QUESTION II. 427 death and sufferings ; Peter rebuked himfor it ; Mat. xvi. 22. And none of them knew what his rising from the dead should enean ; Mark ix. 10. for they thought, together with the rest of the people, that Christ or the Messiah, abideth for ever, that is, must never die ; John xii. 34. And even after the resurrection of Christ they expectedwith some impatience the same tempo- ral glory andgrandeur when they said ; Acts i. 16. Lord, wilt thouat this time restore the kingdom unto Israel ? But to descend to particulars, and enquire what opinion the Jews had of the nature of their Messiah, who or what he was to be 1. They generally believed he should be a man of theirown nation, of the tribe of Judah, of the seed of David, born at Bethlehem, who was to be the kingoftheJews, and their Saviour. When Herod demanded where the Messiah " the king of the Jews should be born, the chief-priests, and scribes told him, at Bethlehem ; Mat. ii. 5. And they said to him, in Bethlehem of Judah,for thus it is written by the prophet, And thou Bethle- Item in the landof Judah art not the least among the princes of Judah, for out o j thee shall come a governor that shall rule my people Israel. And when Jesus asked the Pharisees ; Mat. xxii. 42. Whose Son is Christ, or the Messiah ? they roundly an swered, the Son of David. Yet others of the Jews were so very ignorant and doubtful in this matter, that they refused Jesus, and denied him to be the Messiah, for this very reason, because they knew his birth and parentage ; John vii. 27. We know this man whence he is, but when Christ conzeth, no man knozcetlz whence he is. 2. They believed that he had an existence before he came into the world ; for we can hardly suppose that the Scribes and priests should be so ready in citing one part of this verse Mi- cah v. 2. which spews him to be " born at Bethlehem, and take no notice of the other part of it, a ruler in Israel, whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting." Yet it may perhaps be doubted whether this opinion was universal, because in some instances they were stupid enough to believe one part of a chapter or period concerning the Messiah's glory, and neglect another part which related to his - sufferings. 3. They believed that he had some glorious and eminent relation to God. This appears from the name'of honour that the Messiah was universally known by amongst them, viz. the Son of God. The Scribes, the Pharisees, the priests, and all the Jews, talked with our Lord Jesus freely about the Messiah under this name and title, as being the common name of the Messiah, and perfectly well known amongst them, viz. that the Messiah was the Son of God in some superior and more excel- lent way. When Philip told Nathaoael; John i. 46. W have
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=