letters must have been due to something that Jesus
said or that the Holy Spirit inbreathed. A study of the New Testament
will convince us that Jesus had trained His disciples to see in His
sufferings and death the climax of God's crowning revelation to the
world. The key-note of the whole gospel story is struck by John the
Baptist in his bold declaration, "Behold the Lamb of God which taketh
away the sin of the world." In that declaration there was a reference
to His death, for the "lamb" in Palestine lived only to be slain. As
soon as Jesus began His public career He began to refer in enigmatic
phrases to His death. He did not declare His death openly, but the
thought of it was wrapt up inside of all He said. Nicodemus comes to
Him at night to have a talk with Him about His work, and among other
things, Jesus says, "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness
so shall the Son of man be lifted up." Nicodemus did not know what He
meant--we know. He goes into the temple and drives out the men who
have made it a den of thieves, and when an angry mob surrounds Him He
calmly says, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it
up." They did not know what He meant--we know. He goes into the city
of Capernaum, and is surrounded by a great crowd who seem to be eager
to know the way of life. He begins to talk to them about the bread
that comes down from heaven, and among other things He says, "The
bread which I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life
of the world." They did not understand what He said--we understand it
now. One day in the city of Jerusalem He utters a great discourse
upon the good shepherd. "I am the good shepherd," He says; "the good
shepherd giveth his life for the sheep." They did not understand
Him--we do. In the last week of His earthly life it was reported that
a company of Greeks had come to see Him. He falls at once into a