and to hope for spiritual rewards. So our Blessed Lord preached the Gospel of the Kingdom to unwilling hearts; and was compelled to "upbraid the cities wherein most of His mighty works were done, because they repented not" (S. Matt. xi. 20). Only the few received Him--the few who were "babes" in spirit--whilst "the wise and prudent" (S. Matt. xi. 25) rejected Him. There were two kinds of evidence to which He continually appealed in His arguments with the Jewish rulers in proof of His claims upon their hearts. The first was the direct testimony of John the Baptist: "Ye sent unto John and he bare witness unto the truth" (S. John v. 33). For "when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou? he confessed, I am not the Christ" (S. John i. 19, 20). "The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God" (S. John i. 29). And he declared that he knew Him in consequence of the visible descent of the Holy Ghost upon Him at His baptism; and (said he), "I saw and bare record that this is the Son of God" (S. John i. 34). The other evidence was "greater witness than that of John," namely, the miracles which He wrought, for (said He) "the works which the Father hath given Me to finish bear witness of Me that the Father hath sent Me" (S. John v. 36); and "though ye believe not Me, believe the works" (S. John x. 38). Other kinds of evidence were also employed; such as the direct testimony of the Father in the voice from Heaven, and in the immediate answers to prayer in the working of His miracles--"The Father Himself which hath sent Me, hath borne witness of Me" (S. John v. 37)--and also, the statements of Holy Scripture, describing His person and His work so clearly that He could say to the Jews, "Search the Scriptures; for they are they which testify of Me" (S. John v. 39). But we know the result. All the evidences were in vain. The Jews in general refused to believe in Him as their King. The ruling classes not only rejected Him, but they also hindered others from acknowledging Him. So that He cried out against them, "Ye shut up the Kingdom of Heaven against men; for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in" (S. Matt. xxiii. 13).