of the Messiah as 'the Lord our Righteousness,' 'the Branch,' 'the Comforter,' 'Shiloh,'
'Compassion,' His Birth is connected with the destruction, and His return with the
restoration of the Temple.23 But in that very passage the Messiah is also specially
designated as the 'Enlightener,' the words:24 'the light dwelleth with Him,' being applied
to Him.
15. Jer. Sukk. 55 b; Sukk. 53 a.
14. Sukk. v. 2.
16. Although Rabbi Joshua tells (in the Talmud) that during all the nights of the festive
week they 'did not taste sleep,' this seems scarcely credible, and the statement of the
Mishnah is the more rational. Maimonides , however, adopts the view of the Talmud
(Hilch. Lul. viii. 12).
17. Bemidb. R. 15, ed. Warsh. p. 62 a, b.
18. St. Luke ii. 32.
19. Ber. R. 3.
22. On Lam. i. 16, ed. Warsh. p. 64 a, b.
20. Bemidb. R. 15.
21. Yalk. on Is. 1x.
23. The passage is one of the most remarkable, as regards the Messianic views of the
Rabbis. See Appendix IX.
24. In Dan. ii. 22.
What has just been stated shows, that the Messianic hope of the aged Simeon25 most
truly expressed the Messianic thoughts of the time. It also proves, that the Pharisees
could not have mistaken the Messianic meaning in the words of Jesus, in their
reference to the past festivity: 'I am the Light of the world.' This circumstance is itself
evidential as regards this Discourse of Christ, the truth of this narrative, and even the
Jewish authorship of the Fourth Gospel. But, indeed, the whole Address, the
argumentation with the Pharisees which follows, as well as the subsequent Discourse
to, and argumentation with, the Jews, are peculiarly Jewish in their fo rm of reasoning.
Substantially, these Discourses are a continuation of those previously delivered at this
Feast. But they carry the argument one important step both backwards and forwards.
The situation had now become quite clear, and neither party cared to conceal it. What
Jesus had gradually communicated to the disciples, who were so unwilling to receive it,
had now become an acknowledged fact. It was no longer a secret that the leaders of
Israel and Jerusalem were compassing the Death of Jesus. This underlies all His
Words. And He sought to turn them from their purpose, not by appealing to their pity nor
to any lower motive, but by claiming as His right that, for which they would condemn
Him. He was the Sent of God, the Messiah; although, to know Him and His Mission, it
needed moral kinship with Him that had sent Him. But this led to the very root of the
matter. It needed moral kinship with God: did Israel, as such, possess it? They did not;
nay, no man possessed it, till given him of God. This was not exa ctly new in these
Discourses of Christ, but it was now far more clearly stated and developed, and in that
sense new.
25. St. Luke ii. 32.