A herald had been sent from God to proclaim the coming of Christ, and to call the attention of the Jewish nation and of the world to His mission, that men might prepare for His reception. The wonderful personage whom John had announced had been among them for more than thirty years, and they had not really known Him as the One sent from God. Remorse took hold of the disciples because they had allowed the prevailing unbelief to leaven their opinions and becloud their understanding. The Light of this dark world had been shining amid its gloom, and they had failed to comprehend whence were its beams. They asked themselves why they had pursued a course that made it necessary for Christ to reprove them. They often repeated His conversations, and said, Why did we allow earthly considerations and the opposition of priests and rabbis to confuse our senses, so that we did not comprehend that a greater than Moses was among us, that One wiser than Solomon was instructing us? How dull were our ears! how feeble was our understanding!

En herold var blevet udsendt fra Gud for at forkynde Kristi komme og påkalde jødefolkets og hele verdens opmærksomhed til hans udsendelse, så mennesker kunne berede sig til at tage imod ham. Denne forunderlige skikkelse, hvis komme Johannes havde forkyndt, havde været iblandt dem i mere end tredive år, og de havde i virkeligheden ikke erkendt ham som den, der var sendt af Gud. Disciplene blev grebet af en følelse af anger, fordi de havde givet den almindelige vantro lov til at gennemsyre deres opfattelse og formørke deres forståelse. Lyset havde skinnet midt i denne mørke verdens dunkelhed, og de havde ikke haft forståelsen af, hvorfra lysstrålerne kom. De spurgte sig selv, hvorfor de havde optrådt på en måde, som gjorde det nødvendigt for Kristus at irettesætte dem. Tit gentog de, hvad han havde sagt, og sagde: Hvorfor lod vi dog jordiske hensyn og præsternes og de skriftkloges modstand forvirre vore sanser, så vi ikke forstod, at en, der var større end Moses, var iblandt os, at en, som var visere end Salomon, underviste os? Hvor var vi sløve! Hvor var vor forståelse svag!