Bible Commentary (1871–1879 Edition) (continued)
TTie Biiptist's Teilimony In Chr!xt. JOHN I. The First GalherinQ 3/ Diitciplea, God." 3.5, 36. John stood—' was sianding,' at his nccustomed place, looiiing— ' having tixi-d his ej'es,' witli significant gaze, on Jesus, as he waiked—but not now <o him. To liave done this once (see on «. 2!l) was humility enough. [liKXOKl,. 1 IJehoid, &c.—Tlie repetition of tliat wonderful proclamation, in identical terms and witliout another word, could only liave been meant as a gentle hint to go after Him—as they did.
and trn(li," rosaming the tnreaa of v. II. grace for grace—i. e., grace upon sace (as all the best intei preters), in successive oonnniinicutlons and larger nieiisures, as eacn was able to take ii in. Observe, the word " truth"
Is here dropped. Gkack lieing t lie chosen New Testament word for the whole fulness of the new covenant, all that dwells in Christ for men. For, &c.—' The Law elicits the consciousness of sin and the need of redemption ;' it only;f7-.51. KiK.sT Gathkiiing op Dr.scri'i>K.s — JonN, Andrew, .Simon, PniIIf, NatuaN.^EI.. 38. W'liat secli je —gentle, win ni iig ([Uestion, remarkableas tlie fledcemer's typifies the reality. The (Jospel, on the contrary, actually conininnieates reality ami power from above (cf. Uonians
6.14), Hence I'aul terms the Old Testament "sliadow," while he calls the New Testament "substance," Colosfirst iHiOlic utterance. (Si-e on MattheAV 12. 1S-2(I.) Wliere dweliest thou— (7. cZ., 'That is a question we cannot answer ill a moment; hut liad we thy company for a calm hour ill private, gladly should we open our burden.' 39. Come and see—His second ulteranee, more winning still, sians 2.17. [Olshauskn.] No man—'No one,' in the widest sense. Itatli seen God—by immediate gaze, or direct iuluitiou—lu the bosom of the Father—A remarklible expression, here only used, presupposing t/u; iSoiis teiitli hour—not HI A. M. (as some), according to Uoman, but 4 P.M., according to Jewis/t reckoning, which Jolm follows. Tlie hour is mentioned tosliow wliy they stayed out the with liim—liecau.se liltle of it remained, m. One was Andrew—The other was doubtless our Evangelist himself. ' His great 'sensiliveness is loucliingly shown in his n preseutation <if this first contact with the Ioul; tho circumstances are present to him in the minutestdetails; he still remembers the very hour.' But 'he reports no particulars of those discour.ses of the Lord by which he wa.s bound to Him for the wliole of His lile; he allows everything personal to retire.' [Olshausen.J Peter's brotlu-r—and the elder of the two. 4:1. Iiave found tite Messias—The previous preparation of tlieir sim|)le liearta under tlie Baptist's ministry, made quick work of this blessed conviction, while others liesitati'd till doubt settled into obduracy. So it is still. 42. brought hiiu to Jesus Happy brothers that thus do to each other! belield lilm —'fixed "nis eyes on him,' with significant gaze (as v. 'iO). Cephas . . . stone — (See on Matthew Ifi. IS.) 43, 41, wotild go into Galilee— for from His baptism He had sojourned in Judea (showing that the calling at the Sea of Galilee (M.itt!iew 4, LS) was a subsequent one, see on Luke eoii»eiou.i erixfeitce distiiicl from the Father, and expressing His immediate mid moU endeared access to, and absolute oeguuintaiu-c with Him. He—Emphatic; q.d., 'He and He only hath declared liiin,' because He only can.
10-3(1. Thb Haiti.st's Te-stimoxy to CiiitisT. 19. record— ' testimony.' the Jews—i.e., the heads of the nation, the members of the Sanhedrim. In this peoiliar sense our Evangeti.sl seems always to use the term. 'iO. coiifesaed, <tc. q. d., ' While many were readj' to hail him as the Christ, he neither gave the slightest ground for such views, nor the least entertainment to them.' 21. Kliasi ln His<nvn proper person, that proyhet—announced in Ueutenmoinj' 18. 1.5, <tc., about whom they seem not to have been agreed whether lie were the same with the Messiah or no. ',45. Why Impttzest thon, if not, &c. Thinking he disclaimed any special connection with Messiah's ki ngdom, thoy demand his right to gatlier disciples by liaptisin. !4B. tliere standeth—This must have been spoken after the Baptism of Christ, and possibly .just after His Temptation (see on v. '29). 38. Bethabara llather ' Hethany' (with nearly all the best and most ancient MSS.); not the Bethany of Lazarus, but another of the same name, and distinguished from it tis lying " beyond .Jordan," on the east. !J9. seeth Jesus— fresh, probably, from the scene of the temptation, coming to him —as to congenial company (Acts 4. 23). and to receive from him His first greeting, and gnitli—catching a sublime Inspiration at the sight of Him approaching, tlie Lnmb of God—the one God-ordained, God-gifted sacrificial oi Fering. ti>at taitetii a»i'ay taketh up and takcth away. The word signifies both, as does the corresponding Hebrew word. Applied to sin, it means to be charrjeable rvith
5. 1). follow me—the first express call given, the former three having come to Him spontaneously, the city of Andrew and Pliilip—of their birth probably, for they seem to have lived at Caperniium (Mark 1. 29). 45. Natlianael — (See on Matthew 10. o.) Moses—(See ch. 5. 46.) son of Joseph—the current way of speaking. (.See Luke
3. 2.3.) any good out of Naxaretlk—remembering Bethlehem, perhaps, as Messiah's predicted birth-place, and Nazareth liaviiig no express prophetic place at all, besides being in no repute. The question sprang from mere dread of mistake in a matter so vital. Come and see—Noble remedy against preconceived opinions. [Bengel.] Philip, though he could not perhaps solve his difiiculty, could show him how to get rid of it. (.S.eeou ch. 6. 68.) 47, 48. en ^praeltlie gaill of it (Exodus 28. 38; Leviticus 5. 1 ; Ezekiel 18. 20), and to hear it auay (as often). In the Levitical victims both ideas met, as they do in Christ, the people's guilt being viewed as transferred to them, avenged in their death, and so Iwrne away by them (Leviticus 4. 1.5; 10. 1.5, Ite Indeed . . . no guile—not only no hypocrite, but with aguileless simplicity not always found even in God's own people, ready to follow wherever truth might lead him, saying, Samuel-like, "Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth." Whence knowest thou me—conscious that his very heart ha<l been read, and at this critical moment more than ever before. Before PlUlip called thee showing He knew all that passed between Philip and him at a distance, wlxen under the fig tree, &c. where retirement for meditation and prajer was not uncommon. [LiGHTFOOT.] Thither, probably—hearing that his tnaster's Master had at length appeared, and heaving with mingled eagerness to behold Him and dread of deception—he had retired to pour out his guileless heart for 21, 22; and cf: Isaiah .53. 6-12; 2 Corinthians .5. 21). the sin — singular number being used to mark tlie collective burden and all-embracing efficacy, of tlie world—not of Israel only, for whom the typical victims were exclusively ottered. Wherever there shall Uvea sinner throughout the wide world, sinking under that burden too heavy for him to bear, he shall find in this " Lamb of God," a slioulder equal to the weight. The right note was struck at the first— balm, doubtless, to Christ's own spirit; nor was ever after, or ever will be, a more glorious utterance. 3134. laiew him not—Living mostly apart, the one at Nazareth, the other in the Judean desert—to prevent all appearance <»f collusion, John only knew that at a definite time after his own call, his Master would show Himself. As He drew near for baptism one day, the last of all the crowd, the spirit of the Baptist heaving under a Divine presentiment that the moment had at length arrived, and an air of unwonted serenity and dignity, not wfthout liglit and guidance, ending with such a prayer as this, "Show me a token for good!" (See on Luke 2.8.) Now lie lias it, 'Thou guileless one, that fig tree scene, with all its heaving anxieties, deep pleadings and tremulous hopes—I saw it all.' The first words of Jesus had astonished, but this quite overpowered and won him. 49. Son of God . . . King of Israel—the one denoting Hi.'j peison, the other His of Hce. How much loftier this than anything Philip had said to him ! But ji-st as the earth's vital powers, the longer they are frost-bound, take the greater spring when at length set free, so souls, like traits, probably, of the family features, appearing in this Stranger, the Bpirit said to him as to Samuel of his youthful type, "Arise, anoint Him, for this Is He !" (1 Samuel l(i.
12). But the sign which he was told to expect was the visible descent of the Spirit upon Him as He emerged out of the baptismal water, r/ie/i. catching up the voice from deaveu, "he saw and bare record that this Is the Son of