English
And there stood Chorazin, and Bethsaida and Capernaum, upon its shores; to be de- nounced by him, at a later day, as wicked and unrepentant. (8) We long to catch glimpses of the daily life of this wonderful boy; but no word is vouchsafed to us until he is twelve years old, unless we follow the gospel of the infancy. (9) We see no miracles whatever, no (6) Matt. 5, V. 39. (7) Mark 6: v. 48; Matt. 14: v. 25. (8) Matt. 11, 21. (9) The gospel of the Infancy tells us of the flight into Egypt, the same as Matt. 2, v. 14. But Matthew makes no mention of the miracles Jesus performed -nhen a child in Egypt. I shall have something to say of this later on. A QUESTION OF MIRACLES 55 extraordinary happenings in his life — nothing beyond the ordinary, humdrum days of those other Nazareth boys that grew to manhood in Jesus' time. There is no question but that he was brought up in Nazareth after his return from Egypt. Luke expressly affirms it in chapter 4, v. 16, and it is not denied except in the gospel of the Infancy. I have purposely said this about Jesus, before men- tioning the legends and the miraculous stories con- cerning his birth, that gathered around his name com- mencing about the year A. D. 80 or 100, and extend- ing on towards us for a century and more. Section 3. In a supposed prophecy concerning Jesus, about 740 years B. C, Rezin, the king of Syria, and Pekah, the king of Israel, went up to- ward Jerusalem to make war against it and put a king of their own in Ahaz's place. Thereupon the Lord sent Isaiah, a prophet, to tell Ahaz to be quiet, the thing should not come to pass (10) ; and to con- firm Ahaz that his Kingdom should not be overthrown, the Lord said he would give him a sign. "Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel, and before the child shall know to refuse evil and choose the good, the land thou abhor- rest shall be forsaken of both her kings." (11) This prophecy, if it be one, plainly has reference to (10) Isaiah, ch. 7, verses 1 to 17 — see also ch, 8, Isaiah. (11) Isaiah 7:14: But if the Virgin did not bear a son until Jesus was born, how could it be a sign to Ahazt He would be dead more than eeven centuriea. 56 A QUESTION OF MIRACLES a time more than seven centuries l>efore Jesus was born. Moreover, the very next chapter of Isaiah tells us that he went in unto the prophetess, and she conceived and bore a son, and that before the child could say "My Father," the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria would be taken away. Nevertheless, Matthew sets forth the peculiar con- ception and birth of Jesus, and Joseph's very strange dream, and all this was done, he says, "that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, 'Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel.' " (12) Hov^ can any honest thinker, or any fair-minded man, believe that Isaiah had a vision of Mary and Jesus in his mind when he penned those lines to com- fort Ahaz ? But that is not all ; Matthew interprets the word "Emmanuel" and says it means "God with us." (13) That makes Jesus a God. Is not that Polytheism? John is even more extravagant than Matthew, for he says the world was made by Jesus. (14) But neither John nor Mark makes any mention about Isaiah's prophecy and the birth of Immanuel. Section 4. Was Jesus born in Bethlehem ? Here again we encounter the same old supposed (12) In Isaiah the son is called Immanuel; ch. 7, v. 14. (13) Matt. 1:23. (14) John 1:10; John 6, v. 41 and 51; John 8, v. 58. This ia more absurd than anything I ever read in the Hindu bible. A QUESTION OF MIRACLES 57 prophecies which have been curiously twisted to mean what Micah and Malachi never intended. Micah, 710 years B. C, is telling what he saw ''concerning Samaria and Jerusalem." And he says Samaria shall be as a heap of the field, and her graven images beaten to pieces ; that Zion is built up with blood, and Jerusa- lem with iniquity (15) ; that the heads thereof judge for reward, that the priests teach for hire, and the prophets divine for money. For those sins, Zion is to be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps. "But in the last days the house of the Lord shall be established," and "nations shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; neither shall they learn war any more ; and every man shall sit under his own vine and fig tree." In that day, unto you shall come the first dominion, and when many "nations are gathered against her," then "her horn shall be iron, and her hoofs brass ; and she shall beat in pieces many people." (16) When siege is laid against those in Zion, "they shall smite the Judge of Israel with a rod upon his cheek." Micah, it must be remembered, was a prophet of Judah; and he was against Samaria ; and her judge is to be smit- ten on the cheek. But when he turns to the insig- nificant village of Bethlehem, near which he himself lived, see how to the skies he extols it. "But thou, Bethlehem, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee sJiall come (15) 1 Micah 1:6 and 7. (16) 3 Micah, 10 to 12. 58 A QUESTION OF MIRACLES forth a ruler in Israel, whose goings forth have been from everlasting." (17) And this man, he says, "shall be the peace, when the Assyrian shall come into our land," and with the shepherds and princes "shall waste the land of Assyria with the sword." Micah closes one part of his prophecy with these lurid words : The Lord will execute vengeance in anger and fury upon the heathen, such as they have not heard. (18) How can this prophecy, if it be one, have any ref- erence to Jesus, who was born more than seven hundred years later? Yet Matthew (19) quotes it with appro- bation, almost word for word. But I shall be told that it was a spiritual ruler that was to come out of Bethle- liem ; not some great warrior, or governor. My reply is that Micah, in verses 5 and 6, chapter 5, says, ''that man (this ruler) is to be the peace, ivhen the Assyrian shall come," and he and the shepherds and princes "shall waste the land of Assyria with the sword." The world has waited twenty-six hundred years and more since Micah's day, and no governor or ruler from Beth- lehem has made his appearance in all this time. More- over, the Assyrian hath not yet come. Suppose some old Hindu, seven hundred years be- (17) Micah 5:2 to 6. But Jesus 'nas never a ruler iu Israel; and there is now no Assyrian to invade Palestine; and the swords have never yet been beaten into plow-shares ; nor have the spears yet been made into pruning hooks; it would be a blessed thing if they were; may Heaven ha.sten that happy day! (18) Micah abridged from 5 to 15, ch. 5. (19) Matt, 2, V. 6, - A QUESTION OF MIRACLES 59 fore Buddha was born, had said that a ruler should come forth from (naming some insignificant village in India), would his saying necessarily cause the child to be born there? The place of a man's birth is not an indispensable part of his make-up. Would not Jesus have been jut as useful, just as lovely, just as great, if he had been born in Samaria ? For the Samaritans were surely ex- pecting a Messiah. (20) Section 5. The last clause in Micah's supposed prophecy must be noticed. After mentioning that a ruler in Israel is to come from Bethlehem, he adds : "Whose goings forth have been from of old, from ever- lasting f" Does not this make Jesus a God? Was he truly here before the mountains were brought forth, or the earth formed? If so, then why the necessity that he be born in Bethlehem or anywhere else ? But it is said an order from the governor of Syria compelled every person to be taxed in his own city; that therefore Joseph and Mary went from Nazareth to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem ; "and while there, Jesus was born, in the days of Herod, the King." Luke is in error, here, as to the date of this taxing or census, for it took place nine or ten years after the period he fixes for the Birth of Jesus. (21) Moreover, when Jesus was born, Herod was on (20) John 4, V. 25. (21) Matt., eh. 2; Luke 2:1 to G. The census took placo after Archelus was deposed, and after Herod had been in his prave several years.