Unconverted men would kill God!

(J. C. Ryle, "The Gospel of Matthew" 1856)

Pilate asked them, "what should I do with Jesus who is called the Messiah?" And they all shouted,"Crucify Him!" "Let His blood be on us and on our children!" Matthew 27:22, 25

We see in these verses, the desperate wickedness of human nature.

What had our Lord done, that the Jews should hate Him so? He was no robber, or murderer. He was no blasphemer of their God, or reviler of their prophets.

He was one whose life was love.

He was one who went about doing good, and healing those who were oppressed by the devil.

He was innocent of any transgression against the law of God or man.

And yet the Jews hated Him, and never rested until He was slain!

They hated Him, because He told them the truth.

They hated Him, because He testified that their works were evil.

They hated the light, because it made their own darkness visible.

In a word, they hated Christ, because He was righteous and they were wicked; because He was holy and they were unholy; because He testified against sin, and they were determined to keep their sins and not let them go.

Let us observe this.

There are few things so little believed and realized as the corruption of human nature. Men imagine that if they saw a perfect person, they would love and admire him. They forget that when a really perfect man was on earth, He was hated and put to death! That single fact goes far to prove that unconverted men would kill God, if they could get at Him!

Let us never be surprised at the wickedness there is in the world. Let us mourn over it, and labor to make it less, but let us never be surprised at its extent.

There is nothing which the heart of man is not capable of conceiving, or the hand of man of doing.

As long as we live, let us mistrust our own hearts. Even when renewed by the Spirit, they are still "deceitful above all things and desperately wicked." (Jeremiah 17:9)