slain, say they. He has
failed. He has not subdued the heathen with His might. He has not
bestowed upon us their spoil. He does not give riches. Is this all they
have to say? It is in this respect that He is lovable to me. I would not
desire Him whom they fancy.) It is evident that it is only His life
which has prevented them from accepting Him; and through this rejection
they are irreproachable witnesses, and, what is more, they thereby
accomplish the prophecies.

[By means of the fact that this people have not accepted Him, this
miracle here has happened. The prophecies were the only lasting miracles
which could be wrought, but they were liable to be denied.]

760

The Jews, in slaying Him in order not to receive Him as the Messiah,
have given Him the final proof of being the Messiah.

And in continuing not to recognise Him, they made themselves
irreproachable witnesses. Both in slaying Him, and in continuing to deny
Him, they have fulfilled the prophecies (Isa. lx; Ps. lxxi).

761

What could the Jews, His enemies, do? If they receive Him, they give
proof of Him by their reception; for then the guardians of the
expectation of the Messiah receive Him. If they reject Him, they give
proof of Him by their rejection.

762

The Jews, in testing if He were God, have shown that He was man.

763

The Church has had as much difficulty in showing that Jesus Christ was
man, against those who denied it, as in showing that he was God; and the
probabilities were equally great.

764

_Source of contradictions._--A God humiliated, even to the death on the
cross; a Messiah triumphing over death by his own death. Two natures in
Jesus Christ, two advents, two states of man's nature.

765

_Types._--Saviour, father, sacrificer, offering, food, king, wise,
law-giver, afflicted, poor, having to create a people whom He must lead
and nourish, and bring into His land....

_Jesus Christ. Offices._--He alone had to create a great people, elect,
holy, and chosen; to lead, nourish, and bring it into the place of rest
and holiness; to make it holy to God; to make it the temple of God; to
reconcile it to, and save it from, the wrath of God; to free it from the
slavery of sin, which visibly reigns in man; to give laws to this
people, and engrave these laws on their heart; to offer Himself to God
for them, and sacrifice Himself for them; to be a victim without
blemish, and Himself the sacrificer, having to offer Himse