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Patience (2)

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PATIENCE (ὑπομονή, Luke 8:15; Luke 21:19, and throughout NT; μακροθυμία, ‘long-suffering,’ only in Epp.; verbal form appears Matthew 18:26; Matthew 18:29, with significance ‘Give me time’).—The moral attribute which enables men to endure afflictions and to employ strength wisely. It is essentially a Christian grace. The classical conception of virtue was mainly active. ‘The old pagan world meant by a virtuous man, a brave, strong, just, energetic human being, who might be, but who probably would not be, also humble, submissive, self-subduing’ (Liddon, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxiv. 138). The Oriental idea touches the opposite extreme, in which virtue consists not in such qualities as patience, but in the passivity from which feeling is expelled (cf. Newman Smyth, Christian Ethics, pt. i. ch. 2, iii.). As a Christian grace, patience is inculcated in the NT (1 Timothy 6:11, Titus 2:2, Hebrews 10:36, James 1:4, 2 Peter 1:6), and exemplified in the life of Christ. His patience is referred to directly only once in the NT, and then incidentally (2 Thessalonians 3:5 AVm [Note: Vm Authorized Version margin.] and Revised Version NT 1881, OT 1885 ); but examples of it are mentioned in the Epp. as incentives to believers (Hebrews 12:2, 1 Peter 2:23).

1. The patience of Christ may be regarded

(1) in itself. It constitutes one of the most remarkable features of His manhood. It is not visible upon the surface of the Evangelical narratives, but it becomes impressive the moment that reflexion begins to deal with His Personality in the light of the events of His life on earth. Whatever His consciousness of Himself, He was evidently aware that extraordinary forces were at His command (Matthew 4:3; Matthew 26:53). ‘Just in proportion to the eminence of a man’s sphere and the genius of a man’s endowments, the quality of patience is necessary.’ To none, therefore, was it more necessary and more difficult than to our Lord, and by none was it more perfectly possessed. He set before Himself an aim which marks Him as the supreme Dreamer of history; yet, with the vision always before Him, and the longing for its fulfilment pressing on His heart (Luke 12:50), He moved unhasting, if unpausing, towards the goal. The second temptation (Luke 4:5 f.) was a trial of patience. In it He met the temptation to accomplish His purpose prematurely and superficially by means of an appeal to forces which lay ready to hand in the temper and expectations of the Jews. He preferred the patience that works perfectly, and therefore slowly, to the passion that strikes swiftly and works partially and imperfectly. At the same time, His temperament could not be described as phlegmatic. His patience was not the placidity of a pool secluded by surrounding woods from storm, it was rather the calm of an ocean which refuses to allow any gale to rouse it to anger. Not incapability of passion, but perfect self-control, lay at the heart of the patience of Christ.

(2) In its manifestations, (a) As a man, He had to endure the irritations from which none is exempt, e.g. interruptions (Mark Mar_5:21 f., Mark 6:30 f., John 4:6-7), the suspicions (Luke 14:1 f.) and the provocations (Luke 10:25; Luke 11:53) of His foes; the spiritual dulness (Mark 9:19, Luke 10:40 f., Luke 24:25) and carnal expectations (Mark 9:33 f., Mark 10:35 f.) of His friends. ‘He was subjected to trials of temper …; He was harassed by temptations caused by nervous irritability, or want of strength, or physical weakness, or bodily weariness; unfair opposition was constantly urging Him to give way to undue anger and unrestrained passion; or rejection and desertion would, had it been possible, have betrayed Him into moodiness or cynical despair. The machinations of His foes, the fickleness of the mob, even the foolishness of His disciples, were scarcely ever wanting to try His spirit, and would often goad Him beyond endurance’ (Bernard, Mental Characteristics of the Lord Jesus, cited in Stalker’s Imago Christi, p. 192 f.). It is not enough to say that our Lord endured these temptations without showing any impatience; there was a positive radiance about His patience that makes it the supreme example of the grace as manifest in human life, (b) As a teacher, the patience of Christ was manifested (i.) in dealing with individuals, e.g. Philip (John 1:45; John 6:5 f., John 14:8), Thomas (John 20:27 f.), Peter (John 1:42, Matthew 14:28 f., Luke 22:31 f., Luke 22:61, Luke 24:34, John 21:15 f.); (ii.) in training the disciples, e.g. explaining His parables to them (Mark 4:10; Mark 4:13); teaching them only as they were able to receive the truth (Matthew 16:21, John 16:12); repeating lessons only partially understood (Mark 9:31; Mark 10:32 bf.). It was through His patience as a teacher that our Lord was able out of very raw material to educate the men who were the founders and Apostles of His Church, (c) As a sufferer, His patience is conspicuous in the scenes connected with His passion (see esp. Matthew 26:52 f., Mark 14:60 f., Mark 14:65, John 18:22 f., Luke 23:34, Mark 15:29 f.). No one ever suffered so terribly and so patiently as He. There was the extreme of physical pain, of mental torture, and of spiritual agony. The suffering was unjustly inflicted, and was accompanied by almost every possible indignity, but the patience of the Sufferer rose above it with a quiet dignity that makes those scenes the most wonderful in history.

(3) In its limitations. The patience of Christ had its limits, as every noble patience has. Those limits were not where, at first, we might expect to find them; He was patient with His disciples’ dulness, though it grieved Him (Luke 24:25 f.). He never lost patience under the opposition of His enemies (Luke 11:53; Luke 20:20 f.). But when it was suggested that He should avoid the cross (Matthew 16:22 f.), and when He was confronted with the spiritual assumptions of the Pharisees, His patience reached its limits. Self-indulgence and self-deception were sins with which Christ had no patience (see Stopford A. Brooke, Sermons, 2nd series, ‘Patience and Impatience’)

(4) In its implications. The patience of Christ is set before believers, directly (2 Thessalonians 3:5) and indirectly (1 Peter 2:21 f.), as an example and an inspiration. There is in Christ ‘a type and fountain of patience’ in which the possibilities of endurance are exhibited, and from which the grace for endurance to the uttermost may be gathered. The patience of Christ represents the passive side of Christian goodness, ‘its deliberate, steady, hopeful endurance, in the spirit of Him who was made perfect through suffering’ (Denney, Expos. Bible, ‘Epp. to Thess.’ p. 372).

2. Human patience is mentioned: (a) in Luke 8:15, with reference to the perseverance with which the fruit of God is brought forth in the believer’s life. Spiritual fruitfulness is not easily attained. A consistent Christian character is wrought only by long patience. Christ sets the staying power of vital faith in contrast with the passing fervour of those who lightly receive and as lightly abandon the word of truth (cf. Luke 8:13). (b) In Luke 21:19, in the course of Christ’s prediction of the sorrows that should befall during the struggle with Rome. Revised Version NT 1881, OT 1885 is much the preferable rendering. Its meaning may be summed up thus, ‘Heroic perseverance wins the crown’ (Lindsay, Gospel of St. Luke, in loc).

Literature.—H. Bushnell, The New Life (1860); A. Ritschl, The Chr. Doct. of Justification and Reconciliation (English translation 1900), 625; J. T. Jacob, Christ the Indweller (1902), 149; C. L. Slattery, The Master of the World (1906), 121; M. Creighton, The Mind of St. Peter (1904), 22; M. R. Vincent, The Covenant of Peace (1887), 234.

James Mursell.