Jesus now utters.[71] He senses at once the request and the earnest
purpose of these men seeking Him out. It is for them especially that
these words are spoken. And if, as some thoughtful scholars think, Jesus
spake here, not in His native Aramaic, but in the Greek tongue, it gives
colouring to the supposition. The intense earnestness of His words, and
the revealing of the intense struggle within His spirit as He breathes
out the simple prayer,--all this is a tacit recognition of the spirit of
these Greeks.
The parallel is striking with the Nicodemus interview where no direct
mention is made of the faith that later events showed was unquestionably
there. It seems like another of those silences of John that are so full
of meaning.[72] And the silence seems, as with Nicodemus, to mean the
acquiescence of the inquirers in the message they hear.
This then would seem to be the reply to the request. They have indeed
seen Jesus. And they accept it and Him, as most likely they linger
through the Passover-days at hand and then turn their faces homeward.
And so the warm wooing has drawn out this warm response from the
cultured Greek world.
So we trace the blue thread in John's tapestry picture, the true faith
that is drawn out from nothing to little and more and much and most,
under the warmth of the brooded wooing of this great Lover.
The Ugly Thread in the Weaving.
Now for that ugly dark thread, the opposition to, the rejection of, the
Lover's wooing. But we'll not linger here. We've been seeing so much of
this thread as we traced the other and studied the whole. Ugly things
stand out by reason of their very ugliness. This stands out in gloomy
disturbing contrast with all the rest. A brief quick tracing will fully
answer our present purpose. And then we can hasten on to the dominating
figure in the pattern.
The opposition begins with silent rejection, moves by steady stages,
growing ever intenser clear up to the murderous end. The sending of the
committee to the Jordan to examine John and report on him was an
official recognition of his power. The questions asked raise the
possibility clearly being discussed of John being the promised prophet,
or Elijah, or even the Christ Himself, and this is an expression of the
national expectancy. The utter silence with which John's witness to
Jesus is met is most striking.[73] Its significance is spoken of by both
Jesus and John.[74]
The intensity of the resentment over the cleansing of the temple-area
can be almost felt rising up out of the very page, in the critical
questions and cynical comment of the Jews. One can easily see all the
bitterness of their hate tracking its slimy footprints out of that
cleansed courtyard.[75]
The cunning discussion among the great Jordan crowds about the purifying
rite of baptism, stirred up so successfully by "_a Jew_," that is,
probably by one of the Jerusalem leaders, would seem to be a studied
attempt to discredit the two preachers, Jesus and John, and swing the
crowds away. It was shrewdly done and might have dissipated the fine
spiritual atmosphere by bitter strife and discussion had not Jesus
quietly slipped away.[76]
This attitude of theirs is clearly recognized and felt by Jesus. He
plainly points out that vulgarizing hurt of sin whereby God's own
messenger is not recognized when He comes in the garb of a
neighbour.[77]
Then things get more acute. The blessed healing of a
thirty-eight-year-old infirmity leads to outspoken persecution, to a
desire and purpose actually to kill Jesus. It grew intenser as Jesus'
claim grew clearer. The issue was sharply drawn. He "called God _His own
Father_, making Himself _equal with God_." They begin plotting His
death.[78]
His prudent absence from Jerusalem at the time of the next Passover
reveals graphically how tense the opposition had gotten. But even up by
Galilee's shores they have messengers at work amongst the crowds
exciting discussion and discontent and worse. In the discussion it is
easy to pick out the two elements, the nagging critics and the earnest
seekers. And the saddening result is seen in many disciples leaving
Jesus and going back again to their old way.[79]
Then things got so intense that Jesus' habit of life was broken or
changed. He could no longer frequent Judea as He had done, but kept
pretty much to the northern province of Galilee. The settled plan to
kill made His absence a matter of common prudence. This makes most
striking His great courage in going up to Jerusalem at the autumn Feast
of Tabernacles. He quietly arrived in the midst of much rumour and hot
discussion about Himself, and begins teaching the crowds openly, to the
great amazement of many.
At once begin the wordy critical attacks, egged on probably by the
warmth with which many receive Jesus' teachings. There are three
attempts to take Him by force, including an official attempt at arrest.
But, strangely enough, the very officers sent to arrest are so impressed
by Jesus' teaching that they return with their mission not done, to the
intensest disgust and rage of their superiors.[80]
Early on the morning following there's a cunning coarse attempt to
entrap Him into saying something that can be used against Him. A woman
is brought accused of wrong-doing of the gravest sort, and His opinion
is asked as to the proper punishment for so serious an offense. There's
nothing more dramatic in Scripture than the withdrawal of these
accusers, one by one, actually conscience-stricken in the presence of
the few simple words of this wondrous Man.[81]
This is followed by the intensest give-and-take of discussion thus far,
in which they give vent to their bitterest degree of vile language in
calling Him "a Samaritan," and accusing Him of being possessed with "a
demon." And then the terrible climax is reached in the enraged
passionate attempt of stoning. It is the worst yet to which their
fanatical rage has gone.[82]
Now they reach out to intimidate the multitude, by threatening to cut
off from religious and civic privileges all who would confess belief in
Jesus as Christ. And their spleen vents its rage on the man born blind
but now so wondrously given sight of two sorts.[83]
The winter Feast of the Dedication a few months later finds Jesus back
again in Jerusalem teaching. And again their enraged attempt at stoning,
the second one, is restrained by a something in Him they can neither
understand nor withstand.[84]
The Lazarus incident arouses their opposition to the highest pitch.[85]
This is recognized as a crisis. Such power had never been seen or known.
The inroads of belief are everywhere, in the upper social circles, among
the old families, even in the Jewish Senate itself, notwithstanding the
threatened excommunication. On every hand men are believing. Things are
getting desperate for these leaders. They determine to use all the
authority at hand arbitrarily and with a high hand. What strange
blindness of stubborn self-will to such open evidence of power!
A special meeting of the Jewish Senate is held, not unlikely hastily
summoned of those not infected with belief. And there it is officially
determined to put Jesus to death, and serve public notice that any one
knowing of His whereabouts must report their information to the
authorities.
And as the incoming crowds thicken for the Passover, and the talk about
Lazarus is on every tongue, it is determined to put Lazarus to death,
too. This is the pitch things have risen to as John brings this part of
his story to a close.
The Glory-Coloured Thread.
It is a relief to turn now to the chief figure in this tapestried
picture of John's weaving. Here are glory-coloured threads of bright
yellow. They easily stand out, thrown in relief both by the pleasing
blues and the disturbing blacks. It is the figure of the Man on the
errand, intent on His wooing, absorbed in His great task. Thia Man, His
tremendous wooing, wins glad grateful ever-growing acceptance. And with
rarest boldness and courage He persists in His wooing in spite of the
terrific intensifying opposition.
The gentle softening dew persists in distilling even on the hardest
stoniest soil. The _gentle winsomeness of the wooing_ stands out
appealingly as one goes through those fragments of teaching talks
running throughout. The rare faithfulness of it to the nation and its
leaders is thrown into bold relief by the very opposition that reveals
their dire spiritual plight and their sore need.
The _power of it_ is simply stupendous. As gentle in action as the
falling dew it grows in intensity until neither the gates of death nor
even the stubborn resistance of a human will can prevail against it. It
is power sufficient to satisfy the most critical search, and to make
acceptance not only possible with one's reasoning power in fullest
exercise but the rational thing.
Look a bit at the power at work here. For in looking at the power we are
getting a better look at the Man, and at the purpose that grips Him. Of
the nineteen incidents in these twelve chapters fifteen give exhibitions
of power. It is of two sorts, power over the human will, and miraculous
power.
Eight incidents reveal _power working upon the human will_. In three of
these--Nicodemus, the Samaritan woman, the accused sinful woman--the
will becomes pliant and is radically changed, so morally affecting the
whole life. In five--the temple cleansing, at the Tabernacles Feast, the
first and second attempt at stoning, and the kingly entry into the
city--the human will is stubbornly aggressively antagonistic to Jesus,
but is absolutely restrained from what it is fully set upon doing.
In the other seven incidents the power is _miraculous_ or supernatural.
In three--turning the water into wine, multiplying food supplies,
walking on the water--it is power in _the realm of nature_. In
four--healing the Roman nobleman's son, the thirty-eight-year
infirmity, giving sight to the man born blind, and the raising of
Lazarus--it is power in _the realm of the body_, radically changing its
conditions.
It will help to remember what those words _miraculous_ and
_supernatural_ mean. Miraculous means something wonderful, that is,
something filling us with wonder because it is so unusual. Supernatural
means something above the usual natural order. The two words are
commonly taken as having one meaning. Neither word means something
contrary to nature, of course, but simply on a higher level than the
ordinary workings of nature with which we are familiar. The action is in
accord with some higher law in God's world which is brought into play
and is seen to be superior to the familiar laws.
But the power, or the man that can call this higher law into action, is
of a higher order. There is revealed an intimacy of acquaintance with
these higher laws, and even more a power that can command and call them
into action down in the sphere of our common ordinary life, until we
stare in wonder. This is really the remarkable thing. Not supernatural
action itself simply, tremendous as that is, but the man in such touch
with higher power as to be able to call out the action, and to command
it at will.
This is one of the things that marks Jesus off so strikingly from other
holy men. There are miracles in the Old Testament and in the Book of
Acts. But there's an abundance and a degree of power in Jesus' miracles
outclassing all others. It is fascinating and awesome to watch the
growth of power in these movements of Jesus. It is as though He woos
more persistently in the very degree and variety of power that He uses
so freely, and with such apparent ease.
Which calls out greater power, creating or healing? making water into
wine or healing bodily ailment? Which is the greater, power in the realm
of nature or the body? _or_ in the realm of the human will? multiplying
food _or_ changing a human will? Which is greater, to induce a man
voluntarily to change his course of action, _or_ to restrain him (by
moral power only, not by force) from doing something he is dead-set on
doing?
This is the range through which Jesus' action runs in these fifteen
incidents. Is there a growth in the power revealed? Is there an intenser
plea to these men as the story goes on? Is there a steady piling up of
evidence in the wooing of their hearts?
Well, creating is bringing into material being what didn't so exist
before. Healing does something more. It creates new tissue, makes new or
different adjustments and conditions, _and_ it overcomes the opposite,
the broken tissue, the diseased conditions, the weakness, the tendency
towards decay and death. Clearly there's a greater task in healing, and
a greater power at work, or more power, or power revealed more.
Then, too, of course, the human is above the physical. Man is higher
than nature. He is the lord of creation. It is immensely more to affect
a human will than to affect conditions in nature. The whole thing moves
up to a measureless higher level. And clearly enough it is a less
difficult task to enlighten and persuade one who seeks the light, and to
woo up one who is simply carelessly indifferent, than it is to overcome
and restrain a will that is dead-set against you and is bitterly set on
an opposite course.
Of course, all of this is not commonly so recognized. It seems immensely
more to heal the body than to change a man's course of action, or, at
least, it appeals immensely more to the imagination. The man who can
heal is magnified in our eyes above the other. The miraculous always
seems the greater. It is more unusual. Stronger wills are influencing
others daily. That's a commonplace. Bodily healing is rare. And all the
world is ill. Things are ripe to have such power seize upon the
imagination then and always.
And then, too, there are interlacings here of things we see and things
we don't see. There is the element of the use of the human will in all
miraculous action, whether in nature or among men. Behind both nature's
forces and human forces are unseen spirit personalities, both evil and
good. The real battle of our human life lies there in the spirit realm.
Victory there means full victory in the realm of nature and of human
lives. There is a devil with hosts of spirit attendants. The wilderness
was a spirit-conflict of terrific intensity, ending in Jesus'
unqualified victory.
Jesus' power was more than simply creative, or healing, or over human
wills. It was the power of a pure, strong, surrendered will having the
mastery over a giant, unsurrendered, God-defiant will. This underlies
all else. But we've run off a bit. Come back to the simple story, and
see how the power of Jesus is revealed more and more before their eyes.
And in seeing the faithfulness and winsomeness of His power, see His
wooing.
Intenser Wooing.
A look at the _miraculous_ power first. The turning of the water into
wine was simple creative power at work, creating in the liquid the added
constituents that made it wine. The healing of the nobleman's son rises
to a higher level. The power overcomes diseased weakened conditions and
creates new life in the parts affected.
The healing of a thirty-eight year old infirmity rises yet higher in the
scale of power seen at work. The Roman's child was an acute case; this
an extreme chronic case of long standing. The acute case of illness may
be most difficult and ticklish, demanding a quick masterful use of all
the physician's knowledge and skill. The chronic case is yet more
difficult eluding his best studied and prolonged and repeated effort.
Clearly the power at work is accomplishing more; and so it is pleading
more eloquently.
The feeding of the five thousand is creative power simply, like the
water-wine case, but it moves up higher in the greater abundance of
power shown, the increase of quantity created, and the far greater and
intenser human need met and relieved.
The walking on the water was an overcoming one of nature's laws, a
rising up superior to it. The universal law of gravitation would
naturally have drawn His feet through the surface of the water and His
whole body down. He overcomes this law, retaining His footing on the
water as on land.
It was done in the night, but an Oriental community, like any country
community, anywhere, is a bulletin-board for all that happens. No detail
is omitted, and no one misses the news. And this like all these other
incidents become the common property of the nation.
It is interesting to note in the language John uses[86] that the motive
underneath the action was not to reveal power but simply to keep an
appointment. But then Jesus never used His power to show that He had
power, but only to meet the need of the hour. Yet each exhibition of
power revealed indirectly, incidentally _who He was_.
There is an instance similar to this in the borrowed axe-head that swam
in obedience to Elisha's touch of power to meet the need of the
distressed theological student.[87] In each instance it is the same
habit of nature that yields homage to a higher power at work.
But though there is here no increase of power shown yet the action
itself was of the sort to appeal much more to the crowd. It has in it
the dramatic. It would appear to the crowd a yet more wonderful thing
than they had yet witnessed.
The giving of sight to the man born blind is distinctly a long step
ahead of any healing power thus far related in John's story. There is
here not only the chronic element, but the thing is distinctly in a
class by itself, quite outclassing in the difficulty presented any case
of mere chronic infirmity.
It was not a matter of restoring what disease had destroyed but of
supplying what nature had failed to give in its usual course. It was a
meeting of nature's lack through some slip in the adjustment of her
action in connection with human action. There is not only the appealing
dramatic element, as in the walking on the water, but the appealing
sympathetic element in that this poor man's lifelong burden is removed.
And then the seventh and last of these, the actual raising of Lazarus up
from the dead, is a climax of power in action nothing short of
stupendous. Of the six recorded cases of the dead being raised this is
easily the greatest in the power seen at work. In the other five, in the
Elijah record,[88] the Elisha,[89] the Moabite's body at Elisha's
grave,[90] Jairus' daughter,[91] and the widow's son at Nain,[92] there
was no lapse of time involved.
Here four days of death had intervened, until it was quite certain
beyond question that in that climate decomposition would be well
advanced. Utter human impotence and impossibility was in its last
degree. Man stands utterly powerless, utterly helpless in the presence
of death. It is not the last degree of improbability. There _is_ no
improbability. It's an _impossibility_. The thing is in a class by
itself, the hopeless class. And the four days give death its fullest
opportunity. And death never fails in grim faithfulness to opportunity.
It is no wonder that all Jerusalem was so stirred. The common crowds of
home people and pilgrims, the aristocratic families, the inner official
circles, among _all_ classes, this tremendous event won recognition of
Jesus' power and claim, and with recognition personal faith. Nothing
like this had ever happened. This is the superlative degree of
miraculous power revealed in this matchless wooing of a faithless
nation.
Love Wooing Yet More.
Now a look at the power at work _in the realm of the human will_, really
a higher power, or power at work in a higher realm, though not commonly
so recognized by the crowd. There are eight incidents here. And again we
shall find the steady rise of the power seen at work. Three of these
tell of the human will changed, and four of its being restrained
against its will from doing that which it was dead-set on doing.
The ruler who withdrew from the midst of the disturbed temple managers
for a night-call upon Jesus was radically changed in his convictions and
his life-purpose. He had an open mind. The work was begun at that first
Jerusalem Passover. Under the holy spell of John's presence he is drawn
away from his enraged brother-rulers to seek the night talk. The
frankness and fullness of Jesus' talk shows plainly how open he was and
how much more he opened and yielded that evening. And the after protest
in the official meeting of the rulers, and the loving care for the body
of Jesus reveal how radical was the transformation wrought upon his will
and heart by Jesus.[93]
The Samaritan woman is changed from utter indifference to a change of
will and purpose that makes her an eager messenger to her people until
they hail Jesus as the Saviour of the world. The change involved a
radical face-about in habit and life amongst the very people who knew
her past sinful life best. It meant more than change of conviction, that
change actually put into practice across the grain of the habits of
years, and of the lower passions, so hard to change. It is a distinct
step up from the change in Nicodemus simply because there was so much
more to change. The same power had more to do. And it did it.[94]
The story of the woman accused of the gravest offense is a double one in
the power seen at work. She would naturally be hardened, and stony
hard, shameless to the point of hopeless indifference in moral sense,
and all this increased by their coarse publicity of her. And so little
is said, but so much suggested of a change in her.
The purity of Jesus' face and presence would be a tremendous power of
conviction. The gentleness of His quiet question would couple softening
of heart with conviction of her sin. The word of counsel as she is
dismissed would seem a mirror reflecting the inner longing of her heart
and the new purpose stirring within, as memory recalls early days of
virgin purity, and a wild hope within struggles towards life that there
may yet be a change even for her.
The change in her accusers is, at least, as remarkable though wholly
different. Morally hardened, as shameless and coarse as the woman as
regards a fine moral sensibility; by their own tacit confession no
better in practice than she in the point of morals raised; in their
malignant cunning only concerned with the woman's sin as a means of
venting their spleen upon the man they hated and feared,--what a hideous
spirit-photograph!
Under the strange compelling power of Jesus' word and will, utterly
conscience-stricken at being as guilty as she in the particular item
under discussion, they turn, one by one, and slink softly out, until the
last one is gone. As an instance of one will controlling and changing
another will wholly against its will to the point of forcing out
confession of personal guilt, it is most remarkable. One wonders if,
under that tremendous conviction of personal sin, some of these were
later included in those of the Sanhedrin who openly accepted Jesus. It
is quite possible. It is not improbable.[95]
The fact is noted that the very language used here under the English
indicates a different authorship of the incident than John's. Possibly a
thoughtful delicacy of regard for the woman restrains John's pen if she
were still living as he writes. And then later the Holy Spirit, who so
tactfully restrains John's pen, guides another to fit the remarkable
story in its place in the record.
The drastic turning of bargaining cattle-dealers and bickering
money-brokers, out of the temple-area, and restoring it from a barn-yard
to a place of holy worship, is a most remarkable illustration of
_restraint upon antagonistic wills_ at the point of their greatest
concern. These leaders would gladly have turned _Him_ out.
And who was He, this man with flashing eye and quiet stern word? A
stranger, unknown, from the despised country district of Galilee. And
they have authority, law-officers, everything of the sort on their side.
Yet the restraint of His presence and will over them is as absolute as
though they were in chains. They weakly ask for a sign and evidence of
power. They themselves experienced the most tremendous exhibition of
power the old temple-area had known for generations.[96]
The power of restraint at the Feast of Tabernacles is yet greater. Or
it might be more accurate to say that it is a greater antagonism that is
restrained by the same power. They are fully prepared now. The cleansing
incident took them unawares. It made them gasp to think that any one
would dare oppose them like that.