Therefore, any one
who answered their views would be the Messiah. There was much in both
the character and life of Christ which approached their crude notions of
the promised one. For this reason their hearts went out toward him, and
they called him "Jesus." The world was already prepared, and since
Christ best fitted it, he was entitled to all the honor of being waited
for and accepted. All the prophecies of his incarnation were purely
historical events. But the Jewish mind is very visionary and prone to
allegory. Consequently, when Christ appeared among the Jews, it was not
difficult to trace a resemblance between him and other marked personages
in history.
Thus Christ did not organize the Church as much as the church created
him. He existed and lived on earth, but very different was the real
Jesus from that wonderful character described in the Gospels. The
veritable Messiah was born of humble parentage, was baptized by John,
collected a few disciples, inveighed against the Pharisees and all
others who placed themselves in antagonism to him, and finally fell a
victim to the cruelty of his foes.
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