The Scribes and Pharisees witnessed these miracles, and were
compelled to admit these signs and wonders. Nicodemus, one of
their number, said to Jesus, "Rabbi, we know that Thou art a
teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that Thou
doest, except God be with him" (John iii. 2). Would they now
admit His claim to be the Son of God, their promised and long-
looked-for Messiah? They were thoughtful men and very religious,
but not spiritual. The Gospel He preached was Spirit and life; it
appealed to their conscience and revealed their sin, and to
acknowledge Him was to admit that they themselves were wrong. It
meant submission to His authority, the surrender of their wills,
and a change of front in their whole inner and outer life. This
meant moral and spiritual revolution in each man's heart and
life, and to this they would not submit. And so to avoid such
plain inconsistency, they must discredit His miracles; and since
they could not deny them, they declared that He wrought them by
the power of the Devil.
Jesus worked these signs and wonders by the power of the Holy
Spirit, that he might win their confidence, and that they might
reasonably believe and be saved. But they refused to believe, and
in their malignant obstinacy heaped scorn upon Him, accusing Him
of being in league with the Devil; and how could they be saved?
This was the sin against the Holy Spirit against which Jesus
warned them.
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