Never Man Spake Like This Man
In the Gospel of John, Chapter 7, verses 43 through 46 we read some very illuminating words: 43 So there was a division among the people because of him.
44 And some of them would have taken him; but no man laid hands on him.
45 Then came the officers to the chief priests and Pharisees; and they said unto them, Why have ye not brought him? 46 The officers answered, Never man spake like this man.
Starting with verse 43, we see a truth that has been an undeniable, inevitable reality ever since the Incarnation, Life, Death, Resurrection, and Ascension of Jesus Christ.
The truth in Christ has always, and always shall bring about "divisions among the people.
" Jesus the Great Shepherd emphasized this point on more than one different occasion to His disciples.
He taught them that He would be eagerly accepted by His sheep, but rejected by those who have no ears to hear, or heart to receive Him and His words.
The words of Christ seem to have a way of producing a strong emotional response in those who hear them, both in the negative and the affirmative and this has been the case throughout history.
In my opinion this fact alone is an indicator that the words of Christ Who is the Word of Almighty God, demand a response from all who hear them.
The words of Jesus strike a responsive chord in the souls of all who hear them because we were created by Him to respond definitively either one way or the other to Him and His offer of eternal redemption.
I believe that God leaves nothing to chance when it comes to the eternal souls that He has made: when it comes to us deciding our eternal destinies based upon our response to His words, and the truth in Christ.
Verse 44 speaks of the predicament that the officers sent by the Chief Priests and Pharisees faced when they went to apprehend Jesus, and take Him into custody.
These men heard the words of Jesus themselves, as He spoke to the crowds.
I believe that they felt, as well as heard the unlimited power of the Spirit of God as He spoke forth His living words of truth.
They sensed within themselves, I am sure, that here was One speaking whose voice could very well change the course of history.
Though they could not have known it, He was the One whose life and words would not only change the course of history, but also the eternal destinies of all mankind.
It was not God's appointed time yet for Jesus to be taken into custody and to stand before His "judges", those unto whom He gave their very life and being, even as He stood before them in "judgement.
" Jesus would speak unhindered to the crowds yet another day.
The time of His great sacrifice, that was swiftly approaching, was not yet at hand.
In verse 45 it was asked of the men that were sent to arrest Jesus why they had returned to them without having Him in custody.
I believe that the Chief Priests already knew why they had failed in their mission.
The throngs of rowdy Israelites who followed Jesus, who had received from Him miraculous healings, their daily bread, and His words of life would have mobbed them if they had even dared try to arrest Him when He was in the midst of one of His teachings, or raising one of their dead back to life.
I find it interesting that the hypocritical Chief Priests and Pharisees did not accompany the men they sent to take Jesus into custody.
Their moral cowardice comes to the fore in the light of this fact.
They would never have been the ones to attempt to interrupt Him as He spoke to the crowds who heard His words of life, and knew the power of living truth that rang out in His voice.
Fear of public embarrassment, and loss of credibility were the major reasons why the Chief Priests and Pharisees didn't accompany the officers they sent to arrest Him.
Their formal sect of the "religiously elite" would not have known how to handle censure and disagreement coming from the same people that they took such great pride in parading their fictitious "spiritual accomplishments" in front of.
The falseness in their lives had only become more obviously apparent, as they were forcibly examined in the light of the words of truth that Jesus spoke and by what they must have sensed was His divine nature.
The life and revealing words of Jesus had already scathingly exposed them publicly in their hypocrisy, and the last thing they wanted was to be exposed for what they really were.
Jesus was definitely becoming a big thorn in their sides.
His teachings condemned their pride and promoted the love that only God Himself can instill within the heart of man.
He taught the people as one having authority, and this greatly angered the proud, bigoted, "religiously elite" Priests and Pharisees.
They were steeped in legalism, but Jesus taught freedom.
Freedom to love, serve, and worship His Father out of a loving, grateful, God given Spirit, and not out of the traditions of men.
The teachings of Jesus went against the grain of the established system of "religion" as it was strictly enforced by the legalistic priests, and lawyers of that day.
The crowds loved Jesus for now.
He had raised their dead to life again.
He had healed their sick and wounded.
He had performed countless miracles for them, before them all.
Miracles that were witnessed by entire throngs of people.
He had spoken unto them the words of His life: words that were filled with the urgency and power that the desperate need of the people to hear His Words produced in Him.
He was revealing unto them the way of life in His great passion of being an obedient, loving servant and Son unto His Father.
Verse 46 presents with powerful simplicity the response of those same officers when asked why they had returned without Him.
They simply responded with: "Never man spake, like this Man.
" They had heard Jesus preaching a life saving Gospel.
No man has ever spoken words, or will ever speak with the same compelling magnetism, the dynamically Holy Spirit powered oratorical force that the Word Himself spoke with.
He is the One Who gives all who hear His words our very existence, our very life and breath as He speaks to us in His divine authority.
These men who had heard Him speak could not help but know the power and authority in His words.
"Never man spake, like this Man.
" Jesus Christ, the Word of God, speaks words that raise the dead, casts out unclean spirits, and stills the mighty waves of a stormy sea.
His Words are the very power of God.
Only He can speak His words into and still the storm that rages in our hearts when we are lost in the misty darkness of sin.
Only He by the presence of His Holy Spirit within the heart of a man or woman can give real life and peace: His peace.
Peace and joy that will live forever in the hearts of those who receive Him.
"Never man spake like this Man.
" John Simmons © 6/27/2008
44 And some of them would have taken him; but no man laid hands on him.
45 Then came the officers to the chief priests and Pharisees; and they said unto them, Why have ye not brought him? 46 The officers answered, Never man spake like this man.
Starting with verse 43, we see a truth that has been an undeniable, inevitable reality ever since the Incarnation, Life, Death, Resurrection, and Ascension of Jesus Christ.
The truth in Christ has always, and always shall bring about "divisions among the people.
" Jesus the Great Shepherd emphasized this point on more than one different occasion to His disciples.
He taught them that He would be eagerly accepted by His sheep, but rejected by those who have no ears to hear, or heart to receive Him and His words.
The words of Christ seem to have a way of producing a strong emotional response in those who hear them, both in the negative and the affirmative and this has been the case throughout history.
In my opinion this fact alone is an indicator that the words of Christ Who is the Word of Almighty God, demand a response from all who hear them.
The words of Jesus strike a responsive chord in the souls of all who hear them because we were created by Him to respond definitively either one way or the other to Him and His offer of eternal redemption.
I believe that God leaves nothing to chance when it comes to the eternal souls that He has made: when it comes to us deciding our eternal destinies based upon our response to His words, and the truth in Christ.
Verse 44 speaks of the predicament that the officers sent by the Chief Priests and Pharisees faced when they went to apprehend Jesus, and take Him into custody.
These men heard the words of Jesus themselves, as He spoke to the crowds.
I believe that they felt, as well as heard the unlimited power of the Spirit of God as He spoke forth His living words of truth.
They sensed within themselves, I am sure, that here was One speaking whose voice could very well change the course of history.
Though they could not have known it, He was the One whose life and words would not only change the course of history, but also the eternal destinies of all mankind.
It was not God's appointed time yet for Jesus to be taken into custody and to stand before His "judges", those unto whom He gave their very life and being, even as He stood before them in "judgement.
" Jesus would speak unhindered to the crowds yet another day.
The time of His great sacrifice, that was swiftly approaching, was not yet at hand.
In verse 45 it was asked of the men that were sent to arrest Jesus why they had returned to them without having Him in custody.
I believe that the Chief Priests already knew why they had failed in their mission.
The throngs of rowdy Israelites who followed Jesus, who had received from Him miraculous healings, their daily bread, and His words of life would have mobbed them if they had even dared try to arrest Him when He was in the midst of one of His teachings, or raising one of their dead back to life.
I find it interesting that the hypocritical Chief Priests and Pharisees did not accompany the men they sent to take Jesus into custody.
Their moral cowardice comes to the fore in the light of this fact.
They would never have been the ones to attempt to interrupt Him as He spoke to the crowds who heard His words of life, and knew the power of living truth that rang out in His voice.
Fear of public embarrassment, and loss of credibility were the major reasons why the Chief Priests and Pharisees didn't accompany the officers they sent to arrest Him.
Their formal sect of the "religiously elite" would not have known how to handle censure and disagreement coming from the same people that they took such great pride in parading their fictitious "spiritual accomplishments" in front of.
The falseness in their lives had only become more obviously apparent, as they were forcibly examined in the light of the words of truth that Jesus spoke and by what they must have sensed was His divine nature.
The life and revealing words of Jesus had already scathingly exposed them publicly in their hypocrisy, and the last thing they wanted was to be exposed for what they really were.
Jesus was definitely becoming a big thorn in their sides.
His teachings condemned their pride and promoted the love that only God Himself can instill within the heart of man.
He taught the people as one having authority, and this greatly angered the proud, bigoted, "religiously elite" Priests and Pharisees.
They were steeped in legalism, but Jesus taught freedom.
Freedom to love, serve, and worship His Father out of a loving, grateful, God given Spirit, and not out of the traditions of men.
The teachings of Jesus went against the grain of the established system of "religion" as it was strictly enforced by the legalistic priests, and lawyers of that day.
The crowds loved Jesus for now.
He had raised their dead to life again.
He had healed their sick and wounded.
He had performed countless miracles for them, before them all.
Miracles that were witnessed by entire throngs of people.
He had spoken unto them the words of His life: words that were filled with the urgency and power that the desperate need of the people to hear His Words produced in Him.
He was revealing unto them the way of life in His great passion of being an obedient, loving servant and Son unto His Father.
Verse 46 presents with powerful simplicity the response of those same officers when asked why they had returned without Him.
They simply responded with: "Never man spake, like this Man.
" They had heard Jesus preaching a life saving Gospel.
No man has ever spoken words, or will ever speak with the same compelling magnetism, the dynamically Holy Spirit powered oratorical force that the Word Himself spoke with.
He is the One Who gives all who hear His words our very existence, our very life and breath as He speaks to us in His divine authority.
These men who had heard Him speak could not help but know the power and authority in His words.
"Never man spake, like this Man.
" Jesus Christ, the Word of God, speaks words that raise the dead, casts out unclean spirits, and stills the mighty waves of a stormy sea.
His Words are the very power of God.
Only He can speak His words into and still the storm that rages in our hearts when we are lost in the misty darkness of sin.
Only He by the presence of His Holy Spirit within the heart of a man or woman can give real life and peace: His peace.
Peace and joy that will live forever in the hearts of those who receive Him.
"Never man spake like this Man.
" John Simmons © 6/27/2008
Source...