CHRIST AND THE PHARISEES 129 



which speaks of the Suffering Servant as a lamb brought 

 to the slaughter and as a sheep before his shearers* But 

 it is only fair to the Jews to remember that they did not 

 regard these poems as Messianic, They believed that 

 the Suffering Servant was their own Nation, and all 

 modern scholarship tends to show that, so far as exegesis 

 is concerned, the Jews were right, and the Early Christians 

 were wrong. Their Scriptures, both canonical and 

 apocryphal, gave them some right to expect the Messiah 

 as a military hero, like those who had preceded him, 

 but far greater than any before : one who would lead 

 the armies of Israel in a glorious campaign against their 

 conquerors, and establish a Messianic Kingdom, over 

 which he himself would reign. Many a Jewish youth, 

 goaded to desperation by the cruelties of the proud 

 oppressor, persuaded himself that he was the promised 

 Deliverer, and led a band of zealots against the pitiless 

 power of Rome, only to suffer crucifixion. Do not 

 imagine for a moment that Jesus was the only crucified 

 Messiah — He was one of many. 



Then the Pharisees heard of another Messiah of very 

 different calibre — a young prophet, preaching on the 

 shores of Galilee and attracting great crowds, not only 

 by His preaching, but by the marvellous miracles that 

 He wrought. This surely was the promised Deliverer 

 who should lead a Jewish army against their hated enemy. 

 So they flocked to hear His message ; but instead of 

 doing as they expected, and as they had some right to 

 expect, Jesus told them to love their enemies, to bless 

 those who cursed them, to do good to those who hated 

 them, and to pray for those who despitefully used them 

 and persecuted them. What ? Love the Huns ! Away 

 with such a fellow from the earth I And so they 

 crucified Him ; and I venture to say that we should 

 have done no less. 



The other Messiahs, ** false Messiahs '* we call them. 



