And he shall be for a sanctuary; but for a stone of stumbling
and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel, for a
gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.--Isaiah
viii. 14.
These words are not prophetical of the person of the Messiah, yet
they describe, in striking language, the effects that would follow
his appearance and ministry upon earth. They foretel the opposition
and enmity that would arise, in the minds of the Jewish nation,
to the Christ of God. If the whole Israelitish race had gladly
hailed Jesus as their Messiah, and if all, to whom the Gospel has
been proclaimed, from its first promulgation down to the present
hour; if all these countless multitudes, had cordially embraced
the faith of Christ, it could not have proved a more decisive
evidence of "the truth as it is in Jesus," than is afforded by
the Jews in their rejection of Christ as the Messiah. Thereby the
prophecies of God are fulfilled concerning _him_, who, though set
for a sanctuary, became "a stumbling block, and rock of offence,"
to the house of Israel, "and a gin and a snare to the inhabitants
of Jerusalem." The Jews were not a little vain of the glorious
pre-eminence their nation once sustained amidst the kingdoms of
the world, on account of the wondrous works, which the Lord of
Hosts had wrought for them, by "his mighty hand, and outstretched
arm." Their religious distinctions and ceremonies had also tended
to feed their pride, and nourish their haughty contempt, for the
other nations of the earth. Their long promised Messiah was not
forgotten by them. In his reign, their lively imaginations had
blended all the splendid conquests and dazzling magnificence of
regal power. Theirs was a tone of mind but ill-suited to bow before
the despised Man of Nazareth; to embrace the commands, and follow
as a master, one so poor, that "he had not where to lay his head."
When we consider the natural pride of the human heart, as joined
with the national pride of the Jewish people, we may cease to wonder
at their rejection of Jesus. They could not stoop to acknowledge
even the Son of God as their ruler, when offered to them void of
the purple robe and golden sceptre. They could not swear allegiance
to Zion's King, when they saw neither his royal pavilion, nor
marshalled troops. They could not bow before one born in a stable,
though Angels had descended to proclaim his glorious advent. What
wonder, if the eye by gazing so long and frequently on the dazzling
splendour they were wont to attach to the Messiah's reign, could
not perceive the fainter rays of glory that glimmered around the
retired path of the Man of Nazareth; they were offended at the
absence of all temporal splendour in his person; the Cross of Christ
proved a stumbling block and rock of offence. The Jews rejected,
as unfit for their-building, "the precious corner stone, which
the Lord God had lain in Zion, as a sure foundation." They could
not admit the Carpenter's Son to be the head of God's Church, nor
acknowledge the Man, untaught in the schools of worldly science,
to be the prophet of God's people. Neither "has the offence of
the cross yet ceased;" multitudes still despise and reject the
Christ of God; they are ashamed to own allegiance to Jesus of
Nazareth; they blush to acknowledge, as their Lord and Master, him
who died upon the accursed tree; they dislike to be thought one
of his real followers, and hate the humiliating and self-denying
commands he enjoins on his disciples. They prefer building their
hopes for eternity on the sandy foundation of human merit, rather
than on the blood and righteousness of Jesus. But if we refuse to
rest on Christ, that "sure foundation God has laid in Zion," all
other grounds of hope will prove a treacherous rest, from which
the floods of divine justice will sweep us to the dark abyss of
wo. God has declared that "other foundation can no man lay, than
is laid, which is Christ Jesus." Yet how little anxiety is evinced
on a subject of such immense importance! How few are concerned to
build their hopes for eternity, on Christ, the Rock of Ages, that
precious corner stone; that tried stone; tried by countless myriads
of happy saints, now in glory, who found him faithful to save from
the overwhelming surge. Must not he, who paid the full price of a
soul, know its worth? and has he not declared, that it will profit
us little "to gain the whole world and lose our own soul?" One soul
is of more real value than this world, with all its boasted riches
and glories. The day is coming when "the heavens shall depart as a
scroll, the elements melt with fervent heat," and this world, so
loved and caressed by its votaries will be utterly consumed by the
fire of divine vengeance. But the soul of every individual must
exist for ever, either in eternal happiness or misery. Yet how is
the method of man's reconciliation with God slighted? How is that
glorious scheme of redemption, by the death of Christ, despised by
the great majority of those to whom it is published. Do angels turn
from the lofty pursuits and glories of the heavenly world, to pry
into the mysteries of the cross; and shall man, for whose benefit
it was contrived and accomplished, remain stupidly insensible to
its excellence and glory, carelessly indifferent whether or not he
partake of the blessing?
Are we not taught in the case of our first parents, the absolute
necessity there is for our knowing and receiving Christ? Was it
not on the evening of the same day, in which they brake through the
fence of God's command, that he was graciously pleased to discover
to them his plan of reconciliation in the promised seed? And why so
soon after their transgression? but that the knowledge of it was
necessary to their salvation. Shall that scheme of Redemption, which
required the depths of divine wisdom to contrive, and the extent of
divine love to execute, be despised and rejected by man, as unworthy
his acceptance? By man, that worm of the earth, that creature of a
day, so insignificant amidst the stupendous works of God, that if
he were annihilated, he would scarcely be missed amid the boundless
immensity of space. Awful is the state of the Gentile or the Jew who
"hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and counted the blood of
the covenant an unholy thing."
The Jews, where are they? or rather, where are they not? To what
part of the world can we turn, without beholding some of the tribe
of Israel. They dwell in every land, but have none they can call
their own? They have lost their power, but preserved their national
features and manners. Wanderers on the face of the globe for nearly
eighteen hundred years, they are not assimilated with any people.
What other nation has so long preserved a distinction? Where are
the Britons, Romans, Saxons, Normans, ancient inhabitants of our
Isle? They are all blended in the English. The Jews, though dwelling
in every country, are still an unmixed people, yet that very
distinction exposes them to persecution and scorn. The dispersion of
the Jews is but a small part of their calamities. The Hebrews are a
despised and persecuted race, compelled to endure, without the hope
of redress, indignities the most revolting--barbarities the most
cruel--insults the most degrading--losses the most severe. And this
not merely from one nation, but nearly the whole world has wreaked
its vengeance on this unhappy people. Even the most civilised and
polished nations have stooped to load the Jews with obloquy and
scorn; many and grievous are the disabilities to which they are
subject. Yes, Jehovah has executed his threatened punishment upon
this unhappy people, for their rejection of the Messiah. "He has
scattered them among all people from one end of the earth even unto
the other." "Their plagues have been wonderful, even great plagues,
and of long continuance." They are become "an astonishment, a
proverb, and by-word among all nations."
All the prophecies of the Messiah which we possess, were handed
down to us from the Jews. The Hebrew and Greek versions of the Old
Testament were in their possession long before the gospel era. Its
latest prophecy was at least four hundred and thirty years before
the angel's shout was heard, "Glory to God in the highest, and on
earth peace, good will toward men." Nor do the Jews attempt to
deny that Jesus of Nazareth appeared at the time related by the
Evangelists. Josephus, the Jewish historian, in his antiquities
of that nation, (book the 18th,) relates:--"About this period,
(referring to the reign of Tiberius Cæsar,) there arose to notice
one Jesus, a man of consummate wisdom, _if, indeed, he may be
deemed a man_. He was eminently celebrated for his power of working
miracles; and they who were curious and desirous to learn the truth,
flocked to him in abundance. He was followed by immense numbers of
people, as well Jews as Gentiles. This was that Christ, whom the
princes and great men of our nation accused. He was delivered up
to the cross by Pontius Pilate; notwithstanding which, those who
originally adhered to him, never forsook him. On the third day after
his crucifixion he was seen alive, agreeably to the predictions of
several prophets: he wrought a great number of marvellous acts;
and there remain, even to this day, a sect of people who bear the
name of Christians, who acknowledge this Christ for their head."
This honourable testimony is from an enemy--a Jew, whose writings
were held in high estimation by his nation. Christ "came into his
own nation, but they received him not." No evidence, however bright
or clear, was sufficient to convince men so blinded by prejudice.
Warned, invited, and threatened, still they persisted in rejecting
the Messiah, because he did not assume the warrior's sword, or
mount the throne of Judah. Should we not feel more disposed to
pity and reclaim, that insult and oppress, this deluded people?
Have they no claim to our gratitude? To "them were committed the
Oracles of God," which we now enjoy. The prophets and apostles were
all Jews; and from them, "according to the flesh, Christ came,
who is over all, God blessed for evermore." It is recorded, by
ecclesiastical writers, that several of Christ's own disciples and
apostles--Simon Peter, Simon Zelotes, James the son of Zebedee,
Joseph of Arimathea, Aristobulus, and St. Paul himself, preached the
gospel to this nation. If this, indeed, be correct, their nation has
peculiar claims to our regard, for the services of their ancestors.
Certainly, the Romans were instructed in Christianity by Paul and
other Jews; and, in the first century, the Roman legions, and the
standard of the gospel of Christ, were planted on Albion's coast.
The Jews, though scattered and persecuted, are not destroyed; they
are preserved monuments of the divine veracity. O, may we take
warning from their awful fate! "Because of unbelief _they_ were
broken off, and _we_ stand by faith." "Let us not be highminded,
but fear; for if God spared not the natural branches, take heed,
lest he spare not us. Behold, therefore, the goodness and severity
of God; on them which fell, severity; but, towards us, goodness, if
we continue in his goodness: otherwise, we also shall be cut off."
It will avail us little to confess Jesus as the Messiah, if we are
unconcerned to know and practise the doctrines he has taught. But
may we "serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling."
"Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when
his wrath is kindled but a little." "Blessed are all they that put
their trust in him," for his word is fate; immutability seals, and
eternity executes, whatever he decrees.