bound together in a common work appointed by a common ruling head.
is always seeking a king, for he feels in the depths of his being that he is ne _ at as in the presence • I • ater.
Let a great man appear in the world, and smaller men spon- taneously rally round him; for they feel t: jreat as in the presence of their grer. r so noble as in doing the
: of obedience. "II _:eat among you, let him be the
f all." That is an axiom engraved within us l>efore rmulated it into words and i 1 it to the pages
of inspiratioi ad desk ; — one whose they
deem it all honour to obey, and in whose presence they think it exaltation to bow. On what other principle can we account for the terrible despotisms that have crushed the world ? How were they possible, a few tyrannizing over millions ? They were possible only on one condition- r the
semblance of one, to a deep craving implanted in our nature by the Creator. W: re is he 1
empires were on' re to the question— false one : if you
like, but answers 1 the poor distracted heart of
humanity deemed any an? an none at alL1
^ As the magi seek a Redeemer, so Herod fears a - If His birth as an infant makes proud kings trenj; will
inal as a judge do ? 2
3. The/ sought one who was born king of the Jews. How they supposed at that time that this could be we know nc: thoughts were doubtless possible then which do not occur to us But the word c us much, tha-
ted king was not one raised to hi3 throm wn right
1 J. C. Jones, Studies in the Gosptl aceorJi
■ 6.
ST. MATTHEW n. i, 2 23
hand, or by the voice of men, for his strength or courage or wisdom or riches, but one carrying a Divine title from his birth. That king was not to be a Saul, not even a David, but a David's son. There was another king in the land already, Herod the king, as the Bible calls him, a powerful ruler, cruel and unscrupulous, but magnificent in his doings — the very ruler to draw to him men of the East with the charm of awe. He was no true Jew, much less of David's line ; there was nothing in him of the true Jew's heart, which was David's heart. Many of his own subjects might be dazzled by the one who promised to make them strong with earthly strength, because they were indifferent to his readiness to profane all that their fathers had kept holy. But to the wise men he could never be what they sought. They took no sort of account of him as they entered Jerusalem, asking, " Where is he that is born Kin" of the Jews ? "
!/
4. Again, it was a king of the Jews that they looked for. '
How was this ? They were not Jews themselves ; they were strangers to the commonwealth of Israel. Yet there was much in that strange nation, so full as it seemed of undying life, again and again buffeted and crushed, but not yet destroyed, worshipping one unseen God at one holy place with psalm and sacrifice, which might well persuade men of the East that a wondrous future was in store for Israel and the ruler of Israel. This was not the Brat time that Gentile witness had been borne to the Divine mission of the Jewish people ; twice, at two great moments of the history, a voice from the world without had done homage to the holy race. Before the Promised Land was entered, Balaam the prophet of Moab had confessed the new power that was growing in the East : " God brought him forth out of Egypt ; he hath as it were the strength of an unicorn : he shall eat up the nations his enemies " ; "I shall see him, but not now : I shall behold him, but not nigh : there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth." Once again, the second birth of the people out of their long captivity was helped and blessed by a king of the Gentile East, when Cyrus proclaimed that the Lord God of heaven had charged him to build Him an house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and sent forth the summons, " Who
24 THE MAGI
i.s there among you of all his people ? His God be with him, and let him go up."
TJ The Messianic hope of the last half-century before Christ was the hope of a King, and the Psalms of Solomon see in the coming reign of Messiah the salvation of Israel : " Eaise up unto them their King, the son of David . . . and there shall be no iniquity in his days in their midst, for all shall be holy, and their King is the Lord Messiah." The charge laid against Jesus before the procurator was that, acting on these expectations, He had made Himself a king, and thus posed as a rival of Caesar. As a matter of fact, He had withdrawn from the multitudes when they would have forced Him into that false position. Yet before Pilate He did not deny His kingly character, only affirming, " My kingdom is not of this world, or not from hence." The title on the cross, therefore, though inexact, was not radically untrue ; a king lay dying there, though not one who was in any exclusive or earthly sense " the King of the Jews." The penitent robber came nearer to the truth when he said, " Jesus, remember me, when thou comest in thy kingdom." It was borne in upon his mind that in some mysterious way the Kingdom was to be reached through the cross, and lay beyond it ; and his words almost echo the Lord's description of Himself as about to go " into a far country, to receive for himself a kingdom and to return." 1