"But I say unto you, that it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment, than for you" (Matt. XI:20-24; Luke X:13-15).
In more temperate language He bewails the coldness and hostility of Jerusalem.
"How often would I have gathered thy children together even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not?" (Matt. XXIII:37; Luke XIII:34. See also Luke XIX:41, 42; Luke XI:31, 32).
The reason why Jesus' miracles produced no lasting effect on the Jews has already been indicated. They expected their Messiah to show them miracles as proof of his claims. But this Messiah must be one of their own creation preaching the doctrines which they wished him to preach. All the miracles in the world would not have convinced them that Jesus was the true Messiah, so long as He offered them only a heavenly kingdom. On the other hand, if He had promised them an earthly kingdom, they would have acclaimed these same miracles which He did, as indubitable proofs of His Messiahship. In this respect they differ not at all from many modern professed followers of Jesus. They follow such parts of His teaching as happen to suit their own ideas or prejudices, and calmly ignore other parts, equally explicit and binding, which do not fit in with their scheme of life. (See [Hypocrisy or Truth], infra.)
The miracles and, even more, the apparent faith of Jesus in their evidentiary value, form serious stumbling blocks in the way of those who revere Jesus as the greatest "Son of Man"—unequaled in the simplicity and unselfishness of His character and in the sublimity of His teaching—but free from the tawdry tinsel of supernaturalism, which is the usual stock-in-trade of leaders of religious sects. Mohammedanism seems to be the only great religion which has resisted the temptation to ascribe to its founder, either divine parentage or the power to perform supernatural acts.
The attribution to Jesus of the Holy Ghost as His father need cause no difficulty, by reason of the facts set out under sub-head "[Conception]," supra.
But as regards the miracles, it is true that few of them have much scientific value as evidence of the intervention of supernatural powers in their occurrence. For instance, Matthew records nineteen specific miracles, of which only one is attested to by all the three other evangelists, five are attested to by one beside himself, twelve by two, and one by himself alone. Of the nineteen, five are events—stilling the tempest—walking on the waters, two feeding the multitude, and one the blasting of the unfortunate fig tree, which did not bear fruit out of season. Of the remaining fourteen, one is a lunatic, one has a withered hand, one is dumb, one is a leper, two have palsy, three are blind, one has fever, one an issue of blood, two are possessed of devils, and the ailment of Jairus' daughter is not specified. Without examining each in detail, it may be said generally that these accounts are very indefinite as to exact times and places, names of persons cured, or by friends or relatives, and other details, by which the story might be verified. From the insufficient data furnished, it would, for instance, have been almost impossible for a person, starting to investigate these miracles immediately after Jesus' death to have asserted that any particular miracle did not occur, although he could not find a single witness to any of them. Even the names of the disciples present are given only in a few instances. It is also to be regretted that practically all of the personal cures, as is the case with more modern miracle workers, fall within that class of afflictions where ignorance, suggestion, simulation, conscious or unconscious, etc., can so easily confuse the result. If some of these latter-day healers would only go to an old soldiers' home and supply some missing arms and legs, the "doubting Thomases" would be more ready to concede their possession of supernatural powers.
But, notwithstanding all this, the four Gospels are so permeated with these miraculous doings that it would be almost denying them any credibility at all, to claim that Jesus and His apostles did not believe that He performed miracles, and that these miracles were proof of His claim to the Messiahship. It can only be said that Jesus, great as He was, could not entirely escape the influence of the times in which He lived.
[28] Here again Jesus makes clear His antipathy to churchly ceremonies and pharisaical formalism. No ceremony marks the joining of His disciples. He says to them, "Follow me," and they leave everything and follow Him. No more is necessary to make them members of His band. So, no rite, no ceremony marks the choosing or appointing of the twelve apostles, or bishops, as they would now be called. There is no laying on of hands, no formal induction or installation into office, no clothing them in peculiar vestments, or sacerdotal robes, or other visible insignia of their office or rank. Nor are they given any authority or pre-eminence over their fellow disciples. Nothing could have been more foreign to Jesus' ideas than the establishment of a priestly hierarchy. The instructions as to their preaching are of the simplest—"the kingdom of heaven is at hand." No creeds, no theological dogmas are to be impressed on their hearers. But the necessity of their doing good works—healing the sick, etc.—is emphasized. With Jesus works always were of more value than words. The admonition to travel simply, without money or extra raiment, and to depend on the hospitality of the people among whom they came, reminds us of the practice of the itinerant missionaries of frontier days in our own country.
Matthew's account is the only one containing the verse: "Think not that I am come to send peace on earth. I come not to send peace but a sword" (Matt. X:34). This has often been cited, warped from its context, as meaning that Jesus sanctioned war as a means of spreading His religion. But nothing is more contrary to the whole spirit of His teaching and many express utterances. When His disciples would have Him call down fire from heaven to consume those who would not receive Him, He "rebuked them" and said: "For the Son of Man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them" (Luke IX:56). In this chapter from Matthew, Jesus is predicting that the spread of His Gospel will set individual against individual (even in the same family), and finally nation against nation, and that, owing to the weakness of human nature, this would lead to individual contests and to national contests. Results well justified His prophecy. So long as the Christians were in the minority, they preached, and, to some extent, practiced the doctrines of the Sermon on the Mount. But when they became the majority, the sword and torch and the fires of the Inquisition were their favorite arguments in converting recalcitrant heathen.