29.—because thou hast seen me.] Thy faith would have been more excellent, if, without such demonstrative evidence, thou hadst believed; and such is their faith, who have believed without it. Dr. Hammond. Jesus, in whom dignity and mildness were mixed in the most accurate proportion, spares His convert the additional confusion of a reproof; but gives him instruction, suitable to the occasion, necessary for himself, and useful to all the world ever after; that no great virtue could be shown by the mere admission of evidence which could scarcely be resisted, and consequently that no great recompense could be expected for it; but that the preserving a mind, open to embrace, and careful to seek after, such lower degrees of evidence, and less obvious kinds of it as our heavenly might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name. Anno DOMINI II. # CHAP. XXI. 32. — Receive ye the Holy Ghost:] He now gave them the Spirit, though the full effusion of it was reserved for the day of Pentecost. Abp. Newcome. 33. Whose soever sins ye remit, &c.] That is, whosoever embraces your doctrine and truly repents; when ye thereupon, in My name and by My authority, remit his sins, your sentence of absolution shall be ratified and confirmed in heaven; and whosoever either obstinately rejects your doctrine, or disobeys and behaves himself unworthily under it, his sins shall not be forgiven; but the censures ye pass upon him on earth, shall be confirmed in heaven. Dr. S. Clerk. The ministerial office is of so high a nature that nothing but a Divine commission can qualify any person for the execution of it. The ministers of religion are to publish the laws of God, to pass His pardons, and to preside in His worship. God hath committed to them the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and "whose soever sins they remit, they are remitted; and whose soever sins they retain, they are retained." They are the stewards of the mysteries of God, and the dispensers of His holy word and sacraments; and on their ministration, the assistance of the Holy Spirit and all the graces of a good life depend. All these characters are ascribed to them in Scripture; and consequently do sufficiently demonstrate the dignity of their office, and are a plain argument that none but God Himself can give them their commission. Wheatley.