But among the Jews this desire appeared, first in their national organization, as a theosophic and theocratic community, and afterward, when this broke down and the nation was divided, in a larger prophetic hope of the Messianic times.  There is a tendency in the human mind, when it sees a great work to be done, to look for a leader.  So the Jewish hope looked for a leader.  Their true King was to come, and under him peace and righteousness were to reign, and the kingdom of heaven begin on earth.  It was to be on earth.  It was to be here and now.  And so they waited and longed.

Meantime, in the Persian religion, the seed of the same hope was sown.  There also the work of life was, to unite together a community of good men and good angels, against bad men and devils, and so make a kingdom of heaven.  Long and sore should the conflict be; but the victory at last would be sure.  And they also looked for a Sosioch, or Mediator, who was to be what the Messiah was to be to the Jews.  And here was the deep and real point of union between the two religions; and this makes the profound meaning of the story of the Star which was seen in the East and which guided the Magi of Zoroaster to the cradle of Christ.

Jesus came to be the Messiah.  He fulfilled that great hope as he did others.  It was not fulfilled, in the sense of the letter of a prophecy being acted out, but in the sense of the prophecy being carried up and on to its highest point, and so being filled full of truth and value.  The first and chief purpose of Christianity was, not to save the souls of men hereafter, as the Church has often taught, but to found a kingdom of heaven here, on earth and in time.  It was not to say, “Lo here!” or “Lo there!” but to say, “Now is the accepted time”; “the kingdom of God is among you.”  In thus continuing and developing to its highest point the central idea of his national religion, Jesus made himself the true Christ and fulfilled all the prophecies.  Perhaps what we need now is to come back to that notion of the kingdom of heaven here below, and of Jesus the present king,—­present, because still bearing witness to the truth.  Christians must give up thinking about Christianity as only a means of escaping a future hell and arriving at a future heaven.  They must show now, more than ever, that, by a union of loving and truthful hearts, God comes here, immortality begins here, and heaven lies about us.  To fight the good fight of justice and truth, as the disciples of Zoroaster tried to fight it,—­this is still the true work of man; and to make a union of those who wish thus to fight for good against evil,—­this is still the true church of Christ.

The old religion of Zoroaster died, Taut as the corn of wheat, which, if it die, brings forth much fruit.

A small body of Parsis remain to-day in Persia, and another in India,—­disciples of this venerable faith.  They are a good, moral, industrious people.  Some of them are very wealthy and very generous.  Until Mr. George Peabody’s large donations, no one had bestowed so much on public objects as Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeeboy, who had given to hospitals, schools, and charities, some years since, a million and a half of dollars.  During our Rebellion, some of the Parsis sent gifts to the Sanitary Commission, out of sympathy with the cause of freedom and Union.