The unsurpassed and exceptional grandeur of
Christian ethics lies in its having not only a true ethical law and abundant
help in its fulfillment, but also in its possession of a living ideal image and
most perfect personal example of ethical life in the Person of Its Lawgiver and
our Savior — the Lord Jesus Christ. The Savior Himself commanded us to strive
for this ideal: Be ye therefore perfect,
even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect (Matt. 5:48)
and I and My Father are one (John 10:31).
The unconfused and indivisible union of the divine and human natures in Christ,
that is, the Person of the God-Man, is given us as a living, real ideal of
moral perfectibility. In other words, God gives every Christian an example
towards which to strive in the Person of the God-Man, Christ.
An
exact and complete ethical image of Jesus Christ, possessing infinite ethical
perfection, is impossible to exhaust with human words. According to the words
of the Evangelist St. John the Theologian, an account of everything that Christ
did would necessitate so many books that the whole world would be unable to
contain them. Therefore, having noted the most essential and astonishing
attributes of the Personality of the Savior — His infinite Love and the loftiness
of His freedom and perfection — we shall only point out how these basic ethical
features of His Personality were manifested in His attitude toward God the
Father, toward Himself, and toward people.
In
relation to God the Father, Christ was always in unity. I and My Father are one, said Jesus Christ Himself. He repeatedly
asserted that He proceeded from God and to God He will return; that He is equal
to the Father in self-existence and activity; he was incarnate by the will of
the Father. Whoever saw the Son also saw the Father. The divine law was
constantly in the heart of Jesus Christ, and the fulfillment of this law even
unto death was the basis of His whole life and activity. The reason for this
was that love for the Father comprised the foundation of the Spirit of Christ.
His whole life on earth was like an unceasing prayer, in words, thoughts, feelings
and deeds. The last prayer of Christ on the cross before dying was Father, into thy hands I commend My spirit (Luke 23:46).
And
so, in relation to the Father, Jesus Christ came to earth as an endlessly
loving Son, completely, inalterably devoted, and giving up His life for the
sake of the whole world in fulfillment of the most gracious and just will of the
Father. Did not he command this, also, to us Christians as the first, basic and
most important commandment? From the full, complete, all-consuming union of the
human will and the will of God the Father resulted the
remarkable virtue of the human nature of Christ: sinlessness.
Does not every Christian also strive toward sinlessness?
In full and boundless devotion of one’s will to the
will of God lies the way to sinlessness.
Completely
putting His trust in the purpose of God, Jesus Christ as man was not solicitous
of anything temporary (i.e. food, drink, clothing, shelter). But trusting in
this help, He not only never complained if help did not come, but even
concluded His prayer in the garden of Gethsemane with these words: nevertheless not My will, but Thine be done (Luke 22:42). And in the Lord’s prayer, He gave a pointed and clear indication of
this in these words to God the Father: Thy
will be done. Completely devoted to the Father, Jesus Christ displayed an
ideally wondrous harmony of word and deed, tranquility of spirit and clearness
of conscience. Passion and irritability were alien to Him. Even His righteous
anger was an anger of love, deploring lawlessness, untruth and craftiness. In
the most poignant moments of His greatest sufferings, He preserved fully both
conscience and self-possession, praying for his executioners, solicitous of His
Mother. Even in the dreadful hour of forsakenness, He appealed to his forsaking
Father, confident in the existence of the God of Love. Can there be a more
beautiful, more perfect, more moving and more blissful ideal for the Christian
than the Crucified Savior of the World?
Of
the character of the intellect of Christ, Bishop Nikanor
of Kazan speaks these beautiful words in his course on “Ethical Theology”:
“Poor,
uneducated, He, Christ, stepped out into the field of community teaching
without any experience, without friends and all other external support. And
everyone listened to His mighty Word with endless thirst, forgetting food and
their homes (being out in the desert). He taught simply, without any
preparation. His knowledge did not appear to be borrowed from without but the
fruit of His eternal thought. Fully possessing the loftiest mysteries, He was
not agitated by them, like other humans, but spoke calmly and without tension.
In His speeches there are no traces of dry education. On the most
lofty subjects, He taught in such a way that His original thought was
manifestly understood. The most lofty thoughts were
often presented in the plainest images and comparisons, and they appeared with
unusual vivacity and attractiveness.”
Is
not the example given here an ideal one for the meditation of the Christian? In
truth “the intellect of Christ enlightens everyone” and in this light it
becomes clear that the wisdom of this
world is foolishness with God (I Cor. 3:19).
As
basic features of His holiness, Jesus Christ Himself pointed to meekness and
humility, saying, Take My yoke upon you,
and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto
your souls (Matt. 11:29). In His attitude toward people, Jesus Christ
showed Himself an ideal Son, an ideal citizen, an ideal Teacher and Savior.
Nobody left Him without having received the indispensable. Truly, He was to
everybody — everything.
Ought
not we, also, to strive to be the same in our careers and in all our
relationships with our neighbors? The whole life of Christ was passed in
benefactions and by this was established the law of communion of people one
with another. Everyone can and must be a benefactor to every other person.
How
simply, wisely, and happily would the excruciating and insoluble social
problems of the world be solved if only this principle would triumph in people.
An imitation in every way of the Personality and life of Christ, though not
completely possible, seems, nonetheless, the most powerful means toward a
reconstruction within us of the divine image and to the attainment of salvation
and blessedness.
Being
Himself the Way, the Truth and the Life, in
the process of showing Christians His divine and abundant help, Jesus Christ
established His Church which all the powers of Hades will not be able to
destroy. Therefore, every Christian, desiring to walk in the footsteps of
Christ, can accomplish this only with His help, in His blessed Church,
established by Him.