ravishing from the Divinity that glory which is his due, in order to appropriate it to himself.
In effect, my brethren, whether we consider the lustre of his ministry in that pompous train of oracles and of figurative allusions which have preceded him, in the wonderful circumstances which have accompanied him, and, lastly, in the works which he hath operated; the lustre of it is such, that, if Jesus Christ was only a man, similar to us, God, who hath sent him upon the earth, arrayed in such glory and power, would himself have deceived us, and would be culpable of the idolatry of those who worship him.
The first signal character of the ministry of Jesus Christ is, that, from the beginning of the world, it was foretold and promised to men. Scarcely had the fall of Adam taken place, when the Restorer, whom his guilt had rendered necessary to the earth, is shown to him from afar. In the following ages, God, it would appear, is only occupied in preparing mankind for his coming: if he manifest himself to the patriarchs, it is in order to confirm their faith in that expectation; if he inspire prophets, it is in order to announce him; if he choose to himself a people, it is for the purpose of making it the depositary of that grand promise; if he prescribe sacrifices and religious ceremonies to men, it is in order to trace out in them, as from afar, the history of him who was to come. Whatever took place upon the earth seems to lead to that grand event: empires and kingdoms fall or rise only in order to prepare the way for it: the heavens are only opened to promise it: and, as St. Paul says, the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain to bring forth the Righteous, who is to come for the redemption of our body from the bondage of corruption and sin.
Now, my brethren, to inspire, from the beginning of all ages, the earth with the expectation of a man, and to announce him to it from heaven, is already, in fact, to prepare men to receive him with a kind of religion and worship; and even granting that Jesus Christ were to have only the eclat of that particular circumstance which distinguishes him from all other men, the superstition of the people, with regard to him, were he only a simple creature, had been to dread. But even the circumstance of Jesus Christ being foretold is not so wonderful as those in which he hath been, which are more surprising than even the prophecies themselves. In effect, if Cyrus and John the Baptist had been foretold, long before their birth, in the prophecies of Isaiah and of Malachi, these are only individual prophecies, without consequence or train, and which are found in a single prophet; predictions which announce only particular events, and by which the religion of the people could never be caught or surprised: Cyrus to be the re-establisher of the walls of Jerusalem; John the Baptist to prepare the way for him who has to come: both in order to confirm, by the accomplishment of their particular prophecies, the truth and the divinity of all the prophecies which announce Jesus Christ.
But here, my brethren, it is a Messenger of Heaven, foretold by
