92SermonsofJonathanEdwards
notwithstanding both the rest on the seventh day, and also the rest that Joshua gave the children of Israel in Canaan; yet the great rest of the Redeemer from his work, and so of his people with him and in him, yet remains, as the apostle observes, Heb. Chap. 4. This will be at the resurrection and general judgment; which Christ here teaches the Jews was to be brought to pass by the Son of God by the Father's appointment, and so the works of God to be finished by him.
And inasmuch as this vindication was so far from satisfying the Jews, that it did but further enrage them, because hereby he made himself equal with God, Christ therefore refers them to the witness of John the Baptist; whose testimony they must acquiesce in, or else be inconsistent with themselves; because they had generally acknowledged John to be a great prophet, and seemed for a while mightily affected and taken with it, that God after so long a withholding the spirit of prophecy, had raised up so great a prophet among them and it is concerning him that Christ speaks in this verse wherein is the text, "He was a burning and a shining light; and ye were willing for a season to rejoice in his light."
In order to a right understanding and improvement of the words of the text, we may observe,
1. What Christ here takes notice of in John, and declares concerning him, viz. That he was a burning and a shining light. He was a light to the church of Israel, to reveal the mind and will of God to them, after a long-continued dark season, and after they had been destitute of any prophet to instruct them for some ages. He arose on Israel, as the morning star, the forerunner of the Sun of righteousness, to introduce the day-spring, or dawning of the gospel day, to give light to them that till then had sat in the darkness of perfect night, which was the shadow of death; to give them the knowledge of salvation; as Zacharias his father declares at his circumcision. Luke 1:76-79, "And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord, to prepare his ways; to give knowledge of salvation unto his people, by the remission of their sins, through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the day-spring from on high hath visited us, to give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace."
And he was a burning light, as he was full of a spirit of fervent piety and holiness, being filled with the Holy Ghost from his mother's womb, having his heart warmed and inflamed with a great love to Christ, being that friend of the bridegroom that stood and heard him, and rejoiced greatly because of the bridegroom's voice; and was glad that Christ increased, though he decreased, John 3:29, 30. And was animated with a holy zeal in the work of the ministry: he came, in this respect, in the spirit and power of Elias. As Elias was zealous in bearing testimony against the corruption, apostasies, and idolatries of Israel in his day, so was John the Baptist in testifying against the wickedness of the Jews in his day. As Elias zealously reproved the sins of all sorts of persons in Israel, not only the sins of the common people, but of their great ones, Ahab, Ahaziah, and Jezebel, and their false prophets; with what zeal did John the Baptist reprove all sorts of persons, not only the publicans and soldiers, but the Pharisees and Sadducees, telling them plainly that they were a generation of vipers, and rebuked the wickedness of Herod in his most beloved lust, though Herod sought his life for it, as Ahab and Ahaziah did Elijah's! As Elias was much in warning the people of God's approaching judgments, denouncing God's awful wrath against Ahab, Jezebel, and Ahaziah, and the prophets of Baal, and the people in general; so was John the Baptist much in warning the people to fly from the wrath to come, telling them in the most awakening manner, that the "axe was laid at the root of the tree, and that every tree that brought not forth good fruit should be hewn down and cast into the fire; and that he that came after him had his fan in his hand, and that he would thoroughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner, and burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."
John the Baptist was not only a burning but a shining light. He was so in his doctrine, having more of the gospel in his preaching than the former prophets, or at least the gospel exhibited with greater