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for one mightier than himself , and afterwards , ( when Jesus had been individually pointed out to him by the descent of the Holy Spirit , ) his declaration that the expected prophet was come in the person of Jesus , must be / regarded as one great cause of the * veneration in which the latter was held . ' Our author has here then
made an important omission . He should have explained how John the Baptist was induced to give the weight of his opinion in favour of Jesus . John either was divinely instructed to announce Jesus as the Messiah ; or pretended to be so . The writer denies the supernatural instruction , but has spoken of John the Baptist in such terms that it would seem impossible to suspect him of
collusion and deceit , Another circumstance must be taken into the account in explaining the early popularity of our Lord ' s claims , and the first flocking of disciples to him ; and that is , the nature of the expectations which the Jews entertained of the Messiah ' s kingdom . The writer truly represents these as having been gross and worldly , instancing the disposition of the multitude to make Jesus their king , the request of Zebedee ' s sons to sit with him on his throne ,
and the hopes of the disciples at the very last , that he would re- * store the kingdom to Israel , With such views it is admitted , then , that the expectants of a Messiah looked to Jesus for the fulfilment of their hopes . Whence they had derived such views , we need not inquire , or we might find the solution in the principles of their human nature , retracing , with self ^ partiality , their nation ' s
history , and applying their partial view of the past to the exposition of the dimly announced future . In fact , however , they fol * lowed Jesus—it was even the case with his apostles—with gross and worldly views . They expected him to assume the kingly crown , to head their armies , and enable them to throw off-the Roman yoke , and then restore Jerusalem to more splendour and power than it had known even in the days of Solomon .
Now , the question is , whether these views were favourable to our Lord's pretensions or not , —whether he fell in with them , or ran counter to them . That they excited at first a spontaneous enthusiasm for what was deemed his cause , there is no doubt : That many volunteered to follow him , who soon found their mis-i take , and went away , we have the distinct testimony of the Gospels . A popularity arising out of mistaken notions on the part
of the adherents , which have never been countenanced by the leader , is by no means favourable to his cause . It needed all the wisdom of the serpent , joined with the simplicity of the dove , to escape the dangers into which such adherents would have plunged our Lord . It was confessedly a difficult part which he had to act , when the declaration of himself aa the Messiah excited in their ignorant and deluded minds no other ideas than those of con - quest , power , riches , and sensual indulgence ; and when the work of his mission consisted in proving , on the one hand , hia title to
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Orthodoxy and Unbelief * 783
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Nov. 2, 1832, page 783, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1824/page/63/
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