"that he remembered not to show mercy, but persecuted the poor and needy man, that he might even slay the broken in heart." This is not in keeping with the circumstances of Jesus and Judas, nor is the treachery of the latter in any way pointed to. The apostle has laid hold of some phrases of general import in these Psalms, and seeks to have them accepted as specially prophetic.

(46). "He is despised and rejected of men; a man of The man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief. He was oppressed, and sorrows. he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth" (Isa. liii. 3, 7); a passage which, when read to him by the eunuch, Philip applied to Jesus (Acts viii. 32-35). But what we hear of the life of Jesus little warrants the application. Begotten of God, and incapable of sin, the essence of his being placed him immeasurably above liability to the sinking infirmities of mankind. Angels announced and celebrated his birth with songs of joy. As he grew in stature, he advanced also " in favour with God and man" (Luke ii. 52). The Holy Ghost visibly descended on him, and a voice from heaven proclaimed his divine origin. When he spoke, "all bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth" (Luke iv. 22). When he taught, it was as "one having authority," the people being "astonished at his doctrine" (Matt. vii. 28, 29). He knew that the lilies of the field were clothed by his heavenly Father; that the ravens depended on him for their food (Luke xii. 22-30); that not a sparrow falls to the ground without him; and that the very hairs of the head are all numbered (Matt. x. 29, 30); and with these truths, in the plenitude of his own assurance, he sought to build up the faith of others. For himself, he was placed above the reach of any want. The elements obeyed him (Matt. viii. 26, 27); evil spirits were subject to him; diseases vanished at his touch; food was generated at his will; and the dead rose to life at his bidding. The omnipotent, the all-knowing, could have had no earthly care, or fear, or sorrow. In the consciousness of his own resources, and the certainty of the issue put before him, his mission was calculated to elate whatever was human about him—not to depress him. It was one of measureless

66

importance and glory. The creation lay groaning in bondage (Rom. viii. 21, 22), and the Creator was in no condition to apply a remedy till his justice had first been satisfied (Rom. iii. 26). There was "none other name under heaven given among men," whereby they could be saved, but the name of Jesus (Acts iv. 12). Mankind were to look to him for escape from an otherwise inevitable doom, and God himself was dependent on him to reinstate his rule, and recover for him his lost creation. He became the central object of every regard, and in the position he had assumed as Redeemer, was to be highly exalted," and to have a name given to him “which is above every name; that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Phil. ii. 9-11). The price to be paid for these great results was merely death, the common fate of that race of man whose form he had adopted. Many undergo it in circumstances of far greater trial than he endured; and he had more than ordinary support. He was specially strengthened for his sufferings by an angel from heaven (Luke xxii. 43), and, as he expired, was well assured that the next moment his eyes would be lifted up in paradise (Luke xxiii. 43). Multitudes of mere men would face such a fate as his with fortitude; and it is to attribute to him a weakness which would make him despicable, to suppose that the prospect of death, be it death on the cross, overthrew the equanimity of his mind, and rendered him a prey to habitual sorrow. It will be said that it was the sense and burden of our guilt that oppressed him; but this is absolutely incomprehensible. The burden, whatever it was, was about to be removed with six hours' exposure upon the cross; nor is it possible to conceive that an innocent being, able with confidence in his expiring moment to commend his spirit to God (Luke xxiii. 46), could have felt the pressure of sins that were not his.

If then what we are told of Jesus, of his being, his power, his mission, and his hopes, are really true of him, it is hard to discern in him the man of sorrows and griefs depicted by Isaiah. Neither was it the case that he was one so broken in spirit as to be unequal to saying a word on his own behalf.

On the contrary, he held his own in every discussion, proving always ready and able to put others in the wrong, and that not in the gentlest manner. Intolerant of opposition, he said, "He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth" (Matt. xii. 30). And he applied language to his adversaries freely, and on all occasions, of a sort that few could tolerate. "O generation of vipers," he said to the Pharisees," how can ye, being evil, speak good things" (Matt. xii. 34)? "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!-Woe unto you, ye blind guides!-Ye fools and blind. -Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers;" expressions often repeated, with much virulence, through a long address (Matt. xxiii. 13-33). "Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, a liar, and the father of it" (John viii. 44). Here, at all events, he was not bearing the sins of others, or sinking under the weight of their guilt, but was casting the burden, very determinately, where it should naturally lie, upon the transgressors themselves.

In the further portion of the same prophecy it is said, "When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied.-Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong," circumstances certainly not fulfilled in respect of Jesus.

by Jesus of

(47). "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, Predictions even so must the Son of man be lifted up: that whosoever his death. believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life" (John iii. 14, 15). "Then said Pilate unto them, Take ye him, and judge him according to your law. The Jews therefore said unto him, It is not lawful for us to put any man to death That the saying of Jesus might be fulfilled, which he spake, signifying what death he should die" (John xviii. 31, 32). "But last of all," Jesus said, in narrating a parable, "he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence my son. But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance. And they caught him, and cast him

The brazen

serpent.

The

rejected

corner stone.

out of the vineyard, and slew him.-Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes" (Matt. xxi. 37-42)? “Then saith Jesus unto them, All ye shall be offended because of me this night for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad. But after I am risen again, I will go before you into Galilee" (Matt. xxvi. 31, 32).

These are instances wherein Jesus is represented to have foretold his own death, and the manner of it. It must ever be remembered that the narratives having been written after the event, the statements do not come before us in the power of prophecies. If Jesus really made such declarations, they were prophetic to those who heard them. To us the sayings form merely portions of the whole narrative, their credibility depending upon the reliance we may be able to place in the

narrators.

Jesus was to be lifted up as the serpent in the wilderness, and to carry out the type he underwent the Roman punishment of the crucifix. But there is a marked distinction between the type and the antitype. The former worked physically. The sufferers were such in the flesh, and their eyes had to look upon the object that was to effect their deliverance. It was fitting, therefore, that this object should be exposed conspicuously to their sight. But the work of Jesus was altogether spiritual. The mind of any looking to him for deliverance was to be exercised over the fact of his death. The method, or accessories of it, could signify nothing. Accordingly, differing from the treatment of the serpent, he was speedily taken down from the cross, his exposure upon it expressing nothing.

Jesus was also likened to a stone rejected by the builders, but which became the head of the corner. The passage referred to stands thus. "I called upon the Lord in distress : the Lord answered me, and set me in a large place. The Lord is on my side, I will not fear; what can man do unto me?-Thou hast thrust sore at me that I might fall; but the Lord helped me.-The Lord hath chastened me sore; but he hath not given me over unto death.-I will praise thee; for

one way.

The stone

thou hast heard me, and art become my salvation. which the builders refused is become the head of the corner. This is the Lord's doing; it is marvellous in our eyes. This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it. Save now, I beseech thee, O Lord; O Lord, I beseech thee, send now prosperity" (Ps. cxviii. 5-25). These are evidently the outpourings of a man who has been brought through ordinary tribulation.. He has been in distress, and cried for help. God had chastened him, but spared his life, and eventually made him the head over those who had rejected him. The parallel in the case of Jesus is not a close one, and until he is seen made head of the corner it is incomplete. The statement involved is that he was offered as a corner stone to the builders, who would not accept him as such. In other words, that he presented himself to the Jews as their Messiah, the reconstructor of their nation, the cornerstone or foundation of their stability as a people; and as such was rejected. The question occurs, did Jesus present himself in this aspect to the Jews? And it can be answered only in He came, it is said, with "no form nor comeliness," with "no beauty" that they "should desire him ;" and not as a king, but as a servant." Could any people be expected to receive one appearing to them in this guise as their stay and foundation, the prop of their strength, the corner stone of their prosperity? In fact, he give them no opportunity of accepting him in any capacity. When he was discovered to be the Christ, he strictly enjoined the parties, whether men or spirits, not to reveal the fact. As what then, save as some other than the Christ, did he offer himself to their notice? True, he wrought miracles; but it is no where Isaid that the Messiah was to commend himself as a wonderworker; and how can the Jews be charged with having rejected such testimony, when their eyes were purposely blinded against perceiving it? The parable, moreover, in which this saying of the rejected corner-stone is introduced, is not in keeping with the circumstances of the case. In the parable the son of the lord of the vineyard is sent by him to the husbandmen, who kill him in order to "seize on his inheritance; " but Jesus did not disclose to the Jews his proper position in this sonship; nor had he, to their knowledge, any