CLIPPED :: Christadelphian-elpisisrael

The leaders of Jewry caused the Saviour to leave their city (v. 3), but a simple woman (v. 7) persuades the inhabitants of a despised city to open their hearts to his teaching (v. 29). This remarkable change of events was caused by the refusal of the Pharisees to accept the principle of baptism by such as John Baptist, or Yahshua of Nazareth, which required a change of heart and life, and a rejection of the spirit of envy and pride which had caused them to oppose the Master.

Their action forced the Lord to depart into Galilee, and to abide two days in the area of Samaria -- typical of the two millennial days in which the Truth has not taken root in Jewry, but has been found amongst the Gentiles. This incident is not recorded in the other Gospel records, but it is by John as he sets before his readers the spiritual principles of God manifestation in flesh.

Thus, rejected of his own people, a door of utterance is opened for him among comparative strangers. What he did not receive of his own (cp. Jn. 1:11), he found among others, whose minds were opened to his revelation. He revealed himself as the "spring of life;" the "well of everlasting joy," that is only available by drinking deeply of the principles of his life. Events then required him to travel north to Galilee, and to manifest his divine power in the healing of the ruler's son, the second "sign" in the Gospel.

It stands as evidence that the Truth could revive a nation sick unto death -- that his "return" (Jn. 4:49) will secure redemption and life to a repentant people at his second advent. It will be in the "seventh" millennium (as the "seventh hour" of v. 52), that the "fever" of unbelief will fully leave Jewry, for they will "believe the word that Yahshua had spoken unto them" (see Zech. 12:10).

The chapter records: [1] Rising opposition in Judea: vv. 1-4. [2] They arrive at Sychar: vv. 5-6. [3] Water from the well: vv. 7-18. [4] The principle of true worship: vv. 19-24. [5] Looking for the Messiah: vv. 25-26. [6] Reaction to the discussion: vv. 27-30. [7] The rewards of divine labour: vv. 31-38. [8] The Samaritans believe: vv. 39-42. [9] Christ is welcomed in Galilee: vv. 43-45. [10] The ruler's son healed: vv. 46-54. — GEM, Logos.

www.logos.org.au

John 4

1 When therefore the Lord knew how the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John,

2 (Though Jesus himself baptized not, but his disciples,)

He did not personally immerse believers. The act of immersion was performed by his disciples: but done by his direction and authority, it was considered as done by him.

... He did not personally immerse believers. The act of immersion was performed by his disciples: but done by his direction and authority, it was considered as done by him. (Jno. iii. 22: iv. 2).

The non-performance of baptism by Christ's actual hands is an intimation at the very start that its virtue depends in no way upon the administrator. Sacramentalism is outside the scope of the system of Christ. The spirit of his doctrine is this, that we must believe what God says, with the simplicity of little children, and perform what He commands in the same humble spirit.

The idea of baptism or any other institution owing its efficacy to the ministration of a particular operator belongs to the system of spiritual sorcery that has since taken such deep root in the world -- as foretold.

When Christ (to whom John gave testimony) appeared in the same capacity as John himself, viz.: -- as a teacher and a baptizer, the people naturally turned in greater numbers to Jesus than to John. This was no distress to John, though his attention was called to it (John iii. 26). It simply led him to re-affirm his testimony to Jesus:

"He must increase, but I must decrease."

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3 He left Judaea, and departed again into Galilee.

Jesus, knowing their state of mind, went away from the neighbourhood of their power.... Why should the feelings of enemies affect the movements of one who had the power of God upon him, and who could not be touched till his "hour had come?" It was but a preferring of circumstances favourable for his work.

The work he had to do was designed to influence a suitable class who were to become his disciples, and this work was best to be done in peace. He chose peace when he could have it.

The time came when he could no longer have it: but then his work was nearly done. At the moment in question, he was but entering upon it, and, therefore, he preferred to get away from the heat and the excitement, and the sense of insecurity caused to the multitude by the opposition of the Scribes and Pharisees.

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4 And he must needs go through Samaria.

The Conversion of the Samaritans

The Samaritans were waiting for The Taheb (restorer) [The Messiah], the Taheb to teach all things.

"I will raise them up a prophet like unto thee, Moses, and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him"

Notice the interchange with the woman at the well in John chapter 4 verse 25,

"I know that Messiah's cometh which is called Christ, and when he is come, he will tell us all things"

Again verse 29 of John 4,

"Come see a man which told me all things".

And again, verse 39,

"And many of the Samaritans of that city believed on him for the saying of the woman which testified, he told me all that ever I did".

So this idea of teaching them all things, they believed that this was what the Taheb was going to do.

He's the man that would fulfil Deuteronomy chapter 18.

And the outcome we believe of the visit of our Lord to this place was that they would believe that he was the one.

"When Messiah's cometh which is called Christ".

Verse 29 says,

"They said, 'Is not this the Christ?'

John 4 verse 42 says,

"They said now we know that this is indeed the Christ".So Acts chapter 8 verse 5 says,

"That Philip went down to a city of Samaria and preached the Christ unto him"

The definite article is in front of the word Christ, just as it is in John chapter 4. So Philip went down to a city of Samaria, which we suggest was Shechem, the very centre of Samaritan worship, and preached the Christ unto them.

Can you imagine giving an address where the only thing you can use publicly are the first five books of the Bible, because that's all the Samaritans believed in. He had to base his message on the law of Moses alone, because that's all the Samaritans would accept.

And what's interesting is that fortunately, well, I think there were some circumstances that can be brought to bear in terms of what he might have done. The burden of Philip's initial message in this place was going to be that he must convince his hearers out of the Pentatuchal law that Jesus of Nazareth was the prophet like unto Moses. And if he was the prophet like unto Moses, then he must have been the Tehab, who they themselves were waiting for.

Fortunately, Philip had two very good lectures on that topic in his pocket. He was very well prepared on that subject, because he'd heard two other brothers give lectures. We should never underestimate the teaching power of our lectures to be able to give a good answer when we've got opportunity in the future. The first lecture is in Acts chapter 3...THE LAW REQUIRES that you listen to the prophet like unto Moses. The second in Acts 7 when Stephen argues

"A prophet shall the Lord your God, raise up unto you of your brethren like unto me, him shall ye hear".

Bro Roger Lewis - notes from Philip the Evangelist

5 Then cometh he to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.

6 Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the 6th hour.

Wearied with his journey

This in passing tells us interestingly more things than one. It not only tells us of one "touched with the feeling of our infirmity" (Heb. iv. 15), but it shows us that the Spirit of God, though resting on him without measure, was not available for his personal needs during "the days of his flesh."

The Pharisees embittered his dying moments by shouting, "He saved others: himself he cannot save." Their cruel taunt carried a certain truth with it concerning his whole career. He gave strength to the weak; he healed the diseased; he raised the dead. But his own personal needs and sorrows he endured in the weakness of mortal flesh, supported by that faith in the Father, which he possessed in a measure transcending that of all his disciples.

The power of God placed at his disposal was for the manifestation of the name of God, and not for the supply of his personal needs. So here we have him toiling along the road in a burning Syrian sun, footsore and weary, and sitting down to rest in the neighbourhood of Sychar or Sychem, where Jacob dwelt,

"in the land of promise as in a strange country,"

some 1,700 years before.

Nazareth Revisited Ch 14

Jacob's well

He sits down by a well -- a well that Jacob had made in those far-off days, and which had retained his name during the long interval. His disciples go away into the city to replenish the exhausted commissariat.

The well exists to this day. It is in a valley, and in full view of Mounts Ebal and Gerrizim, which stand north and south of Shechem.

The surrounding scenery is impressive, and has witnessed many events in Israel's history. Chief among them was the muster of the tribes here when Joshua brought them into the land.

An imposing array, they stood, six of the tribes on one of these hills and six on the other, while the priests, standing between, recite the principal points in the law, to each of which the people shouted a hearty "Amen" (Deut. xxvii, 11-26; Josh. viii. 30).

That was very different from the scene now before us: a solitary man sitting tired at the well in the midst of the quietness and solitude of the picturesque valley, overlooked by two majestic hills.

The two scenes were not unconnected, however; they were parts, though widely separate, in the one great work which God, through Israel, is working upon earth for the realisation of His own object in the creation of it.

Nazareth Revisited Ch 14

7 There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink.

The woman is "a woman of Samaria" -- a descendant of those Assyrian colonists whom Shalmaneser settled in Samaria when the ten tribes had been taken away nearly 900 years before.

She is one of those therefore, with whom the Jews would have no dealings, though the Samaritans adopted the traditions of the land and claimed kinship.

This fact supplies the key to the conversation that ensued.*

8 (For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.)

9 Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.

The woman expresses surprise that a Jew should ask a drink from a Samaritan. .. He would be a Jew of the best type, with a Jewish look ...the woman recognised in Jesus a Jew. He must, therefore, have looked like one, for the woman had no other guide. *

Nazareth Revisited Ch 10 & 14.

10 Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.

....Jesus did not, as most other Jews would have done under the circumstances, proceed to justify the Jewish objection to the claims of the Samaritans. He might justly have done so: but this would have been low ground. It belonged to a state of things which was nearly past and spent. The time had nearly come to give the work of God a wider extension: and Jesus was come expressly as the instrument of that extension. He therefore draws attention to himself.

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11 The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water?

This was probably said in a tone of kindly dignity that would encourage the woman. She naturally did not see through the figure of his speech. She understood him literally.

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12 Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle?

It then occurs to her that the stranger is perhaps claiming some especial gift in the case. She continues, during a momentary pause which Jesus does not offer to occupy...

(Though a Samaritan woman, she claims Jacob as "father," after the manner of the Samaritans).

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13 Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again:

Jesus does not disparage Jacob. He speaks of things as they are. It is the well that is in question: Whoever drinks of this will thirst again, but he that drinks of the water Jesus can give will never thirst.

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14 But whosoever <shall drink> of the water which I shall give him shall <not> thirst <in the aion>; but the water that I shall give him shall <become> in him a < fountain> of water springing up <for aionian> life.

So in chap. 6:51,

"I am the living bread which descended from the heaven: if any one eat of this bread, he shall live in the aion."

The Israelites eat of the manna, and died;

"but he that eats this bread shall live in theaion.—(5:58.)

To eat this bread, or "the flesh of the Son of Man, and to drink his blood," is to keep his word—believing his doctrine, and doing his commandments; for Jesus saith emphatically,

"Verily, verily, I say to you, If any one keep my word, he shall not experience death in the aion."—(chap. 8:51.)

Now let the reader turn to Rev. 7:9–17, and he will there find those people who have kept Christ's word celebrating the Feast of Tabernacles with which their victorious acquisition of

"the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven,"

at the introduction of the Messianic aion, is celebrated. They are seen in the aion with "palms," the emblems of victory, and shouting with a loud voice,

"Salvation to our God who sits upon the throne, and to the Lamb."

They are then the subjects of the salvation in which they believed; and therefore they cry "salvation." And it is said of them,

"They shall hunger no more, nor thirst any more."

Being in the aion, the water of life springs up in them for life. Being ushered into the aion by a birth of spirit from the grave, they are spirit; blood and air are no longer the elements of their existence, but the spirit, which, as

"a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, issues forth from the throne of God and of the Lamb."

This sustains them in life for the aions—for the Messianic and that beyond.

It is also worthy of notice, that when Paul ascribes blessedness and glory to God and the Lamb, he does not limit them to one aion, but extends them to a plurality. Thus, in Rom. 1:25, he says that men professing themselves to be wise became fools, and changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed in theaions—that is, in Messiah's and that beyond.

In Rom. 9:5, speaking of Christ, he says he is of Israel according to the flesh, and is

"over all God, blessed in the aions."

Again, he says, chap. 11:36,

"From him, on account of him, and for him, are all things. To him be the glory in the aions." And chap. 16:27, "To the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, be the glory in the aions; "

and in Gal. 1:5. he characterises these aions as theaionsof theaions, which, in Eph. 2:7, he styles the aions to come when God will

"shew the exceeding riches of His grace in his kindness towards us through Jesus Christ;" "according to an exposition of the aions, which he made on account of Christ Jesus our Lord."—(chap. 3:11.)

A BIBLE DICTIONARY - Bro THOMAS

The Christadelphian, Aug 1872

The water so given will be in him a perennial spring. Jesus was speaking in figure of the immortal life he should bestow; but the woman could not understand this.

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15 The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw.

She supposes he is speaking of literal water which by some medication or virtue, would, in one draught, permanently satiate the thirst of the drinker. She would like to get a drink of such water, and so be saved the trouble of coming constantly to the well. She asks him to give her some of this water.

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16 Jesus saith unto her, Go, call thy husband, and come hither.

The superhuman dialectical skill of Christ, so often manifested in collision with his foes, is here apparent in a delicate dilemma. The woman had taken him at his word, and in child-like simplicity, asks him for the superior water he had said he could give.

To have said to the woman that she did not understand him, would simply have blocked her path. To have explained that he was speaking in figure would have embarrassed her understanding, and assumed an inconvenient onus of exegesis.

He therefore adroitly throws the subject into a channel suited to her capacity, and which relieves it of the necessity for explanation which she was not prepared to receive.

He says, "Go, call thy husband." The woman says, "I have no husband."

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17 The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband:

Jesus knew that she had no husband. Why, then, did he ask her to call him? To give him the opportunity of displaying a superhuman knowledge which the woman would herself recognise as an indication of his true character. The opportunity he instantly seizes...

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18 For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly.

The effect is instantly as Jesus anticipated and intended. The woman's attention is arrested as it could not have been by the most lucid explanations of the meaning of his figurative language.

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19 The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet.

And here there must have been a pause -- a brief pause -- during which (the woman's eyes wonderingly and enquiringly fixed on Christ) reflections would occur to her, filling up the apparent gap between the remark that he was a prophet, and the allusion she proceeded to make to the long-standing controversy between the Samaritans and the Jews.

She was evidently quick witted and well-informed according to the standard of her day. Discerning the evidence of the power of God with this Jew, her mind opens to the possibility of the Jews being right in their objection to the Samaritan worship. She is, at all events, drawn toward the topic with a disposition to handle it enquiringly.

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20 Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye (Jews) say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.

Again Jesus avoids the discussion of the Samaritan issue in its narrow sense. He admits that the Samaritans worshipped ignorantly, and that enlightenment in this matter was with the Jews, to whom salvation appertained. But, knowing as he did, that the moment was at hand when worship of every kind would be suspended in the land by the judgment of God overhanging the nation, and when worship would be transferred by the gospel to individual hearts in all parts of the world, he addressed himself to the personal and practical bearing of the question..

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21 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.

22 Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.

Salvation is of the Jews

and this salvation which is very great, is announced through the gospel of God's Jewish kingdom. The salvation is national or kosmical rather; and individual.

The salvation of the world of nations through the kingdom is social, civil, and ecclesiastical or spiritual; and is best perceived by those who comprehend the work of setting up the kingdom.

The obstacles to the world's regeneration must first be removed. These obstacles are

"the powers that be."

Israel and the Saints under the Captain of salvation, will abolish them. Their removal being effected,

"He will speak peace to the nations,"

which they will joyfully accept, and submitting to his terms, will henceforth

"rejoice with his people, Israel".

Herald of the Kingdom and Age to Come, Feb 1852

23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.

Here was an enlarging of the subject that must have been new and welcome to a Samaritan; though at the same time conveying a rebuke. Christ's words soared away from the question of locality, which was the vexed question between Samaritan and Jew. They obliterated it altogether --

"neither in this mountain (Gerrizim), nor yet at Jerusalem."

Where then? Anywhere and everywhere -- wherever there were true worshippers -- people knowing God as revealed to Moses and the prophets, and to whom in their conscious hearts, God was a reality, and who in their sincere and loving spirits adored Him.

"The Father seeketh such to worship Him,"

rather than the genuflecting formalists with whom the Samaritan woman would be familiar, and with whom worship was a matter of performance, rather than of heart.

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For the hour cometh - the dissolution of the Mosaic dispensation

Individual worship

We have no temple to which we can repair. We have no priest to whom we can take the visible tokens of our submission and confession. We have no established and striking service of worship in which we can take part.

We are inorganic units, sojourning among the Gentiles while chaos reigns in the land of promise. We can only worship as individuals. But there is consolation in the thought that our individual worship is acceptable, if offered in spirit and in truth. Nay, the Father seeketh such to worship Him.

What a comfort here, that the Possessor of heaven and earth finds pleasure in the approaches of those who believe in Him, and who approach Him in truth and not in pretence: in spirit and not in form merely. To make this approach, we need not to go to a particular place. We require not to come together, though coming together is required of us under another head.

God fills heaven and earth. He is not far from every one of us. He knoweth our thoughts afar off. We need but to turn our thoughts and words to Him. This seeks and needs solitude. The human mind is weak. We cannot attend to God and man at the same time.

While in a sense we may set God always before our face, we must step aside from even the dearest friends when we mean to address ourselves to the Father in the particular manner implied in the word prayer.

It is frequently recorded of Jesus that he withdrew from the multitude and spent even whole nights in prayer. And in this matter, the true heart instinctively shuns the situation of the hypocrite, who desires it to be known he is praying. Prayer in spirit and in truth seeks absolute privacy as Jesus enjoins.

Of course, the public exercises of the brethren in the assemblies of the saints stand in a different category; but even in these, when the leader of our approaches is a true man and no mere performer, the words of the petition will be brief and modest and subdued -- a result certain to accompany a consciousness of God.

But the primary reference of the words under consideration is doubtless to those individual [and simple] acts of worship which are a constant luxury and strength to such as worship God in spirit and in truth.

Bro Roberts - Seasons 1: 41

24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

A first principle with me in all reasonings upon this subject is, that "there is one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in all" His spiritual family. Another axiom is that "He is the Blessed and Only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords; who ONLY hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; WHOM NO MAN HATH SEEN nor can see " (1 Tim. 6:15). And again, "God is Spirit " (John 4:24); and He is "incorruptible" (Rom. 1:23).

THE INCORRUPTIBLE SPIRIT DWELLING IN LIGHT is the Scripture revelation of the undefinable essence of the self-existent Eternal One, who is from everlasting to everlasting, God. What His essence consists in, He has not revealed; He has made known to us His name, or character, which is enough for men to know; but to say that because He is a spirit he is therefore "immaterial," is to speak arrant nonsense; for immateriality is nothingness, a quality, if we may so speak, alien to the universe of God

Elpis Israel 1.6.

25 The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things.

26 Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he.

27 And upon this came his disciples, and marvelled that he talked with the woman: yet no man said, What seekest thou? or, Why talkest thou with her?

28 The woman then left her waterpot, and went her way into the city, and saith to the men,

29 Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?

30 Then they went out of the city, and came unto him.

31 In the mean while his disciples prayed him, saying, Master, eat.

32 But he said unto them, I have meat to eat that ye know not of.

33 Therefore said the disciples one to another, Hath any man brought him ought to eat?

They probably supposed the woman whom they found him talking with had brought him something. He meets their surmisings in words that have probably done more than any other to create a right and adequate idea among disciples in every age, of the kind and degree of earnestness with which the things of God should be held and followed.

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34 Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.

It was for the sake of their influence that the words were uttered and recorded. "For your sakes," is the explanation of much -- nearly all that Christ said and did.

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35 Say not ye, There are yet 4 months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.

36 And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together.

37 And herein is that saying true, One soweth, and another reapeth.

38 I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour: other men laboured, and ye are entered into their labours.

39 And many of the Samaritans of that city believed on him for the saying of the woman, which testified, He told me all that ever I did.

40 So when the Samaritans were come unto him, they besought him that he would tarry with them: and he abode there 2 days.

41 And many more believed because of his own word;

42 And said unto the woman, Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world.

It is probable that when a few years afterwards, "Samaria received the Word of God," at the hands of the Apostles, Sychem would be among the places visited by Peter (Acts viii. 14-25). If so, the recollections of the Sychemites, going back to this visit of Jesus himself, would be very striking and useful.

Some have had a difficulty in reconciling Christ's action on this occasion with the direction he shortly afterwards gave to his disciples, to

"go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any cities of the Samaritans enter ye not."

There need be no difficulty. Christ did not visit the Samaritan district on this occasion in what we might call an official capacity. He was passing through it on his way to Galilee. What happened was in the way of a private incident and a personal condescension. It was a little before the time in a dispensational sense.

If he forbade his disciples to include Samaria in the scope of their evangelistic labours, this was no reason why he should not, in the exercise of his prerogative as the Master, himself, in passing, accept the hospitality of these privileged Sychemites, and speak to them of the great things of God.

Nazareth Revisited Ch 14

43 Now after two days he departed thence, and went into Galilee.

Bidding farewell to the Samaritans of Sychem, Jesus, resuming his journey, passes from the shadow of Mount Gerizim, into the open hill-environed country to the north of that mount, traversing which, with his (at this time) very small band of disciples, he enters the gorge at the southeastern extremity of the Carmel range, and emerges upon the plain of Esdraelon, and shortly afterwards enters Galilee.

He and his little company of fellow-travellers would be seen by many an indifferent eye as they moved along the dusty toilsome road northwards. Little would the casual on-looker in field and vineyard suspect the greatness of the ordinary-looking band of men that for a moment was visible on the road, and then disappeared as other passers-by.

Nazareth Revisited Ch 15

44 For Jesus himself testified, that a prophet hath no honour in his own country.

45 Then when he was come into Galilee, the Galilaeans received him, having seen all the things that he did at Jerusalem at the feast: for they also went unto the feast.

46 So Jesus came again into Cana of Galilee, where he made the water wine. And there was a certain nobleman, whose son was sick at Capernaum.

47 When he heard that Jesus was come out of Judaea into Galilee, he went unto him, and besought him that he would come down, and heal his son: for he was at the point of death.

Why should he suppose Jesus could do this? He must have heard of the miracles of healing he had performed at Jerusalem. He had probably made the acquaintance of Jesus during his first visit to Capernaum already referred to, and acquired some idea of who he was.

He would doubtless be aware of John's ministry, on which he would probably be an attendant; and would not be ignorant of the testimony borne to Jesus as the Messiah.

For some or all of these reasons, he had confidence in Christ's ability to disperse the shadow that lay on his house; for his son "was at the point of death."

Nazareth Revisited Ch 15

48 Then said Jesus unto him, Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe.

Jesus did not meet the nobleman's request with the ready and sympathetic compliance he showed on other occasions. He rather held the man off with something of a chiding manner.

...There must have been a reason for this. Probably the nobleman's importunity was too much of the self-interested order, like the push of a crowd for some advantage. Possibly, also, there was an unacceptable element of challenge in it, as much as to say to Jesus that if he were the Messiah, he was bound to do this. Likely also, with many others, he showed more interest in the signs than in the thing indicated by them. So Jesus uttered a reproof which, however, did not check the natural ardour of the man.

47 When he heard that Jesus was come out of Judaea into Galilee, he went unto him, and besought him that he would come down, and heal his son: for he was at the point of death.

Why should he suppose Jesus could do this? He must have heard of the miracles of healing he had performed at Jerusalem. He had probably made the acquaintance of Jesus during his first visit to Capernaum already referred to, and acquired some idea of who he was.

He would doubtless be aware of John's ministry, on which he would probably be an attendant; and would not be ignorant of the testimony borne to Jesus as the Messiah.

For some or all of these reasons, he had confidence in Christ's ability to disperse the shadow that lay on his house; for his son "was at the point of death."

Nazareth Revisited Ch 15

49 The nobleman saith unto him, Sir, come down ere my child die.

He expected Jesus would have to go down to Capernaum. It was literally a going down, for Capernaum lay on the margin of the sea of Galilee in the Jordan valley, while Cana was among the hills to the west. Perhaps Jesus would have gone down (as he did in other cases) had the man's attitude been such as to command his entire approval, but he did not do so. He granted his request without going. His power was greater than the nobleman knew.

Nazareth Revisited Ch 15

50 Jesus saith unto him, Go thy way; thy son liveth. And the man believed the word that Jesus had spoken unto him, and he went his way.

The nobleman's faith in Christ was strong enough to place the most implicit faith in this brief word. He started at once for home, twenty miles off. His mind being at rest, he probably rested for the night at one of the wayside inns; for it was next day when he reached the neighbourhood of Capernaum. He was met outside the town by his servants with the good but not surprising that his son was all right. He asked them when the improvement began.

Nazareth Revisited Ch 15

51 And as he was now going down, his servants met him, and told him, saying, Thy son liveth.

52 Then enquired he of them the hour when he began to amend. And they said unto him, Yesterday at the 7th hour the fever left him.

The father recognised this as the very hour at which Jesus spoke the words of healing,

53 So the father knew that it was at the same hour, in the which Jesus said unto him, Thy son liveth: and himself believed, and his whole house.

How could it be otherwise? Was ever such power seen on earth before ? It was power superhuman that turned water into wine on the spot at Cana, and that cured the sick people brought to his presence at Jerusalem, of which the Galilean people had been witnesses (Jno. iv. 45); but here was healing performed at a distance of 20 miles with the rapidity of lightning -- simply by the utterance of a word.

Peter afterwards spoke of "miracles and wonders and signs which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know" (Acts ii. 22). This is the all-sufficient and only explanation of the marvel. God alone has command of the universal, invisible, inscrutable energy of creation, in which all things subsist, out of which they have been made by His contriving power and commanding word.

To Him distance and locality are no impediment. The impulse of His will is equal to the instantaneous accomplishment of anything, anywhere. He places His power at the disposal of His servants when His work and wisdom require -- sometimes angels -- sometimes men.

...To establish Jesus as His Name-bearer in the midst of Israel, He placed His power in him by His presence. Jesus, as the Son of David, did not the works, as he said,

"The Father that dwelleth in me, He doeth the works."

It was needful that the works he did should be such as should truly bear witness of him -- that is, that they should be works beyond the range of human accomplishment. For had they been such as man, by any contrivance, could do, they would not have constituted the proof that was necessary; the way would have been open for men to think that perhaps Jesus did them as a man of contrivance, and that, therefore, God was not with him. It was needful that the foundation of faith in him, as the Saviour, should be laid in a manner admitting of no doubt. It was, therefore, necessary that he should do works beyond all human possibility.

Nazareth Revisited Ch 15

54 This is again the second miracle that Jesus did, when he was come out of Judaea into Galilee.

Proverbs 22

1 A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favour rather than silver and gold.

It is a poor glory to have a reputation you do not deserve.

Better to have a bad name that is a slander than a good name that is not warranted.

TC 05/1898

2 The rich and poor meet together: Yahweh is the maker of them all.

We are told that God has caused these things to be recorded that we may receive instruction, comfort and hope. The first lesson we learn is that—in the lives of the people of

God—nothing happens by chance. All is arranged in God's wise purpose for the development of His children, and His hand is ever present to control and direct.

The reading of God's Word is the most important activity of our lives. It should be the most looked-forward to and enjoyable. Each day as we begin we should meditate upon the

solemn and wonderful fact that this Book—alone of all books ever written—has been composed by God Himself, for the express purpose of saving man from death and making him "wise unto salvation."

Each word is there because God specifically caused it to be there. And the pleasure and impressiveness of reading these daily portions of Divine authorship are increased by the realization that, throughout the world, faithful and earnest brethren and sisters are reading and thinking upon these very same incidents, day by day.

It is an intimate, worldwide communion of minds in the glorious deep things of the Spirit of God, of which the natural man, like the beasts of the field, knows nothing.

Bro Growcott - A New Name

3 A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished.

Helping God a Little Bit

You carry the doctrine of faith in God farther than Christ intended, when you say a man must not make any provision for the future. It is really true that "we must help God a little bit" though you seem to think it an extraordinary suggestion.

God sends rain and sunshine, but He does not plant the field. He causes the grain to grow, but He leaves us to turn it into flour and bread; and if we don't "help God a little bit" in the matter, we shall certainly not see the loaves in our houses.

He gives wool and cotton, but the intricate and laborious processes by which these are turned into clothes, He leaves to us, and if we don't do our part, the promised provision will not be supplied.

What is the sowing of the field but a provision for the future? What is the buying of an umbrella but a provision for the future? If we know a dry season is coming on, we shall not sin if we store the water; we shall but act the part of wise men. "Fellow-workers with God" is really the principle at the heart of the Gospel. When we say,

"Give us this day our daily bread,"

we do not mean, and Christ never intended us to mean, "Bring us loaves to our door this day that we have made no arrangements to pay for;" the meaning is, that God will so affect and arrange our affairs that we shall be able to obtain what we require by the efforts that he intends us to put forth.

We must not put such a construction upon any part of the word of truth as will bring it into collision with divine wisdom in other parts. Faith in God is much needed in all our ways—for opportunity, for ability, for health, and a thousand conditions. It never was intended to displace that doing of our own part which the Lord requires, and which is the condition of His co-operation with us.

"The prudent man foreseeth the evil, but the simple pass on and are punished."

It is different when the Lord speaks expressly and direct. If He tell us to offer our Isaacs, we will do so. If He tell us to sell our all and divide it among the poor, we must do so. If He tell us to provide no purse and have no more coats than one, we shall be faithless and disobedient if we falter. But we shall mistake if we apply special commands to general cases, and discard the maxims of wisdom that are applicable in a day when the Lord has hidden His face and concealed His hand.

If we commit our way to the Lord in faith He will take us through; but is our way that we commit to him—ordered in all the wisdom necessary for guidance in an evil time. To say that a man cannot have been born again who provides for his wife and children is going too far. In due measure, such provision is part of godliness; as saith Paul,

"If any provide not for his own, especially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel."

The Christadelphian, Sept 1898

4 By humility and the fear of Yahweh are riches, and honour, and life.

This is one of the sayings of the Bible that cause the scornful reader to stumble. First of all, he says it is not true: that he does not find it so: that it is only by pride and pushfulness, and laying religion on one side, that a man gets on. Secondly, he says it contradicts Paul, who says, "If in this life only we have hope, we are, of all men, most miserable;" and Christ, who says, "Ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake," and "Blessed are ye that weep now."

The muddle in this case is due to lack of penetration, and the lack of penetration is due to a lack of taste and liking for truth in this direction. People are generally sharp in the direction of their loves. Even animals are wonderfully knowing where appetite or the love of their young is concerned. Men who love God can understand His ways and His sayings, where the class who love themselves only find, or profess to find great difficulty.

The statement before us is in perfect harmony with manifest truth. The working of Divine truth is far-reaching. We must give it long enough time to see its final operations. Who are to be the possessors of "riches and honour and life" in the finish of things on the earth on which we dwell? The servants of God, and they alone. "Glory, honour, and immortality to every soul of man that worketh good" (Rom. ii.)

"Behold my servants shall eat, shall drink, shall rejoice, shall sing for joy of heart, shall bless themselves in the God of truth, when the former troubles shall be forgotten, whereas ye, who forsake Yahweh, shall be hungry and thirsty, and shall cry for sorrow of heart and howl for vexation of spirit" (Isa. lxv. 13–16).

For them that mourn in Zion—at present the meek, the broken-hearted, the captives, the bound—the Lord has appointed gladness, praise, glory, and wealth, in the finish of things. The old wastes built again, the desolations repaired.

"Ye shall eat the riches of the Gentiles: in their glory shall ye boast yourselves" (Isa. lxvi. 3–6).

Now who are they that are thus to finally and permanently attain to the possession of "riches, honour, and life?" Why, those who are now characterised by "humility and the fear of the Lord." It is because of these mental qualities that they are to be so promoted—therefore, "by" those qualities. Those qualities may be inconvenient now, in a world conducted on the principles of pride and God-forgetfulness; but they are the certain passport to even the things the world likes.

The world may taste these things, but it is but for a moment. It is a feverish and unsatisfactory joy while they have them, and in every case it ends in the grave, which waits them all. If it be said the grave waits the humble and God-fearing as well, the answer is the grave cannot hold them. They belong to Christ, who has the keys, and they are out before they know they are in: and when they come out, it is to take

"the kingdom and the dominion and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven."

With the wicked who are responsible by their wilful rejection of God, it is far different. They drop into the grave in the midst of their wealth, as into a trapdoor, from which they instantly emerge (as it seems to them) to find themselves dispossessed of everything they valued, and face to face with the dispensation of God's righteous retribution, in which (in the midst of much tribulation and anguish, indignation and wrath) they will be made to realise the enormity of their crime in casting God behind their backs.

Realising, meanwhile, that "by humility and the fear of the Lord are riches and honour and life," be it ours to cultivate these excellent graces which bring peace now and salvation afterwards.

TC 12/1896

5 Thorns and snares are in the way of the froward: he that doth keep his soul shall be far from them.

6 Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

Solomon says, "A child left to itself bringeth its mother to shame." Many work against this principle of Solomon's, and tacitly avow that the best way to train children is to leave them alone and let them unfold themselves.

All experience shows Solomon to be right, and the Solomon contradiction to be wrong. When a child comes into the world, he brings no knowledge with him. His little brain is barbarism closely packed in little space. It is the material out of which a beautiful mentality can be fabricated by manipulation, just as coal, iron, and water become a beautiful useful engine in the hands of an operative mechanic.

"Left to itself," the child will certainly grow up a curse to itself, and a nuisance to all around. It has to be taught and to be properly taught, it has to be made to listen. How is this to be accomplished? The chapter gives a hint before it closes. "Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child: but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him."

This is a recommendation of corporal punishment—at the right moment. The world is going away from this, as it is from a great many other inculcations of wisdom. They even suggest that Solomon did not mean this, but that by the "rod" he meant the law of the parents orally enjoined. This extraordinary suggestion is sufficiently disposed of by the words of Solomon in the next chapter: "Withhold not correction from the child, for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die." And again, "Chasten thy son while there is hope; let not thy soul spare for his crying."

A child does not cry for the wise instructions of its parents. Solomon meant flagellation, of course. In this, there may appear to be a brutalising element. It all depends upon how it is employed. It is like every other good thing: it becomes evil if extremely or unskilfully used. But the cure for its wrong use is not its disuse. Its disuse will produce many more evils than its wrong use. The strongest and most useful men in history have all been men brought up under the coercion of parental authority.

Spoiled children are a crying shame: an affliction and a disgrace both to themselves and their parents. Just as there is nothing more beautiful under the sun than an obedient and intelligent and well-trained family, so there is nothing uglier than to see wilful, whimpering youngsters whose only law is their own likes and their parents' weakness. It was not without a reason that Paul made wise government in the house the test of a man's fitness for public service: "If a man know not how to rule his own house, how should he take care of the ecclesia of God?" (1 Tim. iii. 5). The rule of family government is simple if parents are enlightened and firm with the due flexibility.

While there are many things in which parents will take their children into confidence almost as equals, there are two things in which they should never hesitate to punish: if children disobey them or do flagrant wrong (as lying, stealing, cruelty, &c.) It is mistaken kindness to let them off with a reprimand: it will pay to make them suffer. It may be painful at the moment, but afterwards it will yield sweetness and satisfaction beyond measure. It ought to be a law that the child should not be allowed to cry because its wishes are thwarted. Crying for such a cause should be a crime, and should be punished. The rule would work infallibly.

Firmly, consistently, and kindly applied, such a method of treatment would banish the ugly phenomenon of whimpering children from every house, and changes nuisances into sources of comfort, interest and joy. Parents are afraid to use the whip for fear of alienating the affections of their children. It is a mistake. Things work the other way. No parents are loved so well as those who are not afraid to enforce the law of righteousness. No parents are despised and slighted so much, at last by their children, as those who are afraid to whip them.

Their methods breed tyrants, and louts and boors. Enlightened and firm government produces men and women fit to be sons and daughters of God. "Train up a child in the way that he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it." Try it. Never mind the scornful and shallow philosophy of street fools. The wisdom of God shall come forth justified in everything at last. The saints are "called" that they may govern the world at last. Part of their preparation lies in present experience. How are they going to be able to enforce God's authority on public communities, if they do not now do it in their own families?

The Christadelphian 12/1896

Men, then, whether we call them individuals or the world, cannot know what the Scriptures teach unless they study them apart from tradition. This is contrary to their practice. Their custom is, to indoctrinate the human mind with tradition from the cradle to maturity. This is called

"training up a child in the way he should go, that when he is old he may not depart from it!"

It ought to be styled, the putting the mind in chains stronger than iron. After they have handcuffed and riveted the intellect, they put the Bible into their hands with eulogy, and saying, "Read it, for the Bible is our religion!" They all tell their disciples this, whether clergyman or rabbi; and as their scholars are trained in a sort of awful reverence for the men of sanctimony and the "holy tone," they are too much the creatures of implicit faith, to dispute the fact.

Herald of the Kingdom and Age to Come, June 1857.

7 The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.

Do not get into debt

"Owe no man anything but love"; it is an apostolic precept. You can be under a debt of gratitude as much as you like, but keep money out of the obligation; this is good advice, even apart from precept, but here is precept, therefore a binding rule on those who submit to apostolic law.

There are many evils connected with debt.

"The borrower is servant to the lender."

The debt is something between you which has power to cloud friendship; it is always an anxiety; a worm that gnaws the roots of joy. At last, perhaps, it is a seed of hatred and strife. Keep the air clear of debt, and the sun will have a better chance. But some say we cannot help it, and doubtless there are times when people cannot help it, but in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred they can help it, by denying themselves.

The advantages that come of the borrowing are very dearly bought, in a higher than a commercial sense. Most borrowers find that out by experience, but it is better not to let experience teach in this matter, since we have a command; it is better to obey the command and not to get into debt; a recognition of duty in this matter will greatly help.

There is nothing like duty as the motive principle of life; applied to this matter, it would save worlds of trouble. Acting on this principle of not getting into debt, people would be saved much trouble. Once get into debt, the difficulty of getting out is greater than dreamt of, but some people do not think about it. They see an opportunity; they conceive a desire in a certain direction; and borrowing is as easy with them as possible.

This is wrong. They have no business to handle money that is not their own; they are not sure they will live to repay; their health may fail, prospects may desert them and the lender is robbed, and that the lender may have plenty is no weakening of the obligation to give him his own. In our circumstances, it is specially important to be particular on this point. The Lord may be upon us any day, and how discomfiting for him to find us with hands and feet tied in debt and unable to do anything for his name, for the burden we have taken on our shoulders.

There is nothing but wisdom in this precept: a noble-hearted lender may forgive debt; but we must not presume on this; nay, rather refuse to be forgiven and insist on the advantage of being free and independent. Shut your ears to flattering projects. Say not, "I will pay up in a year." Ye know not the year is yours. Even if ye live, things may go wrong, and ye in a fix will have to say with humiliation, "I would pay but I cannot."

Traffic in love without limit, for love is the fulfilling of the law. We are allowed to contract indefinite obligations in this direction; the interest is sweet to the payer and receiver, and leaves a man richer in the article when paid. At the same time, beware of counterfeits; beware of such as talk of love, and on the strength of it get into debt and bear false witness.

Love is the fulfilling of the law only in the sense that it is the sentiment that leads to the spontaneous doing of what the law enjoins, and abstinence from what it forbids. It will not do to put love in the place of obedience; this is characteristic of the false religions of the day. We must always guard against the misapplication of good principles, that we may see the right fulfilment of all in the Kingdom of God.

Bro Roberts - Submission to human law

8 He that soweth iniquity shall reap vanity: and the rod of his anger shall fail.

9 He that hath a bountiful eye shall be blessed; for he giveth of his bread to the poor.

It may not be so now. Such a man rather seems a goose to be plucked by the sly foxes: sheep to be devoured by prowling wolves. But appearance is not always reality. It steadily remains an appointed truth that blessedness and nothing but blessedness awaits the merciful men who are bountiful for God's sake.

Such were his servants the prophets,

"of whom the world was not worthy, who wandered about in sheep skins, in dens and caves of the earth, destitute, tormented, afflicted."

How will they appear when "the time of the dead" has come, when God in anger rises in judgment against angry nations, and deals out bountiful "reward to his servants, the prophets, and to them that fear His name, small and great?"

It will then be apparent to all the world that this statute of the sanctuary is invulnerable in the strength of truth, and that, however much God's bountiful children may be prevailed against in this age of confusion and sin, their blessedness stands like a rock awaiting them at their awaking, and will prevail, like Jacob's blessing on Joseph, "unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills."

Let not the bountiful man lose heart: let not his love wax cold because iniquity may abound among those who have a name to live and are dead. Let him persevere faithfully unto death, remembering that he to whom our service is dedicated is an observant watcher amid all the darkness, contemporary with all its times, and waiting to chase it away with His everlasting presence.

Editor.

The Christadelphian, Dec 1896.

10 Cast out the scorner, and contention shall go out; yea, strife and reproach shall cease.

11 He that loveth pureness of heart, for the grace of his lips the king shall be his friend.

12 The eyes of Yahweh preserve knowledge, and he overthroweth the words of the transgressor.

13 The slothful man saith, There is a lion without, I shall be slain in the streets.

14 The mouth of strange women is a deep pit: he that is abhorred of Yahweh shall fall therein.

15 Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.

Children are Yahweh's heritage. (Psa 127:3)

Being dictatorial and harsh only intensifies rebellion. The balance is to consider how Yahweh chastises his children for their eternal well being with kindness and encouragement and judgement when necessary.

16 He that oppresseth the poor to increase his riches, and he that giveth to the rich, shall surely come to want.

17 Bow down thine ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply thine heart unto my knowledge.

18 For it is a pleasant thing if thou keep them within thee; they shall withal be fitted in thy lips.

19 That thy trust may be in Yahweh, I have made known to thee this day, even to thee.

20 Have not I written to thee excellent things in counsels and knowledge,

21 That I might make thee know the certainty of the words of truth; that thou mightest answer the words of truth to them that send unto thee?

22 Rob not the poor, because he is poor: neither oppress the afflicted in the gate:

23 For Yahwehwill plead their cause, and spoil the soul of those that spoiled them.

24 Make no friendship with an angry man; and with a furious man thou shalt not go:

25 Lest thou learn his ways, and get a snare to thy soul.

26 Be not thou one of them that strike hands, or of them that are sureties for debts.

27 If thou hast nothing to pay, why should he take away thy bed from under thee?

28 Remove not the ancient landmark, which thy fathers have set.

29 Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men.Proverbs 22