John 7:37-52 In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come to me, and drink.… BECAUSE IN HIM — I. DOCTRINE AND TEACHER ARE ONE. Other teachers are different from what they teach, and never make themselves the object of their own instruction. Christ is the sole Teacher who is able to say, "I am the Truth," and as such the substance of His own teaching. Christ's purpose was not to give a right conception of God, or to lead men to rightly know themselves. We have this in the Old Testament. His purpose was to reconcile men to God. Hence He required not faith in God — this the Jews had long ago — but in Himself. II. DOCTRINE AND LIFE PERFECTLY HARMONIZE. This can be said of no other. However careful the teacher, his life falls behind his teaching. He could alone say, "Which of you convinceth Me of sin?" When He said, "Be ye perfect as your Father," etc. He could also say, "I and My Father are one." If He exhorted to resignation He said, "Thy will be done." His requirement of self-denial was illustrated in His actual bearing of the cross. Of His new commandment He was the model, "As I have loved you." He went about doing good to those who rejected Him, to enforce the duty of doing good to those who hate us, and prayed, "Father, forgive them," that we might pray for our persecutors. III. THE DOCTRINE AND THE GROUNDS OF THE DOCTRINE COINCIDE. Other teachers convince their scholars by proofs, and prophets by "Thus saith the Lord" — Christ simply says, "Verily, verily, I say unto you." He is the ground of His teaching just as certainly as when the Lord God confirms His words by saying, "As surely as I live." IV. HIS DOCTRINE AND ITS EFFECTS ARE IN FULLEST UNISON. Every teacher aims at this, but no one fully reaches it. As the husbandman often finds that his seed does not germinate, so there are many whose teaching has not the desired results. One does not speak intelligibly, another wants impressiveness, a third dies prematurely. But Christ speaks so that even fishermen understand Him; so attractively that crowds press upon Him, and authorities envy Him; so irresistibly that friends cannot be turned from Him by threats. And now He speaks through a thousand tongues, in pulpits, schools, and homes. You who are burdened, do you not find rest in Christ's teaching? You who suffer, comfort? You who are guilty, pardon? You who are dying, triumph? Verily the result of Christ's teaching is not to be doubted. Conclusion: If, then, after eighteen centuries we are compelled to confess that, despite all the wonderful advances in knowledge, never man spake like Christ, it must be clear that He was more than a child of man. Were He only this we must have outstripped Him. (R. Nesselmann.) Parallel Verses KJV: In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. |
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