Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER IV Jesus' Ethics as Opposed to the Chief Sectaries—His Denunciations—His Followers and the Messiah- ship—His Perils—The Bible the Sole Record of the Facts—The Evangelists as Witnesses. BUT Christ had drastically exposed the iniquities of the high-priests. He had proposed abolition of taxes. He had commended the humble in spirit. His disciples were mostly unlearned fishermen. Against covetous- ness of worldly goods He had advised. He had bravely ejected from the Temple those who had profaned its precincts in the name of traffic. And His heroism had reached a climax in speech when He had fearlessly denounced the whole tribe of those in power, who were a "generation of vipers," condemning them to "the wrath to come."1 Preordained to peril from when the Star of Bethlehem heralded His divine mission, Jesus had, through the Flight to Egypt, been saved from Herod's massacre of the babes. He had at twelve aroused the doctors with whom He had disputed in the Temple. He had been all but thrown down the precipice at Nazareth by those in Galilee who were moved by jealousy and hatred; had been several times imperiled by efforts of the scribes and elders to apprehend Him with intent to end His life. And the anointing of His head by Mary, prophetic of kingship in the eyes of His enemies, coupled with acclaims of the followers down the Mount of Olives, who cast palm branches in the way and shouted i. Matt., 12; 34. 23; 33. Luke, 3; 7. "Blessed be the name of the King that cometh in the name of the Lord, Hosanna in the highest,"2 had made them fearful that a virtual coronation had already been accorded Him. The whole record in the Gospels proves the persistent pursuit of their aim to kill Him. How well He knew this fierce feeling is manifest in many of His expressions. "If t...