"And he (Jesus) was teaching daily in
the temple. The chief priests and the scribes and the principal men of the
people were seeking to destroy him, but they did not find anything they
could do, for all the people were hanging on his words" (Luke 19:47-48,
ESV).
Notice carefully the last part of the
passage, "...all the people were hanging on his words."
"
The New King James Version translates it,
"all the people were very attentive to
hear Him." In the paraphrase of the
New Century Version, we read: "all the people were listening closely to
him." The Bible in Basic
English: "the people all kept near him, being greatly interested in his
words." Good News Translation:
"all the people kept listening to him, not wanting to miss a single
word." God's Word Translation:
"all the people were eager to hear him." Common English Bible:
"all the people were enthralled with what they heard." And the New Revised
Standard Version states, "all the people were spellbound by what they
heard."
During the time of Christ,
the people were "hanging on his words," "very attentive to hear
Him, " "listening closely to Him," "being greatly
interested in His words," "kept listening to Him, not wanting to
miss a single word," "eager to hear Him," "enthralled with
what they heard," or "spellbound by what they heard"!
How about us today? Do we
have such kind of interest in the words of Jesus? Does His Word in the Bible
captivate us?
Unfortunately, even some
so-called "Christians" today would prefer the teachings of men than
the words of Jesus.
But, Jesus said in John
6:63, "The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and
life."
If we want life -- the
abundant life -- we will really value His words. And if we believe that those
are coming from the "Holy One of God," no human propositions would
attract us away from them.
