"In the last day, that great day of the feast," when there was a holy
convocation, or assembling of the people, Jesus stood up, and invited
all men to believe in Him, and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit,
which He compared to "living water"--water that would wash away all
their sins, and give life and strength to their souls: just as a good
drink of pure water, given to a man who is fainting with fatigue and
thirst, will revive him, and give him fresh strength and spirit for
his work.
Again was there "a division among the people because of him": some
said, "Of a truth, this is the Prophet"; others, more plainly, "This
is the Christ"; whilst others, influenced by their false ideas, asked,
"Shall Christ come out of Galilee? Hath not the Scripture said, That
Christ cometh of the seed of David, and out of the town of Bethlehem,
where David was?"
They were right; the Scriptures did say so: but had the people with an
earnest desire endeavoured to learn the truth, they would have found
that in Jesus, these words of Scripture were fulfilled, although
Nazareth, in Galilee, had accidentally been His dwelling-place.
Again, the Chief Priests and Pharisees, fearing His influence with the
people, sent out officers to take Jesus; and when these returned
without Him, they were asked, "Why have ye not brought him?" The
officers, though sent out for that very purpose, could not bring
themselves to lay violent hands on one to whom they had listened with
astonishment; and they now answered, as their reason for not having
brought Him in as a prisoner, "Never man spake like this man." The
Pharisees, in their wilful blindness and hardness of heart, reproached
the officers for being also "deceived," as they called it; and
reminded them that none of the rulers, or learned men, had believed in
Jesus, and that as to the people, they were ignorant; adding the most
unwarrantable assertion, "This people, who knoweth not the Law, are
cursed."
The Pharisees, who were very proud of their own knowledge, not only
despised all who were unlearned, but believed that _only_ the learned
would enjoy happiness after death, whilst the ignorant would be
miserable. They mistook knowledge for religion. But the Gospel teaches
a very different lesson; worldly knowledge is good and useful, and
those who have the means, do well to acquire it; but it cannot take a
man to heaven, nor will ignorance of it, keep any man _out_ of heaven.
A knowledge of our own sinfulness, of the Salvation brought by Jesus,
and a consequent endeavour to please Him in all things, is the only
knowledge that is really necessary as far as our Souls are concerned.
Without _this_ knowledge, the most learned man can never gain
admittance into heaven; with it, the most ignorant will be received
into the kingdom of God.
One of the councillors present on this occasion was Nicodemus, who,
being a believer, had come to Jesus secretly, in the night, for fear
of the Jews: he now ventured to speak in behalf of Jesus, showing that
it was not according to their Law to condemn any one as teaching what
was wrong, or untrue, until they had heard what he had to say for
himself. His words had no effect but to make the other members of the
council ask him, "Art thou also of Galilee?"--that is, art thou one of
those who have the folly to believe in this Galilean. "Search and
look" in the Scriptures, for they will show that "out of Galilee
ariseth no prophet."
Nothing more was at this time said or done, and the Pharisees probably
broke up the council in anger, vexed at not having got Jesus into
their power. "Every man went unto his own house."
Jesus now went unto the Mount of Olives, or Mount Olivet, where He
doubtless passed part of the night in prayer. This Mount rose about
half a mile east of Jerusalem, and the brook Kedron ran between it and
the city. It took its name from the number of Olive trees which grew
upon it; they were cultivated for the purpose of extracting oil from
the fruit. On this Mount there were several villages: Bethphage was on
that side farthest from Jerusalem; and on the side nearest to the
city, stood the village of Gethsemane. The word Gethsemane means "the
place of oil presses"; which shows that the people of the village were
occupied in squeezing the oil out of the olives that were brought down
from other parts of the Mount. It was up the Mount of Olives that King
David went weeping, when the rebellion of Absalom had forced him to
quit Jerusalem.
After spending the night on the Mount of Olives, or in one of its
villages, Jesus, early in the morning, "came again into the temple,
and all the people came unto him; and he sat down and taught them."
The Scribes and Pharisees, always trying to find some cause of
complaint against Him, now brought a woman who had committed a sin,
for which the Law of Moses pronounced death to be the punishment: they
now asked Jesus, whether this woman should be stoned or not. If Jesus
condemned the woman to death, they could accuse Him to the Romans of
trespassing upon their authority: if He acquitted the woman, they
could hold Him up to the people as acting contrary to the Jewish Law.
But Jesus knew the wickedness of their hearts, and that in the sight
of God, their guilt was as great, if not greater, than that of this
woman; therefore He gave them no answer, but "He that is without sin
among you, let him first cast a stone at her. And they which heard it,
being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one." None of
these Scribes or Pharisees could dare to pronounce themselves free
from sin, therefore they all retired. Then Jesus dismissed the woman
with the warning, "Go, and sin no more."
At this time, Jesus spake many things to all who came into the temple
to hear Him. He spake to them of His death: He told them that if they
were really the children of Abraham, spiritually as well as by natural
descent, they would do the works of Abraham: and that if God were
their Father, as they pretended, they would love Him, who was the Son
of God; but that they were, in fact, the children of the Devil, who
was a liar from the beginning. During these discourses, "many believed
on him"; but many others would gladly have "laid hands on him": and
when at length, in answer to their questions, Jesus declared unto
them, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am,"
their rage could no longer be repressed: "then took they up stones to
cast at him": but "his hour was not yet come" to die, and therefore
"Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the
midst of them, and so passed by," disappointing the malice of His
enemies.
After this, the seventy disciples, whom Jesus had sent out to preach
and to teach in the different cities, "returned again with joy,
saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name."
He then told them, that this need not surprise them, since God had
begun to destroy the power of Satan: and He also told them, that they
had a far greater cause for joy than the subjection of evil spirits;
even that they had been chosen to be the servants and children of God,
and were thereby set in the way that would, if they walked steadily in
it, bring them to everlasting life.
The parable of the Good Samaritan was now told by Jesus to one of the
Scribes, or Lawyers, who came and asked Him a question: not from any
real desire to learn, but from a wish to make our Lord say something
that he could find fault with. To his question, "Master, what shall I
do to inherit eternal life?" he expected that Jesus would make an
answer not quite agreeing with the Law of Moses: but our Lord at once
showed him that His teaching was the same as that of Moses; for He
asked him, "What is written in the Law? How readest thou?" "And he
answering, said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart,
and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy
mind; and thy neighbour as thyself." These words, taken from the Books
of Deuteronomy and Leviticus, were repeated twice every day in the
synagogue service, as a short statement of all that the Law was
intended to teach; that is, Love to God and Man. These same words were
written on some of the Phylacteries, or strips of parchment which the
Jews wore on their foreheads, and on the left wrist. Most likely, the
Lawyer who questioned Jesus had these very words written on his
Phylactery; and that Jesus pointed to the words when He asked, "How
readest thou?" The Gospel, as well as the Law, teaches us to love God
and Man; and shows us, that those who really and truly do so are sure
to find favour with God, who can alone admit us to eternal life. The
Scribe's answer was right, under the Gospel as well as under the Law:
and Jesus therefore replied, "Thou hast answered right: this do, and
thou shalt live": by obeying the words of Moses, he would, through the
tidings made known by the Gospel, inherit eternal life. May these
words be written in all our hearts, and may we make them the guide of
all our actions.