Reflexions upon the books of the Holy Scriptures to establish the truth of the Christian religion. Volume I in two volumes.

CHAP. XI.

That the Predictions of our Lord Jesus Christ, clearly prove him to be the Messiah.

ONe might have observ'd, That John the Bap∣tist foretold many things concerning the person of our Lord, and the glory of his Mini∣stry;

that Simeon foretold that he was to be a sign which should be spoken against; and it is known how exactly these things were fulfilled. But it will be more for our purpose to examine those Prophesies which were pronounced by Christ himself.

I pretend not to repeat them all here, nor to shew by how many ways, and upon how many occasions Jesus Christ did reiterate them: this would take up too much time; I shall only set down the chief of them, and add some few Re∣flexions.

When Jesus Christ calls the Fishers to follow him, he foretels that he would make them Teachers of the World; I will make you, saith he, Fishers of Men. He promises to make them famous by Miracles, and to send them the Gifts of his Holy Spirit, which the People of Israel had now for above 400 years been deprived of.

He promised to give them an Authority over the consciences of men, so that what they should forbid us on Earth, should be forbidden in Heaven.

He foretels the Calling of the Gentiles to his Re∣ligion; Many, saith he, shall come from the East and West, and shall sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the Kingdom of Heaven. Which is the more considerable, because he seemed himself unwilling to shew any favour to the Gentiles, whom he called Dogs, according to the Lan∣guage of the Jews.

He foretels the Rejection of the Jews; The Children of the Kingdom, saith he, shall be cast out into outer darkness.

He foretels the Persecutions which were to

happen to his Disciples from the Jews, as well as from the Roman Governours; They shall lay their hands on you, and persecute you, delivering you up to the Synagogues, and into Prisons, being brought before Kings, &c.

He foretels that notwithstanding all these Per∣secutions, yet his Church should not only conti∣nue, assuring them that the Gates of Hell should never prevail against her; but also should greatly flou∣rish and encrease, according to what David had foretold, Psalm CX. verse 3. alluding to the sud∣dain fruitfulness which is caused by Dew.

He above thirty times foretels his Suffering and Death.

He foretels his Resurrection the third day.

He foretels that Judas should betray him, S. Pe∣ter deny him, that his Apostles should be scatter∣ed, as soon as they should see him smitten. He foretels the Martyrdom of S. Peter, which he was to suffer for his sake, and to S. John, that he was to survive the destruction of Jerusalem. He fore∣tels that after his Ascension to Heaven, he should begin the Call of all the Nations of the Earth; When I shall be lifted up from the Earth, saith he, I shall draw all men unto me.

He often foretels the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple; Behold, saith he, your House is left unto you desolate.

He foretels that many false Messiah's should come after him, whom the Jews should receive, tho' they had rejected him as an Impostor.

Several Reflexions may be made upon these Predictions of our Lord. In short, one may ob∣serve at first, That there are three sorts of them in

the New Testament; some of them were fulfilled soon after they were pronounced, as those con∣cerning the Ass which he sent his Disciples for, those of his Death and Resurrection, of S. Peter's denying him, and the flight of his Apostles, &c.

The Design of these was to establish the belief of those which were further off, which is the Method of God himself the Father of our Lord in the Old Testament, as I have obser∣ved.

Some of them related to matters which were more remote, as the Wars for instance, which Christ foretold, the destruction of Jerusalem, and the dispersion of the Jews.

Lastly, There were some whose accomplish∣ment was at a very great distance, after many A∣ges, some of them reaching to the end of the World.

One see's plainly that this mixture of our Savi∣our's Predictions, which are of so very different sorts, is of use to confirm the belief, and ascertain the truth of them, the exact fulfilling of the first Oracle making way for the belief and expectati∣on of the second, and so on, till all be fulfil∣led.

One may observe afterwards, That Jesus Christ and his Apostles, on whom he (according to his promise) after his Ascension, poured forth the Spirit of Prophecy, did ordinarily follow the same Notions and Expressions which the Prophets of the Old Testament made use of.

Thus we find Jesus Christ makes use of Daniel's Notions, where he speaks of the destruction of Jerusalem; thus we see that he imitates the most

illustrious Actions of the Prophets, and to make his Predictions the more observed, in accomplish∣ing the Prophecy of Zachariah on Palm-Sunday; in the midst of the acclamations of the People he weeps over Jerusalem, as if its destruction were already come. Thus Jesus Christ saith to S. Peter, When thou shalt be old, another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not; thus foretelling his death; Thus he instructs him in the Calling of the Gentiles under a representation of all sorts of Beasts, commanding him also, even as to the im∣pure Animals, Slay and eat. All the Revelations are full of such Prophetical Idea's taken from the Old Testament, from Genesis, Isaiah, Ezechiel, Zacha∣riah, &c.

But here are other Reflexions of as great impor∣tance as the former.

The first is, That the greatest part of these Pre∣dictions are nothing but a continuance and more distinct explication of the Oracles of the Old Testa∣ment, concerning the Sufferings of the Messiah, the Calling of the Gentiles, the destruction of the Com∣monwealth of the Jews; and besides, they are con∣tinued to the last day of the World, which is the end of Prophecy.

The second is, That these Predictions had not the least probability upon which they might rati∣onally have been grounded. What likelyhood was there, that Jesus Christ should be crucified, he who raised the dead, who commanded the Sea and Winds, he whom they would have taken by force to make him their King? What likelyhood was there, that the Apostles, a company of poor miserable Jews, should bring over the Gentiles to

the Religion of a man who was accursed by the Synagogue of the Jews, and crucified like a Slave by the Authority of the Roman Magistrate? What probability was there of the destruction of Jeru∣salem, whilst the Jews, accustom'd to the Roman yoke, made it their business to avoid all manner of occasions that might stir up the indignation of their Masters against them. It is expedient, say they, rather that one man perish (meaning Jesus) than to hazard the welfare of the whole Nation.

The third is, That these Oracles were written by the Apostles, not only amongst Discourses of another nature, but also linked together in such a Chain, that their connexion will not permit us to believe that they were contrived after the mat∣ters which they relate to, were past, and also that they are constantly related by three Evangelists, long time before the things came to pass, S. John being the only Witness of the Destruction of Je∣rusalem.

The fourth is, That these Oracles gave the A∣postles as much grounds to expect Calamities and violent Deaths, as to Jesus Christ himself, so that there is no pretence of doubting that they were not faithfully recorded by the Evangelists, and that therefore seeing the Accomplishment has ex∣actly answered to the Oracle, we ought to look upon them as Divine Oracles.

I confess that these Oracles, no more than the Books of the New Testament, were ever committed to the publick custody of the Jews, as formerly the Oracles of the Prophets of old were, but this cannot really diminish their Authority.

I will not observe at present, that because the

Temple was to be burnt, it was not proper to de∣pose them there; and 'twas for this reason God thought fit to cause the Oracles of the Old Testa∣ment to be translated long before.

Nor yet, that it was very proper that these Pre∣dictions, as well as the Books of the New Testa∣ment, should be put into the hands of the Gentiles, who thence-forward were to be the People of God, and his Temple.

But this I observe, that nothing can be imagi∣ned more solemn than these Prophecies of our Sa∣viour and his Disciples, as well as never any thing was more exactly fulfilled.

Jesus Christ was born at Bethlehem according to the Oracles▪ Now as no man is Master of the place of his Birth, so it is plain that here is no room left for imposture; neither is a man any more the Master of his Death; wherefore to give a cer∣tain Character to his Prophecy, he foretells his dying at Jerusalem; which accordingly was ac∣complished in all its Circumstances; can any thing be more exact?

But one may say, That it was easie for the Dis∣ciples to forge Predictions suitable to the Event, in like manner as Virgil hath done in the sixth of his Aeneids of Marcellus. One may indeed con∣trive an imposture which shall be possible, and which may answer to some few Oracles; but I shall hereafter shew the folly of that thought, when I come to prove the faithfulness of the Apostles and Evangelists.

But can we conceive such a suspicion concern∣ing the Conversion of the Gentiles, the ruin of Paganism, the Victory of Christianity after Ten

Persecutions. 'Tis now above 1600 years that the Christian Religion subsists, whereas, who could have assured the Disciples of Jesus Christ that their Doctrine would have had so much as one or two followers after their Death? The greatest Em∣pires, that of the Chaldeans, of the Persians, of the Grecians, and that of the Romans; have been overturned, and none of them singly have been of so long continuance as the Kingdom of Jesus Christ, which nevertheless was attack'd by all that was great and powerful in the World. Who see's not that this is the Empire whereof Daniel speaks in the seventh of his Revelations, which was never to have end.

Jesus Christ foretold, as it is set down by his Disciples, according to the Prophecy of Daniel, that the Temple of Jerusalem should be destroy∣ed, and never built again: who could tell the A∣postles, if they had forged this Oracle them∣selves, that the endeavours of Julian to confound this Prophecy, when he began to rebuild the Tem∣ple, would be in vain, as indeed they proved by an effect of the Divine vengeance against the Jews, who were engaged in the rebuilding of it, under the Authority of that Emperour.

Indeed if one reflects on the Oracles of Jesus Christ, one shall find them a thousand times more known than those of the Jews.

1. The greatest part of them were penn'd at one and the same time.

2. They were writ by several Authors, who lived in different places.

3. They were read over the whole Earth every Lord's day, they have been explained and com∣mented

upon soon after, every one endeavour∣ing to take notice of their Accomplishment.

4. They have been alledged in Disputes a∣gainst Jews and Gentiles, and have served for a Foundation to the Faith of the Christian Church, whose Teachers have made it their business to shew their uniformity with the Oracles of the Old Testament, which are in the hands of the Jews, tho' the Jews have always considered the Christi∣ans as their most mortal Enemies.

But one may also find that these Oracles, be∣ing for the most part much more clear and express, their Accomplishment also hath been so much the more easily discernible: from whence it evi∣dently follows, That Jesus Christ ought to be ac∣knowledged as the Prophet that was like unto Mo∣ses, as is mentioned in the Eighteenth of Deutero∣nomy, that is indeed the true Messiah.

Notes

• Joh. XXI. 18.
• Ammian. Marcellin. Lib. 23.