and the Pharisees, did try to seize the Lord. Perhaps most of the Galileans had left Jerusalem, and returned home, for St. John tells us that they sent officers to take Him. Did the men whom they sent do as they were told? Did they take Him? Ah, no! They returned without Him, and said, "Never man spake like this man." When they heard our Lord's divine words, they dared not put their hands on Him to seize Him and make Him their prisoner. His time had not yet come. His words indeed were wonderful, and quite different from the words of any other teacher they had ever heard. Again Jesus taught in a court in the Temple.* "I am," He said, "the Light of the world." Not the Saviour of the Jews only, but of all who would take Him as their Saviour-both Jews and Gentiles. Some of the Jews believed on Jesus, and to them He said, "If ye continue in My word, then are ye My disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." Others blasphemed. They boasted that God was their Father; but as for Jesus, He had a devil, and was mad. Jesus said to

* St. John viii. 12—59.

them, "If God were your Father, ye would love Me; for I proceeded forth and came from God. . . Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do." Then these wicked menwho, as Jesus said, were the seed or children of the devil-took up stones to stone Him who was the Promised Seed, the Messiah; but our Lord hid Himself from them.

CHAPTER XXX.

Jesus the Light of the World.-The Man born blind.

He meant

world, and the Light of men. that He could make men see or understand the things of God by giving them the Holy Spirit of God-the "living water," which He promised to all who asked Him for that great gift. Jesus was also the Light of men in another way. He could make them see with the eyes of the body,

He could open the eyes of the blind; and He did so more than once when He lived upon this earth.

At Jerusalem Jesus saw a man who had been born blind. His life was passed in darkness. The sun rose in the morning, but its beauty and gladness were not for him-he saw it not; and its setting splendours he could never behold. The brightest summer's day was to him like the blackest night. His whole life had been one long night; but at last He who was the Light changed that night into a glorious day. Jesus saw him, and pitied him. He anointed his eyes with clay, and told him to go and wash in the Pool of Siloam. He could, indeed, have given him sight by speaking a word-for had He not created the Light and the sun, and when all was darkness had He not said, "Let there be light, and there was light." But perhaps the Lord wished to try this man's faith. How did the blind man act? What did he do? He asked no questions; but just did as Jesus told him. He went and washed in the Pool of Siloam; and St. John tells us that he "came seeing.” His obedience had its reward. His faith led him

He gave

on to the perfect day, and Jesus, we may believe, did more than this for the blind man. light to his mind; He shone into his heart; He made him bold to confess Christ before men.

Let us see what more happened to this man for whom the Lord did such great things. You recollect that God cursed the ground because of Adam's sin, and said it should bring forth briers and thorns, and that men should work very hard to make it bring forth fruit and herbs for the use of men. From that time man had to earn his bread by the sweat of his brow; but God mercifully gave him one day in seven to be a day of rest— a Sabbath-day. God meant this for man's good, and it was a great blessing; but the teachers of religion amongst the Jews made God's Sabbath a curse and not a blessing. Because the Sabbath was a day of rest from weary toil, they would not do even good works on that day. They would not do some light work that might be necessary to save a man's life, or to heal his sickness. Jesus reproved them for this, and taught them that it was lawful and right to save men's lives, to heal their diseases, and to help those who needed help

on the Sabbath-day. Jesus anointed the eyes of the blind man, and gave him sight on the Sabbathday, and then these bad men, these rulers of the Jews, said that He had broken the Sabbath-day, and that He ought to be put to death. So the man who had been born blind was brought before them, that they might question him. Why did they do this? They wished to make him a witness against Jesus to make him say that our Lord had broken the Sabbath by making clay and anointing of the blind man. eyes But first they pre

the tended not to believe that the man had been born

They said that but how it was

blind, so they asked his parents. their son was indeed born blind; that he could now see they knew not. Then they questioned the man himself. "What sayest thou of Him who hath opened thine eyes? He answered them, "He is a prophet." They wished to make him believe that his parents had confessed how that he had only pretended to be blind. If he had only pretended to be blind, then Jesus had not really made him see; He had only pretended to do so, and was therefore a deceiver. "Now," said they, "we know that this man is a sinner. We know