\vith the great period of 1 1 liile the scope of
the ancient promise is \m 1 I lonal and tem
poral limitations to embi a i i i I I litttocome
Meanwhile the sciibcs wi u at \\oik, hardening the Messianic itlea into scholastic toiin, and re ducing the poetic hanouage and bold imagery of the prophets to dogmatic statements and literal details, with the result, on the vhole, of a restora- tion of the theocratic idea that God was to vindi- cate His authority as the true Sovereign of the nation, and to send His vicegerent in the line of David to establish His law and introduce the rule of righteousness under His anointed King.
Such was the form wliieli the long-cherished hope had assumed when Jesus appeared. It was largely mixed up with expectations of political deliver- ance, yet the thoughts of many earnest spirits were centred mainly on the prospect of a spiritual emancipation for Israel. He came to meet the great hope by fulfilling in their ideal and spiritual significance the prophecies that had kindled and kept it alive. Leaving aside the merely earthly, time-coloured features that bulked so largely in the popular imagination. He entered the world to ofler Himself as the true representative of God, in and through whom all tliat was eternal and most precious in the Messianic idea was destined to be realized. See art. Messiah.
2. The state of Religion at the date of Christ's Advent.— \n many respects the way had been pre- pared for the appearance of Jesus and the spread of His influence a.s Messiah and Saviour. There were national, political, social, and other con- ditions e.xisting in the world at the time, which rendered His coming and work singularly oppor- tune (see Fulness of Time); but here we are si)ecially concerned with the prevailing aspects of religious life in the immediate scene in wliich He appeared. Undoubtedly, among the Jewish pieople at that period religion was a dominating interest, and was based on principles far liiglier than any that obtained in other nations. Yet its quality was vitiated by certain serious defects. There was —
(1) Its partisanship. Scribes and Pharisees on the one hand, and Sadducees on the other, stood in mutual antagonism, striving for ascendency as leaders of national religious feeling, — the scribes and Pharisees combining to enforce the mass of stringent precepts which the formn lia.l elaborated to supplement the original wril I ni wni.l ; the Sad- ducees entirely rejecting those [him .■!,(>, and con- tending that the Law as written was suflicient, and that the observance of the temijle ordinances, its worship and saerilices, was the central element in religion. The controversies that arose o\'er those points of difference, and over the doctrine of the resurrection, created a fierce party spirit, bitter anil bigoted on the one side, haughty and con- temptuous on the other, while the smaller sect of the Essenes, with their extremist views and rigid austerity, maintained an inflexible protest against both these classes of religionists.
(2) Then there was its legalism. By their in- sistence on conformity to the regulations they had added to the Law as a condition of Divine favom-, the scribes and Pharisees, who were the most numerous and aggressive party, converted religion itself into a matter of slavish obedience, in which the instigating motives were the hope of reward and the fear of punishment. The calculating temper thus engendered rendered the religious life a task- work of anxious scrupulosity and constraint, wanl-
VOL. I. — 1
ing in spontaneous action from the higher impulses (d' the soul ; while in the case of those less sincere it introduced an element of prudential self-regard concerned only with the prospect of future benefit and safety.
(3) Closely allied to this was the extemalization of piety. The Rabbinical regulations were held to be so binding, and their multiplicity was so great, that the etibrt to observe them inevitably involved a machine-like routine and formality. The Jew- in his fulfilment of tlie Law found himself at every turn brought under the pressure of hard and fast exacting rules,— in his food, his clothes, his daily occupations, his devotions, and the smallest acts of his life. The endeavour to yield obedience under such circumstances necessarily led to a laborious outward punctiliousness ; a tendency to ostenta- tion and spiritual pride was fostered ; and many were ensnared into hypocrisy by finding they could obtain a reputation for exceptional piety by an obtrusive parade of their ceremonial performances. The most precise minuteness was observed in trifles, the tithing of mint and cummin, but in matters of greater import the principles of morality were surrendered.
These are the darker shades of the picture. Nevertheless, it is clear that a very considerable measure of religious earnestness was preserved in the nation. It was fed by the ancient Scriptures, which were regularly read in the synagogues and committed to memory in the synagogue schools. Thus in the body of the people there was kept alive a sense of the holy character and mighty doings of Jehovah ; and although, owing to the decayed influence of the priesthood, the Temple itself was not a centre of spiritual life, yet the hallowed memories it recalled in the breasts of the multitudes assembled at the religious festivals were calculated to inspire the higher emotions. At all events, there is evidence enough to show that many hearts throughout the nation were imbued with a deep-seated reverence for God and a true spiritual longing for the hope of Israel. The soul of religion might be sadly crushed by legalitj' and formalism, but it was not utterly dead. Devout men and women in varied ranks of society were holding a \m\e faith and leading lives of simple sincerity, vaguely dissatisfied Avith the bondage of legal oliser\anees and Kabbinical rules, and yearning to rise into a more spiritual atmosphere, a closer communion with the Divine mind and will. Of these Zacharias and Elisabeth (Lk P-*"), Anna (2^"-^'), and the aged Simeon (2^) may be taken as examples ; while the numbers who responded to the living preaching of John the Baptist and became his followers are an index of the extent to which genuine piety survived in the land. It was amongst such that the spiritual pre- paration was found for the recognition and welcome of the promised Saviour when He appeared. The coming of Jesus brought the birth of a new spirit in religion, a spirit of fresh vitality and power; and the life of absolute devotion to righteousness which He began to live, and which He was ulti- mately to close in a death of sacrificing love, infused into religion an inspiring energy destined on a scale of vast magnitude to regenerate and redeem.