A 14 - The Blessings conferred on the Gentiles

CHAPTER14. THE BLESSINGS CONFERRED ON THE GENTILES BY JESUS IN the ancient predictions concerning the Messiah, it was foretold, that the Gentiles should derive great benefits from his advent. To punish the nations for their idolatry, God had been pleased to confine his revelations and covenants, for many centuries, to the descendants of Abraham. But when the Great Deliverer should appear, and should give to the world new and fuller exhibitions of the Divine character and government, then, the nations of the earth were to be recalled from their idolatries, and restored to the worship of the true God. This fact is intimated in the primary call given to Abraham; “In thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.” Genesis 12:3. Besides other and similar announcements of this truth to Isaac and Jacob, the latter patriarch makes a very striking allusion to it in the benediction pronounced upon Judah — “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.” Genesis 49:10.

Hengstenberg paraphrases this passage thus — “Judah shall not cease to exist as a tribe, nor lose its superiority, until it shall be exalted to higher honor and glory, through the great Redeemer, who shall spring from it, and whom not only the Jews, but all the nations of the earth shall obey.” Similar predictions are also to be found among the inspired songs of ancient Israel. In the 2d Psalm, Jehovah addressing his Son, or the Messiah, says “Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.” In the 22d Psalm it is also said, that in the days of the Messiah, “All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the Lord: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee.” In the 72d Psalm, it is predicted of the Messiah, “He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and froth the river, unto the ends of the earth.” The Prophets too, of ancient Israel, predict the conversion of the Gentiles under the Messiah. “And in that day,” says Isaiah, “there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek and his rest shall be glorious.” Isaiah 11:1-16.

Again, the same Prophet says, “I the Lord have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee as a covenant for the people, for a light of the Gentiles.” Isaiah 42:6.

Jeremiah also predicts, “The Gentiles shall come unto thee from the ends of the earth, and shall say, Surely our fathers have inherited lies, vanity, and things in which there is no profit.” Jeremiah 16:1-21. And Malachi also declares, “For, from the rising of the sun, even to the going down of the same, my name shall be great among the Gentiles.” Malachi 1:1-14.

It is evident, that these predictions do not refer to those incidental blessings, which the Israelites, from age to age, may have conferred upon some Gentiles. These blessings were to be general — they refer to a particular period — they center in a special person. It was in the Messiah. and from the Messiah, that the nations were to be blessed. Have these predictions, then, any fulfilment in Jesus the son of Mary?

It is noticeable, then, I remark first, that even the birth of Jesus was attended with circumstances which seem to point him out as the appointed means of converting the Gentiles. “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good-will toward men,” Luke 2:1-52., sang the celestial multitudes at the birth of the infant Jesus. This natal song evidently points out Jesus, as the means of blessing to the world at large. The visit of the Eastern Magi was also indicative of the same thing. Matthew 2:1-23. The venerable Simeon, too, as he held this remarkable babe in his arms, predicted that he was to be, not only “the glory of Israel,” but “a light to lighten the Gentiles.” Luke 2:1-52.

Many things also occurred during the ministry of Jesus, which demonstrated that these prophecies were about being fulfilled in him.

Thus, when he was about to heal the centurion’s servant, he said to those around him, “And I say unto you, that many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of God.” Matthew 8:1-34. His healing also of the Samaritan leper, Luke 17:1-37.; his casting out the devil from the daughter of the Syrophenician woman, Matthew 15:1-39.; the parable of the good Samaritan, Luke 10:1-42.; that also of the prodigal soil, Luke 15:1-32.; his remarks to the woman of Sychar, John 4:1-54.; his observations at the feast when certain Greeks desired to see him, John 12:1-50.; and especially his declaration to the chief priests and elders, that “the kingdom of God should be taken from them, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof,” Matthew 21:1-46., all teach, that the Gentiles were to be blessed in the mission of Jesus.

After his resurrection, however, this truth was made more plain. Although the Apostles were “to tarry in the city of Jerusalem until endued with power from on high,” (Luke 24:1-53,) yet, he commanded them to “go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.” Mark 16:1-20. Here, the partition wall between Jew and Gentile was cast down, and “all the families of the earth were to be blessed,” in this illustrious son of Abraham. Nor was this commission an idle ceremony. It is true, that, even after the Apostles were endued with power from on high, they lingered in the city of Jerusalem. It is true, that, even in them, the appropriating spirit which confined the blessings of the Messiah to the Jews exclusively, with great difficulty yielded to the new commission. Still, however, God’s purpose prevailed. Peter is sent to Caesarea, by express revelation. Acts 10:1-48. A persecution disperses the brethren at Jerusalem, and they are sent abroad to publish the glad tidings. Acts 8:1-40. The preaching of Philip is made instrumental in the conversion of the Samaritans. Acts 8:1-40. An Ethiopian is brought in by the same means. Acts 8:1-40. But what hastened this result more than any thing else, was the conversion of Saul of Tarsus. His conversion was miraculous, and his character and history altogether extraordinary.

More than any other, he had persecuted the Church; more than any other, he was opposed to the new sect. But God, who had assigned him a special and important field of labor, at the predetermined moment, and in the prearranged manner, arrested the bold persecutor, and makes him not only a disciple of Jesus, but a publisher of his gospel. Not long after his conversion, Saul was specially designated by the Holy Ghost, as a missionary to the Gentiles. He and Barnabas labored first in Asia Minor, but were afterwards directed to go into Europe. In a few years, they visited the principal cities of the two continents, and established churches at Ephesus, at Philippi, at Corinth, and in most of the cities of the then known world. In reference to the labors of the other Apostles, and also of the very large and numerous ministry which existed in those days, we have but partial accounts. The hints, however, given us in the various epistles, together with the known fact, that very shortly afterwards, Christians were scattered throughout the Roman empire, prove, that the early preachers of the word must have been exceedingly diligent in the propagation of the new faith. Even the Roman capital became the seat of a Christian church; while Spain and other remote countries are spoken of as scenes of these benevolent efforts.

Upon the conversion of the Gentiles to the doctrines of Jesus, a new question arose, which for a time much agitated the Christian Church. This question referred to the necessity of circumcising the new converts, and thus making them Jews as well as Christians. The Synod assembled at Jerusalem, decided this question in the negative, and thus freed the Gentile Church from this painful, and unnecessary yoke. Acts 15:1-41.

About forty years after the resurrection of Jesus, an event took place, deeply painful in itself, yet of great advantage to the new faith. This was the overthrow of the Jews by the Romans, together with the destruction of their temple, and the practical abolition of their ritual services. These events had been most graphically and mournfully foretold by Jesus.

Matthew 24:1-51. Luke 21:1-38. Considered as judgments upon the nation, they were inflicted as a punishment for his crucifixion. Luke 19:44; Luke 23:28-31. But there was another design. It was in the temple-service chiefly, that the old and new systems clashed. In order, therefore, to the full development and general triumph of Christianity, it was necessary that the templeservice should cease. Indeed, the very existence of the temple, its canonical priesthood, its altar of incense, its holy of holies, its entire rites and ceremonies might all be pleaded, while they stood, especially by the Jews, as so many evidences, that that dispensation was still inoperation, and that Jesus was rather an impostor, than the Messiah. When, however, the providence of God concurred with the mission and doctrines of Jesus, to abolish the ceremonial law and priesthood; when the spires of the temple no longer glittered over the spiritual worship of the new economy, nor the sword of the temple was seen any more to shed the blood of unoffending Christians; when the strong walls of Jerusalem were crumbled, and her turrets were in the dust; when the Jew was a captive, and his holy of holies defiled and destroyed, then did Christianity arise upon the world as a new sun, and the unpretending mission of Jesus receive a sanction which incredulity itself could scarcely doubt. This captivity of the Jewish nation still continues. Eighteen centuries have passed away. Generations have been born, and generations have died. Still, however, is the Jew an exile from the land of his fathers, and the home of his fathers’ sepulchres. Still too proud to acknowledge Jesus as the Messiah; still raising the cry of his crucifiers, “away with him, away with him,” the child of Abraham even yet perpetuates the cause of his exile, and by rejecting Jesus, excludes himself from the richest blessings of the Abrahamic covenant! Other nations have bowed to his standard; even the most barbarous tribes have received him as their Hope. The Indian and the African, the Chinese and the Hottentot; nations the most polite, and nations the most savage, have all been rendering homage to the son of Mary, the Son of God. Still, however, the Jew disbelieves — disbelieves and wanders on in darkness and exile, the object of deep interest to the true Christian, the object of ridicule, it may be, to the infidel or scoffer, a living proof, however, of the truth, both of the Mosaic and Christian Scriptures. Still he wanders, and seems destined to wander, until the time shall come, that their Messianic captivity shall cease, and the sons of Jacob shall once more cluster around Sion, and there worship Him whom their fathers pierced, and there receive as their King, Him whom their fathers crucified as a malefactor. This diffusion and triumph of the doctrines of Jesus in Gentile countries, besides being the fulfilment of prophecy, is proof of the Messiahship of Jesus, on two other grounds — in its cause, and in its results. Whatever importance we may attach to the zeal, or even to the alleged fanaticism of the early preachers of the gospel, whatever power we may ascribe to their principle of brotherly love; and whatever influence we may attribute to the performance of miracles by them; still, we must introduce another and a more efficient cause for the results which followed. Christianity is preeminently a spiritual system. And besides the war which it waged with kings and emperors, with priests and worshippers, with the customs and habits of men, it carried on a still fiercer conflict with the passions and prejudices of the human heart. It sought to revolutionize society by revolutionizing individual man. It called for a new heart, for a renovated character. And until this primary demand was granted, nothing was gained.

It was to triumph, not over the bodies, but over the souls of men. It sought a recognition, not in the decrees of senates, but in the inward approval of the human will. Its temple was to be a temple of regenerated hearts; its dominion, the subjection of converted men to its authority.

Now, to accomplish this, a divine agency was necessary. Zeal might spread the message to the ends of the earth; miracle might attract attention to the message thus diffused; eloquence and argument might convince the judgment and sway the passions in its favor; but to effect a conversion, to seat that message permanently in the soul, to make it the oracle of sound doctrine, and the umpire of pure morals, was a work which Omnipotence alone could accomplish. To send forth, therefore, the fishermen of Galilee on the high mission of converting the world, unaccompanied with the aid of a higher power, would have been a vain and futile undertaking. This, however, was not done. “And lo says Jesus, I send the promise of my Father upon you.”

Luke 24:1-53. In these words the necessary divine help is both promised and pledged. The Holy Ghost was to accompany these humble instruments; he was to enlighten their minds; he was to work in them and by them, and they were to suspend the entire success of their mission upon his accompanying power.

Now, if the truths delivered by the Apostles of Jesus, were thus attended by the Spirit of God; if he so far approved their work, as to render it effectual to the conversion of men, then is there in this very fact the most convincing proof, that Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah. Can we believe, that the Holy Ghost would give his sanction to imposture? Carl we imagine, that God would cooperate with deluded enthusiasts?

Certainly not.

Consider also the moral results of this new faith. The Jew is withdrawn by it from his traditionary forms and ceremonies. The Gentile relinquishes the religion of his ancestors, and the temple of his gods. The disciples of Plato, of Aristotle, and of Zeno, lay aside their metaphysical jargon. The proud and the revengeful are made humble and forgiving. All these unite in the maintenance of a pure and simple faith; in the exhibition of a holy and blameless life. No matter what had been the previous character of men, the result of the new system was always the same. It allied men to God through the mediation of a common Savior; it bound them together as a holy brotherhood; it filled them with compassion and goodwill toward the rest of mankind; and it produced in them all, a morality before unknown; a holiness to which, previously, they were utter strangers. The same effects, too, produced by this new faith on individuals, extended to nations. National character, national laws, national feelings, national destinies, were all changed by it. It revolutionized senates, it changed the decrees of emperors and kings, it impressed a new character upon the face of society. The history of the world, too, proves, that in proportion as nations have been under the legitimate influence of these new doctrines, have they been exalted and happy. New securities have been furnished by them to governments; new motives of obedience to subjects; new bands applied to all the domestic and social relations of life. The spread of the new system has also been favorable to mental improvement and science. It has especially been a protective to youth against innumerable dangers and evils. It has diffused a spirit of peace and forbearance among mankind. It has referred the nations to a common origin, to a common humanity, to a common Savior. Its tendency is to destroy war, to establish peace, and to make of all mankind one great and loving family.

Now, can it be true, that results like these are the fruits of imposture? Can a system, founded in error, promoted by fraud, and accompanied by the Divine abhorrence, thus exalt the soul of man — thus elevate the social condition of the species? Can holiness result from falsehood, or benevolence be the fruit of fanatical ambition? Has the world received its greatest blessings from the greatest of impostures, or society its highest elevation from the worst of causes? Surely, the judgment of mankind must be in the negative. So much of good could not arise from so much of evil; so much of elevation from a system of mere fraud and delusion. The doctrines of Jesus then are proved to be divine, by their fruits. Their results are such, as can only spring from a system founded in truth and approved by God. The fact, too, that they are accompanied by a Divine agency, and thus rendered effectual to salvation, also demonstrates their Divine origin. God can have no copartnership with error, nor would the Holy Ghost cooperate with wicked men. The point, however, on which we desire here chiefly to fix the attention is, that these doctrines have so completely revolutionized the face of the Gentile world. Idolatry, with its long train of superstitions, has been swept away. The dogmatism of ancient philosophers has been destroyed. The mythological harm of the poets has been broken. The customs, and rites and ceremonies of ages have been supplanted. All these things have passed away, while the gospel of the great Nazarene is now enshrined, where pagan temples, and altars, and rites once stood! What magic wand, what mysterious cause has effected all this? At the very time, too, when the Gentiles are enjoying such rich blessings, the Jews are without a king, without a scepter, without a throne! Why such a change, such a transfer of blessings? Evidently, because the seed of Israel, stumbling at the humility of a crucified Messiah, have been the occasion of extending the blessings of his kingdom to the other nations of the earth. “I say, then,” says an Apostle, “have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid; but through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles.”

How strongly then does the existing state of things prove the Messiahship of Jesus! According to the prophecy of Jacob, the scepter was not to depart from Judah till Shiloh had come. But this scepter has long since forsaken that tribe. Must not Shiloh then, already have appeared. There is also another proof of this — to this Shiloh the nations were to be gathered.

They were to receive him as their King and Redeemer. Has not this been fulfilled in Jesus? Let the last eighteen centuries answer; let the existing state of the world reply.

Thus have we sought to prove, from his ancestry, from his miraculous birth, from the place of his nativity, from the epoch of his appearance, from the testimony of inspired witnesses, from his own testimony, by testimony from Heaven, by miracles, by his character, by his teachings, by his sacrifice and priesthood, by his kingly authority, by his resurrection, and by the blessings he has conferred upon the Gentiles, that Jesus is THE CHRIST. More proof is unnecessary — further demonstration useless. For if men “hear not” Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one arose from the dead.”