of the near coming of the kingdom of God. It was this which turned all eyes to Jesus of

Nazareth, humble and unpretending as were His origin, His circumstances, and His

followers, and which diverted the attention of the people even from the Temple to the

far-off lake of despised Galilee. And it was this which opened every home to the

messengers whom Christ sent forth, by two and two, and even after the Crucifixion,

every synagogue, to the apostles and preachers from Judaea. The title "Son of man"

was familiar to those who had drawn their ideas of the Messiah from the well-known

pages of Da niel. The popular apocalyptic literature of the period, especially the so-called

"Book of Enoch," not only kept this designation in popular memory, but enlarged on the

judgment which He was to execute on Gentile kings and nations."  19 "Wilt Thou at this

time restore the kingdom to Israel?" was a question out of the very heart of Israel. Even

John the Baptist, in the gloom of his lonely prison, staggered not at the person of the

Messiah, but at the manner in which He seemed to found His kingdom.  20 He had

expected to hear the blows of that axe which he had lifted fall upon the barren tree, and

had to learn that the innermost secret of that kingdom--carried not in earthquake of

wrath, nor in whirlwind of judgment, but breathed in the still small voice of love and

pity--was comprehension, not exclusion; healing, not destruction.

As for the Rabbis, the leaders of public opinion, their position towards the kingdom was

quite different. Although in the rising of Bar Cochab the great Rabbi Akiba acted as the

religious standard -bearer, he may be looked upon as almost an exception. His character

was that of an enthusiast, his history almost a romance. But, in general, the Rabbis did

not identify themselves with the popular Messianic expectations. Alike the Gospel-

history and their writings show not merely that anti-spiritual opposition to the Church

which we might have expected, but coldness and distance in regard to all such

movements. Legal rigorism and merciless bigotry are not fanaticism. The latter is chiefly

the impuls e of the ill-informed. Even their contemptuous turning away from "this people

which knoweth not the law," as "accursed," proves them incapable of a fanaticism

which recognises a brother in every one whose heart burns with the same fire, no matter

what his condition otherwise. The great text -book of Rabbinism, the Mishnah, is almost

entirely un-Messianic, one might say un-dogmatical. The method of the Rabbis was

purely logical. Where not a record of facts or traditions, the Mishnah is purely a

handbook of le gal determinations in their utmost logical sequences, only enlivened by

discussions or the tale of instances in point. The whole tendency of this system was

anti-Messianic. Not but that in souls so devout and natures so ardent enthusiasm might

be kindled, but that all their studies and pursuits went in the contrary direction. Besides,

they knew full well how little of power was left them, and they dreaded losing even this.

The fear of Rome constantly haunted them. Even at the destruction of Jerusalem the

leading Rabbis aimed to secure their safety, and their after history shows, frequently

recurring, curious instances of Rabbinical intimacy with their Roman oppressors. The

Sanhedrim spoke their inmost apprehensions, when in that secret session they

determined to kill Jesus from fear that, if He were allowed to go on, and all men were to

believe on Him, the Romans would come and take away both their place and nation

(John 11:48). Yet not one candid mind among them discussed the reality of His miracles;

not one generous voice was raised to assert the principle of the Messiah's claims and

kingdom, even though they had rejected those of Jesus of Nazareth! The question of

the Messiah might come up as a speculative point; it might force itself upon the

attention of the Sanhedrim; but it was not of personal, practical, life -interest to them. It

may mark only one aspect of the question, and that an extreme one, yet even as such it

is characteristic, when a Rabbi could assert that "between the present and the days of

the Messiah there was only this difference, Israel's servitude."

Quite other matters engrossed the attention of the Rabbis. It was the present and the

past, not the future, which occupied them--the present as fixing all legal determinations,

and the past as giving sanction to this. Judaea proper was the only place where the

Shechinah had dwelt, the land where Jehovah had caused His temple to be reared, the

seat of the Sanhedrim, the place where alone learning and real piety were cultivated.

From this point of view everything was judged. Judaea was "grain, Galilee straw, and