Jottings

by J. Miller | Category: Jottings | Jul 1963

In the matter of things which were directly said to the Lord and questions which were asked of Him, we come to the question of the multitude in Capernaum which the Lord fed on the other side of the sea of Galilee. After all they had experienced of the Lord's power to feed 5,000 men besides women and children with five barley loaves and two small fishes, they dared to ask Him, "What then doest Thou for a sign, that we may see, and believe Thee? what workest Thou?" (John 6.80). Of the miracles of the Lord, called by John signs, some nine are recorded, six of which being peculiar to John's Gospel. Three are mentioned in the other Gospels, namely, the feeding of the 5,000, the Lord walking on the sea, and the healing of the ear of Malchus.

The multitudes were prepared to acknowledge the Lord as the Prophet of whom Moses spoke. They would also have made Him King over them, such a king as would free them from scarcity and hunger, but not to receive Him as the Son of the Father, the Bread of God which had come from heaven to give life to the world, and which if a man eat he should live for ever; such stupendous claims as the Lord made in the synagogue they could not and would not accept Here is where reason and faith stand opposed in an irreconcilable opposition The things He said in Jerusalem were as true in Galilee If I had not done among them the works which none other did they had not had sin but now have they both seen and hated both Me and My Father" (John 15 24) Concerning Capernaum a city of the greatest privilege where the Lord resided with His family during the most of His public ministry, the Lord asked the question And thou Capernaum shalt thou be exalted unto heaven? thou shall go down unto Hades for if the mighty works had been done in 9odom which were done in thee it would have remained until this day" (Matthew ii. 23). Truly a terrible end awaited the unbelieving people of Capernaum.

In the end of the Lord's discourse in the synagogue of Capernaum, not only did the Jews reject His claims, that He Himself was the sole and only Satisfier of human need, but many of His disciples murmured because of what He had said, and they said, - This is a hard saving - who can hear it?" and it is said that many of His disciples went back; and' walked no more with Him" (John 6.06).

There are always testing times for saints as well as for sinners. Saints may be offended at many things and some are caused to stumble, but if we are offended at the Lord and His word, what remedy is there for this kind of offence? It is not quite clear whether those disciples went back and walked no more with Him during His lifetime, or their own lifetime, but whichever be the correct view to take, what they did was serious in the extreme.

It was in such trying times that the faith of Peter shone out from the dark surrounding clouds of departure from the Lord. When the Lord asked the twelve, "Would ye also go away? Simon Peter answered Him, Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life. And we have believed and know that thou art the Holy One of God" (John 6. 67-09). Noble Peter! His answer was not to what or where shall we go, but to whom shall we go? "What" and "where" are soulless, but to whom" - here was the love and life of the Eternal. Here was a heart they could trust and confide in. Here was the Eternal Life, which, as John says, was with the Father and was manifested unto us. Alas, this faith, bright as the dawn, was not that of Judas the son of Simon Iscariot. He was a devil among the saints. Of him the Lord said, "One of you is a devil" (verse 70). Did Judas hear Him? Indeed, did the others hear with attention what the Lord said? If they had heard, why did they need to ask at the last supper from one another which of them should betray Him? Peter beckoned to John who lay in the Lord's bosom to ask Him who it was, so John said, "Lord, who is it?" Judas ate the Lord's bread, hut his heart was far from Him. Side by side sat saint and sinner, and amongst the multitudes in the synagogue in Capernaum moved men whose souls were black as midnight and others whose souls were enlightened by the glory of divine grace. To whom shall we also go?

In the discussions in Jerusalem on the Lord's Person, as recorded in John, chapters 7 and 8, we have some, shall I say, monstrous things said about the Lord; "Thou hast a demon" (7.20), and, "Thou art a Samaritan, and hast a demon" (8.48). These words give evidence, if evidence were needed, of the Lord's assertion, "Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father it is your will to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and stood not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father thereof" (John 8. 44).

Jude tells us what is not recorded elsewhere in Scripture, that when Michael the archangel was contending with the devil and disputed about the body of Moses, he durst not bring a railing judgement against him, but said, "The Lord rebuke thee" (Jude 9). The Lord's words about the devil were not a railing judgement, but a true description of the devil's character, his ways and acts, and the Jews who sought the life of the Lord bore all the features of the devil's children. At the Lord's mock trial before the council of the Jewish elders, the case against the Lord was decided before the trial took place, for in the council, as described in John 11.47-58, Caiaphas the high priest said, "It is expedient for you that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not ... So from that day forth they took counsel that they might put Him to death." What kind of court of justice was this in which all the judges were biased men against the prisoner? Not only were they biased men, but "the chief priests and the whole council sought false witness against Jesus, that they might put Him to death" (Matthew 26.59). They would put a judicial face on a legalized murder. Well did Stephen the martyr say of their satanic act of killing the Lord, "of whom ye have now become betrayers and murderers" (Acts 7.52). His faithful testimony cost him his life. Nothing was too bad and loathsome with which to label the Lord, "a Samaritan," "Thou hast a demon" "that deceiver" (Matthew 27.68).

Over against these railing words we have the testimony of Judas Iscariot to the Lord's innocence, "I have sinned in that I betrayed innocent blood," then he cast the thirty pieces of silver into the sanctuary and went forth and hanged himself (Matthew 27.4, 5). What remorse and what an eternity Pilate, too, as he gave sentence to allay the rising tumult of the Jewish multitude, excited to fury by their leaders, took water and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, "I am innocent of the blood of this righteous Man" (Matthew 27.24). Likewise the centurion in charge of the execution, and others who watched the Lord die, and saw the strange happenings of the earthquake and rending of the rocks and so forth, "feared exceedingly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God" (Matthew 27.52-54). How terribly the words of the Jews have been answered, "His blood be on us, and on our children"! (Matthew 27.25), in the long wail of Jewish suffering through the weary centuries since the crucifixion, and nothing was ever more terrible than the sufferings of the Jews under the Hitlerite regime in recent years. Hut the end is not yet to Jewish sufferings. They have not brought that people to the end of themselves, nor one step nearer to the Man of Nazareth and Calvary. They still reject Him and hold Him as a deceiver and blasphemer, that He being Man made Himself God (John 10.88). What a day of weeping it will be when their eyes are opened and they see Him whom they pierced (Zechariah 12. 10-14)- a national mourning indeed!

What a difference between these public and national events and those in the home of Lazarus and his sisters in Bethany! There love reigned whilst hatred raged without. There the Lord was a welcome visitor. It is said, "Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus" (John 11.5), and they loved Him. Well they knew who He was, as Martha confessed to Him, "Yea, Lord: I have believed that Thou art the Christ, the Son of God, even He that cometh into the world" (John 11.27). This faith changes everything in those who have it. But this does not save them from sorrow, for Lazarus took sick and died-loved ones still die! But the Lord came, as in their case of old, and His coming changed everything in that home, and ere the scenes of Bethany fade we see the once-dead and the living united in the happiness of that slipper. Lazarus sat with the Lord, Martha, her face beaming with joy, served the guests, Mary anointed the Lord's feet and wiped them with her hair. Clad reunions await the Lord's coming for us.

J. Miller | Jul 1963
Jottings