८*ोष 為by勢> து and kinsman, John the Baptist, whom Herod cast into prison, so that clause is prudently onnitted. Notice that the clause about “recovering of sight to the blind” is inserted by Christ and is not in the original), “to preach the acceptable year of the Lord, wond the day of vengeance of our God.” Yes, this is the awkward passage at which Jesus stopped in his reading of the prophecy. He could only get as far as “to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.” The idea of vengeance would have grated harshly upon the assembly, after “the gracious words” which had gone before. No wonder that he suddenly closed the book—finding that the rest of the prophecy manifestly would have no legitimate application to himself. Mr. T. L. Strange upon this passage observes — “It is the oft-recurring theme of the restoration of Israel, and over the gentile nations. The “Good Tidings” their domination proclaimed are not the ‘Gospel' we are ac. customod to hear announced by the followers of Jesus. They relate to positive deliverance from actual captivity, to material prosperity ίο national ascendeney, and were uot expressed by moral reformation inerely, still less by a fusion of all uations into one common assemblage, such as the Christian community with equal advantages to all. The context has again been cut off to suit the occasion and a very remarkable stop placed in the Iniddle of a sentence, where its concluding portion warred against the application to be made of it.” ln short, Jesus, like Paul and other New Testament writers, treated Oid Testament Scripture with little regard to the integrity of the sense of the original, and, while thus exposing his untrustworthiness as an interpreter, discloses this fact that the prophecy quoted by him as fulfilled in himself had really no reference to him at all. We will now place in juxtaposition with these “gracious words,” another quotation of prophecy made by Christ himself. Matt XIII. 10-15. After he had recited the Pirable of the Sower to a multitude of people who followed him, his disciples asked him, “Why speakest thou unto them in éparables 1. He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of heaven, but ! I unto them in be converted, and I should heal them.” THE Evidence of JESUs
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to them it is not given ...... Therefore speak parables; because they Reeing see not, and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.” " this with the gracious words spoken in the Synagogue, ( 'ontrast and recall the first scutence. “The spirit of the Lord is upon me because he hath announced me to preach the gospel to the or.” takes elaborate care not to preach, but to conceal it l speak unto them to know the iuvsteries of po Here, however, he —purposely, with musico aforethought. tire kingdom of heavou, because I intend thern to bear but not to understand, Truly adorable is this wonderful 1)ivine teacher and preacher who has been placed so high above our heads, and is said to have been the “ the highest product of the human race.” What will not superstitious rever. ence do in blinding our eyes and oblit, rating moral distinctions But we must go on with the quotation — “And in then is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which salth, by hearing ye shall hear and not understand, and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive. this people's heart is waxed gross and their cars are dull ի՝, )Ꭲ of hearing, and their eyes have they closed . lest at any time they should see with their and hear with their ears, and should Ꭲbia , eyes, error here made by Christ is in regarding the passage in Isaiah as a prophecy at all. In Isaiah VI. 9, 10, 11, we find these words “And he said (to Isaiah), Go and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest thcy see with their eyes and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and, convert and be healed.” This is not even in the form of a prophecy, but of a mandate given to the prophet by Jehovah, as to what he was to do. As you can not well have a fulfilment without a prophecy. the statement of Jesus respecting this passage, is manifestly erroneous. **, Though it is a deviation from our present lines, I must here remark that the evangelist, after narrating several parables in the same • Theodore Parker, Lessons, etc., P. 246:
