Bible Commentary (1871–1879 Edition) (continued)
Petet'i Denial of Christ Predicted. JOHN XIV. Christ Com/orteth His Disciples.
only employed by Paul (Galatians 4. 19), Is appropriated by the beloved disciple himself, who no fewer than sevu times employs it in his first Epistle, ye shall seek me eauoe of the dish; one of the ancient ways of testifying peculiar rcjard; of. v. IS, "lie that eatelh bread with me." And when lie Jia«l dippecl, he gave it to Judas, &c. Thus tlio siti of .ludas' treachery was an affecting expresfeel the want of Me. as I said to the Jews—ch. 7. ;il; 8,
21. But, oh in what a different sense ! a new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another ; as 1 have loved you, that ye also love one anotlier, iSic. This was the new feature of it. Christ's love to His peopla in giving His life a ransom for them was altogether new, and consequently as a Model and Standard for theirs to one another. It is not, however, something transcending the great moral law, which is "the old commandment" sion, and tlie last, of tlie Saviour's wounded love ! 27-
30. after tlie sop Satan entered Into lilm— V'ei y solemn are these brief hints of the successive steps by which Judas re.ached the climax of his guilt. "The devil had already put it into his heart to betray his Lord." Yet wno can tell what struggles he went through ere he brought himself to carry that suggestion into effect? Even after this, however, his compunctious were not at an end. "With the thirty pieces of silver already in his pos-
(1 John 2. 7, and see on Mark 12. 28-3.'?), but that law in a new and peculiar form. Hence it is said to be both neiv and session, he seems still to liave quailed—and can we wonder? When Jesus stooped to wash his feet, it may be the old (1 John 2. 7, 8). by this shall all men knowtliat ye are my disciples—the disciples of Him who laid down His life for those He loved, if ye have love one to anotlier, &c.—for My sake, and as one in Me; for to such love men outside the circle of believers know right well they are entire strangers. Alas, how little of it there is evenwithinthiscircle! 36-38. Peter said—seeing plainly in these directions how to behave themselves, that He was indeed going from them, tord, wlilther goest thou T having hardly a glimmer of tlie real truth. Jesus answered, Tliou canst not follow me now, but thoii shalt follow me afterwards—How different from what He said to the Jews : "Whither I go j/e cannot come." (Ch. 8.
last struggle was reaching its crisis. But that word of the Psalm, about "one that ate of his bread who would lift DP his heel against Him," probably all but turned the dread scale, and the still more explicit announcement, that one of those sitting with Him at tlie table should betray Him, would beget the thought, 'I am detected; it
Is now too late to draw back.' At that moment the sop
Is given ; offer of friendship is once more made—and how affectingly ! But already " Satan has entered into him," and though the Saviour's act might seem enough to recall him even yet, hell is now in his bosom, and he says within himself, 'The die is cast; now let me go througli with it;
21.) Why not now! I will lay do-»vn my life for your sake—He seems now to see that it was death Christ referred to as what would sever Him from them, but is not staggered at following Him thither. Jesus answered, ' Wilt thou lay down thy life for my sake T—In this repetition of Peter's words there is deep though affectionate irony, and this Peter himself would feel for many a day after his recovery, as he retrace<l the painful parfear, begone!' (See on Matthew 12. iS-lo.) Then said Jesus nnto lilm, That thou docst, do quickly—7. d., 'Why linger here?' Thy presence is a restraint, and thy work stands still; thou hast the wages of iniquity, go work for it!' no man knew for what intent he spake this unto him . . . some t houglit Jesus said, Buy what we need . . . or, give to tlie poor—.a very important statement, as showing how carefully Jesus had kept the secret, and Judas his hypocrisy, to the last. He then, having received the sop, went immediately out—severing himself /or ever from that lioly society with which he never had any spiritual sympathy, and it wasniglit ticulars. Verily . . . The cock, &c.—See on Luke 22. 31-31.
CHAPTER XIV.
Ver. 1-31. Discourse at the Table, after Supper.— 'We now come to that portion of the evangelical history which we may with propriety call its Holy of Holies. Our Evangelist, like a consecrated priest, alone opens up to us the view into this sanctuary. It is the record of the last moments spent by the Lord in the midst of His disciples before His passion, when words full of heavenly thought flowed from His sacred lips. All that His lieart, glowing, with love, had still to say to His friends, was compressed, into this short season. At first (from ch. 1.3. 31) the intercourse took the form of conversation; sitting at table, they talked familiarly together. But when (U. 31) the repast was finished, the language of Christ assumed aloftier strain; the disciples, assembled around their' Master, listened to the words of life, and seldom spoke a. word (only ch. 16. 17, 29). At length, in the Redeemer'ssublime intercessory prayer. His full soul was jjoured' forth In express petitions to His heavenly Father on uehalf of those who were His own. It is a peculiarity ofthese last chapters, that they treat almost exclusively of', the most profound relations—as that of the Sou to tna Father, and of both to the Spirit, that of Christ to tha Church, of the Church to the world, and .so forth. Moreover, a considerable portion of these sublime communications surpassed the point of view to wliich the disciples had at that time attained ; hence the Redeemer frequently repeats the same sentiments in order to impress them, more deeply upon their minds, and, because of what they b\it far blacker night in the soul of Judas than in the sky over his head.
31-38. Discourse after the Traitor's DeparturePeter's Self-Confidence—His Fali, Predicted. 31. When lie was gone out, Jesus said, Now is the Son of man glorified-These remarkable words plainly imply that up to this moment our Lord had spoken under a painful restraint, the presence of a traitor within the littlecircle of His holiest fellowship on earth preventing the free and full outpouring of His heart; as is evident, indeed, from those oft-recurring clauses, "Ye are not all clean," " I speak not of you all," &C. " Now" the restraint is removed, and the emliankment which kept in the mighty volume of living waters having broken down, they burst forth in a torrent which only ceases on His leaving the supper-room and entering on the next stage of His great work—the scene in the Garden. But with what words Is the silence first broken on the departure of Judas? By no reflections on the traitor, and, what is still more wonderful, by no reference to the dread character of His own approaching sufferings. He does not even Qame them, save by announcing, as with a burst of triumph, that the hour of His glory has arrived ! And what is very remarkable, in live brief clauses He repeats this word "g\or\{y" five times, as if to His view a coruscation oC glories played at that moment about the Cross. (See on oh. 12. 23.) God is glorified in him—the glory of Each reaching Its zenith in the Death of the Cross ! If God be glorified in Mlm, God shall also—in return and reward still did not understand, points them to the Iloly Sjilrit, who would remind them of all His sayings, and lead them into all truth (14. 2ti).' [Olshausen.] 1. Let not your heart be troubled, &c.—What myriads of souls have not these opening words cheered, in deepest gloom, since first they were uttered ! ye believe iu Qwl—absolutely, believe also in me—</. d.,
01 this highest of all services ever rendered to Him, or capable of being rendered—glorify him In Himself, and straightway glorify Him—referring now to the Resurrection and Exaltation of Christ after this service was over, including all the honour and glory then put upon Him, and that will for ever encircle Him a.s Head of the new creation. 33-35. IJttle children—From the height Of His own glory He now descends, with swot1 pity, to His "little children," all now His own. This term of endearment, nowhere else used In the Gospels, and once 57
' Have the same trust iu Me.' What less, and what else, can these words mean t And if so, what a demand to make by one sittijig familiarly with them at the supper-table 1 Cf. the saying, ch. 5.
17, for which the Jews took up stones to stone Him, as 155 flhrist the Way, the Truth, and the Life. JOHN XFV. He AJirms His Unity with the Father,
"making himself equal with God" (i'. 18). Bnt it is no more efflcacious and blissful than Ilis I)odily presence had been before the Spirit's corning. l>ecause 1 live — not 'shall live,' only when raised from the di;ad ; for it is His unextiuguishable. Divine life of which He speaks, in view of which His death anrf resurrection were l>nl as shadows passing over the sun's glorious disk. Cf. Luke tfai/'er of our trust from its proper Object ; it is l)ut IJte connmrratimi of our trust in the Unseen and Iinpulpahle One vpon His Own Incarnate Sooi, by which that trust, instead of the distant, unsteady, and too often cold and scarce real thing it otherwise Is, acquires a conscious reality, warmth, and power, which makes all thintrs new. This
24. 5; Revelation L 18, " the Living One." And this grand saying Jesus uttered uilh death immediately in view. What a brightness does tliis throw over the next clause, "Ye shall live also!" 'Knowest thou not,' said Li7tiier to the King of Terrors, ' that thou didst devour the Lord Christ, but wert obliged to give Him back, and wert devoured of Him? So l,hou must leave me undevourcil be.- cause I abide in Him, and live and suffer for His nanie'a sake. Men may hunt me out of the world—that I care not for—but I shall not on that account abide in death. J shall live with my Lord Christ, since I know and believe that He liveih ." [quoted in StiekJ. At that day—of the Spirit's coming. Ye shall know tliat I am in my Father, ye in me, 1 in you—See on ch. 17. 22. 2:^. •Zl-'H. He tltat liath my commandments and keepetit them, &c.—.See on r. 1."), 16. my Fatlier will love him, and I—Mark the sharp line of distinction here, not only between the Divine Persons but the actings of love in Each respectively, towards true disciples. Juflas sayeth, not Iscariot—Beautiful parenthesis this! The traitor being no longer present, we needed not to he told that this question came not from is Christianity in brief. 2, S. In my Fatlier's Iionse are many mansions—and so room for all, and a place for f.ich. If not I -would have told you—g. d., ' I would tell you so at once; I would not deceive you.' I go to prepare a place for you—to obtain for yon a riglit to be there, and to possess your "place." I will come again and receive you unto mysflf—strictly, at His Personal appearing; but in a secondary and comforting sense, to each individnally. Mark again the claim made:—to come sigain to receive His people " to Himself, that where He is there they may be also." He thinks it oufiht to he enoin/h to he assured that they shall be where He is and in His keeping. 4-7. whitlier I go ye knoiT . . . Tliomas saitit, Lord, -we bnovT not wliither tlion goest. Jesus snitli, I am the way, etc.—By saying this. He meant rather to draw out their inquiries and reply to them. Christ is "the Way" to the Father—"no man cometh unto the Father but by Me;" He is "the Truth" of all we find in the Father when we get to Him, "For in Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily" (Colossians 2. f)), and He is all "the Life" that shall ever flow to us and bless ns from the Godhead thus approached and thus manifested in Him—"this is the true God and eternal life." (1 John C 20.) from henceforth—now, or from this time, understand. 8-13. The substance of this passage is that the Son is the ordained and perfect manifestation of the Father, that His own word for this ought to His disciples to be enough; that if any doubts remained His works ought to remove them (see on ch. 10. 37, 38); but yet that these works of His were designed merely to aid weak faith, and would be repeated, nay exceeded, by His disciples, in virtue of the power He would confer on them after His departure. His miracles the apostles wrought, though wholly in His name and by His power; and the "greater" works—not in degree but in kind—were the conversion of thousands in a day, by His Spirit accompanying them. 13, 14. whatsoever ye ask in my name —as Mediator—that will I do—as Head and Lord of the kingdom of God. This comprehensive promise is emphatically repeated In i'. 14. 15-17. If ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray tlie Father, etc. —This connection seemsdesigned to teach that the proper temple for the indwelling Spirit of Jesus is a heart filled with that love to Him which lives actively for Him, and so this was the fitting preparation for the promised gift. He shall give you another Comforter— a word used only l)y John; in his Gospel with reference to the Holy Spirit, in his Jfirst ISpistle (2. 1), w'xth reference to Christ Himself. Its proper sense is an "advocate," "patron," "helper." In this sense it is plainly meant of Christ (1 John 2. 1), and in this sense it comprehends all the cotoliim. But it is as if the Evangelist had said, 'A very different Judas from tlie traitor, and a very different question from any that he wonld h.ave put. Indeed [as one in SriKK says], we never read of Iscariot that he entered in any way into his M.aster's words, or ever pnt a question even of rash curiosity (though it may be lie did, lint that nothing from him was deemed fit for immortality in the Gospels but his name and treason), how manifest tlij-- self to us, and not to tl»e world?—a most natural and proper question, founded on ti. 19, though Interpreters speak against it as Jcivish, we will come and make our abode with him-Astonisliing statement! In the Father's "coming" He "refers to the revelation of Him cm a F(dher Xo the soul, which does not take place till the Spirit comes into the heart, teaching it to cry, Al)ba, Father.' [Ol.siiausen.] The "abode" means a permanent, eternal stay! (Cf. Ijcviticns 2B. 11, 12; Ezekiel 37. 2<i.
27; 2 Corinthians 6. 16; and contrast Jeremiah 14. 8.) 85, 2C. He shall teach you all things, and bring all to remembrance, wliatsoever 1 have said unto you, Ac. See on v. IH, 17. As the Son came in the Father's name, so tlie Father stiall send the Spirit "in my name," says Jesus,
I. e., with like Divine power and auihority to reproduce in their souls what Christ taught them, 'bringing to living consciousness what lay like slumbering germs In their minds.' [Olshausex.] On this rests the credibility and ultimate Divine authority of the Oostel n istory. The whole of what is here said of the Sitijit is decisive of His Divine personality. ' He who can regard all the pn'sonal expressions, applied to the Spirit in these three chapters ("teaching," " reminding," "testifying," "coming," "cojivinclng," "guiding," "speaking," "hearing," "prophesying," "taking") as being no other than a long drawn out figure, deserves not to be recognized even as an Interpreter of intelligible words, much less an expositor of Holy Scripture.' [Stier.] Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you—If the two preceding ver.ses sounded like a note of preparation for drawing the discourse to a close, this would soinid like a farewell. But oh how dlt Terent from ordinary adieus! Iti-ta partingword, but of richest import, the customary " peace" of a parting friend sublimed and transfigured. As "the Prince of Peace" (Isaiah 0. 6) He brought It Into flesh, carried it about in His Own Person ("My peace"), died to make It ours, left it as the heritage of His disciples upon earth. Implants and maintains It by His Spirit in their hearts. Many a legacy is "left" that Is never "given" to the legivfort as well as aid of the Spirit's work. The Spirit Is here promised as One wlio would supply Christ's oum place in His absence, that He may abide with you forever never go away, as Jesus was going to do in the body, whom the world cannot receive, Ac.—See 1 Corinthians
2. 14. He dwelleth with you, and shall be in you Though the proper fulness of both these was yet future, our Lord, by using both the present and the future, seems phii ]i ly lo s;iy that they already lind t ho germ of t h is great blessing. IH-^O. I will not leave you eoitil TortlrS!!—in ft bereaved and desolate condition—or (as Margin) 'or- •phans.' I will come to you—
' I come' or 'am coming' to you, i. e., plainly by the Spirit, since it was to make His departure to be no bereavement, world seeth (' bcholdpth') me no more, but ye see ('behold') me—His bodily presence, being all the sight of Him which "the world" ever had, or was capable of. It "beheld Him no more" «fter His departure to the Father; hut by the coming of tee, many a gift destined that never reaches Its proper object. But Christ Is the Executor of His own Testament; the peace He "leaves" He "r/ittes:" Thus all Is secure, not as the M-orld givcth—in contrast with the
Hje Spirit, tlie presence of Christ was not only continued to His spiritually enlightened disciples, but rendered far
Cfirist Leaveth ITis Petux JOHN XV. Mutual Love of Christ and His People.
—As in a fruit tree, some branches may he fruitful, others quite barren, according as there \f, a, vital connection between the branch and the stock, or no vital connection ; so the dis» ciples of Christ may be spiritually fruitful or the reverse, according as they are vitally and spiritually connected with Christ, or but externally auWd mechanically attached to Him. The fruitless He "taketh away'" (see on v. 6); the fruitful He "purgeth" ('cleanseth,' ' ^vnnetAi') — stripping it, as the husbandman does, of what is rank and luxuriant (Mark 4. 19), "that it may bring forth more fruit;" a process often painful, but no less needful and beneficial than in the natural husbandry. Now—rather, 'Already' —ye are clean tlirough (' by reason of) the word I have spoken to you—already in a purified, fruitful couilition, world, He gives siwerely, substantially, eternally. 38, 39. If ye loved me, ye wonld rejoice, because I said, I go unto tl»e Fatlier, for my Fattier i« greater than I—
These words, which Arians and Socinians perpetually quote as triuniphantevidence against the proper Divinity of Christ, really yield no intelligible sense on their principles. Were a holy man on his death-bed, beholding his friends in tears at the prospect of losing him, to say, 'Ye ought rather to joy than weep for me, and would if ye really loved me,' the speech would be quite natural. But
If they should ask him, tvfiy joy at his departure was more suitable than sorrow, would they not start back with astonishment, if not horror, were he to reply, "Because my Father is greater than If" Does not this strange speech from Christ's lips, then, presuppose such ieachingon His part as would make it extremely difficult for tliem to think Hecould gain anything bydeparting to the Father, and make it necessary for Him to say expressly that there was a sense in which He could do so? Thus, this startling explanation seems plainly intended to correct such misapprehensions as might arise from the emphatic and reiterated teaching of His proper equality with the Father—as
In consequence of the long action upon them of tliat searching "word" which was "as a refiner's fire." (Malachi 3. 2, 3). abide In me, and I in you ; as the branch caiuiot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in tite vine, &c.—As all spiritual fruitfulness had been ascribed to the mutual inliabitation, and living, active interpenetration (so to speak) of Christ and His disciples, so here the keejiing up of this vital connection is made essential to continued fruitfulness. without me—'apart,' or 'vitally disconnected from Me.' ye can do nothing—spiritually, acceptably, if a man abide not in me, he is cast fortli as a branch . . . withered . . . cast into the fire . . . burned—The one proper use of the vine is to bear fruit failing this, it is good for one other thing—/tte?. (See Kzekiel 1.5. 1-5.) How awfully striking the figure, in this view of it ! if ye abide in me, and my words in you—Mark the change from the inhabitation of Himself to that ol His words, paving the way for the subsequent exhortations i u.
if so Exalted a Perscm were incapable of any accession by transition from this dismal scene to a cloudless heaven and the very bosom of the Father—and by assuring them that this was not the ca.se, to make them forget their own sorrow in His approaching joy. 30,31. Hereafter I will not talk mucli with you—
' I have a little more to say, but my work hastens apace, and the approach of the adversary will cut it sliort.' for tlie Prince of this world—See on ch. 12. 31. cometh—with hostile intent, for a last grand attack, having failed in His first formidable assault, Luke 4., from which he " departed (only) for a etasmi" (v. 13). and hath nothing In me nothing of His oicn—nothing to fasten on. Glorious saying ! truth of
9, 10). ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you —because this indwelling of His words in them would secure the harmony of their askings witli the Divine will. glorl Aed that ye bear much fruit—not only fiom His delight in it for its own sake, but as from ' the juices of the Living Vine.' so shall ye be my disciples evidence your discipleship. 9-11. continue ye in my love—not, 'Continue to love me,' but, 'Continue in tlie possession and enjoyment of My love to you;' as is evident from the next words. If ye keep my commandments, ye sball abide in my love—the obedient spirit of truediscipleslilp cheiishing and attracting the continuance and increase of Clirist's love; and this. He adds, was the secret even of His own " abiding in His Father's love !" l'^16. Tliat ye love one another, &c.—See on ch. 13. 34, 33. greater love hath no man than tliis, that a man lay down his life for his friends—The emphasis lies not on " friends," but on "laying down his life" for them. q. d., 'One can show no greater regard for those dear to him than to give his life for them, and this is the love ye shall find in Me.' ye are my friends. If ye do whatsoever I command you —
It is, tliat which makes the Person and Work of Christ the life of tlie world. (Hebrews 9. 14; 1 John 3. 5; 2 Corinthians 5. 21.) But that the world may know that I love the Father, &o.—The sense must be completed thus 'But to tlie Prince of the world, though he has nothing in
Boe, I shall yield myself up even unto death, that the world may know that I love and obey the Father, whose commandment it is that I give my life a ransom for many ' Arise, let us go hence—Did they then, at this Btageol the discourse, leave the supper-room, as some able Interpreters conclude? If so, we think our Evangelist would have mentioned it : see ch. IS. l, wliicli seems clearly to intimate tliat they then only left the iiper room. But what do the words mean if not this? We think it was the dictate of that saying of earlier date, "I liave a baptism to be baptized with, and how am I straitened till it beacconiplisked .'"—a spontaneous and irrepressible expression of the deep eagerness of His spirit to get into the conflict, and that if, as is likely, it was responded to somewhat too
' hold yourselves in absolute subjection to Me.' Hencefortli I call you not servants—t. e., in the sense explained in the next words; for servants He still calls them {v. 20). and they delight to call themselves, in the sense of being "under law to Christ" (1 Corinthians 9.20). the servant knoweth not what his lord doetli—knows nothing of his master's plans and reasons, but simply receives and executes his orders, but frienils, for all things that 1 have heard of my Father I liave made known unto you—admitted you to free, unrestrained fellowship, keeping back nothing from you which I have received to communicate. (Cf. Genesis IS. 17; Psalm 25.14; '^saiah 50.4.) Ye have not chosen me, but I you—a wholesale memento after the lofty things He had just said about their mutual indwelling, and the unreservedness of the friendship they liad been admitted to. ordained ('appointed') you, tliat ye should go and l>ring forth fruit. i. e.,give yourselves to it. and that your fruit siiould remain showing itself to be an imperisliable and ever-growing literally by the guests who hung on His lips, in the way
Of a movement to depart, a wave of His hand would be enough to show that He had yet more to say ere they broke up; and that disciple, whose pen was dipped in a love to his Master which made their movements of small consequence save when essential to the illustration of His words, would record this little outburst of the Lamb bastening to the slaughter, in the very midst of His lolly di.sconr.se; while the effect of it, if any. upon His hearers, as of uo consequence, would naturally euougli be passed over.
CHAPTER XV.
Ver. 1-27. DiscouR.SE at the Supper-table ContinOED. 1-8. Tlie sjrir Uual oneness of Clirist and His petiple, and His relation to Diem as tlie Source of alt their spiritual life and fru UfiUness, are here beautifully set forth l)y a figure familiar to Jewish ears. (Isaiali 5. 1, &c.) 1 am tlie ti'uc Vine—of Whom the vine of nature is but a sliadow. my Father the husbandman—tlie great Proprietor of the Vineyard, the I>ord of the Spiritual kingdom. (It is surely unneces.sary to point out llie claim to supreme priiiciiile. (Cf. Proverbs 4.18; 2 Jolin 8.) that whatsoever ye shall ask, &c.—See on v. 7. 17-il. The substance of these important verses lias occurre<l more than once liefore. (See on Matthew 10. 34-;i(>; Luke 12. 4!)-,5.3, &c..) 2^ 25.—See on ch. 9.39-41. If 1 liad not come and spoken unto them, tliey had nol ha<l slii comparatively none; tUvinily Involved In this.) every branch in me that iMsareth not fitt . . , every branch that beareth fruit
Christ (Jom/orteth His Disciples JOHN XVI. by the Promise of the Holy Ghost.
all other sins being light compared with the rejection of the Son of Qod. now they Itave no cloak for tUelr sin —rather, ' pretext.' If I lia»l not done tlic works wUieli none other did—See on cli. 12. 37. that the word might he fi Uftlled, They hated ine without a canse—quoted from the Messianic Psalm 69. 4, applied also in the s.^me sense ch. 2. 17; Acts 1. 20 ; Romans 11. 9, 10; 15. 3. 36, li7— 8ee on ch. 14. 16, 17. ye also shall bear witness—rather, 'are witnesses;' with reference indeed to their future witness-bearing, but putting the emphasis upon their present ample opportunities for acquiring their qualiflcations for that great office, inasmuch as they had been " with Him from the beginning." (See on Luke 1. 2.)
di cation of Christ's rec?!<Mc/e is to us Divine evidence.brlght as heaven, that Ho is Indeed the Saviour of the world, God's Righteous Servant to justify many, because He bare their iniquities. (Isaiah Si. 11.) Thus the Spirit, in this clause, is seen convmcing men that there is in Christ perfect relief under the sense of sin of which he had before convinced them; and so far from mourning over His absence from us, as an irreparable loss, we learn to glory in it, as the evidence of His perfect acceptance on our belialf, exclaiming with one who understood this point, "Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justltieth: Who is he thateondemneth? It is Christ that died; yea, rather, that, is risen again, who is even at the right, hand of God," itc. (Romans 8. 33, .34.) of judgment, because tlie prince of titis world Is Judged By supposing that the final judgment is here meant, the point of this clause is, even by good Interpreters, quite missed. The statement, "The prince of this world is judged," means, beyond all reasonable doub', the same as that in ch. 12. 31, "Now shall the prince of this world be c«.s< out and both mean that his dominion over men, or his power to enslave and so to ruin them, is destroyed. The death of Christ "judged" or judicially overthrew him, and he was thereupon "cast out" or e.vpelled from his usurped dominion. (Hebrews 2. 14 ; lJohn3.8; Colossians 2. 15.) Thus, then, the Spirit shall bring home to men's conscience (1.) the sense of *(«, consummated in the rejection of Him who came to "take away the sin of the world;" (2.) the sense of perfect relief In the righteousness of the Father's Servant, now fetched from the earth that spurned Him to that bosom where from everlasting lie had dwelt; and (3.) thesense of emancipation from the fetters of Satan, whose judgment brings to men liberty to be holy, and transformation out of servants of the devil Into sons and daughters of the Lord Almighty. To one class of men, however, all this will carry conviction only; they "will not come to Christ "—revealed though He be to them as the life-giving One—that they may have life. Such, abiding voluntarily under the dominion of the prince of this world, arejudged in his Judgment, the v.sibla consummation of which will be at the great day. To another class, however, this blessed teaching will have another issue—translating them out of the kingdom if darkness Into the kingdom of God's dear Son. 1*-15. when he, the Spirit of truth, is come . . . lie shall not speak of liimself—i. e., .from Hintself, but, like Christ Himself, "what He hears," what is given Him to communicate, he will sliow you tilings to come—referring specially to those revelations which. In the Epistles par-
CHAPTER XVI.
Ver. 1-33. Discourse at the Supper-Tablb ConCLUBED. 1-5. These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended, &c.—both the warnings and the eicoxtrac/ements just given, they shall put you out of the synagogue—(Ch. 9. 22 ; 12. 42.) the time Cometh, that whosoever kllleth yon will tlllnk that lie docth Grod service—The words mean religious service—
' that he is offering ii service to God.' (So Saul of Tarsus, Galatians 1. 13, 14; Philemon 3. 6.) these things I said not at ('from') the beginning—He had said it pretty early (Luke 6. 22), but not quite as in v. 2. because I was with you. But now I go my way to htm that sent me, &c. While He was with them, the world's hatred was directed chiefly against Himself; but His departure would bring it down upon them as His representatives, and none of you asketh me, Wlilther goest thou T They had done so in a sort, ch. 13. 36 ; 14. 5 ; but He wished more intelligent and eager inquiry on the suliject. C, 7. But because I have said tiiese things, sorrow hath ftlled your heart—Sorrow had too much paralyzed them, and He would rouse their energies. It Is expedient for you tliat I go away
My Saviour, can it ever be That I should gain by losing thee ? [Keele.]
Yes. for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come onto you, but If I go I will send Him unto you—See on eh. 7. 39 ; 14. 16. And when he Is come, he will, &c.—This is one of the passages most pregnant with thought in the profound discourses of Christ; with a few great strokes depicting all and every part of the ministry of the Holy Ghost in the world—His operation with reference to individuals as well as the mass, on believers and unbelievers alike. [Olshausen.] he will reprove—This is too weak a word to express what is meant. ' Reproof is indeed implied in the term employed, and doubtless the word begins with it. But ' convict' or ' convince' is the thing intended; and as the one expresses the work of the Spirit on the unbe KeviJifir portion of mankind, and the other on the fte Heyinj/, it is better not to restrict i( to either, of sin, because they belleve<l not on n»e—As all sin has its root In unbelief, so the most aggra vated form of unbelief Is the rejection of Christ. The Spirit, however, in fastening this truth upon the conscience, does not extinguish but, on the contrary, consummate and inten.vi/y, the sense of all other tiallj', but most fully in the Apocalypse, open up a vista into the Future of the Kingdom of God, whose horizon is the everlasting hills. He sliall glorify me ; for he shall receive of mine and show it unto you—Thus the whole design of the Spirit's office is to glorify Christ—not in His own Person, for this was done by the Father when ho exalted Him to His own right hand—but in the view and estimation of men. For this purpose He was to "receive of Christ"—all the truth relating to Christ—"and show it unto them," or make tliem to discern It In its own light. The subjective nature of the Spirit's teaching—the discovery to the souls of men of what is Christ outwardly—\s here very clearly expressed; and, at the same time, the vanity of looking for revelations of the Spirit which shall do anything beyond throwing light in the .soul upon what Christ Himself is, and taught, and did upon earth, all tilings sins, of righteousness, because I go to my Ji'ather, and ye sec me no more—Beyond doubt, it is Christ's personal righteoiisness which the Spirit was to bring home to the sinner's heart. The evidence of this was to lie in the great tliat tlie Patlier liath are mine—a plainer expression than this of absolute community with the Fatlier in all things cannot be conceived, though the " all things " here have reference to the things of the Kingdom of Grace, which the Spirit was to receive that He might show it to historical fact, that He had "gone to Ills Katlier and was no more visible to men :" for if His claim to be the Son of God, the Saviour of the world, had been a lie, how should tlie Father, who is "a jealous God," have raised such a l)lasi)hemcr from the dead and exalted him to His right hand? But If He Was the "Faithful and True Witness," the Father's "Righteous Servant," "His Elect, in whom His soul delighted," then was his departure to the I'ather, and consequent disappearance from the view of men, but the fitting consummation, the august reward, of all that He did here below, the seal of His mission, the glorificat ion ns. We have here a wonderful glimpse Into the inncirelations of the Godhead. 10-543. A little wliile, and ye stiall not see me, and again a little wiiile, and yr sliall sec me, because I go to tlie Fatlier—The 'Joy of the world' at their 'not seeing him* seems to show that His removal from them by death was what He meant; and In that case, their 'Joy at again seeing Him of the testimony which He bore on earth, by the reception
' points to their transport at His reappearance amongst them on His rc#-
Its Bearer to tlie Father's bosom. This triumphant vln-
JOHN XVII.
to Glorify Him and Preserve his Apostles.
Chrisfs Tnteicessory Prayer to the Father the liour is come—See on ch. 13. 31, 32. glorify thy Son —Put honour upon thy Son, by countenancing, sustaining, and carrying Him through that "hour." given Cgavest') him power overall flesh—See on Matthew 11. 27; 2S. 18-20. give eternal life to as many as, &c.—lii., 'to all that which thou hast given him.' (See on ch.6. 37-40.) This is (that) life eternal, that they might (may) know, &c.—This life eternal, then, is not mere conscious and unending existence, but a life of acquaintance with God in Christ. (Job 22. 21.) thee, the only true God—the vrrection, when they oould no longer doubt his identity. At the same time the sorrow of tlie widowed Cliurch in the al)sence of her Lord in the heavens, and lier transport, at His personal return, are certainly here expressed. 24- as. At that <iay—of the dispensation of the Spirit, as ch.
14.20. ye sliall ask ('inquire of) me notltiiig—by reason of the fulness of the Spirit's teaching. (Ch. 1-1. 2<i; 10. l?i and of. 1 Joli n 2. 27.) nitlierto have ye asked HotUtiig in my name—for 'prayer ire the name of Christ, and piayer to Christ, presuppose His {/?o)-i/ic(7«on.' [Olshausen.] ask —when I am gone, "ia niy name." In proverbs—in ob-
personal living God; in glorious contrast equally with heathen polytheism, philosophic naturalism, and mystic pantheism, and Jesus Christ whom thoii hast Bent—This is the only place where our Lord gives Himself this compound name, afterwards so current in apostolic preaching and writing. Here the terms are used in their strict signification—"Jbsus," because He "saves His people from their sins;" " Christ," as arjoire<ed with the measureless fulness of the Holy Ghost for the exercise of His saving ofllces (see on Matthew 1. 16); "Whom Thou HAST SENT," In the plenitude of Divine Authority and Power, to save. 'The very Juxtaposition here of Jesus Christ with the Father is a proof, by implication, of our Lord's Godhead. The knowledge of Ood and a creature could not be eternal life, and such an association of the one with tlie other would be inconceivable.' [AI/Foed.( scure language, opposed to "showing plainly "— i. e., by the
Spirit's teaching. I say not, I will pray the Father for you—as if He were not of //ime?/ disposed to aid you:
Christ does pray the Father for his people, but not for the purpose of inclining an unwi Uing par. for the Father
Ixlinself loveth yon, becaiise ye have loved me—Tliis love of theirs is that which is called forth by God's eternal love in the gift of his Son mirrored in the hearts of those who believe, and resting on His dear Son. I came forth from the Father, &c.—7. d., ' And ye are riglit, for I have Indeed .so come forth, and shall soon return whence I came.' This echo of the truth, alluded to in the preceding verse, seems like thinking aloud, as if it were grateful to His own spirit on such a subject and at such an hour.
!i9, -30. His disciples said, ]Vo\v speakest thou plainly, and speakest no proverb, &c.—harilly more so than before ; the time for perfect plainness was yet to come; but having caught a glimpse of His meaning (it was nntliing more), tliey eagerly express their satisfaction, as if fjlad to make anything of His words. How touchiincly does this sliow both the simplicity of their tiearts atid the in-
4:, 5. I have gloritied thee on the earth—rather, ' I glorified' (for the thing is conceived as nowpasO. I have finished (' I finished') the work which thou gavest me to do—It is very important to preserve in the translation the past tense, used in the original, otherwise it might be thought that the work already "finished" was only what He had done be/ore uttering that prayer-; wliereas it will be observed that our Lord speaks throughout as already beyond this present scene (v. 12, &c.), and so must be supposed to include in His "finished work" the "decease wliich He was to accomplish at Jerusalem." And now— in return, glorify thou me—The " J thee" and "Thou me" are so placed in the original, each beside its fellow, as to show that a perfect reciprocity op services of fantile character of their faith ! 31-33. Jesus answered. Do ye now believe I—g. d., ' It is well ye do, tor it is soon to be tested, and in away ye little expect.' the hour cometli, yea, is now come, that ye sliall be scatiereil, evci'y man to his oivn, and shall leave nie alone ; and yet lam not alone—A deep and awful sense of tvrong experienced is certainly expressed here, but how lovingly! That He was not to be utterly deserted, that there was One who would not forsake Him, was to Him matter of tlie Son to the Father first, and then of the Father to the Son in return, is what our Lord means here to express with the glory which I had witli thee before the world was—when " in the beginning the Word was u'ith
IneflTaljle support and consolation; but that He should be without all human countenance and cheer, who as Man was exquisitely sensitive to the law of sympathy, would fill themselves with as much shame, when they afterwards recurred to it, as the Redeemer's heart in his liour of need with pungent sorrow. "I looked for some to take
Ood" (ch. 1. 1), "the only-begotten Sou in the bosom of the Father" (ch. 1. IS). With this pre-existent glory, which He veiled on earth, He asks to be reinvested, the design of the veiling being accomplished—not, however, simply as before, but now ire our nature. 6-8. From praying for Himself He now comes to pray for His disciples. I have manifested ('I manifested') thy name—His whole cliaracter towards mankind, to the men thou gavest me out of the vi-orld—See on ch. 6. 37^0. they have known surely that I came out trom thee—See on cli. 16. 30, 31. 9-14. I pray for them-not as individuals merely, but as representatives of all such in every succeeding age (see on V. 20). not for the world—for they had been given Him "nut o/the world" {v. 6), and had been already transformed into the very opposite of it. The things sought for them, indeed, are applicable only to such, all mine are tliine, and thine are mine lit., 'All my things are thine and thy tilings are mine.' (On this use of the nexder gender, see on ch. G. 37-40.) Absolute community or property between the Father and tlie Son is here expressed as nakedly as words can do it. (See on «. .5.) I am no more in the world (see on t). 4), but these arc in the world q. d., ' Though My struggles are at an end, theirs are not; though I have gotten beyond the scene of strife.
pity, Ijut there was none; and for comforters, but I found Tione." (Psalm 69. 20.) because the Father is with me how near, and witli what sustaining power, who can express? TIjese things I have spoken unto you—not tlie Immediately preceding words, but this whole discourse, of whicli these were the very last words, and wlikh He tiius winds up. that In me ye might have peace—in the Bublime sense before explained. (.See on ch. U. 27.) in the world ye shall have tribulation—specially arising from
Its deadly opposition to those who "are not of tlie world, but chosen out of tlie world." 80 that the "peace '' promised was far from an unruffled one. I have overcome tlie world—not only 6e/ore you, but /or you, that ye may be able to do the same. (1 John 5. 4, 5.)
CHAPTER XVII.
Ver. 1-2B. The Inteuces-sory Ppaver. — See on ch.
14. 1. Had this prayer not been recorded, what reverential reader would not have exclaimed. Oh to have been within hearing of such a prayer as that must have been, which wound up the whole of His past ministry and ff)rnied the point of transition to the dark scenes which immediately followed! But liere it is, and with such signature of tlie Lips that uttered itth-at we seein rather to hear it from Hiraself than read it from the pen of His faithful reporter. These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes—'Jolin very seldom depicts the gestures or looks of our Lord, as here. P,ut this was an ooaision of which the impression was indelible, and tlie upward look could not be passed over.' [Aj.i-ord.J Father,
I cannot sever myself in spirit from them, left behind and only just entering on their great conflict.' Holy Fntlier—an expression He nowhere else uses. " Fathei-" is His wonted appellation, but "holy" is here prefixed, because His appeal was to that perfection of the Father's nature, to "keep" or preserve them from being tainted by the unholy atmosphere of "tlie world" they were still in. keep through thine own name—rather, 'in thy name ;' in the exercise of that gracious and holy character for wliich He was known, that they may be one—See on c. 159