conventionalists and the religiously orthodox by the freedom with
which He criticized established beliefs and usages, by His
championship of social outcasts, and by His association with persons
of disreputable life. Unlike John the Baptist, He was neither a
teetotaller nor a puritan. He was not a rigid Sabbatarian. He despised
humbug, hypocrisy, and cant: and He hated meanness and cruelty. He
could be stern with a terrible sternness. His gaze pierced through all
disguises, and He understood the things that are in the heart of man.
He saw things naked. He has been called "the great Son of Fact." He
was never under any illusions.

He faced the hostility of public opinion with unflinching courage. He
expected to be crucified, and crucified He was. He warned those who
followed Him to expect a similar fate. He claimed from men an
allegiance that should be absolute: the ties of home and kindred, of
wealth or position in the world, were to be held of no account:
anything which stood in the way of entire discipleship to Himself,
however compelling its immediate claim, was to be sacrificed without
hesitation for His sake. He saw nothing inconsistent between this
concentration of men's allegiance upon His own person, and His
insistence upon GOD as the one great Reality that mattered.

The motive of His whole life was consecration to the will of GOD. He
was rich towards GOD, where other men are poor. The words were true of
Him, as of no one else, "I have set GOD always before me." His mission
among men He fulfilled as a work which His Father had given Him to do.
"Lo, I come to do Thy will, O GOD." He loved men, and went about doing
good, because He knew that GOD loved men, and meant well by them, and
desired good for them, and not evil. He was pitiful, because GOD is
pitiful. He hated evil, because GOD hates it. He loved purity, because