tening to our Lord. With the characteristic keenness of all Jews they at once detected in our Lord's language a claim to be received as the Messiah. Just as on a former occasion, they saw, in His " calling God His Father," that He " made Himself equal with God, " (John v. 18,) so here in His saying "I am from Him : He hath sent me," they saw an assertion of His right to be received as Messiah.
[But no man. ..hour not ijet come.'] This restraint on our Lord's enemies can only be accounted for by direct Divine interposi- tion. It is like John viii. 20, aud xviii. 6. It is clear that they could do nothing against Him except by God's permission,, and when God, in His wisdom, was pleased to let it be done. Our Lord did not fall into His enemies' hands through inability to escape, but because the "hour had come," when He voluntarily under- took to die as a substitute.
The doctrine before us, let us note, is full of comfort to God's people. Nothing can hurt them except and until God permits. We are all immortal till our work is done. To realize that noth- ing happens in this world except by the eternal counsels of our Father, and according to His eternal plans, is one grand secret of living a calm, peaceful, and contented life.
Besser quotes a saying of Luther's: "God has appointed a nice, easy hour, for everything; and that hour has the whole world for its enemy : it must attack it. The devil shoots and throws at the poor clock-hand, but in vain : for all depends on the hour. Till the hour comes, and the hand has run its course, the devil and the world shall accomplish nothing."
SI.— [Many of the people.'] This means the common people — the lower orders, in contradistinction to the Pharisees and chief priests.
[Believed on Him.] There seems no reason to think that this was not a true faith, so far as it went. But it would not be safe perhaps to conclude that it was more than a general belief that our Lord must be the Messiah, the Christ, and that He deserved to be received as such.
[Wlien Christ cometh ... more miracles... done.] This language must clearly have been used by people who were familiar with many of our Lord's miracles wrought in Galilee, and knew a good deal about His ministry. So few miracles probably had been wrought as yet in and round Jerusalem, that the language would hardly be used by Jerusalem people. The word " more " probably means not only more in number, but " greater " in character.
The question raised by these people was a fair and reasonable one, — " What greater evidence could any one give that He is the Christ, than this man has given? He could not work great- er miracles, even if He worked more numerous ones. What then