Part 29 (1/2)
[Footnote 2: Mark viii 15; Luke xiii 32]
[Footnote 3: Luke ix 9, xxiii 8]
[Footnote 4: _Lucius_; attributed to Lucian, 4]
On one occasion the report was spread that Jesus was no other than John the Baptist risen from the dead Antipas became anxious and uneasy;[1] and employed artifice to rid his dominions of the new prophet Certain Pharisees, under the pretence of regard for Jesus, ca to kill hireat simplicity, saw the snare, and did not depart[2] His peaceful itation, ultier
[Footnote 1: Matt xiv 1, and following; Mark vi 14, and following; Luke ix 7, and following]
[Footnote 2: Luke xiii 31, and following]
The new doctrine was by no means received with equal favor in all the towns of Galilee Not only did incredulous Nazareth continue to reject hilory; not only did his brothers persist in not believing in hieneral well-disposed, were not all converted Jesus often complained of the incredulity and hardness of heart which he encountered, and although it is natural that in such reproaches we h we are sensible of that kind of _convicium seculi_ which Jesus affected in imitation of John the Baptist,[2] it is clear that the country was far frodom of God ”Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida!” cried he; ”for if the hty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes But I say unto you, it shall be ment than for you And thou, Capernauht down to hell; for if the hty works which have been done in thee had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day But I say unto you, That it shall be ment than for thee”[3] ”The queen of the south,” added he, ”shall rise up in the judgeneration, and shall condemn it: for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdoreater than Soloeneration, and shall conde of Jonas; and behold, a greater than Jonas is here”[4] His wandering life, at first so full of charh upon him ”The foxes,” said he, ”have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head”[5] Bitterness and reproach took more andto evidence, and said that, even at the molory, there would still be men ould not believe in him[6]
[Footnote 1: John vii 5]
[Footnote 2: Matt xii 39, 45, xiii 15, xvi 4; Luke xi 29]
[Footnote 3: Matt xi 21-24; Luke x 12-15]
[Footnote 4: Matt xii 41, 42; Luke xi 31, 32]
[Footnote 5: Matt viii 20; Luke ix 58]
[Footnote 6: Luke xviii 8]
Jesus, in fact, was not able to receive opposition with the coolness of the philosopher, who, understanding the reason of the various opinions which divide the world, finds it quite natural that all should not agree with him One of the principal defects of the Jewish race is its harshness in controversy, and the abusive tone which it almost always infuses into it There never were in the world such bitter quarrels as those of the Jews a themselves It is the faculty of nice discernment which makes the polished and moderate man
Now, the lack of this faculty is one of the most constant features of the Seues of Plato, for exaether unknown to these nations Jesus, as exe quality was precisely an infinite delicacy, was led in spite of hieneral style in polemics[1] Like John the Baptist,[2] he eainst his adversaries Of an exquisite gentleness with the siressive[3] He was no longer the mild teacher who delivered the ”Sermon on the Mount,” who had met with neither resistance nor difficulty The passion that underlay his character led hiular ht not to surprise us M de Laly presented the same contrast In his beautiful book, the ”Words of a Believer,” the s alternate, as in a e This man, as extremely kind in the intercourse of life, becaree with him Jesus, in like e from Isaiah:[4]
”He shall not strive, nor cry; neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets A bruised reed shall he not break, and s flax shall he not quench”[5] And yet many of the recoeres were to develop in a cruel manner Must we reproach him for this? No revolution is effected without some harshness If Luther, or the actors in the French Revolution, had been compelled to observe the rules of politeness, neither the Reforratulate ourselves in like manner that Jesus encountered no lahich punished the invectives he uttered against one class of citizens Had such a law existed, the Pharisees would have been inviolate All the great things of humanity have been accomplished in the name of absolute principles A critical philosopher would have said to his disciples: Respect the opinion of others; and believe that no one is so co But the action of Jesus has nothing in common with the disinterested speculation of the philosopher To know that we have touched the ideal for a moment, and have been deterred by the wickedness of a few, is a thought insupportable to an ardent soul What must it have been for the founder of a neorld?
[Footnote 1: Matt xii 34, xv 14, xxiii 33]
[Footnote 2: Matt iii 7]
[Footnote 3: Matt xii 30; Luke xxi 23]
[Footnote 4: Isa xlii 2, 3]
[Footnote 5: Matt xii 19-20]
[Footnote 6: Matt x 14, 15, 21, and following, 34, and following; Luke xix 27]
The invincible obstacle to the ideas of Jesus came especially from orthodox Judaism, represented by the Pharisees Jesus became more and more alienated from the ancient La, the Pharisees were the true Jews; the nerve and sinew of Judaish this party had its centre at Jerusalem, it had adherents either established in Galilee, or who often caeneral,hty, formal, and self-satisfied[2] Their manners were ridiculous, and excited the smiles of even those who respected theave them, and which savor of caricature, prove this There was the ”bandy-legged Pharisee” (_Nikfi_), alked in the streets dragging his feet and knocking theainst the stones; the ”bloody-browed Pharisee” (_Kizai_), ith his eyes shut in order not to see the woainst the walls that it was always bloody; the ”pestle Pharisee” (_Medinkia_), who kept himself bent double like the handle of a pestle; the ”Pharisee of strong shoulders” (_shi+kmi_), alked with his back bent as if he carried on his shoulders the whole burden of the Law; the ”_What-is-there-to-do?-I-do-it Pharisee_,” always on the search for a precept to fulfil; and, lastly, the ”dyed Pharisee,” whose externals of devotion were but a varnish of hypocrisy[3] This strictness was, in fact, often only apparent, and concealed in reality great moral laxity[4] The people, nevertheless, were duped by it The people, whose instinct is always right, even when it isindividuals, is very easily deceived by false devotees That which it loves in the loved; but it has not sufficient penetration to distinguish the appearance from the reality
[Footnote 1: Mark vii 1; Luke v 17, and following, vii 36]