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“Is Not This the Carpenter’s Son?”
143
for their traditions and ceremonies. Selfish prejudice darkened their
minds, and they could not harmonize the power of Christ’s convicting
words with the humility of His life. His poverty seemed completely
inconsistent with His claim to be the Messiah. Why was He so
unassuming? If He was what He claimed to be, why was He satisfied
to be without the force of arms? Without such force, how could the
power and glory they had waited for so long bring the nations under
the authority of the city of the Jews?
But it was not simply the absence of outward glory in His life
that led the Jews to reject Jesus. He was the embodiment of purity,
and they were impure. His sincerity revealed their insincerity and
made them see iniquity in its hateful character. Such a light was
unwelcome. They could have accepted the disappointment of their
ambitious hopes better than Christ’s reproof of their sins and the
condemnation they felt even from the presence of His purity.
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