Gods Sabbath

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E NTERING INTO G OD ’ S S ABBATH R EST

power as they would have deployed it, if it had been in their pos session. Not to do so could be regarded only as a betrayal of na tional, and therefore sacred trust; a crime warranting the death penalty. They were sure that Christ would not disappoint them, and looked for signs from Him that the time was near.

Forcing the Issue

But Christ showed no disposition to claim national leadership for Himself, or to slay the Romans, and the people concluded that He was so humble, gentle, and unassuming that He would never fulfill His “commission.” In their thinking it was an easy matter. They were confident that they had the successful plans for deliverance from the Ro mans and that He had the power to implement them. They had expected Him to rise to the occasion and assert Himself as their military leader, but it became increasingly evident that He was not going to do so. A serious problem now confronted them. They felt that at any cost Christ must add His power to their plans, so the pressure was on them to take matters into their own hands and force Christ to accept kingship. There was only one correct course that the Jews should have taken after the feeding of the five thousand. They should have recognized that Christ was under the personal direction of His Father and must be left to carry out those directives. They should have accepted whatever plans the Lord made for them and not clung to their cherished determination to wipe out the Romans. But the Jewish people were operating on different principles, for they had no intention of letting such a wonderful opportuni ty slip by, being of one mind that something must be done. So they approached the problem in typical human fashion by tak ing advantage of this mass meeting, and swiftly reached the unanimous decision that, for “the glory of God and the advance ment of His kingdom,” they must take Christ by force and com pel Him to be king. If He was too shy, then they would help Him. But the Saviour, who read their hearts as an open book, de stroyed their highest expectations.