* : be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence. Nor can it be said, that this account of the nature of Christ's kingdom was merely the evasive subterfuge of disappointed ambition, given indeed, before Pilate when every hope of an earthly monarchy had vanished, but unheard of so long as there was any chance of success: on the contrary, it exactly tallied both with the previous declarations and previous actions of this extraordinary claimant of the Jewish Messiahship. To the very last, his disciples seem to have been infected with the general notion of their countrymen, that the kingdom of the great deliverer was to be of a temporal rature. Hence it was, with their high indignation, that the mother of Zebedee's children petitioned, on behalf of her two sons, for the two chief places in that kingdom and hence it was, even on the eve of the crucifixion, that there was a strife among them which should be accounted the greatest. But what was the language of Jesus himself in both these cases? On the first occasion, he said: Ye know, that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. But it shall not be so among you: but, whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; and, whoscever will be chief among you, let him be your servant: even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister and to give his life a ransom for many. On the second occasion, he similarly said: The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and they, that exercise authority upon them, are called benefactors. But ye shall not be so: but he, that is greatest among you, let him be as the younger; and he, that is chief, as he that doth serve. Ye are they, * John xviii. 36. + Matt. xx. 20-24. Matt. xx. 25-28. Luke xxii. 24. And I which have continued with me in my temptations. appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me; that ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.* Do we ask the nature of this promised kingdom? Christ assures his disciples, that it was to be expected only in a future and a better world. As the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth his angels: and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend and them which do iniquity; and shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun, in the kingdom of their Father. In exact accordance with this statement, while he promises to his faithful followers an abundance of honour and glory hereafter; he at once nips in the bud all their earthly ambition, by declaring, to the evidently grievous disappointment of Peter to whom he had immediately before given the keys of the kingdom of heaven, that, instead of becoming a temporal prince, he would shortly be put to death by his enemies. From that time forth, says the evangelical historian Matthew, began Jesus to show unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day. Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying: Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee. But he turned, and said unto Peter: Get thee behind me, Satan; thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men. Then said Jesus unto his disciples: If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take * Luke xxii. 25--30. Matt. xiii. 40-43. w up his cross, and follow me. For, whosoever will save his life, shall lose it: and, whosoever will lose his life for my sake, shall find it. For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul; or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels: and then he shall reward every man according to his works.* The actions of Christ perfectly tallied with his decla rations. Not the least step did he take to promote any scheme of temporal aggrandizement. Instead of exhorting his countrymen to rise and throw off the Roman domination, when the captious political question was put to him, Is it lawful to give tribute unto Cæsar or not: he rather taught them the two-fold duty of discharging their several obligations to God and their sovereign. Instead of inculcating those fiery and vehement passions, which might best subserve the purposes of an impostor aiming at an earthly kingdom he rather enforced dispositions, which of all others would be the most prejudicial to such a scheme; meekness, humility, forgiveness, patience, submission, and non-resist ance to injuries. Instead of eagerly availing himself of the golden opportunity, which once occurred, of acquiring the sovereignty of Israel: he, unaccountably, on the supposition of his being an impostor, threw it away in mere wantonness; and thus lost it for ever. Then those men, when they had seen the miracle which Jesus did, said: This is of a truth that prophet, that should come into the world. When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force to make him a king, he departed again into a mountain himself alone. Now, for the present, whether *Matt. xvi. 21-27. Matt. v. 8-12, 88-44. § John vi. 14, 15. the alleged fact of the miracle be admitted or rejected, the conduct of Christ, on the theory of his being an impostor, will be equally inexplicable. The train of thought, in consequence of which the people violently attempted to make him a king, is perfectly clear. They were led, for some reason or another, to believe him the Messiah. But the Messiah, according to their notions of him, was to be a mighty temporal prince. Hence they sought, forthwith, to invest him with the regal character. Had he been an impostor who sought an earthly kingdom, now was the favourable moment. He refused to be made a king, and withdrew himself to the solitude of an unfrequented mountain. It is utterly preposterous to believe, that such would, or could, have been the conduct of an impostor. See, how Coziba acted under parallel circumstances: contrast him royally crowned by Akibha and advancing against the Romans at the head of two hundred thousand men, with Christ refusing the diadem and retiring into solitude: and then say, which is the impostor, and which is the prophet sent from God. Equally unaccountable are other parts also of Christ's conduct, on the supposition of his being an impostor. No adventurer could reasonably have hoped for success, except by adopting a system of dexterous conciliation toward all the higher classes among the Jews. Hence he would have studiously flattered their prejudices: and, by an adroit commendation both of their doctrine and their practice, would have endeavoured to win them over to the furtherance of his projects. Christ, however, instead of acting upon these obvious principles, took such an extraordinary course, that in a very short time he effectually alienated all the ruling powers and made them his bitterest enemies. Their favourite opinions he directly controverted: their hypocrisy he unceremoniously exposed: their corrupt practices he exhibited to the people in all their undisguised deformity and themselves he stigmatized with a severity. at once austere and contemptuous. Why do you transgress the commandment of God by your tradition? was the cutting question, which he put to the Scribes and Pharisees of Jerusalem. For God commanded, saying: Honour thy father and mother; and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death. But ye say: Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is a gift by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me, and honour not his father or his mother; he shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition. Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying: This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.* Nor were reproofs of this description addressed to their subjects in private only: the multitude, who had been wont to admire pharisaic piety as something preeminently strict and severe, were openly and unreservedly cautioned against their long venerated teachers; an affront of all others the most difficult to be digested or forgiven. The Scribes, and the Pharisees, said Jesus to the crowds that surrounded him, sit in Moses' seat: all therefore, whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do. But do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not. For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders: but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. But all their works they do for to be seen of men. They make broad their phylacteries; and enlarge the borders of their garments; and *Matt. xv. 8-9. |