"Never Man Spake like This Man"
By Emma H. Adams
To be assured of the foundation upon which the officers made this least expected report to the chief priests and Pharisees, who had sent them to apprehend Christ,—present that day at the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem, and teaching great facts and mighty truths to the people in the temple,—it is but necessary to read, with mind alert for light and food, the wonderful scriptures of John 5: 19-47; 6: 3-63; 7: 28-44. The amazing, inspiring words of the sixth chapter were spoken in Capernaum, to a company of people from across the Sea of Tiberias. They had come from "nigh unto the place" where Christ had enacted the wonderful miracle of the loaves and fishes. Discerning quickly the motives and impulses which led to their hasty trip across beautiful Galilee, Jesus, with noble candor, sent His first utterance to the very place in their being which most needed remedial treatment, saying, "Ye seek Me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled." That is, they had not been impressed so much by the gracious kindness, the tender pity, the great might, manifested in the miracle; by the fact that out of infinitesimal supply immense provision had been made; as by the comforting fact that when intensely hungry and far from supplies they had been fed generously and were satisfied. But that hunger, that filling, had now brought them to Him who could assert, without possibility of refutation: "My Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is He which cometh down from heaven, and giveth LIFE unto the world"—a greater thing than earth-produced loaves and fishes. Then followed a talk to those across Galileans, to which the literature of mankind presents no equal; a talk exceeding all power of man in its inspiring super-earthly promises. Notice one or two: "I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat"—by faith—"of this bread, he shall live forever." "Whoso eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood"—by faith—"hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day." "Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out." Surely, in all this, "never man spake like this man." Four times in that unparalleled address does Christ, the Son of God, promise the hearers, without reservation or modification — and all other men from that day down — that all whom the Father has given Him, all who come to Him, all who6believe in Him, all who eat His flesh and drink His blood, shall have eternal life, and He will raise them up at the last day. Well might that audience have declared, as did those officers later in Jerusalem, "Never man spake like this man." No one can study down, down into the profound intent of all those rare, hitherto unuttered, living words, words full of might, words that take hold of the very rootlets of man's being, without asserting with heart and soul, "Never man spake like this man." No one can think out and out into the glorious possibilities they disclose, into the exalted development they foreshadow, into the beatific conditions of life they unveil, into the long eternity of gladdening service they suggest, the elevated companionship with Christ and with God they picture for redeemed men and women, but that they will cry out, "Never man spake like this man." There have lived of our race many gifted, eloquent speakers and orators; men who have had original and impressive modes of expressing their ideas; men who have swayed audiences powerfully, stirring their emotions extremely, exciting fading hopes, arousing courage, clinching right purposes, awakening dormant action. Yet, not one of these great orators has been able, of his own inherent power, to bestow "eternal life" upon those who should believe on him; not one could promise distinctly, absolutely, to raise such believers from their graves, restoring to them at that moment the "principle of life," which at death had "returned to God who gave it." Eccl. 12: 7; 3: 19-21. Not one of them ever "spake like this man." Not one of them could announce to an audience, as did Jesus that day to that company at Capernaum, "He that believeth on Me hath everlasting life," "The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life." "I am the bread of life: he that cometh to Me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on Me shall never thirst." "Never man spake like this man." These are figurative statements of highest spiritual import. Christ's "living" words become to us spirit and life when we weave their true, deep intent into our daily deeds; when we let them influence the total trend of our thought; when they mold our wayward purposes into harmony with God's salutary will; when we make them a shapely cast for our complete personal character. But what were the words of Christ that impressed the officers commissioned by the chief priests to bring Him before them, to account for the doctrine promulgated by Him? We find the Saviour not now in Galilee, but in the temple at Jerusalem, about the middle day of the Feast of Tabernacles, actively, earnestly instructing the people. It would seem, from the account given by John,—7: 15-17,—that the apostle must have omitted an important portion of the Saviour's discourse that day. Verse 15 shows that His subject, His full knowledge thereof, and His marked ability in treating (Continued on page 9) "Never Man Spake like This Man"
it, astonished His hearers greatly, for they "marveled, saying, How knoweth this man learning [margin], having never learned?" Replying to their criticisms and questions, Jesus said: "My doctrine is not Mine, but His that sent Me. If any man will Do His Will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of Myself." The entire theme and tone of the teaching, as given, differ immensely from the exalted instruction imparted at Capernaum, and given in chapter six; yet, every sentence is weighted with cutting truth; carries the impression of unlimited power; displays tenderest sympathy for the race of which He was a part; dispenses to faulty people ever needed, ever practical advice; betrays no fear of human authority. The Lord charges some of His hearers with going about to kill Him. Verse 32 discloses the reason. On a previous visit to Jerusalem (John 5: 16) He had healed a helpless man on the Sabbath day, at the Pool of Bethesda. For this infringement of tradition, and because of divided sentiment as to His authority, the Pharisees and chief priests sent officers to take Him. Why did they not take Him? "His hour was not yet come." In God's plan for this earth, which holds most wonderful place in His universe, events occur on the day, at the hour, at the moment, appointed by Him, tho the appointments have been made centuries before. After Christ's supreme test in the wilderness, after His baptism, He went into Galilee, crying, "The time is fulfilled." Moses led Israel out of Egypt the very day God had promised Abraham the event should occur. In John 17: 1, Jesus, lifting His eyes to heaven, said, "Father, the hour is come." In Rev. 22: 10, John was instructed to seal not the prophecy of that book, for the time was at hand. So not until His hour came, could any man lay hands on Him. "In the last day, that great day of the feast," Jesus stood and uttered some remarkable sayings to the people, making Himself the distinct center of their application. John 7: 37, 38. These sayings, together with His assertions, "Ye shall seek Me, and shall not find Me: and where I am, thither ye can not come;" "If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink. He that believeth on Me, . . . from within him shall flow rivers of living water," are probably some of the words in the mind of the officers when they reported to the authorities, "Never man spake like this man." And to-day, whoever reads and thinks deeply into these columns of mighty truths spoken by Christ on the many different occasions recorded by John, must admit, as did those officers, with absolute conviction, "Never man spake like this man."