The Desire of Ages
by Ellen G. White
Chapter 21: Bethesda and the Sanhedrin
This chapter is based on John 5.
"Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool,
which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches. In these
lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for
the moving of the water." {DA 201.1}
At certain seasons the waters of this pool were agitated,
and it was commonly believed that this was the result of supernatural power,
and that whoever first after the troubling of the pool stepped into the waters,
would be healed of whatever disease he had. Hundreds of sufferers visited the
place; but so great was the crowd when the water was troubled that they rushed
forward, trampling underfoot men, women, and children, weaker than themselves.
Many could not get near the pool. Many who had succeeded in reaching it died
upon its brink. Shelters had been erected about the place, that the sick might
be protected from the heat by day and the chilliness of the night. There were
some who spent the night in these porches, creeping to the edge of the pool day
after day, in the vain hope of relief. {DA 201.2}
Jesus was again at Jerusalem. Walking alone, in apparent
meditation and prayer, He came to the pool. He saw the wretched sufferers
watching for that which they supposed to be their only chance of cure. He
longed to exercise His healing power, and make every sufferer whole. But it was
the Sabbath day. Multitudes were going to the temple for worship, [202]
and He knew that such an act of healing would so excite the prejudice of the
Jews as to cut short His work. {DA 201.3}
But the Saviour saw one case of supreme wretchedness. It was
that of a man who had been a helpless cripple for thirty-eight years. His
disease was in a great degree the result of his own sin, and was looked upon as
a judgment from God. Alone and friendless, feeling that he was shut out from
God's mercy, the sufferer had passed long years of misery. At the time when it
was expected that the waters would be troubled, those who pitied his
helplessness would bear him to the porches. But at the favored moment he had no
one to help him in. He had seen the rippling of the water, but had never been
able to get farther than the edge of the pool. Others stronger than he would
plunge in before him. He could not contend successfully with the selfish, scrambling
crowd. His persistent efforts toward the one object, and his anxiety and
continual disappointment, were fast wearing away the remnant of his strength. {DA 202.1}
The sick man was lying on his mat, and occasionally lifting
his head to gaze at the pool, when a tender, compassionate face bent over him,
and the words, "Wilt thou be made whole?" arrested his attention.
Hope came to his heart. He felt that in some way he was to have help. But the
glow of encouragement soon faded. He remembered how often he had tried to reach
the pool, and now he had little prospect of living till it should again be
troubled. He turned away wearily, saying, "Sir, I have no man, when the
water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth
down before me." {DA
202.2}
Jesus does not ask this sufferer to exercise faith in Him.
He simply says, "Rise, take up thy bed, and walk." But the man's
faith takes hold [203] upon that word. Every nerve and
muscle thrills with new life, and healthful action comes to his crippled limbs.
Without question he sets his will to obey the command of Christ, and all his
muscles respond to his will. Springing to his feet, he finds himself an active
man. {DA 202.3}
Jesus had given him no assurance of divine help. The man
might have stopped to doubt, and lost his one chance of healing. But he
believed Christ's word, and in acting upon it he received strength. {DA 203.1}
Through the same faith we may receive spiritual healing. By
sin we have been severed from the life of God. Our souls are palsied. Of
ourselves we are no more capable of living a holy life than was the impotent
man capable of walking. There are many who realize their helplessness, and who
long for that spiritual life which will bring them into harmony with God; they
are vainly striving to obtain it. In despair they cry, "O wretched man
that I am! who shall deliver me from this body of death?" Romans 7:24,
margin. Let these desponding, struggling ones look up. The Saviour is bending
over the purchase of His blood, saying with inexpressible tenderness and pity,
"Wilt thou be made whole?" He bids you arise in health and peace. Do
not wait to feel that you are made whole. Believe His word, and it will be
fulfilled. Put your will on the side of Christ. Will to serve Him, and in
acting upon His word you will receive strength. Whatever may be the evil
practice, the master passion which through long indulgence binds both soul and
body, Christ is able and longs to deliver. He will impart life to the soul that
is "dead in trespasses." Ephesians 2:1. He will set free the captive
that is held by weakness and misfortune and the chains of sin. {DA 203.2}
The restored paralytic stooped to take up his bed, which was
only a rug and a blanket, and as he straightened himself again with a sense of
delight, he looked around for his Deliverer; but Jesus was lost in the crowd.
The man feared that he would not know Him if he should see Him again. As he
hurried on his way with firm, free step, praising God and rejoicing in his
new-found strength, he met several of the Pharisees, and immediately told them
of his cure. He was surprised at the coldness with which they listened to his
story. {DA 203.3}
With lowering brows they interrupted him, asking why he was
carrying his bed on the Sabbath day. They sternly reminded him that it was not
lawful to bear burdens on the Lord's day. In his joy the man had forgotten that
it was the Sabbath; yet he felt no condemnation for obeying the command of One
who had such power from God. He [204] answered boldly, "He that
made me whole, the same said unto me, Take up thy bed, and walk." They
asked who it was that had done this, but he could not tell. These rulers knew
well that only One had shown Himself able to perform this miracle; but they
wished for direct proof that it was Jesus, that they might condemn Him as a
Sabbath-breaker. In their judgment He had not only broken the law in healing
the sick man on the Sabbath, but had committed sacrilege in bidding him bear
away his bed. {DA 203.4}
The Jews had so perverted the law that they made it a yoke
of bondage. Their meaningless requirements had become a byword among other
nations. Especially was the Sabbath hedged in by all manner of senseless
restrictions. It was not to them a delight, the holy of the Lord, and
honorable. The scribes and Pharisees had made its observance an intolerable
burden. A Jew was not allowed to kindle a fire nor even to light a candle on
the Sabbath. As a consequence the people were dependent upon the Gentiles for
many services which their rules forbade them to do for themselves. They did not
reflect that if these acts were sinful, those who employed others to perform
them were as guilty as if they had done the work themselves. They thought that
salvation was restricted to the Jews, and that the condition of all others,
being already hopeless, could be made no worse. But God has given no
commandments which cannot be obeyed by all. His laws sanction no unreasonable
or selfish restrictions. {DA
204.1}
In the temple Jesus met the man who had been healed. He had
come to bring a sin offering and also a thank offering for the great mercy he
had received. Finding him among the worshipers, Jesus made Himself known, with
the warning words, "Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse
thing come unto thee." {DA
204.2}
The healed man was overjoyed at meeting his Deliverer.
Ignorant of the enmity toward Jesus, he told the Pharisees who had questioned
him, that this was He who had performed the cure. "Therefore did the Jews
persecute Jesus, and sought to slay Him, because He had done these things on
the Sabbath day." {DA
204.3}
Jesus was brought before the Sanhedrin to answer the charge
of Sabbathbreaking. Had the Jews at this time been an independent nation, such
a charge would have served their purpose for putting Him to death. This their
subjection to the Romans prevented. The Jews had not the power to inflict
capital punishment, and the accusations brought against [205] Christ
would have no weight in a Roman court. There were other objects, however, which
they hoped to secure. Notwithstanding their efforts to counteract His work,
Christ was gaining, even in Jerusalem, an influence over the people greater
than their own. Multitudes who were not interested in the harangues of the
rabbis were attracted by His teaching. They could understand His words, and
their hearts were warmed and comforted. He spoke of God, not as an avenging
judge, but as a tender father, and He revealed the image of God as mirrored in
Himself. His words were like balm to the wounded spirit. Both by His words and
by His works of mercy He was breaking the oppressive power of the old
traditions and man-made commandments, and presenting the love of God in its
exhaustless fullness. {DA
204.4}
In one of the earliest prophecies of Christ it is written,
"The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his
feet, until Shiloh come; and unto Him shall the gathering of the people
be." Genesis 49:10. The people were gathering to Christ. The sympathetic hearts
of the multitude accepted lessons of love and benevolence in preference to the
rigid ceremonies required by the priests. If the priests and rabbis had not
interposed, His teaching would have wrought such a reformation as this world
has never witnessed. But in order to maintain their own power, these leaders
determined to break down the influence of Jesus. His arraignment before the
Sanhedrin, and an open condemnation of His teachings, would aid in effecting
this; for the people still had great reverence for their religious leaders.
Whoever dared to condemn the rabbinical requirements, or attempt to lighten the
burdens they had brought upon the people, was regarded as guilty, not only of
blasphemy, but of treason. On this ground the rabbis hoped to excite suspicion
of Christ. They represented Him as trying to overthrow the established customs,
thus causing division among the people, and preparing the way for complete
subjugation by the Romans. {DA
205.1}
But the plans which these rabbis were working so zealously
to fulfill originated in another council than that of the Sanhedrin. After
Satan had failed to overcome Christ in the wilderness, he combined his forces
to oppose Him in His ministry, and if possible to thwart His work. What he
could not accomplish by direct, personal effort, he determined to effect by
strategy. No sooner had he withdrawn from the conflict in the wilderness than
in council with his confederate angels he matured his plans for still further
blinding the minds of the Jewish people, that [206] they
might not recognize their Redeemer. He planned to work through his human
agencies in the religious world, by imbuing them with his own enmity against
the champion of truth. He would lead them to reject Christ and to make His life
as bitter as possible, hoping to discourage Him in His mission. And the leaders
in Israel became instruments of Satan in warring against the Saviour. {DA 205.2}
Jesus had come to "magnify the law, and make it
honorable." He was not to lessen its dignity, but to exalt it. The scripture
says, "He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till He have set judgment in
the earth." Isaiah 42:21, 4. He had come to free the Sabbath from those
burdensome requirements that had made it a curse instead of a blessing. {DA 206.1}
For this reason He had chosen the Sabbath upon which to
perform the act of healing at Bethesda. He could have healed the sick man as
well on any other day of the week; or He might simply have cured him, without
bidding him bear away his bed. But this would not have given Him the
opportunity He desired. A wise purpose underlay every act of Christ's life on
earth. Everything He did was important in itself and in its teaching. Among the
afflicted ones at the pool He selected the worst case upon whom to exercise His
healing power, and bade the man carry his bed through the city in order to
publish the great work that had been wrought upon him. This would raise the
question of what it was lawful to do on the Sabbath, and would open the way for
Him to denounce the restrictions of the Jews in regard to the Lord's day, and
to declare their traditions void. {DA 206.2}
Jesus stated to them that the work of relieving the
afflicted was in harmony with the Sabbath law. It was in harmony with the work
of God's angels, who are ever descending and ascending between heaven and earth
to minister to suffering humanity. Jesus declared, "My Father worketh
hitherto, and I work." All days are God's, in which to carry out His plans
for the human race. If the Jews' interpretation of the law was correct, then
Jehovah was at fault, whose work has quickened and upheld every living thing
since first He laid the foundations of the earth; then He who pronounced His
work good, and instituted the Sabbath to commemorate its completion, must put a
period to His labor, and stop the never-ending routine of the universe. {DA 206.3}
Should God forbid the sun to perform its office upon the
Sabbath, cut off its genial rays from warming the earth and nourishing
vegetation? Must the system of worlds stand still through that holy day? Should
He [207]
command the brooks to stay from watering the fields and forests, and bid the
waves of the sea still their ceaseless ebbing and flowing? Must the wheat and
corn stop growing, and the ripening cluster defer its purple bloom? Must the
trees and flowers put forth no bud nor blossom on the Sabbath? {DA 206.4}
In such a case, men would miss the fruits of the earth, and
the blessings that make life desirable. Nature must continue her unvarying
course. God could not for a moment stay His hand, or man would faint and die.
And man also has a work to perform on this day. The necessities of life must be
attended to, the sick must be cared for, the wants of the needy must be
supplied. He will not be held guiltless who neglects to relieve suffering on
the Sabbath. God's holy rest day was made for man, and acts of mercy are in
perfect harmony with its intent. God does not desire His creatures to suffer an
hour's pain that may be relieved upon the Sabbath or any other day. {DA 207.1}
The demands upon God are even greater upon the Sabbath than
upon other days. His people then leave their usual employment, and spend the
time in meditation and worship. They ask more favors of Him on the Sabbath than
upon other days. They demand His special attention. They crave His choicest
blessings. God does not wait for the Sabbath to pass before He grants these
requests. Heaven's work never ceases, and men should never rest from doing
good. The Sabbath is not intended to be a period of useless inactivity. The law
forbids secular labor on the rest day of the Lord; the toil that gains a
livelihood must cease; no labor for worldly pleasure or profit is lawful upon
that day; but as God ceased His labor of creating, and rested upon the Sabbath
and blessed it, so man is to leave the occupations of his daily life, and
devote those sacred hours to healthful rest, to worship, and to holy deeds. The
work of Christ in healing the sick was in perfect accord with the law. It
honored the Sabbath. {DA
207.2}
Jesus claimed equal rights with God in doing a work equally
sacred, and of the same character with that which engaged the Father in heaven.
But the Pharisees were still more incensed. He had not only broken the law,
according to their understanding, but in calling God "His own Father"
had declared Himself equal with God. John 5:18, R. V. {DA 207.3}
The whole nation of the Jews called God their Father,
therefore they would not have been so enraged if Christ had represented Himself
as standing in the same relation to God. But they accused Him of [208]
blasphemy, showing that they understood Him as making this claim in the highest
sense. {DA 207.4}
These adversaries of Christ had no arguments with which to
meet the truths He brought home to their consciences. They could only cite
their customs and traditions, and these seemed weak and vapid when compared
with the arguments Jesus had drawn from the word of God and the unceasing round
of nature. Had the rabbis felt any desire to receive light, they would have
been convinced that Jesus spoke the truth. But they evaded the points He made
concerning the Sabbath, and sought to stir up anger against Him because He
claimed to be equal with God. The fury of the rulers knew no bounds. Had they
not feared the people, the priests and rabbis would have slain Jesus on the
spot. But the popular sentiment in His favor was strong. Many recognized in
Jesus the friend who had healed their diseases and comforted their sorrows, and
they justified His healing of the sufferer at Bethesda. So for the time the
leaders were obliged to restrain their hatred. {DA 208.1}
Jesus repelled the charge of blasphemy. My authority, He
said, for doing the work of which you accuse Me, is that I am the Son of God,
one with Him in nature, in will, and in purpose. In all His works of creation
and providence, I co-operate with God. "The Son can do nothing of Himself,
but what He seeth the Father do." The priests and rabbis were taking the
Son of God to task for the very work He had been sent into the world to do. By
their sins they had separated themselves from God, and in their pride were
moving independently of Him. They felt sufficient in themselves for all things,
and realized no need of a higher wisdom to direct their acts. But the Son of
God was surrendered to the Father's will, and dependent upon His power. So
utterly was Christ emptied of self that He made no plans for Himself. He
accepted God's plans for Him, and day by day the Father unfolded His plans. So
should we depend upon God, that our lives may be the simple outworking of His
will. {DA 208.2}
When Moses was about to build the sanctuary as a dwelling
place for God, he was directed to make all things according to the pattern
shown him in the mount. Moses was full of zeal to do God's work; the most
talented, skillful men were at hand to carry out his suggestions. Yet he was
not to make a bell, a pomegranate, a tassel, a fringe, a curtain, or any vessel
of the sanctuary, except according to the pattern shown him. God called him
into the mount, and revealed to him the heavenly things. The Lord covered him
with His own glory, that he might see [209] the
pattern, and according to it all things were made. So to Israel, whom He
desired to make His dwelling place, He had revealed His glorious ideal of
character. The pattern was shown them in the mount when the law was given from
Sinai, and when the Lord passed by before Moses and proclaimed, "The Lord,
The Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness
and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression
and sin." Exodus 34:6, 7. {DA 208.3}
Israel had chosen their own ways. They had not builded
according to the pattern; but Christ, the true temple for God's indwelling,
molded every detail of His earthly life in harmony with God's ideal. He said,
"I delight to do Thy will, O My God: yea, Thy law is within My
heart." Psalm 40:8. So our characters are to be builded "for an
habitation of God through the Spirit." Ephesians 2:22. And we are to
"make all things according to the pattern," even Him who
"suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow His
steps." Hebrews 8:5; 1 Peter 2:21. {DA 209.1}
The words of Christ teach that we should regard ourselves as
inseparably bound to our Father in heaven. Whatever our position, we are
dependent upon God, who holds all destinies in His hands. He has appointed us
our work, and has endowed us with faculties and means for that work. So long as
we surrender the will to God, and trust in His strength and wisdom, we shall be
guided in safe paths, to fulfill our appointed part in His great plan. But the
one who depends upon his own wisdom and power is separating himself from God.
Instead of working in unison with Christ, he is fulfilling the purpose of the
enemy of God and man. {DA
209.2}
The Saviour continued: "What things soever He [the
Father] doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise. . . . As the Father
raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom He
will." The Sadducees held that there would be no resurrection of the body;
but Jesus tells them that one of the greatest works of His Father is raising
the dead, and that He Himself has power to do the same work. "The hour is
coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they
that hear shall live." The Pharisees believed in the resurrection of the
dead. Christ declares that even now the power which gives life to the dead is
among them, and they are to behold its manifestation. This same resurrection
power is that which gives life to the soul "dead in trespasses and
sins." Ephesians 2:1. That spirit of life in Christ Jesus, "the power
of His resurrection," sets men "free from [210] the
law of sin and death." Philippians 3:10; Romans 8:2. The dominion of evil
is broken, and through faith the soul is kept from sin. He who opens his heart
to the Spirit of Christ becomes a partaker of that mighty power which shall
bring forth his body from the grave. {DA 209.3}
The humble Nazarene asserts His real nobility. He rises
above humanity, throws off the guise of sin and shame, and stands revealed, the
Honored of the angels, the Son of God, One with the Creator of the universe.
His hearers are spellbound. No man has ever spoken words like His, or borne
himself with such a kingly majesty. His utterances are clear and plain, fully
declaring His mission, and the duty of the world. "For the Father judgeth
no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son: that all men should honor
the Son, even as they honor the Father. He that honoreth not the Son honoreth
not the Father which hath sent Him. . . . For as the Father hath life
in Himself; so hath He given to the Son to have life in Himself; and hath given
Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of man." {DA 210.1}
The priests and rulers had set themselves up as judges to
condemn Christ's work, but He declared Himself their judge, and the judge of
all the earth. The world has been committed to Christ, and through Him has come
every blessing from God to the fallen race. He was the Redeemer before as after
His incarnation. As soon as there was sin, there was a Saviour. He has given
light and life to all, and according to the measure of light given, each is to
be judged. And He who has given the light, He who has followed the soul with
tenderest entreaty, seeking to win it from sin to holiness, is in one its
advocate and judge. From the opening of the great controversy in heaven, Satan
has maintained his cause through deception; and Christ has been working to
unveil his schemes and to break his power. It is He who has encountered the
deceiver, and who through all the ages has been seeking to wrest the captives
from his grasp, who will pass judgment upon every soul. {DA 210.2}
And God "hath given Him authority to execute judgment
also, because He is the Son of man." Because He has tasted the very dregs
of human affliction and temptation, and understands the frailties and sins of
men; because in our behalf He has victoriously withstood the temptations of
Satan, and will deal justly and tenderly with the souls that His own blood has
been poured out to save,—because of this, the Son of man is appointed
to execute the judgment. {DA
210.3}
But Christ's mission was not for judgment, but for
salvation. "God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but
that the [211] world through Him might be saved." John
3:17. And before the Sanhedrin Jesus declared, "He that heareth My word,
and believeth Him that sent Me, hath eternal life, and cometh not into
judgment, but hath passed out of death into life." John 5:24, R. V. {DA 210.4}
Bidding His hearers marvel not, Christ opened before them,
in still wider view, the mystery of the future. "The hour cometh," He
said, "in which all that are in the tombs shall hear His voice, and shall
come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they
that have done ill, unto the resurrection of judgment." John 5:28, 29, R.
V. {DA 211.1}
This assurance of the future life was that for which Israel
had so long waited, and which they had hoped to receive at the Messiah's
advent. The only light that can lighten the gloom of the grave was shining upon
them. But self-will is blind. Jesus had violated the traditions of the rabbis,
and disregarded their authority, and they would not believe. {DA 211.2}
The time, the place, the occasion, the intensity of feeling
that pervaded the assembly, all combined to make the words of Jesus before the
Sanhedrin the more impressive. The highest religious authorities of the nation
were seeking the life of Him who declared Himself the restorer of Israel. The
Lord of the Sabbath was arraigned before an earthly tribunal to answer the
charge of breaking the Sabbath law. When He so fearlessly declared His mission,
His judges looked upon Him with astonishment and rage; but His words were
unanswerable. They could not condemn Him. He denied the right of the priests
and rabbis to question Him, or to interfere with His work. They were invested
with no such authority. Their claims were based upon their own pride and
arrogance. He refused to plead guilty of their charges, or to be catechized by
them. {DA 211.3}
Instead of apologizing for the act of which they complained,
or explaining His purpose in doing it, Jesus turned upon the rulers, and the
accused became the accuser. He rebuked them for the hardness of their hearts,
and their ignorance of the Scriptures. He declared that they had rejected the
word of God, inasmuch as they had rejected Him whom God had sent. "Ye
search the Scriptures, because ye think that in them ye have eternal life; and
these are they which bear witness of Me." John 5:39, R. V. {DA 211.4}
In every page, whether history, or precept, or prophecy, the
Old Testament Scriptures are irradiated with the glory of the Son of God. So
far as it was of divine institution, the entire system of Judaism was a
compacted prophecy of the gospel. To Christ "give all the prophets
witness." Acts 10:43. From the promise given to Adam, down through [212]
the patriarchal line and the legal economy, heaven's glorious light made plain
the footsteps of the Redeemer. Seers beheld the Star of Bethlehem, the Shiloh
to come, as future things swept before them in mysterious procession. In every
sacrifice Christ's death was shown. In every cloud of incense His righteousness
ascended. By every jubilee trumpet His name was sounded. In the awful mystery
of the holy of holies His glory dwelt. {DA 211.5}
The Jews had the Scriptures in their possession, and
supposed that in their mere outward knowledge of the word they had eternal life.
But Jesus said, "Ye have not His word abiding in you." Having
rejected Christ in His word, they rejected Him in person. "Ye will not
come to Me," He said, "that ye might have life." {DA 212.1}
The Jewish leaders had studied the teachings of the prophets
concerning the kingdom of the Messiah; but they had done this, not with a
sincere desire to know the truth, but with the purpose of finding evidence to
sustain their ambitious hopes. When Christ came in a manner contrary to their
expectations, they would not receive Him; and in order to justify themselves,
they tried to prove Him a deceiver. When once they had set their feet in this
path, it was easy for Satan to strengthen their opposition to Christ. The very
words that should have been received as evidence of His divinity were
interpreted against Him. Thus they turned the truth of God into a lie, and the
more directly the Saviour spoke to them in His works of mercy, the more
determined they were in resisting the light. {DA 212.2}
Jesus said, "I receive not honor from men." It was
not the influence of the Sanhedrin, it was not their sanction He desired. He
could receive no honor from their approbation. He was invested with the honor
and authority of Heaven. Had He desired it, angels would have come to do Him
homage; the Father would again have testified to His divinity. But for their
own sake, for the sake of the nation whose leaders they were, He desired the
Jewish rulers to discern His character, and receive the blessings He came to
bring them. {DA 212.3}
"I am come in My Father's name, and ye receive Me not:
if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive." Jesus came by
the authority of God, bearing His image, fulfilling His word, and seeking His
glory; yet He was not accepted by the leaders in Israel; but when others should
come, assuming the character of Christ, but actuated by their own will and
seeking their own glory, they would be received. And why? Because he who is
seeking his own glory appeals to the desire for self-exaltation in others. To
such appeals the Jews could respond. [213] They
would receive the false teacher because he flattered their pride by sanctioning
their cherished opinions and traditions. But the teaching of Christ did not
coincide with their ideas. It was spiritual, and demanded the sacrifice of
self; therefore they would not receive it. They were not acquainted with God,
and to them His voice through Christ was the voice of a stranger. {DA 212.4}
Is not the same thing repeated in our day? Are there not
many, even religious leaders, who are hardening their hearts against the Holy
Spirit, making it impossible for them to recognize the voice of God? Are they
not rejecting the word of God, that they may keep their own traditions? {DA 213.1}
"Had ye believed Moses," said Jesus, "ye
would have believed Me: for he wrote of Me. But if ye believe not his writings,
how shall ye believe My words?" It was Christ who had spoken to Israel
through Moses. If they had listened to the divine voice that spoke through
their great leader, they would have recognized it in the teachings of Christ.
Had they believed Moses, they would have believed Him of whom Moses wrote. {DA 213.2}
Jesus knew that the priests and rabbis were determined to
take His life; yet He clearly explained to them His unity with the Father, and
His relation to the world. They saw that their opposition to Him was without
excuse, yet their murderous hatred was not quenched. Fear seized them as they
witnessed the convincing power that attended His ministry; but they resisted
His appeals, and locked themselves in darkness. {DA 213.3}
They had signally failed to subvert the authority of Jesus
or to alienate the respect and attention of the people, many of whom were
convicted by His words. The rulers themselves had felt deep condemnation as He
had pressed their guilt home upon their consciences; yet this only made them
the more bitter against Him. They were determined to take His life. They sent
messengers all over the country to warn the people against Jesus as an
impostor. Spies were sent to watch Him, and report what He said and did. The
precious Saviour was now most surely standing under the shadow of the cross. {DA 213.4}
Click here to read the next chapter:
"Imprisonment and Death of John"
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