before, and this without leaving his sheep to be seized or scattered by the wolf; or he might have been protected by supernatural power (Matt. 26:53). He did not because he had a peculiar authority given to him, which his followers do not possess, to lay down his own life, both in the self-assumed humiliation of the incarnation, and in the final tragedy of his death. And this peculiar authority he possessed because in all his incarnation and passion and death he was carrying out the will and obeying the command of his Father. To us the divine command is interpreted by providence; Christ needed no such interpreter, for he knew the Father’s will, knowing the Father even as he was known by the Father. 19 There was a division therefore again among the Jews for these sayings. 20 And many of them said, He[408] hath a devil, and is mad; why hear ye him? [408] ch. 7:20. 21 Others said, These are not the words of him that hath a devil. Can a devil open[409] the eyes of the blind? [409] ch. 9:6, etc. =19-21. There was a division therefore again among theJews.=--Christ’s fan was in his hand. His teachings were tests of the character of his auditors.--=He hath a devil.= Rather _an evil spirit_ (see ch. 8:52, note).--=Why hear ye him?= Why listen to him at all? The words were addressed by the opponents of Jesus to those who were inclined to believe on him, and indicate the uneasiness with which the Pharisees observed the impression which Christ was making on the less prejudiced and better disposed among the people (comp. ch. 7:46-49).--=These are not the words of one possessed by an evil spirit.= A pregnant saying. Infidelity must afford some explanation of the teachings and life of Christ; and they are not the teachings and life of either a fanatic or a deceiver.--=Can an evil spirit open the eyes of the blind?= These words show that the whole discourse of this chapter was not distant in time from the healing of the blind man narrated in Chapter IX, and was probably closely connected with it. * * * * * Ch. 10:22-42. DISCOURSE AT THE FEAST OF DEDICATION.--THE GIFT OF CHRIST: ETERNAL LIFE.--THE POWER OF CHRIST: THE POWER OF THE FATHER.--THE CONTRAST BETWEEN THE O. T. PROPHETS AND CHRIST.--THE EVIDENCE OF CHRIST’S DIVINITY; HIS WORKS. There is no reason to suppose that Christ left Judea during the time which elapsed between the feast of Tabernacles (ch. 7:2) and the feast of Dedication; on the contrary, the intimate connection between the discourse here reported and the preceding parable of the Good Shepherd (see vers. 26, 27), indicates that this discourse followed almost immediately after that one; certainly while the latter was still fresh in the minds of the people. I believe that the ministry in Judea, reported in John, chapters 7, 8, 9 and 10, was a continuous one, unbroken by any departure into Galilee or Perea.