Christ shews the meaning ST. JOHN. of the voice from heaven. A. M. 4033. 30 Jesus answered and said, "This || shall the prince of this world be cast A. M. 4053. An. Olymp. voice came not because of me, but for out. b your sakes. C A. D. 29. An. Olymp. CCII. 1. CCII. 1. 32 And I, if I be lifted up from the 31 Now is the judgment of this world: now earth, will draw all men unto me. d 2 Cor. 4.4. Eph. 2.2.& 6.12.—— ch. 3. 14. & 8. 23.Rom. 5. 18. Hebr. 2.9. Verse 29. The people—said that it thundered: others—an || in the hand of the Most High, of the conversion and salvation angel spake to him.] Bishop Pearce says, probably there was thunder as well as a voice, as in Exod. xix. 16, 17. and some persons who were at a small distance, might hear the thunder without hearing the voice: while others heard the voice too; and these last said "an angel hath spoken to him." Wetstein supposes that the voice was in the language then in use among the Jews; which the Greeks, not understanding, took for thunder: the others, the Jews, who did understand it, said it was the voice of an angel. In Rev. vi. 1. the voice of one of the living creatures is compared to thunder; and in chap. x. 3. the voice of an angel is compared to seven thunders. The voice mentioned was probably very loud, which some heard dis- || tinctly, others indistinctly: hence the variety of opinion. Verse 30. This voice came not because of me, but for your sakes.] Probably meaning those Greeks, who had been brought to him by Philip and Andrew. The Jews had frequent opportunities of seeing his miracles, and of being convinced that he was the Messiah; but these Greeks who were to be a first fruits of the Gentiles, had never any such opportunity. For their sakes, therefore, to confirm them in the faith, this miraculous voice appears to have come from heaven. of a ruined world." But see on chap. xiv. 30. and xvi. 11. Verse 32. I-will draw all men unto me.] After I shall have died and risen again, by the preaching of my word and the influence of my Spirit, I shall attract and illuminate both Jews and Gentiles. It was one of the peculiar characteristics of the Messiah, that unto him should the gathering of the people be, Gen. xlix. 10. And probably our Lord refers to the prophecy, Isai. xi. 10. which peculiarly belonged to the Gentiles. "There shall be a root of Jesse which shall stand for an ENSIGN of the people, to it shall the GENTILES Seek, and his rest shall be glorious." There is an allusion here to the ensigns or colours of commanders of regiments, elevated on high places, on long poles, that the people might see where the pavillion of their general was, and so flock to his standard. Instead of arras, the Codex Beza, another, several Versions, and many of the Fathers read wavra, all men or all things: so the Anglo-saxon, Ic reo ealle ping to me sylpon, I will draw all things to myself. But aα may be here the accusative singular, and signify all men. The ancients fabled that Jupiter had a chain of gold, which he could at any time let down from heaven, and by it drew Verse 31. Now is the judgment of this world] The judg- the earth and all its inhabitants to himself. See a fine passage ment spoken of in this place, is applied by some to the punish-to this effect in Homer, Iliad. viii. ver. 18—97. ment which was about to fall on the Jewish people for rejecting Christ. And the ruler or prince, agxw, of this world, is understood to be Satan who had blinded the eyes of the Jews and hardened their hearts, that they might not believe on the son of God: but his kingdom, not only among the Jews but in all the world, was about to be destroyed by the abolition of idolatry and the vocation of the Gentiles. Ειδ' αγε, πειρήσασθε θεοι, ἵνα είδετε πάντες, Σειρην χρυσείην εξ ουρανόθεν κρεμάσαντες· Παντες δ' εξαπτεσθε θεοι, πασαι τε θεαιναι. "Now prove me: let ye down the golden chain From heaven, and pull at its inferior links Both goddesses and gods: but me your king, Supreme in wisdom, ye shall never draw The epithet byn sar ha-ôlam, prince of this world, is To earth from heaven, strive with me as ye may. repeatedly applied to the Devil, or to Sammael, who is termed But I, if willing to exert my power, the angel of death. The Jews fabled, that into the hands of The earth itself, itself the sea, and you this chief, God had delivered all the nations of the earth, ex- Will lift with ease together, and will wind cept the Israelites. See Lightfoot. The words are understood The chain around the spiry summit sharp by others, as addressed to these believing Grecks, and to have Of the Olympian, that all things upheav'd the following meaning which is extremely different from the Shall bang in the mid heaven. So much am I other." In a short time, (four or five days afterwards,) ye Alone, superior both to gods and men.-CowPER. shall see what sort of a judgment this world passes. I, who By this chain the poets pointed out the union between heaven am its ruler and prince, shall be cast out, shall be condemned and earth; or in other words, the government of the universe by my own creatures, as an impious and wicked person. But by the extensive chain of causes and effects. It was termed do not be discouraged: though I be lifted up on the cross, and golden, to point out not only the beneficence of the Divine Prodie like a malefactor, nevertheless I will draw all men unto my-vidence; but also that infinite philanthropy of God, by which self. The gospel of Christ crucified, shall be the grand agent || he influences, and by which he attracts all mankind to himself. The Jews cavil. Christ exhorts A. M. 4053. CCII. 1. 33 a CHAP. XII. b them to walk in the light. A. M.4053. A. D. 29. An. Olymp. CCII. 1. This he said, signifying what 35 Then Jesus said unto them, Yet An. Olymp. death he should die. a little while is the light with you. Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you: for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he go 34 The people answered him, We have heard out of the law, that Christ abideth for ever: and how sayest thou, The Son of man must be lifted up? who is this Son of man? eth. Ch. 18. 32. Ps. 89. 36, 37. & 110. 4. Isai. 9. 7. & 53. 8. Ezek. $7. 25. Ch. 1. 9. & 8. 12. & 9. 5. It was possibly in allusion to this that our Lord spoke the above words. Should it be objected that it is inconsistent with the gravity of the subject, and the dignity of our Lord, to allude to the fable of a heathen poet, I answer: 1. The moral is excellent, and, applied to this purpose, expresses beautifully our Lord's gracious design in dying for the world, viz. That men might be united to himself, and drawn up into heaven. 2. It is no more inconsistent with the gravity of the subject and his dignity for our blessed Lord to allude to Homer, than it was for St. Paul to quote Aratus and Cleanthes, Acts xvii. 28. and Epimenides, Tit. i. 12. for he spoke by the same spirit. ver. 46. Jer. 13. 16. Eph. 5. 8.- -ech. 11. 10. 1 John 2. 11. by the name, The Law, in opposition to the words or sayings of the Scribes. See on chap. x. 34. That Christ abideth for ever] There was no part of the law nor of the scripture that said, the Messiah should not die; but there are several passages that say as expressly as they can, that Christ must die, and die for the sin of the world. too. See especially Isai. liii. 1, &c. Dan. ix. 24, 27. But as there were several passages that spoke of the perpetuity of his reign, as Isai. ix. 7. Ezek. xxxvii. 25. Dan. vii. 14. they probably confounded the one with the other, and thus drew the conclusion, The Messiah cannot die; for the scripture hath said, his throne, kingdom, and reign shall be eternal. The prophets, as well as the evangelists and apostles, speak sometimes of the divine, sometimes of the human nature of Christ: when they speak of the former, they shew forth its glory, excellence, omnipotence, omniscience, and eternity; when they speak of the latter, they shew forth its humiliations, afflictions, sufferings, and death. And those who do not make the proper distinction between the two natures of Christ, the human and the divine, will ever make blunders as well as the Jews. It is only on the ground of two natures in Christ, that the scriptures which speak of him, either in the Old or New Testament, can be possibly understood. No position in the gospel is plainer than this, God was manifest in the flesh. As sometimes justice was represented under the emblem of a golden chain, and in some cases such a chain was constructed, one end attached to the emperor's apartment, and the other hanging within reach; that if any person were oppressed he might come and lay hold on the chain, and by shaking it give the king notice that he was oppressed; and thus claimed protection from the fountain of justice and power. In the Jehangeer Nameh, a curious account of this kind is given, which is as follows. The first order which Jehangeer issued on his accession to the throne (which was A. H. 1014. answering to A. D. 1605.) was for the construction of the GOLDEN CHAIN of Justice. It was made of pure gold, and measured thirty yards in length, consisting of sixty links, and weighing in the whole, four Hindostany maunds (about four hundred pounds avoirdupois). One end Verse 35. Yet a little while is the light with you] In anof the chain was suspended from the royal bastion of the swer to their objection, our Lord compares himself to a light, fortress of Agra, and the other fastened in the ground near which was about to disappear for a short time, and afterthe side of the river. The intention of this was, that if the wards to shine forth with more abundant lustre; but not to officers of the courts of law were partial in their decisions, their comfort, if they continued to reject its present beamor dilatory in the administration of justice, the injured par-ings. He exhorts them to follow this light while it was among ties might come themselves to this chain, and making a noise them. The Christ shall abide for ever, it is true; but he by shaking the links of it, give notice that they were waiting will not always be visible. When he shall depart from you, to represent their grievances to his majesty. Hist. of Hin- ye shall be left in the thickest darkness; in impenitence and dostan, p. 96. Calcutta, 1788. Such a communication, prayer hardness of heart. Then shall ye wish to see one of the and faith establish between the most just and most merciful days of the Son of man, and shall not see it, Luke xvii. 22. God, and the wretched and oppressed children of men. "And Then shall ye seek me, but shall not find me, John vii. 34. I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto For the kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given me." O thou that hearest prayer, unto thee shall all flesh to the Gentiles, Matt. xxi. 43. If ye believe not in me now, come! Psal. lxv. 2. ye shall then wish ye had done it, when wishing shall be for ever fruitless. Verse 34. We have heard out of the law] That is, out of the sacred writings. The words here are quoted from Psal. cx. 4. but the Jews called every part of the sacred writings Instead of vμwv, with you; & vu, among you, is the reading of BDL. seventeen others: Coptic, Gothic, Slavonic, The Jews would not believe, and A. M. 4033. . CCII. 1. A. M. 4033. Cell. 1. 36 While ye have light, believe in 38 That the saying of Esaias the proAn. Olymp. the light, that ye may be the child-phet might be fulfilled, which he spake, An. Olymp. ren of light. These things spake Je-Lord, who hath believed our report? sus, and departed, and did hide himself from and to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed? b them. 39 Therefore they could not believe, because that Esaias said again, a Luke 16. 8. Eph. 5. 8. 1 Thess. 5. 5. 1 John 2. 9, 10, 11. Vulgate, Itala, Cyril, Nonnius, and Victorinus. Griesbach has received it into the text. The meaning of both is nearly the same. b Ch. 8. 59. & 11. 51. Isai. 53. 1. Rom. 10. 16. the person, office, sufferings, death, and sacrifice of the Messiah. See Isai. liii. 1, &c. The arm of the Lord] The power, strength, and miracles of Christ. Verse 39. Therefore they could not believe] Why? Because 'Lest darkness come upon you] Ye have a good part of your journey yet to go: ye cannot travel safely but in the daylight that light is almost gone-run that the darkness over-they did not believe the report, of the prophets concerning take you not, or in it ye shall stumble, fall, and perish! Christ; therefore they credited not the miracles which he Reader, is thy journey near an end? There may be but wrought as a proof that he was the person foretold by the a very little time remaining to thee-Oh run, fly to Christ, prophets, and promised to their fathers. Having thus relest the darkness of death overtake thee, before thy soul have sisted the report of the prophets, and the evidence of Christ's found redemption in his blood! own miracles; God gave them up to the darkness and hardness of their own hearts, so that they continued to reject every overture of divine mercy; and God refused to heal their national wound, but on the contrary, commissioned the Romans against them; so that their political existence was totally destroyed. Verse 36. Children of light] Let the light, the truth of Christ so dwell in and work by you, that ye may be all light in the Lord. That as truly as a child is the produce of his own parent, and partakes of his nature; so ye may be children of the light, having nothing in you but truth and righteousness. The prophecy of Isaiah was neither the cause nor the mo Did hide himself from them.] Either by rendering himself tive of their unbelief: it was a simple prediction, which iminvisible, or by suddenly mingling with the crowd, so that posed no necessity on them to resist the offers of mercy. they could not perceive him. See chap. viii. 59. Probably They might have believed, notwithstanding the prediction, it means no more than that he withdrew from them, and for such kinds of prophecies always include a tacit condition; went to Bethany as was his custom, a little before his cruci- they may believe, if they properly use the light and power fixion; and concealed himself there during the night, and which God has given them. Such prophecies also are of a 'taught publicly every day in the temple. It was in the night-general application-they will always suit somebody, for in 'season that they endeavoured to seize upon him, in the ab- every age persons will be found who resist the grace and sence of the multitude. Verse 37. Yet they believed not on him] Though the miracles were wrought for this very purpose, that they might believe in Christ, and escape the coming wrath, and every 'evidence given that Jesus was the Messiah, yet they did not believe; but they were blinded by their passions, and obstinately hardened their hearts against the truth. spirit of God like these disobedient Jews. However it appears, that this prediction belonged especially to these re||jectors and crucifiers of Christ: and if the prophecy was infallible in its execution, with respect to them, it was not because of the prediction that they continued in unbelief, but because of their own voluntary obstinacy; and God foreseeing this, foretold it by the Prophet. Should I say, that they could not believe, means, they would not believe, I should perhaps offend a generation of his children; and yet I am pretty certain, the words should be so understood: However, that I may put myself under cover from all suspicion of per Verse 38. That the saying of Esaias] Or, Thus the word of Isaiah was fulfilled. So I think we (commonly rendered that,) should be translated. For it certainly does not mean the end the Pharisees had in view by not believing; nor the end which the Prophet had in view in predicting the incre-verting the meaning of a text which seems to some, to be spoken dulity of the Jews; but simply, such a thing was spoken by the Prophet, concerning the Jews of his own time, and it had its literal fulfilment in those of our Lord's time. Our report] The testimony of the prophets, concerting in favour of that awful doctrine of unconditional reprobation; the very father of it shall interpret the text for me. Thus then saith St. AUGUSTIN. Quare autem non PÓTERANT, si a me quæratur, cito respondeo; Quid NOLEBANT: MALAM quippe eorum VOLUNTATEM prævidit Deus, & per prophetum prænunciavit. "If I be asked why they COULD not believe? I immediately answer, Because THEY WOULD NOT. And God having foreseen their BAD WILL, foretold it by the prophet." Aug. Tract. 53. in Joan. Verse 40. And I should heal them.] This verse is taken from Isai. vi. 9. and perhaps refers more to the judgments that should fall upon thein as a nation, which God was determined should not be averted; than it does to their eternal state. To suppose that the text meant that God was unwilling that they should turn unto him, lest he should be obliged to save them; is an insupportable blasphemy. Verse 41. When he saw his glory] Isai. vi. 1, &c. I saw Jehovah, said the Prophet, sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphim-and one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is Jehovah, God of hosts; the whole earth shall be full of his glory! It appears evident from this passage, that the glory which the Prophet saw, was the glory of Jehovah : John therefore, saying here, that it was the glory of Jesus, shews that he considered Jesus to be Jehovah. See Bishop Pearce. Two MSS. and a few Versions have ou, and TOU Otov avrou, the glory of God, or of his God. Verse 42. Among the chief rulers-many believed on him] We only know the names of two of them, Nicodemus, and Joseph of Arimathea. But they did not confess him] Or it: they were as yet weak in the faith, and could not bear the reproach of the cross of Christ. Besides, the principal rulers had determined to excommunicate every person who acknowledged Christ for the Messiah; see chap. ix. 22. ral advantages. 3. The fear of disgrace. 4. The love of the praise of men. Abundance of persons persuade themselves that they love God more than the world, till some trying occasion fully convinces them of their mistake. It is a very great misfortune for a person not to know himself but by his falls; but it is the greatest of all, not to rise again after he has fallen. This is generally occasioned by the love of the praise of men, because in their account it is more shameful to rise again, than it was to fall at first. Verse 44. Jesus cried and said] This is our Lord's concluding discourse to this wicked people: probably this and, the following verses should be understood as a part of the discourse, which was left off at the 36th verse. Jesus cried-he spoke these words aloud, and shewed his earnest desire for their salvation. Believeth not on me (only,) but on him that sent me.] Here he asserts again, his indivisible unity with the Father:-he who believes on the Son, believes on the Father: he who hath seen the Son, hath seen the Father: he who honours the Son, honours the Father. Though it was for asserting this, (his oneness with God,) that they were going to crucify him; yet he retracts nothing of what he had spoken, but strongly reasserts it, in the very jaws of death! Verse 46. I am come a light into the world] Probably referring to what his forerunner had said, chap, i. 5. Before the coming of this Saviour, this Sun of righteousness, into the world, all was darkness: at his rising the darkness is dispersed; but it only profits those whose eyes are open to receive the rays of this Sun of righteousness. See on chap. i. 5. iii.. 19. viii. 12. and ix. 5. Verse 47. And believe not] Kaι μn Quλažn, And keep them Verse 43. They loved the praise of men] Dotar, the glory, not, is the reading of ABL. seven others, Syriac, Wheelock's or honour that cometh from men. Persian, two of the Arabic, Coptic, Sahidic, Ethiopic, Armenian, latter Syriac, Vulgate, six of the Itala, and some of the Fathers. How common are these four obstacles of faith, says Quesnel. 1. Too great a regard to men. 2. Riches and tempo The commission of the Messiah, A. M. 4033. A.M. 4033. to judge the world, but to save the the Father which sent me, he gave An. Olymp. World. CCII. 1. a 48 He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day. b A man must hear the words of Christ, in order to believe them; and he must believe, in order to keep them: and he must keep them, in order to his salvation. I judge him not] I need not do it: the word of Moses and the Prophets, judges and condemns him. See the notes on chap. iii. 17. and v. 45. Verse 48. The word that I have spoken-shall judge him] Ye shall be judged according to my doctrine:-the maxims which ye have heard from my mouth, shall be those on which ye shall be tried in the great day: and ye shall be condemned or acquitted, according as ye have believed or obeyed them; or according as ye have despised and violated them. See this proved, Matt. xxv. 35, &c. Verse 49. For I have not spoken of myself] I have not spoken for my secular interest :-I have not aimed at making any gain of you :—I have not set up myself, as your teachers in general do; to be supported by my disciples; and to be credited on my own testimony. I have taught you, not the things of men, but the deep everlasting truths of God. As his envoy, I came to you; and his truth only, I proclaim. CCII. 1. 50 And I know that his commandment is life everlasting: whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak. a ransom for all: and whosoever believeth on thee shall not perish, but have everlasting life. Every word of Christ, properly credited, and carefully applied, leads to peace and happiness here, and to glory hereafter. What an amiable view of the gospel of the grace of God does this give us! It is a system of eternal life, divinely calculated to answer every impor tant purpose to dying, miserable man. This sacred truth Jesus witnessed with his last breath. He began his public ministry, proclaiming the kingdom of God; and he now finishes it, by asserting, that the whole commission is eternal life: and having attested this, he went out of the temple, and retired to Bethany. The public work of our Lord was now done; and the remnant of his time previously to his crucifixion, he spent in teaching his disciples--instructing them in the nature of his kingdom, his intercession, and the mission of the Holy Spirit; and in that heavenly life which all true believers live with the Father, through faith in the Son, by the operation of the Holy Ghost. Many persons are liberal in their condemnation of the Jews, because they did not believe on the Son of God: and doubtless their unbelief has merited and received the most signal punishment. But those who condemn them, do not reflect that they are probably committing the same sort of transgression in circumstances which heighten the iniquity of their sin. Will it avail any man that he has believed that Christ has come in flesh to destroy the works of the devil, who does not come unto him that he may have life, but continues to live under the power and guilt of sin? Paradoxical as it may seem, it is Verse 50. I know that his commandment is life everlasting] nevertheless possible, for a man to credit the four evangelists, These words of our Lord are similar to that saying in St. and yet live and die an infidel, as far as his own salvation is John's first epistle, chap. v. 11, 12. This is the record, that concerned. Reader, it is possible to hold the truth in unGod hath given unto us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. | righteousness:-Pray to God that this may not be thy conHe that hath the Son, hath life. God's commandment or com- demnation. For a farther improvement of the principal submission is, Preach salvation to a lost world, and give thyself ||jects of this chapter, see the notes on verses 24, 32 and 39. Gave me a commandment] Or, commission. So I understand the original word Toλn. Christ, as the Messiah, received his commission from God: what he should command, every thing that related to the formation and establishment of the Christian institution: and what he should speak, all his private conversations with his disciples or others, he, as man, cominanded and spoke through the constant inspiration of the Holy Spirit. CHAPTER XIII. Christ washes the feet of his disciples, and gives them instructions concerning humility and charity, 1-17. He tells them, that one of themselves would betray him, 18-20. The disciples doubting of whom he spoke, Peter desires John to ask him, 21-25. Jesus shews that it is Judas Iscariot, 26. Satan enters into Judas, and he rises up and leaves the company, 27-30. Christ shews his approaching death, and commands his disciples to love one another, 31-35. Peter professing strong attachment to Christ, is informed of his denial, 36-38. |