"NEVER MAN SPAKE LIKE THIS MAN"
THESE were the words of officers sent to arrest Jesus, when they returned to the chief priests and Pharisees who had sent them. This was the official return on the warrant issued for the arrest of the Man whose work and teaching the rulers desired to have stopped. What was there about His words that could have such an influence even upon the officers of the law? They evidently contained strong conviction that Jesus was not a criminal, but, on the contrary, was too holy to be molested on suspicion. There was a power in them that even armed officials could not overcome, altho they were not spoken in special resistance to constituted authority. Of His words, or teaching, Jesus Himself said: "The word which ye hear is not Mine, but the Father's which sent Me." John 14: 24. This accounts for the power which His words contained. Again, He said, "The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life." Chapter 6:63. By faith the Roman centurion recognized the power of Christ's word, when he said, "I am not worthy that Thou shouldst come under my roof; but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed." Matt. 8:8. At Capernaum, when Jesus had cast an unclean spirit out of a man in the synagog, the people said, "What a word is this! for with authority and power He commandeth the unclean spirits, and they come out." Luke 4: 36. When He commanded the stormy sea to be still, those who witnessed the effect said, "What manner of Man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him!" When "many of His disciples went back, and walked no more with Him," on account of what they deemed "a hard saying" that none could receive, He asked His immediate companions, "the twelve," what they would do. Peter answered, "Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life." John 6:68. The psalmist says, "The words of the Lord are pure words; as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times." Ps. 12:6; also, Prov. 30:5. "Thy Word is very pure; therefore Thy servant loveth it." Ps. 119:140. So we are told to think on "whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely," etc. Phil. 4:8. In these days when there is so much complaint about adulterated food, it is a time to look for pure food. So the great Physician tells us that "man shall not live by bread [physical food] alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." Matt. 4:4. No man ever spoke as Jesus spake. In His word is "all wisdom" (Col. 3:16); He spake with power and authority and great influence (Luke 4:32, 36, 37, 41). Nor does His word lose any of its power when spoken in the wisdom of faith by His disciples. See Acts 1:8; 2:37-43; 4:4-14, 32, 33, and many other scriptures. Christ is Himself the Word of God (John 1:1-5, 14), therefore He is "the power of God, and the wisdom of God" (1 Cor. 1:24), which enables Him to speak as "never man spake." It is in the strength of this power and wisdom that His followers are to carry on His work in the earth (Matt. 28:18-20). So they are again solemnly enjoined by His Spirit to "preach the Word." See 2 Tim. 4:1-4. Thus the Word of Christ, who spoke as never man spake, is to be our infallible guide against false doctrine until He come again to reap the final harvest. G.