The Rulers of the Jews heard of these things said by the people, and they would gladly have prevented His speaking any more to them: and they sent officers to take Him: but in vain, for the time appointed for His death was not yet come, and therefore the Lord kept Him in safety, and would allow no man to hurt Him. Moreover, Jesus plainly told them, that He should remain in the world a little longer, because it was the Will of His Father that He should do so; and that then He should go back to His Father, who had sent Him from heaven to preach the Gospel upon earth. But the Jews did not understand His meaning; and when He said, "Ye shall seek me, and shall not find me; and where I am, thither ye cannot come," they said one to another, "Whither will he go, that we shall not find him?" "What manner of saying is this that He said?" Chapter XXI.--RETURN OF THE SEVENTY. "In the last day, that great day of the feast," when there was a holy convocation, or assembling of the people, Jesus stood up, and invited all men to believe in Him, and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, which He compared to "living water"--water that would wash away all their sins, and give life and strength to their souls: just as a good drink of pure water, given to a man who is fainting with fatigue and thirst, will revive him, and give him fresh strength and spirit for his work. Again was there "a division among the people because of him": some said, "Of a truth, this is the Prophet"; others, more plainly, "This is the Christ"; whilst others, influenced by their false ideas, asked, "Shall Christ come out of Galilee? Hath not the Scripture said, That Christ cometh of the seed of David, and out of the town of Bethlehem, where David was?" They were right; the Scriptures did say so: but had the people with an earnest desire endeavoured to learn the truth, they would have found that in Jesus, these words of Scripture were fulfilled, although Nazareth, in Galilee, had accidentally been His dwelling-place. Again, the Chief Priests and Pharisees, fearing His influence with the people, sent out officers to take Jesus; and when these returned without Him, they were asked, "Why have ye not brought him?" The officers, though sent out for that very purpose, could not bring themselves to lay violent hands on one to whom they had listened with astonishment; and they now answered, as their reason for not having brought Him in as a prisoner, "Never man spake like this man." The Pharisees, in their wilful blindness and hardness of heart, reproached the officers for being also "deceived," as they called it; and reminded them that none of the rulers, or learned men, had believed in Jesus, and that as to the people, they were ignorant; adding the most unwarrantable assertion, "This people, who knoweth not the Law, are cursed."