[This was certainly the case with respect to those who crucified our Lord : the prejudices of their education, together with the mean appearance of our Lord, blinded their eyes, so that they knew not how to acknowledge him as their Messiah. This our Lord himself confessed f; St. Peter also declared the sameg ; and St. Paul expressly says that, " if they had known him, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory11."
And is it not the same with respect to us? Would the ■profane person scoff at the followers of the blessed Jesus, or neglect to seek an interest in him, if he knew what a gracious, merciful, loving, and adorable Being he despised'? Or would the self-righteous moralist feel such reluctance to submit to the Gospel, if he had any just conceptions of the suitableness and excellency of that salvation which it offered to him ? Surely, however this might happen on some occasions, we cannot con- ceive that it should be a general, or even a common, practice.]
This view of men's conduct certainly extenuates their guilt in rejecting Christ —
[We must not imagine that ignorance is a sufficient excuse for sin : for the very petition in the text intimates that, not- withstanding the murderers of Christ knew not what they did, they contracted guilt, and needed forgiveness : and in other passages of Scripture it is said, that men perish for lack of knowledgek; that " Christ will take vengeance on them" for their ignorance1; and that "he who formed them will shew them no favour"1."
But though ignorance cannot remove, it certainly extenu- ates, our guilt. The more opportunities of information any persons had, the more guilt they contracted in rejecting the truth ; on which account our Lord's hearers were altogether inexcusable11, and were involved in deeper guilt than even Sodom and Gomorrha0. On the other hand, the less light any one had in his mind, the less was the malignity of his offence. St. Paul tells us that this was, in a measure, the ground of his obtaining mercy p; for that, if he had persecuted Christ as he did, and at the same time been aware of what he was doing, he would have been almost beyond the reach of mercy. And we are informed that in the final judgment the sentence denounced against the impenitent and unbelieving, will be proportioned to the light and knowledge against which they had sinned ; " the servant that knew not his Lord's will, will be beaten with few stripes, while he who knowingly disobeyed it will be beaten with many stripes q."
f The text. s Acts hi. 17. h 1 Cor. ii. 8.
1 John xvi. 3. k Hos. iv. 6. J 2 Thess. i. 8.
m Isai. xxvii. 11. " John xv. 22. ° Matt. x. 15.
p 1 Tim. i. 13. <i Luke xii. 47, '18.