Extracts From «Life of Christ»

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The Jewish leaders refrained from associating with any class but their own. They held themselves aloof, not only from the Gentiles, but from the majority of their own people, seeking neither to benefit them nor to win their friendship. Their teachings led the Jews of all classes to separate themselves from the rest of the world in a manner which tended to make them self-righteousness, egotistical, and intolerant. This rigorous seclusion and bigotry of the Pharisees had narrowed their influence, and created a prejudice which the Saviour desired to remove, that the influence of his mission might be felt upon all. This was the purpose of Jesus in attending this marriage feast, to begin the work of breaking down the exclusiveness which existed with the Jewish leaders, and to open the way for their freer mingling with the common people.

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The Jews had so far fallen from the ancient teachings of Jehovah as to hold that they would be righteous in the sight of God, and receive the fulfillment of his promises, if they strictly kept the letter of the law given them by Moses. The zeal with which they followed the teachings of the elders gave them an air of great piety. Not content with performing those services which God had specified to them through Moses, they were continually reaching for rigid and difficult duties. They measured their holiness by the number and multitude of their ceremonies, while their hearts were filled with hypocrisy, pride, and avarice. While they professed to be the only righteous nation on the earth, the curse of God was upon them for their iniquities.

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They had received unsanctified and confused interpretations of the law given them by Moses; they had added tradition to tradition; they had restricted freedom of thought and action, until the commandments, ordinances, and services of God were lost in a ceaseless round of meaningless rites and ceremonies. Their religion was a yoke of bondage . They were in continual dread lest they should become defiled. Dwelling constantly upon these matters had dwarfed their minds, and narrowed the orbit of their lives.

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Jesus began the work of reformation by bringing himself into close sympathy with humanity. He was a Jew, and he designed to leave a perfect pattern of one who was a Jew inwardly. While he showed the greatest reverence for the law of God, and taught obedience to its precepts, he rebuked the Pharisees for their pretentious piety, and endeavored to free the people from the senseless exactions that bound them.

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Jesus rebuked intemperance, self-indulgence, and folly; yet he was social in his nature. He accepted invitations to dine with the learned and noble, as well as with the poor and afflicted. On these occasions his conversation was elevating and instructive. He gave no license to scenes of dissipation and revelry, but innocent happiness was pleasing to him. A Jewish marriage was a solemn and impressive occasion, the joy of which was not displeasing to the Son of man. The miracle at the feast pointed directly toward the breaking down of the prejudices of the Jews. The disciples of Jesus learned a lesson of sympathy and humility from it.

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At that time the Israelites had come to regard the sacrificial service as having in itself virtue to atone for sin, and thus had lost sight of Christ to whom it pointed. God would teach them that all their services were as valueless, in themselves, as that serpent of brass, but were, like that, to lead their minds to Christ, the great sin-offering.

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Sinful though she was, this woman was in a more favorable condition to become an heir of Christ’s kingdom than were those of the Jews who made exalted professions of piety, yet trusted for their salvation to the observance of outward forms and ceremonies. They felt that they needed no Saviour and no teacher; but this poor woman longed to be released from the burden of sin. . . .

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Jesus was a Jew, yet he mingled freely with the Samaritans, setting at naught the customs and bigotry of his nation. He had already begun to break down the partition wall between Jew and Gentile, and to preach salvation to the world. At the very beginning of his ministry, he openly rebuked the superficial morality and ostentatious piety of the Jews. . . .

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In the temple at Jerusalem there was a partition wall, separating the outer court from the apartment of the temple itself. Gentiles were permitted to enter the outer court, but it was lawful only for the Jews to penetrate to the inner enclosure. Had a Samaritan passed this sacred boundary, the temple would have been desecrated, and his life would have paid the penalty of its pollution. But Jesus, who was virtually the originator and foundation of the temple, drew the Gentiles to him by the ties of human sympathy and association, while his divine grace and power brought to them the salvation which the Jews refused to accept.

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The stay of Jesus at Samaria was not alone to bring light to the souls that listened so eagerly to his words. It was also for the instruction of his disciples. Sincere as they were in their attachment to Christ, they were still under the influence of their earlier teachings,-of Jewish bigotry and narrowness. They had felt that in order to prove themselves loyal to their nationality, it was incumbent upon them to cherish enmity toward the Samaritans.

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They were filled with wonder at the conduct of Jesus, who was breaking down the wall of separation between the Jews and the Samaritans, and openly setting aside the teachings of the scribes and Pharisees.

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The disciples could not refuse to follow the example of their Master, yet their feeling protested at every step. The impulsive Peter, and even the loving John, could hardly submit to this new order of things. They could scarcely endure the thought that they were to labor for such a class as those Samaritans.

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During the two days while they shared the Lord’s ministry in Samaria, fidelity to Christ kept their prejudices under control. They would not have failed to show reverence to him; but in heart they were unreconciled; yet it was a lesson essential for them to learn. As disciples and embassadors of Christ, their old feelings of pride, contempt, and hatred must give place to love, pity, and sympathy. Their hearts must be thrown open to all, who like themselves, were in need of love and kindly, patient teaching. . . .

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Jesus did not come into the world to lessen the dignity of the law, but to exalt it. The Jews had perverted it by their prejudices and misconceptions. Their meaningless exactions and requirements had become a by-word among the people of other nations. Especially was the Sabbath hedged in by all manner of senseless restrictions. It could not then be called a delight, the holy of the Lord, honorable; for the scribes and the Pharisees had made its observance a galling yoke. A Jew was not allowed to light a fire upon the Sabbath, nor even to light a candle upon that day. The views of the people were so narrow that they had become slaves to their own useless regulations. As a consequence, they were dependent upon the Gentiles for many services which their rules forbade them to do for themselves.

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They did not reflect that if these necessary duties of life were sinful, those who employed others to do them were fully as guilty as if they had done the act themselves. They thought that salvation was restricted to the Jews, and that the condition of all others being entirely hopeless, could neither be improved nor made worse. But God has given no commandment which cannot be consistently kept by all. His laws sanction no unreasonable usage nor selfish restrictions. . . .

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The simplicity of his teachings attracted the multitudes who were not interested in the lifeless harangues of the rabbis. Skeptical and world-loving themselves, these teachers spoke with hesitancy when they attempted to explain the word of God, as if its teaching might be interpreted to mean one thing or exactly the opposite. . . . Both by his words and by his works of mercy and benevolence, he was breaking the oppressive power of the old traditions and man-made commandments, and in their stead presenting the love of God in its exhaustless fullness. . . .

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The Sabbath, instead of being the blessing it was designed to be, had become a curse through the added requirements of the Jews. Jesus wished to rid it of these incumbrances. . . .

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The Old Testament Scriptures, which they professed to believe, stated plainly every detail of Christ’s ministry. . . . But the minds of the Jews had become dwarfed and narrowed by their unjust prejudices and unreasoning bigotry. . . .

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The Jewish leaders were filled with spiritual pride. Their desire for the glorification of self manifested itself even in the service of the sanctuary. They loved the highest greeting in the marketplaces, and were gratified with the sound of their titles on the lips of men. As real piety declined, they became more jealous for their traditions and ceremonies.

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These admonitions had effect, and as repeated calamities and persecutions came upon them from their heathen enemies, the Jews returned to the strict observance of all the outward forms enjoined by the sacred law. Not satisfied with this, they made burdensome additions to these ceremonies. Their pride and bigotry led to the narrowest interpretation of the requirements of God. As time passed, they gradually hedged themselves in with the traditions and customs of their ancestors, till they regarded the requirements originating from them as possessing all the sanctity of the original law. This confidence in themselves and their own regulations, with its attendant prejudices against all other nations, caused them to resist the Spirit of God, which would have corrected their errors, and thus it separated them still farther from them.

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In the days of Christ these exactions and restrictions had become so wearisome that Jesus declared: «They bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders.» Their false standard of duty, their superficial tests of piety and godliness, obscured the real and positive requirements of God. In the rigid performance of outward ceremonies, heart-service was neglected. —

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In all his lessons, Jesus presented to men the worthlessness of merely ceremonial obedience. . . . The Jews had become earthly, and they did not discern spiritual things. And so when Christ set before them the very truths that were the soul of all their service, they, looking only at the external, accused him of seeking to overthrow it. . . . He knew that they would use these works of mercy as strong arguments to affect the minds of the masses, who had all their lives been bound by the Jewish restrictions and exactions. Nevertheless he was not prevented by this knowledge from breaking down the senseless wall of superstition that barricaded the Sabbath.

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His act of mercy did honor to the day, while those who complained of him were by their many useless rites and ceremonies themselves dishonoring the Sabbath.

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The Jews accused Christ of trampling upon the Sabbath, when he was only seeking to restore it to its original character. The interpretations given to the law by the rabbis, all their minute and burdensome exactions, were turning away the Sabbath from its true object, and giving to the world a false conception of the divine law, and of the character of God. Their teachings virtually represented God as giving laws which it was impossible for the Jews, much less for any other people, to obey. Thus in their earthliness, separated from God in spirit while professedly serving him they were doing just the work that Satan desired them to do,-taking a course to impeach the character of God, and cause the people to view him as a tyrant; to think that the observance of the Sabbath, as God required it, made man hard-hearted, unsympathetic, and cruel.

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Christ did not come to set aside what the patriarchs and prophets had spoken; for he himself had spoken through these representative men. He himself was the originator of all truth. Every jewel of truth came from Christ. But those priceless gems had been placed in false settings. Their precious light had been made to minister to error. Men had taken them to adorn tradition and superstition. Jesus came to take them out of the false settings of error, and to put them into the framework of truth.

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At that time the Israelites had come to regard the sacrificial service as having in itself virtue to atone for sin, and thus had lost sight of Christ, to whom it pointed. God would teach them that all their services were as valueless in themselves as that serpent of brass, but were, like that, to lead their minds to Christ, the great sin-offering. Whether for the healing of their wounds or the pardon of sin, they could do nothing for themselves but to manifest their faith in the remedy which God had provided. They were to look and live.

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There are thousands in the Christian age who have fallen into an error similar to that of the Jewish people. They feel that they must depend on their obedience to the law of God to recommend them to his favor.

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The nature and importance of faith have been lost sight of, and this is why it is so hard for many to believe in Christ as their personal Saviour.

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There are thousands in the Christian age who have fallen into an error similar to that of the Jewish people. They feel that they must depend on their obedience to the law of God to recommend them to his favor. The nature and importance of faith have been lost sight of, and this is why it is so hard for many to believe in Christ as their personal Saviour.

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When they are bidden to look to Jesus by faith, and believe that without any good works of their own he saves them, solely through the merits of his atoning sacrifice, many are ready to doubt the question. They exclaim with Nicodemus, «How can these things be?»

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Yet nothing is more plainly taught in the Scriptures. Than Christ «there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.» Acts 4:12. Man has nothing to present as an atonement, nothing to render to divine justice, on which the law has not a claim. If he were able to obey the law perfectly from this time forward, this could not atone for past transgression.

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The law claims from man entire obedience through the whole period of his life. Hence it is impossible for him by future obedience to atone for even one sin. And without the grace of Christ to renew the heart, we cannot render obedience to the law of God. Our hearts are by nature evil, and how, then, can they bring forth that which is good? «Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not one.» Job 14:4. All that man can do without Christ is polluted with selfishness and sin. Therefore he who is trying to reach heaven by his own works in keeping the law, is attempting an impossibility. True, man cannot be saved in disobedience, but his works should not be of himself. Christ must work in him to will and to do of his own good pleasure. If man could save himself by his own works, he might have something in himself in which to rejoice. But it is only through the grace of Christ that we can receive power to perform a righteous act.

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Many err in thinking that repentance is of such value as to atone for sin, but this cannot be. Repentance can in no sense be accepted as atonement. And, furthermore, even repentance cannot possibly be exercised without the influence of the Spirit of God. Grace must be imparted, the atoning sacrifice must avail for man before, he can repent.

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The apostle Peter declared concerning Christ, «Him hath God exalted with his right hand, to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.» Acts 5:31. Repentance comes from Christ just as truly as does pardon. The sinner cannot take the first step in repentance without the help of Christ. Those whom God pardons, he first makes penitent.