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The Spirit of Prophecy Volume 4
the minds of these leaders he can influence the multitudes according
to his will.
When Christ came to speak the words of life, the common people
heard him gladly; and many, even of the priests and rulers, believed
on him. But the chief of the priesthood and the leading men of the
nation were determined to condemn and repudiate his teachings.
Though they were baffled in all their efforts to find accusations
against him, though they could not but feel the influence of the
divine power and wisdom attending his words, yet they encased
themselves in prejudice; they rejected the clearest evidence of his
Messiahship, lest they should be forced to become his disciples.
These opponents of Jesus were men whom the people had been
taught from infancy to reverence, to whose authority they had been
accustomed implicitly to bow. “How is it,” they asked, “that our
rulers and learned scribes do not believe on Jesus? Would not these
pious men receive him if he were the Christ?” It was the influence
of such teachers that led the Jewish nation to reject their Redeemer.
The spirit which actuated those priests and rulers is still mani-
fested by many who make a high profession of piety. They refuse
to examine the testimony of the Scriptures concerning the special
truths for this time. They point to their own numbers, wealth, and
popularity, and look with contempt upon the advocates of truth as
few, poor, and unpopular, having a faith that separates them from
the world.
Christ foresaw that the undue assumption of authority practiced
by the scribes and Pharisees would not cease with the dispersion of
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the Jews. He had a prophetic view of the work of exalting human
authority to rule the conscience, which has been so terrible a curse
to the church in all ages. And his fearful denunciations of the scribes
and Pharisees, and his warnings to the people not to follow these
blind leaders, were placed on record as an admonition to future
generations.
With the many warnings against false teachers, why are the
people so ready to commit the keeping of their souls to the clergy?
There are today thousands of professors of religion who can give no
other reason for points of faith which they hold than that they were
so instructed by their religious leaders. They pass by the Saviour’s
teachings almost unnoticed, and place implicit confidence in the