The Corruption of Human
Nature
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)
J. C. Ryle, The Gospel of Matthew, 1856
