Nazarene

“ The words which he gives are not found in any prophet. But we know that to call a man 'a Nazarene' was the same thing as to call him lowly and despised. The scoff of the Pharisee to Nicodemus's timid appeal on Christ's behalf, and the guileless Nathaniel's quest ion, show that. The fact that Christ by His residence in Nazareth became known as the 'Nazarene,' and so shared in the contempt attaching to all Galileans, and especially to the inhabitants of that village, is a kind of concentration of all the obscurity and ignominy of His lot. ”

“ The Christ of the Creator had [1] to be called a Nazarene according to prophecy; whence the Jews also designate us, on that very account, [2] Nazerenes [3] after Him. For we are they of whom it is written, “Her Nazarites were whiter than snow;” [4] even they who were once defiled with the stains of sin, and darkened with the clouds of ignorance. But to Christ the title Nazarene was destined to become a suitable one, from the hiding-place of His infancy, for which He went down and dwelt at Nazareth, [5] to escape from Archelaus the son of Herod. ”

“ At no previous time, whether when Balthasar was plying him with arguments, or when miracles were being done before his face, had the disputed nature of the Nazarene been so plainly set before him. The best way, after all, to reach an understanding of the divine is by study of the human. In the things superior to men we may always look to find God. So with the picture given by the Egyptian of the scene when the Nazarene turned from the Gate Beautiful; its central theme was an act utterly beyond performance by a man under control of merely human inspirations. ”

“ But looking only to the Nazarene personally, I believe he would repudiate what we glibly call Christianity, and would say to its respectable and fashionable and orthodox professors, ‘Ye are of your father the devil, and the works of your father ye will do.’ While to those who seek the truth in sincerity, even though they be called heathen, his other words apply, ‘Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord’—not every one who is sprinkled with a rite and ticketed with a creed, is my true disciple, but he who, with or without any theological system, leads a humanitarian life. ”

“ Indeed the very fact that she had embraced the Nazarene heresy made me feel secure, for I knew that she would never bestow her hand or her heart on any one who differed from her in religion. I did not suspect that this Roman infidel would basely pretend to share her creed in order to obtain her love. He shall, however, meet the just punishment of his audacity and his hypocrisy. He has affected to be a Christian, and he shall die the death of a Christian. ”

“ Though they never heard of the Nazarene whom the world persists in calling the Christ, it is truth to say they better illustrate his teachings, especially in their dealings with each other, than the so-called Christians amongst whom thy lot is cast. Withal, however, I have become weary, the fault being more in myself than in them. Desire for change is the universal law. Only God is the same yesterday, to-day, and to-morrow eternally. So I am resolved to seek once more the land of our fathers and Jerusalem, for which I yet have tears. ”

“ He replied with firmness and eloquence, and admirably did he set forth and maintain the blessed doctrines of Christianity. He completely denied all the evil tendency with which those doctrines were charged, and indignantly repelled the foul accusation of idolatry; but openly professed himself a disciple of the despised Jesus, and exulted in the name of Nazarene. His judges were astonished at his boldness, but it only made them more resolved to destroy one who could so powerfully plead the cause of the religion which they hated. ”

“ I pray thee, who hath persuaded thee of these things, and that the Book of Prophecies hath aught concerning the Nazarene?”
“I have it not upon the authority of any man, but the Spirit within witnesseth with my spirit that these things are true. The kingdom of which the Nazarene hath laid the corner-stone is a dominion which is to increase and [pg 109] wax great, and pertaineth not only to the Jews, but to all peoples. All are children of God, but no one save him hath yet perfected the fruit whose seed lieth within. His law is more complete than that of Moses ”

“ He said to them, The Pentecost is near at hand; go to Jerusalem and I will meet you there.
31. And as he talked, a multitude of people came; they saw the Lord; they said,
32. Behold, for now we know that he, the Nazarene, has risen from the dead for we have seen him face to face. ”

“ Surely she believed and trusted to the fullest extent of the Jewish law and her Pharisaical upbringing; but the vision that was hidden from her was Jesus the Nazarene as God, and resurrection on earth. It was too simple to believe. ”

“ Without the consideration of the question of personal divinity, the high moral teaching and unspotted life of the Nazarene have been the greatest blessings to mankind, and have, through the varied channels, and slow, tortuous, and muddled windings of progressive civilization, made the nineteenth century what it is. ”

“ According to Acts xxiv. 5 the first followers of Jesus were also called Nazoraes or Nazarenes. The expressions “Jesus” and “Nazorean” were therefore originally of almost like meaning, and by the addition of “the Nazorean” or “Nazarene” Jesus is not characterised as the man of Nazareth, as the Evangelists represent it, but as the Healer and Deliverer.
Whether there was a place called Nazareth in pre-Christian [60] days must be considered as at least very doubtful. Such a place is not mentioned either in the Old Testament or in the Talmud, which, however, mentions more than sixty Galilean towns ”

“ These words and his angelic sweetness did not disarm the persecutors of the young man; coarse laughter again burst from the hall and the insults recommenced on all sides.
'Oh! the Nazarene, the man of peace, the enemy of war, does not belie himself; he is a coward and allows himself to be struck in the face.'
'Call your disciples, then; let them come and avenge you if you have not the courage.'
'His disciples,' said one of the soldiers who had arrested Jesus. 'His disciples! ah! ”

“ The Evangelists always wrote Nazaræus, or Nazarenus, with the letter z, which is the one which occurs in the Hebrew nezer and nazir. For if Nazarene is derived from נצר nezer, with tsade, so as to signify flourishing, it ought to be written Nasarene with an s. In all other names the Hebrew letter tsade is represented by an s (in the Vulg.) , as in Bosra, Asor (see Joshua, chaps. xii. and xv., where some suppose Asor to be Nazareth) , Melchisedech, Sabaoth, &c. On the other hand the Hebrew zain is translated by our z, as appears from Zabulon, Zacharias, Beelzebub, &c. ”

“ The Nazarene women are generally good looking, and free and dignified in their bearing. The children, fairer in complexion than is common in Syria, are almost all charming with the beauty of youth, and among them are some very lovely faces of boys and girls. I do not mean to say that Nazareth appears to us an earthly paradise; only that it shines by contrast with places like Hebron and Jericho and Nablûs, even with Bethlehem, and that we find here far less of human squalor and misery to sadden us with thoughts of
"What man has made of man." ”

“ In fact, "Nazarene" was, as is well known, the distinctive appellation applied to Jesus; his immediate followers were known as Nazarenes; while the congregation of the disciples, and, later, of converts at Jerusalem—the Jerusalem Church—was emphatically the "sect of the Nazarenes," no more, in itself, to be regarded as anything outside Judaism than the sect of the Sadducees, or that of the Essenes. [78] In fact, the tenets of both the Sadducees and the Essenes diverged much more widely from the Pharisaic standard of orthodoxy than Nazarenism did. ”

“ Their worship was mystical, but not because Jesus so taught;—rather because of their environment and traditions. The practice of baptism, the last supper and the doctrines of incarnation and resurrection have been as certainly added to the Nazarene's sublime code of ethics as to them in turn, in the centuries to follow, were added every conceivable notion, mystery and stupid absurdity which the diseased minds of men could imagine, and which have been the cause of more departure from Christ's original teachings, and of more strife and bloodshed than any other feature in the history of mankind. ”

“ The sun was setting behind the mountains before hunger, more potent than even the temple police with its flail-like rods of office, had cleared the great court of the temple. The sick and blind, the maimed and palsied had gone away restored, the multitude, sated with miracle and weary of shouting, followed. The Nazarene himself, looking more worn and thoughtful than his wont, also departed with the twelve, his disciples bearing themselves haughtily under the angry eyes of the priests.
At last their Master had declared him [pg 54] self before the nation. ”

“ Several herdsmen and laborers, learning from the persons who followed the Nazarene, that he was repairing to the little hill of Cedron to preach good news, changed their route, and driving their flocks on one side, augmented the crowd attached to the steps of Jesus of Nazareth. Jane, Aurelia and Genevieve thus approached the village, half hidden in the wood of olive trees through which they had to pass to arrive at the hill. On a sudden from this wood, they saw issue in a tumult a great number of men and women, uttering cries and horrid imprecations. ”

“ Tous
les siècles proclameront qu’entre les fils des hommes n’en est pas né de plus grand que Jésus.”
And in thus associating the name of the Nazarene with the religion of the future, we do not ignore, much less condemn, the religious reformers who preceded or followed Him. We only mean that their work is comprehended and completed in His. He was greater than some of the prophets by reason of His theism; greater than any Gautama alone excepted—in the charm of His personality; greater than all on account of His plan of salvation,—the attainment of righteousness through love. ”

“ Jane had listened with painful impatience to all the accusations made against the Nazarene; she therefore cried with a firm and animated voice:
'Ah! my seigneurs, I am tired of listening to your calumnies; you do not comprehend the sense of the words of the young man of Nazareth to his disciples. When he speaks of the divisions that will spring up in families, it signifies that in one house, some sharing his doctrine of love and tenderness to one's neighbor, which he preaches from his heart and lips, and the others persisting in their hardness of heart, they shall be divided ”

“ One day a Nazarene came to pay his submissive respects to the khalif of God, and challenged any of 66 learned among the Muselmans to dispute with him. The proposal being accepted, the Nazarene began: “Do you believe in Aisa (Jesus) ?” The Muselman answered: “Certainly; we acknowledge him as a prophet of God; our prophet bore testimony to the divine mission of Jesus.” The Nazarene continued: “This prophet (the Messiah) has announced that after him many will appear who will pretend to a prophetic office; yet ‘believe not in them, nor follow them, for they are liars ”

“ But I was thinking through all that evening of the strange contrast between the triumphant joy of his followers and the saddened countenance of the Nazarene.
Men knew not what was to become of this movement in favor of him. Most of the lower orders were hoping for a rising against the Romans to be led by this Jesus. Shrewder ones among the Better thought that the man was about to initiate a change in the spiritual government of our people. Some thought he would depose the Sadducees, and place the Pharisees in their stead. ”

“ The motives and affections of a man were of little account, if only he appeared unto men to fast. The great Nazarene, as meek as he was mighty, rebuked the hypocrisy which offered long petitions for blessings on material methods, but cloaked the crime, latent in thought, which was ready to spring into action, and crucify God's anointed. ”

“ Now, it chanced that this time, I, as a member of the Sanhedrim, was summoned to the reading of the Law immediately after Jesus, and for a time, as is customary, we stood together upon the bema. I observed that, as the reading of the Law proceeded, the eyes of the Nazarene became fixed upon the ark, and a veil of mysterious tenderness seemed to come over them, as if he were in communion with the Shechinah, or Glory, itself. It seemed to me that afterwards, when he read the Haphtara from the prophets, and when he preached, something remained in him of this mystical communion. ”

“ Genevieve could no longer restrain her tears; she heard one of the two emissaries say to his companion, in a tone of cruel triumph: 'The Nazarene called the doctors of law and the high-priest serpents and a race of vipers! During the whole night he has blasphemed all that is most sacred amongst men; we have him.'
'Oh, you speak of the crucified, Jesus of Nazareth,' said the other; 'we will take care that you shall not be far wrong, prophet of woe!'
Simon, seeing him still leaning on the table, weeping in silence, stooped towards him and said: 'Master, the sun will soon rise ”

“ The religion of the future, Dr. Janes believes to be, "the true religion of humanity," which was the simple, unalloyed teaching of Jesus of Nazareth—a very different thing from the Christianity triumphant which was exemplified in imperial Rome—"a compromise with pagan power and sacerdotalism, a hybrid product which the Nazarene would never have recognized as the child of his simple enthusiasm for righteousness, his devotion and self-abnegation, his suffering and agony, his poverty and supreme sacrifice." ”