The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1894-11-24

many that aOeye blind he 6estoved sieAf.
He purposed that his works should speak
to the messengers. Then he said to them,
in manifestation of his plan, Go yonr avay,
and tell Joln aOhaf things .ye haze seen
and Aeard,; tie 6lind receive their sight,
tie lame aOaAk, the letters are eleansed,
and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised
Mb, tie poor haze good tidings 1yeacAeett TO
them.
1t is noteworthy that the final and high
est evidence for the genuineness of his
Messiahship to which Jesus appealed, was
not an exhibition of his Woodworking
power,-not even his raising the widows
son from the dead was the fact that
he preached the Gospel to the poor. The
beneicence of Christianity is more I'M
mstakable stamp of divineness, than its
miraculousness.
1. Jesus Declares John to be
the Greatest of the PrOphets,-vs.
24-28.
When the messengers from the Baptist
had retired, Jesus began to speak in testi-
mony to the prophet. We paraphrase his
words. He addressed himself to the
scribes,-especially to the Judean scribes
who had heard John in the wilderness:
"What kind of man attracted you to the
wilderness? Did you find a man easily
swayed, like the reeds which grow in the
valley of the Jordan, which you may see
by the wind Frustrated to the ground and
rising erect again when the breeze SUBJ
sides? Do you think John is now likewise
wavering in his faith in me as the Coming
One?
Cor do you think of the stern prophet as
one who can be easily overcome by the
corrupt kings will !? Do you think of him
as lover of luxury? His sackcloth coat,
his daily fare of locusts and wild honey,
while all the emoiuments of the priesthood
were at his command, do not prove him
to be one who will seek soft place under
royal favor.
"What attracted you to the wilderness?
Was it to hear prophet? You have de-
MED him as prophet; you have resisted
his testimony to me as the one who was to
come after him. Yet it was the voice of a
prophet you heard. He was more than a
prophet. Not alone was there given to
him gift of provision, by which he could
read the future; he had present possession
of spiritual realities above all his contem-
poraries in his own school of faith.
''For the man who could abjure the
emoluments of the priesthood and live the
life of self-denial he has lived in the wilder
ness, that he might serve God for the man
who could speak the simple truth to Herod
Antipas, when truth-speaking meant mar
tyrdom; for the man who has kept his faith
during his calling confinement, and so far
believes in me at this moment as to send
directly to me for assurance in his perplex-
ty under false reports,-for this heroic
man of faith, this example of self-sacrifce,
this hero of endurance, have this testi-
mony to give: He is tie foyerunner Of the
Spiritual King, as f0yef0ld BY tie byobAet
Lsaiah;. and in himSeLt he has lie mn
measurable greatness 7Ojtich Inoz0 declare:
Amone them that are born of 7Oomen there
are none greater than .Jojn."
The query would now naturally rise
among the hearers of Jesus whether he
had not thus declared that his own mission
should be merged in that of the Baptist
If the Baptist was so great, what need OF
one greater? In answer to this implied
query Jesus therefore added: Yet he that
is but little in tie Kingdom Of God is
eveatsr than he.
Here we have, in sharp distinction from
the older Jewish saith, declaration of the
superiority of the Gospel of Jesus.
The doctrine of the Baptist taught men
to serve God as an owner or Judge; Jesus
taught men that they were children of God,
heirs of God, and should live and obey him
as a Father
Precisely as kings newborn child is
greater to him than his most faithful slave
or servant, so to be conscious child of
the Father is more than to be his most
faithful servant who serves in fear.
2. The Disciples of John hear
with Satisfaction Jesus Estimate
of their Master,-vs. 20, 30.
While Jesus had personally addressed
the scribes from Jerusalem, who had re-
jected both John and himself, there were
nevertheless many Galileans in his audi
ence who were favorable to the Baptist.
We recall that at least five of the Twelve
had journeyed from Galilee to the southern
Jordan to become disciples of the Baptist.
Many other Galileans had doubtless done
likewise. There must have been therefore,
in the audience which Jesus was now adj
dressing, many friends of the brave Bap-
fist. These, we are told, heard with great
satisfaction the tribute Jesus gave to their
master. They knew its justice.
And there were others, who were not of
the Jewish race, the publicans, the Roman
taxgatherers, who had also felt the moral
grandeur of the prophets character, and
had been influenced by him to begin new
life. Such as these John had not been re-
luctant to baptize. Representatives of this
class were in the audience before Jesus.
These were no less pleased than the Cali,
leans to hear their preacher of righteous
ness extolled.
But the Pharisaic lawyers, having re-
jected John and scorned his baptism,
were, if possible, even more unfriendly
toward Jesus, because of his confessed
alliance with their old enemy the Baptist.
3. The Difference Between
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