They Knew Him

It is freely allowed that no man is a hero to his valet. The world may speak of him in superlative terms, but the servant who sees him at all odd hours - at night when he is overtired; in the morning before he is properly awake; when business overpresses; when disappointment comes; when he is off-guard and under no temptation to pose - this man does not normally think of his master as a hero. He knows the other side.

It is easily possible to know too much about some people. I remember from my college days that the head gardener never came to the college chapel when a student was planned to preach. He said, half in jest and half in earnest, 'I know 'em. I'm like the man who works at a jam factory; he has no taste for jam.'

Who was it first claimed that Jesus was sinless and used of him the awesome name of God? The disciples ! The men who had shared every kind of experience with Him that mortals could share; who had seen Him at all hours of day and night; who had seen Him tired, hungry, disappointed; scorned, abused, and hunted to death; who had ridden with Him on a wave of popularity and hidden with Him from inquisitive miracle-mongers; who had met Him when He came down from a sleepless night of prayer on the hillside, and known Him physically overworked and emotionally over-wrought ...these were the men - eleven of them, who, with amazing unanimity, declared Him, at the last, to be the sinless One. ...No thinking man can doubt the quality of Christ's character if he give attentive heed to the unanimous testimony of the men who knew Him best.

W E Sangster Westminster Sermons (vol. i), pp 40-1