CHRIST our TEACHER: “No man ever spoke like this Man!” (Jn 7:46). Christ’s words, as recorded, are comparatively few. The longest discourse takes fifteen minutes to read aloud. The whole of His words could be printed in a pamphlet of sixteen pages, and yet they are such that they have astounded the whole world. There is no spot or blemish in them, no confession of sin, no mistake, no uncertainty, no hesitation. All is authoritative, calm and decisive: “I say to you.” The style is perfect. Not a vestige appears of sentimentality, no weak emotion, no plea for pity, no mock heroics, no posing for effect, no lightness or trifling, no irritation or hastiness. “If anyone does not stumble in word, he is a perfect man” (Jas 3:2). The common people heard Him gladly, marvelling at His gracious words. sinners wept at His feet, the brokenhearted were comforted and their wounds bound up. And now, so many centuries later, the same words continue to save, enlighten and console. —George Goodman