John 4:29-30 Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?… I. A WORK WHICH HE PERFORMED. 1. He speaks here in His capacity of Son and Servant. In His essential nature He is one with the Father, but in the actual execution of the Divine purpose, He stands in a low place charged with a specific mission. 2. The will of the Sender is learned best by looking at the Sent. The Gift reveals the Giver's heart. The Christ sent into the world is fitted to draw men to God, not to drive them from Him. The will of the Father corresponds with the Messenger sent to execute it. God is love and Christ embodies that love. 3. The desire of God could not be carried into effect without Christ sent. 4. This work is not left half done. Creation was completed ere God rested. His next more glorious work will be finished too. The earth was complete as a habitation for man ere the children were brought to it as their home. So will heaven be. II. THE FOOD IN WHICH HE DELIGHTED. 1. It is not enough to learn what Jesus did and suffered, we must look into the secret motives of His heart. 2. Knowing all that redemption would bring upon Himself, He longed for the work as His daily bread. In this glass we see reflected the nature and intensity of the Saviour's eagerness to save. 3. Jesus is Lord of all. The stars are His, He values them, but they do not satisfy His soul. He does not need to redeem bright worlds and unfallen angels; they cannot, therefore, appease His hunger. To seek the strayed, and save the lost — this is His meat. 4. "Blessed are they that hunger; for this they shall be filled." This He felt; and His joy will be full when all the ransomed shall reign with Him. 5. Over Jerusalem He wept for hunger. His appetite brought Him from heaven to the cradle and the cross. 6. It is difficult to reconcile Christ's desire with His omnipotence. Had he not power to accomplish His desire? Could He not have seized a whole city, as angels seized Lot, and hurried them to heaven? This would not have satisfied Him. Material acquisitions cannot sustain the spirit. Though all power is given to Him He will not satisfy His physical hunger by converting stones into bread, nor His spiritual by lifting multitudes to heaven by omnipotence. 7. With the limits of our capacity and condition the appetite of the Master may be shared by the servants. Our spiritual hunger is first a desire to get and then a desire to give salvation. In the second part of the process the disciple enters into the joy of His Lord. (W. Arnot, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?WEB: "Come, see a man who told me everything that I did. Can this be the Christ?" |
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