dwelt in his little green hut as well
sheltered as his neighbour. And to every one was suggested the thought,
that let the coming winter be well provided or ill provided, let it be
bleak to some and bright to others, at bottom the provision of this
world is to all alike but as a green bough between them and destitution;
but that all alike, reduce them if you will to a booth which has neither
store nor couch in it, have still the Most High God for their deliverer,
and provider, and habitation.[30]

Even before Jesus appeared at this feast He was the subject of much talk
and exchange of opinions.

1. The first characteristic of the popular mind, as exhibited here by
John, is its subservience to authority. Those who had a favourable
opinion of Jesus uttered it with reserve and caution, "for fear of the
Jews"--that is, of the Jerusalem Jews, who were known to be adverse to
His claims. And the authorities, knowing the subservience of the people,
considered it a sufficient reply to the favourable reports brought them
by their own officers, to say, "Have any of the rulers or of the
Pharisees believed on Him?" This seems a very childish mode of settling
a great question, and we are ready to charge the Jews with a singular
lack of independence; but we reflect that among ourselves great
questions are settled very much by authority still. In politics we take
our cue from one or two newspapers, conducted by men who show themselves
quite fallible; and in matters of even deeper moment, how many of us can
say we have thought out a creed for ourselves, and have not accepted our
ideas from recognised teachers? And whether these teachers be the
accredited representatives of traditional theology, or have secured an
audience by their departure from ordinary views, we have in our own
conscience a surer guide to the truth about Christ. For much that we may
build upon the foundation we must be indebted to others; but for that
which is radical, for the determination of the relation we ourselves are
to hold to Christ, we must follow not authority but our own conscience.

Our equanimity need not, then, be greatly disturbed by the fact that so
many of the rulers of public opinion do not believe in Christ. We need
not tremble for Christianity when we see how widely extended is the
opinion that miracles are the fancy of a credulous age. We need not be
over-anxious or altogether downcast when we hear philosophers sublimely
talk as if they had seen