THE BOYHOOD OF CHRIST.

(Luke 11:40-52.)

I. The Analysis.

1. The True Humanity of Jesus (verses 40, 51, 52).—It Is of the utmost importance to be clear at this point. Error as to the Person of Christ is so fundamental that it is sure to invalidate, in the end, every doctrine of the Gospel. In one respect only did the humanity of Jesus differ from that of all men—He was sinless both as to nature and act. In every other respect He was one of us, and one with us.

2. The Jewish Nurture of Jesus (verses 41, 42.)—Our Lord was "made under the law" (Gal. iv:4), and the incident recorded in this lesson shows how carefully He was brought up in all its ordinances. It should be remembered that Jesus Christ was, as to His earth life, "a minister of the circumcision," whose ministry, therefore, related to the confirmation of ''the promises unto the fathers" (Rom. xv:8); and that the proclamation of mercy to the Gentiles did not begin till after His ascension and the descent of the Spirit at Pentecost. Failure to see the legal and Jewish element in our Lord's teaching leads to the effort to bring that teaching over literally into the church — a thing wholly foreign to the Divine purpose.

3. The Danger of Losing the Fellowship of Jesus (verses 44-48).—See below.

4. The Full Divine Self-consciousness of Jesus (verses 47, 49.)—Thirty years ago Dale of Birmingham, speaking upon the earlier phase of the higher criticism which seemed comparatively harmless, predicted that within thirty years the storm would ''gather over one sacred head!" That time has come. It is evident that Satan's work of undermining the authority of Scripture was but preliminary to an assault upon the deity of Jesus Christ. How important, then, this inspired testimony to the fact that even at the age of twelve Jesus was in the full consciousness of His divine sonship.

II. The Heart of the Lesson.

The present lesson may be said to have two centres—one doctrinal, the other practical. The doctrinal heart of the lesson concerns the Person of Christ. The higher criticism finds itself confronted at every step by the testimony of Christ concerning the inspiration and authority of the Old Testament. It is incontestable that He received the Holy Scriptures as of final authority, not only in the sphere of revelation of truth, but also as absolutely inerrant in every statement of fact.

But if Jesus Christ spoke as a first hand witness, with the authority of One who, in His eternal sonship, saw every word of the Old Testament written, then His testimony makes an end of the higher criticism. It became necessary, therefore, for the critics to impugn the divine knowledge of the Lord Jesus, and this they do by inventing what is called the kenotic theory, i. e., the theory that in becoming flesh the eternal Son laid aside His divine knowledge and consciousness, and came under purely human limitations. The full answer to that dishonoring notion cannot be given here, but our lesson (verses 47, 49) is of itself a sufficient refutation. "As human He grew; as divine He knew," said Luther.

The practical heart of the lesson is most precious. It lies in the phrase: "Supposing Him to be in the company."

As the Nazareth party, happy in the sacred events o£ the week, started upon the return journey, Mary assumed that her wonderful and holy Son was somewhere in the company, but when the evening halt came she learned the bitter lesson which millions of Christians have also had to learn in distress and sorrow, that it is most dangerous to take the fellowship of the Son of God by way of easy assumption.

How many of us, happy in yesterday's blessings, have gone a day's journey "supposing Him to have been in the company," only to learn at night that we have been occupied with past experiences, and not with Himself. Two links unite us to Jesus, the link of life, which, thank God, can never be broken; and the link of fellowship, which may be interrupted by a heedless walk.