14 "But when it was now the midst of the feast Jesus went up into the temple, and taught."
28 "Jesus therefore cried in the temple, teaching and saying, Ye both know Me, and know whence I am; and I am not come of Myself, but He that sent Me is true, whom ye know not.
29 I know Him; because I am from Him, and He sent Me.
30 They sought therefore to take Him; and no man laid his hand on Him, because His hour was not yet come.
31 But of the multitude many believed on Him; and they said, When the Christ shall come, will He do more signs than those which this Man hath done?
32 The Pharisees heard the multitude murmuring these things concerning Him; and the chief priests and the Pharisees sent officers to take Him.
33 Jesus therefore said, Yet a little while am I with you, and I go unto Him that sent Me.
34 Ye shall seek Me, and shall not find Me; and where I am, ye can not come.
35 The Jews therefore said among themselves, Whither will this Man go that we shall not find Him? will He go unto the Dispersion among the Greeks, and teach the Greeks?
36 What is this word that He said, Ye shall seek Me, and shall not find Me; and where I am, ye can not come?
37 "Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink."
Golden Text.—"If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink." Verse 37.
SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS.
(1) During what feast did the incident recorded in this lesson occur? Note 1. (2) About the midst of the feast what did Jesus do? V. 14. (3) In what manner did He teach? What did He say of the people's knowledge of Himself, and of the One who had sent Him? V. 28. (4) How did Jesus know that One? V. 29. (5) What did the rulers then seek to do? Why did they not take Him? V. 30. Note 2. (6) What did the multitude think of Him? What did they say? V. 31. Note 3. (7) What did the Pharisees hear? What then did the chief priests and Pharisees do? V. 32. (8) What therefore did Jesus say to them? Vs. 33, 34. (9) What then did the Jews say among themselves? Vs. 35, 36. Note 4. (10) What was the last day of the feast called? What did Jesus do on that day? V. 37. Note 5.
NOTES.
1. The feast.—This was the feast of tabernacles, which occurred about the middle of autumn. It was some six months after the occurrences recorded in the last lesson, which took place at the Passover feast, about the middle of spring. The feast of tabernacles was celebrated by dwelling in booths for seven days. It was a "feast of ingathering, which is in the end of the year, when thou hast gathered in thy labors out of the field." See Ex. 23: 16; Lev. 23: 34-36; Deut. 16: 13-15.
2. "His hour."—The time for His being delivered into the hands of His enemies had not yet come. It was known unto God, and the fact had been imparted to Christ by the Holy Spirit, that He should be betrayed into the hands of men, and that He should be put to death. See Mark 9: 31. But this could not be until His work on earth was finished.
3. "When the Christ shall come, will He do more miracles," etc.? Jesus had fulfilled all the specifications that had been spoken of the Messiah; in other words, the chain of evidence of His Messiahship was complete as far as He had gone. Other details have been accurately fulfilling from that day to this. "The Word of the Lord endureth forever."
4. Could not understand.—The Jews could not understand how it was that Jesus should go away from them in a little while, and that He would go where they could not follow. The reason they could not understand this was because they did not understand the nature of His mission. They had been led away from the teaching of the Scripture by the traditions of the elders, and consequently had imbibed false ideas concerning the Messiah. They supposed He was coming to break the Roman yoke and set up the Jewish nation as the rulers of the world. Christ presented Himself as the Messiah; then how could it be that He would soon go away to some place where they could not go? Truly it was a mystery to people who had been so long under a system of false education. But the masses of professed Christians to-day are laboring under as great delusion concerning the second advent of the Messiah as were the Jews about the first advent. When the Lord ascended to heaven in a cloud from Mount Olivet, two angels appeared to the bewildered disciples, and said to them: "Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven." Acts 1: 11. And the Lord Himself had told them that "as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be" (Matt. 24: 27); also that His coming should be "in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory" (verse 30). Again, in chap. 25: 31, we are told that "the Son of man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him," and that then the righteous shall inherit the kingdom prepared for them from the foundation of the world (verse 34). When we compare these and other plain utterances of the Scriptures with the mythical traditions of the Lord's coming at death, and the soul's immortality, taught by "eminent divines" as Christian doctrine, we need not wonder at the confusion that exists in the nominal Christian world. It is just as important to know the truth about the coming of the Lord in glory as it was to know the truth about His coming in humility.
5. The Gospel invitation is being extended yet. "And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." Rev. 22: 17. "Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money, come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labor for that which satisfieth not? harken diligently unto Me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. Incline your ear, and come unto Me; hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David." Isa. 55: 1-3.
