Corporate Repentance - Robert J. Wieland

guilt upon the people. It follows that the same
leaders could as easily have led them into national
repentance. Christ could have died in some other
way than murder by His own people, and
Jerusalem could today be the "joy of the whole
earth" rather than its sorest plague spot.
If the remnant church ultimately chooses to
follow ancient Israel in impenitence, Christ will
suffer at her hands the most appalling humiliation
He has ever endured. He will be crucified afresh,
wounded anew "in the house of [His] friends"
(Zechariah 13:6). Humanity's final indignity would
be heaped upon His sacrifice.
But God's Word must proclaim good news.
Christ did not sacrifice Himself to be defeated. The
antitypical Day of Atonement resolves all doubt. In
the light of the cross we see the assurance that the
church will at last overcome this tragic ancient
pattern of unbelief. The church is His prized
possession, "which He has purchased with his own
blood" (Acts 20:28). In the end His people will not
deprive Him of His reward.
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