A Greater than Solomon
Charles H. Spurgeon
Luke 11:31
Our first thought is that no mere man would have said this concerning himself unless he had been altogether eaten up with vanity, for Solomon was among the Jews the very ideal of greatness and wisdom. It would be an instance of the utmost self-conceit if any mere man were to say of himself-''A greater than Solomon is here.'' Any person who was really greater and wiser than Solomon would be the last man to claim such preeminence. A wise man would never think it; a prudent man would never say it. The Lord Jesus Christ, if we regard Him as a mere man, would never have uttered such an expression, for a more modest, self-forgetting man was never found in all our race. View it on the supposition that the Christ of Nazareth was a mere man, and I say that His whole conduct was totally different from the spirit which would have suggested an utterance like this-''A greater than Solomon is here.'' For men to compare themselves with one another is not wise, and Christ was wise; it is not humble, and Christ was humble. He would not have thus spoken if there had not been cause and reason in His infinitely glorious nature. It was because the divinity within Him must speak out.
For God to say that He is greater than all His creatures is no boasting, for what are they in His sight? All worlds are but sparks from the anvil of His omnipotence. Space, time, eternity, all these are as nothing before Him; and for Him to compare or even to contrast Himself with one of His own creatures is supreme condescension, let Him word the comparison how He may. It was the divine within our Lord which made Him say-and not even then with a view to exalt Himself but with a view to point the moral that He was trying to bring before the people-''A greater than Solomon is here.'' He did as good as say, ''The queen of the south came from a distance to hear the wisdom of Solomon, but you refuse to hear Me. She gave attention to a man, but you w ...
Charles H. Spurgeon
Luke 11:31
Our first thought is that no mere man would have said this concerning himself unless he had been altogether eaten up with vanity, for Solomon was among the Jews the very ideal of greatness and wisdom. It would be an instance of the utmost self-conceit if any mere man were to say of himself-''A greater than Solomon is here.'' Any person who was really greater and wiser than Solomon would be the last man to claim such preeminence. A wise man would never think it; a prudent man would never say it. The Lord Jesus Christ, if we regard Him as a mere man, would never have uttered such an expression, for a more modest, self-forgetting man was never found in all our race. View it on the supposition that the Christ of Nazareth was a mere man, and I say that His whole conduct was totally different from the spirit which would have suggested an utterance like this-''A greater than Solomon is here.'' For men to compare themselves with one another is not wise, and Christ was wise; it is not humble, and Christ was humble. He would not have thus spoken if there had not been cause and reason in His infinitely glorious nature. It was because the divinity within Him must speak out.
For God to say that He is greater than all His creatures is no boasting, for what are they in His sight? All worlds are but sparks from the anvil of His omnipotence. Space, time, eternity, all these are as nothing before Him; and for Him to compare or even to contrast Himself with one of His own creatures is supreme condescension, let Him word the comparison how He may. It was the divine within our Lord which made Him say-and not even then with a view to exalt Himself but with a view to point the moral that He was trying to bring before the people-''A greater than Solomon is here.'' He did as good as say, ''The queen of the south came from a distance to hear the wisdom of Solomon, but you refuse to hear Me. She gave attention to a man, but you w ...
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