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Humble Hero
to place Himself in the power of the priests and rulers. Everyone
was surprised at His presence. Every voice was hushed.
Standing there as the center of attraction to that vast assembly,
Jesus spoke to them as no man had ever done. His words showed
that He knew the sacrificial service and the teachings of the prophets
far better than the priests and rabbis did. As one who saw the
Unseen, He spoke with positive authority about both earthly and
heavenly things. As at Capernaum, the people were astonished at
His teaching, “for His word was with authority.”
Luke 4:32
. He
made every possible effort to bring them to repentance. He did not
want to be rejected and murdered by His own nation if He could
save them from the guilt of such a deed.
The question passed from one to another, “How does this Man
know letters, having never studied?” Both Jesus and John the Baptist
had been described as ignorant because they had not received training
in the rabbinical schools. Those who heard them were astonished at
their knowledge of the Scriptures, but the God of heaven was their
teacher. As Jesus spoke in the temple courtyard, His words held the
people spellbound. Those who were most violent against Him felt
powerless to do Him harm.
Weariness of the Worshipers Recognized
On the morning of the last day of the feast, the people were
tired from the long festivity. Suddenly Jesus lifted up His voice:
“If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes
in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of
living water.” The people had participated in a continued scene of
pomp and festivity, their eyes dazzled with light and color and their
ears filled with the richest music, but there had been nothing to meet
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the wants of the spirit, nothing to satisfy the thirst of the soul.
That morning the priest had performed the ceremony commem-
orating the time that Moses struck the rock in the wilderness. That
rock symbolized Him who by His death would cause living streams
of salvation to flow. There in the presence of the multitude Christ
set Himself apart to be struck, so that the Water of Life could flow to
the world. As Jesus spoke, their hearts thrilled with a strange awe.