Wonderful WORDS of Life

“No one ever spoke the way this man does” (John 7:48 NIV)

 

In the Gospel of John, chapter 7, we read how Jesus had been attracting large crowds and gathering many followers (vss. 31,40), to the point where He was becoming a problem to the Jewish religious leaders. So the Pharisees were determined that He must be stopped. Accordingly, they sent several officers to arrest Him. These men went to where Jesus was and found Him teaching a crowd of people. They listened and such was the effect of the Lord’s words on them that they didn’t arrest Him. Something about the words of Jesus overawed and restrained them and they returned without Him. When the officers returned without Jesus the Pharisees asked them, “Why have you not brought Him?” They answered, “No man ever spoke the way this man does”.

 

But in the words of these men there is a profound truth, probably far more profound than they realised, because it is a statement of fact. No man ever spoke the way Jesus did. If we were to compare the words of Jesus with those of the world’s greatest thinkers, religious leaders, scientists, teachers, statesmen and philosophers, we would have to say, “No man ever spoke the way this man does.”

 

No other man in his right mind would make the claims that He made. He said such things as: “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall never pass away.” If any other man were to make such staggering claims he would be ridiculed or counted as insane. In John 14:10 Jesus said, “The words that I speak unto you are not just my own. Rather it is the Father living in me…..” So the words of Jesus were God’s words. His messages were not stereotyped. He spoke exactly what the person needed to hear.   Jesus told Nicodemus, the religious Pharisee, that he needed to be born again (John 3:5). To the woman at the well, who had been living an immoral life, He revealed Himself in a remarkable way and offered her “living water” and a better life (John 4:10).

 

Jesus spoke in such a way that ordinary people could understand Him. “The common people heard Him gladly” (Mark 12:37). He was able to relate to fishermen, farmers, mothers, the young and the old, unlearned folk as well as scholars.   Yet He could match and at times confound the keenest minds among His critics with His wisdom.    He said to Matthew the publican, “Follow Me”. Matthew left all, rose up and followed Him. He said to Peter and Andrew as they were throwing a net into the sea, “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men”.   Immediately they left their nets and followed Him. He spoke to a dead man, the only son of the widow of Nain when the company of mourners was on the way to the funeral, “Young man, I say unto you, arise”. The verse goes on to say “….and he that was dead sat up and began to speak”   (Luke 7:15). He spoke to the wind and the raging sea and they obeyed Him, the sea instantly becoming a great calm (Mark3:39). He spoke to a fig tree and it withered away (Mark 11:21). He spoke to demons and they obeyed Him. A man who had been lame for 38 years was told to take up his bed and walk and immediately the man did so. The blind and deaf were similarly healed at His word.

 

His words had special appeal to the sinful, the outcast and the needy. In Luke 19:10 He gave hope to all of us, saying, “For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost”. To a woman taken in adultery He said, “Neither do I condemn thee, go and sin no more” (John 8:11). Think of the words, “Come unto me all you who labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28-30). Have any words ever moved and comforted as many hearts as these?

 

He spoke repeatedly of His coming again and urged His hearers, as He speaks to us, to be ready for this momentous event. The amazing things is that the experience of millions of believers for over 2000 years bears witness to the truth of what Jesus said. His words are still with us, as effective as when He first spoke them. Therefore, if Jesus was, and is, speaking God’s words to us, it is surely reasonable and right for us to receive them and to obey them (John 5:24). On the other hand, it would be disastrous to reject them (John 12:48). So let us read His words, receive His words, rejoice in His words, let us meditate on His words, let us memorise His words, let us never be ashamed of His words and, most important of all, let us keep His words faithfully, whatever the cost, every day of our lives.

   

Surely, “No one ever spoke the way this man does”. Hallelujah!