When Jesus spoke, it was not with hesitating uncertainty, with repetition of words and familiar figures. The truth came from his lips clothed in new and interesting representations that gave in the freshness of a new revelation. His voice was never pitched to an unnatural key, and his words came with an earnestness and assurance appropriate to their importance and the momentous consequences involved in their reception or rejection. When his doctrines were opposed, he defended them with so great zeal and certainty as to impress his hearers that he would die, if need be, to sustain the authority of his teachings.

Da Jesus talte var det ikke tøvende eller usikkert, gentagelser og genkendelige billeder. Sandheden lød fra hans læber i en ny og fængslende fremstilling som gav dem en ny åbenbarings friskhed. Hans røst hævede sig aldrig til unaturlige højder og hans ord lød med en alvor og overbevisning, der svarede til deres betydning og de skæbnesvangre følger, det ville få, om de blev modtaget eller forkastet. Når hans lære mødte modstand, forsvarede han dem med så stor iver og sikkerhed så hans tilhører blev indprentet med at han ville dø, om nødvendigt, for at støtte autoriteten af hans lære.