Expository Thoughts
the only fountain of comfort. He does not tell us that we shall have no trouble in the world. He holds out no promise of freedom from tribulation, while we are in the body. But He bids us rest in the thought that He has fought our battle and won a victory for us.
Though tried, and troubled, and vexed with things here below, we shall not be destroyed. "Be of good cheer," is His parting charge— "Be of good cheer; I have overcome the world."
Let us lean back our souls on these comfortable words, and take courage. The storms of trial and persecution may sometimes beat heavily on us; but let them only drive us closer to Christ. The sorrows, and losses, and crosses, and disappointments of our life may often make us feel sorely cast down; but let them only make us tighten our hold on Christ. Armed with this very promise let us, under every cross, come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. Let us often say to our souls, "Why are you cast down, and why are you disturbed?"
And let us often say to our gracious Master— "Lord, did not You say, Be of good cheer? Lord, do as You have said, and cheer us to the end."
Technical Notes:
25. These things I have spoken to you in proverbs; but the time is coming when I shall no more speak to you in proverbs, but I shall tell you plainly about the Father. 26.
At that day ye shall ask in my name, and I do not say to you that I will pray the Father for you; 27. for the Father himself loves you, because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came forth from God. 28. I came forth from the Father and have come into the world. Again, I leave the world and go to the Father. 29. His disciples said to him, See, now you speak plainly, and speak no proverb. 30. Now we are sure that you know all things, and have no need that any man should question you. By this we believe that you came forth from God. 31. Jesus answered them, Do ye now believe? 32. Behold, the hour is coming, yes, has now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone. And yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me. 33. These things I have spoken to you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.
25.—[These things...proverbs.] Our Lord seems here to begin winding up and concluding His discourse. The expression "these things" seems to me to apply to all that He had been saying since
Judas went out and He was alone with the eleven. "All these things I have been saying to you in language that you have not been able fully to understand, insomuch that I seem to have been speaking to you in parables or proverbs." The Greek word rendered "proverb" is only used five times in the New Testament, and in John 10:6 is translated parable.
Besser observes here: "From the very first words of our Lord's farewell discourse—'In my Father's house are many mansions'—to the words concerning the travailing woman, the heavenly purport of the discourse is wrapped in various similes and parables."
Do we not learn here that ministers must not refrain from telling their hearers many truths, which at the time they do not fully comprehend, in the hope that they will seek more knowledge and comprehend afterward the meaning of the things taught?
[But the time comes... Father.] I believe the "time" here mentioned must be the time between our Lord's resurrection and ascension, the great forty days when He taught the eleven disciples more fully than He had taught them before, and spoke more openly of the things of His Father. I say this with diffidence. But I can see no other time to which our Lord could refer excepting this. It is evidently some personal instruction that He means and not instruction by the invisible agency of the Holy Ghost. "The time is very close at hand, when my sacrifice on the cross having been accomplished and my resurrection having taken place, I will show you openly and plainly the things concerning my Father, who I am, and my relation to Him, and will no longer use parables and figures to convey my meaning."
The promise MAY possibly include the continual teaching of the Holy Spirit, which our Lord would give His disciples after His ascension. But the language seems rather to point to direct teaching from our Lord's own mouth. Moreover, it is an "hour" that comes, in the Greek, and not a continuous period of time. So in verse 32 "the hour" means a time close at hand.
26.—[At that day...my name.] I believe this sentence must mean, "In the day following my resurrection, when the full nature of my mission and office is at last understood, you will begin to pray and ask in my name. Hitherto you have not done it. When I have risen from the dead and opened your understandings, you will begin to do it."
I see insuperable objection to any other view. The "day" spoken of cannot be the day of Christ's second advent, because prayer will not be needed then. Nor yet can it be the whole period of time between Christ's first and second advent, because the passage with which it is here bound up belongs specially to the Apostles. (See verse 27.)
There remains, in my judgment, no reasonable explanation except the one already given.
[And I do not say... Father for you.] The meaning of this sentence seems to be: "It is not necessary to say that I will pray the Father to hear you and grant your requests. Not only shall I of course do this, but my Father also will willingly hear your prayer." This is the most natural meaning of the passage, in my judgment.
It is singular that the Greek word rendered "pray" at the end of the verse is the same that is used to signify "ask questions" or "make inquiry" in verse 23. But it is worth notice that the word seems specially used when our Lord is described as "praying" to the Father.
(See John 17:9, 25:20.) 27.—[For the Father Himself, etc.] This verse is a continuation of the encouragement contained in the verse before.
"You need not doubt the Father doing for you all that you ask in my name, because he loves you for having loved Me and for believing my divine mission. He loves all who love Me and believe on Me." (See
John 14:23.)
Anton paraphrases the verse: "Ye need not so think of my intercession as if the Father were not Himself well disposed, but must first be coerced into kindness. No! He Himself loves you, and Himself ordained my intercession." We should notice here how graciously our Lord acknowledges the grace there was in the disciples, with all their weakness. When myriads of Jews regarded
Jesus as an impostor, the eleven loved Him and believed in Him.
Jesus never forgets to honor true grace, however much it may be mingled with infirmity.
28.—[I came forth, etc.] This verse seems a farewell summary of the true nature of our Lord's office and mission. It grows out of the last clause of the preceding verse. "You have believed that I came forth from God. In so believing you have done well, for so it is. For the last time I repeat that my mission is divine. I came forth from the Father, and came into the world to be man's Redeemer; and now, my work being finished, I am about to leave the world and go back again to my Father." This deep sentence contains more than at first sight appears. It points backward to our Lord's persecution; it points forward to His resurrection and ascension into glory.
Augustine, quoted by Burgon, remarks: "When Christ came forth from the Father, He so came into the world as never to leave the Father; and He so left the world and went to the Father as never to leave the world."
29.—[His disciples said, etc.] The words of the disciples seem to be a reference to our Lord's statement in the 25th verse, that "the time was coming when He would no more speak in proverbs, but show them plainly concerning the Father." The eleven appear to catch at that promise. "Even now You are speaking to us more plainly than we have ever heard You speaking before, and not in figurative language."
30.—[Now we are sure, etc.] This is a peculiar verse. It is hard to see what there was in our Lord's statement in verse 28 to carry such conviction to the minds of the eleven, and to make them see things about their Master so much more clearly than they had seen them before. But the precise reason why words affect men's minds and lay hold on their attention at one time and not at another is a deep mystery and hard to explain. The very same truths that a man hears from one mouth, and is utterly unimpressed, come home to him with such power from another mouth that he will declare he never heard them before! Even more, the very same speaker who is heard without attention one day is heard another day teaching the very same things, with the deepest interest by the same hearers, and they will tell you they never heard them before!
The words "We are sure" are literally "We know." They mean, "We know now that You know all things concerning Yourself, Your mission, and the Father." The words, "You need not that any man should ask You," mean: "You have told us so plainly who and what You are, that there is no need for anyone to ask You questions or seek further explanation."
The words, "By this we believe" must mean, "We are convinced and persuaded by the statement You have just made," in verse 28.
31.—[Jesus answered them, Do ye now believe?] In this verse our Lord warns the eleven of their self-ignorance. They thought they believed. They did not doubt their own faith. Let them not be too confident. They would soon find they had an evil root of unbelief within. Never do we find our Lord flattering His disciples. Warnings against self-confidence need to be continually pressed on believers.
Nothing is so deceptive as feeling and excitement in religion. We know not the weakness of our hearts. Alford thinks that "do ye now believe" should not be rendered as a question, but as an affirmation.
"You now believe, I know." The Greek admits of either view. I prefer the question.
32.—[Behold, the hour...shall leave Me alone.] In this sentence our Lord reveals to his confident hearers the amazing fact that they, even they, would in a very short time forsake Him, desert Him, run away, and fail in faith altogether. "Behold!" He begins (to denote how wonderful it was), "the hour comes, yes, is now come. This very night, before the sun rises, the thing is immediately going to take place. Ye shall be scattered, like sheep fleeing from a wolf, one running one way and one another, every man going off to his own things, his own friends, or his own house, or his own place of refuge.
Ye shall leave Me alone. You will actually allow Me to be taken off by myself as a prisoner to the high priests and to Pontius Pilate, and not so much as one of you will stand by Me." How little the best of believers know their own hearts, or understand how they may behave in times of trial! If any men were ever fully and fairly warned of their coming failure, the disciples were. We can only suppose that they did not understand our Lord, or did not realize the magnitude of the trial coming on them, or fancied that He would work some miracle at the last moment for His deliverance.
The Greek phrase rendered "His own" means literally "His own things." It may either be "His own business" or, as the margin renders it, "His own home."
[And yet... Father is with Me.] In this teaching and touching sentence, our Lord reminds His disciples that their desertion would not deprive Him of all comfort. "And yet, when you are scattered and have left Me, I am not entirely alone, because the Father is always with Me." We need not doubt that one great need of the sentence was to teach the disciples where they must look themselves in their own future trials. They must never forget that God the Father would always be near them and with them, even in the darkest times. A sense of God's presence is one great source of the comfort of believers. The last promise in Matthew, before the ascension, was, "I am with you always, even to the end of the world" (Matt. 28:20).
John Huss, the famous martyr who was burned at Constance, is said to have drawn special comfort from this passage during the lonely imprisonment that preceded his death.
33.—[These things...peace.] In this concluding verse our Lord sums up the reasons why He has spoken the things contained in this whole discourse. "All these things I have spoken for this one great end—that you may have inward peace by resting your souls on Me and keeping up close communion with Me." It is one great secret in our religion to draw all our consolation from Christ, and live in Him. "He is our peace" (Eph. 2:14).
[In the world...tribulation.] Here our Lord tells the eleven, plainly and honestly, that they must expect trouble and persecution from the world. He does not conceal that the way to heaven is not smooth and strewn with flowers. On the contrary, "all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution" (2 Tim. 3:12). To keep back from young beginners in religion the cross and the battle is not teaching as Christ taught.
[But be of good cheer...world.] Here our Lord winds up all by bidding the disciples to take courage, cheer up, be confident, and go forward without fear. The world in which they lived was a vanquished enemy. He, their Master, had "overcome the world." This means, I believe, not merely that He had given them an example of successful fighting by overcoming the fear of the world and the flattery of the world, but something far more important. He had overcome the Prince of this world, and was just about to win His final victory over him on the cross. Hence His disciples must remember that they were contending with an enemy already sorely beaten. "Ye need not fear the world, because I am just leading captive its king, and about to triumph over him on the cross."
Luther, quoted by Besser, here remarks: "Thus is the 'goodnight' said, and the hand shaken. But very forcibly does He conclude with that very thing around which His whole discourse has turned. Let not your heart be troubled. Be of good cheer."
No devout commentator, I think, can leave this wonderful chapter without deeply feeling how little we understand the depths of Scripture. There are many words and sentences in it about which we can only give conjectures, and must admit our inability to speak positively. Nowhere in Scripture, I must honestly confess, do commentators appear to me to contribute so little light to the text as in their interpretation of this chapter.
John – Chap. 17
JOHN 17:1-8
When Jesus had finished saying these things, he looked upward to heaven and said, "Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, so that your Son may glorify you—just as you have given him authority over all humanity, so that he may give eternal life to everyone you have given him. Now this is eternal life—that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you sent. I glorified you on earth by completing the work you gave me to do.
And now, Father, glorify me at your side with the glory I had with you before the world was created.
"I have revealed your name to the men you gave me out of the world. They belonged to you, and you gave them to me, and they have obeyed your word. Now they understand that everything you have given me comes from you, because I have given them the words you have given me. They accepted them and really understand that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me.
These verses begin one of the most wonderful chapters in the Bible. It is a chapter in which we see our Lord Jesus Christ addressing a long prayer to God the Father. It is wonderful as a specimen of the communion that was ever kept up between the Father and the Son, during the period of the Son's ministry on earth.
It is wonderful as a pattern of the intercession which the Son, as a High Priest, is ever carrying on for us in heaven. Not least it is wonderful as an example of the sort of things that believers should mention in prayer. What Christ asks for His people, His people should ask for themselves. It has been well and truly said by an old divine, that "the best and fullest sermon ever preached was followed by the best of prayers."
It is needless to say that the chapter before us contains many deep things. It could hardly be otherwise. He that reads the words spoken by one Person of the blessed Trinity to another Person, by the Son to the Father, must surely be prepared to find much that he cannot fully understand, much that he has no line to fathom. There are sentences, words, and expressions, in the twenty-six verses of this chapter, which no one probably has ever unfolded completely.
We have not minds to do it, or to understand the matters it contains, if we could. But there are great truths in the chapter which stand out clearly and plainly on its face, and to these truths we shall do well to direct our best attention.
We should notice, firstly, in these verses, what a glorious account they contain of our Lord Jesus Christ's office and dignity. We read that the Father has "given Him power over all flesh, that He should give eternal life." The keys of heaven are in Christ's hands. The salvation of every soul of mankind is at His disposal. We read, furthermore, that "it is life eternal to know the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom He has sent." The mere knowledge of God is not sufficient, and saves none. We must know the Son as well as the Father. God known without Christ, is a Being whom we can only fear, and dare not approach. It is "God in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself," who alone can give to the soul life and peace. We read, furthermore, that Christ "has finished the work which the Father gave Him to do." He has finished the work of redemption, and wrought out a perfect righteousness for His people.
Unlike the first Adam, who failed to do God's will and brought sin into the world, the second Adam has done all, and left nothing undone that He came to do. Finally, we read that Christ "had glory with the Father before the world was." Unlike Moses and David, He existed from all eternity, long before He came into the world; and He shared glory with the Father, before He was made flesh and born of the Virgin Mary.
Each of these marvelous sayings contains matter which our weak minds have not power fully to comprehend. We must be content to admire and reverence what we cannot thoroughly grasp and explain.
But one thing is abundantly clear—sayings like these can only be used of one who is very God. To no patriarch, or prophet, or king, or apostle, is any such language ever applied in the Bible. It belongs to none but God.
Forever let us thank God that the hope of a Christian rests on such a solid foundation as a Divine Savior. He to whom we are commanded to flee for pardon, and in whom we are bid to rest for peace, is God as well as man. To all who really think about their souls, and are not careless and worldly, the thought is full of comfort.
Such people know and feel that great sinners need a great Savior, and that no mere human redeemer would meet their needs. Then let them rejoice in Christ, and lean back confidently on Him. Christ has all power, and is able to save to the uttermost, because Christ is divine. Office, power, and pre-existence, all combine to prove that He is God.
We should notice, secondly, in these verses, what a gracious account they contain of our Lord Jesus Christ's disciples.
We find our Lord Himself saying of them, "They have kept Your Word—they have known that all things You have given Me are of You
—they have received Your words—they have known surely that I came out from You—they have believed that You did send Me."
These are wonderful words when we consider the character of the eleven men to whom they were applied. How weak was their faith!
How slender their knowledge! How shallow their spiritual attainments! How faint their hearts in the hour of danger! Yet a very little time after Jesus spoke these words they all forsook Him and fled, and one of them denied Him three times with an oath. No one, in short, can read the four Gospels with attention, and fail to see that never had a great master such weak servants as Jesus had in the eleven apostles. Yet these very weak servants were the men of whom the gracious Head of the Church speaks here in high and honorable terms.
The lesson before us is full of comfort and instruction. It is evident that Jesus sees far more in His believing people than they see in themselves, or than others see in them. The least degree of faith is very precious in His sight. Though it be no bigger than a grain of mustard seed, it is a plant of heavenly growth, and makes a boundless difference between the possessor of it and the man of the