I DWELL not on these words in their relation to the context. I pause not to consider whether their utterance was a justification of the Sabbath-day miracle that was presently to be performed—“no opportunity must be lost, no delay allowed of working the works of GOD”—or whether they were but the thinking and resolving aloud (so characteristic of our LORD), by which He kept ever in mind His great mission, by which He continually stimulated and pressed on that human nature of His; willing indeed, but yet weak, though not sinful; and made it vigorously industrious in the work of GOD; or whether, once more, CHRIST here but personified Christians, and spoke not of Himself, not to keep Himself mindful and intent upon His work, but as their example and representative, as though He had said, “A work of GOD will now be manifested in the restoration of this blind man. It will not be delayed till the Sabbath is over. See me serving GOD and serving Him now, by instant doing of all possible work. Consider me your example. Let this be your resolution, ‘I must work the works of Him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.’” It matters little to us what feeling or motive immediately prompted our LORD to speak the text. His words at once commend themselves to us as those which we may, which we ought to adopt, even if they belong primarily to Him; which, rather, since they were the ruling maxim of CHRIST, must be the ruling maxim of Christians. Well, then, these are our words (and CHRIST has shown us how to fulfil them), “I must work the works of Him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.”