The National tribune., 1888-03-29
SUNDAY MEDITATION.

We shall study in special verses % to 80, IN
elusive. Also read St. Luke, 11:47-5l Inclu-
sive, and Is: 81, 50.
Christ was author of the words. lie spoke
them on March is, A. ID. %, two days before
his crucifxion. lie was in the Court OF the No-
men, an apartment of the Temple at Jerusalem.
1t was a retired place, rs being separate from the
Court Of the Gentiles always full of hustle and
clamor; also as being separate from the Court
OF the IsraeGtes, to which Jews reS0rtcd for
mathis and Vespers and for Offering sacrifices.
The hearers Of Christ's severe denuuciati0ns
were the Scribes and Pharisees-Iuen who well
deserved his woes; men formal, hypocritic,
saying we'll and doing evil, lost to the spirit of
true piety and all absorbed in the mere legal
correctness of prayers aud acts of devotion;
men, who, as religious teachers, should have
prepared the people for the coming OF the
Messiah and led them in welcoming him, bat who
on the contrary failed to see in Jesus the very
credentials it was prOphesied the real Messiah
should bring, and who, instead Of paving
Christ's way, filed it with obstacles and instead
of leading the populaCe to welcome, actually
headed the rabble in cruCjfying him.
Christ shows how inconsistent the Jews Of
his day were. Their f0retather5 slew the
prophets. They imprisoned Micaiah. 4 XII,
p :27) Jeremiah's feet were put in stocks.
Isaiah was sawed in two. Zechariah was stoned
to death. Urijah was slain by q sword. Ger,
90 ANUS WAS StAtt2GG4A III
were treated more or less cruelty. Jer., = 81 ;
st. Matt, q 80, 3d. Descendants try to Offset
the unkindness Of their ancestors by giving
great attention to the ornamentatIon Of the
tomb5 occupied by those slain in early days.
| They even admitted that their fOrefathcrs were
| in error in so maltTeating the prophets. They
even declared that they would not have been
thus guilty. (V. 30) Thus they admitted
they were offspring of murderer5 Their in
that p
they rebuked their ancestors for cruelty, muir
der was in their own hearts. Only one day inter
| vened and they were crucifying Christ.
| As to ZeCharias, son Of BaTaChias, ". 3d. see
2 Oh, 81: 1922. Though there are different
| opinions held as to the identity of this Zecha-
rias, the prevailing view is that he was the
| prophet referred to in 2 CHI, 81: 20-22 The
| discussion of this subject would be too lengthy
| for this paper.
As to garnishing tombs, see st. Luke II: AZ
! 45; Acts, 2:29. Each tomb bore the name
| Of the occupant. q XII, % ~ Hence David
! sepulcher was known.
/ The Pharisees admitted to Christ their guilty
! origin. They were witnesses against them
/ selves. (Y. 81 Their ancestors were muir
! dorers. The clean cannot be brought cute of the
unclean. Josh ii q; Job, 10: ., Is; Ps., 81: g..
| The following references give US an idea Of
| their wiCsedness-Nu., %: IA Isa., {: 4 Jer.
| a: II; Acts, Z 81, 81; l TIL, 2: 14-l6. Their
! cases seemed almost hopeless Fill Sc
| up, then, the measure OF your t0tber5.'
/ ~ 32.) The sense IS very similar to that in
| st. John, 1921. The elimination took plaC5
| on the Friday afterWard. Fill up the measure
| get through with this cruelty and stop it
"FiIl ye up'-let it not pass on from genera
ton to generation-letit end with you Chris
may have spoken prophetically-y viii soon
day after tomorrow, reach the climax of Ill
usage Of the prophets. He certainly did no
speak approvngly; he might, however, b.
understood permissiyely. There is limit
(Jer., 4l;22; Is, 80: l. Rev, Ii l5 IS. Com
pare Gen, :16; Nj, 2:14; Hos, 4: II
Rev, % Il; 1 Tn, 2: 49,
Christ did not yield principle to court favor
The Pharisccs loved TO be called, Rabbi Rabbi
but Christ styled them "a generation of yipers.
Compare st. Matt, 81; ST. Lu., 81; st
Matt, II: "a; st. John, 8 IL 2 Cor, II 3
Rev, 10 9; Gen, 3: Ia, 10 Ps, 50 3d. TIL
serpent repeats itself generation after genera
ton. There is 10 improvemcut-nOl less poison
The Jews were similar. They seemed to in
herit opposition to rebuke on account of thei
sins. The Revised Edition has Judgment
for damnation in Y. SO. That was seriou
guilt which went so far as to cruelty Christ
Heb, 1929
But escape, though difficult, was not impos
sible At any rate, Christ viii free himsel
from responsibility, and hence deyises method
/ OIL IGdCuiUB SUCH 6luLGIo dlu IcAblHS kHEli4 L
repentance. lie foresees their bitter hatred
He viii send his messengers among them, an
| at least teach and warn, II not save them. u
viii send prophets. acts, Il: p; ID: /; 10
81 Rev, II: 10.) He will send wise men
men who will teach real wisdom; men who's
message it will be wise to receive; men, tn
reception Of whose instruction will make re
cipients wise. pro, IL /: 30; I:2; SLIP;
ID; i Cor, l so; 2: 6; 3 !: 10; Col, Is; 2
81 He will send scribes-rnen who in th
Christian Church viii serve the purpose th
, scribes did III the jewish; men who will stud
Gods Word, reading and teaching it to others
) men who will gather children and youth abou
them and instruct them in religious concern
(St Matt, -: 52)
But true to their veuOmous nature, the SCI
penis will sting and kill. {St. Matt, 10 IL
II; st. John, 1852; Acts, 5: 40; 7:51, 81 5
So; 81, 2, I3 1872; is; % 10, 20) st
Paul aud Silas were imprisoned and put /
! stocks. Simon, son of CleOphas, was cruciie'
SITS. Peter and John We're scouTged. Both Cd
Apostles named James were killed. Stone
, were hurled at st. Paul. Christ was cruciiet
and SITS. Peter and Andrew followed, dying 0
3 crosses. The history Of the martys IS a SUIT
: Gent commentary on verses "a and 81.
But desperate as were the masses, there 81
$ was way of escape. Heb, 2 %; 1889
! is no pleasure to God to have US die. tEze., le
% 81. 32,)
Mercy must never eclipse justice. Puni5l
. ment is sure to follow sin. RetributiCn Ofre
assumes national Character. The jews as
( race, or nation, refused the Messiah. Religio
? affects our material interests. The Jews love
their capital and Tevered their temple The
{ were magnificent in structure rich in adorI
{ meut and hallowed by association, Christ hin
self wept at the thought Of their destruction
q Even Justice shed tears. But so set in 81
0 were the Jewish race, especially so set again
Christ and his Church were they, that Il
:, greatest success of the Christian religion d
g pended on the weakening of that power. NJ
teriaI concerns are always secondary to Il
4 spiritual. The headquarters of Hebrew batrC
: must yield. Hence down must come the wal
of Jerusalem, including the sacred towers
q the temple. The event has a sort Of parall
s in what is called military necessity" as, e
r the Proclamation of Emancipation by Pres
@ dent Lincoln. ConspiTators must be scattere
a The Jews are driven into every quarter of IL
It earth Not many years after Christ spoke
the same generation" (Y 49, to wit, in 81
IS year 20 A. D., the city of Jerusalem was take
= by the Romans and totally sacked. We ha
k hardly parallel in all history to the terrib
suffering attending the siege and razing of
rusalem. Josephus describes the destructit
minutely. 1t is said the nearest similar eve
occurred in Italy, A. d. $50, and is describ
. by Procopius. TWAS desolation indeed. (Ver
u 80. Compare st. Matt. 81 2, Is; st. Luke
43. A; Il: 30; 81 81; Acts, 6: Is, IA; 2 Cl
~ 7 90 81; Ps., 60: "a %; Is, "a: 1912; Je