Andrew Fuller Friday: Jesus and Stumbling Blocks

“The Jews were greatly offended at our Lord’s words; and his not explaining them so as to remove the stumbling-block out of the way may serve to teach us how we ought to proceed in removing stumbling-blocks out of the way of their posterity. For this cause they sought to kill hirn —” because he had said that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.” —”Jesus said, I and my Father are one. Then they took up stones to stone him.” When he told them of ” many good works that he had shown them,” and asked, ” For which of those works do ye stone me?” they replied, ” For a good work we stone thee not, but for blasphemy; and because thou, being a man, makest thyself God.” Hence it is evident that, whether Jesus Christ be truly God, or not, they understood him as asserting that he was so; that is, they understood his claiming the relation of God’s own Son, and declaring that He and his Father were one, as implying so much. This was their stumbling-block. Nor does it appear that Jesus did any thing towards removing it out of their way. It is certain he did not so remove it as to afford them the least satisfaction; for they continued to think him guilty of the same blasphemy to the last, and for that adjudged him worthy of death, Matt. xxvi. 63, 66. If Jesus never thought of being equal with God, it is a pity there should have been such a misunderstanding between them,—a misunderstanding that proved the occasion of putting him to death!”

Excerpt From “The Calvinistic and Socinian Systems Examined and Compared”, 1802

Fuller, Andrew,  The Works of Andrew Fuller. Edinburgh: Banner of Truth Trust, 2007.


By |June 30th, 2017|Categories: Andrew Fuller Friday, Blog|

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