Parallels: Acts 18; Romans 2 St. John begins his gospel with a very sublime and emphatical account of the deity and incarnation of Christ; and of those glorious and important purposes for which he condescended to appear among us in the human nature. John I. 1—14. IN the beginning IN the beginning, before the foundation of the world, or the first production of any created training up for an admission to the Christ-hence, and applied without any particular an church, whose name of catechumens regard to the age of the persons concern was, as it is well known, derived from ed. Compare Acts xviii. 25; Rom. ii. St. John asserts the Deity of Christ. being, a glorious Person existed, who (on account II. of the perfections of his nature and his being in John time the medium of divine manifestations to us) I. 1 may properly be called the word of God.ᵃ And the word was originally with God the Father of all: so that to him the words of Solomon might justly be applied, Prov. viii. 30; "He was by him as one brought up with him, and was daily his delight." Nay, by a generation which none can declare and an union which none was himself God,ᵇ e truly and prop- ous a stumbling block on the very threshold of his work, and represent it as the christian doctrine, that in the beginning of all things there were two Gods, one supreme and the other subordinate: a difficulty which, if possible, would be yet farther increased by recollecting what so many ancient writers assert, that this gospel was written with a particular view of opposing the Corinthians and Ebionites (see Iren. I. i. c. 26; I. iii. c. 11; Euseb. Eccl. Hist. I. vi. c. 14,) on which account a greater accuracy of expression must have been necessary. There are so many instances in the writings of this apostle, and even in this chapter (see ver. 6, 12, 13, 18,) where Θεος, without the article, is used to signify God in the highest sense of the word, that it is something surprising such a stress should be laid on the want of that article, as a proof that it is used only in a subordinate sense. On the other hand, to conceive of Christ as a distinct and co-ordinate God, would be equally inconsistent with the most express declarations of scripture, and far more irreconcileable with reason. Nothing I have said above can by any means be justly interpreted in such a sense: and I here solemnly disclaim the least intention of insinuating one thought of that kind, by any thing I have ever written, here or elsewhere. The order of the words in the original (Θεος πν ο λογος,) is such, that some have thought the clause might more exactly be translated, God was the word. But there are almost every where so many instances of such a construction as our version supposes, that I chose rather to follow it than to vary from it, unnecessarily, in this important passage. I am deeply sensible of the sublime and mysterious nature of the doctrine of Christ's deity, as here declared: but it would be All things were m e by him. 2. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. erly divine. I repeat it again, that the condescension of his incarnation may be more attentively considered, this divine [word] was in the very beginning with God, and, by virtue of his most intimate union with him, was possessed of infinite glory and felicity. And when it pleased God to begin his work of creation, all things in the whole compass of nature were made by him, even by this almighty word; and without him was not any thing made, not so much as one II. John 1. 2 3 there being no distance between them: (alluding, I suppose, to the form of those ancient chariots where, as in the chairs we use upon the road, the driver sat close to the person driven; which was not the case in all; compare Acts viii. 38.) "And therefore he (that is, God) says, I will speak unto thee from the mercy seat between the two cherubims; thereby representing the Logos as the charioteer by whom the motion of these powers is directed; and himself who speaks to him as the rider (or person carried) who commands the charioteer how he is to manage the reins." Ο δε υπεραγω τηλων (scil. δυναμικως σοιηλικης και βασιλικης) ΛΟΓΟΣ ΘΕΙΟΣ, εις οραλιν ουκ ηλβεν Ιδεαν, αλε μηδενι των κατ' αισθησιν εμφερης αν, αλλ' αυλος εικων υπαρχων Θει, των γοπλων απαξ απαγλων ο πρεσθυλλος, ο εγγυλλος, μηδενος ογλος μεβοριε διασπμαλος, ΤΟΥ ΜΟΝΟΥ ο ηγεν αψευδως αφιδρυμενος. Λεγελαι γαρ; Δαλπσω σοι' αναθεν τε Ιλασπριε ανα μεσον των δυοι Χερηθειμ' ωσθ' ηγιοχον μεν ειναι των δυναμικων τον ΛΟΓΟΝ, εποχον δε τον λαχκυλα, επικε' ευομενον των ηγιοχων τα φρος ορθην τε παγλος ηγιοχησιν. I insert this as a key to a great many other passages in Philo; and shall only mention one more (De Agricult. p. 195,) where he represents God as "governing the whole course of nature, both in heaven and earth, as the great shepherd and king, by wise and righteous laws; having constituted his unerring Word, his only begotten Son, to preside as his viceroy over this holy flock:" for the illustration of which he quotes those remarkable words, Exod. xxiii. 23, though in a form something different from our reading and version, Behold, I am; I will send my angel before thy face to keep thee in the way." Γιν και υδωρ κ. τ. λ. — — τα μεν Θηλια, τα δε Θεια, (a remarkable distribution) ως σοιμην και βασιλικως ο Θεος αγει καλα δικην και γομον, φροσπασμενος τον ορθον αυλη ΛΟΓΟΝ φραλογονον υιον, ος την επιμελειαν της ιερας ταυλης αγειης, για τε μηχακων βασιλικως John came to testify of him as the true light. single being, whether among the noblest or the meanest of God's various works. That fulness of power, wisdom, and benignity, which was in him, was the fountain of life to the whole creation: and it is in particular our concern to remember that the life which was in him was the light of men, as all the light of reason and revelation was the effect of his energy on the mind. And the light long shone in the heathen world, and under the dispensation of Moses; and it still shineth in darkness, even on the minds of the most ignorant and prejudiced part of mankind; and yet the darkness was so gross that it opposed its passage; and such was the prevailing degeneracy of their hearts, that they did not apprehend it, or regard its dictates in such a manner as to secure the blessings to which it would have led them. As this was the case for many ages, the Divine Wisdom was pleased to interpose in these latter days by a clearer and fuller discovery: and for this purpose, a man, whose name was John, afterwards called the Baptist, was sent as a messenger from God; of whose miraculous conception and important ministry a more particular account is elsewhere given: But here it may be sufficient to observe in general that though he was himself, in an inferior sense, "a burning and shining light," compare John v. 35.) yet he came only under the character of a servant, and for a witness that he might testify concerning Christ the true light, that all who orld was made by him, yet knew him not. heard his discourses might by his means be en- gaged to believe and follow that divine illumination. And accordingly he most readily confessed that he himself was not that light, but only [came] to bear witness concerning it. The true light of which he spake was Christ,⁵ even that Sun of righteousness and Source of truth which, coming into the world, enlighten-eth every man,⁶ dispersing his beams, as it were from one end of the heavens to the other, to the Gentile world, which was in midnight darkness, as well as to the Jews, who enjoyed but a kind of twilight. He was in the world in a human form ; and though the world was made by him,⁷ yet the world knew and acknowledged him not. Yea, he came into his own [territories,] even to the Jewish nation, which was under such distinguished obligations to him, and to whom he had been so expressly promised as their great Messiah ; yet his own [people] did not receive him⁸ as they ought ; but, on ⁵ The true light was Christ.] The original yet more clearly expresses the antithesis between this and the former verse : I have endeavoured to follow it in my version without supposing ἀντος understood here to answer to ἐκπιος there. I cannot but think the conjecture of the learned Heinsius very elegant, that the or at the beginning of this verse might belong to the end of the former : the exact construction then would be, He, viz. John was not that light, but he was (that is, he existed and came) that he might bear witness to that light : the true light, &c. was in the world, &c. See Heins. in loc. Such as believe are sons of God, and born of the contrary, treated him in the most contemptuous and ungrateful manner. Nevertheless the detriment was theirs, and it was indeed unspeakably great to them; for to as many as received him, and by a firm and lively faith believed on his name, [even] to all of them, without any exception of even the poorest or the vilest, he granted the glorious privilege of becoming the sons of God; that is, he adopted them into God's family, so that they became entitled to the present immunities and the future eternal inheritance of his children. And they who thus believed on him were possessed of these privileges, not in consequence of their being born of blood, of their being descended from the loins of the holy patriarchs, or sharing in circumcision and the blood of the sacrifices; nor could they ascribe it merely to the will of the flesh, or to their own superior wisdom and goodness, as if, by the power of corrupted nature alone, they had made themselves to differ; nor to the will of man, or to the wisest advice and most powerful exhortations which their fellow creatures might address to them; but most humbly acknowledge that they were born of God,¹ and indebted to the efficacious influences of his regenerating grace for all their privileges and for all their hopes. Compare John iii. 1—8; 1 Tit. iii. 3—7; and Jam. i. 18. so difficult to express the difference between the ex plus, and the ex plus, that few versions have attempted it; yet, as Grotius hath well observed, the energy of the text cannot be understood without attending to it. That the Jewish nation was, in some peculiar sense, under the care and guardianship of Christ before his incarnation, this passage seems strongly to intimate; and many learned men have shewn it in what appears to me a convincing light. ¹ Who were not born of blood, &c. but of God.] I am sensible this verse is liable to great difficulty and ambiguity. It is an amazing liberty the author of the New Translation, published 1727, has taken with it, in explaining it of a birth which they had not from circumcision, nor from the constitution of the body, nor from the institution of man, but from God. I readily allow that the ex plus, of bloods, may include circumcision, but cannot confine it to that; patriarchal descent and the blood of sacrifices were so much depended upon by the Jews, that one would suppose them included. Dr. Whitby, with many others, takes the will of the flesh to signify carnal descent; and the will of man adoption; which I should prefer to the opinion of Mess. L'Enfant and Beausole, who, without any reason assigned, understand by those born of the will of man, proselytes, as opposed to native Jews; a sense in which I never could find the phrase used. The paraphrase I have given keeps the ideas distinct; answers the frequent signification of flesh elsewhere; compare John iii. 6; Rom. vii. 25; viii. 3, 8, 12; and Gal. v. 17;) and conveys an important and edifying sense, very agreeable to the tenor of scripture. But I submit it to the reader, without pretending that it is the only interpretation the words will bear. I hope he will always carefully distinguish between the text and the paraphrase, and remember how very different a regard is owing to the one and the other. word was made flesh, and dwelt among us. And in order to raise us sinful creatures to such illustrious dignity and happiness, the divine and eternal word, that glorious Person whom we mentioned above, by a most amazing condescension was made flesh,ᵐ that is, united himself to our inferior and miserable nature with all its innocent infirmities; and he not only made us a transient visit for an hour or a day, but for a considerable time pitched his tabernacle among usⁿ on earth; and we who are now recording these things contemplated his glory (compare 1 John i. 1) with so strict an attention that, from our own personal knowledge, we can bear our testimony to it, that it was in every respect such a glory as became the Only begotten of the Father: for it shone forth, not merely in that radiant appearance which invested him on the mount of transfiguration, and in the splendor of his continued miracles, but in all his temper, ministration, and conduct, through the whole series of his life, in which he appeared full of grace and truth;ᵒ that is, as he was in himself most benevolent and upright, so he made the amplest discoveries of pardon to sinners, which the Mosaic dispensation could not possibly do, and exhibited the most important and substantial blessings,ᵖ whereas that was at best but “a shadow of good things to come.” Compare Heb. x. 1. II. John I. 14 IMPROVEMENT. Justly hath our Redeemer said, Blessed is the man that is not offended in me; and we may peculiarly apply the words to that great and glorious doctrine of the deity of Christ, which is here before us. A thousand high and curious thoughts will naturally arise in our corrupt hearts on this view of it; but may Divine ᵐ Was made flesh.] Flesh often signifies man in this infirm and calamitous state. Compare Gen. vi. 12; Numb. xvi. 22; Deut. v. 26; Psal. cxlv. 21; Isa. xlix. 26; Acts ii. 17; 1 Cor. i. 29; and many other places. ⁿ Pitched his tabernacle among us.] There is so visible a reference in the word ἐκκλησίαν, to the dwelling of the Shechinah in the tabernacle of Moses, that it is very proper to render it by the word I have used. ᵒ Full of grace and truth.] It is plain that those words, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the Only begotten of the Fa- ther, are to be considered as a parenthesis; and these are to be joined with the preceding, thus, He dwelt among us full of grace and truth. But the length of the paraphrase made it inconvenient to transpose them. ᵖ The most substantial blessings.] That truth is sometimes used, not so much in opposition to falsehood, as to hieroglyphics, shadows, and types, an attentive reader must often have observed. See Heb. viii 2; ix. 24; and Dun. vii 16. Comp Col. ii. 17. D Reflections on the deity and incarnation of Christ. Grace subdue them all to the obedience of an humble faith; so II. that, with Thomas, we may each of us fall down at his feet, and Verse cry out with sincere and unreserved devotion, My Lord and my 3, 4 God! Let us adore him as the Creator and Preserver of all, the overflowing Fountain of light and life. Let us with unutterable pleasure hail this Sun of righteousness, whose rays, by the tender mercies of the Father, have visited our benighted world to guide our 5 feet into the way of peace: and while we lament that the darkness hath not apprehended and received him, let us earnestly pray that he may ere long penetrate every cloud of ignorance and mist of error, and may diffuse among all the nations knowledge and grace, purity and joy. Let us especially pray that he may penetrate our beclouded souls; and that they may, in holy correspondence to the purposes of his appearing, be turned as clay to the seal.9 Job 10 xxxviii. 14. The world knew him not; but may we know him, and give him that honourable and grateful reception which so great a favour may justly demand! Yet what returns can be 11 proportionable to his condescension in becoming flesh for us, and pitching his tabernacle among miserable and sinful mortals? Happy apostles that behold his glory! And surely there are in his word such reflections of it as we may also behold, and as will oblige us to acknowledge it to be a glory that became the Only begotten of the Father. Let us cordially receive him as full of grace and truth, that we 12 also may stand entitled to the privileges of God's children. And if we are already of that happy number, let us not arrogate the glory of it to ourselves, or ascribe it entirely to those who have been the instruments of this important change; but remember 13 that of his own will God hath begotten us by the word of his power, and that of him we are in Christ Jesus: to him then let us refer the ultimate praise, if that divine and almighty Saviour be made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption. 1 Cor. i. 30. The testimony John the Baptist gave to Christ is taken notice of by John the Evangelist, and his own testimony added to confirm it. John I. 15—18. JOHN I. 15. JOHN I. 15. JOHN bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that AS the Messiah now was shortly to appear, and the time just at hand in which he was to enter on his public ministry, the way (as we have seen) was opened for his coming by John the Baptist's being sent to preach the doctrine of repentance: and when the people came in crowds from every part to hear him, John bore his testimony of him in a public declaration of the dignity of his person and of the great design for which he was to come; which, though it was at first expressed in general terms, yet did he afterwards apply it in particular to Jesus of Nazareth, pointing him out to be the person he had spoken of; and, with an earnestness that suited the importance of this grand occasion, he openly proclaimed him to be the promised Messiah, and cried, saying, This is the person that I told you of; and this is he of whom I said before (Mat. iii. 11,) He that cometh XVII. John I. 15 This was he of whom I said.] This probably might happen at the time when Jesus made his first appearance among those that came to be baptized by John; when at his offering to receive his baptism; though John before had been a stranger to him, and knew him not by any personal acquaintance with him, yet, by some powerful impression on his mind, he presently discerned that this was he whom he before had taught the people to expect, and of whose person he had given them so high a character. For it was plainly from his knowledge of him that John at first would have declined baptizing him, as an honour of which he looked upon himself to be unworthy. Nor is it to be doubted, but that when he first knew the person, of whose appearance he had raised such expectations by his preaching, he would immediately be ready to acquaint his hearers that this was he who was intended by. The testimony that the Baptist gave torist. after me, as to the time of his appearance in the world, and of his entrance on the stage of public life, is upon all accounts superior to me, and is deservedly preferred before me; for, though indeed as to his human birth he is younger than me, and did not come into the world till a little after me, yet, in a much more noble and exalted kind of being, he existed long before me,ᵇ or even before the production of any creature whatsoever. And I John the apostle, who had the honour of being numbered among his most intimate friends would, with pleasure, in my own name, and that of my brethren, add my testimony to that of the Baptist,ᶜ as I and they have the greatest reason to do: for of his overflowing fulness have we all received whatever we possess, as men, as Christians, or as apostles; and he hath given us even grace upon grace,ᵈ a rich abundance and variety of favours, which will ever make his name most dear and precious to our souls. For the law was given by Moses, and we own it an honour to our nation to have received it, and to that holy man to have been the messenger of it; yet to the sinner it is a dispensation of death, and passes an awful sentence of con- m; which they themselves might have been ready to conclude, from the uncommon veneration and respect with which the Baptist treated him who had been always used to treat men with the greatest plainness. And upon this account it may be proper that this testimony of him should be introduced (as I have placed it here) before the particular account that the other evangelists have given of his baptism. Compare Mat. iii. 14; and John i. 27—30. ᵇ He existed long before me; ἀρῆναι μυνην. his must undoubtedly refer to that state of glory in which Christ existed before his incarnation of which the Baptist speaks so plainly, Jo. iii. 31, as abundantly to justify the paraphrase (compare noteᵇ on John i. 30; sect. 21.) As for the preceding clause ἀμπερσθένν μυνην, which we render is preferred before me, I think Erasmus truly expresses the sense of it in supposing it to refer to those distinguishing honours which had been paid to Christ in his infancy, by prophets, sages, and angels too, which nothing that had yet occurred in the life of John could by any means equal. ᶜ I add my testimony to that of the Baptist.] It is most evident that what is said here in this verse, as Chrysostom justly observes, must be considered as the words of the evangelist. John the Baptist had never yet mentioned the name of Jesus; and the expression we all shews it could not be his words; for those to whom he addressed himself do not appear to have received grace from Christ. The last French version, with great propriety, includes ver. 15 in a parenthesis, and so connects this 16th. verse with the 14th; as if it had been said, He dwelt among us full of grace and truth; and of his fulness have we all received. ᵈ Grace upon grace.] This seems the most easy sense of χαριν αλη χαριθ, as αντ' αληνανιας is grief upon grief. (Theogn. v. 344.) Compare Ecclus. xxvi. 15—17; and see Blackwall's Sacred Classics, Vol. I. p. 164. Next to this I should prefer Grotius's interpretation, who would render it grace of mere grace; that is, the freest grace imaginable. tions on the fulness of the grace o Christ. demnation upon him : [but] the Redeemer whom we celebrate is worthy of much more affectionate regards ; for grace and truth came by Jesus Christ, who gives us an ample declaration of pardon and an abundant effusion of the Spirit, those substantial blessings of which the Mosaic dispensation was but a shadow. His gospel therefore should be received with the most cheerful consent ; for no man hath ever seen God, nor indeed can see him, as he is an incorporeal, and therefore an invisible, Being ; but the Only Begotten Son, who is always in the bosom of the Father, and ever favoured with the most endearing and intimate converse with him, He hath revealed and made him known in a much clearer manner than he was before, by those discoveries of his nature and will which may have the most powerful tendency to form us to virtue and happiness. IMPROVEMENT. HAPPY are they that (like this beloved apostle,) when they hear the praises of Christ uttered by others, can echo back the testimony from their own experience, as having themselves received of his fulness ! May an abundance of grace be communicated from him to us ! We are not straitened in him ; oh, may we not be straitened in ourselves ; but daily renewing our application to him as our Living Head, may vital influences be continually imparted to our souls from him ! With pleasure let us compare the dispensation of Jesus with that of Moses, and observe the excellency of its superior grace and of its brighter truth : but let us remember, as a necessary consequence of this, that if the despisers of Moses's law died without mercy, they shall be thought worthy of a much sorer punishment e Came by Jesus Christ.] I cannot lay so much stress on the word here, as opposed to as to suppose it, with Erasmus, to imply, that whereas Moses was only the messenger of the law, Christ was the original of the grace and truth he brought into the world by the gospel, since all that is intended by is nothing more than that it was, or that it came, by Jesus Christ, according to the sense in which the word is often used in other places ; and here is used of Christ as well as of Moses : so that both are represented as messengers, though of very different dispensations. f In the bosom of the Father.] Critics generally agree this is one of the places in which is put for; but had it here been rendered near his Father's bosom, it might as well have answered the desire of the original, and would, I think, have been as expressive of that intimate converse and entire friendship which the phrase implies ; Elsner here cites a passage from Plato concerning the regard due to the authority of a Son of God who speaking of his Father ; and it is indeed surprisingly apposite. Elan. Observ. Vol. I. p. 296. Christ comes to John from Nazareth in Galilee: and a more aggravated condemnation who tread under foot the XVIII. Son of God. (Heb. x. 28, 29.) May we ever regard him as the Only Begotten of the Father; 18 and, since he hath condescended so far as to come down from his very bosom to instruct us in his nature and will, let us with all humility receive his dictates, and earnestly pray that, under his revelations and teachings, we may so know God as faithfully to serve him now, and at length eternally to enjoy him. John the Baptist being examined by the great men among the Jews acknowledges that he was not the Christ; and refers them to one among them whom he confesses to be vastly his superior. John I. 19—28. JOHN I. 19. XX. WE have already taken notice of the honourable testimonies that were given by John in a more general way to the Messiah in his discourses to the people, before Jesus was baptized. We shall proceed to others that were more particular, which followed after that event, and this which we shall now produce is the testimony of John, when the sanhedrim, or grand council of the Jews at Jerusalem, sent some who were reckoned among the most venerable and ews inquire into the character of John. holy men of the nation, even some of the priests¹ and Levites, to inquire of him, saying, Tell us plainly who art thou that drawest such a crowd of people after thee, and pretendest to something so uncommon? And John, according to the natural plainness of his temper, presently replied to their inquiry; and with the utmost freedom he most readily acknowledged, and did not at all affect either to deny or to disguise his real character; but in the strongest terms he solemnly protested,ᵃ I am not the Messiah, nor would I in the least pretend to arrogate to myself the honours which are due to none but him. And, upon this, they farther asked him, What art thou then if thou art not the promised Messiah? Art thou the celebrated Elijah,ᵇ come down from that abode in heaven to which he was miraculously translated (2 Kings ii. 11,) to introduce the great and terrible day of the Lord? (Mal. iv. 5.) And in reply to this he said, with the same plainness as before, Though it is true that I am come in the spirit and power of Elijah, yet I am not he. And they again inquired of him, Art thou a prophet of the former generation raised from the dead?ᶜ And he directly answered, No. ᵃ Solemnly protested.] The word ἀμ-οὐχῆναι is the same which is rendered acknowledged in the former clause; but being thus repeated, its signification seems to be heightened, especially by its opposition to ὡς ἔχωσεναι, he denied not. ᵇ Art thou the celebrated Elijah ?] It is plain by this question, that they were strangers to the parentage of John the Baptist. And with regard to the reply he makes to this inquiry, there is no scruple to be made, but that the Baptist might justly deny that he was Elijah, as he indeed was not that prophet, though he came in his spirit. See Luke i. 17, p. 33. ᶜ Art thou a prophet of the former generation raised from the dead!] It is necessary that this question should be understood with such a limitation, because John the Baptist was really a very illustrious prophet, as we may plainly see from what is said by Christ himself, Matth. xi. 9. And this interpretation (which is largely vindicated by Castalio) seems much preferable to that of Theophylact and Erasmus, who, because of the article ἀφούς, would render it as we do, that prophet; concluding without any proof, that the Jews understood Deut. xviii. 18, not of the Messiah himself, but of some prophet of considerable note, who was to introduce him: and Grotius has supposed the question that they offer to refer to Jeremiah, of whose return to life there was a mighty rumour that prevailed among the Jews. (Compare Matt. xvi 14.) But I can see no reason to restrain it to a particular prophet; and since (as Limborch well observes in his dispute with Orebio the Jew) that text in Deuteronomy was the clearest and strongest in all the Mosaic writings to enforce the necessity of submitting to the Messiah; it is probable John would have corrected so great a mistake if they had put the question to him upon this presumption. The best French versions render it as I have done: and indeed it seems to me that the word prophet, in the evangelists, generally signifies one of those holmen who were the messengers of God to Israel of old; which especially appears from Mark vi. 15, where to be a prophet, and John plainly tells them who he was, Now as it only was in negatives that he had hitherto replied, they said unto him therefore yet once more, Tell us then plainly who art thou? that we may in a more direct and satisfactory manner give an answer to them that sent us: What dost thou say concerning thyself? And, that they might not be mistaken in his character, and might be wholly left without excuse if they regarded not the end for which he came, he said, I am (what I have frequently before declared, myself to be) the voice of one crying here in the wilderness, and saying, Make the way of the Lord clear and straight, by removing every obstruction; for he is now appearing for such gracious purposes as demand the most cheerful reception; as Isaiah the prophet said, in a passage which you cannot but be acquainted with. (Isa. xl. 3.) Now the messengers that came on this errand were of the sect of the Pharisees; who, as on the one hand they professed a great regard for the prophets, and believed their existence in a future state, so on the other hand they strenuously opposed any innovations in religion which were not warranted by the tradition of the elders. And therefore, upon hearing this account that John the Baptist gave them of himself, they asked him again, and said unto him with some warmth, Why then dost thou take upon thee thus to baptize all that appear to be awakened be as one of the prophets, are spoken of as distinct, which they could not be but on this interpretation: and if the alternative is be left out, and it be read as it is in some manuscripts and printed copies, He is a prophet like one of the prophets, there will be a foundation for the same remark, and one of the prophets must signify one of the ancient prophets. I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness.] The late Archbishop of Cambray beautifully illustrates the humility of his reply, as if this illustrious prophet had said, "Far from being the Messiah, or Elias, or one of the old prophets, I am nothing but a voice; a sound that, as soon as it has expressed the thought of which it is the sign, dies into air, and is known no more." See Fennel. Oeuvres Philos. Vol. II. p. 193. Why then dost thou take upon thee thus to baptize?] It is not to be certainly determined from this text whether the baptism of proselytes was then in use among the Jews or not. The words indeed will make a very strong and well adapted sense should they be understood, as if it has been said, Why is it then that thou dost institute such a new rite as this? But surely too they will be very proper in the other sense, if we should take them to imply, Why is it then that thou dost take upon thee, without any commission from the sanhedrim, to administer baptism? and that, not only (as is usual) unto those who before this were heathens, but even to the Jews? And this (for reasons which it would not be proper here to enter upon at large) I take to be the more probable sense, and so suppose John's use of this ceremony in such a manner to be a strong intimation that Jews, as well as Gentiles. A refers them to Jesus as the Messiah. by thy preaching, in token of the forgiveness of their sins; since, by thine own confession, thou art neither the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor even a prophet of lower rank raised from the dead? And John answered them, by repeating the testimony he had formerly borne to the people (Luke iii. 16. p. 106,) saying, I indeed baptize you with water; but there is one that for some time has stood in the midst of you, and is now coming to be daily conversant among you, whom as yet you know not to be so eminent a person, who will administer a much more noble baptism, attended with such miraculous effects as will abundantly justify mine. And this is he that cometh after me, as to the time of his appearance in the world, whom yet I have declared to have existed long before me; and who is therefore upon all accounts deservedly preferred before me, as being one whose glorious dignity is such as that I freely own him to be vastly my superior; of whom I am not worthy to be employed in any office as his menial servant, not even to unloose the latchet of his shoe, or to untie the string with which his sandals are bound on. These things passed on the other side Jordan, at a place called Bethabara, or the house of passage; which lay near that part of the river which was miraculously dried up that the Israelites under the command of Joshua might pass over into Canaan (See Josh. iii. 16, and Judges xii. 6,) which was the place where John was now baptizing. IMPROVEMENT. How remarkably were the words of our blessed Redeemer fulfilled in John, He that humbleth himself shall be exalted! (Luke xviii. 14.) He declined assuming the name of any of the servants of God among the prophets; and yet our Lord bore testimony to him as of a higher rank than any of the prophets, than whom there was none greater among those that had in a natural way been born of women. (Luke vii. 28.) Did John, this great and illustrious saint, speak of himself as must become proselytes to the new dispensation that was then opening to the world; and howsoever holy they imagined themselves to be, yet they all stood in absolute John declares Jesus to be the Lamb of God. XX. unworthy to untie even the sandals of Christ; what reverence then do we owe him? and what reason have we to admire his condescension, that he should honour us, who are so much more Unworthy, with the title of his servants? Verse 26 Let not any, the most distinguished of that happy number, wonder if they be unknown by the world, and perhaps too slighted and despised; since it appears that even Jesus himself, not only at his first appearance stood unknown among the Jews, but afterwards was rejected by them, when his claim was solemnly entered, and his miracles most publicly wrought. 19, &c. Vain, and worse than vain, was this message and inquiry which, when answered, was so soon overlooked and forgot. May Divine grace teach us to inquire as those that are in earnest in our search! and then shall we know to saving purposes, if we thus follow on to know the Lord. (Hos. vi. 3.) John the Baptist bears a repeated testimony to Jesus as the Lamb of God; which proves an occasion of introducing some of his disciples into an acquaintance with him. John I. 29—42. JOHN I. 29. XXI. THE next day, after John had returned this answer to the priests and Levites who were sent to inquire into his character and mission, he seeth Jesus (who was now returned from his temptation in the desert) coming towards him; and says to them that were near him, Behold, with the strictest attention and regard, that innocent and holy Person, who may properly be called the Lamb of God; as it is he that is the great atoning sacrifice, of which the lambs that by Divine command are daily offered in the temple were intended to be types; which expiates and takes away the sinᵃ of the whole world, and JOHN I. 29. THE next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. ᵃ The Lamb of God, which expiates and takes away sin.] It is well observed by the author of that excellent treatise, called Christ the Mediator, that this is the only sense in which a lamb can be said to take away sin. Many suppose this refers to the paschal lamb; but that was not in its chief intention so much an expiatory, as an eucharistical sacrifice. Grotus strangely enervates the force of this text, by chusing to explain it of that reformation of the lives of men, to which Christ did not only press them by the doctrine that he taught, but gave them an example of it in his death, redeeming them (as it is said) from their vain conversation with his own precious blood. (1 Pet. i. 18, 19.) Whereas there is not any thing more evident, than that the great design for which he died, was to atone for sin, and to exempt us from the punishment that our iniquities deserved; that, having put away sin by the testimony that the Baptist gave to Christ. is set forth to be a propitiation, not only for the Jews, for whom alone the sacrifices of the law were offered, but for the Gentiles too, that through his name whosoever believeth in him may receive remission of sins. And I now point him out, and tell you, This is he of whom I formerly have said, That after me there comes a man who is to be preferred abundantly before me, as being one that is incomparably greater and more excellent than I; for he existed long before me.ᵇ (Compare John i. 15, 27. p. 110, 125.) And, till the time of his appearance in a public way, I was a stranger to him, and did not personally know him, for it was ordered so by Providence that, notwithstanding the relation which there was between us, we were not brought up in any intimacy of acquaintance with each other;ᶜ yet in the general I was aware of his intended approach; and it was chiefly for this end, with a particular regard to him, that I came (as you see) baptizing with water, that he might thus be more remarkably made manifest to Israel, and might be introduced with greater solemnity. And John proceeded at the same time, while Jesus was before him, and bore his testimony to him, saying, this must be certainly the Son of God; for I declare, that when he was baptized I plainly saw the Holy Spirit, in a surprising token of his presence, descending, with a hovering motion like a dove, from heaven, and it abode acrifice of himself, we might have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of ur sins. Compare Heb. ix. 26, 28; Eph. i. 14; and Col. i. 14. ᵇ For he existed before me.] Dr. Hammond abundantly vindicates this interpretation. Had op here, as in some other places, signified chief, sci, not nv, would have been joined with it, and John the Baptist would have said he is, and not he was my chief, which would apparently have been a very flat tautology, instead of a reason; whereas Christ's having existed before John, though he was born after him, was a most convincing proof that he was a very extraordinary person, and was the strongest reason that could well have been assigned to shew that he was worthy of their superior regard. Compare note b on John i. 15. p. 110. ᶜ We were not brought up in any intimacy of acquaintance with each other. This was very surprising, considering how nearly related they were to each other, and how remarkable the conception and birth of both of them had been, as well as what frequent interviews they might have had at the yearly feasts at Jerusalem. There seems to have been a particular hand of Providence in thus preventing the acquaintance that might otherwise have grown up to an intimacy and tenderness of friendship, which in the eyes of a prejudiced and censorious world might have rendered John's testimony to Christ something suspected. It is probable that both Zacharias and Elizabeth died while John was very young, and then he might soon forget Jesus, though he had seen him in his infancy. John testifies that Jesus is the Son of God upon him. And that you may not suspect any confederacy between us, I repeat the assurance which I but just now gave you, that I did not personally know him: but as he was approaching to me, I had a secret intimation given me that it was he whom I should see to be distinguished by this sign; for he that sent me to baptize with water, as an earnest of that nobler baptism which is now soon to be expected, even that God whose messenger I am, he said unto me, by an unquestionable revelation, This is the sign that I will give thee, that upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending in a corporeal and miraculous appearance, and remaining upon him, this is he that baptizeth with the Holy Spirit. And I saw this sign with my own eyes; and upon this convincing evidence it is that I have testified already, and still go on to testify, that this is really the Son of God, who is come into the world in a human form to accomplish the great work of redemption and salvation; who is therefore most reverently and affectionately to be received by us, as we regard his Father's protection and favour. Again it came to pass on the next day, that John was standing near the same place, and two of his disciples at that time were with him, And looking stedfastly on Jesus, as he was walking at some little distance, he takes occasion to repeat his former declaration, and says to his disciples, that he might lead them to a due regard to Christ, Behold the Lamb of God, whom I before have represented as the great expiatory sacrifice for the sins of men. And when the two disciples that were with him heard him speak such high and honourable things of Christ, they took such notice of it that they immediately went on and followed Jesus, who ¶ I had a secret intimation given me.] The supposition of this, which is so perfectly agreeable to John's prophetic character, easily reconciles this text with John's respectful speech to Christ when he came to be baptized (Mat. iii. 14. p. 113,) as Jansenius, and before him, Chrytom, observed. ¶ Two of his disciples were with him.] plainly appears by ver. 40, that Andrew was one of these; and perhaps John, the beloved apostle, might be the other; who being the penman of this gospel, does frequently conceal his name. Compare John xiii. 25; and xx 2. ¶ Looking stedfastly on Jesus ] This seems the most exact signification of the word εὐκέως, and I have thus translated it again in ver. 42. Two of John's disciples follow Jesus. was then returning to a lodging which he had at a small distance from that place. And Jesus turning back, and seeing them intent on following and coming after [him,] says to them, not to discountenance and turn them back, but to encourage and envite them to a free converse with him, What do you seek? and what may be the business that you have with me? And they said to him, with the greatest reverence and respect, Rabbi, (which being translated from the Syriac, which was the language that was then spoken by the Jews, is the same with master,) may we have leave to ask thee where dost thou dwell? for we are desirous of making thee a visit, that we may enter into some conversation with thee, which would not be so proper or convenient in this public way. And, pleased to hear of the inquiry they made, he says unto them, Come with me now, and see where it is I lodge; for you shall both be welcome to attend me home. And they most readily complied with his kind invitation, and came and saw where he dwelt, taking particular notice of the place; and they went in, and continued with him all the remainder of that day; it being then about the tenth hour, or four in the afternoon; so that they had an opportunity of spending the whole evening in conversation with him, abundantly to their delight and satisfaction. Now Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, who will make so considerable a figure in this history, was one of the two disciples that heard John [speak of Jesus] in the manner we have before related, and followed him. And so exceedingly was he transported with the pleasure that he found in his acquaintance with him, that he was ready to impart the joyful news to others, to whom he knew it would be welcome; and hastening to communicate it to his friends, as the most acceptable tidings he could bring them, A lodging at a small distance from that place.] As Jesus was a person who had no attendants, and was a stranger in this country, we may conclude that he had only some obscure and private lodging here; which must have been at no great distance from the place where John baptized, a may be gathered from his appearing there from day to day. And by this means he did an honour to John's ministry, and had an opportunity of receiving his testimony. Peter first brought to Christ. he first findeth his own brother Simon, and tells him with the greatest joy, We certainly have found the promised Messiah; (which being translated from the Hebrew or the Syriac tongue, is the Christ, or the Anointed One.) And, that his brother Simon might be satisfied of the truth of what he told him, he brought him unto Jesus: and Jesus looking stedfastly upon him, as if he had read in his countenance the traces of his character and of his future service in the church, said, at his coming to him, Thou art Simon the son of Jonas; and thou shalt also be called Cephas; (which in the Greek may be expressed by Peter, and signifies a rock;) a name well adapted to his character upon account of that resolute and patient firmness with which he should maintain the cause of the gospel; and which also expressed the use which should afterwards be made of him, as he should prove in subordination to Christ one of the great foundations of the church. IMPROVEMENT. Verse 29 LET our faith daily behold Jesus under the character of the Lamb of God, a Lamb indeed without blemish, and without spot; by whose precious blood we are redeemed, as by an infinitely more valuable ransom than silver and gold. (1 Pet. i. 18, 19.) As such let us humbly apply to him to take away our sins, and rejoice that (as the apostle John elsewhere expresses it) he is the propitiation, not for our sins only, but also for the sins of the whole world; all ages and nations being interested in the benefit of his atonement. (1 John ii. 2.) In first findeth his own brother Simon.] This is a much more literal translation of Eustatius 3:20 or 3:20 ad 6:40 or 7:10 3:10 3:10, than that of the new translation in 1727, which renders it, The first that he found, or happened to meet with, was Peter. He may perhaps be called his own brother to distinguish him from some other that belonged to the family, who possibly might be his brother in law, or was related to him only in half blood. Peter was so remarkable a person that it might be proper to tell us who was the first means of bringing him acquainted with Christ; and if John was the other disciple that is here referred to, he might mean this as an humble intimation that Andrew's zeal was in this respect greater than his own. We may observe here by the way, that Peter was not the first of Christ's disciples, (in which the Papists would have been ready to have gloried,) but that another was the means of bringing him to an acquaintance with Jesus. Thou art Simon.] Some have thought that Christ intended an allusion here to his name Simon, which may signify a hearer, intimating the candour and impartiality with which he was willing to hear Christ's instructions; (see Dr. Clark's note.) But I did not express this in the paraphrase, because it is not certain. Perhaps our Lord only meant to shew that, though he had never seen him before, he knew his name and his family. Compare ver. 48; and John iv. 16, 19. Reflections on the character and conduct of Jesus. Let us consider him as anointed by the Holy Spirit, and as baptizing his church with it; and learn, after the example of John the Baptist, to bear our testimony to him again and again, with continued steadiness and growing zeal. Our satisfaction in him as the great and only Saviour will surely grow in proportion to our acquaintance with him. If Divine grace hath discovered him to us, and taught us to repose the confidence of our souls upon him, let us, like Andrew in the passage before us, be concerned to make him known to others; and especially to lead our nearest relatives and our most intimate friends into that acquaintance with him which is so absolutely necessary to their eternal happiness! Let the condescending readiness with which our blessed Redeemer accepted and even invited the visit of these two disciples, engage every preacher of righteousness most willingly to give his private as well as his public labours and his time (valuable as that treasure is) to the service of those who are seriously affected with the concerns of their souls, and are inquiring after the way to salvation. We are sufficiently honoured if, by any means, and by all, we may be instrumental in promoting that cause which employed the daily labours of God's incarnate Son, and at length cost him his very blood! Parallels: Philippians 1 The calling of Philip, and the interview of Christ with Nathaniel. John I. 43, to the end. JOHN I. 43. THE day following Jesus would go forth into Galilee, and findeth Philip, and saith unto him, Follow me. THE next day after he had met with Peter, Jesus determined to depart from thenceᵃ to Galilee, and there to enter on his public ministry; and at his coming thither he findeth Philip, whom he intended for one of his most intimate companions, and says unto him, Follow me; which, being secretly influenced by his grace,ᵇ ᵃ Determined to depart from thence: [The force of the word Cæ secens to be something greater than our translation expresses; and there are several other texts which may suggest the same remark. (Compare Mat. xiv. 5; xix. 17; xx. 14; Luke iv. 6; xxiii. 20; John iii. 8; v. 21, 40; vii. 17; viii. 44; xvii. 24; xxi. 22; and 2 Tim. iii. 12.) Perhaps it may here intimate that our Lord on this occasion broke through the importunity of some who would rather have persuaded him to continue at Bethabara for the advantage of farther testimonies from the Baptist, or to have gone to Jerusalem, where they might imagine that his ministry would have been opened more honourably than in Galilee. Compare John vii. 5, 4. ᵇ Being secretly influenced by his grace.] When we consider how suddenly some of Christ's disciples left their stated employ- Philip tells at once of his finding first. he accordingly did. Now Philip was an inhabitant of Bethsaida, which was a town of Galilee on the sea of Tiberias, and was also the city of Andrew and Peter, who have already been particularly mentioned: and by his calling these disciples he gave an intimation of his purpose of making some longer stay in that country. And Philip, after he was thus become a follower of Christ, findeth his pious friend Nathaniel, who was also of Galilee, and lived in a town of it which was called Cana (John xxi. 2,) and says unto him, We have found him who has so long been earnestly expected by us, even that illustrious and extraordinary Person whom Moses gave us an account of in the law, and whom the prophets also have described in such a strong and lively manner; and with the greatest joy I am come to tell thee I know him who he is, [even] Jesus the son of Joseph, who comes from Nazareth, and is undoubtedly the promised Messiah. And when Nathaniel heard that he was one of Nazareth, his prejudice against the place was such that he was ready to conclude that Philip was mistaken; and he therefore said unto him, Can any good thing at all, and especially any such great and glorious blessing as this, come out of a place so infamous as Nazareth? And Philip says unto him, Do not suffer yourself to be borne away by a vain popular prejudice, but come and see; converse with him yourself, and you will soon be satisfied. Now when Jesus saw Nathaniel coming towards him (though there was no personal acquaintance between them,) at the first sight of him he presently discerns what was his real ments to follow him (according as we read Mat. iv. 18—22; Luke v. 27, 28; and xix. 5, 6,) it seems reasonable to allow some singular kind of impression on their mind (as there was in the calling of Elisha, 1 Kings xix. 19—21,) which though for he present it superseded the necessity of arguments, yet did not exclude their attending to that afterwards which might be necessary to defend their conduct to others. Whom Moses—and the prophets have described: or e.g. Moses was a great organist.] This is a very literal translation; for frequently is used in the same sense elsewhere, and in particular is justly rendered thus, Rom. x. 5. (Compare Josh. xviii. 9; Judg. viii. 14; and Ezra vii. 22. Septuag.) A place so infamous as Nazareth.] As Nathaniel was a native of Galilee, it appears from hence that the Galileans themselves had but an ill opinion of Nazareth, as worse than the rest of that country; and indeed, by the figure its inhabitants make in the evangelists, they seem to have deserved it. See Luke iv. 16, 28, 29; and Mat. xiii. 54, &sec. The interview of Christ with Nathaniel. him, and saith of character, and says concerning him, so loud that he might easily hear it, Behold, here cometh one [that is] truly an Israelite (compare Rev. iii. 9; and John viii. 39,) a person that indeed deserves the honourable title of one of God's people, and is worthy of his descent from Jacob his pious ancestor, as being a plain and upright man in whom there is no deceit either towards God or man. (See Gen. xxv. 27.) people, and is worthy of his descent from Jacob his pious ancestor, as being a plain and upright man in whom there is no deceit either towards God or man. (See Gen. xxv. 27.) Nathaniel, perfectly surprised at such an unexpected testimony, presently says, with all the natural frankness of his temper, to him, Whence dost thou know me, or how canst thou at once thus undertake to answer for the most secret part of a stranger's character? Jesus replied, and said unto him, I am not so entirely a stranger to thy character as thou art ready to suppose, nor do I take it merely from uncertain report; for before Philip called thee, I saw thee when thou wast alone under the fig tree; and as I was present in Spirit to observe what passed in that secret retirement, I know how well thou deservest the testimony which I have now borne to thine integrity. Nathaniel was so struck with this express reference to what he knew none could be witness to but God and his own conscience, that all his prejudices were at once removed; and he immediately replied to Christ, and says, with all that openness and candour that was so natural to him, Rabbi, from this one circumstance I cannot but believe all that my friend hath told me concerning thee; and therefore I not only honour thee as a wise and holy teacher, but am convinced that thou art the Son of God; yea, that thou art the promised Messiah, whom we so earnestly have been expecting as the King of Israel; for surely such Divine knowledge can be lodged in no meaner person. c When thou wast under the fig tree.] I see no reason at all to think, with Heinsius, that the conviction produced by these words in the mind of Nathaniel proceeded from the allusion he perceived them to bear to Zech. iii. 10. In that day ye shall call every man his neighbour, under the vine, and under the fig tree. It was Christ's VOL. I. saying that he saw him there, that struck his mind in so powerful a manner; and it is very probable that he was then employed in some secret devout meditations. See Dr. Evans's Christian Temper, Vol. II. p. 343. [Such Divine knowledge can be lodged in no meaner person.] Just thus the vol. I. Chris's interview with Nathanie. And Jesus upon this replied and said unto him, Dost thou believe me to be the promised Messiah, and the Son of God, merely because I told thee that I saw thee under the fig tree? Thou, who discoverest so honest and teachable a temper, shalt see much greater things than these to prove it. And he accordingly proceeds and says, not only unto him, but unto all that were then present with him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, and solemnly declare it as a most certain truth, to be regarded with the most diligent attention, and received as coming from the mouth of one who is truth itself, That from this time you shall see such a surprising train of miracles wrought by me in the whole course of my succeeding ministry, that it shall seem as if heaven was opened, and all the angels of God were continually (as they appeared in vision to Jacob, Gen. xxviii. 12) ascending and descending [to wait] upon the Son of man, and to receive and execute his orders: and thus you will be furnished with a most convincing proof that, humble as the form of my present man of Samaria argued, John iv. 23, Come, see a man which told me all things that ever I did; is not this the Christ? which plainly intimates that they supposed the Messiah would be endowed with the most perfect knowledge, and have the gift of prophecy in the highest degree. There was a great deal of courage in Nathaniel's making such a declaration if it was before a mixed company; for Christ's assuming the title of the Son of God was afterwards interpreted to be no less than blasphemy. John x. 36; and xix. 7. Verily, verily, I say unto you: αμυν αμυν, λεγω υμιν.] There is no doubt but that these words are to be taken for a solemn affirmation: in which it is observable that John has constantly repeated the amen, while it is only mentioned once by the other evangelists. And this we may suppose him to have done, either to excite the greater attention, or in a more emphatical and stronger manner to assert the truth, not only of the thing affirmed, but of the person that affirms it. For as amen in Hebrew signifies truth (Isa. lxx. 16,) so Christ, as being the true and faithful witness, is called the Amen. (Rev. iii. 14.) This repeated asseveration therefore may be considered as an intimation to us, not only that the sayin unto which it is prefixed is true, but that we should regard it as proceeding from the true and faithful Witness. See Dr. Lightfoot's Harmony, and Hor. Hebra. in loc. From this time you shall see a train of miracles] Accordingly within three days one glorious miracle was performed by Christ at Cana of Galilee; which being the town to which Nathaniel belonged, there is great reason to believe he was present with the rest of Christ's disciples at it. Compare John ii. 2, 11. sect. 23. The angels of God ascending and descending.] If Nathaniel was, as some have thought, the person afterwards called Bartholomew, and made an apostle (see Lightfoot's Hor. Hebra. on Matth. x. 3,) he must regard the vision of angels attending Christ's ascension as a glorious accomplishment of these words, as his final appearance at the day of judgment, when the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, will yet more eminently be. Compare Matth. xxvi. 64, where ατ'αξι so plainly signifies hereafter, that I much question whether it might not justly have been rendered so here; but where I am dubious I always chuse the more extensive sense, in which (as here) the more limited is generally comprehended. Reflections on the interview of Christ with Nathaniel. appearance is,ᵏ I am indeed the illustrious Person foretold under that title, and am intended for that glorious throne around which the highest angels shall account it their honour to appear as humble attendants when the whole world shall be convened before it. IMPROVEMENT. How cautiously should we guard against popular prejudices, which possessed so honest a heart as that of Nathaniel, and led him to suspect that the blessed Jesus himself was an impostor, and that no good could be expected from him because he had been brought up at Nazareth! But his integrity prevailed over that foolish bias, and laid him open to the conviction of evidence, which a candid inquirer will always be glad to admit even when it brings the most unexpected discovery. How amiable is the character here given of Nathaniel! An Israelite indeed, in whom there is no guile! May the attainment of so excellent a character, and a resemblance to him in it, be the daily aim and emulation of all who have the honour to be called into the Israel of God! A constant intercourse with God in secret devotion will be a happy expression of one branch of this sincerity, and an effectual means of promoting the rest. Let it therefore be our care that the eye of him that seeth in secret may often behold us in religious retirement, pouring out our souls before God, and humbly consecrating them to his service. The day will come when those scenes of duty which were most cautiously concealed shall be commemorated with public honour; and when he who now discerns them, and is a constant witness to the most private exercises of the closet, will reward them openly. (Matth. vi. 6.) Happy were those who saw the miracles performed by the Son of man while he was here on earth! and happy those favourite spirits of heaven which were ascending and descending as ministers of his to do his pleasure! But in some degree yet happier are they who, having not seen, have believed; John xx. 29. As their faith is peculiarly acceptable, it shall ere long be turned into sight. ᵏ Humble as the form of my present appearance is.] Though it be very true, as Dr. Sykes has excellently proved at large, that the phrase Son of man does generally refer to the glorious kingdom over which Christ was to preside, according to the prophecies of Daniel, yet I think it equally evident that it is originally used in the Old Testament in a sense that carries something of humiliation in it. See Job xxv. 6; Psal. viii. 4; exliv. 3; Isa. li. 12; and especially Psal. lxii. 9; where we justly translate BENEL ADAM men of low degree. A multitude of texts, as well as this before us, appear with great advantage when this remark is attended to; though Le Clerc cannot by any means be vindicated in confining his interpretation so entirely to this latter view. Christ goes to a marriage feast at Cana. SEC. They shall behold much greater things than ever were seen below, and more extraordinary manifestations of his glory than they can now conceive; and, being brought with all his people to surround his throne, shall join in those nobler services which attendant angels render him above. Parallels: Galatians 49 Christ attends a marriage feast at Cana in Galilee, lously changes water into wine. John II JOHN II. 1. NOW the third day after Christ's coming into Galilee, and discoursing there with Nathaniel in the manner we have related above, there was a marriage at Cana, a town in Galilee,ᵃ which originally belonged to the tribe of Asher (Josh. xix. 28,) and Mary the mother of Jesus was there;ᵇ it being the marriage of a near relation or an intimate friend of hers. And Jesus, and those of his disciples that were with him, (namely the two disciples that had followed him from the banks of Jordan, with Peter, Philip, and Nathaniel,) being known to be in the neighbourhood, were invited to the marriage: and Jesus, not affecting the austerities which became the character and ministry of John the Baptist, freely accepted of the invitation, and favoured them with his instructive presence. Now, as it was known that Jesus would be present at the feast, this, in conjunction with the events which had lately arisen, occasioned a ᵃ Cana, a town in Galilee.] It lay toward the southern part of the land of Asher (Josh. xix. 28,) and might be called Cana in Galilee, to distinguish it from another town of that name in Celosyria mentioned by Josephus. Antiq. Jud. lib. xv. cap. 5. (al. 6) sect. 1. p. 751. Havercamp. ᵇ The mother of Jesus was there.] Some have supposed this marriage to be celebrated at the house of Cleopas or Alpheus, whose wife was sister to the mother of our Lord (John xix. 25,) and one of whose sons was Simon the Canaanite, whom some have thought to be so called from his being an inhabitant of this Cana. (Mark iii. 18.) And this may be considered as the more probable, as Mary was not only present at the feast, but was concerned about supplying them with wine; and when the feast was over, we are told at ver. 12, that Jesus was attended at his leaving Cana, not only with his own disciples, but with his brethren, or his nearest kinsmen, who probably came thither as relations, to be present at the marriage. As Mary here is spoken of alone, it may be reasonable to conclude that Joseph was now dead, and that he lived not to the time when Jesus entered on his public ministry, especially as he is no where mentioned in the gospel afterwards. See Dr. Lightfoot's Harmony, in loc. His mother tells him of their wanting wine. greater resort of company than was expected; and when the wine provided for the entertainment of the guests fell short, the mother of Jesus, who either had seen some of his miracles in private, or received from him some hint of his intention now, thought proper to inform him of it, and says unto him, Son, dost thou observe they have no wine to carry on the feast? But Jesus not approving it that she should take upon her to direct him in the exercise of his miraculous power, says freely to her, with an air of serious rebuke, and in a plainness of language suited to the simplicity of those ages and countries, O woman, what hast thou to do with me, thus to direct me how and when my miracles are to be wrought? Let me now say it once for all, this is a thing that does not lie within thy proper sphere; and in particular, for what is now proposed my time of doing it is not yet come; but it is best to wait a little Either had seen some of his miracles in private, or received some hint, [c.] Without supposing the one or the other of these, one can hardly imagine why she should thus apply to him on this occasion. For she could scarce suppose he had money to buy any large quantity; nor would it have been so proper to have done it if he had, lest it should have been interpreted as an affront to the bridegroom. But the supply that she expected from him was by his working of a miracle; and it is plain that, notwithstanding the rebuke she justly met with, yet she had still a view to this by her direction to the servants afterwards, ver. 5, to do whatever he should order them. O Woman.] We have no reason to conclude that there was any rudeness in his addressing to his mother thus. For though indeed it is a manner of expression that is very unusual among us, to call a person woman, when we are speaking to her, if she be one to whom we think that any respect is due; yet some of the politest writers of antiquity make the most well-bred and accomplished princes use it in their addressing unto ladies of the highest quality; and even servants too are sometimes represented as speaking to their mistresses in the same language. There are some instances of this referred to in Blackwall's Sacred Classics, Vol. I. p. 206; to which many more might easily be added. What hast thou to do with me?] Some have thought, τι ψαί και σοι, might be rendered, What is that to me and thee? "What does it signify to us, or what concern is it of ours, if they want wine?" But Jesus was of so benevolent a temper, and Mary seems to be so far concerned as a relation, that it does not in this sense appear to be so proper a reply. It seems rather to be intended as a rebuke to Mary; and it was surely expedient she should know that Jesus was not upon such occasions to be directed by her. And nothing is more evident than that the phrase in other places has the meaning that our version gives it. See Matth. viii. 29; and Judges xi. 12; 2 Sam. xvi. 10; 1 Kings xvii. 18; 2 Kings iii. 13; and ix. 19. Septua. My time is not yet come.] Some are for adding a note of interrogation here (as Gregory Nyssen does,) and so would render it, is not my time yet come? As if he had said, "Am I not old enough to know when to work miracles? and now that I have entered on my public ministry, is it not time that I should be exempt from thine authority, and should be left to govern my own actions without an direction." But I conceive the sense in which it is generally taken to be more natural and easy: and I would rather chuse to understand it of the time when he intended to perform this miracle, for which the proper moment, though ve near, was not yet quite come; than to She charges the servants to obey his orde longer, and leave it to my conduct to determine when it will be the fittest and the most convenient season for me to interpose. In this his mother readily acquiesced, as conscious to herself that she had been over hasty in the proposal; but yet, as she inferred from his answer that he intended them some extraordinary supply, she says unto the servants, with some degree of authority, as being in part concerned in managing the feast, Whatever he shall order you, see that you carefully do it; for he may have reasons for it beyond what you imagine. Now there were set there, near the room in which the feast was kept, six water pots or jars of stone, from whence the water might be taken that was made use of by the guests to wash their hands and feet, and that was necessary for the washing of the cups and other vessels that were used at table, according to the Jewish custom of purifying, which in some instances was grown to such a superstitious nicety⁸ as to require a considerable quantity of water to be ready upon such occasions: these jars were therefore of a considerable bigness, containing each of them two or three measures.⁹ And Jesus chusing, for wise reasons, to make use of these⁹ rather than the vessels in which refer it in a more general way to the time of his doing miracles in public, or more particularly to restrain it to the time of his sufferings, which Christ indeed has elsewhere called his hour, and which Mr. L'Enfant supposes him here to intimate that he would not anticipate by provoking the Jews too soon; for thus it would have implied a denial of his mother's request, which it is plain from ver. 5 she did not apprehend, and which the event shews that Christ did not design. ⁸ Was grown to such a superstitious nicety.] Besides the purifications that were appointed by the law of God, there was a multitude of others that were then practised in compliance with the tradition of the elders. Compare Mark vii. 3, 4; and see Godwin's Moses and Aaron, lib. iii. cap. 11. § 4. ⁹ Two or three measures.] The measures of the ancients are so very uncertain that it is hardly possible to determine the exact extent of these vessels. Some have com- puted them to contain about two or three hogsheads; and it is rendered so in our translation as to make them contain above a hundred gallons. But it is hardly probable the vessels were so large; and as the word μετρησε signifies no more than measures, it is much better we should leave it as we find it, unless the quantity could be determined with more certainty. It seems most probable that, as the Jewish bath was the most common measure that was used in liquids, this is the quantity designed where measures are expressed without any limitation. And as the Jewish bath is reckoned to contain four gallons and a half, the content of these vessels, if they are computed only at two measures each, will amount to no less than fifty four gallons, which may be reckoned a sufficient quantity. See Dr. Lightfoot's Harmony, in loc. and Godwin's Moses and Aaron, lib. vi. cap. 9. ad fin. ⁹ Chusing to make use of these.] Jesus might rather chuse to make use of these Christ turns the water into wine. the wine had before been contained, after some convenient pause, that the failing of the wine might be the more observed, goes to the servants that were waiting, and says to them, Fill up those jars with water, And they filled them up to the very brim. And having presently transformed the water by his Divine power into excellent wine, he says unto them, Now draw some of it out, and carry it to the president of the feast. And, in obedience to the orders Jesus gave them, they carried [it] to him. Now when the president of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it came (though the servants that drew the water very well knew,) observing that it had a finer flavour than any they had drank before, the president of the feast calls for the bridegroom, at whose expense he reckoned that this wine had been provided, And says unto him, thou hast acted today in a very uncommon manner, for every man that makes a feast first sets out the good wine, and when they have drank plentifully,ᵏ so that their taste is not so delicate as before, then brings out that which is worse; [but] thou hast kept the good wine until now, and towards the conclusion of the feast surprisest us with what is much better than we have yet tasted. This naturally gave the bridegroom an opportunity of declaring that he knew nothing of this new supply; which occasioned an examination of the servants, and so a discovery of what Christ had done in it. large vessels, thus to add to the dignity of the miracle by the liberal quantity of wine produced; which we have no reason to believe was all drank that day. If the feast, as was usual, lasted several days (Gen. xix. 27, 28; and Judg. xiv. 12—17,) a considerable expense might by this means be saved, and an equivalent given for the additional charge of entertaining so many of his disciples. Not to say that this would prevent any suspicion that the tincture, or taste, of the water might be derived from any remainder of wine in the vessels; for indeed the goodness of the wine thus made would be sufficient to obviate such a thought. ᵏ When they have drank plentifully.] Though without often signifies to drink to excess, yet it would be very unjust and absurd to suppose that it implies here that these guests had already transgressed the rules of temperance. None can seriously imagine the evangelist so destitute of common sense as to represent Christ as displaying his glory by miraculously furnishing the company with wine to prolong a drunken revel. It is much more reasonable to conclude that it signifies here (as it does in Gen. xliii. 34; Cant. v. 1; and Hag. 1. 6. Septuag.) only to drink so freely as innocently to exhilarate the spirits. And even this perhaps might only be the case of some of them, and particularly not of those who, drawn by a desire to converse with Jesus, might be but late, come in. 1 This beginning of his public miracles.] which doth not at all appear to have been This interpretation seems much preferable the case. It rather seems to be here represented only as the first of his public miracles; for it seems probable that the necessities of the family might sometimes have engaged him to have done something miraculous for its relief in private. See note, p. 137. SECT. XXIII. John II. 11 IMPROVEMENT. We have here the first of Christ's public miracles, which we find was not wrought till about his thirtieth year. How much sooner could he have glorified himself, and amazed the world by the display of his divine power? But he waited his Father's call, and the delay added at length to the lustre of his works. Verse 1 It was performed to grace a nuptial solemnity: and who doth not see that it was in effect a testimony borne to the honour and purity of that happy state on which so much of the comfort of the present generation, and the existence of the future, regularly depends? 2 How happy were these guests while Jesus was among them! and how condescending did he appear in making one on the occasion! His social and obliging temper should sweeten ours, and be a lesson to his followers that they avoid every thing sour and morose, and do not censure others for innocent liberties at proper seasons of festivity and joy. 3,4 If his mother met with so just a rebuke for attempting to direct his administrations in the days of his flesh, how absurd is it for any to address her as if she had a right to command him on the throne of his glory? And how indecent for us to direct his supreme wisdom as to the time and manner in which he shall appear for us in any of the exigencies of life? 5 Her submission and faith manifested on this occasion are truly amiable: and with this we have surely reason to admire the benignity and generosity of Christ in this miracle before us; who consulted the pleasure and entertainment as well as the necessity of his followers; and by this abundant supply amply repaid any extraordinary expense which he might have occasioned to the family. 7,8 How easily could he, who thus turned water into wine, have transformed every entertainment of a common table into the 1 This beginning of his public miracles.] which doth not at all appear to have been This interpretation seems much preferable the case. It rather seems to be here represented only as the first of his public miracles; for it seems probable that the necessities of the family might sometimes have engaged him to have done something miraculous for its relief in private. See note, p. 137. Jesus goes to keep the passover at Jerusalem, greatest delicacies, and have regaled himself daily with royal deities? But, far superior to such animal gratifications, he chose the severities of a much plainer life. Blessed Jesus! who can say whether thou art greater in what thou didst or in what thou didst not do? May none of us thy followers be too intent on indulging our taste, or any of our other senses; but, pursuing those intellectual and devotional pleasures which were thy meat and thy drink on earth, may we wait for that good wine which thou reservest for thy people to the last, and for those richer dainties with which thou wilt feast those who shall drink it with thee in thy Father's kingdom! (Mat. xxvi. 29.) Our Lord celebrates the first passover of his public ministry at Jerusalem; and vindicates the outer court of the temple from the profanation of those that bought and sold there. John II. 12, to the end. JOHN II. 12. JOHN II. 12. AFTER this, he went down to Capernaum, he and his mother, and his brethren, and his disciples; and they continued there not many days. And the Jews' passover was at NOW, after Jesus had attended at this marriage, where he miraculously turned the water into wine, he and his mother, and his brethren (or his near relations) and his disciples, who were now ready to attend him wheresoever he should go, went down from Cana to Capernaum, a city that lay near the north part of the sea of Galilee, on the south border of the land of Naphtali: and at this time the stay they made was but short, for they continued there not many days. And the reason of their leaving it so soon was that the passover of the Jews drew near, when it was ordered by the a The passover of the Jews drew near.] As the evangelists have not expressly determined the number of passovers which happened between the baptism and death of Christ, or during the course of his public ministry, so it is well known that learned men have been much divided in their opinions about them. By far the greater part have supposed there were four; reckoning this the first; the feast mentioned, John v. 1, the second; the passover spoken of, John vi. 4, as the third; and that at which Christ suffered the fourth. But there are others of a different opinion. The celebrated Sir Isaac Newton reckons five; the first, this which is now before Vol. I. us; the second, according to him, happened four months after Christ's discourse with the woman of Samaria, John iv. 35; the third, a few days before the story of the disciples rubbing the ears of corn, Luke vi. 1; the fourth, a little after the feeding of the five thousand; and the last, at the time of our Lord's crucifixion. The reasons for this the reader will find at large in Sir Isaac Newton's Observat. on Proph. Part I. chap. 11; and the most considerable of them will be touched upon in their proper places. Mr. Manne has with great learning and ingenuity attempted to revive a long exploded notion, that Christ's ministry continued but sixteen months; (see s And drives the traders there out o the ten law of Moses that all the males should appear before the Lord (Exod. xxiii. 17; and Deut. xvi. 16:) and therefore Jesus, who maintained a religious regard to the ceremonial as well as the moral part of the law, went up to Jerusalem to worship at the temple. And, at his coming thither, he found in the outer court and cloysters of the temple those that, under a pretence of accommodating such as came to worship there with proper sacrifices, sold oxen, and sheep, and doves; and he also saw there the money changers sitting at their tables, who, for a certain profit, changed any foreign coin into that which was current, and larger pieces of money into half shekels, which were on some occasions to be paid into the sacred treasury. (Exod. xxx. 15.) Now, at the sight of this, Jesus was moved with a just indignation to think that so sacred a place, honoured with such peculiar tokens of the Divine presence, should be profaned in this audacious manner, and so great an affront be put on the devout Gentiles, in whose court this market was kept: and therefore, having made a whip of the small cords (with which they were used to tie the beasts to some rings fixed in the pavement for that purpose) he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen, which they had brought into it: and he also poured out the money of the exchangers, and overturned the tables at which they were sitting. And he said to them that sold doves, Take all these things away from hence directly; [and] do not, for shame, make my Father's house, by such scandalous practices as these, an house of public traffic, and Tanne's second Dissertation, p. 146, &seq. so that there were but two passovers during the whole course of it. Mr. Whiston's reasoning against this hypothesis, in the sixth of his late dissertations, appears to be unanswerable. For he there shews that, if this was true, Christ must have travelled on an average near ten miles a day during the course of his ministry. Besides, the transpositions in scripture which this would introduce, seem very unwarrantable and dangerous; and, among other difficulties, it is none of the least that Mr. Maune is obliged to suppose that Christ only purged the temple at his last passover, and consequently that St. John has misplaced this story; though ver. 24 of this chapter, and ver. 22, 23, 24, of the next (sect. 27,) afford such strong arguments to the contrary. Compare note and note of this section. b Sold oxen, and sheep, and doves. There must have been a grand market for these animals at such times; for Josephus tells us that no less than 256,500 victims were offered at one passover; see Joseph. de Bell. Jud lib. vi cap. 9. (al. vii. 17; § 3. p. 399.) Edit. Havercamp. dmire his zeal. n market place, or exchange. g this he openly proclaimed Father, and made such a Divine mission as could not erved by the multitude. And n they saw so meek a person transport of just displeasure, it was written of David, in expressed the character of asion (Psal. lxix. 9.) “The hath eaten me up;” as if it gard for the honour of thy secret flame glowing in my n my spirits, and would have I not given it vent. and remarkable as this could tely come to the knowledge nd rulers of the Jews, whose XXIV. John II. 16 17 might be inclinable for a while to wait the issue of Christ’s pretensions, and so much the rather, as he now wrought some wonderful miracles. Compare ver. 23, and chap. iii. 2.) Accordingly we find in the beginning of the next chapter one of the chief among the Pharisees comes privately to confer with Christ in a very respectable manner. It seems necessary to acquiesce in these solutions, because the conference which refers to the miracles wrought at this feast is expressly said to have been before John the Baptist was imprisoned. Compare John iii. 22–44; sect. 27. [d Remembered that it was written of David.] That these words were originally spoken of David, and not of Christ, is plain from the fifth verse of the lxixth. Psalm: O God, thou knewest my foolishness, and my sins are not hid from thee; which cannot be applied to Christ. Abundance of other scriptures are quoted, with such a beautiful accommodation as this. [e Rulers of the Jews.] It seems most probable that the Jews here mentioned were rulers, because we know that the great assembly of Jewish rulers (that is, the sanhedrim) sate in the temple, and that the chief of them often attended public worship there. This action of Christ (in driving out the bayers and sellers) must undoubtedly come to their knowledge; and as their office would seem to authorize them to call him to an account, we are sure their prejudices against him would incline them to de- Christ's saying o the temple of his body. supreme council sate in a magnificent chamber belonging to the temple: some of them therefore when they heard of it, answered and said unto him, By what authority dost thou thus take upon thee to reform what is amiss here, and what sign dost thou shew us, seeing that thou dost these things, to prove thy having a divine commission, since it is certain thou hast none from the government? Jesus answered and said unto them, You shall not want convincing evidence that I have an authority far superior to what man can give me; for if you demolish this temple, I promise and assure you I will raise it up again in three days. The Jews then said unto him, in proud derision and contempt of what they did not understand, This temple hath been no less than six and forty years building (for it is now so long since Herod began to repair it,) and notwithstanding many thousand men have been employ- f A magnificent chamber belonging to the temple.] This fine rotundo was called, from its beautiful pavement, Lishcath Haggazith, and stood on the wall of the temple, part of it within and part of it without its sacred precincts. See Calmet's Dictionary at the word Sanhetrim; Lightfoot's Description of the Temple, chap. 9; and Witsii. Miscell. Sacr. lib. i. Diss. iii. § 66. g Demolish this temple, and I will raise it up in three days.] It is most evident that Christ intended nothing more in these words than the paraphrase expresses, and did not mean to command them to demolish the temple; though his enemies indeed did, some years after, misrepresent this saying, as if he had intimated a purpose of doing it himself. Compare Mark xiv. 58; sect. 185. h This temple hath been six and forty years built in.] Mr. Whiston (in his View of the Harmony, p. 143) would render it, Forty and six years hath this temple been built: but, as it would have been absurd to argue from the time since the temple was built to the time it would require to rebuild it, this sense must certainly be wrong; and Dr. Lightfoot has well shewn that the word 'red' may signify (as we render it) it hath been so long building. Hor. Hebr. in loc. Mr. Fleming's calculation (in his Christology, Vol. II. p. 366-371) to prove that the second temple was forty six years building, is not only very precarious, but also very unnecessary; for the words refer to the time since Herod began to rebuild it, which he first proposed to the people in the eighteenth year of his reign (Joseph. Antiq. Jud. lib. xv. cap. 11 (al. 14) § 1. Havercamp;) and though he finished what he proposed in eight or nine years, it seems (as Dr. Lightfoot and Dr. Lardner have judiciously observed) that the Jews still went on improving and adorning it: for long after this, under the government of Florus (about the year of Christ 65,) Josephus speaks of the temple's being finished, and the workmen dismissed: so that it seems they were at work upon it all the time of Christ's ministry and life. (Compare John viii. 59; sect. 105; John x. 31; sect. 134; and see Joseph. Antiq. Jud. lib. xx. cap. 9. (al. 8) § 7. p. 978; and Lardner's Credib. Part I. Vol. I. p. 534-539; and Vol. II. p. 856-860.) Now, as the eighteenth year of Herod's reign from the death of Antigonus began some time in A. U. C. 734, and his proposal to rebuild the temple might then be made to the Jews at the feast of tabernacles, it will from thence be but a few months more than forty six years to the passover, A. U. 781. Or, since a year or more might probably be spent in preparing for the work before he actually began it, it may thus be brought down to A. U. 782 or 783, which is the lowest time to which this passover can be referred. c oretells his resurrection in three days. ed upon it, it is not yet entirely finished; and wilt thou undertake to raise it up in three days? None certainly will be foolish enough to pull it down to try the experiment. But they were quite mistaken in the sense of what he said; for what they understood him to have spoken of the temple at Jerusalem, he spake of the much more sacred temple of his own body, in which the Deity dwelt in a far nobler manner than in their holy place (Col. ii. 9,) and he might give some intimation of it in the gesture that he used in speaking. When therefore he was risen from the dead, just on the third day after his crucifixion, his disciples remembered that he had said this to them; and they yet more firmly believed the scripture in all its prophecies concerning the Messiah's kingdom, and their faith in him was confirmed by the word which Jesus had spoken: for such a wonderful event as the resurrection of Christ, considered in its connection with this solemn prediction,¹ justly appeared as the fullest conceivable proof of his Divine mission. And while he was at the passover in Jerusalem, on the feast day, many of the Jews who were then present there, seeing the miracles which he wrought,ᵏ believed in him,ˡ and were inwardly persuaded that he was the Messiah: But Jesus did not care to trust himself to them,ᵐ so far as to acknowledge it expressly that he was actually the promised Messiah; and, by confessing who he was, to put himself into their power, because he knew them all, And had no need that any one should testify or tell him any thing of the character of any man, though ever so much a stranger to him: for he himself, by an immediate and unerring penetration, knew what was in the heart of every ¹ The resurrection of Christ considered in its connection with this solemn prediction.] This important thought is set in a very strong light by Dr. Jenkins, in his Reasonableness of Christianity, Vol. I. p. 25, 26. ᵏ Seeing the miracles which he wrought.] These words, as also those in John iii. 2, and iv. 45, plainly refer to some miracles wrought by Christ, the particulars of which are not transmitted to us. ˡ Believed in him.] It is in the original, believed in his name; a Hebraism, which it did not seem necessary to retain. Nothing is more common than to put the name of person for the person himself. Compare John i. 12; xx. 31; Psal. lxxv. 1; Acts i. 15; and Rev. iii. 4. ᵐ Did not trust himself to them.] I look upon this as a demonstration that the pass over here spoken of was not that at which Christ suffered; for then there had been no need of such a precaution, and indeed no room for it. Reflections on Christ's purging the temple, &c. man; and consequently knew that those people XXIV. had such gross notions of the Messiah's kingdom, John that there was no room for him to confide in II. 25 them, or to expect them to be faithful to him. IMPROVEMENT. How powerful is the love of this world, when it could engage 14 even the priests and the Pharisees to let out the temple itself for a market place! though a professed zeal for the honour of it made so great a part of the righteousness of which they boasted before 15, 16 God. But our Lord behold the scene with just indignation; as that displeasure is indeed just which arises from a sense of dishonour done to God and contempt poured on the institutions of his worship. Happy shall we be in the warmest emotions of zeal which do not transport us beyond the rules of prudence and love, and make us forget those stations in life which require the same principles to shew themselves in widely different effects! Methinks the state of the temple, when these traders had erected their seats and their stalls in it, and turned the courts of 16 God's house into a market, is too just an emblem of the state of our hearts when we appear in the sanctuary distracted with worldly cares to the neglect of that one thing needful which then demands our most attentive regards. Would to God that in this sense our Father's house were not often made a house of merchandize! Let us pray that Jesus, by his good Spirit, would assert it to himself, and drive out those intruders which break in upon our truest enjoyments, in proportion to that degree in which they intrench in our devotion! After a thousand proofs of his Divine mission, the Jews were wicked and desperate enough, with sacrilegious hands to destroy the temple of Christ's body: but let us be thankful for the undoubted evidence we have that, as an everlasting monument of his power and truth, he raised it again in three days! 23, 25 Happy will it be for us if we cordially believe a gospel so gloriously attested; but most vain will that belief be which doth not penetrate and influence the heart. Let us remember that we have to do with him that formed our nature, and is most intimately acquainted with all its recesses. He knows what is in man: may he see nothing in us which shall not be thoroughly agreeable to the profession we make of being his faithful disciples! To conclude; let us learn from the caution which Jesus used, not rashly to put ourselves and our usefulness into the power of others; but to study a wise and happy medium between that universal prejudice and suspicion which, while it wrongs the best and the most worthy characters, would deprive us of all the pleasures of an intimate friendship, and that undistinguishing Nicodemus comes to Jesus by night asiness and openness of temper which might make us the property of every hypocritical pretender to kindness and respect. The former part of our Lord's conference with Nicodemus, in which he states the nature and necessity of regeneration. John III. 1—10. JOHN III. 1. NOW, while our Lord was thus attending at Jerusalem to keep the passover there was a certain man of the sect of the Pharisees whose name was Nicodemus, a magistrate of the Jews, and a member of the great sanhedrim, (John vii. 50,) who being alarmed, as many of his brethren were, and filled with wonder at the miracles that Jesus wrought, made him a visit in person, that he might more distinctly be informed of the nature of his doctrine, and of the true intent and purpose of his coming. But, lest any offence should be taken at his conversing openly with him, he secretly came to Jesus by night, in order to a private conference with him at his own lodgings; and with the greatest reverence and respect, he said unto him, in his own name as well as in the name of several of his brethren, Rabbi, the wonders thou hast done have been related to us; and, having seriously considered the account that has been given us, we know and cannot but allow that thou art a teacher come with a commission from God: for we are thoroughly convinced that none can ever do these wondrous miracles that are in all respects so beneficial and Divine, which we perceive thou doest, unless he be invested with a power from on high, and God himself be with him in an extraordinary manner. (See John ix. 30, 33.) I am come therefore to desire a more particular account from thine own a Said unto him, Rabbi.] This title cannot but appear very remarkable, as given by a person of so great dignity to one who, with regard to his education and rank in secular life, made so low an appearance as our blessed Lord did. b I am come to desire a more particular account, &c.] Our Lord's answer intimates that he either expressly made, or secretly intended, such an inquiry; and it is impossible to enter into the beauty of this discourse without considering it in this view. Our Lord touches on the following grand points, in which it was of the utmost importance that Nicodemus and his brethren should be informed. That no external profession, nor any other social observances, or privileges of birth, could Jesus informs him of the necessity of the new mouth, both of the doctrine which thou teachest and of the kingdom which thou declarest God is about to erect. Jesus, knowing the prejudices he laboured under both as a Jew and a Pharisee, judged it necessary immediately to acquaint him with the absolute necessity of a thorough change, by Divine grace, both in heart and life; a change so great as might appear like coming into a new world, and would bring the greatest and most learned men to the simplicity of little children. (Compare Mat. xviii. 3.) He therefore answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, and declare it with the utmost solemnity as a truth of the highest importance, That whatever great privileges any may inherit by his natural birth, or how exact and strict soever he may be in ceremonial observances, unless a man be born again he cannot possibly see the kingdom of God in such a manner as to secure an interest in its invaluable blessings. Now, as this form of speech was figurative and concise, Nicodemus did not understand what it meant; and therefore says unto him, How can a intitle any to the blessings of the Messiah's kingdom; that an entire change of heart and life was necessary to that purpose; that this must be accomplished by a Divine influence on the mind; that mankind was in a state of condemnation and misery; that the free mercy of God had given his Son to deliver them from it, and to raise them to a blessed immortality, which was the great design and purpose of his coming; that all mankind, that is, Gentiles as well as Jews, were to share in the benefits of his undertaking; that they were to be procured by his being lifted up on the cross, and to be received by faith in him; but that if they rejected him there was no other remedy, and their eternal aggravated condemnation would be the certain consequence of it. Our Lord might enlarge more copiously on these heads; which it might be the more proper to do, as some of them were directly contrary to the notions commonly entertained by the Jews concerning the Messiah's kingdom. c Unless a man be born again; say unto him, Jesus, from above: but it is plain that Nicodemus did not take it so; for he thought that, without entering a second time into his mother's womb, there was no being born in the manner Christ spoke of, avar, that is, again. What is added at ver. 5 explains what was before undetermined as to the original of this birth. Dr. Owen with great propriety observes "That i regeneration here mean only reformation of life, our Lord, instead of making any new discovery, has only thrown a great deal of obscurity on what was before plain and obvious, and known not only to the Jews but the wiser heathens. And indeed (says he immediately after) this is the main article in dispute between many. Some think all things in scripture are expressed in condescension to our capacities, so that there is still to be conceived in many of them an inexpressible grandeur; while, on the other hand, others suppose that, under the pomp and grandeur of the most hyperbolical expressions, things of a low and ordinary sense are to be understood." See Dr. Owen on the Spirit, p. 175. For the full import of the phrases used in this verse see my Sermons on Regeneration, No. IV. and V. nd of the operation o the Spirit in it. man be born again when he is old, as I now am? Can he possibly enter a second time into his mother's womb and so be born over again? It would be perfectly absurd to think that thou intendest this should be taken in a literal sense; and I confess I am at a loss to know what figurative interpretation is to be put upon it. Then Jesus, to explain his former meaning, answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, and again repeat it, That unless a man be born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God; or, in plain terms, whosoever would become a regular member of it, he must not only be baptized, but as ever he desires to share in its spiritual and eternal blessings, he must experience the renewing and sanctifying influences of the Holy Spirit on his soul, to cleanse it from the power of corruption, and to animate it to a Divine and spiritual life. For were it possible for a man to be born again, in the literal sense that you have mentioned, by entering a second time into his mother's womb, such a second birth would do no more to qualify him for the kingdom of God than the first: for that which is born of the flesh, is only flesh; and what proceeds and is produced from parents that are sinful and corrupt, is sinful and corrupt as they are; but that which is born of the Spirit is formed to a resemblance of that blessed Spirit whose office it is to infuse a Divine life into the soul. Wonder not, therefore, that I said unto thee, and have declared it as a truth that you are all concerned in, That you yourselves, even though you are Jews, and Pharisees, and rulers of the people, yet must be born again; since the degeneracy of the human nature is of so universal an extent as to be common to you all. Nor have you any cause to be surprised if there be some things in this doctrine of regeneration which are of an obscure and unsearchable nature; for d Is sinful and corrupt as they are ] The vindicate it! (Compare Gen. vi. 3; Rom. viii. 8; Gal. v. 17—24; and Jude ver. 23.) Inced it seems to me impossible to clear up either the beauty of the antithesis, or even the truth of the assertion, on any other interpretation. Vo T Nicodemus knows not how to conceive it. even in the natural world, many things are so: The wind, for instance, bloweth where it will, sometimes one way and sometimes another, and is not subject to the direction or command of man; and though thou hearest the sound thereof, and feelest its sensible and powerful effects, yet thou canst not exactly tell from whence it cometh, and whither it goeth; for whatever general principles may be laid down concerning it, when you come to account for its particular variations, the greatest philosophers often find themselves at a loss; and in like manner so it is with every one that is born of the Spirit: and you are so far from being capable of accounting for it, that it is easy to be seen there is a sovereign freedom in that Divine agency, which makes it oftentimes impossible to say why it is imparted to one rather than to another; and there is a secret in the manner of its operation on the mind which it is neither necessary to know nor possible to explain. But Nicodemus, who had been accustomed to the pomp and ceremony of an external religion, answered and said unto him, How can these things be? for, after all this explication, I am still at a loss to understand what this being born of the Spirit means, and therefore cannot conceive how it should be so absolutely necessary. Jesus then answered and said unto him, How Nicodemus! art thou a teacher of Israel, of so distinguished a rank and character, and dost thou not know these things!ᵉ when so much is every where said in the scripture of the purifying and quickening operations of the Divine Spirit on men's hearts? (Compare Jer. xxxi. 33, 34; and Ezek. xxxvi. 26, 27.) It is high time thou shouldst be better informed concerning them. Art thou a teacher of Israel, and dost thou not know these things?ᶠ Could it be proved that the Jewish Rabbis, so early as Christ's time, called a baptized person one born again, or born of water, that would strongly illustrate the passage before us. But though Dr. Claget and Mr. Locke, and after them Dr. Clarke give the words this turn, the fact did not appear to me so evident as to allow of my inserting it in the paraphrase. However, it is strange to me that any should doubt whether rosel tes were ad- mitted into the Jewish church by baptism, that is, by washing; when it is plain from express passages in the Jewish law, that no Jew who had lived like a Gentile for one single day, could be restored to the communion of their church without it. Compare Numb. xix. 19, 20, and many other precepts relating to ceremonial pollutions; by which the Jews were rendered incapable of appearing before God in the tabernacle or temple, till they were washed either by bathing or sprinkling. Reflections on the nature and necessity of the new birth. SECT.^()[] XXV IMPROVEMENT. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear with attention what the blessed Redeemer said on this great occasion. It is surely a matter of universal concern: for who would not desire to enter into the kingdom of God? to be an acceptable member of Christ's church now, and an heir of glory beyond the grave? But how is this blessing to be expected and secured? Thus saith the Lord himself, Unless a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of God. Let us remember therefore that it is not enough that a new name be given us, or that a new profession be assumed; it is not enough that we are descended from the most pious ancestors, that we have been externally devoted to God by the early seal of his covenant, or that we openly have made a solemn and express profession of our own faith and obedience, and have been born of baptismal water in our riper years! There must be a new nature implanted, a new creation formed in our souls by the almighty energy of the eternal Spirit, or it had been better for us that we had never been born at all. That which is born of the flesh, is flesh; and as we all proceed from a corrupt original, we do not more evidently bear the image of the earthly Adam in the infirmities of a mortal body than in the degeneracy of a corrupted mind. Oh, let us earnestly entreat that, being born of the sanctifying influences of the Spirit, we may bear the image of the heavenly! And to these influences let us with all humility and thankfulness be ready to yield up our souls, as remembering that they are of a free and sovereign nature, like the wind that bloweth where it will, and does not stay for the command of the children of men. Let none of us indulge a vain and useless curiosity with respect to the manner of the Spirit's operations, or wonder that we meet with some things that are secret and unknown in matters of a spiritual nature, when we see daily there are so many things unknown in the common appearances of the natural world, and indeed so few that we can perfectly understand. May the pride of a falsely pretended reason be subdued to the authority of faith! And more especially, may such as are teachers in Israel, or who are designed for that important office, take their instructions with all humility from this teacher sent from God! For it must surely be not only their calamity, but that too of the church in general, if its guides continue ignorant of those sublime and spiritual truths which Christ came down from heaven to reveal, or are so biassed by the carnal reasonings of a depraved mind as to be indisposed and backward to receive them. Jesus goes on in his conference with Nico e atter part of our Lord's conference with Nicodemus the design of his coming into the world, and shessity of faith in him. John III. 11—21. JOHN III. 11. JESUS, pursuing his discourse with Nicodemus, said, I find that you are stumbled at this doctrine of regeneration which I have now been opening to you: but howsoever it may still appear to be obscure and strange, yet labour to subdue the prejudices that arise against it; for, verily, verily, I say unto thee, That in the doctrine we have now delivered we speak nothing but what we certainly know,ᵃ and testify no other than that which we have seen,ᵇ and can declare upon the surest grounds to be a most important truth, and to be perfectly agreeable to what we have received in commission from God himself: and yet the disposition of the Jewish rulers and people is generally such, that ye receive not our testimony, and are likely still to reject it: For these things which I have already told you are but the first principles to make way for what is yet more marvellous. Now, if I hitherto have told you things which have been capable of being represented to you in a familiar way, and being ᵃ We speak what we know.] Some have supposed that, as Christ speaks here in the plural number, he may refer not only to the doctrine that was delivered by himself, but to the testimony that was given to the truth of it by John the Baptist, and to the preaching also of his own disciples, who all concurred in testifying the same things; the certainty of which they were assured of by the teachings of the Spirit, and by their own experience, while it was known to Christ by his omniscience, and by the intimate acquaintance that he had with all the councils of the Father. And others have supposed that he includes here, with himself the Father and the Spirit, who are expressly spoken of in other passages as bearing witness to the truth of what he said, and as agreeing with him in the testimony that he gave. (Compare John viii. 18; xiv. 20—26; and I John v. 6—8.) But there is no necessity we should suppose him to refer to any other than himself: since nothing is more usual than for a person of authority to speak of himself in the plural number, as Christ may be observed to have done elsewhere (Mark iv. 30;) and in the next verse he appears to have restrained it to himself, where he says only in the singular number, If I have told you earthly things, &c. See Lightfoot's Harmony in loc. ᵇ And testify that which we have seen.] Christ seems here to allude to what was mentioned in the law as qualifying a man to be a witness, that he was able to declare what he testified, that he had seen or known it. (Levit. v. 1.) And as he therefore had a clear perception, and a certain knowledge of the truth of what he said, there was the highest reason to receive his testimony, and to regard him as a true and faithful witness. celare the certainty of what he reveals. illustrated by obvious and well known similitudes; so that by reason of their plainness, and of the frequent references to them in the Old Testament, they may be called earthly things; and ye believe not even these: how then would you believe if I should yet go on to tell you other doctrines which are not capable of being thus explained; and which indeed are so much more mysterious and sublime that, in comparison of what has been already told you, they may be called heavenly things?c (Compare Heb. vi. 1, 2; Psal. ciii. 11; and Isa. lv. 9.) Yet even these you will have no just reason to suspect when you consider whence they come, and who it is that reveals them to you: for no one ever has ascended up to heaven to search into the secret counsels and to obtain an intimate and perfect knowledge of the truths of God;d unless, as you will see hereafter, he has done it who is really descended from heaven; [even] the Son of man who is in heaven, as there is the place of his stated abode, whither he shortly will return, and as he now is present there by his Divine nature, which fills both heaven and earth. And now I mention the Son of man, let me rectify that grand mistake of yours concerning his kingdom, which otherwise may be attended with such fatal consequences. You expect to see him raised on a magnificent throne, and not only breaking off the yoke from the Jewish nation, but leading them on to conquer and c Heavenly things] This has been understood by some, of those sublime and heavenly doctrines that were afterwards revealed, of the eternal generation of the Son, and of the fulness of the Godhead dwelling in him bodily, and of those other mysteries of godliness that are above the reach of human reason, and cannot be illustrated by earthly things; (see Lightfoot's Harmony in loc.) Though it would rather seem that our Lord does more immediately refer to the doctrines which he mentions in the remaining part of his discourse to Nicodemus, of his descent from heaven to instruct us in the things of God, and be united to the human nature here below, while by his divine nature he still continued to be present above; of the design for which he came into the world to be lifted upon the cross, that he might save us from our sins; of everlasting life and happiness to be obtained by faith in his death; and of the condemnation of all those that should reject him: which may be counted as the deep things of God, which he reveals unto us by his Spirit, and which the natural man who disregards that spirit receiveth not, so they are foolishness unto him; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned; 1 Cor. ii. 10.—14. d Ascended up to heaven to search into the truths of God.] The phrase of ascending into heaven is plainly used in this sense, Deut. xxx. 12; Rom. x. 6, and Prov. xxx. 4. As for the turn here given to the particle u μ, see the note on John xvii, 12; sect. clxxix. God sent his Son not to condemn but to save t destroy the Gentiles: but I must assure you that as Moses lifted up the brasen serpent on a pole in the wilderness, to heal those that were dying by the venom of the fiery serpents there (see Numb. xxi. 8, 9,) so also must the Son of man be first lifted up on a cross (compare John viii. 28; xii. 32, 34,) and then publicly exhibited in the preaching of the gospel, that sinners may by him receive a far more noble and important cure:ᵉ Even that whoever believeth on him may not perish, as all in their natural state would otherwise do,ᶠ but may obtain so perfect a recovery as certainly to have eternal life. For this is indeed the summary of that important message which I bring to the children of men, that God so loved the world,ᵍ apostate and miserable as it was; yea, to such an amazing and unutterable degree did he love it that he gave even his only begotten Son from his embraces, that whoever believeth on him, whatever be the nation he belongs to, or whatever his guilt be, he may not perish under the sentence of Divine justice, but may have everlasting life and glory. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, and to execute that vengeance upon them which their guilt might have taught them to fear; nor did he send him to destroy the Gentile nations, as your Jewish prejudices are ready to represent it; but that the world of mankind, whether Jews or Gentiles, might be saved by him, even all without exception who will listen to the overtures of ᵉ A far more noble and important cure.] The grand point of similitude here is in the manner of performing the cure, that is, by believing regards to something lifted up for that purpose by a Divine appointment. It would be blasphemy to run a parallel between Christ and that which gave us the deadly wound: and to talk, as Grotius and Dr. Clarke here do, of the resemblance between him and the image of the serpent, as he was made in the likeness of sinful flesh, seems in this connection to be foreign to the purpose. ᶠ As all in their natural state would otherwise do.] This is strongly implied here, and yet more strongly in ver. 18, where all that do not believe are said to be condemned already: and till men enter deeply into this important truth the gospel may indeed be their amusement, but I see not how it is like to be their joy or their cure. ᵍ God so loved the world.] It is not only a very arbitrary criticism by which Erasmus makes these the words of the evangelist rather than of Christ, but if it were admitted, it would destroy much of the beauty and energy of that awful admonition which our Lord gives to Nicodemus, and by him to his brethren, in this his first entrance on his ministry. No doubt many of them attended him to learn the result of this conference, which to the best of his understanding we may conclude he honestly reported: and it is sad to think what an aggravation it was of the unbelief and impenitence of that grand council who afterwards treated Christ with so much contempt and malignity. that believeth not is condemned already. his gospel. And therefore, on the one hand, he that believeth on him, how great soever his sins may have been, and however unpardonable according to the tenor of the Mosaic law, yet shall not be finally condemned, but shall obtain a complete pardon: and on the other hand, he that believeth not, whatever his external profession and privileges may be, is condemned already, remaining under the sentence of his former guilt, yea, and subjecting himself by his refusal of the only remedy to greater and more aggravated wo; because he hath not believed in the illustrious name of the only begotten Son of God, though expressly revealed to him on so glorious and important an occasion. Now, through the great perverseness of mankind, I certainly foresee that this will be the case with multitudes: for this is the great condemnation, the crime that fills up the measure of men's iniquities, and proves the surest cause of their final and speedy ruin, that a Divine light is come into the world, and yet men have loved darkness rather than light and have chosen to remain ignorant rather than to submit themselves to the teachings of this heavenly revelation; and the reason is plainly this, because their deeds were evil, and they have not virtue enough to resolve on a thorough reformation. For every one who is conscious to himself that he doeth evil, and will persist in his wickedness, hateth the light, as the cause of anguish and shame to his guilty mind; and he cometh not to the light lest his actions should be reproved by it, and so his character exposed, and his conscience disquieted, (Compare Eph. v. 13.) But he that practises truth and virtue, sincerely endeavouring to adjust his actions h Believed in the illustrious name.] Though the name of a person be often put for the person himself, yet I think it is farther intimated in that expression, that the person spoken of is great and magnificent; and therefore it is generally used to express either God the Father or our Lord Jesus Christ. i He that practises truth: o womw mw exnbuw.] This phrase often occurs as the character of a good man: (compare Psal. cxix. 30. Isa. xxvi. 2; 1 Pet. i. 22; 15. John i. 6; and 2 John, ver. 4.) And it is used with great propriety, since the is as really a truth or falsehood in actions as in words: as Mr. Wollaston in particular has shewn at large; see Relig. of Nature, chap. i. Of the same kind is the phrase. womw fwd@, used more than once by St. John, perhaps in a beautiful opposition to this before us; and should it be rendered practiseth a lie, that opposition would be more apparent; see Rev. xxi. 27; xxi. 15. Reflections on the design. according to the eternal law of righteousness or the nature and obligation of things, comes to the light with confidence and pleasure, and takes all opportunities of improving his knowledge, that his actions may be made manifest as in open day; knowing it will appear that they are wrought in God, that is, that they are agreeable to the Divine nature and will, and the consequence of that union of soul with him which is the highest dignity and happiness of a rational creature. Be it therefore known unto you all that this gospel which I preach is the great touchstone of men's true characters; and, as nothing but a corruption of heart can oppose it, so I faithfully warn you that if you reject it it is at the peril of your souls. This was the purport of our Lord's discourse with Nicodemus; and it appears by some following circumstances of the story, that it made a deep and lasting impression on his mind. See John vii. 50; and xix. 39. IMPROVEMENT. How happy is it for us that, since none of the children of men ever ascended up into heaven to learn the mysteries of Divine knowledge there, the only begotten Son of God has been pleased to come down from thence that he might instruct us! He spake what he knew, and testified what he had seen: Oh that men were so wise as to receive his testimony, be the discoveries ever so near or the doctrines ever so sublime! Let us with peculiar pleasure attend unto that abstract of the gospel which he exhibited in this profitable and comprehensive discourse with Nicodemus. It presents to our view Christ, and him crucified. It opens the treasures of Divine beneficence and compassion, and shews us the Father of mercies so loving world, which he might justly have abhorred and destroyed as to give his only begotten Son to be a ransom for it. Let us behold him lifted up on the cross as the great attractive to whom all were to be drawn! In him shall we find the Divine cure for our souls, infected as they are with the poison of sin, if we behold him not merely with a curious but a believing eye. That they are wrought in God: et Oi it expresses. His instance of the like use of the particle in I Cor. vii. 39, seems insufficient; for to marry et na Kogia in the Lord, signifies there the marrying one who is in Christ, that is a Christian. of Christ's coming. Whatever our wounds be, if in the exercise of faith we look to him, we shall not die of them; but it is owing to our own obstinacy and impenitence if we yet perish. He might justly have appeared in a different form for the condemnation of sinners, rather than their salvation. The Son of God might have come into an apostate world armed with thunderbolts of flaming vengeance, to punish the violation of his Father's law; but his hands are filled with eternal blessings. As we love our own souls, let us apply to him in time for this salvation. Let us dread the aggravated condemnation of those who, when light is come into the world, prefer darkness to it, and obstinately shut their eyes against it, though it be the dawnings of an eternal day. May integrity and an uprightness preserve us! (Psal. xxv. 21.) And, conscious of a real desire to govern ourselves according to the light we have, may we cheerfully lay ourselves in the way of more; that in the last awful day, when the sentence of Divine wrath shall be executed on all the servants of sin, and their character shall stand disclosed in the most odious colours, ours may shine out beautiful and fair, and the good deeds that we have done, being now wrought in God, may then not only be accepted and applauded, but through the grace of the Redeemer abundantly rewarded by him! John the Baptist's last testimony to Christ on occasion of a dispute concerning his baptism, and that administered by our Lord's disciples. John III. 22, to the end. JOHN III. 22. A F T E R these things, came Jesus and his disciples into the land of Judea, and there he tarried with them, and baptized. A F T E R these things, Jesus and his disciples came from Jerusalem, where they had kept the passover together, into a part of the land of Judea, at some distance from the capital city; and there he continued with them, and by their ministry, though not in his own person, baptized. (See John iv. 2.) And John also was baptizing in E-non, near to Salim, because there was much water there: And John was also at that time baptizing at Enon, which was a place near Salim, a town on the west side of Jordan; and he particularly chose that place because there was a great quantity of water there, which made it very con- a At Enon, because there was a great quantity of water there.] It is exceeding difficult to determine the true situation of this place, about which geographical writers John's disciples tell him that Jesus also bapt venient for his purpose: and they came from all parts, and were baptized by him. For the reader will observe that John the Baptist was not yet thrown into prison; as he was a few months after, by the injustice of Herod, in whose territories that place lay. And there was about this time a warm dispute [between some] of the disciples of John and a [certain] Jew, who had been baptized by Christ, about this right of purifying, or baptism, which was administered in different parts by these two Divine teachers; for notwithstanding their commissions and administrations were so harmonious, yet some, through ignorance and weakness, were ready to oppose them to each other. And such was the concern of John's disciples upon this occasion, that they came to John, and said unto him, Rabbi, we are solicitous for thy honour in the present conjuncture of affairs: for he that was lately with thee on the other side Jordan, and to whom thou gavest such an honourable testimony there, behold, he now baptizeth, and people from all parts, yea even such as have before received thy baptism, come unto him; which, as we fear, may cause thy baptism to be neglected, and tend to the injury of thy character, since some are already making very invidious comparisons between him and thee. But John replied to his disciples, with an humility and integrity agreeable to the rest of his are not at all agreed. We may conclude however from ver. 26, that it was on the west side of Jordan, as Bethabara, where John had baptized before, was on the other side. But nothing surely can be more evident than that σοκκια υδίω, many waters, signifies a large quantity of water, it being sometimes used for the Euphrates, Jer. li. 13. Septuag. To which I suppose there may also be an allusion, Rev. xvii. 1. Compare Ezek. xliii. 2; and Rev. i. 15; xiv. 2; xix. 6; where the voice of many waters does plainly signify the roaring of a high sea. b John was not yet thrown into prison.] I think it probable from hence, as well as from tradition, and many other passages in this gospel itself, that St. John wrote it as a supplement to the rest. For he speaks of the Baptist's imprisonment as a thing gen- erally known, and yet says nothing of his martyrdom, though he had given so large an account of his ministry. We cannot suppose he would have omitted so material a fact, had he not known that the other evangelists had recorded it at large; as will be seen in the next section, and in sect. lxxvii. c A certain Jew.] The many copies which read it thus, as well as the authority of the Syriac version, and the citations of some of the fathers, determine me to prefer this reading, which I think gives rather an easier sense: as a single Jew might most properly be opposed to John's disciples, who were Jews themselves; and as a considerable part of the nation had entered themselves into that number, at least so far as receiving his baptism was a token of it. and he again acknowledges his superior dignity. character, and said, in order to convince them, farther of the superior honours due to the blessed Jesus, Do not give way to such vain partiality and fondness for me: for a man can indeed receive, and therefore ought to assume, nothing to himself unless it be given him from heaven; but we are just what God is pleased to make us, and must stand in that rank which his infinite wisdom has seen fit to assign us. Nor have you any reason to be surprised at the report you bring me, or to imagine I shall regard it as a matter of complaint: for you yourselves, in what you now have said, bear witness to me, and cannot but remember that, even from the very first of my appearance, I expressly said, and was on all occasions ready to repeat it, that I am not the Christ; but that I am sent as a harbinger before him; and therefore am so far from being in any opposite and separate interest, that his success is my greatest joy. It is the bridegroom only that hath the bride; and it is his peculiar right to enjoy her as his own: but as for the intimate friend of the bridegroom, who standeth near him, and heareth him express his delight and complacency in her, he is so far from envying and repining at it that, if he really deserves the name of a friend, he rather rejoices with exceeding great joy on account of the bridegroom's voice. Such therefore is the friendship and the high regard I have for Jesus, that this that you have told me is my joy; which is so far from being at all impaired, that it is heightened and completed on this happy occasion, which you should rather have been ready to congratulate than to have made it matter of complaint. d You yourselves bear witness to me: αὕσι μοινοπαις μοινοπαις. ] There seems to be an intimation in those words, that what they themselves had just been saying was a sufficient proof of what the Baptist was going to declare; for they had described Jesus by the character of him to whom John had borne witness. e Heareth him express his delight and complacency in her. ] Some have supposed that this alludes to a peculiar ceremony attending the marriages among the Jews; which the reader may find in Dr. Hammond in loc. and Selden. Uxor. Heb. lib. ii. cap. 16. But perhaps it may be a more general reference to any of the natural expressions of joy on such an occasion. I pretend not to determine how far Bishop Patrick may be right, in supposing "that this is an allusion to the cabalistic doctrine, that Tipheret, the Great Adam, or the Messiah, is married to Malcuth, the congregation of Israel, as the terrestrial Adam was to Eve." See his Preface to Canticles. § 4. He testifies his joy in Christ's success the Spirit given not by measure to him. furnished to fulfil his ancient promises to his people. For he whom God hath sent into the world as the promised Messiah, speaking the words of God, and all that he reveals should be regarded as Divine oracles: for God giveth not the powers and the inspiration of his Spirit [to him] by measure, under such limitations and with such interruptions as he gives it to his other messengers; but it dwells in him by a constant presence, and operates by a perpetual energy. For the Almighty Father loveth the Son incomparably beyond the most faithful of his servants; and hath not only established him as the great Teacher of his church, but hath given the government of all things into his hand, that he may be regarded as the universal Lord. So that instead of repining at his growing glories, you should rather be solicitous to secure an interest in his favour: for this is the substance, and this the end of my whole testimony, that he who believeth on the Son, hath a sure title to eternal life, and hath already the beginnings of it wrought in his soul; but he that is disobedient to the Son, and obstinately persists in his unbelief and impenitence, shall not see and enjoy that life; but, on the contrary, is so far from it, that the wrath of God, and the unpardoned aggravated guilt of all his sins, abideth even now upon him, and will quickly sink him into final condemnation and ruin. Thus did that holy man John the Baptist conclude those testimonies to Christ which are recorded in the gospel, and was quickly after Under such limitations and with such interruptions as he gives it to his other messengers.] With what limitations and interruptions the extraordinary gifts of the Spirit were given, even to the greatest of the children of men, we shall have repeated occasion to observe in the process of this work. This is the substance, and this the end of my whole testimony.] Erasmus here destroys (as he had done before at ver. 16) the beauty of this discourse by supposing that the latter part of it is to be considered as the reflection and attestation of the evangelist, upon occasion of the testimony that was given by the Baptist; though he seems himself at a loss to fix the clause at this supposed change of the person speaking begins. He that is disobedient to the Son.] I think it is of great importance to preserve a difference in the translation, correspondent to that in the original, between ο στίχων εις των υἱο, and ο στίβων των υἱο; and because the latter phrase explains the former, and shews that the faith to which the promise of life is annexed is an effectual principle of sincere and unreserved obedience; and it is impossible to make one part of scripture consistent with another, unless this be taken into our idea of saving faith; as I have shewn at large in the first of my Sermons on Salvation by Grace through faith. Reflections on the Baptist's joy in Christ's success. SEC. imprisoned by Herod the tetrarch; as the xxvii course of this history will presently shew. IMPROVEMENT. Verse 26 It is indeed too true that the spirit which naturally dwelleth in us all lusteth to envy. (Jam. iv. 5.) and it is far from being a low attainment in religion to look with complacency and thankfulness on the superior abilities and acceptance of others, especially of those who once appeared in an inferior rank. But for the cure of this unreasonable and restless passion, so contrary to the true spirit of the gospel, let us remember that a man can receive nothing at all except it be given him from heaven. It is God that makes one man to differ from another; and surely nothing can be more unreasonable than that, when we ourselves have received all from his bounty, our eye should be evil because he is good. (Mat. xx. 15.) 29 If we are indeed the friends of Christ we shall rejoice to see his interest advance, and especially to see souls espoused to him as the great Bridegroom of the church, whoever are the instruments of promoting so happy a work. Would to God that in this sense all the Lord's people were even as the greatest of the prophets, or as the very chief of the apostles! (Numb. xi. 29.) 30 But if indeed they were so, yet, like those brightest luminaries of the church, they must in time have their change and their wane. If God does not darken their glories by a sudden eclipse, yet they who are now, like the Baptists, burning and shining lights, must like him gradually decrease, while others are increasing about them; as they, in their turns, grew up amidst the decays of the former generation. Let us know how to set as well as to rise; and let it comfort our declining days to trace in those that are like to succeed us in our work, the openings of yet greater usefulness. So shall we grow in our meenness for that world, where all the righteous shall shine forth together, as the sun, in the kingdom of their Father, in a bright resemblance of him with whom there is no variableness nor shadow of turning. 33 As the surest means of guiding us to that happy world, let us make it our great care, by receiving the testimony of Christ, to set our seal to the truth of God, engaged in his cause. With how much pleasure should we do it, and with what joy should we reflect that the Father so loveth the Son that he has not only given him the rich and unmeasurable communications of the Spirit, but has committed also into his hand the reins of government! Let his faithful servants remember it with joy, and cheerfully commit their concerns to him who is made head over all things for the benefit of his church. (Eph. i. 22.) And to conclude; let it engage us to see to the sincerity of our John had reproved Herod for his marriage. faith in him, and subjection to him; since it is not a light matter, but our life, even the very life of our souls. May God awaken those on whom his wrath now abideth to a sense of their danger; and may he strengthen in each of our souls that faith which is the pledge of a happy immortality! Parallels: Galatians 49 Judea to Galilee meets with a woman of Samaria, to a conference with her, in which he discovers as the Messiah. John IV. 1—26. JOHN IV. 1. THE testimony which the Baptist had given to Christ, together with the miracles he himself had wrought at Jerusalem during the passover (see John ii. 23; and iii. 2,) impressed the minds of the people to such a degree, that, during his long abode in those parts, vast numbers were continually flocking around him; which gave great umbrage to the Jewish rulers. When therefore the Lord knew that the Pharisees, whose interest in the sanhedrim was so considerable, had heard with great concern what began to be so much talked of abroad, that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John the Baptist himself had done; (Though indeed Jesus himself, for wise reasons, did not chuse to baptize any with his own hands, but left some of his disciples to do it in the name of a Messiah shortly to be manifested;) In order to avoid both their envy and their curiosity, he left Judea, after having continued there about eight months, and de- an John the Baptist am not certain whether John's imprisonment I had been sure it could still have thought account of that event (the preceding section) last testimony, though not possibly intervene: most probable) Mat. 14, (sect. xxxi. init.) they both in plain after John's imprisonment saying it is aston- of Mr. Whiston's should place all these tism and temptation of uments to confirm his more specious than they for solve or balance the making John declare at he saw the Spirit des- ce a year before it did enious writer has for- ar as to represent the adictory view; (see Whiston's Harmony, p. 135—139, and compared with p. 242.) The interpr given above of Mat. iii. 14; and Lu 21. (p. 113, 114) may solve some chief arguments on which he built singular hypothesis. b Jesus himself did not chuse to any with his own hands.] This mi partly to avoid importunate inquiries er he was the Messiah, and partly vent those prejudices which migh arisen against the more perfect f baptism afterwards instituted, if ar received this less perfect baptism Christ himself. c After having continued there eight months.] This appears from v for harvest began quickly after the pa Lev. xxiii. 10, 15. Christ therefore in Judea from one passover till withi months of the other; that is near months; so that this journey into must be made near the middle of probably about the beginning of o cember. See Sir Isaac Newton on Pr p. 147, 148. Jesus discourses with a woman of Samaria. parted again into Galilee, his former abode, and departed again XXIX. where the influence and power of the council into Galilee. were not so great. Now, unless he would have taken such a circuit through Judea and the neighbouring parts as in his present circumstances was very inconvenient, he was obliged to go through the country of Samaria. He cometh therefore, in his way, to a city of Samaria, originally called Sichem, but now, especially by the Jews, Sichar; which name they used as a term of reproach, intimating thereby that it was the seat of drunkards (see Isa. xxviii. 1,) and it was near that piece of ground which Jacob (having purchased it of the children of Hamor, Gen. xxxiii. 19) by a particular grant gave to Joseph his beloved Son; (compare Gen. xlviii. 22; and Josh. xxiv. 32.) And there was a well belonging to it, called Jacob's well; it having been used by him and his family while they dwelt in these parts; (see Gen. xxxiii. 18; xxxv. 4.) Now Jesus being wearied with his journey, sat down immediately by the side of the well; [and] it was then about the sixth hour, or just high noon; so that the heat joined with the fatigue of the journey to increase both his thirst and faintness. And at this very juncture of time there comes a certain woman of Samaria to draw water: and Jesus (on purpose to introduce a discourse by which he graciously intended her conversion and salvation) says unto her, I desire you would give me [some water] to drink. For his disciples were not near to assist him, but were gone to the neighbouring city to buy food. Then says the woman of Samaria to him, How is it that thou who art, as appears by thy habit and dialect, a Jew, askest drink of me, who d A term of reproach.] It is remarkable, as Mr. L'Enfant observes, that Sichar in the Syriac language signifies a drunkard and a liar. e Sate down immediately.] Ἐκπαιξίω ἦν, that is, weary as he was, says Dr. Whitby. I think Mr. Blackwall has not sufficiently proved that the sometimes signifies therefore, or for this cause, though he has attempted it in his Sacred Classics, vol I. p. 143, 144. The particle seems to have much the sense I have here given it, Acts xx. 11, and may often be rendered accordingly, upon that, or after which; see Acts vii. 8; xvii. 33; xxvii. 44; and John viii. 59. Compare Elsner. Observ. Vol. I. p. 403. f The heat joined with the fatigue, &c.] It is well known that in the latitude in which Jerusalem lies, the weather sometimes in December is exceeding hot at noon, even on days when the cold has been very severe in the morning. Having asked or drink, he offers her living water. am a woman of Samaria? for the reader must observe that the Jews have no friendly intercourse with the Samaritans, nor so much as care to receive any favour from them, looking upon them as an impure and accursed nation. Jesus, to convince her that he was not under the power of such common prejudices, and to awaken her farther inquiries, answered and said unto her, If thou hadst known the great gift of God which he is now bestowing upon the children of men by his Son, and who it is that says unto thee, Give me to drink, thou wouldest not only have complied with his request, but wouldest ere this time surely have asked him, and he, without objecting to thee on account of the people to whom thou belongest, would readily have given thee living water, far better than what thou art now drawing. By which our Lord intimated his ability and readiness to communicate those influences of God's Holy Spirit which afford the noblest refreshment to the soul, and therefore are often described by water. But the woman, who understood him only in a common sense, of fresh spring water, says to g The Jews have no friendly intercourse with the Samaritans.] This must be the import of συγκροταί here; for it is evident from ver. 8 that the Jews had some dealings with them. It has been frequently observed that many causes concurred to occasion this inveterate hatred of the Jews to the Samaritans; such as not only their foreign extract, and the early mixture of superstition and idolatry in their religion (2 Kings xvii. 24—33—41,) but also the injurious manner in which they treated the Jews after their return from the captivity (Ezra iv. 1—6; Neh. vi. 1—14) and especially their building a temple on mount Gerizim, which they made the center of their worship in opposition to that at Jerusalem; Joseph. Antiq. lib. xi. cap. 8. And perhaps nothing contributed more to expose them to the contempt and abhorrence of the Jews than that infamous offer they made to Antiochus of dedicating that temple to Jupiter, and admitting the rites of his idolatrous worship, at a time when the Jews were suffering the utmost extremities in defence of their religion; see Joseph. Antiq. lib. xii. cap. 5. (al. 7.) § 5. Havercam. The reader may find several passages in Whitby and Lightfoot's Har. Heb. in loc. that express the mutual aversion of the two nations to each other. h Thou wouldest surely have asked him.] This seems exactly to express the force of the phrase, συγκροταί αυθεν. i He would have given thee living water.] It is certain that the phrase living water does in many good authors signify spring water, or running water, in opposition to that which stagnates and so quickly grows not only flat, or, as we commonly express it, dead, but at length corrupt; (see Elen. in loc. and compare Gen. xxvi. 19; Lev. xiv. 6; Jer. ii. 13.) Yet, as our Lord elsewhere in a remarkable passage recorded by this evangelist (John vi. 51,) calls himself Living Bread, because by feeding upon him life is to be obtained, it seemed convenient literally to adhere to the original in this version; though I own it is very probable this woman understood our Lord of some fine spring water which flowed so easily as not to need the pains of drawing, and was, on this account at least, preferable to that of Jacob's well. And our Lord's reply, ver. 13, 14, shews that the simile would hold in that respect He acquaints her with the excellency o him with greater respect than before (as being struck both with the piety and kindness of his former reply,) Sir, thou hast no bucket, nor any thing else to draw with, and the well before thee, which is the only spring hereabouts, is very deep; whence hast thou then this living water of which thou speakest? or what is the extraordinary supply which thou declarest may be had from thee? Art thou greater and wiser than our father Jacob who gave us this well, leaving it to his descendants as a legacy of importance; and while he lived he drank of it himself, with his children and his cattle, as the best water in these parts? Jesus answered and said unto her, Whoever drinketh of this water, how much soever it may be esteemed, though it refresh the body for a little while, will quickly thirst again: But he that drinketh of the water which I shall give him, will find it so reviving to the soul that he will never thirst, or be in danger any more of perishing for want; but the water which I shall give him will be a never failing source for his supply, and will be in him as a fountain of water that will continually be springing up and flowing on to everlasting life: for that which I shall communicate to him will bring him to everlasting composure and satisfaction of mind now, and will be the earnest and principle of eternal happiness. The woman, still ignorant of his spiritual meaning, and understanding him only of natural water, says unto him, Sir, I claim thy promise, and desire thou wouldest give me this extraordinary water, that I may not thirst any more, Thou hast no bucket.] This, as it is the most material instrument for drawing water, answers the Greek αἴλημα better than any single English word I recollect. And we find afterwards, upon the woman's returning in haste to the city, that she left her water pot or pail behind her, ver. 28, which was the vessel she had brought to draw with. Mr. Maundrell tells us that he well now shewn as Jacob's is thirty five yards deep: Maund. Journey to Jesus. p. 63. Will never thirst] Some would render μν δίμησι εις τεν αἴανα, shall not thirst for ever: but not to urge how much this spoils the antithesis, the expression used John vi. 35, μν δίμησι ποιητές, is not liable to any such ambiguity. The force and truth of our Lord's assertion seems to lie in this, that the most impatient and restless desires of the soul being satisfied, when it is fixed on God as its supreme happiness, other thirst was not worth being mentioned; see John viii. 51, 52. sect. 105: John xi. 26. sect. 140: with the notes on those places; and John xiii. 10. sect. clxix. He convinces her of his being a prophet. either come hither nor have the trouble to come hither daily to sECT xix. draw. draw it, as I now do. Jesus perceiving her ignorance, and willing to discover himself to her in a manner that I might more immediately touch her conscience, says unto her, Go home, and call thy husband to me, and then come hither again. The woman, sensible of the way in which she lived, and thinking to conceal her shame, answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus says to her, Thou hast answered well, in that thou hast said, I have no husband: For I know that thou hast had ive husbands, and that he whom thou hast now with thee, as thou hast never been lawfully married to him, is not thy husband: in this respect thou hast spoken truly and properly. The woman, surprised at such an extraordinary instance of his knowledge, (yet desirous at the same time to turn off the discourse from a subject so much to her confusion,) says to him, Sir, I perceive, by thy discovering the circumstances of my life so truly, though I am a perfect stranger to thee, that thou art a prophet; and therefore I would gladly take this opportunity of being informed concerning that great question which divides the Jewish and Samaritan nations. It is well known from the Mosaic writings that our fathers worshipped on this mountain, m Is not thy husband.] This can imply no less than that she was not married to the man she lived with now at all: for Christ seems to allow the other free to have been husbands, though her separation from some of the former, and her marriage with the rest, had been unlawful; which quite overthrows that argument which Jerom would draw from hence against the lawfulness of marrying more than once. See Heinsius in loc. n That great question which divides the Jewish and Samaritan nations.] It is well known, and necessary to be recollected here, that Sanballat, by the permission of Alexander the Great, had built a temple upon mount Gerizim for Manasseh his son in law, who, for marrying Sanballat's daughter, was expelled from the priesthood, and from Jerusalem; (see Neh. xiii. 28; and Joseph. Antiq. lib. xi. cap. 8.) This was the place where the Samaritans used to worship in opposition to Jerusalem; and it was so near Sichem, the scene of this story, that a man's voice might be heard from the one to the other; Judg. ix. 7. o Our fathers worshipped on this mountain.] As the Samaritans pretended to deduce their genealogy from Jacob, so it is evident that this refers to Abraham and to Jacob, who erected altars in this place, (Gen. xii. 6, 7; and xxviii. 18, 20;) and possibly to the whole congregation, who were directed, when they came into the land of Canaan, to put the blessing upon mount Gerizim, Deut. xi. 29. And though Hyreanur the son of Simon, who succeeded his father as high priest and prince of the Jews, had long ago destroyed the temple which Sanballat built here, (Joseph. Antiq. lib. xiii. cap. 9. [al. 17] § 1) yet it is plain that the Samaritans still resorted thither, having no doubt, rebuilt it, though probably in meander manner. God must be worshippe in spirit and in truth . which we think a circumstance of considerable weight in our favour; whereas you Jews say that the temple at Jerusalem is the great place where we should all present our sacrifices unto God, and ought to attend upon the duties of his worship, and whither all the tribes are to resort three times a year. I would beg therefore to be informed by thee in this important case, which of the two I should believe, and which is really the place most acceptable unto God. In answer to this case of conscience, Jesus says to her, Woman, believe me, and attend to what I say, The hour is now coming when this controversy shall be entirely over, and neither on this mountain, nor at Jerusalem, shall ye worship the Father in the same manner as you now do; for God is going now to introduce such a pure and spiritual dispensation as will remove all manner of distinctions as to the place in which he would be worshipped, and supersede the ceremonies practised here or there. But as to this dispute which has so long been carried on between the Jews and you, it is apparent, on the principles of the Mosaic religion, that you Samaritans are in a gross mistake; and with respect not only to the place, but in a great measure to the object also, and the manner of your services, you worship you know not what: whereas we Jews are much better instructed in these things, and know whom, and on what authority, we worship; for truly the salvation God has promised to his people is to arise from the Jews, and the way of obtaining it is with the greatest advantage to be learnt among them. Nevertheless, as I said before, I assure you again, the hour approaches, and now is just arrived, when the true and acceptable worshippers shall worship the great Father of all, not with these external rites on which you lay so much stress, but in spirit and in truth, P Worship the Father in spirit and in truth.] Truth is elsewhere opposed to types and ceremonies, John i. 14, 17; Heb. viii. 2; ix. 24. This important sentiment, as likewise what is said in ver. 24, is well illustrated by many fine quotations from ancient writers by Grotius, in loc. And all that know anything of that learned com- mentator, know that he has a thousand rich collections of this kind which do a great honour to scripture by illustrating its superior beauties; but it would be quite foreign to the design of this work either to transcribe such collections, or to attempt any supplement to them. Jesus expressly tells her he is the Messiah. or in a more devotional and rational manner, to which these corporeal and typical ordinances must soon give way; for the Father seeketh such to worship him, as that kind of homage is most suited to his own nature, as well as peculiarly delightful and useful to the pious mind. For God is himself a pure Spirit; and therefore they that worship him, ought to worship him in spirit and in truth: and as some degree of spirituality and sincerity is necessary under every dispensation, you need not wonder if at length he set aside those external rites which were never principally regarded by him. The woman saith unto him, I know that the Messiah, who is called Christ, is coming, and will soon appear; [and] when he is actually come, he will undoubtedly teach us all these sublime truths at which you have been hinting, and whatever other things it is necessary for us to know.⁹ Upon her mentioning this, as Jesus was not apprehensive of those inconveniencies here which might have attended such an open acknowledgment among the Jews, he plainly and directly tells her in so many words, I that am now speaking to thee, am he: a declaration which, no doubt, she heard with great amazement; but before she could answer him the disciples appeared, which for the present put an end to the conference. ⁹ Teach us all things it is necessary for us to know.] This (as well as ver. 29, 42) plainly proves both that the Samaritans expected the Messiah, and that they concluded he would be a prophet. ⁹ Not apprehensive of those inconveniencies here which might have attended such an open acknowledgment among the Jews.] That Christ was very cautious of acknowledging himself to be the promised Messiah, in his conversing with the Jews, is very apparent (compare Mat. xvi. 20; Mark viii. 29, 30; Luke xxii. 67; and John x. 24;) and the reason was, that the Jews had such notions of the temporal kingdom of the Messiah, that they would have construed an open declaration of himself under that character as a claim to the throne of David; in consequence of which many would have taken up arms in the cause (John vi. 15,) and others would have accused him to the Roman governor as a rebel against Caesar (Luke xx. 20,) as they afterwards did, Luke xxiii. 2. This Mr. Locke has stated at large in his Reasonableness of Christianity, p. 59—77. Yet I think there was a nicety in Christ's conduct beyond what is there represented: for our Lord in effect declared the thing while he declined that particular title; and in a multitude of places represents himself as the Son of man, and the Son of God, which were both equivalent phrases, and generally understood by the Jews, though a Roman would not so easily have entered into the force of them. Accordingly we find this interpretation was in fact given to them, John vii. 31—41; and ix. 22. o . I. Reflections on Christ's discourse with the Samaritan. IMPROVEMENT. CONDESCENDING and compassionate Redeemer! who would XXIX. thus graciously converse with a Samaritan, with a woman of an Verse infamous reputation too, from whom, on various accounts, a 6,9 haughty Pharisee would have turned away in proud disdain! and could forget this thirst, pressing as that appetite is, that he might instruct and lead her to the waters of life! Gracious gift of God to the children of men! how noble and how lasting a delight does it administer! Let it be our language, 15 Lord, evermore give us this living water! Oh, pour out this enlivening spirit on us, which alone can allay the thirst of our 13 souls, and give us that lasting satisfaction which we in vain would seek from these broken cisterns, from these precarious 14 streams; till at length the fountain springs up in Paradise, and flows on to life everlasting! May this good spirit anticipate those immortal delights to our 23 souls by leading us into that spirituality of worship which the nature of God demands, and which the gospel dispensation is so eminently calculated to promote! Let it be inscribed on our 24 hearts that God is a Spirit; and let it teach us to worship him in spirit and in truth. Such worshippers the Father seeks; such may he ever find in us! May all intemperate zeal for matters of doubtful disputation, 20, 21 all sentiments of bigotry and severity against our brethren, be happily swallowed up in this infinitely greater concern! and while others contend about places and forms of worship, may we pour out our hearts before him, and feel the love of God and man shed abroad in them by his Spirit given unto us! (Rom. v. 5.) Christ's discourse with his disciples at Jacob's well: his visit to the Samaritans, and their regards to him. John IV. 27—42. JOHN IV. 27. THUS expressly did Jesus declare to the XXX. woman of Samaria that he was the Mes- John siah; and immediately upon this his disciples IV.27 (who, as was said before, were gone into the city to buy food) came to this well, where Jesus had appointed them to meet him; and they wondered that he was thus talking in so friendly a manner with the woman,ᵃ whom they knew to JOHN IV. 27. AND upon this came his disciples, and marvelled that he talked with ᵃ With the woman, μπε γυγκεσ.ʳ. As ment, and many others, render it with a the article is wanting, the Prussian Testa- woman; and Dr. Lightfoot, in his note on iples return, and the woman goes into the city. be one of that nation so peculiarly obnoxious to the Jews. But though it gave them some uneasiness, yet they had such a reverence for him that none of them said, What dost thou seek from this Samaritan? or why dost thou talk with her? Then the woman, seeing other company coming up to interrupt the discourse, immediately left her waterpot, or pail, behind her, as her thoughts were taken up with matters of far greater importance; and went away in haste to the neighbouring city, and says to the men of her acquaintance there, Come directly to Jacob's well, and you may there see a wonderful man, who has told me in a manner all that ever I did, even some of the most secret circumstances of my past life: is not this the expected Messiah? I assure you it seems exceeding probable to me that he is; and he himself has told me so in so many words. They therefore, struck with so great a name, in concurrence with so strange an event, went in great numbers out of the city, and came to him, who still continued where the woman left him. In the mean time the disciples entreated him to refresh himself, saying, Rabbi, eat of the provisions we have brought thee. But he, referring to the conversation he had lately had with the woman, and to the preparation making for the conversion of the Samaritans, said unto them with an air of great satisfaction, I have meat to eat that ye know not of, which gives me a much better entertainment than you can bring me. The disciples therefore, not understanding his words in that spiritual sense in which he intended them, said one to another with some sur- this place, has produced a great many unaccountable, and some of them very stupid, passages from the Talmud and other Rabbinical writers, to prove that it was reckoned scandalous for a man of distinction to talk publicly with a woman; (see Lightfoot's Hor. Hebra. in loc.) But the disciples surely knew that Jacob and Moses, and others of their greatest and holiest prophets, had done it; and some of them in circumstances remarkably resembling this in which the woman came to draw water; compare Gen. xxix. 9—12; Exod. ii. 15—17. See also 1 Sam. ix. 11—14.) It is plain the wonder here was that he talked with a Samaritan. As for the omission of the article, see note b on John i. 1. p. 24. and the end of note d in this section, on John iv. 36. b Eat of the provisions we have brought thee.] Their bringing back the provisions to him here makes it probable that he did not intend, had it not been on this occasion, to have gone into the town; and so (as was said in the paraphrase, ver. 27 ordered his disciples to meet him at this place, which was undoubtedly well known to travellers. Jesus reckons it his meat to do his Father's prise, considering where he was, Has any one been with him in our absence, and brought him any [food] to eat here? Jesus, who knew the loss they were at to understand his meaning, says, to explain it to them, My most refreshing and delightful food is to do the will of him that sent me into the world, and to finish his work as fast as possible, in the conversion of souls, and in the propagation of his kingdom; and I with pleasure can assure you that it is now going on successfully. Do not you say, that there are yet four months, and harvest cometh?ᶜ Nay but behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes even now, and survey the fields round about you; for they are already laden with a plentiful crop, and appear white unto the harvest: alluding to the disposition of the people in general, and more particularly to the multitude of Samaritans, who, struck with the report of the woman, were coming to inquire after him as the Messiah; and unto whom he pointed, and directed them to look, as being then within their view.* And he yet farther added, It is your happiness to be employed in such a work as this; for he that faithfully reaps the harvest of which I now speak, receiveth far more valuable wages than men can give, and has the great additional satisfaction of thinking that he gathers in the fruit unto eternal life:ᵈ so that, on this account, ᶜ There are yet four months, and harvest cometh.] Dr. Whitby and Grotius, and many others, understand this as if our Lord had said, "It is a proverbial expression, for the encouragement of husbandmen, that there are but four months between seed time and harvest." And the author of the late English translation therefore renders it (in his paraphrastic manner) You commonly say, 'T'other four months, and the harvest will come. But I cannot acquiesce in this interpretation: (1) Because none of the learned writers mentioned above, nor Dr. Lightfoot, who is large on this text, could produce any such proverb. (2) Because indeed there could be no foundation for it, since the distance between seed time and harvest must differ according to the different kinds of grain in question. And (3) Because if there had been such a proverb, it would have been improper to apply it here; since our Lord was not speaking of the period of time between the prophets sowing and the apostles reaping (to which four months has no analogy;) but only means to tell them, that though they reckoned yet four months to the earthly harvest, the spiritual harvest was now ripe. So that I chuse, as Sir Isaac Newton does, to take the words in their plainest sense, as an intimation that it was then four months to the beginning of harvest; see noteᶜ on ver. 3. p. 167. And I take this passage to be of very great importance for settling the chronology of Christ's ministry. ᵈ Gathers in the fruit unto eternal life.] I apprehend our Lord's thought here to have been more comprehensive than commentators have been aware. He seems to compare the case of a Christian minister to that of a considerate reaper, who is supported in his fatigue, not only by a regard to his own wages, but to the advantage any of the Samaritans believe in Christ. both he that sows and he that reaps may rejoice together; and those souls to whose salvation they have in different ways contributed, will be to both a crown of honour, and objects of everlasting complacency and delight. For in this sense it may be justly said, that herein is that proverbial saying remarkably true, One soweth and another reapeth; for after he has sown his field, it often happens that a man dies before he gathers in the harvest, and so leaves it to another who enjoys the advantage of his pains. And thus it is that I have sent you forth to reap the fruit of that on which you have not laboured either to till or sow the ground; the prophets, and other holy men of former ages, having toiled as it were to cultivate the field, and thereby made your work a great deal easier than it would otherwise have been. So that the success of my preaching this day in your absence is an emblem of what God has wisely ordered in the course of his Providence: others have laboured, and you are entered into the field on which their labour has been carefully employed. Let this engage you therefore to apply yourselves in earnest to your work with a becoming spirit and a ready cheerfulness. Now when the woman had informed the people of the discourse which she had had with Jesus, many of the Samaritans from that city believed on him as some extraordinary person, by reason of that saying of the woman who testified concerning him, He told me all that ever I did. When therefore the Samaritans had heard the wonderful account the woman gave of Jesus, and were come with her to the well to see him, they were so taken with the manner of his deportment, and the strain of his discourses, that they entreated him to tarry with them for some time, as being desirous of a farther acquaintance with him, and of receiving farther benefit from his instructions: and, ready to lay which the public receives by the harvest he gathers in. This the expression of the same seems plainly to import, and so is nearly parallel to Jam. v. 20, and suggests a most forcible consideration to diligence and zeal. K. here seems to be put for the K. that is, the souls he gathers in. The field on which their labour has been employed.] This seems the signification of K. here, as Grotius well proves. Compare 2 Cor. x. 15. He tarries there two days, and many more hold of every opportunity of doing good, he went with them to their city, and continued there two days. And there were many more who in this time believed on him, on account of his own discourse, which they might also see confirmed by some extraordinary works. And they said to the woman, Now we believe, and that not merely nor yet chiefly on account of what thou hast spoken of him; for we ourselves have heard him teach, and have examined his credentials; and, by the most convincing evidence, we know that this is really the Christ, the Saviour of the world, even the expected Messiah, and are determined to regard him as such. IMPROVEMENT. Let us behold with pleasure the glorious example of our blessed Redeemer, and learn to imitate his zeal. It was his meat a drink to pursue his Father's work, to glorify God, and to do good to souls: and ought it not to be ours? Let us bless God for every opportunity of applying to it, and every field of service which Providence opens to us. Let gospel ministers especially be thankful for all that hath been done to introduce their services, not only by the ministrations of the prophets under the Old Testament, but by the apostles also under the New, and by succeeding servants of Christ in every age of the church. In this sense, with regard to us, is that proverb true, One soweth and another reapeth. We have entered into the labours of others: may others in time enter into ours! May the work be delivered over from one faithful hand to another, and be carried on by each with growing zeal and success! Blessed time, when all the workmen shall meet and join their songs; and each of the souls gathered into eternal life shall be, Continued there two days.] This was a proper medium between entirely neglecting them and giving them so much of his time and company as would have broken in upon the design of his journey into Galilee, or might have given umbrage to the Jews. Many more believed on him.] This was the more extraordinary, as they not only had a national prejudice against him as a Jew, but, living near mount Gerizim, had a particular interest in maintaining the usual worship there, which must be very advantageous to the neighbourhood. Perhaps on his account they would no longer worship here, which might irritate the rest of the Samaritans, and might in part provoke the ill usage that Christ afterwards met with in this country. Luke ix. 52, 53. The Saviour of the world.] They might probably collect from what was prophesied by Jacob of the Messiah, Gen. xlix. 10, To him shall the gathering of the people be, that the Gentile nations were to receive some benefit by the Messiah's coming, and one way or another to be subjected to him; and Christ's discourse might confirm that apprehension: but there is no reason at all to believe they perfectly understood the doctrine of the calling of the idolatrous Gentiles, which was so long a mystery even to the apostles themselves. Reflections on a zeal for doing good to souls. to all concerned in their conversion or edification, an ornament of glory and a source of pleasure! Surely, if we know Christ ourselves, we shall, like this woman of Samaria, be solicitous to communicate the knowledge to others, and shall sometimes forget our little worldly interests to attend to this vast superior care. May we believe in him, not merely on the report and testimony of others, but on our own experience; that, having tasted that the Lord is gracious, we may bear a more lively and effectual testimony to him! Let us watchfully observe the leadings of Providence, and whatever our own schemes may have been, let us still adjust our conduct by the intimations of present duty; and, especially where we have reason to believe that God is by his Spirit beginning to work on men's hearts, let us be ambitious of being workers together with him. A word spoken in such a season is remarkably good, and it is a great part of Christian and ministerial prudence to observe and improve those tender times.