But though the Jews were conquered, they were not dispersed as a people, and, like other vanquished nations, lost among the victors. They existed as a nation, tributary, indeed, but still distinct; in order that from their royal line, and at the place delineated by their Prophets, Jesus Christ might be born, and thus might prove himself the Messiah.

The political changes of the world, as it respected the Jews, thus prepared the way for the coming of the Messiah.

In another respect, these changes contributed to this end. The Greeks and the Romans carried their language with their arms. And thus a large portion of mankind would receive, in the same language, the glad tidings of salvation. Roman conquest had rendered easy the intercourse between its tributary lands. One mighty empire holding the nations under its peaceful sway, the events that happened in one part became interesting to all; and thus notoriety was given to the actions and character of Christ, which would have remained in comparative obscurity, had the Jews been an independent nation. And a passage through every part of this vast empire was thus opened to the heralds of the Messiah and his salvation.

The revolutions of the world had produced a state of things the most favourable to his coming.

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From the preparations for the coming of the Messiah, we are led to consider,

II. The character under which this prediction presents him to us, as "the desire" or expectation "of all nations."

The desire of both Jews and Gentiles.

The Messiah was to the Jews the end both of their law and of their prophets. Was the first promise recorded in their sacred books of a seed of the woman who should destroy the great adversary? This seed of the woman was their Messiah. Was a "son" held forth to the faith of Abraham, in whom "all the families of the earth should be blessed?" That son was their Messiah. Was it announced that unto "Shiloh should be the ga thering of the people;" the union of the wandering and lost children of men in the fold of salvation; and that "a Prophet should be raised up like unto Moses, to whom the people should hearken?" That Shiloh, that Prophet, greater indeed than Moses, was their Messiah? Was their law but a "shadow of good things to come," prefiguring one, whose all prevailing merits gave efficacy to all its institutions? He, who was thus "the end of their law," was their Messiah. Was there to be "a King set upon the holy hill of Zion, to rule on the throne of David, to whom the heathen were to be given

b Gen. xxii. 17.

c Gen. xlix. 10.
• Col. ii. 17.

d Deut. xviii. 15.

g

h

for an inheritance, and the utmost parts of the earth for a possession'?" That King was their Messiah. Was a "Virgin to conceive and bear a Son, and call His name Emmanuel ?" Was a "child to be born, a son to be given, on whose shoulder should be the government, whose name should be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace "?" This miraculous offspring of a virgin, "God manifest in the flesh;" this child, this son, thus dignified with divine epithets, was their Messiah. Was there one to come from "Bethlehem Ephrata, whose goings forth have been from old, even from everlasting, and who should be Ruler in Israel?" Were the glad tidings brought to Zion, thy

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King cometh unto thee just, and having salvation?" And were the cities of Judah hailed with the animating voice, "Behold your God?" This "ruler in Israel," he who was thus the subject of glad tidings, the God whom Judah was called to behold, was their Messiah. Was "a righteous branch" to be raised unto David, and “a king to reign and prosper, and execute judgment and justice on the earth, in whose days Judah should be saved, and Israel dwell safely, and who should be called the Lord our righteousness?" This king of the spiritual Judah and Israel, the Lord, the righteousness of his people, was their Messiah.

Was the Lord suddenly to come to his temple, the messenger of the covenant, who should sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and should thoroughly purge the sons of Levi, and make the offering of Judah and Jerusalem pleasant unto the Lord" ?" This Lord whom they sought, and his messenger of the covenant whom they delighted in, was their Messiah. And he who was thus prefigured by the laws, and the exalted subject of prophetic strains, whom, from the beginning, patriarchs and prophets desired to behold, and kings and princes eagerly waited for, must have been the object of earnest desire to all those who looked for salvation in ' Israel. He was "the hope of Israel," " the promise of God made unto the Fathers, unto which promise the twelve tribes serving God day and night hoped to come "." He was that "consolation of Israel," for whom Simeon waited; and when he embraced him in his aged arms, every earthly desire of his soul was satisfied. "Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation".'

There were those indeed among the nations unto whom He came, and they " received Him not;" because, swayed by the lust of worldly grandeur and dominion, they interpreted literally the figurative expressions of their prophets, and, in their Messiah, eagerly expected not a spiritual, but a

"Mal. iii. 1, &c.

VOL. I.

" Acts xxvi. 7.

D

• Luke ii. 29.

temporal king-not one whose spiritual dominion should be co-extensive with that fallen race, who needed the blessings of his mercy and grace, but one who should establish the temporal empire of his chosen people over the world, and literally reign from sea to sea, and from the "river to the ends of the earth"-not one who should loose the chains of their spiritual bondage, and, visiting and redeeming them, raise up for them a salvation from sin and death, but one who should break the yoke of the Roman power, under which they groaned; and, releasing them from temporal thraldom, establish them in worldly dominion and peace. The Messiah was their desire; but they mistook His character, and, when He came, "received Him not."

But the just and devout, who looked for redemption in Israel, beheld the Messiah in his true character, as the Prince of Peace, bringing spiritual and eternal salvation to his people; and in this character, he was the object of their earnest desire; and when he came, they received him as the "teacher sent from God," "the Saviour, who was the Lord."

The Messiah also was the desire of the Gentiles. They desired one who should dispense to them the blessings which the Messiah conferred; and they cherished the expectation that such a personage, bearing the messages of truth and peace, should appear among the Jews.

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