“He came unto His own, and His own received Him not.” John 1:11.
18. What reason did they give for not receiving Him?
“We know that God spake unto Moses: as for this fellow, we know not from whence He is.” John 9:29.
Note.—That was the trouble; they had no faith in anything new. They knew that God spoke by Moses: it required little faith to believe that. They felt perfectly safe in accepting him, for everything had demonstrated that he was sent of God. All could see that. But here was One whom, although He had come in fulfilment of the prophecies of Moses and the prophets as their long-looked-for Messiah, they felt there was a risk in accepting, because they did not understand the prophecies relating to Him, and time had not worked out to their satisfaction the truthfulness of His claims. It required too much faith, as against their [pg 134] desire to walk by sight, to accept Christ. It also called for a change of views in some things, and a reformation in life. So they rejected Him. They believed in the flood, faith in which had saved Noah; they believed in Elijah also, and professed faith in all the prophets; but when it came to this special truth for their time, they refused to accept it. Thus it has been in all ages, and thus we may expect it to continue to be to the end.
19. How did Christ say those who rejected Him reasoned?
“Ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchers of the righteous, and say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.” Matt. 23:29, 30.
Note.—While they condemned the action of their fathers in slaying the prophets whom God had sent with messages of reproof and warning applicable to those times, they soon filled up the measure of the iniquity of their fathers by putting to death the Son of God. This showed that they would have done as did their fathers had they lived in their day. Thus we see that present truths are testing truths.
20. What was the result of the Jews' not accepting Christ?
“And when He was come near, He beheld the city, and wept over it, saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes.” Luke 19:41, 42. “Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.” Matt. 23:38.
21. Is there to be a special message for the last days?