No Man Ever Spoke Like This Man!
Jesus had been causing a big stir among the people with both His miracles and His teachings. In fact, Scripture records that “Many of the people believed in Him, and said, ‘When the Christ comes, will He do more signs than these which this Man has done’” (John 7:31)? Since many of the people were starting to believe in Jesus, the Pharisees tried to put a stop to Jesus increasing in favor with the people. As a result, they send officers to take Jesus and bring Him in for questioning. The officers find Jesus and they hear His powerful and encouraging words about their spiritual thirst being quenched through Him (John 7:37-39). The officers then come back empty handed to the Pharisees and when they question them about this dereliction of duty, their only response is “No man ever spoke like this Man” (John 7:46). What was it about Jesus' teaching that made these officers forget their duty and come back empty handed? Let’s consider what made Jesus such a mesmerizing and powerful teacher.
Jesus taught with Authority. Upon entering Capernaum Jesus immediately went into the synagogue and began to teach. Mark then records something that was different about Jesus’ teaching. “And they were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the Scribes” (Mark 1:22). Unlike the Scribes who were great at offering hundreds of years of Jewish opinions and possibilities on any given Scripture, Jesus simply taught the Scripture as the true and right message from God and helped people apply it to their lives. How refreshing this must have been for someone like Jesus to stand up and say, “This is what the Word of God says. It’s a simple message and we must believe it and live by its truth every day.” No more debating what the various rabbis or scholars thought or what hundreds of years of Torah interpretation thought. Jesus simply emphasized the Scripture as the final authority from God and encouraged people to live it out in their lives.
Jesus taught from a place of compassion. Matthew records for us that “…when Jesus saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd” (Mt. 9:36). From this text we learn another reason Jesus was such a powerful teacher. Everything Jesus taught and said came from a place of love and compassion for the lost. In your mind’s eye when you hear Jesus teach, do you hear and see the love He had for His hearers in His expressions and in His delivery? There’s an old statement that I think rings so true here: No one cares how much you know until they know how much you care! Based on the evidence of Scripture, I believe Jesus’ teaching was filled with love and compassion, and people were starving for that then just as they are now.
Jesus taught with Hope. What exactly did the officers who were sent to retrieve Jesus hear that impressed them so much? John records for us “On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, ‘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 waters’” (John 7:37-38). Jesus reminded God’s people from the promises of the Old Testament (Isa. 55:1) that hope was coming for God’s people and that He was that hope. Every Jew who was familiar with the Scriptures knew God had promised a time of hope, and they longed for that day to come. When Jesus stood up and referenced that about Himself imagine how much hope that must have given to the Israelite who loved God and longed for that day!
Like the Lord Jesus Christ, our teaching today should be seen as different from the religious cookie-cutter sermons and ideas of men. It should be filled with authority from the Word of God, it should be motivated from compassion and love for lost souls, and it should absolutely give people hope in Christ and salvation! Truly, “No man ever spoke like this Man” (John 7:46)! –Ben Bailey