Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1890-01-13
cHRTsTs MISSION.
The Hebrew BeIief-Not the "Messiah"-

bath-hs Dbl Joseph l.. Levy, Il. a, dellv
cred at the Synagogue the last of series 0
lectures on the subject of THE Messiah.
The scripture lesson consisted Of the recit
ing of many passages of the Old Testament
which, by theologians, are said to refer tc
the advent of the Messiah, and the dis.
course was an attempt to disprove the
claims of Jesus to the Messiahship. A
synopsis Of the lecture is given below. Be-
fore attempting any argument, The Rabbi
remarked Il disclaim any intention to
attack the religion practiced by the mass of
my fellow-countrymen. | deny any wish
to foster that theological hatred which
rival systems of religion have for centuries
cherished and maintained. To attack an
others religion is to my mind highly rep
rehensible To attack another's religion
from the pulpit would show in the preacher
a want of religion, and in the Jew it would
make manifest that the Rabbi was untrue
to the best Jewish traditions, for even in
the darkest ages of persecution the relig-
ious convictions of others were always
deeply respected by our people.
The preacher, however, must OCCASION
ally refer to the various constructions put
on Biblical texts. 1t is his plain and OBJ
| by various sects, not to encourage the pop
ular notions, not to fiatter the self-satisfac-
ton of his hearers, but to tear down the
walls of prejudice; to remove the obstacles
SCI up by fallible men; to show that all
systems of religion have redeemable feat
ures; TO lead on his hearers 20 greater toll
erance, greater breadth of feeling, greater
goodness, greater liberality." He went on
TO draw picture of the sects of the Phari-
! sees, the Sadducees and the Essences into
| which the Jews in the days of Christ were
divided and then continued:
Joshua, or Jesus ofNazareth, was the son
of one Mary and Joseph, both members of
our faith. At the age of twelve he was
taken to jerusalem and introduced to the
learned rabbits of the time. For about
eighteen years nothing is heard of him.
He is silent, storing up knowledge. AT
about the age of thirty-one he appears and
takes his stand against the Pharisees. He
came to support the ancient moral law,
not to destroy it, His love for the old
book was displayed by the frequent quota
tons from it. When asked what were the
principles of religion, he said they were
the belief in one God, whom we should
love with all our heart soul and might,
and to love our neighbor, for, like ourselves,
he was man'-principles taught by Moses
1900 years before.
The simplicity of his teachings-all of
which were taken from the Talmud-
gained for him set of followers who, if
they were not learned, were ct least sin
cere- What we know of his history leads
us to believe that he was great, good man,
son of God-just as all men are sons of
God-an individual who lived beautifully
pure life-a religious reformer of the high
est type. His characteristic virtues were
meekness, self-denial and patience. His
soul overfiowed with love; he despised
everything that was vile and mean: he
preached against all sin and oppression
There was nothing more divine about his
birth and origin than there is about the
origin and birth of any of us. But his life
was divine in its beauty.
AT the time of bis birth there were in
ternal troubles among the Jews. The time
was ripe for the appearance of Messiahs.
Several appeared, but they met with early
and cruel ends. Then came Jesus of NaZ-
areth. He led the life referred TO above.
He was set up as the Messiah and urged
by his foolish counselors to enter Jerusalem
as King. The Roman authorities saw in
this an act of treason. He was brought
before PLATE, tried ordered by that Gov
ernor to be crucifed, and at the age of
thirty-three suffered execulion-not volun-
SdCIluC6-Ou llc cTOSS. OuCD was ll6
end of one of the noblest men that have
ever appeared on earth. Such was the fate
of one whose life was short as the sunshine
on one of these wintry days.
This man taught little that was not Jew
ish. This man said little but what modern
Rabbis teach. But if all ended here we
should have little to object to. After some
period of silence the followers of Jesus be-
gan to preach his teachings, to assert his
Messiahship. The older Jews denied the
claim. His followers, therefore, set about
fixing up necessary information. They
proved him to be a descendant of David,
though he was not. They added few
miracles, though they could not have been
performed. They represented him as hav-
ing originated many beautiful moral say
ings, parallels and proverbs, most of which
are not original and are to be found in the
older books of the Jews. OF this portion
of the rise of Christianity, Leasing said:
What is new, is not good; what is good is
not new They furthermore showed how,
by artful perversions, certain biblical texts
prophesied his coming, and many of these
were discussed" Among others the preacher
treated of the following:
Isaiah vii. shows that during the war be-
tween Ahaz, King of Judah, and the
Kings of Syria and Israel, the promise was
made TO Ahaz that certain young woman
mot ''viTgin') should bear child, and
that that child should be an evidence to
Ahaz that he would conquer. What value
would the birth of that child possess for
Ahaz if he were born 800 years after the
death of the King to whom his birth was
meant to bring cheer and comfort.
Other propbesies showed that the ad-
vent of Messiah was to be the signal of
universal happiness, peace and knowledge,
| the cessation of war, and the founding of
universal religion. The history of the
| last 1890 years shows that the reverse has
been the case. Misery, war, ignorance and
bigotry have existed and still do exist. If
| these prophesies have any literal meaning,
Jesus was assuredly not the Messiah.
| In Isaiah, chapter SO, we have other
proofs of the falseness of Jesus claim.
| This chapter is a portrayal of the trials and
troubles to be endured by the Jewish
nation 1t was to be acquainted with
| grief; to be despised and rejected by men,
1t was to bear the sorrows and stripes of
nations. 1t was to make its grave with the
wicked and its death with the rich. 1t was
TO live long and to see a great posterity.
All these phrases cannot refer to Jesus.
He did not die with the rich, for he was
crucified between two poor thieves. He
did not make his grave with the wicked.
de DIED young ana nau no cnlldren. All
this and the explanation of other passages
went to show that whatever else Jesus was,
he was not the Messiah predicted by the old
prophets.
In former days Jews denied Jesus Mes
siahship and forbade that his name be
mentioned In modern times We not only
mention his name, but likewise acknowl-
edge the power he exerted for good. But
we are none the less convinced that he was
not the Messiah. We cannot fail to be
struck by the holiness of his aims by the
charity of his actions, by the humane
tendencies of all his teachings-though
they were old and well-known, even in his
day, to the Jews. But we deny that he wa:
the "ouly begotten son of God" Judaism
teaches that We are all-Jew and non-JeN
sons of God.
City Finances.