can come upon us."(34)

These words faithfully described the corrupt and self-righteous
inhabitants of Jerusalem. While claiming to observe rigidly the precepts
of God's law, they were transgressing all its principles. They hated
Christ because His purity and holiness revealed their iniquity; and they
accused Him of being the cause of all the troubles which had come upon
them in consequence of their sins. Though they knew Him to be sinless,
they had declared that His death was necessary to their safety as a
nation. "If we let Him thus alone," said the Jewish leaders, "all men will
believe on Him: and the Romans shall come and take away both our place and
nation."(35) If Christ were sacrificed, they might once more become a
strong, united people. Thus they reasoned, and they concurred in the
decision of their high priest, that it would be better for one man to die
than for the whole nation to perish.

Thus the Jewish leaders had "built up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with
iniquity." And yet, while they slew their Saviour because He reproved
their sins, such was their self-righteousness that they regarded
themselves as God's favored people, and expected the Lord to deliver them
from their enemies. "Therefore," continued the prophet, "shall Zion for
your sake be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the
mountain of the house as the high places of the forest."(36)

For nearly forty years after the doom of Jerusalem had been pronounced by
Christ Himself, the Lord delayed His judgments upon the city and the
nation. Wonderful was the long-suffering of God toward the rejecters of
His gospel and the murderers of His Son. The parable of the unfruitful
tree represented God's dealings with the Jewish nation. The command had
gone forth, "Cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground?"(37) but divine
mercy had spared it yet a little longer. There were still many among the
Jews who were ignorant of the character and the work of Christ. And the
children had not enjoyed the opportunities or received the light which
their parents had spurned. Through the preaching of the apostles and their
associates, God would cause light to shine upon them; they would be
permitted to see how prophecy had been fulfilled, not only in the birth
and life of Christ, but in His death and resurrection. The children were
not condemned for the sins of the parents; but when, with a knowledge of
all the light given to their parents, the children