Bethesda and the Sanhedrin
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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.
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.
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.
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
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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.
The Jews had the Scriptures in their possession, and supposed that
in their mere outward knowledge of the word they had eternal life. But