There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus
Nicodemus
I. NICODEMUS THE INQUIRER. He was a Pharisee, and therefore all manner of religious obstacles, formalism, etc., stood in his way. He was a ruler, and therefore all manner of social impediments beset him. But his conscience had been awakened. He came in the dark so as not to be noticed. He admits Christ’s Divine teacher-ship. Men now hold miracles in light esteem, but this narrative shows us that they should make a sober man think. Our Lord’s reply shows that Nicodemus’ admission was not enough. It is a great thing to reverence Christ, but this will not save without a spiritual change. About this Nicodemus was as ignorant as a babel and as Jesus opened it and related matters he might well marvel. He had inquired, and now heard much more than he anticipated. He is a sample of most inquirers. Through chinks and crannies the heavenly light steals silently and gradually. As the light goes in, prejudices are overcome and notions surrendered, until it becomes day as it did with Nicodemus.
II. NICODEMUS THE CONFESSOR (chap. 7.). The impression made on the public mind by Christ’s teaching and miracles was great (John 7:27). The rulers, filled with wrath, sent officers to arrest Him. These officers were so struck with what they heard that they returned without their prisoner. The Pharisees rebuked them, and heaped insults on all who acknowledged Him. Then Nicodemus arose in His defence, standing on Exodus 23:1-33, and Deuteronomy 1:16. It requires some courage to defend one whom rulers have condemned. Nicodemus did this, and bore the reproach of discipleship. He who was once timid now dares to stand up for Christ alone. The explanation is that in the meantime he had been born again,
III. NICODEMUS FAITHFUL IN HIS MASTER’S HUMILIATION (chap. 19.). Jesus has been tried, condemned, and executed. All His disciples had fled, but Nicodemus stands firm, and with Joseph of Arimathea secures for our Lord an honourable burial Lessons
1. If God begins a work in the soul, He will carry on that work to completion.
2. Ministers must not be discouraged at unpromising beginnings.
3. A man may be at first, but he cannot continue, a secret disciple. (C. D.Marston, M. A.)
Nicodemus
Every effect is to be traced up to some adequate cause, and the effect is in exact proportion to the cause. This is true
1. In nature.
2. In providence.
3. In grace. Witness the case of Nicodemus here and in chaps, 7. and 19.
I. GRACE IN ITS FIRST COMMENCEMENT MAY BE VERY FEEBLE. Nicodemus was a timid man, and ignorant, and somewhat hard; yet he welcomed and employed the light, although not to the fullest extent. In his and in all other cases the beginnings of grace are feeble. Young believers are likened in Isaiah 40:11 to lambs; in Isaiah 42:3 to a bruised reed and smoking flax; in Matthew 13:31 to a mustard seed; in Mark 4:1-41. as a blade. Just as Christ in His natural body grew up from nothing as it were, so is Christ born in the heart.
II. ALTHOUGH GRACE IS THUS FEEBLE IN ITS COMMENCEMENT IT IS A REALITY. Though Nicodemus came as a coward, yet he came; though he was ignorant, yet he asked; though he was a ruler, yet he renounced his knowledge and inquired with all the simplicity of a child. If we had rescued some poor creature from the waves, not a breath stirring, apparently dead, we should use every means and go on in hope. At last we hear a feeble sigh, and the conclusion we draw is that he lives. His life is as real as if he walked. Look at the sinner dead in trespasses and sins. Nothing moves him; not the terrors of the law, nor the invitations of the gospel. But God sends forth His Spirit, the heart is touched, the conscience enlightened, and the effect is that He feels his sin and cries, “God be merciful,” etc. We now find him pleading the atonement and finding mercy. He receives a new principle. This is a reality, and is so described in the terms new creation, new birth, resurrection. That it is real is proved by three things.
1. It abideth (Galatians 5:17).
2. It over cometh (1 John 3:9).
3. It still tendeth towards God (John 4:14).
It came from God, it ascends to God. It longs to love Christ and holiness more, and is not satisfied till it reaches the bosom of its Father (Psalms 17:15).
III. WHEN GRACE IS REAL, HOWEVER WEAK, CHRIST DOES NOT DESPISE IT. He did not upbraid Nicodemus with coming by night, nor does He any one now.
1. His covenant engagements forbid it.
2. His love forbids it.
3. Beware, then, how you despise feeble grace
(1) in others;
(2) in yourself.
Conclusion-- James 4:6. Proverbs 13:4. (J. H. Evans, M. A.)
Nicodemus
I. THE DESCRIPTION HERE GIVEN OF THE MAN.
1. His religious profession, “a man of the Pharisees.”
2. His official position, “a ruler of the Jews.”
II. THE CIRCUMSTANCE RECORDED CONCERNING HIM.
1. Why he came.
(1) Negatively.
(a) It was not to ensnare or oppose Jesus, as was the case with his co-religionists generally.
(b) Not out of curiosity like Zacchaeus.
(2) Positively, to know the truth.
2. When he came, “by night.”
(1) It might have been from a feeling of shame or timidity; but what we know of him does not favour this supposition. Our Lord does not blame him, why should we?
(2) From necessity, his duties forbidding during the day.
(3) From choice as well as convenience. He wanted a private interview, such as Christ’s busy life could not afford during the day.
III. THE ACKNOWLEDGMENT MADE BY HIM.
1. To what it refers--to the character of Jesus as a teacher come from God.
2. The ground on which it rests. Nothing can be more reasonable than the inference. It will be seen
(1) That the miracles of Christ are here spoken of as things of general notoriety. They certainly were not done in a corner.
(2) Their reality is represented as being above all suspicion. They are spoken of as “these miracles,” and no doubt was, or could be, entertained concerning them.
(3) Their wonderful nature was such as clearly indicated that they were wrought through a Divine interposition. The feeling of all who were not blinded by their prejudices, on witnessing each mighty act in succession, was, “This is the finger of God.”
(4) Their express design is recognized as confirmatory of our Lord’s character and claims. What He says should therefore be attended to, and the important truths He uttered on this occasion are especially worthy of the most serious consideration. (Miracles of Our Lord.)
The character of Nicodemus
I. AN INQUIRER. Reports had reached the teachers and rulers concerning Christ which startled them. A man not educated in their schools, nor sent forth with their authority, an obscure man of peasant origin, was preaching doctrines not included in their systems, and doing works to which they were not equal. Nicodemus, one of them, came to inquire of Christ personally as to these things.
II. A CAUTIOUS MAN. There are some who are carried about with every wind of doctrine. Nothing astonishes us more than the ease with which men take up a new religion except the ease with which they lay it down. Not so with Nicodemus. He knew that Judaism was of God, and that Judaism prophesied a Messiah with which Christ did not seem to correspond. Yet Christ’s miracles appeared to authenticate His mission. But before accepting Him he would inquire further.
III. AN INTELLIGENT MAN. Education does not always enlarge the mind. Religious education sometimes tends to bigotry. But this man was an independent thinker, and claimed the right of private judgment. His large mental capacity had been cultured to appreciate evidence and to weigh words. Consequently Christ reveals to him more advanced truths.
IV. AN EARNEST MAN. He had been occupied with his official duties during the day, and now he treads the lone dark streets uncertain whether Christ would receive him.
V. BEING FAITHFUL TO THE LIGHT HE HAD, THE LIGHT WAS TO DEEPEN AND BRIGHTEN. (H. J. Bevis.)
Brave Nicodemus
We see in him
I. THE COURAGE OF THE EARNEST INVESTIGATOR INTO THE CLAIMS OF CHRIST. He was earnest enough to come by night so that he might have a long, calm, and uninterrupted interview. Had he been afraid, Christ would probably have rebuked him. He boldly acknowledges Christ’s Divine mission, and pursues his inquiries into the meaning of Christ’s words. Christ rewards this courage by unreserved communications of spiritual truth. This courage must be imitated by every truth seeker.
II. THE COURAGE OF WISE-WORDED SPEECH FOR CHRIST. The next time we see him (John 7:50) his courage has grown, and in the midst of Christ’s implacable enemies he speaks a wise word for Him. For such a man with his constitutional reserve to act as he did, and to incur what he did, required no ordinary courage. This courage is the power of Christian testimony now: in the presence of enemies, in the midst of temptations, at home.
III. THE COURAGE OF LIBERAL-HANDED SACRIFICE FOR CHRIST. When our Lord’s hour was darkest, Nicodemus’ courage is at the brightest. He takes His stand by the Crucified, whose disciples were scattered, whose cause was discredited, and whose name was a mockery. He ran some risk, knew little of Him compared with what we know, took His body reverently from the cross, embalmed and buried Him. Christ is not in the grave now. To be on His side still requires courage and sacrifice. Count the cost; maintain the struggle; win the crown. (G. T. Coster.)
Nicodemus and Christ
I. THIS MAN’S APPROACH TO CHRIST.
1. Who was he?
(1) A Pharisee; a member of the richest, proudest, most numerous, influential, and sanctimonious class in cur Saviour’s time. Not only so, but “a man of them”--a full-blown representative whom the community and the sect acknowledged as a leader and light of the party.
(2) A ruler of the Jews, not a mere master of a synagogue, but (John 7:50) a member of the Sanhedrim--the supreme ecclesiastical and civil tribunal, the final court for the interpretation and enforcement of the law. No one could be a member of it without being well advanced in life, perfect in all his faculties, tall and impressive in appearance, wealthy, learned, and trained in judicial administration. Perhaps the sublimest visitor the Saviour ever had.
2. Why did he come? The Messiah’s coming was generally expected. Christ had done some apparently Messianic deeds, and had been acknowledged. The Sanhedrim could not avoid dealing with Him. Nicodemus was therefore probably deputed to wait upon Him. This was not a worthy method of procedure. Instead of inviting Christ openly to hear what He had to say, or going as frank and faithful men to Him, they concluded to keep their impressions secret while one of their chiefs under cover of night stole away to catechise the Saviour.
3. How did he act?
(1) Very inconsistently. If he knew that Jesus was a Divine teacher it was not his business to raise up objections.
(2) He was crippled by his prejudices and pride of character. His very first word betrayed him. He must needs bring forward the official “we,” as if the individual Nicodemus had nothing specially personal at stake. Then his difficulty about the new birth arose out of his prepossessions in favour of his own goodness and the non-necessity for him of a spiritual change.
II. CHRIST’S TREATMENT OF THIS DISTINGUISHED VISITOR
1. He met him with calmness and civility. He came to save great men as well as small. (John 6:37.)
2. He spoke at once to the point, and undeceived him in regard to the basis on which he and his fraternity were building their hopes. Jesus, who knew what is in man, knew the unspoken thought of Nicodemus. He knows what is in our hearts, and is able to suit His favours to our wants before we express them. Nicodemus wanted some decisive manifestation that Christ was the King of Israel. Christ responds that no one would ever be able to discern or enter the kingdom without a new birth. Thus, at a single stroke, Christ laid prostrate this renowned councillor’s greatness, and dashed out for ever the loudest hopes of his race.
3. The Saviour expounded the unalterable condition of admission. That condition was
(1) A birth: mysterious, but
(2) real (James 1:18; 1 John 5:1; 1 Peter 1:23).
(3) A re-birth (2 Corinthians 5:17), a renovation in the springs of life, in the impulses and activities of the man, and in all the aims and endeavours of his being.
(4) A birth from or out of the Spirit.
(5) A birth conjoined with baptism (Matthew 28:19-20; Mark 16:16).
4. In order to this renewal, Christ explained the true nature of the Messianic work. Hot to fight the Romans, confront Caesar with Caesar’s weapons, subdue the nations to Jewish vassalage--but to die for sinners that they might live.
5. As underlying all, Jesus taught the right doctrine concerning God. Nicodemus believed in God, but had a very limited and inadequate conception of the higher mysteries of the Godhead. He needed to be taught that God was Three-One, and that in this same young Galilean the expressed Godhead dwelt, being come from heaven for man’s redemption. (J. A.Seiss, D. D.)
Who was Nicodemus?
Of this particular Nicodemus, we know with certainty nothing more than is told us in this Gospel (John 7:50; John 19:39). The Talmud mentions a Nakedimon, so called from a miracle performed by him, who was the son of Gorion, and whose real name was Bonai. It also gives the name Bonai as one of the disciples of Jesus. He was one of the three richest Jews when Titus besieged Jerusalem, but his family were reduced to the most abject poverty. So far the Talmud. The inference is that this change of fortune is connected with his becoming a Christian and with the persecution which followed, and he is himself identified with the Nicodemus of the gospel. We can only say this may be so. (H. W.Watkins, D. D.)
Two historic night scenes
One of the most memorable and important interviews which ever took place between two individuals in this world was held on a raft in the middle of the river Niemen, at the little town of Tilsit, in Prussia. At one o’clock precisely, on the 25th of June, 1807, boats put off from opposite sides of the stream and rowed rapidly toward the raft. Out of each boat stepped a single individual, and the two met in a small wooden apartment in the middle of the raft, while cannon thundered from either shore, and the shouts of great armies drawn up upon both banks drowned the roar of artillery. The two persons were the Emperors Napoleon and Alexander, and the history of the time tells us that they met “to arrange the destinies of mankind.” And the hastily-constructed raft, on which the interview took place, will be remembered as long as the story of great conquests and mighty revolutions can interest the mind of man. The conference lasted but two hours; it was entirely private between the two emperors, and yet it was fraught with momentous consequences to millions. It was one of the great crises in human history when the currents of power that govern the nations take new directions, and break over the bounds and barriers of ages. Go back eighteen hundred years beyond the treaty of Tilsit, and we can find a private conference between two indivisuals of far more momentous and lasting importance than that between Napoleon and Alexander. This more ancient interview was not watched with eager expectancy by great armies; it was not hailed by the thunder of cannon and the shout of applauding thousands; it was not arranged beforehand by keen and watchful agents guarding the interest and safety of the two who were to meet. It was in a private house, at a late hour of the night, and it was brought about by the mingled curiosity and anxiety of an old man to know something more of a young teacher who had recently appeared in his native city. And yet from that humble night-conference of Jesus with Nicodemus there have gone forth beams of light and words of power to the ends of the earth. The plans formed by Napoleon and Alexander at Tilsit were reversed and defeated long ago, and it is impossible to trace their influence in the condition of European nations today. The words spoken by Jesus to His wondering and solitary listener that night have already changed and glorified the destiny of immortal millions; they have more influence in the world now than in any previous age; and they are destined to go on increasing in power, until they shall be received as the message of life and love by every nation under heaven. (D. March, D. D.)
The influence of night on the student
There is a reason why students prefer the night to the day for their labours. Through the day their thoughts are diverted into a thousand streams; but at night they settle into pools, which, deep and undisturbed, reflect the stars, But night labour, in time, will destroy the student; for it is marrow from his own bones with which he fills his lamp. (H. W. Beecher.)
Christ the greatest Teacher
In
I. The extent of His knowledge,
II. The perfection of His character.
III. The excellence of His methods.
IV. The kindness of His disposition.
V. The greatness of His rewards. (R. Brewin.)
The relation of miracles to teaching
When God had some new tidings to tell to the world, He gave to the men whom He sent with the message the power of working miracles. The miracles were a sort of bell, which they rang in the ears of their generation, that people might listen to what they had to say, and believe that it came from Heaven. (Dean Goulburn.)
An interview with a night visitor
The hours were too few for the work each day brought to Jesus. His labours were often prolonged into the night. An exciting day was over, and one of Jerusalem’s noblest sons sought the Saviour. The visit was not prearranged, but spontaneous. Nicodemus could not sleep till he had seen Christ. Others were within the same influences, yet slept. Here was the first-fruit of Christ’s direct ministry. The visit did not surprise the Saviour. Let the incident suggest
I. USING THE DARKNESS FOR SEEKING THE SAVIOUR. Night is friendly to retirement and secrecy. The guilty abuse it; but the holiest have ever found its tranquilizing calm, helpful. Attention is needed to it. The struggle which compelled Nicodemus to journey to Jesus. Naturally he must have felt reluctant to quit his home. Why not wait till morning? But thoughts had been arrested, anxiety stirred by the works of Jesus. Conviction had grown. He could not therefore be inactive. The visit involved risk. Caution would counsel hesitation, but eagerness made him resolute, and, determined to lose no opportunity, he came to Jesus by night.
2. The motive which led to the use of the night. Fear, prudence, unwillingness to court attention, are motives with many. Vanity, sense of shame, reluctance to compromise one’s dignity, are motives with others. Were these Nicodemus’ motives, or the fact of convenience, the night ensuring quiet and leisure? Or was it restless eagerness? The narrative marks that no earlier hour was available (John 2:24). Yet the thricereiterated “ by night” seems to denote excessive prudence.
3. The spirit His visit betokened. He craved satisfaction. If He is the promised One, I must know Him.
4. The knock at the door of Jesus’ home.
II. YIELDING UP SLEEP FOR A SOUL’S ADVANTAGE.
1. No hour finds Jesus unwilling to attend to our need.
2. Christ’s eagerness to meet a seeker. At once Nicodemus was led into themes of which his heart was full.
III. SPENDING THE NIGHT TALKING OF WONDROUS THEMES. Jesus uses time well. The themes may be thus classified
1. Concerning the Divine Trinity. The Spirit (John 3:5-6), “the only begotten Son” (John 3:13-18). God the Father, who sent the Spirit and gave the Son.
2. Concerning the action of the threefold Godhead in man’s salvation. The Spirit regenerates; the Son atones; the Father’s love provides the sacrifice and gathers in the world.
3. Concerning man’s responsibility in reference to salvation. He has no part in saving himself. Jesus accomplishes that (John 3:17). He must be enlightened (John 3:3) and renewed (John 3:7). On him is cast the solemn duty of personal belief in Christ.
4. Concerning the great issues set before the soul. Not to believe incurs condemnation. But the world through Christ may be saved (John 3:17). There remains for each the vast alternatives of everlasting life or the abiding wrath of God (John 3:36).
IV. HEAVENLY LIGHT GAINED IN THE NIGHT INTERVIEW WITH JESUS.
1. Nicodemus became a humble listener at the feet of Jesus. It was his intention to interrogate the Teacher, but he soon became silenced.
2. He retired with new and sacred life within him. (W. H. Jellie.)
The anxious inquirer--coming, disputing, listening
I. NICODEMUS COMING TO CHRIST. Amongst those mentioned in the closing verses of the last chapter was the Rabbi Nicodemus. To him the young man Jesus was an object of profound interest. He retired from the crowd to the Sanhedrim. There his fellow princes were in indignation at the assumption of the youthful Nazarene, and amazed at the audacity of His holiness. He leaves the Sanhedrim, and retires to his own home. He becomes anxious about this Teacher sent from God. He takes down the ancient laws and prophecies. He sees the resemblance between that young Rabbi and some of those shadowy words which lighten over the ancient parchments. A new interest gathers over the pages. While he reads the sun has set, the crowds have dispersed, Jesus has gone home. Nicodemus resolves to go to Him. The night season is all the more favourable. Nicodemus approaches the retreat of Jesus, timidly and holding back. But the door is open, and there is Jesus waiting for him.
1. Nicodemus was an anxious but haughty inquirer. The proud, moral disposition of the Jew starts into light at the first word--We know. The things of eternity will not allow him to sleep; but the opening remark of this emissary of the Sanhedrim implied that he and they had little to learn.
2. Still he made a concession. He calls Jesus Rabbi. He could call his brethren in the great council chamber no more.
3. He maintains a reserve. Something clutched at the rope and plucked you back just as you were about to tell Christ all. Christ came to him at once, and replied not to what he said, but to what he thought. You cannot see till you are born.
II. NICODEMUS DISPUTING WITH CHRIST. He came expecting to discuss with Christ the things of the Jewish Church; Christ pressed home all his thoughts to internal questions. Many came to Christ to dispute rather than to listen. The overcoming of the disputatious element in us is one of the most important preliminaries to the reception of the truth. In disputing we defend our own views rather than open our minds to the truth. Nicodemus disputing reveals to us
1. How the carnal mind is ignorant of the things of the Spirit of God.
2. Wherein lies our difficulty of belief. It is in the How and the Why we find the great obstacles to our faith.
3. How far we may be immersed in spiritual ignorance when we seem to be most advanced in knowledge.
4. How possible it is to belong to the outward and visible church, and yet to know nothing of the great and saving change of heart and life.
III. NICODEMUS LISTENING TO CHRIST. He gives up disputation, and Christ unfolds the plan and science of salvation.
1. He asserts the inability of the man and the inutility of human knowledge.
2. The plan of Divine ability beginning with the work of the Holy Spirit and ending with that of the Divine Father.
3. The exhibition of the mediatorial sign.
4. The unfolding of the essential law of the Divine kingdom--do the truth and you will know the truth. (Paxton Hood.)
The Teacher and the taught
I. THE DISCIPLE.
1. His relation to the ruling powers and his position as a man of culture.
2. His want of moral courage.
3. His reverent acknowledgment of Christ’s authority, in which he manifests elementary faith.
4. His willingness to be taught.
II. THE TEACHER.
1. His willingness to teach. Christ ever meets the eager and reverent inquirer in this spirit.
2. His willingness to accept imperfect faith.
3. The truths be taught.
(1) The need of regeneration.
(2) The mystery of His own person.
4. The great purpose of His mission with the method of its accomplishment. (Family Churchman.)
The two Rabbis
I. THE TEACHER COME FROM GOD.
1. Accessible to men (John 3:1-2; Matthew 8:34; Matthew 9:28; Matthew 11:28, Matthew 15:1; Mark 3:8; John 4:40).
2. Commissioned of God (John 3:2; Deuteronomy 18:18; John 8:28; John 12:49; John 14:10, John 17:8; Hebrews 1:1-2).
3. Confirmed by miracles (John 3:2; Luke 23:47; John 2:11; John 9:33; John 10:38, John 14:11; Acts 2:22).
II. A TEACHER ABLE TO TEACH.
1. Of the new birth (John 3:3, John 1:13; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Ga James 1:18; 1 Peter 1:23; 1 John 3:9).
2. Of the Spirit’s power (John 3:6; John 14:26, John 16:18; Romans 8:14; 1 Corinthians 2:10, 1 Corinthians 1:22; Titus 3:5).
3. Of the Heavenly things (John 3:12, John 16:28; 1 Corinthians 15:47; 1 Thessalonians 4:16).
III. A TEACHER ABLE TO SAVE.
1. Lifted up to save (John 3:14; Numbers 21:9; John 8:28, John 12:32; 1 Corinthians 2:2; Galatians 6:14; 1 John 1:7)
2. Given of God to save (John 3:17; Matthew 1:21; John 4:42; John 5:34;Acts 4:12; Romans 5:9; 1 John 4:9).
3. Believed on to save (John 3:18; Mark 16:16; John 3:36, vl, 47; Acts 16:31; Romans 3:26; 1 John 5:1). (Sunday School Times.)
Christ as a teacher
I. THE EVIDENCES WHICH CHRIST GAVE OF BEING A TEACHER COME FROM GOD.
1. His qualifications to be this teacher.
(1) In His nature: God and man. Hence He spake with authority and worked miracles.
(2) In His commission. The Father sent Him.
(3) In His endowments. He was filled with the Spirit (Isaiah 65:1).
2. The peculiarity of His instructions
(1) What was their character? What sublime views He gave of God; what Divine revelations of grace; what Divine consolations; what holy precepts; what openings of the invisible world.
(2) Observe their manner. “Never man spake as this man”--with such authority, power, simplicity, consistency. He taught by events, anecdotes, parables.
(3) Mark their effects--conviction and conversion--Zacchaeus, Mary, Martha, dying thief, etc.
II. IN WHAT RESPECTS THIS GREAT TEACHER SHOULD BE IMITATED BY OTHER TEACHERS.
1. In His imitable qualifications
(1) His knowledge, particularly of God’s Book. Every teacher should have a concordance, a commentary, and a companion to the Bible. (2)His various methods.
(3) His possession of the Spirit.
2. In His Spirit
(1) The spirit of prayer;
(2) of compassion;
(3) of faithfulness.
3. In His conduit.
(1) His self-denial.
(2) His unwearied perseverance.
4. In His aim--to save souls.
Conclusion.
1. Rejoice that you have such a teacher. Learn of Him if you would be successful teachers.
2. There is no cause for discouragement if you see not the success of your teaching. Christ’s “own received Him not.”
3. Let Scripture motives urge you to undertake and pursue this great work. Gratitude, the brevity of time, the present benefit, the future reward.
4. What a blessed day when teachers and taught will meet in heaven. (James Sherman.)
Christ as a teacher
Jesus was emphatically a teacher. Not one who was confined to a professor’s chair, but one who taught everywhere. As a teacher He was eminently successful, and exceedingly popular. What was the secret of His success and popularity?
I. HIS DOCTRINES were of such a character as to command the most profound respect, and make the deepest impressions.
1. There was in them a peculiar fitness to the people. His teachings awakened the conscience, enlightened the understanding, and stirred the heart.
2. They were free from sectarian bigotry and prejudice. His principles were broad and generous, having universal application to the physical, social, and spiritual wants of men.
II. HIS STYLE. There was nothing stiff or stilted about it, no extravagance of speech, no affectation of manner. His very presence was a charm. Gentleness and simplicity marked all He said and did.
III. HIS ILLUSTRATIVENESS. One of the elements in His great strength lay in the aptness of His figures and comparisons from common life. Wherever He turned His eye He found central truth, and brought out of it something that the people could apply home. He ignored bewildering terminology, and showed that religion had something to say in the home as well as in the temple.
IV. HIS IMPARTIALITY. Teachers often make distinctions among their pupils. But Christ looked at man as man, and turned no one way either on account of rank or of poverty.
V. HIS AUTHORITY. It was the consciousness of His Divine authority which made Him so independent as a teacher. He did not pander to the corrupt tastes of the people nor accommodate Himself to their errors and prejudices.
VI. HIS NATURALNESS. There was nothing strained, artificial, or formal about His methods. It was in the most incidental and easy way that He taught some of His grandest lessons and did His greatest works. The smallest occasion was improved. There never was a teacher so little dependent on times and places. Why this spontaneity in all the teachings of Jesus? Because religion is natural, and religion is natural because it is real.
VII. HIS ABILITY TO INSPIRE MEN, to kindle in their hearts a holy enthusiasm. Xenophon tells us that men were more inspired by the example and spirit of Socrates than by his words. So with Jesus. There was something in His manner, address, and personal presence that at once won the hearts of His hearers. When He wanted men to become His disciples He had” but to say to them “Follow Me,” and they at once “forsook all and followed Him.” And He exerts that influence to-day. (J. L. Harris.)
Our Lord a model for Sunday-school teachers
I. THE CHARACTER OF JESUS CHRIST AND HIS QUALIFICATIONS FOR A TEACHER. His qualifications are more apparent in their subjects than in their modes. What was Christ? is a better question than How did He teach? Many put too much faith in systems, method, etc., and too little in men of God.
1. Christ had a very high estimate of His work. He made men’s minds, and was “the light that lighted,” etc. He had a full perception of the powers and value and destiny of the human spirit. You must have this same high estimate. No man will do heartily what he does not think worth doing. Nothing can be greater than to teach truth to an immortal mind.
2. Christ’s mind was fully possessed with the truth He taught. He always spoke as though the truth were His own. You never perceive any effort or sense of novelty. He bore truth about Him as a daily dress. He spoke of God as if He were in His bosom. He left an impression that He “spoke that which He knew,” etc. It was this that made the people astonished, and that made the officers say, “Never man spake like this man.” Be like Christ in this respect. There is but one way of attaining it, and that is by being real. It is not attainable by art. You must be a Christian, living and walking in the Spirit of Christ.
3. Christ was entirely self-consecrated to His work. He was not forced or persuaded into it. He came to it because He loved it and those He taught. Kindness, the key to the human heart, therefore, was the temper in which
He taught. Nothing is done without this. He who is set on keeping up His dignity may end in losing His charge. Children are eminently susceptible to kindness.
4. Christ lived His lessons. It was this that silenced His enemies and won His friends. If you would be effective you must teach by what you do as well as by what you say. Children have consciences, and no appeal will be so powerful as that of holiness of character. Besides, imitation is the law of their minds.
II. THE TEACHING OF JESUS CHRIST.
1. The free and familiar manner of it. There is no set system. His course was prompted by circumstances. He spoke to the time. Truth came out of Him on particular occasions, like virtue when He was touched. Don’t fill the minds of the children with formal propositions. Speak always “the present truth.” Be simple, but not coarse. Christ had not hard words or technicalities; He trusted to the inherent dignity of the truth. The sublimest thoughts can be put into words of one syllable, “God is light,” “God is love.”
2. If you would imitate Jesus Christ, don’t teach more than one thing at a time. He uttered a great doctrine and then dwelt upon it. The minds of adults may be injured by trying to put too much into them. He who seeks to do too much ends by doing nothing.
3. Christ adapted Himself to those whom He addressed. He had many things to say, but waited till they could hear them. This has been His method from the beginning. Revelation was progressive. So you must lead the children’s minds from one degree of knowledge to another. Begin with “first principles,” and “go on to perfection.”
4. Christ taught pictorially. Parables are pictures. The Bible is history, and what is history but a picture? What are baptism and the Lord’s Supper but pictures. Dry didactic statements have few charms for children, but they may be won by anecdotes.
Conclusion.
1. Jesus Christ as a teacher had very little success, but He did not faint. The husbandman has faith in the operation of nature; so must you in the growth of the good seed.
2. Christ believed that His seed would grow again. Many a doctrine the apostles remembered after He had risen. Future events must be allowed to quicken your teaching, perhaps your death. But no truth is ever lost.
3. Even Christ prayed while He was labouring. Without prayer you might as well not teach at all. (A. J. Morris.)
Open and secret Christians
There are always in a congregation some who accept Christ but do not confess Him openly. The Church has its hypocrites, but so has the world: for there are men who seem to lead a worldly life whose inner life is turned toward Christ; but they make three mistakes in their position.
2. THEY OVERESTIMATE THE VALUE OF WORLDLY FRIENDSHIPS. How much will your friends among the men of the world sacrifice for you? They will desert you when your purse fails.
II. THEY OVERESTIMATE THE EFFECT OF CONFESSION ON FRIENDSHIP. It will not drive away a true friend. What hurts us most is ridicule. Learn to live above it. Christ suffered the meanest insult. His followers have often sealed their faith with their blood.
III. THEY UNDERESTIMATE THEIR OWN STRENGTH. They are afraid of falling after they have made a public confession, and of giving opportunity to scoffers to blaspheme. They put too low a value on the strength Christ gives for every crisis. At the moment of danger Nicodemus came forward. Is there a danger now that calls these silent Christians to come forth? There is, though this age is no worse than many others. Our literature is full of a lofty scorn, a condescending pity for Christianity. Many of our scientists are materialists. It is time to be brave and outspoken. Christ is polarizing the world; there are but two classes of men. (W. M. Taylor, D. D.)
An audience of one
Permenides upon reading a philosophical discourse before a public assembly at Athens, and observing that, except Plato, the whole company had left him, continued notwithstanding, saying that Plato alone was sufficient audience for him. (W. Baxendale.)
No man can do these miracles except God be with him
The miraculous in Christ’s history
At the very threshold of the discussion there meets us the assertion that miracles are impossible. Now I hold that we cannot believe in a personal God and doubt the possibility of miracles.
1. We have a great deal of learned talk about the inviolability of the laws of nature, which really makes a strait-waistcoat for God of His own laws. But the question is set at rest by facts which science attests. What is the beginning of life but a miracle? Scientific men know that this world was once a molten mass, and that there could not then, by any possibility, be on it any germ of vegetable or animal life. But life by and by appeared and multiplied; and in its appearance we have a distinct and special act of God creating life; and that is a miracle.
2. But there are those who admit all this and yet deny any other miracles. They say that they are not reasonable, that they are a reflection on the wisdom of God. But while God’s being makes miracles possible, God’s mercy and man’s needs make miracles reasonable. If there is a defect in the mechanism of the world, it is not due to God, but to us; the disorder in the universe is not His, but ours. And a special interposition by Him to right what we have put wrong is the reverse of a reflection on His wisdom. A revelation of mercy to a sinful world is a miraculous thing in itself; and if other miracles accompany it, it is just what might be anticipated.
3. But there are those who say that whether wrought or not, miracles cannot be proved. This is Hume’s position, which is modified by Huxley, who insists that the proof, if proof can be adduced, must be very strong. Mill further modifies it by admitting that “if a supernatural event really occurs, it is impossible to maintain that the proof cannot be accessible to the human faculties.” My contention is that miracles can be proved like other facts, and I proceed to prove that the account of Christ’s miracles by the evangelists is true.
I. THEIR NARRATIVE HAS THE AIR OF TRUTHFULNESS. When we are examining witnesses, we must assume that they are truthful until we have found them false; and there are various ways in which they may impress us. They may give their evidence in such an unsatisfactory manner as to arouse the suspicion that it is false; or it may be given with such artless simplicity as to convince us that it is true. On turning to the Gospels, we find the miracles of Christ recorded with as much calmness as if they had been only ordinary events. Their time and place, their nature, their witnesses, and sometimes their moral effects, are minutely recorded. The writers have all the appearance of men who are not making fiction but recording fact.
II. THE DISCIPLES HAD AMPLE MEANS OF KNOWING WHETHER THE ALLEGED MIRACLES WERE REALLY WROUGHT. Witnesses may be truthful and yet give a testimony we cannot accept, because of their having been deceived. But there are considerations which show that it could not have been thus with the disciples. The assertion that Christ tried to impose upon them charges Him with conduct so much at variance with His character as they present it, that we cannot entertain it for a moment, and the miracles were of such a kind that they could not be deceived in regard to them. They were numerous, varied, and striking.
III. THE DISCIPLES HAD NO CONCEIVABLE MOTIVE FOR CONSPIRING TO PALM ON THE WORLD A FALSE HISTORY OF JESUS. It could net exalt their Master to attribute to Him miracles He never wrought; it could not exalt themselves in their own estimation to sit down and carefully construct an elaborate fiction; and they could not expect to gain over the people to Christ by alleging that He had wrought many miracles among them both in Judea and Galilee when they knew that the people had not seen one of them. Just credit them with common sense, and then say if you can conceive of their trying to palm falsehoods on the world. If they had been knaves they would net have taken this course, for there was nothing to gain by it; and if they had been fools they would not have acted as they did.
IV. THEY HAD NOT ONLY NO MOTIVE TO GIVE A FALSE ACCOUNT, BUT THEY HAD THE STRONGEST REASONS FOR NOT DOING SO. There was no worldly honour or wealth to be got by their testimony; it was certain to entail the loss of all things. Is it conceivable, then, with the knowledge of all this that they would publish false accounts.
V. THEY COULD NOT HAVE GAINED ACCEPTANCE FOR THE GOSPELS IF THEY HAD NOT BEEN TRUE. It is Christ’s miracles which were appealed to when the apostles urged men to believe in Him. Consider what believing involved. It meant not only accepting His history in the Gospels as true, but taking Him to be the Saviour from sin, and leading, in obedience to His command and after His example, a holy life; and this in the face of the scorn and contempt of the world, with the prospect of temporal ruin, and the risk of a violent death. Now, how could men be persuaded to face the sacrifices all this involved by appeals to miracles which had never been wrought? Corroborative proof I find in the Jews. They did not deny that He wrought miracles, but only tried to explain them away. In their Talmud, which dates back to the third century, it is acknowledged that “mighty works” were wrought by Him, but it is said that these were the results of magical arts which he had learned in Egypt. And the heathen bear similar testimony. Celsus admits Christ’s miracles. “Ye think Jesus to be the son of God,” he says, “because He healed the lame and the blind, and as ye say raised the dead.” And when he tries to deprive His miracles of their value as evidence of a Divine authority, it is by ascribing them, like the Jews, to His having learned magical arts in Egypt. (A. Oliver, B. A.)