Then the Jews sought him at the feast, and said, Where is he?

And there was much murmuring among the people concerning him: for some said, He is a good man: others said, Nay; but he deceiveth the people.

Howbeit no man spake openly of him for fear of the Jews.

Now about the midst of the feast Jesus went up into the temple, and taught.

And the Jews marvelled, saying, How knoweth this man letters, having never learned?

Jesus answered them, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that

sent me.

If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.

He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory: but he that seeketh his glory that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him. Did not Moses give you the law, and yet none of you keepeth the law? Why go ye about to kill me?

The people answered and said, Thou hast a devil: who goeth about to kill thee?

Jesus answered and said unto them, I have done one work, and ye all marvel.

Moses therefore gave unto you circumcision; (not because it is of Moses, but of the fathers; and ye on the sabbath day circumcise a man.

If a man on the sabbath day receive circumcision, that the law of Moses should not be broken; are ye angry at me, because I have made a man every whit whole on the sabbath day?

Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment. Then said some of them of Jerusalem, Is not this he whom they seek to kill?

But, lo, he speaketh boldly, and they say nothing unto him. Do the rulers know indeed that this is the very Christ?

Howbeit we know this man whence he is: but when Christ cometh, no man knoweth whence he is.

Then cried Jesus in the temple as he taught, saying, Ye both know me, and ye know whence I am : and I am not come of myself, but he that sent me is true, whom ye know not.

But I know him: for I am from him, and he hath sent me.

:

Then they sought to take him but no man laid hands on him, because his hour was not yet come.

And many of the people believed on him, and said, When Christ cometh, will he do more miracles than these which this man hath done?

The Pharisees heard that the people murmured such things concerning him; and the Pharisees and the chief priests sent officers to take him.

Then said Jesus unto them, Yet a little while am I with you, and then I go unto him that sent me.

Ye shall seek me, and shall not find me: and where I am, thither ye

cannot come.

Then said the Jews among themselves, Whither will he go, that we shall not find him? will he go unto the dispersed among the Gentiles, and teach the Gentiles?

What manner of saying is this that he said, Ye shall seek me, and shall not find me: and where I am, thither ye cannot come ?

COMMENT.-The people who came up to the Feasts had begun to expect to hear JESUS of Nazareth at each of them, and there was much discussion when He did not appear with the Galilean pilgrims as usual, some honouring Him, though merely as a good man, others thinking Him a deceiver. The Law was always rehearsed to the people at this Feast, and in the midst our Lord once more appeared and explained it, as before, to the surprise of those who knew He had not been trained in the rabbinical schools, which were alone thought to qualify a teacher.

His answer appealed to the Divine commission by which He taught, and showed at the same time that it was their own wilful failure in fulfilling God's will that hindered them from perceiving that His words were no mere scholarly comment, but the same Law continued and fulfilled. Nothing but doing the will can open the mind to enter into the doctrine or feel its Divinity.

This was His first proof of His authority. His second was that an uncommissioned teacher seeks his own glory; but whereas our Lord had avoided receiving any honour or glory from men, He proved His own truth by His desire simply for God's glory.

Again, the Jews professed to be zealous for the Law of Moses. Was not their desire to kill our Lord directly against that law? On this, they pretended that only madness on His part could suppose that they meant to kill Him, and He went on to their only accusation against Him, namely, His doing cures on the Sabbath day.

Now, circumcision had been enjoined by Moses, or rather by Abraham, to take place on the eighth day, and a child was always circumcised on that day, whether it were the Sabbath or not. If this

were the case, what right had the Scribes to permit the emblematic rite, and yet condemn the making a man entirely whole on the Sabbath? If He appeared to be breaking the law, the only justice was in looking into the spirit of the thing.

This discourse, so boldly given, perplexed those who saw the justice of the argument, but did not understand why the rulers did not own that He was the Messiah indeed. And then others argued that the Messiah would be of unknown origin, whereas they knew JESUS for the carpenter's son of Nazareth.

Breaking in on the whispers that they thought unsuspected, He told them that they did know, or might know, who He was. Son of David, registered at Bethlehem, He fulfilled all the notes of the Messiah, and it was wilful ignorance not to own Him as Christ come from God. They knew not God in any way, therefore they knew not Him whom the Son alone fully knows, and whom He has sent. This proclamation made the chief priests try to arrest Him on the spot, but they failed; and the bewildered people only felt that Christ could never exceed JESUS in power or moral greatness These sayings of theirs made the Pharisees more resolved on taking Him; and then He uttered the sad prophecy of what the Jews have been doing ever since they rejected Him, ever seeking the Messiah, and never finding Him, as Hosea had foretold. (Hosea vi. 6.)

Therefore shall Israel and Ephraim fall in their iniquity; Judah also shall fall with them.

They shall go with their flocks and with their herds to seek the LORD; but they shall not find him; he hath withdrawn himself from them.

Of course they took this in their material way, fancying He meant to go to the many Jews living in Gentile cities; but we can only see in it the sad state, not merely of the Jewish nation, but of all who will not accept His plain word, ever seeking they know not what, “ever learning, and never coming to a knowledge of the truth," ever blind to JESUS the Christ.

LESSON LXVIII.

THE GREAT DAY OF THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES.

A.D. 29.-JOHN. vii. 37-53.

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.

He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.

(But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)

Many of the people therefore, when they heard this saying, said, Of a truth this is the Prophet.

Others said, This is the Christ. But some said, 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?

So there was a division among the people because of him.

And some of them would have taken him; but no man laid hands on him.

Then came the officers to the chief priests and Pharisees; and they said unto them, Why have ye not brought him?

The officers answered, Never man spake like this man.

Then answered them the Pharisees, Are ye also deceived?

Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed on him?

But this people who knoweth not the law are cursed.

Nicodemus saith unto them, (he that came to Jesus by night, being one of them,)

Doth our law judge any man, before it hear him, and know what he doeth?

They answered and said unto him, Art thou also of Galilee? Search, and look for out of Galilee ariseth no prophet.

And every man went unto his own house.

COMMENT. On each morning of the Feast of Tabernacles a priest in his white garments, with a procession of Levites singing and playing on instruments, went down to the pool of Siloam with a golden pitcher, and drew up about three pints of water. As he came back, he was received at the Water Gate with a three-fold blast of the silver trumpets, and came back to the Great Altar in the court of the priests, where other priests stood with long leafy branches of willow from the brook Kedron, which they held in an arch over his head,

while as the daily sacrifice was offered, he poured out the water into a silver basin. The altar was so high that all the people outside could see as they stood within the court, waving their branches of citron, myrtle, and willow, while the greater Hallel was sung (Ps. cxiii.-cxviii.), and at each great thanksgiving verse the branches were waved towards the altar. As the dwelling in booths alluded to Succoth, the booths of the escaped Israelites on leaving Egypt, so the pouring out of the water recalled the striking of the rock; and it was also founded on the words of Isaiah, “With joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation" (Is. xii. 5) ; and the Rabbis had explained that this was a prophecy of the Holy Spirit, as they might have gathered from Ezekiel's great vision of waters issuing from the sanctuary.

On this great day of the Feast, called the day of the Hosannah, the priests formed a procession and went round the altar seven times singing "Hosanna (save now) to the Lord! O Lord, send us now prosperity;" and the branches were waved more and more as the Hallel was sung. It was then that a Voice spoke out saying, "If any man thirst, let him come to me and drink." The Lord had again suddenly come to His temple, and was proclaiming Himself as the Source of the living waters of which these were the type. He is the Spiritual Rock who gives forth the drink of His people; nay, as he had before told the woman at the well of Sychar that the water He would give would be to the receiver a well of everlasting life, so now He adds that the receiver shall himself become a fountain of life. Truly this was the call," Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters" (Is. lv. 1).

The people knew it for a call of the Messiah-as at least of the Prophet like to Moses, whom some separated from the Messiah ; but some objected that He had come from Galilee, not knowing of His birth at Bethlehem. The temple-guard was sent by the rulers to arrest him; but they returned, daunted by the majesty and holiness of His words, and the Sanhedrim blamed them, scornfully, observing that no ruler had believed on Him, which was not true, since Jairus had accepted, and Nicodemus, becoming bolder, represented that they were condemning Him without a hearing.

In the answer was a scoff at Him, adding, "Search and look, for out of Galilee cometh no prophet." Search and look! Why, there