tting a better look at the Man, and at the purpose that grips Him. Of
the nineteen incidents in these twelve chapters fifteen give exhibitions
of power. It is of two sorts, power over the human will, and miraculous
power.

Eight incidents reveal _power working upon the human will_. In three of
these--Nicodemus, the Samaritan woman, the accused sinful woman--the
will becomes pliant and is radically changed, so morally affecting the
whole life. In five--the temple cleansing, at the Tabernacles Feast, the
first and second attempt at stoning, and the kingly entry into the
city--the human will is stubbornly aggressively antagonistic to Jesus,
but is absolutely restrained from what it is fully set upon doing.

In the other seven incidents the power is _miraculous_ or supernatural.
In three--turning the water into wine, multiplying food supplies,
walking on the water--it is power in _the realm of nature_. In
four--healing the Roman nobleman's son, the thirty-eight-year
infirmity, giving sight to the man born blind, and the raising of
Lazarus--it is power in _the realm of the body_, radically changing its
conditions.

It will help to remember what those words _miraculous_ and
_supernatural_ mean. Miraculous means something wonderful, that is,
something filling us with wonder because it is so unusual. Supernatural
means something above the usual natural order. The two words are
commonly taken as having one meaning. Neither word means something
contrary to nature, of course, but simply on a higher level than the
ordinary workings of nature with which we are familiar. The action is in
accord with some higher law in God's world which is brought into play
and is seen to be superior to the familiar laws.

But the power, or the man that can call this higher law into action, is
of a higher order. There is revealed an intimacy of acquaintance with
these higher laws, and even more a power that can command and call them
into action down in the sphere of our common ordinary life, until we
stare in wonder. This is really the remarkable thing. Not supernatural
action itself simply, tremendous as that is, but the man in such touch
with higher power as to be able to call out the action, and to command
it at will.

This is one of the things that marks Jesus off so strikingly from other
holy men. There are miracles in the Old Testament and in the Book of
Acts. But there's an abundance and a degree of power in Jesus' miracles
outclassing al