I turn then, with a sense of glad relief, to the evidence of the limited
knowledge of Jesus, for here no blame attaches to him, although _one_
proved mistake is fatal to belief in his Godhead. First as to prophecy:
"The Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels:
and then shall he reward every man according to his works. Verily I say
unto you, There be some standing here which shall not taste of death
till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom." Later, he amplifies
the same idea: he speaks of a coming tribulation, succeeded by his own
return, and then adds the emphatic declaration: "Verily I say unto
you, This generation shall not pass till all these things be done." The
non-fulfilment of these prophecies is simply a question of fact: let
men explain away the words now as they may, yet, if the record is true,
Jesus did believe in his own speedy return, and impressed the same belief
on his followers. It is plain, indeed, that he succeeded in impressing
it on them, from the references to his return scattered through the
epistles. The latest writings show an anxiety to remove the doubts which
were disturbing the converts consequent on the non-appearance of Jesus,
and the fourth gospel omits any reference to his coming. It is worth
remarking, in the latter, the spiritual sense which is hinted at--either
purposely or unintentionally--in the words, "The hour... _now_ is when
the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear
shall live." These words may be the popular feeling on the advent of the
resurrection, forced on the Christians by the failure of their Lord's
prophecies in any literal sense. He could not be mistaken, _ergo_ they
must spiritualise his words. The limited knowledge of Jesus is further
evident from his confusing Zacharias the son of Jehoiada with Zacharias
the son of Barachias: the former, a priest, was slain in the temple
court, as Jesus states; but the son of Barachias was Zacharias, or
Zachariah, the prophet.* He himself owned a limitation of his knowledge,
when he confessed his ignorance of the day of his own return, and said
it was known to the "Father only." Of the same class of sayings is
his answer to the mother of James and John, that the high seats of
the coming kingdom "are not mine to give." That Jesus believed in the
fearful doctrine of eternal punishment is evident, in spite of the
ingenious attempts to prove that the doctrine is not scriptural:
that he, in common with his countrymen, ascribed many diseases to the
immediate power of Satan, which we should now probably refer to natural
causes, as epilepsy, mania, and the like, is also self-evident. But on
such points as these it is useless to dwell, for the Christian believes
them on the authority of Jesus, and the subjects, from their nature,
cannot be brought to the test of ascertained facts. Of the same
character are some of his sayings: his discouraging "Strive to enter
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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