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The Spirit of Prophecy Volume 2
opposing him whom John had stated was the Son of God. They were
not in ignorance regarding the evidence of John, for they had sent a
dey to him who had brought back his statement of the baptism of Jesus
and the wonderful manifestations of God at that time.
Jesus speaks of John that they may see how, in rejecting himself,
they also reject the prophet whom they had received with joy. He
further declares: “But I have greater witness than that of John; for the
works which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works that
I do, bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me.” Had not the
heavens opened and light from the throne of God encircled him with
glory, while the voice of Jehovah proclaimed, “This is my beloved
Son, in whom I am well pleased”? Besides all this, his own works
declared his divinity. He who had been arraigned as a Sabbath-breaker
stood before his accusers clothed with divine grace, and uttering words
that pierced them like arrows of truth. Instead of apologizing for the
act of which they complained, or explaining his purpose in doing it,
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he turns upon the rulers, and the accused becomes the accuser.
He rebukes them for the hardness of their hearts, for the blind
ignorance with which they read the Scriptures, while they boasted
of their superiority over every other people. They who assume to be
teachers of the Scriptures and expounders of the law are themselves
basely ignorant of its claims. He denounces their worldliness, their
love of praise and power, their avarice and want of compassion. He
charges them with disbelieving the Scriptures which they profess to
revere, carrying out its forms and ceremonies while ignoring the great
principles of truth that are the foundation of the law. He declares that
they have rejected the word of God, inasmuch as they have rejected
him whom God has sent. He commands them to “search the Scriptures;
for in them ye think ye have eternal life; and they are they which testify
of me.”
The truth spoken by Jesus collided with their prejudices and cus-
toms, and they cast it from them, hardening their hearts against it.
They refused to listen to the teachings of Christ, because those teach-
ings directly condemned their cherished sins. Had the Son of Man
come flattering their pride and justifying their iniquity, they would
have hastened to do him honor. Said Jesus, “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.” Pretenders, who could present no evidence of