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The Desire of Ages
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.”
The Jewish leaders had studied the teachings of the prophets con-
cerning 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.
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.
“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. They would receive the false teacher because he flattered
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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.