Series 2 - Lesson 2 - Annotation 13
Why did many of the Jews not recognize Jesus as the Son of God?
13. Many of the ancient Hebrews failed to recognize Jesus as the Son of God because they were expecting a Messiah who would come among them and reign like a king on an earthly throne. They were looking for a great personality to come and lead them into racial and religious supremacy.
Since the true Messiah was then as now primarily an ideal in God-Mind, the worldly-minded people of Jesus' time were unable to discern the Christ Spirit as revealed by the Nazarene. This does not mean that these people did not have the capacity to know the indwelling Christ. It means that they had misinterpreted the Scriptures and centered their attention on the "letter" instead of the "spirit" of their own sacred writings. Many people today do not recognize the Son of God as He stands knocking at the door of their soul. Human beings are often too busily engaged in the hustle and bustle of the outer world to acquaint themselves with this Presence and Power that is within their own being — "Christ in you" (Col. 1:27) — or they are ignorant of its reality.
Then there are those who yearn desperately for the coming of the Savior but who "crucify" Him daily through putting Him outside of themselves — waiting for and expecting an outer personality just as did the ancient Hebrews. The Messiah was there in the Nazarene's day Just as He is here today — as the real nature of every man waiting to come forth. If we would know the glory of the Christ or Son-of-God presence, we need only recognize Him within and let Him come forth in our everyday life in our thoughts, words, and deeds. "Observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age" (Matt. 28:20).
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Preceding Entry: What was Jesus' custom in the matter of self-identification?
Following Entry: How are we begotten by the Word?
