========================================================================
  JOHN, WHOM JESUS LOVED
  by James Culross
========================================================================

James Culross takes the apostle John in nine studies \u2014 the man, the
companion of Jesus, the apostle, the seer, the evangelist, the father writing
to his little children, the theologian, and his influence \u2014 closing with
an appendix on the traditions and legends that gathered about his name. Warm,
unhurried Victorian devotional biography from the author of \"Behold, I Stand
at the Door, and Knock.\

  Chapters: 11

------------------------------------------------------------------------
  TABLE OF CONTENTS
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    1. 01. PREFACE
    2. 02. Introductory
    3. 03. The Man
    4. 04. The Companion of Jesus
    5. 05. The Apostle
    6. 06. The Seer
    7. 07. The Evangelist
    8. 08. The Father and His Little Children
    9. 09. The Theologian
    10. 10. His Influence
    11. 11. Legends, Traditions, etc

========================================================================
  CHAPTER 1: 01. PREFACE
========================================================================

"AM the Vine; ye are the branches."

These words of Jesus say that we are dependent on Him for our Christian being.
They place our union to Him in a very remarkable light. It is not here—as in
the Epistle to the Romans (xi. 17—24)—that we have been "graffed" unto Him.
The branch is not "graffed" into the vine, but grows out of it. Even so, our
believer-life is but the outgrowth (so to speak) of the Eternal Life. The life
that was placed in the first Adam was lost in the Fall; the life that is in
the last Adam is immortal and sure. And it is in Him as life is in the vine-
root—which grows forth into living branches. Because there is a living vine-
root, there must be branches; and Christ the Living One must have His branches
also; and the endlessness of His life is security that ours shall be endless
too.

We know the vine by its branches. It is in them that the fruit is put forth
which shows the qualities vi

PREFACE.

and power of the life. We know Christ by His branches. We know Him in His
disciples, because in every one of them He liveth, and His fruit is found in
them. In such a man as the Apostle John, we see Him more fully than in common
saints; not merely by what he tells us—though that is much—but even more by
what he is, in his new being.

To regard the Apostle thus is not to make him an object of hero-worship—as
there are so many subtle and perilous temptations to do. This hero-worship is
a fashion of our age, and grows in the same soil with envy and detraction. Man
praises man, and God is robbed of His due. This, I believe, has not a little
to do with the decay of true reverence among us, and the debility of faith. It
tends also to divisions and alienations. We may not choose out even an Apostle
for such worship. Of all saints, perhaps, the Apostle John would have shrunk
from it the most sensitively, with the most earnest, See thou do it not! What
he was he owed to Christ, and hence could not accept glory for himself. Hence,
also, while shrinking from hero-worship, he would have stood forth
anywhere—albeit in a pillory—if he might thereby show the glory of his Lord
and Saviour more fully. To contribute to the exhibition of this glory is the
design of the things which follow. In so far as they are according to the
truth, may the Lord bless them.

![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg)

CONTENTS.

I.—INTRODUCTORY.

Manifestation of the Son of God. The Chosen Witnesses. What they had in
Common. Their Individuality. Breadth of Fitness ... ... ... ... ... ... 1

II.—THE MAN.

The Home of John. His General Character. Son of Thunder. "The Disciple whom
Jesus Loved." Greatness of Mind. Symbolized by the Eagle. An Example of
Christ's New-fashioning Power. John's Fitness for being a Witness ... 7

III.—THE COMPANION OF JESUS.

The Forerunner. John's First Meeting with Jesus. With Him in Galilee,
Jerusalem, and Samaria. "Follow Me." The Apostolic Appointment. His New Name.
Jairus' Daughter. The Transfiguration. "Who is Greatest?" "Shall we call down
Fire from Heaven?" "Thy Right Hand and Thy Left." Gethsemane and the Closing
Scenes. The Risen Life. ... ... ... 27

IV.—THE APOSTLE.

The Commission. John, the Associate of Peter in Jerusalem and Samaria.
Disappears from the History. Ephesus. Patmos. Close of his Life. ... ... ...
... 64 viii

CONTENTS.

V.—THE SEER.

PAGE

The Book of Revelation. Difference between it and John's other Writings. The
Vision of the Lord. Patmos. The Seven Churches. The Apocalypse the one
Prophetic Book of the New Testament. Schools of Interpretation. Structure of
the Book ... ... ... ... 84

VI.—THE EVANGELIST.

The Gospel of John. The battle-field of the New Testament. Relation to the
other Gospels. Characteristics and Contents. How it impresses different Men.
The Prologue. Exposition of the Prologue ... ... ... ... 98

VII.—THE FATHER AND HIS LITTLE CHILDREN.

John's Epistles. Condition of those to whom the First Epistle was sent.
"Knowledge." Opinions as to the Person of the Redeemer. The Epistle itself.
The "Elect Lady" and the Second Epistle. Gaius and the Third Epistle ... 145

VIII.—THE THEOLOGIAN.

The New Testament Writings. Different Modes of presenting the same Truth.
John's Starting-point. The Word. Manifested humanly. Sphere of the
Manifestation. Its Character and Purpose. The Holy Spirit. "For Judgment am I
come." Sinning and not Sinning. Faith and Unbelief. Standing of Believers. The
Future. ... 176

IX.—HIS INFLUENCE.

On Christian Thought. Christian Philosophy. The Origin and Nurture of the New
Life. Faith, Love, Hope. The Early Ages. The Dark Ages. Mysticism. The
Reformation. The Present. Influence of John's Personality. Results of Studying
his Writings... ... ... 208

Legends, Traditions, etc. ... ... ... ... 229

![img-2.jpeg](img-2.jpeg)

JOHN, WHOM JESUS LOVED.

I.

========================================================================
  CHAPTER 2: 02. Introductory
========================================================================

MANIFESTATION OF THE SON OF GOD. THE CHOSEN WITNESSES. WHAT THEY HAD IN
COMMON. THEIR INDIVIDUALITY. BREADTH OF FITNESS.

![img-3.jpeg](img-3.jpeg)

THE central fact of History is the manifestation of the Son of God in the
flesh. Even those who deny His higher nature must admit that His appearing is
the new-beginning of the ages, and has been fruitful of the richest
consequences to mankind. His brief sojourn on earth, as narrated in the four
Gospels, exhibits a perfect love, combined with perfect truth and
righteousness, which men had not even imaged to themselves as possible.

In His presence sin becomes exceeding sinful, and holiness exceeding lovely.
He is the faultless Type of humanity; the "Express Image," in our nature, of
the invisible God; the Revealer of heavenly things; the Redeemer from evil;
the Founder and King of a new creation; the Dispenser of the Holy Spirit; the
Life from

CHRIST'S CHOSEN WITNESSES.

whom all life flows, and by whom it is sustained. The Secret of nature,
providence, and grace, is unlocked in Him, "for whom are all things." It is a
mighty step taken when I exchange my barren abstraction of "Deity" for the I
AM of the Old Testament; it is a still mightier when I see the I AM livingly
in Jesus Christ, the blessed Saviour.

During His brief and lowly transit through mortal life, glorifying the Father
and bearing the burden of our salvation, comparatively few eyes were drawn to
Him; and even of these few, many "seeing, saw not:" the place He occupied was
that of a Stranger, whom the world did not know (John i. 10; xii. 37; xvi. 3;
1 John iii. 1). That all the ends of the earth, and all ages, might receive
tidings of Him, He chose certain followers, and received them into the inner
circle of communion, men who should hear His words, see His works, witness the
disclosures of His glory, become penetrated with His light, receive the
impress of His personality; and who in turn should declare, with human lips,
what they had seen and heard, and show, in human life, the Eternal Life which
was with the Father, and was manifested unto them: an infinitely more gracious
thing for us in these after-ages, more suited to the needs both of our
intellect and heart, than if He had merely left behind Him some stereotyped
book setting forth in naked abstractness what we must believe and do.

Because He Himself was so truly and deeply *the Wonderful*, it was necessary
that His witnesses, who were also to be the future organs of His Spirit,
should be men of broadly varied nature; not copies of one another, like images
of clay cast in kindred mould—God's moulds are numberless—but differing in
mental constitution, experience, spiritual affinities, and faculty of vision.
No single man could take in His full image, or apprehend, in its completeness
and unity and infinite reaches of application, the truth revealed

THEIR FITNESS.

in Him ; and therefore the “chosen witnesses” were many and many-natured. And
farther, as no single flower, receiving from the sun and giving back in
brightness and beauty what it receives, can show forth, by its dyes, all that
is in the sunlight—as it takes the whole bloom of the year to do so, from the
first snowdrop that pierces the dark earth to the latest flower of autumn—so
He needed them all for the adequate forth telling of His holy personality. The
fact of inspiration does not render their testimony one whit the less accurate
expression of their personal knowledge and experience.

We naturally look for what may be called *spiritual congruity* between the
truths which God reveals and the instrument through which the revelation is
made. The messenger is not a mere speaking-trumpet, filled with the breath of
God. Rather, a man of like passions with ourselves, with his individual mental
endowments, his moral susceptibilities, his special experience and faculties
of utterance, is made the living, throbbing vehicle of revelation.*

Taking the band that followed Jesus as a whole, we find in them (speaking
reverently) great breadth of fitness for the Lord’s purposes. He who chooseth
the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, ever chooseth in wisdom
that is heavenly and perfect. Certain elements of fitness they had in common.
With one exception, they were Galileans, marked by native robustness and a
certain “*ingenium perfervidum*.” They were all drawn from the ranks of
practical life, or (to use an Old Testament phrase) were “chosen out of the
people”—as so many of the “worthies” of Israel had been before them. They were

* *R.g.*, to use a very homely illustration, for Balaam’s ass to have uttered
some spiritual truth would have been out of keeping with God’s whole way of
communicating with man, and would have discredited the narrative.

WHAT THEY HAD IN COMMON.

no dreamers or visionaries, but men accustomed to the use of their senses and
reason in every-day affairs. They stood at as great a remove as can easily be
conceived from the enthusiasm of the flesh and the subtleties of the schools.
They were men of singular sobriety of mind. If they were "unlearned and
ignorant," it was not in the sense of being uneducated—particularly in
spiritual things—but merely in the sense of being untrained in rabbinic
discipline and lore—unversed in the artificial culture of the time. As
witnesses of the Divine manifestation in Christ Jesus, this was no loss to
them, but rather gain; for there is a wisdom that blinds and causes to
stumble. Their want of "learning" left them more free and unsophisticated; in
a healthier condition mentally; with no ingenious theories to which facts must
adapt themselves; with simpler and purer eyesight.

The very nature of the employment which most of them had pursued—that of
fishermen tended to make them at once observant, cautious, hardy, and patient.
They were also removed to a considerable extent, both by place and manner of
life, from Pharisaic and Sadducean influences; and to that extent were better
prepared to welcome the Consolation of Israel. Humanly speaking, no class in
the land could have furnished men with larger fitness for being the companions
and witnesses of the Son of God.

Besides what they had in common, there were also among them the strongest and
most distinctly-marked peculiarities, fitting them to discern different
aspects and elements of the Lord's manifestation of Himself, and to fulfil
different forms of service; just as in the Church to-day we see various graces
which together present a fuller collective image of the Lord than is found in
any single saint, or as we hear various notes in her song which together make
up a full chord.

THEIR INDIVIDUALITY.

I need but name Peter—rapid, sanguine, practical, penetrated with the flame of
zeal and love; James and John, the sons of thunder; the other James, surnamed
“the Just,” to whom the helm of the Church in Jerusalem was first committed,
with his bold ethical nature, judicial intellect, and faculty of government;
Thomas, cautious and scrutinizing, slow to take things on trust, demanding the
full satisfaction of his reason, the very last man to be imposed upon by his
likings; Matthew the publican, the writer of the Gospel that bears his name,
sublimely content to be hidden behind his Lord; Simon the zealot, bearing his
publican-brother pleasant company; Nathanael, the Israelite indeed, in whom
was no guile; Judas, the brother of James, whose Epistle startles like an
alarm-bell rung at midnight; and even Judas Iscariot, with his plausible face,
and keen, calculating eye, ready to detect fault in Jesus, had fault
existed—the devil’s representative beside the Holy One—haunting Him like a
black shadow, and finally bearing testimony of supremest value to the
“Innocent Blood,” albeit the testimony of despair.*

Some of the twelve indeed are names to us, and nothing more; but judging from
those of them whom

* In reference to the apostleship of Judas, certain questions are eagerly
pressed. If Jesus knew all men, was He deceived in Judas? If not deceived, why
did He call him? When He discovered his true character, why did He not dismiss
him? In view of such questions, it is to be noted (1) that he attached himself
to Jesus as a disciple before he was made an apostle; and for his profession
of discipleship he is himself responsible; (2) that, being a professed
disciple, Jesus appointed him to be one of the twelve; (3) that Jesus, on whom
no mock-faith could impose, knew what manner of man he was; and (4) that his
testimony in favour of Jesus, in its own place, and within its own limits, is
as valuable as that of any. Had there been fault in Jesus, he was the man to
find it out and tell it; indeed there was the strongest possible reason why he
should have told it, to quiet his own conscience and justify his conduct. Not
one of the twelve has borne more distinct testimony to the truth—vital to the
Christian system—that Jesus is the Sinless One.

THE APOSTOLIC BAND.

we know, we are justified in regarding the apostolic band as embracing a wide
variety (even to antithesis) of constitutional character, each man from his
peculiar standing-point, sympathies, faculties of mind, and spiritual
affinities, finding in Jesus something different from what the others found,
and expressing it in his testimony and life.

In the Lord Himself, as has been often pointed out, all was comprehended in a
holy unity; but as the ray of light divides itself into its colours, so that
one light which beamed forth from Him fell in variously modified splendour
into the hearts of the Apostles. Thus it became possible that not only a few
men, but all, according to their wants and capacities, should be partakers of
the knowledge of Christ; the very diversities among the twelve giving breadth
and comprehensiveness to their testimony.

![img-4.jpeg](img-4.jpeg)

II.

========================================================================
  CHAPTER 3: 03. The Man
========================================================================

THE HOME OF JOHN. HIS GENERAL CHARACTER. SON OF THUNDER.

"THE DISCIPLE WHOM JESUS LOVED." GREATNESS OF MIND.

SYMBOLIZED BY THE EAGLE. AN EXAMPLE OF CHRIST'S NEW-

FASHIONING POWER. JOHN'S FITNESS FOR BEING A WITNESS.

If the band that followed Jesus the Apostle John was one of the earliest and
most notable members. His individuality is as strongly marked as that of any.
This individuality, sanctified and unfolded by Divine grace, fitted him to be
a witness of certain aspects of the Lord's life, to receive and treasure up a
certain class of His sayings, and to elucidate certain special truths of the
profoundest order, beyond any other of the twelve.

We must endeavour, in the outset, to know *the man*. This is as important in
some respects as to know the language in which he wrote his testimony. In
calling him to be a follower, and in making him an organ of His Spirit, the
Lord did not destroy or suppress his individuality, but used it; as, if one
should send a message by a lisping child, the lisp will be heard in the
delivery of the message; or as, when Moses' face shone, or Stephen wore as it
had been the face of an angel, the men were still them-

BIRTH-PLACE OF JOHN.

selves.* This is the Lord's way with His own throughout. While they are all
taken up with Him into heavenly places, there is no dead monotony of character
produced; each wears a grace peculiar to himself; each is Christ-like after
his own order.

So with this man. It is indeed no longer he that lives, but Christ that liveth
in him. The Christ-life pours through all the channels and works all the
machinery of his being. But he has not ceased to be John. The original texture
of his nature abides. He has lost nothing; rather he is become more simply,
truly, characteristically, profoundly, essentially *himself*—himself, purified
and exalted. The record he gives us of the Word of Life, being the record of
what entered the most deeply into his own heart, and was most his own joy,
will be correspondingly different from that given by any other.

His form will stand out more distinctly to our eye if we call up the outward
circumstances. When we first meet him, he is young; perhaps not far beyond his
twentieth year,—if indeed he has reached it. He belongs to the fishing village
of Bethsaida, on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee, near where the
swift and milk like Jordan enters. The whole region wears a quiet beauty of
its own,† and must have been still more charming in New Testament days. The
sea itself—twelve full miles in length by nearly seven in breadth, formed by
the widening of the river, and lying almost seven hundred feet below the level
of the

* "God, when He makes the prophet, does not unmake the man."—*Locke*.

† "I have an ancient love for the mere features of a lake, and so, forgetting
all else when I reached the summit, I looked away eagerly to the eastward.
There she lay, the Sea of Galilee. Less stern than Wastwater—less fair than
gentle Windermere—she had still the winning ways of an English lake; she
caught from the smiling heavens unceasing light and changeful phases of
beauty."—*Eothen*.

THE SEA OF GALILEE.

Mediterranean*—is a beautiful expanse of clear, shining water, transparent to
considerable depths. Viewed from different points and at different times, it
is now a deep blue mirror among the mountains, now lustrous and glittering in
the sunbeams like molten silver, now a sea of glass, as it were mingled with
fire, now varying under every changeful gleam like an opal set in emeralds.

In shape it is rather harp-like† than oval. The beach is in parts pebbly,‡ in
parts sandy, and of pearly whiteness, owing to the presence of innumerable
fine shells; elsewhere it is covered with big, rough stones. The silent shore
behind, stretching out here and there into small, irregular plains, is belted
with a jungle of oleanders and other shrubs and bushes, and contains some rich
corn-lands. On the eastern side the treeless hills, scarred with ravines, have
a desolate and mournful look.§ Those on the west swell up pleasantly from the
shore; and if they are not bold and romantic, neither are they tame. The snowy
top of the Hermon range rises majestically in the distance like a mighty
guardian of the northern frontier.

Orange, citron, myrtle, and date-trees, are still to be found; and the
wandering foot crushes fragrance from many a lowly herb. Birds of bright
plumage frequent the shores, and over the waters of the lake many sea-fowl dip
the wing. Visitors tell how, as night gives place to morning, the sudden note
of a lark will ring out, silvery and joyous, as if from the very midst of the
stars, waking a con-

* 682·554. Lieut. Kitchener's measurement; Palestine Exploration Survey.

† Hence called "Chinnereth"—from the Hebrew word for "lyre" or "harp."

‡ Flint, jasper, chalcedony, and agate.

§ "The eastern shore is destitute of verdure, and consists of a bright-red
naked precipice, whose picturesquely solemn expression enhances the splendour
of the blue mirror."—Tischendorf.

HIS FATHER AND MOTHER.

cert all along the shore and back to the hills. The sunrise and sunset tints,
opal and purple, are wonderful; and so are the contrasts of light and deep
shadow. "God," said the Rabbins, "loved that sea beyond all other seas." All
around there now-broods (to use Gibbon's phrase) "a mournful and solitary
silence." But in New Testament days the stir of busy life was everywhere.
Villages nestled in the green valleys, were perched upon the heights, lay
scattered along the shores; everywhere "great multitudes of people" might
readily be gathered together.

Though mingled with lower and impurer elements, a "deathless trust" in the
Invisible and the Future still survived in this secluded region, at least in
some lowly, God-taught hearts; and great spiritual ideas struggled amidst
narrowness and darkness.

It was here that the youth of the Apostle John was spent. His father, Zebedee,
was a fisherman, with boats of his own, employing hired servants. His mother,
Salome, was one of the Galilean women who followed Jesus, and ministered to
Him of their substance. The family seem to have lived in comfort, if not in
comparative wealth. There is ground for surmising some bond of connection -
possibly some tie of blood - with the mother of Jesus; it may be that Salome
was Mary's sister.* I picture to myself a pious and happy Hebrew home, a
dwelling of the righteous, wherein

* It is not by express statement, but by a comparison of passages, that Salome
is known as the wife of Zebedee and mother of James and John. By a similar
comparison of passages it is inferred as not improbable that Salome was the
sister of Mary. The Evangelists Matthew and Mark show us Mary the mother of
Jesus, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome - these four-
standing near the cross of Jesus. John gives us Mary the mother of Jesus, and
His mother's sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene. Had Mary
the mother of Jesus a sister also called Mary? If not, who is this unnamed
woman, "His mother's sister"? Is it not Salome? (See Matt. xxvii. 56; Mark xv.
40; John xix. 25.)

EARLY TRAINING.

was daily heard the melody of joy and health—the inmates united both by
natural affection and holy bonds of spirit, —the mother a woman who knew how
to nurture her greatly-gifted sons.

School-days being ended, the lads are employed with their father on the sea. A
fisherman's life is somewhat silent, fitted to nurture habits of
thoughtfulness, independence, and patience; and such a life they are inured to
from their boyhood. Every year after the age of twelve, they go up to
Jerusalem for the great festivals, before and after harvest and after the
vintage, carrying offerings with them to present before the Lord, and bringing
back thoughts, and yearnings, and perplexities, and musings, kindled by what
they heard and saw on their visits.

Their education would be of the simplest kind. Much of it would go on under
the midnight sky and the stars, as they lay out all night on the sea in their
fishing boats. The law, the history of Israel, the prophecies, the wondrous
Psalms of David, form the literature in which their minds are steeped. It is a
time of strange and wistful expectation, even beyond the limits of the chosen
people, with powerful and deep-reaching though mysterious influences for all
"men of desires;" for the Desire of all nations is at hand, and the God-
inspired yearnings of ages are about to be met.

To most of us—for long, if not all our lives—the Apostle John dwells apart, in
a dim, solemn region of mystery; and his figure looms forth faint and
indistinct, as through a haze. He seems to look out upon us with gentle,
dreamy eyes—a man of meditative calmness and repose, intensely intuitional,
speaking in words of childlike, mystic simpleness, whose drift and scope
baffle our logical methods to apprehend. With a kind of vague intention we are
content to call him "the Apostle of Love," while his meaning floats before us
in twilight and distance.

LANGUAGE AND THOUGHT.

As our life in God deepens, we begin to perceive that, while the image of the
Lord mirrors itself in him, as the sky mirrors itself in the depths of the
Galilean sea, he is no mere passive and idle recipient of light, no mere
reflecting surface, but a great, loving, deeply-spiritual soul, all aglow with
adoration, and enthusiasm, and delight, and ever-living wonder, absorbed with
the Lord, and resting in the calm assurance of His favour. As when one gazes
with speculative eye into the star-lit azure, piercing far into its deep
immensity, so (spiritually) does this man gaze into the depths of Christ, with
the gaze of love.

As he appears before us ultimately in his writings, he exhibits no signs of
doubt and conflict and struggle, of suspicion or cloudings of fear; these (if
they ever were) lie behind him: "the darkness is past, and the true light now
shineth."

His language is extremely simple. He does not dispute or reason: he "shows,"
"testifies," "bears witness," "declares what he has seen and heard;" in short,
decisive sentences that bear in their very brevity "the stamp of grandeur."

There is nothing obscure in his thoughts; while fathomlessly deep, they are
always crystal-clear and untroubled. It is their clear depth that at once
charms, fascinates, and baffles us.

Like all men of true, powerful, and loving nature—yea, like the Lamb
Himself—he is capable of vehement and burning anger, as when volcanic fires
burst through the rich and fertile slopes of Vesuvius or Etna. This
characteristic shows itself—very mistakenly indeed, and so as to need
rebuke—in his proposal to call down fire from heaven on the Samaritan village
that would not receive Jesus. It shows itself also—so as not to need
rebuke—very largely throughout his writings, breathing, as has been remarked,
through the most quiet speech. Nowhere else, save from

TRUTH.

the lips of Incarnate Mercy, do we find such awful words launched against sin:
all the more terrible that they are so very calm, and so evidently proceed
from a tender and loving heart.

Because he speaks so much of love, he has frequently been pictured as one of
those shrinking and yielding natures, deficient in nerve and stamina, unfit
for the battle-strife, that are left at home to comfort the women and
children; whereas, in reality, though gentle as a child, he carries in his
bosom the germ of all strength and heroism; and the volume and force of his
being are as remarkable as its quality.

He is not in the least sentimental. Nowhere does he exhibit trace or taint of
that false "liberality" which bids truth and lie shake hands and be friends,
or judicially binds them over to keep the peace; far less of that "philosophic
breadth" which places Jesus Christ, Zoroaster, Sakya-Mouni, Mahomet (and why
not by-and-by Joseph Smith?) in the same Pantheon. He is full of the grand
intolerance of love; incapable of compromise or truce with falsehood, however
mighty or loftily throned.* If a man come and bring not the doctrine of
Christ, whosoever biddeth him God-speed is partaker of his evil deeds.† (2
John 10, 11.)

* There is a legitimate place for compromise, but it is not the realm of
truth. Take an illustration which keeps clear of all theological complication.
One man says, *Five times six are thirty*. Another says, *Five times six are
twenty-eight*. Our liberal friend steps forward, and says, *Come now, don't
fight about it; you must love one another; split the difference, and say, Five
times six are twenty-nine*. Even in arithmetical discussions, men should show
a right spirit, and not be overbearing or selfish or bitter; they are all the
likelier to arrive at truth in this way: but compromise is no step toward
truth—does not even lie on the road to it at all.

† "The vague cloudy men are always talking against intolerance. Why, our very
calling is to be intolerant; intolerant of proved error and known sin. The
evil is, that we are not intolerant enough; though, at the same time, we are
not benevolent enough. A man however must have a clear eye and a large heart,
before he has a right to be intolerant, either

A "SON OF THUNDER."

He never puts himself forward in the sight of others, challenging observation,
but yet is ever found by his Master's side in the hour of danger, quietly, and
as of course; one of those who willingly offered themselves, and who did not
turn back in the day of battle.

Thus, on the night of betrayal, after the first alarm and forsaking, he
closely follows Jesus from the garden, goes in along with Him to the place of
trial and judgment, and never for a moment falls away from Him or flinches.
Peter too follows, but afar off, and takes his place with the officers and
servants, as if he belonged to their company; and in that "afar off" lay his
weakness and danger. John goes in "with" Jesus, quietly, and as a simple
matter of course; and in this very cleaving to the Lord lay his safety.

Again, at the crucifixion, he held his station near the cross of his Master
all day, a witness of His dreadful sufferings; exhibiting that rarest form of
courage, which so few even of strong men are capable of the courage to stand
still and look upon the sufferings of a beloved friend, protracted and
intensifying from hour to hour, which we can do nothing whatever to relieve.
Ah, it takes courage of the loftiest order for that!

In the list of the Twelve Apostles, we read that Jesus surnamed John a "Son of
Thunder." Granted the native force—the passion—that lay at the basis of his
character, the name does not mark something that grace was to eradicate; it is
his new and true name, given by the Discerner of hearts; even as the name
Peter, Man of Rock, is the new and true name given to Simon the son of Jonas.

towards concrete error or concrete sin."—Colloquia Peripatetica; Dr. John
Duncan.

"Thou knowest the serpent cunning of this liberal spirit. It is killing our
children; it has already slain its tens of thousands: this city is sick unto
death, and dying of the mortal wounds which she hath received from it."—

Edward Irving.

SUGGESTION OF THE NAME.

In the light of the after-history, it may appear to some that the name is
scarcely appropriate. So calm as he is, so gentle, so loving—

“The human-hearted man we loved”— he is about the last whom we would liken to
thunder: we think rather of the still small voice that speaks from the hush
when the tempest has ceased. The incongruity, however, springs from a
misapprehension on our part of the meaning and suggestion of the name. It does
not point to human vehemence, or anything that partakes of the “wrath of man;”
what wrath there is, is like that of Him who wept over Jerusalem, which is
infinitely awful by reason of being “the wrath of the Lamb.” In the Old
Testament, by which the name must be interpreted, the thunder is the voice of
Jehovah,* pealing amidst solemn darkness from the sky, abrupt, crashing,
following no rhythmical laws for the human ear, with mystic intimations for
the conscience, the transient

* It is the voice of God, not by some superstitious misinterpretation which
modern science abolishes, but as all nature is a medium for conveying Divine
meanings and monitions to the human heart. The hearing depends on the
particular ear. To him who is in sympathy with heaven, every natural sound has
some vibration within the breast; as, to the unsealed eye,—

And every common bush afire with God.**

I give the following fragment of child-experience in illustration of this
point. In a small country village, a young boy was left at home one Sabbath
morning, with strict charge from his parents to avoid the company of some rude
and bad children in the neighbourhood. These children sought him out however,
and succeeded in enticing him to go with them and join in their amusements.
They found their way together to a small reedy lake about half a mile off,
surrounded by larches and dark firs, with water lilies and many small silver-
budded flowers brightening its surface. It was a warm summer day, and they had
played some time, when a strange silence fell ominously around, the lake grew
inky black, and all of a sudden a peal of thunder broke and rattled overhead.
It was the voice of the living God to the young boy. It told his conscience of
his sin, as plainly as if in articulate words. Full of anguish and terror, he
ran home, and could not stay his

HIS PERSONALITY.

revelation of majestic and eternal power. In some sense John represents this
"voice of the Lord." (Job xxxvii. 1—5; Psalm xxix.)

It is not the mere loudness of the sound that is to be thought of—the noise of
an empty waggon passing over the stony street may be louder: it is the soul-
awakening power, the solemn majesty. From the bosom of the cloud the flash
darts forth, swift, bright, intense, resistless; followed by the voice which
appeals to the soul, finding her in her most secret chambers. This is what I
think of when John is called a son of thunder; and I find the name justified
both in his personality and in the light and power of his writings.*
Personally he is no weak and shallow nature, deficient in force, straitened of
understanding, concerning himself with pious trivialities, talking about love
(the most sovereign thing in the universe) in a sweet and feeble monotone; he
is powerful, grand, and energetic. The merely passionate man is borne away by
impulses of the flesh; his urgencies are the feverish urgencies of the flesh.
This "Son of Thunder" has his inspiration from heaven. His thought comes to us
sudden, unexpected, bright as a flash of lightning; he speaks to us in a voice
having no sign of the perturbations of earthly passion in it, that seems to
come with a sovereign tone, from the upper sky, startling souls that are held
in a "dead sleep," and oft-times melting down as into glad echoes.

sobbing, till, with his cheek leaning against his mother's bosom, he confessed
his fault and sought forgiveness. The incident may serve to show how God can
speak to consciences by His thunder, even in the nineteenth century, when so
many intellects, misreading the glorious teachings of science, incline towards
the cold conclusion, "Here's law! Where's God?"

* "Cujus vita fulgor, ejus verba tonitrua." Take the opening paragraph of his
Gospel, "In the beginning was the Word:" three men so different as Chrysostom,
Augustine, and Bengel remark, "Hear how he thunders!" "John has opened his
words as it were with a burst of thunder!" "This is the thunder brought down
to us by a son of thunder!"

THE BELOVED DISCIPLE.

I cannot altogether agree with the often quoted representation of Chrysostom,
"He has filled the whole earth with his voice, not by its mighty
reverberations, but by the Divine grace which dwelt upon his lips. That which
is most admirable is, that this great voice is neither harsh nor violent, but
soft and melting as harmonious music." It seems to me there are as awful,
thunder-like things in John, as awfully said, stopping the very beat of the
hearer's heart, as anywhere in Scripture.

The name that we oftenest call him by, is "*the disciple whom Jesus loved*."
One would rather be known thus than even as Enoch, who "walked with God." If
"Son of Thunder" is a magnificent name, this is inexpressibly winsome. We
picture him to ourselves in the attitude in which the Evangelists represent
him at the last supper, seated nearest the Lord, and leaning on His bosom,
enjoying His closest intimacies. It does not appear that either Jesus or any
of the disciples made use of this name; it is not found in any of the other
Gospels; it is the name which *he himself assumes*. It does not occur for the
first time until the very close of the Lord's ministry, on the evening of the
betrayal; when he has occasion to refer to himself earlier, he is merely
"another disciple."

To understand the name, we must know something of the love of Jesus Himself.
Just as He hungered and thirsted, and was weary, and sorrowed, and wept, and
marvelled, and rejoiced—so He loved; with a love as real as our own. Like all
love that is true and deep, it had not only its tenderness and clemency, but
also its graver looks, and faithful wounds, and far-purposed severities; its
summons to self denial and cross-bearing and forsaking of all that a man hath;
its grand "*Follow Me*," as it went forward to its sacrifice; yea, "as many as
I love I rebuke and chasten." Among the little band of the disciples, He
walked as the

THE LOVE OF JESUS.

Elder Brother. He never sided with their sin, nor passed it lightly by because
it was in *them*; He rejoiced in their holiness; He bare their burdens; He
restored them in the spirit of meekness; He shrank from no suffering in their
behalf; He “prevented” them with the blessings of goodness; He girded Himself
as a servant to wash their feet; He summoned them to dangers, yea, sent them
forth as sheep into the midst of wolves.

One special and crowning quality His love had—that of constancy. Human love
faileth; it finds flaws in its object, and is disenchanted; it meets
ingratitude, and is soured; it decays through absence and distance; the world
frowns, and it falls off from our side; a wind comes from the wilderness, and
blows it out. But the love of Jesus was faithful and constant; many waters
could not quench it, and no floods drown it. Having loved His own who were in
the world, He loved them unto the end.

The love of Jesus toward His disciples was not a kind of vague benevolence,
smiling alike on all: it had discrimination; and His heart went out specially
to John. The rest of the twelve were no losers by this, for in truly and
ardently loving *one* friend, I have not the less of love to give to others,
but the more. A heart does not, as if it were a cup, contain just so much of
love, which must be divided into shares, each becoming smaller as they are
multiplied—and something always spilt in the dividing. Every elder brother
knows that the true love of one is at once an education and a security for
more deeply loving all. The love of Jesus toward John was more than “common
friendship,” such as grew “wild” in human society; it was friendship in its
most exalted form. What it did for him, what joy it brought with it, what it
was to him as a memory, we must ourselves taste the love in order that we may
understand. I do not think that we are warranted to resolve

WHAT IT MADE JOHN.

it into a case of sovereignty of which no account can be given; far less of
capricious favouritism. We must look for those qualities and characteristics
whereon the love of the Son of God rested; for, as human love is justified by
the qualities, real or supposed, of our friend—as John himself loved the elect
lady and her children, for the truth's sake which dwelt in them—so here.

These qualities are nowhere catalogued in a formal way, and we are left to
discover them from what we know of the Lord Himself. They must have been
qualities in which He could take delight, such as the tender and delicate
sensibility of the Apostle's nature, his profound and pure affectionateness,
his childlike simplicity, as if you looked through crystal windows into his
soul, the deep truthfulness of his spirit, his ultimate gentleness and
holiness, his reverence, his heroic faith and strength of character, his
capacity for meeting and returning the love of which he was the object with
undivided heart, and the grand sea-like largeness of his nature that could
take in sublimest vision disclosed to him.

It is nothing against this that these qualities were of Divine creation in
him, ripening through his intercourse with the Holy One. This is fully true;
the very love that was shown him made him lovable; beholding the glory as of
the Only-begotten of the Father, he was changed into His likeness; he could
say as fervently as the Apostle Paul, "By the grace of God I am what I am:"
but none the less was his lovableness real and attractive to the heart of
Jesus. Just as the painter who expresses on canvas some vision that has risen
up before his inner eye,—or as the musician who hears in his soul some grand
piece of music, like a bar or two of the

"Undisturbed song of pure concent,"

"AT A SOLEMN MUSICK."—*Milton.*

FREEDOM FROM SELF-CONSCIOUSNESS.

and sings it forth with his own voice, and in his own hearing only,—has
delight in it altogether apart from the thought of its being his own creation,
so could Jesus love this man, although the lovableness was due to Himself.

The fact that it is John himself who uses the name, as he does again and again
in his Gospel, brings into view his beautiful and childlike humility. A self-
conscious man never would have ventured to do it, lest he should be charged
with claiming distinction and honour for himself above his fellow-disciples.
With finest lowliness of mind, he utters no disclaimer of merit—makes no
formal protestation of unworthiness that such love should have been his—does
not feel it necessary to do so. To my mind, the humility of fearlessly using
the name is as touching as when the Apostle Paul calls himself “less than the
least of all saints,” or remembers how he was of sinners the “chief.” The
glory of his beloved Lord lighted up and beautified the countenance of John,
as well as penetrated his soul; and he thought no more about it than a child
unconscious of the grace of its own movements or the lustre of its eye, or as
when Moses “wist not that the skin of his face shone.” All he thought of was
the blissfulness of being loved with a love so pure and wonderful.

Another aspect of the man is seen in the request preferred by his mother
Salome, but acquiesced in by himself, that he and his brother might sit, the
one on the Lord’s right hand, and the other on His left, in His kingdom. With
something of heartless pertinacity, commentators ground upon this request
accusations which they fail to prove, and oftener reveal their own low
thoughts than enter into the spirit of the two disciples. As the story is told
in the Gospels, I do not read “selfish ambition” in it, nor “immense egotism,”
nor a “proud contempt of others,” nor a “proof of the weakness and wickedness
of human

"AT THY RIGHT HAND AND THY LEFT."

nature," nor a violation by "that woman" and her sons of the primary
conditions of brotherhood. On the contrary, I read John's faith in Jesus as
the "King most wonderful," his love to Him, his high-hearted fortitude, and
desire for the glory that He alone gives.

We wrong the man by detaching his request from its historical connection, and
inventing a connection of our own for it. It is like the buying of land at
full price in Rome, when the city was in the power of an enemy. The Lord had
just foretold, in vivid and awful terms, His approaching sufferings—how He
should be condemned, mocked, scourged, spit upon, crucified, and the third day
should rise again. No words could have been plainer. It is at this moment, in
connection with this announcement, and not knowing what the "rising" on the
third day might mean, that the brothers ask places at His right hand and His
left, in His glory.

What if they remember His large and varied teaching about exaltation in the
kingdom of heaven? What if they understand, however dimly, that the greatest
greatness is that which can bear to be despised and rejected of men—that the
chiefest power is that of suffering love? What if they understand, however
dimly, that all greatness under Him is held in like manner—that all power
under Him is like-conditioned? What if their desire on this occasion has been
quickened into energy by His very prediction of the cross, and is kin to that
of Paul, "that I may know . . . the fellowship of His sufferings, being made
conformable unto His death, if by any means I may attain unto the resurrection
from the dead"? When it is put to them, they hold themselves prepared to
suffer with Him to drink of His cup and to be baptized with His baptism,
sharing His sufferings of both kinds, inward and outward. It is true they knew
not what was involved in their request, and the

GREATNESS OF MIND.

means of its accomplishment, and the Lord tells them so—who knows all that
lies in his own prayers?—but the Lord reads their sincerity of heart, and
accepts them, and they shall learn afterwards, in good time, how deep and
serious their word was.

It is noticeable that while Jesus explains that places in glory are given by
the Father to those for whom they are “prepared,” He does not blame the
ambition of the brothers, but rather their ignorance. I am far from saying
that unworthier thoughts were not present in their minds; I cannot justify
them; yet neither can I join in the sweeping assertions which ascribe to them
a mere selfish and vulgar ambition, as if they were trying to drag down others
from their seats and to mount in their stead.* I do not think they could have
brought *that*, in the manner they did, under the eye of the meek and lowly
One. Ambition there is; but I would venture to call it noble, though as yet
untaught in the highest truth: not that soiled and unholy thing, the selfish
lust of power or of human admiration—the thirst of fame, which is well nigh as
base as the thirst of gold; but that *greatness of mind*, princely and heroic,
which the Lord Himself creates, and to which He makes appeal, as when He
promises His apostles to sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of
Israel—when He tells that the faithful servant shall have dominion over many
things—or when He says, “If any man serve Me, *him will My Father honour.*”

We shall not know the Apostle John till we recognize his “high humility,” his
noble ambition to be great, seated by the side of the suffering King in His
glory. Were we more Christlike, we should be able to enter more
sympathetically into this aspect of his Christianhood. The spirit

* “It may be that an action displeases us, which would please us if we knew
its true aim and whole extent.”—*Letter of Meta Klopstock*.

THE EAGLE.

of simple contentment with lowly things is of Christ's giving (and is one of
His most precious gifts)—as in the shepherd-boy in the Valley of Humiliation,
wearing the herb called *heart's-ease* in his bosom, who sang—

"He that is down need fear no fall,

He that is low no pride ;

He that is humble ever shall

Have God to be his Guide."

But so too is the princely spirit, that aspires after the glory that cometh
from God. The evil thing in high or low is selfishness.

In the ancient Church he was symbolized as the flying eagle, "kindling her
undazzled eyes at the full mid-day beam." He rises to loftier heights
spiritually than any other of the New Testament writers; further still above
clouds and earth-born mists; and ever looks and points upwards to the
"heavenly places." As Augustine says, speaking of the four Gospels, "While the
three Evangelists remained below with the Man Christ Jesus, and spoke but
little of His Godhead, John, as though impatient of treading the earth, rose
from the very first words of his Gospel, not only above the bounds of earth
and air and sky, but above the angels and celestial powers, into the very
presence of Him by whom all things were made."

Even physically, he is the eagle-eyed. Not to refer to the Book of Revelation,
this is illustrated notably in three incidents recorded in his Gospel. On the
evening of the crucifixion day, the Jews besought Pilate that the bodies
should not remain on the cross during the Sabbath; and accordingly the
soldiers came and brake the legs of the two who were crucified with Jesus; but
when they found that He was dead already, they brake not His legs, but one of
them with a spear pierced his side, and John, who was standing near,
testifies, "Forthwith came there out blood

HIS EYE.

and water." In thus distinguishing, at such a time, the blood from the water
that flowed forth with it, he shows the keenness of his eye.

Again, when Peter and he came running to the sepulchre on the morning of the
first day of the week, John stooped down and looked in; he does not enter and
search: he *uses his eye*.

Once more, at the sea of Galilee, when Jesus stands unknown on the dim shore,
in the early morning light, John the eagle-eyed (though doubtless his heart
helped his eye) is the first of the seven to recognize Him, and to say, "*It
is the Lord*."

Probably we should associate with the keenness and truthfulness of eye a
kindred feature—namely, his minute delicacy in marking time. Thus he tells the
hour of the day when he began to follow Jesus on the banks of the Jordan; the
very moment when Jesus rose from table at the last supper to wash the
disciples' feet; and the moment when Judas went out. I do not name this as of
any very special importance; but I would venture to call attention to it in
connection with the writing of both the Gospel and the Apocalypse. In both
books, as it seems to me, we have the tokens of a *seer*; from the nature of
the case more evident and large and peculiar in the latter book.

Putting together the various things recorded about him in the New Testament,
and the indications of character in his own writings, we find as marvellous an
illustration of what the grace of God can accomplish as even in Saul of
Tarsus.* Here is no invalid or valetudinarian, but a man of

* In his "*Fuller Worthies*," Dr. Grosart, recognizing in the "holy Herbert"
"one whom we inevitably think of as a St. John in his ultimate tenderness and
lovingness," says, in words that are very much to the point here. "I do not
the less—rather the more—recognize the loveliness of the after-life in thus
holding him to have been a debtor to the constraining and

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS.

healthful, robust physique, capable of sustained energy and patience.* There
is the same healthfulness mentally: in his writings, with all their depth, we
detect nothing hazy, vague, blurred; every chapter is like an engraving in
which the nicest lines are distinctly seen. If Paul was characterized by a
profound sense of “righteousness,” John is as notably characterized (if such
an expression may be allowed) by a profound and vehement sense of “truth”: a
man to whom “a lie” is intolerable. Naturally and originally bold, intense,
capable of the most ardent passion and enthusiasm, with an all-daring
imagination, with a capacious understanding, and wonderful receptivity both of
brain and heart, he is one of the grandest “captives” that ever surrendered to
Jesus Christ; and he becomes one of the noblest ensamples of his new-
fashioning power, so as ultimately to exhibit, beyond the rest, the perfect
likeness of the Lamb.

It is obvious that such a man as this, combining qualities apparently
opposite, or at least seldom found strongly developed in the same nature, was
fitted to be an organ of the Lord in special and singular ways. He could see
aspects of the Lord’s character and life that were either hidden from others,
or but dimly and partially discerned. He could hear words for which no other
had an ear. Even apart from the special grace of the Holy Spirit vouchsafed to
him, and the bringing of all things to his remembrance thereby, it is not
incredible that he should have retained in his memory, on to his old age, not
merely brief sayings of Jesus, but whole discourses, and these of the
profoundest order. Through such a man we may expect to receive mastering
‘grace of God’ beyond most of his eminent contemporaries. Not of nature, but
from Above—not as primary, but ultimate—came that saintliness which has
perfumed his memory through the centuries, and will enduringly.”

* *Mens sana in corpore sano.*

RIPENESS.

deep and peculiar revelations of the glory of Him who is the light and life of
men. All the more so, that he does not complete and give forth his Gospel till
he reaches his wonderful old age, having meditated for half a century on what
he had witnessed in his youth.* Through all these marvellous but (to us)
silent years, his "knowledge" would be growing larger and grander to him under
the teachings of the Holy Spirit, till at length it ripens into what we find
in Gospel and Epistles.

"We are free to suppose," says De Pressensé, "that the period of his life
about which we have no information, was devoted to climbing that spiritual
Tabor, on the summit of which the only and eternal Son, who is in the bosom of
the Father, was to appear to him in all the glory of His divinity. The
apostle, like Mary, pondered in his heart all that he knew of his Master. In
the silence of devotion he listened to His living voice, and under the
inspiration of the Holy Spirit discerned more and more of the mystery of His
being."

• "And Him evermore I behold

Walking in Galilee,

Through the corn-field's waving gold,

In hamlet, in wood, and in wold,

By the shores of the Beautiful Sea

He toucheth the sightless eyes;

Before Him the demons flee;

To the dead He sayeth 'Arise!'

To the living, 'Follow Me!'

And that Voice still soundeth on

From the centuries that are gone

To the centuries that shall be."

*Longfellow.*

![img-5.jpeg](img-5.jpeg)

III.

========================================================================
  CHAPTER 4: 04. The Companion of Jesus
========================================================================

THE FORERUNNER. JOHN'S FIRST MEETING WITH JESUS. WITH HIM IN GALILEE,
JERUSALEM, AND SAMARIA. "FOLLOW ME." THE APOSTOLIC APPOINTMENT. HIS NEW NAME.
JAIKUS' DAUGHTER. THE TRANSPIGURATION. "WHO IS GREATEST?" FIRE FROM HEAVEN.
"THY RIGHT HAND AND THY LEFT." GETHSEMANE AND THE CLOSING SCENES. THE RISEN
LIFE.

![img-6.jpeg](img-6.jpeg)

PLANTING ourselves in the valley of the Jordan, in the fifteenth year of the
Emperor Tiberius (which was not improbably a Sabbatic year), we find a
remarkable spiritual movement going forward under the ministry of John the
Baptist, very vividly described by all the Evangelists.

I image to myself a man of calm, saintly look, with eyes that seemed to pierce
the Invisible, moving men not by his wild gesticulations, but by the deep
solemnity of his spirit, the simple, fearless truth he spoke, and his appeal
to the Messianic longings and hopes which then prevailed. Withdrawn from the
luxurious world, with its enervating and selfish influences, he had lived to
the age of thirty among the mountains west of the Dead Sea, preparing in
solitude for the brief but great work of his life. He is however no hermit cut
off from his fellow-men and taking no interest in their affairs, but a keen-
observer and discerner; and at the appointed hour he steps suddenly forward,
crying to

JOHN THE BAPTIST.

the nation, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."

We must not empty his word "*Repent!*" of its mighty meaning. It took *God*
for granted, and sin. It looked to the errors and corruptions of the whole
life of the day. It required a profound inward change as a "preparing of the
way" of the Messiah. No mere temporary and superficial pain will satisfy the
word. We find plentifully enough among men self-accusings, vain regrets, shame
because sin is discovered, rage because sin has falsified its promise—making
up a state bitter almost as hell—while yet there is no real change of mind as
regards God. The Baptist's call looks to something not merely deeper, but
essentially different. It requires a reversal of the whole existing attitude
of men's hearts and minds. It is based on the near approach of the kingdom of
heaven, which he is able to announce. Those who come to him confessing their
sins, he baptizes beneath the flow of the swift river, and they form a special
nucleus of waiters for the advent of the King.

His voice has power, and stirs the land to its remotest borders. Great
multitudes gather to him; among them Jesus of Nazareth, who being baptized is
pointed out by sign and voice from heaven as the Son of God, and immediately
after disappears in the wilderness, east of the river, whence He emerges again
at the end of His forty days' conflict with the Tempter. One day, on His re-
appearing, the Baptist stood on the watch, attended by two of his disciples,
Andrew and John,* fishermen from Bethsaida,

* Of course it is an inference that the unnamed disciple is John; but it is
one which may be drawn with confidence. The time was "about the tenth hour."
In chapter xix. 14, John adopts a reckoning which, if followed here, might
give us ten in the morning. If so, they spent the whole day with Jesus.
Augustine explains the mystery of the tenth hour by telling us that the number
ten indicates the Law, which was given in ten precepts, and that the time was
now come for the Law to be fulfilled by Love. Such fanciful explanations are
common in the early writers.

ANDREW AND JOHN.

and, seeing Jesus as He walked, he said, "Behold the Lamb of God." He wished
them to follow. As Chrysostom says, in his Homily on the words, "Christ the
heavenly Bridegroom came to join to Himself the Church; He said nothing, but
merely came. It was His friend the Baptist who put into His the bride's right
hand." Small souls may not understand this willingness to lose disciples—this
willingness to decrease that *He* might increase; but great and true souls do,
saying gladly, "This my joy therefore is fulfilled."

The two young men silently followed, without venturing to address Him. Jesus
turned and saw them following, and, having graciously questioned them, invited
them to spend the day with Him. Gladly they complied. The conversation is a
secret; * but its impression was such that they immediately attached
themselves and began to bring others to Him as disciples. Our best help
towards understanding the blessedness of the meeting is the recollection of
that hour when He first revealed Himself to our own hearts as Saviour, in what
Herbert calls the "first glance" of His "sweet and gracious eye." For John it
is no unrepeated interview, as when two ships meet on the ocean, exchange
signals, and pass onward each on its course, but is the beginning of a life-
long fellowship. From henceforth he never passes beyond the orbit of this
attraction; the hopes now kindled never die.

It is instructive to compare the experience of John with that of Paul. In the
case of Paul, we find a man of

* As so much else. The silences of Jesus are like God's own in the matter of
men's confidences. The delicacy—(a finer thing than our "honour")—is very
noticeable in what He does not tell or inspire to be told, as well as in what
He has told and inspired to tell. Doubtless, as a matter of memory, John had
it in his power to report all that was said: but "something sealed" his lips.

CHRIST'S PUBLIC MINISTRY.

powerful nature committed out and out against the cause of Jesus, thoroughly
conscientious in his hostility, not merely standing out against the Gospel as
a fraud or delusion, blasphemous in its very essence, but resolved to put it
down. This man is suddenly arrested in the mid-career of his opposition. There
is a mighty shock to his nature; and for three days he can neither eat nor
drink. With John it seems to have been otherwise. We cannot indeed tell what
the Baptist's ministry may have been to him; how the sorrows of death may have
compassed him and the pains of hell gat hold upon him. But in coming to Jesus,
he is "*dram*," as with the cords of love and the bands of a man. There are
those who think that all is not right with a man unless there is something
approaching convulsion in the bringing of him to God. For myself, I entertain
no manner of doubt that the great change is often accomplished thus. But the
convulsion is not of the essence of the change. Often it is the sign of
resistance and struggle against God, and has more to do with unbelief than
with faith. Let us not limit God, or prescribe to Him, but accept His grace in
whatever way it comes.

The public life of Jesus falls into three well-marked divisions, each with a
special character of its own. The first division, comprising nearly a year,
belongs mainly to Jerusalem. The characteristic feature of it is His assertion
of Messiahship before the rulers and people. He comes to His own in their
metropolis and temple, makes His claim, and enforces recognition or rejection.
The first three Evangelists give no account of this part of His ministry; only
they leave room for it between the Temptation, and the imprisonment of the
Baptist. The blank is partially filled in, but only partially, by the Gospel
of John i. 43—v. 47. From these chapters we learn that after a brief visit to
Galilee,

THE TEMPLE PURGED.

He goes up to Jerusalem, and there takes action before the nation, and
particularly its rulers, as the Christ, and abides their decision, which is
given against Him. The proud and worldly-hearted men of Jerusalem could not
recognize the Divine even when they saw it. The words of Isaiah were fulfilled
in them about blinded eyes and hardened hearts. Many indeed believed in His
name when they saw the signs which He did: but He did not commit Himself unto
them, because He knew all men, and needed not that any should testify of man;
for He knew what was in man.

The purifying of the temple may be taken as the distinctest example of His
assertion of Messiahship at this time. It is the feast of the Passover, and
probably the first day of it. Entering the temple, He finds in it the sellers
of oxen and sheep and doves, and the money-changers sitting—all quite right
*per se*, but not *there*—and having made a scourge of small cords, He drives
them all forth, muttering and cringing, no doubt,\* along with the sheep and
the oxen, and pours out the changers' money, and overthrows the tables, and
says to them who sold the doves, *Take these things hence! make not My
Father's house an house of merchandise!*

It was not the act of a burning eyed zealot, nor yet a mere rebuke of the
priests and rulers who permitted such things to be; but an avowal of authority
in the house of God, associated with holy and glorious indignation at the
desecration that was practised, indignation which the disciples recognized as
"the zeal of Thine house." He as good as takes possession of the place. In our
time, He would have

\* It was not the weight or sharpness of the scourge that told. Milton touches
the secret when he writes—

And felt *how awful goodness is.*

THE MESSIANIC CLAIM.

been handed over to the magistrate on a charge of assault. A private person
has no right to take the law into his own hands. No more had a private person
in Jerusalem in those days. I infer that when the Jews asked Him, *What sign
shewest Thou unto us, seeing that Thou doest these things?* it was not a mere
off-hand inquiry on the spot, but a deliberate and formal question put by the
rulers in view of an understood Messianic claim. He answers solemnly, in words
that must have both perplexed and astounded them, *Destroy this temple, and in
three days I will raise it up*; looking forward to His death on Calvary and
His resurrection on the third day. In this answer lies the whole boundless
presentiment of all futurity. It stuck to His enemies' ears in variously
perverted forms, aye, and went fathomlessly deeper—into their consciences—and
at length was made use of at the final capital arraignment of the bold
Speaker.* The thing to observe is, that He calls the attention of the priests
and rulers to Himself, in connection with a claim of right to purify His
Father's house; and that too at the most solemn service of the year, and under
the eye of the assembled tribes of Israel; and exhibits Himself (enigmatically
indeed) as the purifier of religion and through death the builder of the
everlasting temple.†

As regards John's attendance on the Lord during this period, it was only
occasional, though perhaps more frequent than that of any other of the
disciples. We gather that he accompanied Him to Cana, where he witnessed the
"beginning of miracles;" that he went up with Him to Jerusalem to the
Passover; that he returned with Him to Galilee, going through Samaria; and
that he visited Jerusalem again

* H. Ewald.

† The purifying of the Temple, an act involving authority in the domain of
religion, was the first public act of Jesus in Jerusalem after entering on His
ministry: on His last visit He repeats the act, in an almost identical manner.
The claim of authority was unmistakable, first and last.

MINISTRY IN GALILEE.

at the next feast. With slight exception Jesus is out of our view during this
period (as during that mysterious life-dawn in Nazareth), while it would seem
that John and the other disciples, not yet organized into a community, return
to their ordinary employments, for which their intercourse with Jesus has not
unfitted or disinclined them.

Though we have no record, we may nevertheless imagine with a reasonable
measure of certainty, how the life of the young man would proceed. He is busy
as formerly, from day to day, with the commonplaces of a fisherman's outer
existence; but all the while the thoughts, longings, and hopes, inspired by
the announcement of the Baptist and by his own interviews and intercourse with
Jesus, are taking more distinct shape and deeper root in his heart, and
preparing him for his great destiny. It would be with him as it was with David
the young shepherd after Samuel had anointed him in the midst of his brethren.

The second division of the Lord's ministry belongs to Galilee, which in a
sense was to be the "seed-plot" for the rest of the world. Jerusalem has not
received Him, and He withdraws from it, though not finally and utterly, to
labour among a simpler people, not dominated by "scholasticism" and "priest-
rule." Here He prepares the living stones that are to lie at the base of the
living temple. The Messiah-life is lived without the Messiah-claims being put
so prominently forward. God-taught hearts shall recognize Him. This division
extends from His leaving Jerusalem as a centre, to His final return thither to
die, comprising about a year and a half.* Leaving the pleasant and sequestered

* That is to say, on the supposition that about three years intervened between
His baptism and His death. The interval, however, may have been considerably
greater. The extreme limits are the fifteenth year of Tiberius and the recall
of Pontius Pilate, embracing a space of eight years. H. Browne (*Ordo
Saclorum*) compresses it into little more than a year, reviving an old belief.

“FOLLOW ME.”

mountain-village of Nazareth, where His life had hitherto been passed, He
chooses for His head-quarters the town of Capernaum, on the western shore of
the Galilean lake, whence, accompanied by His disciples, He makes numerous
excursions outward (we find traces of eight or ten), taking in that whole
region, which in area was about equal to the county of York. We have not
sufficient *data* to arrange His journeyings chronologically, or to draw the
lines of movement; but we can form a very distinct idea of what goes on.

Loving disciples (like the Galilean women named in Luke viii. 2, 3) minister
to Him of their substance. Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests,
but the Son of Man hath not where to lay His head. He receives lodging and
hospitable entertainment from friendly hearts in the different places He
visits; it may be now from a Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, now from a Zacchaeus;
and at another time He will spend the night under the starry sky or with only
the shelter of overspreading branches. He proceeds from place to place on
foot, and great multitudes attend and press upon Him, not in cities only, but
even in desert and solitary places. He meets individual inquirers; teaches in
the synagogues, in private houses, on the sea-shore, on mountain sides;
proclaims the kingdom of God; graciously gathers the outcast; heals all manner
of sickness and disease and the worse than madness of the soul, pouring forth
blessings on all sides with the richest profusion. It is the springing up of
day on those who sit in the region and shadow of death.

Early in this period He called John to be a personal attendant. Finding him on
the sea-shore, washing and mending his nets, as if with no thought of any
different or higher career, He said to him, *Follow Me*. It was not the voice
of a stranger, but of One in whom he already believed and hoped, ever since
that memorable interview on

MODE OF LIFE.

the banks of the Jordan. From that moment he became the Lord's constant
companion, a sharer of His wanderings, a joyous hearer of His words, a witness
of His mighty works, receiving the impress of His personality in a sympathetic
and loving soul. He is not now a mere ordinary observer, a private person
following Jesus, a unit among the "great multitudes of people," but a chosen
witness.

"I prayed to God," says George Fox, "that He would baptize my heart into *the
sense of all conditions*, so that I might be able to enter into the needs and
sorrows of all." This too the Lord does for the Apostle. His manner of life
henceforth is exceedingly different from what it had been before. Sometimes a
picture is painted in which it appears as a delightful wandering from place to
place amidst the beautiful scenery of Galilee—a smiling holiday in a
terrestrial paradise—in the society of a joyous-hearted "Visionary." "The
meetings in the meadows, how full of excitement and how picturesque; and then
the evenings spent at the large, shady homesteads by the side of flowing
streams, with their fruits, their vines, and their fig trees!" * In point of
fact, it was attendance on the Man of Sorrows, and selfishness must have
turned away from it. If we crowd into one life whatever of toil and privation
there is for an evangelist, for a teacher, for a physician, for a visitor of
the poor, the sick, the ignorant, and the neglected, for a friend and Saviour
of the guilty,—the day spent without food or rest, and the night often given
to prayer, the "contradiction of sinners against Himself" continually meeting
Him,—the burden of a world's sin and woe on His heart,—we shall understand
what John's following of the Lord must have been.

It would create an untrue impression were we to take only those occasions on
which his name is mentioned, as if there were contact only then; we must read
the record

* Renan.

THE APOSTOLIC APPOINTMENT.

remembering that he is present throughout, and cognizant of all the wondrous
disclosures made by the Only-begotten of the Father. To comment on all he
witnessed would be to comment on the Four Gospels; even to allude to all he
witnessed would be to reprint these Gospels. Hence I confine attention to the
occasions on which he is introduced by name.

After being a chosen companion for some time, he is solemnly ordained an
Apostle,—one of twelve who should go forth, endowed with the Holy Spirit, to
testify what they had seen and heard, and to work in the Lord's name, for all
ages and nations. In the history of the Church, great men have been raised up
providentially for great works. The Apostles however received, in addition,
the direct call of Christ Himself to their office. No gifts or endowments
could have made them apostles without this call. Consequent on this call, they
received also a special training, unsystematic and informal, very unlike what
is given in our colleges, but fitted to prepare them very wonderfully for
their future work. They were admitted into the Lord's closest intimacy and
confidence. They enjoyed what might be called His private teaching. They were
students of divine truth under Him. They were admitted to a share of His work,
and were gradually prepared to walk and labour by themselves, without His
immediate presence.

I wish we had "training classes" after this example for native preachers and
evangelists in our various mission-fields, home and foreign. Ever so much
might be taught in this way, which could not be thrown into forms for the
intellect and communicated in a college lecture-room.

The apostolic appointment was very solemnly made. Jesus Himself spent all the
previous night in prayer, upon an unnamed mountain, under the canopy of
heaven. At dawn of day He gathered His disciples around Him, and

INSTRUCTIONS.

from among the whole number He chose twelve men, not by hap-hazard, or
according to outward appearance, but in full knowledge of what they were, to
whom He gave the name of Apostles. These twelve He endowed with power to cast
out unclean spirits and to heal all kinds of sickness and disease, and
commissioned them to go forth and proclaim, "The kingdom of heaven is at
hand."

His instructions in appointing them look far beyond the immediate present, and
involve principles of universal and permanent application. As they have
received freely, they are to give freely, and are thus prohibited from any
mercenary use of their office. At the same time, they are not to make
provision for their own temporal necessities; they are not to depend on their
private fortunes; they are to leave purse and scrip behind them, the Lord
engaging to carry out this principle in His dealings with them, "The workman
is worthy of his meat." Coming to town or city they are to abide wherever a
true welcome is given them for the Lord's sake. Though the errand on which
they are sent is so gracious, they shall encounter opposition of all sorts,
and from all quarters. Even blood relationship shall not avail for their
defence: the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the
child.

Shall they then be silent, or speak with bated breath, or spread their message
secretly? Nay, but on the contrary, what Jesus tells them in the darkness they
are to speak in the light; what He whispers into their ear, they are to
proclaim on the housetop, not fearing the face of man, but trusting in the
Lord's defence and keeping. Throughout the strife which their going forth
shall arouse, they are to be faithful unto death. Those who receive them and
show them kindness for the Lord's sake—even to the giving of a cup of cold
water—shall in nowise lose their reward.

Associated with the Lord, they become bound together as

JAIRUS' DAUGHTER.

a brotherhood, small and feeble indeed in itself, but forming the seed-germ of
the mighty brotherhood that should embrace heaven and earth. John is called
and set apart at the same time with the others. In ordaining him, Jesus names
him a "Son of Thunder" (Mark iii. 17), a name descriptive of his spiritual
character, in its intensity, power, and glowing zeal. This action of Jesus
stands parallel to that which meets us in the Old Testament, when, in some
vitally momentous hour of their experience, a new name was given to some of
God's servants: thus, Abram becomes *Abraham*, and Jacob, *Israel*. Grace
sometimes takes a very small soul, of naturally mean constituents, and
fashions even out of *that* soul an instrument for great uses; but in this
case it is a great nature that is chosen, with splendid, even imperial
attributes, with magnificent capacity of outlook and receptivity, with heights
and deeps and grandeurs beyond the rest, full of the loftiest possibilities,
answerable in some measure to the greatness of the Lord Himself. The man is
now a prince in the kingdom.*

Returning to Capernaum from one of His circuits of Galilee, the Lord makes
John a chosen spectator of one of His mightiest and holiest works the raising
of Jairus' daughter from the dead. This does not derive its importance from
being the earliest miracle of the kind wrought by

* One gets an idea of the greatness of a chief of men from the greatness of
those whom he gathers around him, and who carry out his plans. Thus, for
example, one infers that Cromwell must have been a great-natured man, from the
fact that he had Howe for his chaplain, Milton and Marvell for his
secretaries, Blake for his admiral, and so on. *Noscitur a sociis*, and we
might add, *a servis*. So we reason, perhaps unconsciously, in the case of
other historic names. Speaking reverently, I would say, that in a parallel
manner, we recognize the "sovran" greatness of our Lord in the fact that He
gathered into His service and commanded men of such varied and magnificent
natures as a Peter, a John, and a Paul; not to speak of men in other times.
His heroes are no less wonderful than the most wonderful in the ancient days
of Israel.

"THY DAUGHTER IS DEAD."

Jesus, for it is all but demonstrable that He had already restored the son of
the widow of Nain, in the presence not only of His disciples but of many
strangers. Its importance rests on other considerations. The story itself is
very touching. A child of twelve, the only daughter of a ruler of the
synagogue named Jairus, falls sick and is ready to die. We know not whether
death crept near slowly and stealthily, or sprang suddenly upon her, as with
the bound of a tiger from its lair: the simple entry is, "She lay a dying."*

Some of us will read the story through experiences of our own. We recall the
alternations of hope and fear in our bosoms over some dear ones laid low, the
suspense, the sinking of heart, the prayers that were groanings, our choking
reception of the doctor's words when he told us to hope no more; and thus we
interpret to ourselves what was going forward in this ruler's house long ago.

The father hears of the return of Jesus to the neighbourhood, goes to seek
Him, tells his story, and presents his request, we may imagine with what lowly
yet pressing wistfulness. Without saying what He will do, Jesus goes with him.
Every step He takes is a promise, and the father would understand it so. He is
stayed on the way, however, by a woman who has suffered from an issue of blood
for twelve years, and who touched the hem of His garment as He went, and was
healed of her infirmity. Meanwhile, in the tarrying that ensues, the message
is brought to the father, "*Thy daughter is dead: trouble not the Master.*"
There seems nothing now but to say, *The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken
away; blessed be the name of the Lord.* We know not how the words

* "We watched her breathing through the night,

Her breathing soft and low,

As in her breast the wave of life

Kept heaving to and fro."

"TALITHA CUMI."

of the messenger smote the father's heart; but instantly Jesus stretches out a
helping hand to him, saying, "Fear not; only believe!" and again He begins to
accompany him to the house. Every step is promise again, only of more wondrous
kind. Every step now means, "I am the Resurrection and the Life;" and He can
no more falsify His "steps of grace" than His word of grace.

When He reaches the house, it is already filled with the loud lamentations of
the professional mourners—on one side, "flute-players who were playing the
established death's melody"; on the other side, bewailing kindred. He rebukes
the noise, adding, "The maiden is not dead, but sleepeth;" but they laughed
Him to scorn, knowing that she was dead,—the laughter genuine if the grief was
not. He put them all forth, as Joseph put forth the Egyptians ere he revealed
himself to his brethren; and then with His three disciples, Peter and James
and John, He entered the chamber where the maiden lay. She has passed beyond
the bounds of earth, beyond the bounds of time. There is the unbreathing
marble, the darkening cheek that has scarce lost the warm tint of life, the
lately vermilion lip already ashen, the fringed lids drawn down by loving
fingers over eyeballs now sightless as stone, the unutterably tranquil and
moveless repose that no passionate outcry can break. Jesus lifts the passive
hand, cold and heavy in death—John all the while looking on and listening—and
at the two words "Talitha cumi" life returned, and she arose.

John is a witness of the transaction from first to last; not only of the
wonder at the end, but of all that led up to it. To such a soul as his it is
not a revelation of mere omnipotence; but of tenderness, graciousness, loving-
kindness, the calm consciousness of Divine resources, and all that lies in
that unfathomable name, "The Eternal Life, which was with the Father, and was
manifested unto us."

"A HIGH MOUNTAIN APART."

The next great event in the Lord's life of which John is a chosen witness, is
the Transfiguration. It takes place in the afternoon of the Galilean ministry.
Jesus makes only one circuit more—the most solemn of all—before He returns to
Jerusalem to die. These closing weeks are shadowed by His approaching
sufferings; the cross is ever present to His view; once and again He shows His
disciples that He must suffer many things, and be rejected and put to death,
and after three days rise again. Ere the darkness finally closes round, one
brief and marvellous glimpse is given of the kingdom in its power.

He has conducted His disciples northward to the "coasts of Caesarea Philippi,"
beyond the waters of Merom, just on the plateau beneath the great Mount
Hermon, where the fountains of the river Jordan burst forth, and He seems to
be still lingering in that neighbourhood. Toward evening, taking with Him
Peter and James and John, He climbs "a high mountain apart,"* where for some
time He continues in prayer, the three praying in silence near. On another
occasion we might think of the grandeur of the scene spread out to the eye,
the silver-shining moon and the bright stars in the intense, unfathomable
azure; but all this is forgotten in presence of the Redeemer praying.
Gradually the eyes of the three disciples become heavy-lidded, till of a
sudden they close. How long their

* The name of Tabor is inextricably entwined with the story, not only in
tradition, but throughout literature. The objection that the mountain was
crowned with a fort need not count for much. The narrative gives no
spectacular standing on a peak: all that is required is "a high mountain"; and
in such a mountain as Tabor there are solitudes everywhere. The six days'
interval, besides, allows ample time for making the journey. But Mark defers
the going through Galilee till after. It was not till the transfiguration had
taken place and the healing of the lunatic child, that "they departed thence,
and passed through Galilee." More probably the event took place on the side of
Hermon itself. As to the "apart," see Matt. xiv. 13, 23; xvii. 19; xx. 17;
xxiv. 3.

THE TRANSFIGURATION.

sleep lasted they could not tell; but they are awakened by a bright effulgence
streaming on their eyes, and when they look up, there is their Master
transfigured before them.

The sleep must not be regarded merely as a sign of their human weakness, but
as preparation for the glorious vision. It is a thing well known to all that,
waking in the watches of the night out of a deep sleep, the false excitement
of the day being gone, some eternal truth will often present itself to the
mind with awful, self-revealing clearness, and overwhelming power. Read in the
light of this fact, those psalms which speak about remembering God upon the
bed, and meditating upon Him in the night watches, have a fuller meaning. I
cannot help thinking that the sleep of the three disciples on this occasion
was a holy preparation for that which the Lord was to show them. It was a
shorter and easier road out of the world of sleep, than out of the world of
waking activities, into the unveiled kingdom of heaven.

When their eyes were closing, they had been beside the Man of Sorrows as He
knelt in prayer. Now what a change! The fashion of His countenance is altered.
Light shines forth from it like the sun. In the face is seen more than the
radiance of a heavenly soul; it is rather the Shechinah-glory shining through
the veil. His raiment too is white and glistening, whiter than fuller could
white them, white as the snow which gleams far above, in its dazzling purity,
on lofty Hermon.

Two men are with Him from the unseen world—ancient inhabitants of this—Moses,
the giver of the Law, and the prophet Elijah, its great restorer—the
representatives of all that was most exalted under the Old Covenant. They
“appear in glory,” and converse with Him about the decease, the “exodus,”
which He was soon to accomplish at Jerusalem: that mighty event to which both
the Law and

MOSES AND ELIAS.

the Prophets looked forward, and to which all subsequent ages look back.

The exodus of both these men had been very wonderful. In secretness and
mystery, after surveying the Promised Land from the top of Nebo, Moses died
"on the mouth of the Lord," as if the Lord kissed away his breath; * and the
Lord buried him in one of the ravines there, so that no man knoweth of his
sepulchre. Elijah went up to heaven by a chariot of fire and horses of fire,
in a whirlwind. The exodus of Jesus was to be very different:—through shame
and uttermost agony, with arms outstretched upon the cross, and thorn-crowned
head. This exodus is the subject of conversation. The theme became the moment;
for all the felicities and glories of "the kingdom in power" rest on that
"decease" which has been "accomplished at Jerusalem."

When the conversation ends, Peter exclaims, as eager to detain the glorious
vision, "Lord, it is good to be here; if Thou wilt, let us make here three
tabernacles, one for Thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias;" not knowing
what he said.† While he spoke, a bright cloud over-

* In the Legend of the Death of Moses, as given by Rev. S. Bering-Gould in
*Legends of Old Testament Characters from the Talmud*, three angels dig the
grave on the mountain, and Moses lies down in it, closes his eyelids, presses
his hand on his heart, and places his feet in order. Then the Lord calls to
the soul to come forth and mount to Paradise, but the soul has not courage to
come. Then He promises a place in the highest heaven, beneath the Cherubim and
Seraphim who bear up the eternal throne; but still the soul doubts and quakes.
"Then God bent over the face of Moses, and kissed him. And the soul leaped up
in joy, and went forth with the kiss of God to Paradise."

† "If the contemplation of Christ's glorified manhood so filled the Apostle
with joy that he was unwilling to be sundered from it, how shall it fare with
them who attain to the contemplation of His glorious Godhead? And if it was so
good a thing to dwell with two of His saints, how then to come to the Heavenly
Jerusalem, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn that are
written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all—these not seen through a glass
darkly, but face to face?"—*Anselm*.

PROPHET, PRIEST, KING.

shadowed them, and a Voice came out of the cloud, "*This is My beloved Son;
hear Him!*" They fell on their faces on the grassy mount, sore afraid: and
when next they lifted up their eyes the heavenly visitants were gone; the
glory had vanished; they saw no man save Jesus only. Moses and Elias, the
servants, have disappeared; only the Son remains.

Of this marvellous and profoundly significant event, John is a chosen witness.
It was something to the Lord Himself—though *what* must remain in mystery. It
was something to the three disciples who witnessed it; to say the least, it
was the completion of the teachings of this period, and the introduction to
the events that were about to transpire, and must have seemed in the life of
the Man of Sorrows like the light in the heart of the furnace-smoke when Abram
came through his horror of great darkness. But, beyond all this, it has a
common meaning for all believers, being part of the great Christian
revelation. It is a symbol of the harmony of old and new, a disclosure of the
dignity of the Lord's person above the greatest in the Old Testament, a
testimony to the vital importance of His death, a momentary glimpse of the
kingdom in its power, a token of His mediatorial supremacy and glory—kingly,
priestly, and prophetic.

In our thinking, we keep these offices distinct from each other, conceiving of
them separately and in succession. But in Him they meet and form a Unity, for
which we in our theological nomenclature have no name. We know of kings, but
He is not a King merely. We know of priest-kings, like Melchizedek; but He is
not a Priest-King merely. He is King, Priest, and Prophet, in one, and this is
exhibited for one brief hour in the Transfiguration. Here is Kingliness
fulfilling the word, "There be some standing here who shall not taste of death
till they see the Son of Man coming in His *kingdom*." Here is Priesthood—seen

WHO IS GREATEST?

in the decease that He was to accomplish at Jerusalem. And here is Prophet-
hood—declared in the word never spoken concerning any other, “*Hear Him!*” His
Kingliness is not reward bestowed upon Him for His fulfilment of the functions
of Priest and Prophet, but is fundamental and original; He is King first, and
His prophetic and priestly work is the carrying forth of His Kingliness. All
this bodies itself out in the Transfiguration. The influence of the scene upon
John’s mind at the time is not declared; but we can see it in his Gospel, as
when, long years after, he wrote these words, “*We beheld His glory, the glory
as of the Only-begotten of the Father.*”

Shortly after the Transfiguration there arose a reasoning among the twelve as
to who is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. A deep and vital subject, on
which it is well to be instructed. We must not blame the disciples for
discussing it. I do not think it charitable to affirm that they “wrangled”
about it, and that “*of course*” the question with them was not about
greatness “in the true, heavenly signification of the word, but in a common,
earthly, and carnal sense, and one to merit rebuke.” Was it not the very
perception that their Master’s view of greatness was different from the
world’s that led to the discussion? Was it not that a higher world was dawning
upon their inward eye? There were wrong feelings, doubtless, in their minds;
but at least the question is a worthy and noble one.

The question is brought for decision to Jesus, He Himself apparently
introducing it. Without going back upon their discussion as they walked in the
way, He deals with the subject itself. His whole manner of dealing with it is
noteworthy. First of all, He “sat down”—a significant act in the light of what
follows. Then He calls the twelve around Him, and says, “If any man desire to
be first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of all.” The desire of

THE LITTLE CHILD.

precedence for the sake of personal honour or advantage is alien from the
spirit of Christ. The lowliest place is noblest if it be the place of service
and usefulness; he who brings up the rear, in humility and obedience to the
Lord, is foremost of the band. Saying these words, "He took a child and set
him in the midst." As I read the narrative, He selects the child; any one
would not have done; the child selected is "one of these little ones that
believe in Me" (Mark ix. 42). This act of His was full of significance, and
would have been a complete answer to them, even if He had not said a single
word more. There, He tells them by His act, there in parable is the greatness
concerning which you have been disputing.

Beyond the act, however, we have also His words of explanation. Taking the
child in His arms, He says, "Whosoever shall receive one of such children in
My name receiveth Me; and whosoever shall receive Me, receiveth not Me but Him
that sent Me." What is meant by "receiving" the Lord symbolizes by taking the
child into His arms. We can see the whole scene—the love and tenderness and
protection of Jesus, on the one hand; and the child's confiding, happy look,
"Safe in the arms of Jesus." He who shall so receive a believing child
receiveth Christ Himself; nay, receives the Father who sent Him. The most
child-like are Christ's truest representatives. The most Christ like thing we
can do, in relation to these child-like ones, is to receive them in love and
tenderness, even as He took them up in His arms. When the question of
greatness is considered from this view-point, it will be stript of many
perplexities. Self-assertion, jealousy, lofty looks, ambition to climb above
others, and things of like kind, springing from the spirit that makes self the
centre, will be felt to be utterly out of keeping with greatness in the
Christian sense.

As the Lord is speaking, John remembers the case of

"HE FOLLOWETH NOT WITH US."

one whom they had seen casting out devils, and whom they had forbidden,
because "he followeth not with us." I do not suppose that they fancied they
had a monopoly of healing, and wished to guard it from this unlicensed
practitioner; nor that they were moved by the "pride of officialism" as even a
good man may object to another good man doing good in "my parish." More
probably, they feared some injury to their Master's cause. The man may have
seemed to them one who touched the ark with unhallowed hands. Yet what if he
were really one of the "little ones"? Whatever may have been the association
of ideas in John's mind, he now calls this case up, and brings it under the
notice of the Lord.

We must not assume that it was he who interfered with the nameless man, and
tried officiously to stop him; he merely fell in with the rest—"*we saw, we
forbade*"—and now he reports the case in order to elicit the Lord's judgment
for their common instruction and guidance. Was it right or was it wrong to do
what we did? The Lord answers, "*Forbid him not; for he that is not against us
is for us;*" the "Forbid not," with its added reason being as much as to say,
*Wish him rather God-speed: his heart is in the right place; he is giving us
aid.* It might indeed have been better if the man *had* followed with the
disciples; it may have been his fault that he did not. Had the Lord been
dealing *with the man*, He might have shown him this. But in dealing *with the
disciples*, the man's aloofness from their company is neither approved nor
disapproved; only they are bidden to regard him as a friend and fellow-helper.

Here is a word that goes very deeply into the question of practical Christian
work. The man who is working on Christ's side, even though he does not fall in
with us, is not to be hindered, nor regarded suspiciously or strangely. There
is often perplexed uneasiness among good men about

MOVING TOWARD JERUSALEM.

this matter. Jealousy has crept in where there might have been holy emulation;
estrangement and half-dislike where there might have been mutual confidence.
We have not always had the pleasure we should have had in good work not done
by us or our friends, or in noble Christian character existing beyond our
borders. There has even sprung up an unhappy feeling of chagrin and
mortification, as if we were cut out of some honour that belonged of right to
us. We may not have gone the length of forbidding others (even in our hearts)
to do the Lord's work, because they followed not with us; but we have looked
askance at them, and have come short of Paul's word, "I therein do rejoice,
yea, and will rejoice." The teaching now given to John goes farther than mere
"toleration" of those who are not of our special fellowship; it paves the way
for hearty delight in every good work wrought in the name and power of Jesus
Christ.*

The time at length approaches for Jesus to be "received up" into His glory. So
He steadfastly sets His face towards Jerusalem, with a will surrendered to His
Father, knowing the dark and terrible things immediately in advance. His march
to Jerusalem gathers awe from something in the manner of it, as well as from
the often-reiterated intimations of His approaching death. The trembling
disciples follow Him, amazed and afraid. On His way, standing in need of
refreshment and lodging for the night, He sends forward two disciples to a
neighbouring Samaritan village to make preparations; but the villagers refuse
to receive Him, His face being toward Jerusalem. One may understand it by
calling to mind how bitter religious feuds commonly are—as, for example,
between Roundhead and Cavalier, Orangeman and Ribbonman. It was not a simple
refusal of hospitality to wayfaring strangers, but a refusal on

* Compare Numbers xi. 24—29.

THE SAMARITAN VILLAGE.

religious grounds, and, as John views it, a refusal offered to the Lord.

Instantly, it may be, he recalls to mind what Jesus lately said about the
place that would not receive His messengers, "It shall be more tolerable for
Sodom and Gomorrah"—the cities that were consumed with fire from heaven—or His
awful "Woe!" against Capernaum. His anger is kindled by the indignity offered
to his Master; and with swift energy he would clutch the lightnings and hurl
them against the offending village. May we execute Thy Woe? Shall we command
fire from heaven to consume them, as Elias did in this very land of Samaria
and from the top of one of these very hills? (2 Kings i.)

It is not a mere outburst of passionateness, that might calm down in an hour;
nor a rash and hasty utterance, like what we might have expected from Peter:
it is rather an importation of the spirit of human nature into the cause of
Christ, proposing to inflict temporal pains and penalties on His opposers. I
would not say that there was vindictiveness in the proposal. I would even
grant that in the zeal which flames out there is a certain mistaken nobleness.
Matthias Claudius* presents the favourable side for the disciples very
strikingly:—

"I cannot suffer stigma to rest upon my James and John; I must speak a word
for them with thee, and save their honour. In the first place, they had before
them the example of Elias, whom they had so lately seen in very glorious
circumstances; and then they sought their Master's approbation, and naturally
His power also. But thou usest to say, 'Be silent of another, or put thyself
completely in his place.' We will do so: independently of our purpose, it were
well to be seated there.

* (1740—1815) Commonly known, from the name of his Journal, as The Wandsbeck
Messenger.

ANGER OF THE DISCIPLES.

"Christ was journeying with His disciples to Jerusalem. He travelled hereabout
amidst matters Samaritan, and made this journey, as all His others, that He
might provide the inhabitants and all men with a place of rest, and prepare
for them an eternal refuge. The disciples indeed, although He had occasionally
spoken of it to them, might not yet perhaps have so entirely understood this.
But they had been about with Him now (these two) for three whole years, and
had seen that His journeyings were not on His own account, and that He was not
come to be minister unto; that, right and left, and without any respect of
persons, He taught and did nothing but good; that He had never to be
supplicated twice, and that He met every one who needed Him with love and
friendliness.

"Now too it was the last time that He required the lodging, for the time was
completed, and He was to be hence to meet ignominy and death. And now His
night, which couch is denied Him, and His messengers repulsed.

"Canst thou take it amiss of the disciples that they were angry *then*? He is
no base man who is indignant at seeing such kindness met with ingratitude, and
justice and equity trodden under foot! Now add to this the adherence and love
which the disciples manifested in their attachment and dependence upon their
Master. He to whom it is is the same whatever happens can speak good-humoured
enough. But he who is somewhat concerned thereby, and whose breast is not
altogether empty, is affected otherwise than the icicles on the roof of the
Temple of Tolerance.

"Christ indeed chided them; and He who, having His hand 'fire from heaven,'
could hold back and conceal it beneath His coat woven throughout, and could
suffer treatment as a malefactor before friend and foe, that the will of God,
the Father in heaven, might be done—might chide, and before *Him* the
disciples would have to

THE REBUKE.

med at not knowing of what spirit they were the children. But I also know that
before every other spirit they nothing to blush for, and that the spirit of
Christianity not called without cause a *spirit of Glory*.

Still there is a distinct element of error present—kinning to that of the
servants in the parable, who proposed shoot up and burn the tares that grew
among the wheat. As out of this spirit that persecution for conscience' sake
since arisen—that men who could not call down fire heaven have kindled fires
on earth to burn heretics to consume error. The Lord rebukes John, and sets
him out, telling him, *You know neither the manner of your own spirit, nor of
Mine; for I am not come to destroy souls, but to fire*. Christ does not here
judge the spirit of Elias, which is the spirit of avenging righteousness, and
which harmless with that dispensation of "fiery law" which he presented. But
the spirit of the New Covenant is higher even the spirit of salvation. It
would overcome evil with God. It is expressed in the dying prayer of Jesus,
"Father, give them; for they know not what they do."

The rebuke (so gracious-hearted) is a fresh revelation to him, giving him
deeper insight into the mind of Christ. He shall not afterwards find him
disposed to use physical force on the Lord's behalf, or to anticipate the
awful day of righteous judgment of God. He understands from the eleventh that
Christ is not to be served by the wrath of God, by fires as of Smithfield, or
fires of sarcasm and death; nay, not even by invoking the wrath of God upon
the losers, or by calling out—not in holy indignation, but—in the spirit of
the flesh, *Curse ye Meroz*; but by truth and love of righteousness and holy
self-sacrifice.

he third division of the Lord's ministry, comprising that half a year, extends
from the time of His finally

IN PEREA.

leaving Galilee onward to His crucifixion. Hitherto He has spoken the words
and done the works of the Christ, and some few have known Him: He must now
assert Himself openly, and meet the issue of rejection and death. Accordingly,
He sends seventy of His disciples, two and two, before His face, to announce
the nearness of the kingdom in the person of its King. His progress, following
in their steps, would be somewhat slow and circuitous. Leaving Galilee, He
crosses into Perea and makes His way southward, attended by great multitudes
whom He teaches and heals. This journey is largely illustrated in the six
chapters of the Gospel of Luke, beginning with the tenth. The character of the
ministry is similar to what it had been in Galilee; and many of the Galilean
incidents, in all their important features, are reproduced; many too of the
Lord's words are re-uttered, in fresh combinations. But all was done as by One
who was pressing forward to a mark, and could not needlessly linger.

We have no means of determining the exact duration of this itinerary in Perea,
but it must have been extended over a good many weeks, broken only by a short
visit to Jerusalem at the Feast of Dedication. He finally leaves Perea, in
consequence of a message from Martha and Mary, the sisters of Larazus, which
brings Him to Bethany to work the great miracle recorded in the eleventh
chapter of John; after which He withdraws into a country near to the
wilderness,* to a city called Ephraim, where He continues in retirement with
His disciples. The raising of Lazarus from the dead, operating so powerfully
upon the popular mind, renders it necessary for the rulers to come to a
decision respecting Jesus; and their decision is, that He must die. This is
what it has come to at last, even as He foresaw and foretold.

* The wilderness behind Jericho, a weird, desolate, awful region, equal to a
hundred Glencoes.

THE BROTHERS' REQUEST.

At the approach of the passover, He goes up to Jerusalem to finish His work.
On the way thither He gives numerous and solemn intimations of His approaching
death, entering into startling detail on some points, and in particular that
He should be crucified—yet ever moving forward with the tread of a Victor. In
connection with one of these intimations, the brothers James and John come to
Him, and ask places on His right hand and His left in His kingdom. I have
already called attention to the incident for the light which it throws upon
the personal character of John; I refer to it now for the insight which it
gives John into the mind and heart of Christ.

In the kingdom which He came to establish there *are* high places, higher than
the thrones of earth, and high places too that we may covet; but they are not
awarded from personal favour or partiality, or in an arbitrary manner: they
are given according to the purpose and preparation of the Father. Reigning
with Christ follows upon suffering with Him,—drinking His cup, and being
baptized with His baptism. Even as He Himself was “made perfect through
sufferings,” so through fellowship in His sufferings His followers are
delivered from sinful self-will, and made meet for lofty service. In kingdoms
of the world the prince’s place is one of domination: in the kingdom of heaven
it is one of love and self-sacrifice for the good of others. Whoever will rise
to greatness therein must, in a true heart and pure love, stoop to be the
minister and servant of others. The place of true usefulness is the place of
true honour. Thus is exhibited the Lord’s own royal might and power of rule:
although the King of eternity, He “came not to be ministered unto, but to
minister, and to give His life a ransom for many.” One cannot but see what a
revelation for the Apostle was here.

After a breathing-time in the village of Bethany, where

“HOSANNA!”

He is anointed with spikenard by Mary's grateful love, the Lord enters
Jerusalem as her King on the first day of the week in which He was to suffer.
Attended by His disciples and the multitudes that had gathered to Bethany, and
met by many others on the way, He rides on a young ass, whereon never man yet
sat, the road being strewed with garments and palm-branches, and loud, joyous
shouts rending the air, *Hosanna to the Son of David!* *Blessed is He that
cometh in the name of the Lord!* This entry into the holy city, taken in
connection with His words and acts in the Temple, is the public and
unmistakable assertion of His Messianic claims. No doubt could now remain in
any mind on the question, *Whom makest Thou Thyself?* The few remaining hours
are filled with Messianic works, wrought in the presence and midst of mortal
enmity. Gladly, even thankfully, would His enemies have condoned the past, if
He would now have abandoned His pretensions and submitted to their will: but,
instead, He puts His claims more unmistakably than ever.

His last open appearance in Jerusalem takes place on the Tuesday—a day whose
occurrences are more fully recorded than those of any day of His life, the
crucifixion-day alone excepted. On the afternoon of that day, He goes out as
usual to Bethany, and on the way thither—as one taking a last, sad adieu,—He
sits down on the slope of Olivet over against the Temple, with Peter and
Andrew, James and John, beside Him, and near the spot where, two or three days
before, He had beheld the city, and wept over it. That little group is one of
the most remarkable that ever appealed to human imagination; the very
quietness of the withdrawal (like the going down of the last lights on a
finally impenitent soul) infinitely solemn and pathetic. The holy city lies
completely under their eye, crowded with more than a million worshippers, and
hemmed in, both east and

THE APPROACHING PASSOVER.

south, by deep rocky glens which already lie in evening shadow. The Temple
seems within a stone's cast. The smoke of the evening sacrifice still floats
above its courts in the clear air. Looking upon the mighty pile, bathed in the
gorgeous lights of sun-set,—

"like a mount

Of alabaster, topped with golden spires,"

they question Him concerning words He had spoken, portending the utter ruin of
that sacred place; and He shows them in outline a prophetic picture of the
future, onward to "the coming of the Son of Man"—a picture that should be
compared with the visions of the Apocalypse, the perspective being that of Him
to whom one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. His
words give the death-blow to any lingering hopes they may have cherished of a
present sovereignty, with Jerusalem for its splendid capital.

The Wednesday is spent in quietness at Bethany; the sleep that closes it is
His last on earth—till He slept the sleep of death in Joseph's tomb.

On the Thursday He sends Peter and John to the city, to make preparations for
celebrating the passover. His instructions to them indicate His foreknowledge
of all that was about to take place. He sees the very man who is to meet them,
bearing a pitcher of water,* and the guest-chamber (which He is to turn into a
holy of holies) furnished and prepared, even as He foresees the cross and the
glory beyond.

The same evening they all take their places at table, and after that
marvellous incident, the washing of the disciples' feet, in which the spirit
of the kingdom is so won-

* In the East, the water-pitchers are usually carried by women; scarcely ever
by men.

THE LAST SUPPER.

derfully shown forth—humility and love and sublimest majesty conjoined—the
sacred feast proceeds.

By and by Jesus appears troubled in spirit, and testifies, *One of you shall
betray Me*. The words fall among them like a thunderbolt from out a clear
summer sky—no one speaks—they look into one another's faces with mute and pale
amazement. When they find breath, they begin to inquire, in sorrowful self-
suspicion, *Master, is it I?* And probably while this word is going round,
Peter beckons John to ask who is meant. John is nearest to the Lord, and he
leans back on Jesus' bosom, and whispers the question, *Lord, who is it?*
Dipping the morsel of bread in the dish, and giving it to Judas, who was also
near (perhaps immediately on His other side), Jesus whispers the reply, *He it
is to whom I give the sop*. These words were spoken low, so that only John
would hear them. Then He added aloud, "One that dippeth his hand with Me in
the dish, the same shall betray Me: the Son of Man goeth as it is written of
Him, but woe unto that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed; it had been
good for that man if he had not been born." A low whisper comes from Judas as
he receives the sop, *Is it I?* and the answer is given, *Thou hast said*.
After the sop, Satan enters into the man; he nerves himself for the final act,
resisting the last appeal of love, and smothering the last remorseful feeling
that stood between him and his sin; and almost immediately after, "he went
out, and it was night." *

After the withdrawal of the traitor, there follows the

* "Remorse may disturb the slumbers of a man who is dabbling with his first
experiences of wrong; and when the pleasure has been tasted and is gone, and
nothing is left of the crime but the ruin which it has wrought, then, too, the
Furies take their seats upon the midnight pillow. But the meridian of evil is,
for the most part, left unvexed; and when a man has chosen his road, he is
left alone to follow it to the end." So writes Froude, in his *History of
England* (quoted by Dr. Farrar). But surely

GETHSEMANE.

simplest, heavenliest, most profound and wonderful of all the Lord's
discourses that are left on record, concluding with the sublime intercessory
prayer, which shows us how He pleads within the vail. That discourse sinks
deep into John's heart, to be reproduced long years after in his Gospel. Then,
full of holy serenity, Jesus leads them forth across the brook Kedron, to the
garden of Gethsemane, a well-loved *rendezvous* of the little band on the way
to Bethany, and here takes place one of the most awful and mysterious scenes
of His life. He leaves the eight disciples at the entrance of the garden, and
takes with Him Peter and James and John a stone's-cast further, into the
deeper shade of the olive-trees, to watch and pray with Him. There He "began
to be sorrowful and very heavy" "exceeding sorrowful even unto death," with a
holy and awful *angina pectoris*. Mark adds that He was also "sore amazed," as
at some new and dread experience from which He recoils. He now leaves the
three, as He had left the eight—for human fellowship can go no farther—and
falling prostrate on the cold ground, His sweat pours forth like great blood-
drops, while (thrice in succession) He prays, *Father (Abba, Father, Mark
reports it), if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me*. He has come into
the world for this very hour; and yet to His holy human soul, quick with all
the finest sensibilities of our nature, it is inconceivably distressing.

The whole scene is one of inscrutable mystery, in the presence of which we
kneel and are silent. John would now begin to understand to what the Lord
pointed when that word, "*left alone*," is cut of place. At every step in the
sinner's dreadful career, there is a voice calling aloud, "Let the wicked
forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return unto
the Lord, and He will have mercy upon him; and unto our God, for He will
abundantly pardon." One cannot trace the story of Judas without perceiving
that Jesus dealt with his conscience to the last, and that His dealing
justifies the phrase that has been used to describe it—*melting the betrayer*.

THE APPREHENSION.

He spoke of “My cup” and “My baptism.” Whatever other elements are present,
whatever recoil from the physical torture and shame of crucifixion, here is
the same horror, the same inward suffering, as when He groaned in spirit and
was troubled at the grave of Lazarus, or when He wept over guilty Jerusalem;
and that afterwards broke out from the cross in His cry of forsakenness. There
is no sign of remorse—that was impossible and inconceivable for the Holy One
of God; but there is some dread connection with sin, as that on which the
curse of God eternally rests. Here is an instance of that “travail of soul”
which the Sin bearer endured when “it pleased the Lord to bruise Him.” That
John was able in a measure, though imperfectly, to enter into sympathy with
Him, in His unutterable agony, is evinced by the effect produced on his
physical frame, when, along with his two companions, he “*slept for
sorrow*”—nature overpowered by the share he took in his Master’s conflict.*

The agony is just over, when a band of soldiers and others from Jerusalem, led
by Judas, come to apprehend Him. Their movements are as silent and stealthy as
possible, consistently with officialism; but Jesus knows of their approach,
and goes forth to meet them. One scintillation of His power, showing that they
could do nothing against Him except as He permitted, and that He laid down His
life of Himself unconstrained and in loving freeness, and He calmly surrenders
Himself into their hands, to be bound and led away. The cup He takes is “the
cup which *My Father* giveth Me.”.

* I check that expression, “*the Master’s conflict*.” It seems to me that we
are getting too fond of calling Him *The Master*. He is the Master, that is,
the Teacher; and “never man spake like this Man:” but He is something more;
and it was not as “*Master*” that He endured this conflict. How one longs to
hear Him called “*Saviour*”!

THE CONDEMNATION AND CRUCIFIXION.

After the first show of resistance, the disciples are scattered, but in a
short time John recovers himself and follows *—not like Peter, “afar off,” but
closely, and as a friend, the only visible friend that Jesus then had. Strong
in love, he is with Him all that sleepless, dreadful night, and all that
“guilty morning,” as He is hurried about from place to place, into the
presence of Annas, Caiaphas, Herod, Pilate, and the Jews, and subjected to all
indignity and wrong—legal forms observed while justice is trodden under foot.†
In the morning, by our nine o’clock, the Son of the Blessed hangs between two
malefactors on the cross. All day the malice of triumphant wickedness surges
around Him. They shake the head; they shoot out the lip. John stands near Him
in the surge, learning what it means to drink His cup, and to have place on
His right hand and His left, and witnessing His long, slow, dreadful
sufferings, till He bows His head and dies. Only love of the purest and
intensest kind—the love which is stronger than death, and is love to the
core—could have kept its station thus: feebler love would have run away to be
out of sight.

Just before the darkness fell—in that hour of untold agonies—Jesus seeks out
with His eye His mother Mary and the beloved disciple; and to His mother He
says, as His glance passes from her to John (for He could not move His nailed
hand,) *Woman, behold thy son*; and to John—His glance passing back again to
Mary, *Behold thy mother*.

* Not “another disciple,” but “the other disciple.” Archbishop Whately, “*On
the Characters of our Lord’s Apostles*,” thinks he has proved that “the other
disciple” who followed Jesus, and procured admission for Peter into the high-
priest’s house, was not John, but *Judas*.

† A legal acquittal was pronounced by Pilate; and Jesus was sacrificed to
clamour and fear. The Governor was not a jurist, but a soldier, and he, too,
irresolute and vacillating; fearful for his office, and even for his life, for
he served the “dark and unrelenting Tiberius.”—*Greenleaf: Trial of Jesus*.

"BLOOD AND WATER."

It is not earthly support and care alone that Jesus bequeaths to her, but a
faithful *heart* that could understand her. And "from that hour that disciple
took her to his own home." Whatever impulse may previously have been in his
own breast to do this very thing is now sanctioned and sanctified by the word
of the Lord.

After Jesus had bowed His head and given up the ghost, John still holds his
station near the cross. In order that the crosses might not carry their
ghastly burdens over the Sabbath, the soldiers come before nightfall and break
the legs of the two malefactors who are crucified with Jesus; but finding Him
dead already, they do not break His legs, but one of them in passing thrusts
his broad spear blade into His side—to make sure—"and forthwith came thereout
blood and water," in such quantity and so distinguishable, that John takes
special notice of it, and bears solemn "record"—record which not only settles
the fact of His death, and confirms ancient prophecy, and furnishes symbol to
Christian thought and feeling, but enables physicians to speak of it from
their special scientific point of view.*

The burial takes place the same evening. The world seems now to have gotten
its way, and to have succeeded in quenching the light that pained its
conscience and condemned its works; and the time seems come for them to be
merry and send gifts to one another: He who troubled them is safely disposed
of.

All the next day, being the Sabbath, "the flesh" of the Redeemer "rests in
hope." Early in the morning that

* See Dr. Stroud's treatise, "*On the Physical Cause of the Death of Christ*,"
originally published thirty years ago, to which fresh attention has since been
called by Dr. Hanna in "*The Last Day of our Lord's Passion*." (Appendix
containing Letters from Sir James Simpson and others.) There is no ground for
supposing—as is sometimes done—a "gush" of blood and water. The heart—the
engine that could have caused such a gush—was dead.

THE EMPTY SEPULCHRE.

follows, Mary Magdalene goes forth with other women to the sepulchre. Seeing
the stone taken away, she instantly concludes that the body is removed, and
runs breathless and sorrowful to tell Peter and John. The two friends
immediately hasten to examine for themselves. They run both together, but
John, swifter-footed, outruns Peter, and comes first to the sepulchre.
Stooping down and looking in, he sees the linen clothes lying, but does not
enter. Peter, characteristically, goes in at once and looks round. The linen
which had enswathed the body lies in one place, and the napkin which had been
about the head is folded up and laid in another place. At first glance this
may appear a trivial matter, noticed only by the fondness of love; but not so
if we reflect. There is nothing torn, nothing disarranged, no sign of violence
or hurry; everything betokens deliberation and composure. The Living One had
risen and gone forth "with grand tranquillity." The grave-clothes are folded
up and laid deliberately aside: the Lord has no more need of them. Then John
"went in also, and he saw and believed." Believed what? Not that the grave was
empty; that he saw. But rather -foremost in faith--he believed what he had not
hitherto understood from Scripture, that the Lord was risen, to die no more.
What he saw made the meaning of Scripture and the repeated predictions of the
Lord flash at once before his mind.

The same day at evening, and on subsequent occasions, John is present when the
risen Lord appears to His assembled disciples, filling them as with a joy
unspeakable and full of glory, and commissions them to be His messengers to
all the ends of the earth, to preach repentance and forgiveness of sins.

One special manifestation is recorded at great length, which took place on the
shore of the sea of Galilee. Seven

THE SEVEN DISCIPLES FISHING.

disciples go a-fishing, of whom John is one. These seven had gone about with
Jesus, hearing His words and witnessing His mighty works; they had been
spectators of His sufferings; they had seen Him risen; they had heard that
word of His, "As my Father hath sent Me, even so send I you"; they had felt
His breath on them when He said, "Receive ye the Holy Ghost"; and now
(apparently without any misgiving or sense of inconsistency) they are busy at
their old employment as fishermen. They toil all night in vain. As they make
for shore in the morning twilight, a Stranger whom they know not questions
them, and bids them cast the net on the right side of the ship. They do so,
and the net is filled. John, recognizing the beloved voice and form and way,
exclaims, *It is the Lord!* and they all hasten to the shore, the denier
foremost. After eating together, and after the gracious dealing with Peter
that ensued, Jesus rises, and begins to walk away from the spot, saying to
Peter, *Follow Me*,—who does so. John also follows, unbidden and silently, as
he had done once before when the Baptist said, *Behold the Lamb of God!*
Peter, turning round and seeing him, asks, *Lord, and what shall this man do?*
To whom the Lord replies, *If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that
to thee? follow thou Me.* His future lies wholly in My will. The saying went
abroad among the disciples that John was not to die; and a legend arose
afterwards that he only slumbered, breathing, in his grave, and that the turf
was tremulous above him. Yet Jesus said not, *He shall not die, but If I will
that he tarry till I come.*

This is the last glimpse we have of John's companionship with Jesus on to the
ascension into heaven, when He sat on the right hand of God. On the banks of
the Jordan, in the beginning, he followed Jesus unbidden, and abode with Him
that day; on the shore of the sea of Galilee,

QUALIFICATIONS FOR WITNESS-BEARING.

after the resurrection, he begins to follow—again unbidden—in a course that
runs down through eternity,—neither death nor life able to separate him from
his Lord and Saviour.•

It is thus apparent that not only had John special qualifications, both by
nature and by grace, for being a witness of the Lord's life, but special
opportunities of observation and intimate knowledge were afforded him; special
disclosures of the Lord's glory were opened up to him; and none of the twelve
penetrated more deeply into the revelation, or treasured it up more faithfully
and lovingly in his heart. "We beheld His glory," he says in the beginning of
his Gospel; and in his first Epistle he reports how he had heard, and seen
with his eyes, and looked upon, and his hands handled, the manifested Word of
Life. In view of what had been disclosed to him, he is overwhelmed by the
impossibility of duly and worthily setting it forth, and thinks of all he has
told in his Gospel as the merest nothing compared with what there was to tell.
Looking upon his little, slender manuscript—which to us is so profound and
wonderful—he exclaims, *I have shown you a part of His way; but the world
itself could not contain the books that might be written, rehearsing the
superb story.* It is testimony to the fulness of knowledge, of insight, of
understanding, of memory, of sacred joy, which he possessed; and to the
impossibility of telling all he knew.

• John *alludes* to the Ascension, as in his report of Christ's words, "I
ascend unto my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God;" and it
is—to say the least—the corollary to his Gospel; but he nowhere gives any
account of it as a fact—except we name Rev. xii. 5.

![img-7.jpeg](img-7.jpeg)

IV.

========================================================================
  CHAPTER 5: 05. The Apostle
========================================================================

THE COMMISSION. JOHN THE ASSOCIATE OF PETER IN JERUSALEM AND SAMARIA.
DISAPPEARS FROM THE HISTORY. EPHESUS. PATMOS. CLOSE OF HIS LIFE.

THE Lord's instructions to the Apostles on the eve of His Ascension were that
they should go forth to all nations, telling what they knew concerning Him,
and preaching repentance and remission of sins in His name wherever they went.

Of the two Christ-given words—carrying in them at once an awful Accusation and
a most gracious Promise—the first was "*Repentance*." They were to proclaim it
as a Divine requirement—as an absolute necessity, without which no life can be
right, but must go on from bad to worse—as a blessed possibility through the
gracious working of the Divine Spirit—with a kneeling-place provided for it,
such as Esau found not. Speaking this word, they should have conscience and
God on their side, the world over.

In the same breath they were to proclaim, "*Remission of sins*," through the
ever-availing atonement for sin by the sacrifice of Christ Jesus—so that the
scarlet should be made white as snow, and the crimson as wool.

Their preaching was to draw its force, not from the

"POWER FROM ON HIGH."

clearness and cogency of their reasoning, but from the authority of Him in
whose name they spoke. Should men demand justification of the message, they
were simply to tell that the Crucified and Risen One had bidden them publish
it. It was for this mission that the Lord had chosen and educated them.

Not even yet, however, were they prepared to engage in it. "Tarry ye in the
city of Jerusalem until ye be endued with power from on high" (Luke xxiv. 49).
The work is too great and difficult—one might say—too awful and tremendous;
who is sufficient for it? And another might say, The world is perishing, and
we have a message of salvation to bear abroad; let us go forth on our mission
at once; not a day, no, not an hour is to be lost! Both these moods of mind
the Lord meets. To the man overwhelmed with a sense of insufficiency He gives
"the Promise of my Father." To the man who would hasten forth at once, he
says, Wait—tarry—till endued with power from on high. More was needed than
personal acquaintance with Jesus, such as the twelve had enjoyed for years;
more, than to have seen Him risen, and to have heard the voice of His mouth;
more, than opened understandings and knowledge of the Scriptures; more even
than message and commission direct from the Lord Himself: there needed "power
from on high." Tarry till ye obtain it, for it will assuredly be given. It was
upon no fool's errand that they were to go forth; but on at once the sublimest
and most daring—and the most rational—mission that men ever set their faces
to.

It is worthy of being noticed that while the missionary idea was set forth in
its grandly-simple elements, so that there is no need for revision or
enlargement in any future century, yet outward arrangements were not
prescribed, nor even shadowed out in the dimmest way. There is Divine

AFTER THE ASCENSION.

foresight in this. We in our narrow wisdom draw plans and construct machinery
and form arrangements which, we fancy, shall be perpetual; not understanding
how the “increasing purpose” that runs through the ages necessitates ever
varying and enlarging methods. The consequence is that we become formal and
commercial in our ways of working, and lose the fresh simple-heartedness, the
enthusiasm, and the swiftness and freedom of action, which are of such value
to workers for Christ. The very dress in which we clothe ourselves for
Christian service is apt to prove cumbersome and inflexible—like mail—instead
of yielding softly to every movement of life. Conflicts arise between the old
and the new; friends are divided; and power is wasted. The Lord, sweeping His
eye over the world and on to remotest time, is divinely silent about machinery
and outward arrangements, leaving every successive generation of His people
free to work in the manner best adapted to providential circumstances.* Under
such conditions the Apostle John shares the mission of the twelve, given on
the eve of the Ascension.

Ten days elapsed from the Ascension to Pentecost, days which must have been
full of a strange, undefined hope, kindled by the mysterious words of Jesus,
“Behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you; but tarry ye in the city of
Jerusalem until ye be endued with power from on high.” These days were spent
by the Apostles with one accord in prayer and supplication, probably in the
same upper room where Jesus had appeared to them after His resurrection, and
where He had breathed on them, saying, “Receive ye the Holy Ghost.” John has
his place in the

* One half of *our* legislation consists in repealing and re-forming past
enactments: Christ’s laws remain unchanged, never falling into desuetude,
never requiring re-statement, as applicable and as sovran to-day as in the
lifetime of the Apostles.

PENTECOST.

gathering, his name occurring in the list in its usual order, one of the first
three, "Where abode Peter, and James, and John" (Acts i. 13).

When the day of Pentecost was fully come, all the disciples were present with
one accord in one place—not the Apostles only, but all the followers of Jesus
then in Jerusalem. Doubtless the very significance of the Feast of Pentecost
would excite their hopes to a very high pitch. Suddenly there came a sound
from above, like the sound of a rushing, mighty wind; and it filled all the
house where they were sitting.* Following the mighty sound, perhaps ere it
died into silence, there appeared unto them fire-like tongues, luminous but
not burning, "distributing themselves" † severally on the disciples, a fire-
tongue resting upon each. These were the external signs: the inward reality
was this—"they were all filled with the Holy Ghost"; all, and not the Apostles
only. The immediate result was that they began to speak in other tongues as
the Spirit gave them utterance, these "other tongues" being simply languages
which were different from the native language of the speakers, and which had
been unknown to them until now they were filled with the Holy Ghost.

Of all the Jewish feasts, Pentecost was the most largely frequented by
worshippers from foreign parts, and at this time devout Jews were sojourning
in Jerusalem out of every nation under heaven. A very short time sufficed to
spread abroad the news of what was now taking place. Naturally there arose
great excitement and concourse; the multitude

* It seems impossible to determine the movements that must have taken place.
What was "the house" in which they were sitting? Not an apartment within the
Temple enclosure. Yet Peter's address cannot have been spoken in the "upper
room." But we cannot follow the disciples from the place where they first met
to the place where Peter addressed the multitudes.

† For that is what the historian says, and not "cloven tongues."

FRIENDSHIP OF PETER AND JOHN.

came together and were confounded because that every man heard them speak in
his own language the wonderful works of God—doubtless those “wonderful works”
which were associated with the name of Jesus of Nazareth. Various explanations
were suggested, till at length Peter stood up with the Eleven, and lifted up
his voice in that address which pricked the people in their hearts and
resulted in the addition to the brotherhood of three thousand believing souls.
The name of John is not mentioned, but as one of the Eleven he stood by the
side of his brother Apostle—perhaps next him thereby participating in and
endorsing his testimony.

For some time afterwards Peter and John appear in association as friends,
working in concert for the furtherance of the Gospel. The beginning of their
fellowship lay far back. They both belonged to the town of Bethsaida. They had
both been fishermen on the sea of Galilee. They had both been disciples of the
Baptist. They had both been drawn to Jesus about the same time. They had both
followed Him in His journeyings. They had kept together during the last
scenes. It was Peter who beckoned to John to ask, “*Who is it?*” at the last
supper. It was Peter and John (together with James) who went with Jesus into
Gethsemane. It was John who spake to the damsel that kept the door and
procured admittance for Peter into the high priest’s palace. It was Peter and
John to whom Mary Magdalene brought tidings of the empty sepulchre; and they
both ran, by a common impulse, to examine it. And when Peter rose and followed
Jesus by the sea of Galilee, John also followed unbidden. They keep company
and work in concert still. It is difficult to define the sympathy or spiritual
magnetism that drew and kept them together. They were widely unlike. They
differed in age; there is every reason for thinking that Peter was much the
elder

THE LAME MAN.

man.* They differed in their ways --the one now calm, contemplative, not given
to ready speech or action; the other still blunt, outspoken, fervid, "rough,
weather-beaten Peter." But it was a case in which two are better than one,
each supporting the other and supplying what the other lacked.

The first instance of their association, brought under our notice in the book
of Acts, is in the healing of a lame man at the gate of the temple. One
afternoon, soon after Pentecost, they go up thither side by side at the hour
of prayer. At the gate called Beautiful, the "gate of Nicanor," on the eastern
side of the outermost court of the temple, there lay a man, above forty years
of age, who had never walked. He was well known to the multitudes who
frequented the temple, being laid there daily by his friends or others, who
had compassion on him. By profession he was a beggar; and seeing the two
apostles about to enter the temple, he would not lose the opportunity, but
"asked an alms of them." The two apostles fastened their eyes upon him and
said, "Look on us." The words were Peter's; but perhaps the more magnetic eyes
were John's. The poor man gave heed, expecting to receive something; and he
received more than he had asked for: "Silver and gold have I none," said
Peter, "but such as I have give I thee: in the name of Jesus Christ of
Nazareth, rise up and walk." Immediately the man sprang to his feet, and
clinging to Peter and John, holding their hands, one in each of his, entered
the temple along with them, walking and leaping and praising God, with all a
child's unrestrained delight. A

* "We talked with open heart, and tongue

Affectionate and true,

A pair of friends, though I was young,

And Matthew seventy-two."

Wordsworth (The Fountain).

BEFORE THE COUNCIL.

wondering crowd speedily surrounded the three, to whom Peter declared by whose
power the man had been healed, and preached repentance and forgiveness through
the very Blood that sinful hands had shed.

It is Peter who is spokesman, but John stands by his side, concurring in his
words, and thereby bearing witness in behalf of Jesus.

The apostles are still speaking to the people when the captain of the temple,
commanding the temple guard,\* and the Sadducees, came upon them, apprehended
them, and put them in hold until the morning. In the morning they are brought
before the Council, which was dominated at the time by Sadducean influence,
and the question is put to them by the president, "By what kind of power or by
what kind of name have ye done this?" Peter at once answers that the cure had
been wrought in the name of the crucified and risen Jesus, and proclaims Him
the sole channel of salvation. Only the words of Peter are recorded, but John
must have spoken also, for the "boldness," the free and brave speech of both,
is said to have caused astonishment in the Council, not unmingled with
perplexity, till they recollected that the two men "had been with Jesus."

After conferring among themselves, the Council can see nothing better to do
(though it is a feeble conclusion) than to command the apostles not to speak
at all nor to teach in the name of Jesus: a command to which the two apostles
reply, *Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than
unto God, judge ye; for to us it is impossible not to speak the things which
we have seen and heard*—the words and works of Jesus. The command

\* Certainly not Roman, but Levitical, preserving order and tranquillity.

A PRIMITIVE CHURCH PRAYER.

of God cancels every command of man that stands opposed to it. This was a
defiance to every earthly power and authority that would silence the preaching
of the Gospel—as grand as “*Athanasius contra mundum*” was ever thought to be.
Not knowing how to punish them, for fear of the people, the Council simply
dismisses them with a threat; and being let go, they went unto their own
company, and reported all that had taken place. With one accord, as if under a
common inspiration, all joined with uplifted voices saying:

“Lord, Thou art He, who hast made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all that
in them is; who by the mouth of Thy servant David hast said, ‘Why did the
heathen rage and the people imagine vain things? The kings of the earth stood
up and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against His
Christ.’ For of a truth against Thy Holy Child * Jesus, whom Thou hast
anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of
Israel, were gathered together, to do whatsoever Thy hand and Thy counsel
determined before to be done. And now, Lord, behold their threatenings; and
grant unto Thy servants that with all boldness they may speak Thy word, by
stretching forth Thine hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done in
the name of Thy Holy Child Jesus.”

A prayer grand in its very simplicity, with a tone of triumphant confidence in
it, and grandly answered. The place in which they were assembled was shaken;
they were all filled with the Holy Ghost; with boldness they spake the word of
God; the whole body of believers were of one heart and of one soul, and shared
their possessions in the free spirit of brotherly love; the Apostles witnessed
to the resurrection

* *Haida*, as to condition, *Servant*.

THE GOSPEL IN SAMARIA.

of the Lord Jesus with resistless power ; and great grace was upon them all.

Soon after these things, tidings that must have been at once surprising and
joyful were brought to Jerusalem— that “Samaria had received the word of God.”
It had come about in this way. In the persecution that began on the day of
Stephen’s martyrdom,\* the members of the church at Jerusalem were scattered
abroad, except the Apostles ; and wherever they went, they preached the
Gospel. Among the scattered was Philip, one of the Seven, who went down to a
city of Samaria and preached Christ unto them, doing many wonderful works at
the same time. Doubtless the memory of Christ’s own visit was not forgotten,
and His words were fructifying ; and so Philip was called, not to prepare the
soil for the reception of the seed, but to reap a harvest. The people with one
accord gave heed to what he said, and the city was filled with joy. Among
those who stood forward as believers was a man of the name of Simon, who
beforetime used sorcery and bewitched the people, giving out that himself was
some great one, but leaving it to imagination to say what. Imagination played
its part, and the Samaritans from the least to the greatest regarded him as
“*the great Power of God*”—somewhat as Christ is called “the Power of God” and
“the Wisdom of God.” When this man gave in his adhesion to Jesus of Nazareth,
it seemed a mighty triumph of the Gospel, like the conversion of Saul of
Tarsus shortly afterwards, or as if in more modern times a Voltaire or a Paine
had become a humble believer.

When these things were reported in Jerusalem, the Apostles sent down the
foremost two of their number, Peter and John, to Samaria, who when they were
come, prayed for the believers whom Philip had baptized, that they might

\* In Acts viii. 1, it is not “*At that time*,” but “*In that day*,” there
arose a great persecution. The tiger has tasted blood.

SIMON MAGUS.

receive the Holy Ghost. There is no warrant for the view that the mission of
Peter and John arose from suspicion or incredulity respecting Philip's work.
Rather it was designed that the church in Samaria should be livingly connected
with apostolic ministry; and in the Divine purpose and arrangement, Samaria
was the bridge to the Gentile world. One thing resulted from the visit that
probably seemed very discouraging: the conversion of Simon Magus was shown to
be spurious. When Simon saw that through laying-on of the Apostles' hands the
Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money to purchase the same power: to
whom Peter answered in awful words, "Thy money perish with thee! because thou
hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money. Thou hast
neither part nor lot in this matter; for thy heart is not right in the sight
of God. Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God if perhaps the
thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee; for I perceive that thou art in
the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity." The poor man answers in
words that look like repentance but are not, "Pray ye to the Lord for me, that
none of these things which ye have spoken come upon me:" and there the curtain
falls. Having finished their mission, Peter and John return to Jerusalem,
evangelizing many villages of the Samaritans on their way.

From this point of time John is not seen in any outward movement recorded in
the history. When his brother James is slain with the sword, there is no
mention made of him. When Paul and Barnabas came to Jerusalem to confer with
the Apostles respecting the obligation of the Mosaic law, he is indeed
recognized as one of the "pillars,"* but he takes no part in the "much
disputing" that arose on the

* Properly speaking, the expression marks the respect with which he was
regarded at the time when Paul wrote his Epistle to the Galatians. It is,
"James, Cephas, and John, who seem (not seemed) to be pillars."

JOHN IN EPHESUS.

question, nor does he give forth his sentence as Peter and James do. On Paul's
last visit to Jerusalem, "James and all the elders" are named, but there is
silence as to John. When Church parties were formed, and one said, *I am of
Paul*, and another, *I am of Apollos*, and another, *I am of Cephas*, and
another, *I am of Christ*, we find no hint of any party calling itself after
John's name. The fact would seem to be that he took but small share in outward
movements, and appeared but seldom in the general eye,—his life flowing on
deep and still. None the less profound and wide-reaching however would his
influence be, that it was exerted so silently.

At what time he finally quitted Jerusalem, the New Testament does not inform
us. Most probably it was soon after the death of Mary, the mother of Jesus,
and before the troubles which resulted in the destruction of the city. It is
possible he retired to Pella in north Gilead, when the Christians of Jerusalem
took refuge there during the siege by the Romans. Whatever intermediate
sojournings he may have made,* there seems no sufficient reason to doubt the
tradition which reports him to have finally transferred his home to Ephesus.

No city in the world, not even Rome itself, could at that time have formed a
better centre whence his apostolic influence should go forth. It had been the
scene of the most fruitful of Paul's labours. The most heavenly of Paul's
Epistles had been addressed to the saints there and in the surrounding region.
The Gospel had taken deep root in it. It was the real metropolis of Asia
Minor, and a city of great

* A vague notion got somewhat into currency that John once preached to the
Parthians, and that his first Epistle was addressed to his converts among
them. The earliest trace of this notion appears to be in the writings of
Augustine who quotes from John's first epistle as "*the Epistle to the
Parthians*."

DOCTRINAL TENDENCIES.

importance. Though now scarcely habitable,—the plain a pestilential swamp and
the higher ground covered with jungle,—it then enjoyed “the finest sky and the
sweetest climate in the world:” and health and plenty smiled around. It stood
in connection with all the great thoroughfares of the world, east and west,
north and south. It lay just in the great current of life; and its widely
extended commerce drew to it a constant throng of visitors. Asia and all the
realms toward the rising sun, Egypt and Libya and Cyrene, the Mediterranean
with all its isles and shores, Greece and all Europe,—placed in Ephesus, the
Apostle, as with the mighty-sounding trumpet of God, could summon them all,
and invite them to Christ.

There were two tendencies in this region threatening the corruption of the
Gospel, which had showed themselves as early as the time of Paul. On the one
side there was Pharisaic legalism, asserting that unless men kept the law of
Moses they could not be saved; on the other side there was the germ of
Gnosticism, heathen at heart, which attempted a speculative solution of all
theological problems, and at once fascinated and bewildered many a splendid
intellect. The one tendency threatened to turn Christianity into little else
than “baptized Judaism;” the other to make Jesus Christ merely the central
phantom in a system of wild, misty dreams. The crowning service of John was to
declare in words as wonderful for their childlike simpleness as for their
depth and power, what he had seen and heard of the Lord, as the true antidote
against both tendencies. The rich, fresh, fervid Christian life of the next
century in that region (all drawbacks being allowed for) witnesses to the
fulness with which he accomplished his work.

In the course of his residence here he was banished for a time to Patmos, a
small, bleak, “disconsolate” islet in the Ægean Sea, of no note but for its
connection with the

PATMOS.

Apostle. It is less than twenty miles in circumference, and its population is
not over seven thousand, about half being from the neighbouring islands.
Peaked, ridged, precipitous, it shows well from the sea, particularly under
the red glory of sunset; so also the outlook from it is noble—as from the
poor, tame island of Iona, which bears to it such curious points of
resemblance. It may have been a little greener centuries ago. Its Middle Age
name, *Palmosa*, indicates the presence of palm-trees at some period, but it
is now rugged and barren; and, with the exception of a few olives and
cypresses, there is little or nothing to relieve the look of desolation which
it wears.* On a small scale, it was a kind of local state prison during the
reign of Domitian, like the Bass Rock in the days of the Scottish Covenanters;
and here John was confined “for the word of God, and for the testimony of
Jesus Christ.”

Tischendorf writes: “My soul was moved. Silent lay the little isle before me
in the morning twilight. From its foot to its summit it is covered with groups
of houses of light-grey stone: here and there an olive breaks the monotony of
the rocky waste. The sea was still as the grave;

* In 1677, Joseph Georgirenes, Archbishop of Samos, says that it “is well
stored with vines, fig trees, lemon and orange trees, and corn sufficient for
the inhabitants, if they could only keep what they have free from the robbery
of pirates.” A recent account of it, by one who has resided in it, and knows
every portion of it thoroughly, states that the produce is not now sufficient
for the inhabitants. Whatever is grown in the island, however, is particularly
fine and well-tasted. The school planted in the island was long renowned as
one of the best in Greece. It was here that the Patriarch of Constantinople
obtained the famous “Codex Alexandrinus” now in the British Museum. A
political advantage possessed by the island over the neighbouring ones is that
it has no Turkish governor, and its population is exclusively Greek.
Tischendorf noted with astonishment that among the numerous manuscripts
preserved in the island (and it is rich in such treasures), there was not a
single document referring to the text of the Book of Revelation.—See his
“Travels in the East” (*Excursion to Patmos*).

DATE OF THE BANISHMENT.

tmos reposed in it like a dead saint. An inexpressible arm lay in the whole
picture that surrounded me. *John* that is the thought of the island. The
island belongs to him; it is his sanctuary. Its stones preach of him, and in
every heart he lives." Dr. E. D. Clarke thus describes a upset view of it:
"Whatsoever, in the warmest fancies of the youth, imagination had represented
. . . . was not only realized, but surpassed. Let the reader picture to his
conception an evening sun, behind the towering cliffs of tomos, gilding the
battlements of the Monastery of the localypse with its parting rays; the
consecrated island surrounded by inexpressible brightness, seeming to float
upon an abyss of fire; while the moon, in milder splendour, rising full over
the opposite expanse. Such a scene I actually witnessed, with feelings
naturally excited by all the circumstances of local solemnity."

It is not absolutely certain at what time the Apostle's punishment took place;
it may possibly have been as early as the close of Nero's reign, but more
probably in the time of Domitian (81-96), whose gloomy, suspicious, and bitter
spirit, made itself felt throughout the Empire. It would be, if not entirely
remove, certain difficulties connected with the difference in language between
the Book of Revelation and the Gospel, if we could place John's exile in the
name of Nero; but there seems no good ground for doing so. The testimony of
Irenæus, whom it is not easy to believe mistaken, is clear and unhesitating:
"Not long is it since the Revelation was seen, but almost in our own
generation, about the end of Domitian's reign;"* and on the whole the
preponderance of external evidence is on the same side—only obscure and later
testimonies being in favour of the earlier period.

* The suggestion that as *Domitian* was one of the names of Nero, Irenæus may
have referred to him, will not bear serious consideration.

THE REVELATION.

The duration of his exile—whether he was forced to labour in the quarries—how
and when he was restored to liberty—and so on—we have no means of knowing. The
one association of the island of which we have certainty is its association
with the visions of the Apocalypse. Prisoners have solaced themselves in their
solitude, or at least relieved the oppressive monotony, by many a strange
device. They have learned to train insects, and to establish a kind of
sympathy with them; they have watched the path of a ray of sunlight entering
through some chink into their place of confinement, and slowly travelling over
wall or floor; they have spent days in pouring water from one vessel into
another, making some difference every time; they have carved the stones of
their cells; they have cultivated prison flowers; they have written poems; and
to a prison we owe the Dreamer's immortal allegory. For John the loneliness
was filled with a mighty procession of scenes and figures; and the future,
onward to the consummation, lived before him.

I have the idea that the opening vision that of the glorified Christ—took
place early in his banishment; and that the visions which followed were not
crowded into the space of the single "Lord's day" referred to in the first
chapter of Revelation, but were spread over the greater part of his exile. If
so, the scenes would pass, not hurriedly and tumultuously, but slowly before
him,—what we read in a few seconds filling (it may be) hours of time—with an
interval between one scene and another, allowing full opportunity to "write"
the things seen and the words and voices heard.

We may regard it as probable that his exile ended not later than the close of
Domitian's reign; and that he then returned to the scene of his former labours
and influence in the province of Asia. Tradition has filled in numerous and

CLOSE OF THE FIRST CENTURY.

grotesque details, but there is nothing that we can accept as historic.

We pass onward to the close of the first Christian century. The aged Apostle,
now the last survivor of those who had seen the Lord, dwells among his "little
children" at Ephesus, and exercises his influence and guidance from thence as
a centre. The earthly Jerusalem has perished almost a generation ago. The
terrible days of Nero have become a distant memory. The mild sway of Nerva has
given peace to the Church. The splendid dawn of Trajan's reign has begun,
himself just and clement, though determined to uphold the majesty of Roman law
and religion. The gospel of Jesus Christ has laid extensive and powerful hold
upon all the great centres of intelligence and influence round the shores of
the Mediterranean. Not long after, the younger Pliny writes from Bithynia,
what was probably true of all the western parts of Asia Minor, that "this
contagious superstition," as he regards it, "was not confined to the cities,
but had spread its infection among the country villages," and at one time "the
temples were almost deserted." The explanation of this marvellous success
given by the early Christians themselves is, doubtless, the true one—that God
was exercising His power to save men through Jesus Christ. It was (so to
speak) the continuation and extension of the day of Pentecost.

Though from the outset the Church was condemned as a "secret society," and
Christianity a *religio illicita* that lay under the "ban of outlawry," yet
for a time its obscurity was its protection!—Jesus was merely "*one Christus*"
to them;—but now and for ages to come it was to be tried in the fire, by a
series of persecutions fierce and almost uninterrupted, aiming at its
extermination.

The persecution under Nero (so vividly described in

TOLERATION AND PERSECUTION.

the Annals of Tacitus)* was merely the outburst of a savage and ferocious
nature, not so much against Christianity as against men who were publicly
odious and with whom nobody was likely to sympathize, and who therefore served
as a convenient scapegoat to carry away public indignation from himself. Under
Trajan, for the first time, the new religion was condemned by *express law*.†
If Christianity could have been tolerant, it would have found no serious
difficulty in obtaining toleration; for it was very much a matter of
indifference to the ruling power what religion men were of, so long as they
conformed to the State regulations, and practically submitted to the supremacy
of Jupiter Capitolinus and the Emperor. As Gibbon puts it: "The various modes
of worship which prevailed in the Roman world were all considered by the
people as equally true, by the philosopher as equally false, and by the
magistrate as

* The passage is this (*Tac. Annal.*, xv. 44): "To get rid of the report [that
the firing of Rome was by his order], Nero fastened the guilt and inflicted
the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their abominations, called
Christians by the populace. Christus, from whom the name had its origin,
suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one
of our procurators, Pontius Pilatus, and a most mischievous superstition, thus
checked for the moment, again broke out, not only in Judea, the first source
of the evil, but even in Rome, where all things hideous and shameful from
every part of the world find their centre and become popular. Accordingly, an
arrest was first made of all who pleaded guilty; then, upon their information,
an immense multitude was convicted, not so much of the crime of firing the
city, as of hatred against mankind. Mockery of every sort was added to their
deaths. Covered with the skins of beasts, they were torn by dogs and perished,
or were nailed to crosses, or were doomed to the flames and burned, to serve
as a nightly illumination when daylight had expired. Nero offered his gardens
for the spectacle."

† The punishable crime was *obstinacy* in adhering, contrary to law, to the
new superstition. There were easy evasions for those who had easy consciences.
A few grains of incense cast upon a heathen altar would secure pardon. It was
held undesirable to hunt for Christians, and informers were discouraged. But
the profession of Christianity was illegal.

JOHN'S GOSPEL AND EPISTLES.

equally useful; and thus toleration produced not only mutual indulgence, but
even religious concord."

But at every point the religion of Christ came into collision with what
existed round about it. The Christian by his conduct accused and condemned the
current morality. He stood up against the whole life of the world, and its
ways. He could not be present at the celebration of heathen rites. He could
not sit down at heathen banquets. He could not salute the statues of the gods,
or cast incense upon their altars. He absented himself from shows,
gladiatorial contests, religious fêtes, and all assemblies that tended to
licentiousness. He thus ostracised himself from society; and his whole bearing
was felt as an indignity to the sentiments of his neighbours and friends. Of
course the world could not like him, and the world showed practically that it
did not. For a time the persecutions were social rather than political, and it
was not till the followers of Christ became numerous and influential that the
arm of the civil power had to be exerted for putting them down. These days
were now at hand.

At the same time dangers were rising within the Church, through the spirit of
presumptuous speculation which loosened itself from conscience and reality,
and which, out of Oriental fancies, Greek philosophy, and Gospel history,
fashioned systems as fantastic, shifting, and unsubstantial as cloud-scenery
at sunset.

In these circumstances the saintly Apostle, full of years, and ripe in
experience and wisdom, wrote his Gospel and Epistles—the last and richest
treasure of sacred literature. Judging from internal marks, I would set some
of these writings down at an earlier date, as the product of his noble prime;
but let the slight tradition stand which binds at least their publication to
the close of the century or the beginning of the next. He does not in these
writings attack error as

THE CLOSING YEARS.

a controversialist, who deals with fragments and detached assertions instead
of wholes, but rather exhibits the positive truth in the presence of which
error expires. The central thought, ruling all he says, is that of "the Word
made flesh," "the Eternal Life which was with the Father and was manifested
unto us," whom he exhibits coming forth out of His eternity, passing through
this mortal life, and again entering into that glory which He had with the
Father before the world was, with the added glory of Redeemer.* According to
the representation of Chrysostom, the Evangelist made ready his soul, as some
well-fashioned and jewelled lyre, yielded for the utterance of something great
and sublime to the Spirit. These writings are the crowning gift of Jesus
Christ to the churches, bestowed through the instrumentality of His holy
Apostle.

We must be content to leave the closing years unknown. It is a safe enough
inference—and it is all we can maintain—that the general guidance of the
churches, in thought and life, devolved on him, and that he was faithful even
to the last.†

We are ignorant of the time and circumstances of his death. Conjecture ranges
from A.D. 89 to A.D. 120. Chrysostom affirms that he was a hundred years old
when he wrote his Gospel, and that he lived full twenty years after. It does
not appear that he died by violence, but peacefully upon his bed, most
probably in Ephesus, amidst his "little children." One likes to imagine the
tranquillity of the last scenes, in keeping with the tenor of his life.

"The night-dews fall not gentler on the ground,

Nor weary, worn-out winds expire so soft."

* Hence he is called John the Divine, i.e., not the theologian, but one who
spoke and wrote of the Divinity of the Lord.

† Some of the legends and traditions respecting him are thrown together in an
Appendix—enough to serve as a specimen.

WHERE HE SLEEPS.

In all likelihood, his dust lies somewhere amidst the wild jungle that has
overspread the neighbourhood. With the setting of "that last Resplendence" the
age of common history begins. The churches found it difficult to believe that
he had really passed away; the saying had gone abroad among them that he
should not die, but should continue until the appearing of the Lord; and so in
course of time the legend already alluded to was framed—that he was not really
dead, but only sleeping in his grave.* As has been said, it was not wholly an
error; for "he lives and will ever live by his writings, and the future
belongs to him even more than the past."

Though the last of the Apostles had gone, it was not "night," with only far-
off stars in the "dun and naked sky": the great Presence remained, according
to the assurance given on the eve of the Ascension, "Lo, I am with you alway,
even unto the end of the world"; and the blessed "Comforter" carried on His
gracious work, so that as truly as ever the Gospel was preached "in
demonstration of the Spirit and of power."

* See page 62.

![img-8.jpeg](img-8.jpeg)

V.

========================================================================
  CHAPTER 6: 06. The Seer
========================================================================

THE BOOK OF REVELATION. DIFFERENCE BETWEEN IT AND JOHN'S OTHER WRITINGS. THE
VISION OF THE LORD. PATMOS. THE SEVEN CHURCHES. THE APOCALYPSE THE ONE
PROPHETIC BOOK OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. SCHOOLS OF INTERPRETATION. STRUCTURE OF
THE BOOK.

THE New Testament writings ascribed to John are the Gospel which bears his
name, three Epistles, and the Book of Revelation or Unveiling. It is
impossible with certainty to determine the dates at which they were severally
composed, but the preponderance of evidence indicates the Book of Revelation
as the earliest.

About no New Testament book have wider and more numerous diversities of
opinion arisen, whether as regards authorship; date, occasion, meaning, or
value. Merely to exhibit these diversities would require a volume by itself.
From the first, the great majority of Christians have received it as certainly
a genuine work of the Apostle, while a few, both in the past and now, have
contended for a John who was not an apostle;* and others have asserted and
attempted

* I am not satisfied of the correctness of the view that John the Apostle and
John the Presbyter were different persons. The proof seems to me to break down
at a critical point. And I cannot but think that those who believe in the two
are more easily convinced than they take credit for.

THE BOOK OF REVELATION.

to prove that it is a forgery in the Apostle's name. At the time of the
Reformation, Luther pronounced it to be neither apostolic nor prophetical; and
though he afterwards expressed himself less strongly, his judgment was not
materially altered. It would be easy to make out a list of able men since
Luther's time who have, for different reasons, consented to his conclusion.
The book certainly differs greatly from the other writings of John, both in
style, tone of mind, and standpoint. The difference is not simply that between
youth and age,—between an unripened imagination and the calm and softened
light of maturity,—but of another kind.

The difference seems to me to spring in part from the difference of subject:
in one case the serene and holy manifestation of the Eternal Life; in the
other case the throne, the Lamb, the powers of darkness, the conflict,
judgment and plague and woe, and all the mingled events that take place onward
to the establishment of the New Jerusalem. In part also, and still more
largely, from the difference of mental mood: in one case the aged Apostle
telling calmly forth, as to his little children,—on some "sweet day, so cool,
so calm, so bright"—what he had held in sacred remembrance for a long life-
time; in the other case the son of thunder rapt in ecstasy, and thrown back
into the language of his youth. In part also the difference seems to me
designed, in order to connect the prophecy more evidently and perfectly with
the ancient Scriptures. The very names applied to God are Old Testament names.
Nowhere do we meet the "Abba, Father" of the New Covenant; it is the "Lord God
of the holy prophets," "the Lord God Almighty;" and here alone (xi. 15), in
the whole range of apostolic writings, is the name "Our Lord" applied to the
Father. Thus, in Gospel and Apocalypse, are the two poles of his VISION OF
JESUS GLORIFIED.

nature exhibited; otherwise there would be incompleteness in the use made of
him.

If there are differences, there are also deep, subtle, and peculiar harmonies,
which can only be accounted for by identity of authorship. It is as if one and
the same voice should sing at one time a wild battle-ode, and by and by a low,
sweet song of home love, that looks into immortality, like the "Land o' the
Leal."* On the whole, as the result of critical examination and the weighing
of historic evidence, the earliest view is again almost universally accepted,
and the book is received as emanating from the Apostle. Even the doubting
school has come generally to allow its apostolic origin, endorsing the
statement that "hardly one book of the New Testament has such a list of
historical witnesses marked by name on its behalf." It was while exiled in
Patmos, during the reign of Domitian, that John beheld the visions which he
recorded in this book. The book, therefore, has its historical mooring, and
does not "swim in the air." Being in the Spirit on the Lord's Day, the Apostle
heard a great voice, as of a trumpet, talking with him, a voice loud, clear,
and articulate; and turning round, he saw seven golden candlesticks or
lampstands, and in the midst of them the glorified Redeemer, appearing, as in
the prophetic vision of Daniel

* It is to the music of a battle-ode, only with a change from triumphant to
pathetic, that Lady Nairn's exquisite lyric goes:—

"I'm wearin' awa', John,

Like snaw - drift in thaw,

John;

I'm wearin' awa'

To the land o' the leal.

There's nae sorrow there, John;

There's neither cauld nor care,

John;

The day's aye fair

I' the land o' the leal."

"Our bonny bairn's there, John;

She was baith gude and fair,

John;

And oh, we grudged her sair

To the land o' the leal.

But sorrow's sel' wears past,

John,

And joy's a-comin' fast, John,

The joy that's aye to last

I' the land o' the leal."

THE SEVEN CHURCHES.

by the side of the great river Hiddekel, like unto a son of man. Psychologists
tell us how, under certain conditions, the emotions and images of the mind so
overpower the senses as to press them into service, and force them to give
expression to what is passing within the bosom. It was nothing of this kind
here, so far as the narrative indicates; but a true beholding of the Lord. He
was robed even to the foot, like a king-priest, in white, and girt with a
golden girdle; His head and His hair were white like wool, as white as snow;
His eyes gleamed as a flame of fire; His feet were like fine brass, as if they
burned in a furnace; His voice was majestic as the sound of many waters; in
His right hand He held seven stars; out of His mouth went a sharp, two-edged
sword; His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength:—"and when I
saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead." With the touch of His right hand He
restored strength to His servant, and bade him write what he now saw, and the
visions which were about to be unfolded to him, sending his book to the seven
churches of Asia. We are not to suppose that only seven churches and no more
existed in that province. The probability is that they were much more
numerous. But these seven are singled out as representative churches. The
number Seven is the covenant number, for which reason it is also seized upon
by the Wicked One, and worked into the anti-christian system. The churches are
divided into two groups of three and four, by the build of the Epistles
addressed to them as well as by geographical situation, the first group lying
toward the sea, the second more inland. They form a kind of symbolical
circle.* I take

* Concerning the number Seven as symbolical, made up of three and four,
perpetually meeting us not only in Revelation, but in the page of nature, see
an interesting chapter in The Symbolical Numbers of Scripture,

THE CROWN OF SCRIPTURE.

it that a copy of the Apocalypse was sent to each of these churches, and with
each copy a short Epistle to the particular church, the whole being collected
in the second and third chapters. The words spoken by Christ and written down
by John, are “what the Spirit saith.” At the close of each Epistle, “he that
hath an ear”—each individual man—is summoned to listen. The words are
addressed “to the churches.” What a sweep that gives them—to the churches—the
wide world over, and down all time!

As our waking thoughts are the stuff out of which our dreams are fashioned, so
the imagery of Revelation has for its base partly the Apostle’s own
experiences and memories, and partly the Temple services at Jerusalem, the
history of his nation, and the writings of ancient Prophets. The white cloud,
the earthquake, the thunderings and lightnings, the great hail, the rainbow
round about His head, the sound of many waters, every mountain and island, the
great mountain as it were burning with fire, the sea, the sand on its shore,
the sea of glass like unto crystal, the sea of glass as it were mingled with
fire, and so on—all this various imagery would be most natural in Patmos. The
Apocalypse is the one prophetic book of the New Testament. It throbs with the
martyr-spirit throughout. Milton describes it as “the majestic image of a high
and stately tragedy, shutting up and mingling her solemn scenes and acts with
a sevenfold chorus of hallelujahs and harping symphonies.” Being written after
the destruction of Jerusalem, we cannot make it refer to that catastrophe, and
to a hoped-for golden age beyond. Its design is, by “signifying,” or by
Malcolm White, M.A. (T. and T. Clark, Edinburgh.) The influence of the
Apocalypse is seen in the building of “churches” in groups of seven—as, e.g.,
at Glendslough or Clonmacnoise in Ireland.

DIFFERENT VIEWS.

exhibiting in sign, things that should shortly come to pass, to inspire the
Christian church with hope and courage and patience, indicating her future
course, through calm and storm, onwards to the glorious appearing of the Lord
and the final victory over all hostile powers, when His saved people shall
enter on untroubled and eternal joy. Without the Apocalypse, the Bible would
be an unfinished Book, nor should we know the issue of the conflict between
God and evil. "One voice alone," as Herder says, "prevails throughout it, *The
Lord comes*; one feeling, that *God is all in all*." "Behold, He cometh with
clouds," meets us in the beginning; while again in the close He gives the
assurance, "Behold, I come quickly." Discussions—sometimes fierce and
bitter—have arisen under various questions, such as these: Is the book a
prophetic poem, whose imagery must not be taken too strictly? or is it
prophecy in the true sense? If it is prophecy, how far are the descriptions to
be understood literally? and how far figuratively? If the book is written in
cipher, where shall we find the key? Looking at the numbers seven, ten, a
thousand, and so on—are they ordinary numbers? or are they "prophetic"? or are
they symbolical? Was the prophecy fulfilled, in the main, in the early ages of
Christianity, in the conflicts with Judaism and Paganism? Was Christianity
"triumphant" when it was made the state religion by Constantine? Or is the
fulfilment proceeding at the present hour? and is it possible to discover our
own place in the prophecy? Or does the book foretell events that are still—all
of them—wholly future? Or will it be impossible to understand the prophecy
till it is completely fulfilled? Under these questions the various ways in
which the book has been taken group themselves. To some it is merely an
inspired poem, setting forth

THE CENTRAL FIGURE.

ideas after the Eastern fashion, but not prophetic in any real sense.

To others it appears wholly fulfilled in the early days of Christianity, and
we are now living in the time of the New Jerusalem—the communion of those who
are born from above.*

To others it delineates the whole of human history, in its connection with the
kingdom of Christ, from the days of the Apostle (if not from Eden onwards) to
the general Judgment. The whole march and procession—the whole ebb and flow—of
Time is represented to the Christian imagination, the central figure being
that of the once suffering and now glorified Christ, who governs history, who
is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, by whom and for whom are
all things, and who is the appointed Judge of the living and the dead.

To others the main part of the prophecy, from the fourth chapter and onwards,
is wholly future. The Epistles to the Seven Churches are prophetic of so many
successive stages of Christian history, running the one into the other, the
issue being, that while the few faithful are blessed with Christ, the visible
ecclesiastical community is “spued” out of the Saviour’s mouth. The visions
commencing with the fourth chapter are held to pertain wholly to the future,
though with illustrations in the present—as the Old Testament prophecies of
Christ had illustrations in typical men and typical events; and when the
fulfilment comes, it will

* Those who take this view find, for example, in Nero the Wild-beast. His name
when Hebraized gives the mysterious number 666. It was believed by many that
he was not really dead, but had retired beyond the Euphrates, whence he would
return again. The waters of the Euphrates are dried up to make a way for him.
With his ten satraps he burns and destroys the city of Rome. The whole book is
interpreted in harmony with such ideas.

STRUCTURE OF THE BOOK.

be crowded within the strict literal limits of the years and days named in the
book.*

Two things I would say: First, we must in our interpretation take warning from
the errors of the disciples, when, by observing *the letter*, they missed the
true *meaning* which Christ conveyed. Second, the Apocalypse is not a book for
the mere arithmetician, far less for the fortune-teller, out of which might be
constructed a “Haydn’s Dictionary of Dates” for the future; but as truly a
book for the devout and spiritually-minded theologian as is the Epistle to the
Romans. It is full of Christ. Nowhere does He seem more human, nowhere more
Divine; nowhere more gracious, nowhere more majestic and awful. Bengel has
well called it “a Book of the Cross;”† and, almost as well, Herder speaks of
it as containing “manna for all hearts and all ages,” and “a book of
instruction and comfort for all churches in which Christ walks.” It is not a
*new* prophecy, but the old, from another standpoint and under fuller light.
John sees the same things that had been seen long before; the unexhausted
words of ancient seers, from Moses downwards, are taken up and uttered afresh.
Speaking roundly, everything that is in the Apocalypse is to be found (in germ
at least—sometimes fully) in the Old Testament. Thus the New Testament becomes
“*committed*” (so to speak) to the unfulfilled prophecies of the Old. These
unfulfilled prophecies have not come to nought; they do but bide their time.

* Some extreme Futurists hold that even the Seven Churches have not yet
appeared, and will not until immediately before the end.

† Yet Bengel interpreted the book in such a way that he fixed the true and
exact date of the binding of Satan and commencement of the Millennium for the
month of June, 1836.

VISION OF THE THRONE.

The structure of the book, excluding introduction and conclusion, may now be
briefly indicated. There are three divisions of unequal length. The first
gives an account of the appearing of the glorified Jesus to John in Patmos;
the second consists of the epistles which John was instructed to write and
send to the Seven Churches; the third and by far the longest records the
visions of the future which the seer beheld.

These visions (chapters iv.—xxii.) do not flow on continuously, in even
current, like the chapters of a history, till we reach the last; but the eye
of the seer sweeps again and again over the same space, so that we have so
many parallel lines of symbol rather than a single continuous line from John's
day to the consummation.

The vision recorded in chapter iv. is introductory to the rest. A door is
opened in heaven; a trumpet-voice calls to the seer in Patmos "Come up
hither!"; and "immediately I was in the Spirit" (Rev. iv. 2), in presence of
those "heavenly things" after the pattern of which tabernacle and temple had
been built. There is a Throne, high and lifted up, with One sitting upon it
whose appearance was like a jasper and a sardine stone. The throne is
compassed with an emerald-coloured bow. Around are four-and-twenty elders,
clothed in white and wearing golden garlands. Out of the throne proceed
lightnings and voices and thunderings. Seven lamps of fire burn before it. In
front, within the circle of the elders, is as it were a sea of glass like
crystal. Midway up the throne-steps ("in the midst") are four living
creatures, with eyes before and behind, differing and yet like, who cease not
to cry, "Holy, Holy, Holy," and are responded to by the elders, who fall down
before Him that sits upon the throne, and cast their garlands at His feet,
saying, "Thou art worthy." Whatever changes of scene and imagery we find
throughout the book, the Throne never shifts. SUCCEEDING VISIONS.

The first series of visions, following the introductory one, is that of the
Sealed Book (chapters v.—viii. 1). A book or roll sealed with seven seals lies
on the open right hand of Him who sits on the throne. No one is able to open
it or to look thereon until the Lamb, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, has
prevailed or overcome so that He takes and opens it. His taking the book calls
forth praises and thanksgivings with this for their burden, “Worthy is the
Lamb!” A vision follows the opening of each seal, till the seventh and last is
opened, when there is silence in heaven as for the space of half-an-hour. We
are brought up to the very verge of the Lord’s coming; but the event itself is
not described. The series of visions leads us to the threshold, and there
pauses. The second series of visions is given in chapters viii. 2—xi. Seven
angels with trumpets are seen standing before God. An angel, having a golden
censer with much incense, whose smoke ascends with the prayers of saints
before God, takes his place by the golden altar before the throne. He fills
the censer with altar-fire, and casts it upon the earth. His act is followed
by voices, thunderings, lightnings, and shaking. The seven angels then sound
their trumpets in succession, the Seer describing what follows the sounding of
each, and what is preparatory to the sounding of the next. When the seventh
angel sounds, voices in heaven proclaim, “The kingdom of the world is become
[the kingdom] of our Lord and His Christ, and He shall reign for ever and
ever.” The elders fall on their faces and give thanks, because “Thou hast
taken to Thee Thy great power and hast reigned.” The temple of God is opened
in heaven (as when the vail of the temple was rent in twain), and the ark of
His covenant is seen; and there are lightnings, voices, thunderings, shaking,
and great hail. THE VIALS.

The third series of visions begins with the woman, the serpent, the Man-child
(the woman's seed), and carries us on to the reaping of the harvest and
vintage of earth. These visions occupy chapters xii.—xiv. They close with the
appearing of a white cloud, and One seated on it like a son of man, golden-
garlanded, and with a sharp sickle in his hand. An angel from the temple cries
aloud to Him to thrust in His sickle and reap the earth's ripened *harvest*;
and He reaps. Another angel from the altar (the fire-angel) cries aloud to one
who had come out of the temple, having a sharp sickle, to thrust in his sickle
and reap the earth's ripened *vintage*; he reaps, and casts the clusters into
the great wine-press of the wrath of God. The wine-press is trodden without
the city, and blood comes out of the wine-press even to the horse-bridles, by
the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs. The fourth series of visions
(that of the Vials, chapters xv., xvi.) preserves in part the imagery of the
third, and follows it up. A sea of glass is seen, mingled with fire; and
standing there (like Israel on the farther shore of the Red Sea) are those who
have gotten the victory. Harp in hand, they sing the song of Moses and of the
Lamb. The temple of the tabernacle of the covenant in heaven is then opened,
and seven angels issue forth, clothed in pure and white linen, with golden
girdles, bearing in their hands seven golden vials full of the wrath of God,
which they are commanded to pour out upon the earth. They obey, and pour out
their vials in succession. When the seventh is poured out, a voice from the
throne cries, "*It is done.*" Voices, thunders, lightnings follow, and a
mighty shaking. The great city is divided into three parts; the cities of the
nations fall; great Babylon comes in remembrance before God, to receive her
cup of wrath. The islands and mountains flee away, and there "ALAS!" AND
"ALLELUIA!"

falls on men a great hail, and they blaspheme God because of the plague of
hail.

The fifth series of visions occupies chapters xvii.—xix. 10. One of the seven
angels who had the seven vials full of wrath carries the seer in spirit into
the wilderness, and shows him the judgment of the great harlot, drunken with
the blood of saints. She is identified with that great city, Babylon, that
rules over the kings of the earth. A great "Alas!" rises from all the earth at
the fall of Babylon, while away up in heaven is a rejoicing "Alleluia." A
glimpse is then given of the bride, the Lamb's wife, arrayed in fine linen,
pure and white, symbolic of the righteousness of saints. And "blessed are they
who are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb." The next series of
visions (xix. 11—xxi. 8) describes the final conflict and victory. The
Faithful and True rides forth on a white horse at the head of the armies of
heaven; He Himself is clothed in a vesture dipped in blood; His followers in
fine linen, pure and white. Arrayed against Him are the Wild Beast, the False
Prophet, the kings of the earth and their armies. Ere the battle commences, an
angel standing in the sun summons all the fowls of heaven to gather together
to the supper of the great God, to eat the flesh of kings and captains and
mighty men and horses and their riders. The battle is joined; the Beast and
the False Prophet are taken and cast into a lake of fire; and the remnant are
slain, and all the fowls of the air are filled with their flesh. After this an
angel comes down from heaven, with a key and a great chain, and binds the
Dragon, (that old Serpent, the Devil,) and shuts him up in the bottomless pit
for a thousand years.

THE NEW JERUSALEM.

Then thrones are seen; and to those who sit on them judgment is given. The
souls of them who had been beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word
of God, and such as did not worship the Beast nor his image, nor receive his
mark in forehead or hand, live and reign with Christ a thousand years. This is
the First Resurrection.

At the end of the thousand years, Satan is loosed from his prison, and goes
forth again to deceive the nations. He succeeds in gathering them to war
against the Lamb; and they compass the camp of the saints about, and the
beloved city. Fire comes down from heaven and destroys them. The Devil who
deceived them is also cast (like the Beast and the False Prophet before him)
into the lake of fire.

Then is seen a Great White Throne, and One sitting thereon, from whose face
earth and heaven flee away. It is the Throne of Judgment; and the dead, small
and great, are gathered before it, and judged every man according to his
works. Death and Hades are cast into the lake of fire, together with all whose
names were not found written in the Lamb's book of life.

"And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first
earth were passed away; and there was no more sea." The holy city, new
Jerusalem, comes down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for
her husband. A great voice out of heaven cries, "Behold, the tabernacle of God
is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and
God Himself shall be with them, their God: and God shall wipe away all tears
from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying,
neither shall there be any more pain; for the former things are passed away."

"FOR EVER AND EVER."

The final vision (xxi. 9—xxii. 5) is that of the New usalem itself, viewed in
its historical manifestation. It

"the city which hath foundations, whose builder and ker is God." The vision is
not a mere enlargement of

2—4. The Seer is transported by one of the seven els that had the seven last
plagues to a great and high untain: and looking forward, as it were, from his
own sent into the far distance, he sees "that great city, the y Jerusalem,
descending out of heaven from God, having glory of God." In its historic
beginning it is repreted as contemporaneous with the existence of "nations"

the earth, and nations that require "healing." It has a nistry of grace for
these nations. As for the inhabitants mselves, there is an end of all the evil
consequences of fall. "There shall be no more curse; but the throne

God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and His servants ll serve Him; and they
shall see His face; and His me shall be in their foreheads: and there shall be
no t there; and they need no candle, neither light of the for the Lord God
giveth them light, and they shall gn for ever and ever."

"HE WHO TESTIFIETH THESE THINGS SAITH, SURELY I

HE QUICKLY. AMEN: EVEN SO, COME, LORD JESUS."

![img-9.jpeg](img-9.jpeg)

VI.

========================================================================
  CHAPTER 7: 07. The Evangelist
========================================================================

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN. BATTLE-FIELD OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. RELATION TO THE OTHER
GOSPELS. CHARACTERISTICS AND CONTENTS. HOW IT IMPRESSES DIFFERENT MEN. THE
PROLOGUE. EXPOSITION OF THE PROLOGUE.

![img-10.jpeg](img-10.jpeg)

S intelligent readers of the New Testament are aware, each of the four Gospels
exhibits its special character in its very commencement; each, so to speak,
carries a mark on its forehead: this is pre-eminently the case with the Gospel
according to John. They who propose to themselves to study this Gospel must be
content to take time, so that they may live into the knowledge of it. It is
not possible to write anything like a "Handy Book" on it. And after the study
of a whole life, there will still remain unfathomable depths into which we can
only gaze with wonder and fascination.

This Gospel has been rightly described as in our day "the Battle-field of the
New Testament." And the battle is not merely one in which intellect plays its
part, but also the forces of passion. If the book can be proved a forgery, the
citadel of the supernatural is "commanded" by its assailants.

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN.

After weighing what has been written—and so eagerly urged of late—against the
Johannine origin of this Gospel, I am unable to see that the evidence in its
favour has been so much as shaken. It does not however belong to my aim to
deal with this question; indeed, to enter into it, even slightly, would
require a separate book. The writer of the Gospel certainly professes to have
been an eye-witness of the things which he records, and as good as calls
himself John. In addition, the same hand that wrote the Gospel unquestionably
wrote also the First Epistle (as both external and internal evidence show), in
which the distinctest possible assertion is made of the writer's having been a
personal witness of the manifestation. If then he was not a witness, I cannot
acquit him of the worst kind of "lie," all the more abominable that it is a
lie against God, the effect of which is to represent a creature as His equal;
and I cannot help quoting against him—shuddering as I do it—the words of that
John whom he simulates, "All liars shall have their part in the lake which
burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death."

This Gospel is not a mere supplement to the other three, filling in vacant
spaces—such a view is both unwarranted and superficial—though, coming last,
the Evangelist could not but take note of what the other three said, and did
not say; nor is it an Eirenicon designed to reconcile differences within the
Church; nor a controversial treatise aimed against incipient or manifested
heresies (although it serves all the ends thus indicated); but is the
"testimony" of one whom Jesus loved, who "leaned on His bosom," who "beheld
His glory," and was "moved" to write by the Holy Spirit. In all probability it
was given to the churches just when they might be sorrowfully wondering what
they should do if this last of the Apostles were removed from them, and his
testimony faded into a memory or a tradi-

ITS CONTENTS.

tion; their only comfort being that he might tarry till the Lord's return.*

It records the greatest of the miracles,† the longest and profoundest of the
discourses, and that unfathomable prayer which preceded Gethsemane.‡ There is
little of outwardness and physical action in it; in which respect it contrasts
strikingly with Mark. The parabolic element, except in occasional glimpses, is
almost entirely a-wanting; and we find instead the simple, profound, and
profoundly-connected sayings of the Lord, the exceeding delicacy and beauty of
which have been most wonderfully caught. It tells us more than the other three
about the risen life. More also about the Comforter and His work, both as
respects "the world" and believers. It is a well of living water, that fills
again as we draw from it, and is inexhaustible.

Printed by itself, it forms but a very small volume, which

* The Apostle Paul, we know, did not write out his Epistles with his own hand,
but employed an amanuensis. It is quite conceivable that the aged John, in
writing, received the assistance of younger men who were associated with him
in Christian service, and that the Greek in which he writes receives a tinge
and character from this assistance. None the less would the book be to us the
gift of the Holy Spirit.

† Seven in number, no two the same in kind.

‡ It has been objected that John could not possibly have retained these
discourses in his memory, in such minuteness and fulness, for so many years.
The true answer to this objection is the Lord's promise of the Spirit, to
bring all things to remembrance. Subsidiary to this, however, there are
various considerations that deserve to be weighed, as, e.g. :—(1.) Where
writing is little used, the wonderful strength that memory attains. (2.) There
is nothing incredible, or even unlikely, in the supposition of John's having
used memoranda; or that the book took its final form only by a very slow
process—indeed, by a process of growth. (3.) John did not, any more than the
other Evangelists, act as a mere verbal reporter, but reproduced the sense
livingly. (4.) The very length of time that elapsed, filled up as it was in
telling of Jesus again and again, in thought and contemplation, and in
deepening experience, would render it not more difficult but more easy to give
his full and final testimony. Any one may find analogies within his own
knowledge.

CHARACTERISTICS.

can easily be carried in the waistcoat pocket, and read from beginning to end
at a single sitting. There is nothing in it that looks like striving after
effect. The sublimest truths are set forth apparently without effort. The
language is extremely simple and unartificial, yet answering to the
requirements of profoundest speculative thought. A wonderful serenity breathes
all through. No book of the New Testament does so much to captivate the
reader's affections—it is so simple, so tenderly human, so heavenly, so
penetrated by the spirit of love, so satisfying to the longings that reach out
toward God. There is nothing in it like the Sermon on the Mount, or the
Epistle of James; there are no chapters such as we find in the writings of
Paul, within which "the melting fire" burns; there is no gorgeous colouring,
or strange, weird imagery, as in the Apocalypse; but beyond all other New
Testament books it wins the heart. Even when we forget the words, the echo of
them lingers with us, like grave, sweet melody.

The readers are presumed to be unfamiliar with the Palestine of Christ:—hence
the little explanatory notes that are so often thrown in respecting names and
customs, such as, "The Passover, a feast of the Jews;" "Rabboni, which is to
say, Master."

The present fashion of illustrating the life of Jesus (and the lives of Peter
and Paul and John) is to bring together all that can be learned respecting
topography, scenery, historic associations, and the like, so as to make the
narrative more vivid. We get extremely interesting reading in this way; but
now and then the information supplied affords little more help to an
understanding of the Christ of God than if a historian of the Peninsular war
were to illustrate the career of Wellington by telling us of the geology and
botany of his various battle-fields, and the plumage of the birds that are
found along his lines of march. In this Gospel is none of this

ITS PURPOSES.

irrelevancy of information, for the mere sake of pictorial effect. It is the
spiritual, and not the outward, all through.

The book presupposes acquaintance with the Gospel story, and therefore does
not give a complete outline of the Lord's public ministry just as Peter in the
house of Cornelius assumes that his hearers were acquainted with the facts
that underlie the message of mercy: "The word which God sent unto the children
of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ, *that word ye know*." It is, at
the same time, an original and fresh forth setting of His Personality and
Life, designed to lift our thoughts of Him to the very highest elevation. In
some sense He is, in this Gospel, *transfigured before us*. It ought to be
read in the light of its declared purpose, "These are written that ye might
believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing, ye might
have life through His name;" and every commentary upon it should lie in the
line of that declaration—in other words, should aim at leading men into the
knowledge which is life eternal.

Jesus Christ is not here the Son of Abraham and David, as in Matthew; nor
Jehovah's Servant, as in Mark; * nor the Son of Adam, as in Luke; but the Only
begotten of the Father. In the very outset we are taken back into the past
eternity, or, as John names it, "the Beginning," to behold "the Word" who was
with God, and was God, the ground and cause of all creature-existence. In the
fulness of time the Word is made flesh and dwells among us, full of grace and
truth. The mystery of the Incarnation comes before us in this Gospel as in
none of the others. Elsewhere we

* As indicated in the very outset, by the opening quotation, Mark's Gospel is
to be connected with Isaiah's great prophecy of "the Servant of Jehovah,"
chaps. xl.—xlvi.

SUMMARY OF NARRATIVE.

see the Holy Child wrapped in swaddling bands and laid in a manger; angels
hymn His birth; the aged Simeon takes Him in his arms as God's Salvation; the
Eastern Magi offer Him their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh; the Child
in the home of Nazareth grows in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God
and man; the Boy of twelve must be about His Father's business.

But in John's Gospel all this is passed over. There is no hint referring to
His childhood at all. The broad fact of the Incarnation being declared, the
Evangelist proceeds at once to describe the forthshowing of His glory. This is
the theme of the book. It is the glory as of the Only-begotten of the Father.
He is introduced by the Baptist as "One whose shoe's latchet I am not worthy
to unloose;" as the "Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the world;" as
One "who cometh from above," and who "is above all." Immediately He begins to
gather disciples by His Divine self-disclosures and graciousness, and His
Messiah career proceeds. The contents of the book, from the calling of the
first disciples, onward to the week preceding His crucifixion, may be
indicated in a single sentence:—The miracle at Cana; the purifying of the
temple; the interview with Nicodemus; the interview with the Samaritan woman;
the healing of a nobleman's son; a discourse growing out of the cure of an
impotent man; another growing out of the multiplying of the bread and the
walking on the sea; another at the feast of tabernacles, in the middle of
which is inserted the account of the woman taken in adultery; another growing
out of the miracle of opening the eyes of one born blind; * another at the
feast of dedication in winter; and lastly, the great miracle of raising
Lazarus from the dead. It is life all through, light all through, grace all
through,

* The beginning of chapter x. seems a continuation of chapter ix.

MATERIALS EMPLOYED.

truth all through, glory all through—glory which to the Apostle (after the
rending of the vail of flesh) is visible from first to last, in every part of
the Lord's career.

From the period marked by the raising of Lazarus from the dead, Jesus ceases
to walk openly among the Jews. The remainder of the Gospel (ten chapters out
of twenty-one) deals with the closing scenes, beginning "six days before the
passover." We go with Him from Bethany to Jerusalem; we join the throng on the
day of the Triumphal Entry; we are with Him in the upper room; we are taken
through the last sufferings; we see a specimen of His risen life; and His
glory shines forth throughout, even in the blackest hour of hell's seeming
triumph.

There is no mention made in this Gospel of some of the great events in His
life which are detailed by the other Evangelists, and with which John was
intimately acquainted. He knew, for example, of the victory over the Tempter
in the wilderness; he was present at the Transfiguration on the holy mount,
and had a glimpse of the kingdom in its power; he saw Jairus' daughter
restored to life; he knelt in the Garden of Gethsemane; he was one of the band
that accompanied the Lord as far as Bethany on the day of Ascension; but he
makes no direct mention of these events in his narrative.

The materials which he has actually made use of are few in number compared
with the store from which he might have drawn; he omitted many things, the
record of which might have over-filled the world with books; with only a few
selections from his rich treasury, he shows us the glory of the Incarnate Word
-as if a painter should take a bit of grey rock, a tuft of maidenhair fern
growing in a crevice, some patches of grass and heather, a tree or two, a
human figure, a dim-seen mountain range, the infinite blue sky, and putting
these into a picture should show us the glory of God

HOW REGARDED BY ENEMIES.

in nature. His Gospel, as a whole, is the record of a glory that shone forth
from first to last during the earthly manifestation of the Son of God,—a glory
not for the senses, but for the heart.

The student of the Epistle to the Romans will feel that he is here addressed
from another side. It depends on one's nature more than on his logical powers
what he shall find in this Gospel. Very remarkable is it how little children
and ripe Christians, the simplest minded and the deepest minded, all like it
with so profound a liking. To the mere logician it is one of the most obscure
and perplexing writings that can be taken up; to the little child and the
child-hearted saint, it is one of the easiest and most delightful. As, in the
twilight of a day in September, one may cast a hasty, careless glance across
the sky and see only a bright star shining here and there, while if he gazes
steadfastly in some one direction for a little time, world after world, at
first invisible, will shine forth to him from the blue depths; so, to him who
looks long and earnestly into this book, glory after glory will disclose
itself, till his whole spiritual sky is one wide field of light, while at the
same time a sense of infinite mystery steals over him, and a strangely mingled
longing and awe.

No part of the New Testament is a more intolerable offence to some, and none
is more dearly loved by others. "It is of little use," says one, "to the
Christians of our day." Another speaks of it as "chilling," and "calculated to
repel rather than attract the mind." The Straussian school finds it a forgery
of the second century, and regards it very contemptuously as do their
successors. Renan, acknowledging it to come from the Apostle John, though
perhaps changed by other hands, speaks of it as "a singular production," a
"strange Gospel," in which "the character of Jesus is falsified in many
points,"—the apparent aim of the

HOW REGARDED BY FRIENDS.

Evangelist being to gratify his personal dislike by running down Judas, and
his personal jealousy by exposing Peter; while "perfect good faith was not
always his rule." John Stuart Mill finds in it a good deal of "poor stuff."

On the other hand, the affection and admiration expressed towards it by others
are almost unbounded. One has called it "the heart of Christ;" another, "the
gospel of the Spirit;" another says, "It is written by the hand of an angel;"
another, "It is the chief of the Gospels, and one can understand it only by
reclining on the bosom of Jesus;" another, "It is sweeter and more charming,
and endowed with more power to attract, than all the harmonies of music;"
another, "It speaks a language to which no parallel whatever is to be found in
the whole compass of literature;" another, "It is a deep and tranquil lake, in
which are reflected the pleasant shores around, and the pure, clear sky, with
sun, moon, and stars above;" another, "The simplicity is that of a seraph, and
the love such as blossoms around the eternal throne of the blessed Son of
God;" another, "It breathes the loftiest spiritual tone;" and another, "It
stands out from the other three as the Sabbath among the days of the week, as
the office of the priesthood among the functions of the sons of Levi, or like
the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim, which was better than the vintage of
Abiezer."

Very striking are the words of Matthias Claudius: "I love best of all to read
in St. John. There is in him something so perfectly wonderful—dusk and night,
and the quick lightning throbbing through them: the soft clouds of evening,
and behind the mass the big full moon bodily; something so sad, so high, so
full of presage, that one can never weary of it! In reading John, it always
seems to me that I see him before me, reclining at the Last Supper on the
bosom of the Lord, as if his angel held the light for me,

THE PROLOGUE.

and at certain parts would place his arm around me, and whisper something in
my ear. I am far from understanding all I read, yet often John's idea seems to
hover before me in the distance; and even when I look into a place that is
entirely dark, I have a presension of a great, glorious meaning, which I shall
some day understand, and hence I catch so eagerly at every new exposition of
the Gospel of John." •

The best "Introduction" to this Gospel is the introduction written by the
Evangelist himself. It is comprised in a paragraph of eighteen verses, and
exhibits in a condensed form the whole significance, scope, and intent of the
book. It runs as follows:—

"In the Beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was
God. The same was in the Beginning with God. All things were made by Him, and
without Him was not anything made that was made. In Him was Life; and the Life
was the Light of men. And the Light shineth in the Darkness; and the Darkness
comprehended it not. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John: the
same came for witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him
might believe. He was not the Light, but [was sent] to bear witness of the
Light. The true Light was, which lighteneth every man that cometh into the
world. He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew
Him not. He came unto His own (inheritance or possessions), and His own
(people) received Him not. But as many as received Him, to them gave He power
to become sons of God, even to them that believe in His name; who were born,
not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of
God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld

• As an analogy to the difference between the Christ of the earlier
Evangelists and of John—the difference between the Socrates of Xenophon and
the Socrates of Plato has been pointed out a thousand times.

AFFINITY TO GENESIS I.

His glory, the glory as of the Only-begotten from the Father,) full of grace
and truth. John beareth witness of Him and hath cried, saying, This was He of
whom I spake, He that cometh after me has become [has taken His place] before
me : for He was before me. For of His fulness all we received, and grace for
grace. For the Law was given through Moses ; Grace and Truth came through
Jesus Christ. No man hath seen God at any time : the Only-begotten Son who is
in the bosom of the Father, He declared Him."

§ 1.

The most obvious peculiarity of this Introduction is its extreme child-like
simplicity, combined with its riches and depth of thought. It is not, as at
first might seem, chronological, sweeping over the period from creation to
redemption, or (as has been said) "a history of the several gradually
advancing forms of manifestation of the Word." In the outset I reject this
view of the structure as untenable : I am satisfied that all attempts to read
it as a succession of chronological statements do violence at some point or
other to the language. So far as I can make out, we have in it an orderly and
profoundly connected series of thoughts, each preparing the mind for that
which follows, each making a fresh and farther revelation of Divine truth,
and, when all taken together, exhibiting the *gist* of the narrative that
follows. The order will be apparent when we have studied the whole.

The first thing that strikes one on examining the paragraph is a certain
subtle affinity to the first chapter of Genesis, which is an introduction to
the story of the first man, as this is an introduction to the story of the
second Man, the Lord from heaven. The great words are the same in both cases,
though they have evidently deepened in their later use—the Beginning, God, the
Word ("God Said"), All Things, Light, Darkness, Life, to Be, to Become.

"THE BEGINNING."

While the Evangelist begins with creation, he goes very far beyond, and
consequently uses many words that were not needed in the book of Genesis, but
are indispensable to his purpose—such as these—Law, Grace, Truth, Faith, Sons
of God, and so on.

As in the opening of Genesis, "God" is taken for granted. There is no attempt
to prove that He is, by argument either a priori or a posteriori. There is no
parley or discussion with the atheist. There is no notice taken—not even a
side-glance—of any denial that has ever been made of the Divine existence.
With a grand daring of disregard, all such denials, together with the
speculations on which they are based or by which they profess to be justified,
are silently passed by, as if there never had been, and never could be, any
controversy on such a subject; and the paragraph proceeds on the assumption
that He is, as beyond question, like a postulate or axiom.

We are at once placed in thought by the Evangelist in "the Beginning." In
every new generation, science is carrying us back into a more remote
antiquity, but has done nothing whatever to help us to conceive of a past
eternity. The Evangelist does not call us to form any such conception—which
indeed the human mind is incapable of doing. But he takes us back till we are
behind creation—ere sun or moon or star existed—behind protoplasm or whatever
other name may be used; and that timeless Past, "before the world was,"
"before the foundation of the world," he calls "the Beginning."

"In the Beginning was"—God? We are prepared for such a statement; we almost
expect it; if it be a truism, it is a glorious one, and underlies all
religion. But it is another thing that the Evangelist tells us. "In the
Beginning," he says, "was the Word." The Word: who or what can this Word be?
Is it a new name—the Christian-

“THE WORD.”

philosophic name for God? Or had God a companion in the bygone eternity? Is
Dualism taught here? and is this Word a second God? Or have we here a name for
God’s first-born creature, called into being before all worlds? Or does the
term belong to some system of philosophic speculation, relating to the nature
and action of God? Such questions would almost certainly, in some shape or
other, spring up in the mind of a heathen reader into whose hands this Gospel
might fall. The Evangelist will answer them all, if we have patience, and will
give us the true knowledge of the Word, even as the Apostle Paul declared the
Unknown God to the Athenians.

Without noticing even in outline any of the learned inquiries and discussions
as to where the Evangelist found this name, and in what sense he meant it, it
is enough to say that it was already in use at the time he wrote, and probably
long before. In particular it had been woven into elaborate religious
speculations by the Jews living in Alexandria. Just as our modern scientific
culture, or the scientific spirit, as it is called, is exerting a wide
influence in the domain of religious thought to-day, so did Greek philosophy,
particularly that of Plato, among these Jews. Taking the writings of the Old
Testament as the Divine source of spiritual knowledge, and rejecting mere
verbal literalism of interpretation, they endeavoured to give philosophic
expression to the truths they apprehended, and to build them into a
philosophic system. Under such conditions the doctrine of the Word (the
*Logos*) took shape in the school represented by Philo, and no doubt soon
became widely known. There is no ground, however, for supposing that the
Evangelist borrowed the name from Philo; it was in far wider and older use,
having its origin as far back as the first chapter of Genesis, which I have no
doubt was vividly present in his mind as he wrote. “And God *Said*,”

"THE WORD WAS WITH GOD."

"and God Made": so it runs throughout that chapter, preparing for the
utterance of the Psalmist, "By the Word of the Lord were the heavens made, and
all the host of them by the breath of His mouth."

A word is a thought, or emotion, or volition, expressed in sound, and abiding
where it is lodged after the sound has passed away. You put yourself into your
word, if it is a true word—your own mind, your own heart, your own will. In
telling us that the Word was in the beginning, does the Evangelist then simply
mean—that God spake and called things into being by the word of His power? and
that it was not "holy light" (as Milton sings), but voice or sound, that was
the "offspring of heaven first-born"? And is the voice of God here
personified, as His "wisdom" is personified in the Book of Proverbs? Shall we
say that God's word in the beginning called the heavens and the earth into
existence—that it afterwards came forth, generation after generation, to the
children of men through the prophets—that in the fulness of time it came forth
as a living and holy humanity—that God's final word to men is a Man, even the
Man Christ Jesus, who is the truth of God, the wisdom of God, and the power of
God? We might be inclined to answer, Yes, it is but a strongly figurative way
of telling us this, were it not that the marks of personality are so numerous
and decisive, not merely in separate expressions, but in the whole scope of
the paragraph. The English version is right in naming the Word He and not It;
He, the person—not It, the voice.

In the beginning the Word "was with God." At first glance the phraseology
seems of the simplest kind. To be with one, we say, is to be his companion, or
associate, or fellow. The original marks intimacy even more decisively than
does the English translation. We are not to regard the Word as sundered or
separated from God; there is dis-

"THE WORD WAS GOD."

tinctness in some sense, but no apartness or away-ness. The phraseology is not
singular in the writings of John : we find it in such instances as the
following : "That Eternal Life which was *with* the Father ;" "We have
confidence *toward* God ;" "We have an Advocate *with* the Father, Jesus
Christ the righteous." When it is said, "He was with God," this is antithetic
to what is said afterwards, that He was made flesh and "dwelt among us." The
manner of the fellowship with God indicated by "*with*" is in no way explained
by the Evangelist, and we must be content to leave it undefined. Taken by
itself, apart from the doctrine that God is one, we should find no greater
difficulty in the statement, "*The Word was with God*," than in the question
of the people respecting Jesus, "Are not His brethren with us?"

The Evangelist adds in the same breath, "And the Word *was God*." It is not
that He "was a god," or that He "was of God," or that "God was the Word," but
beyond contradiction, as the English version gives it : "The Word was God."
The Evangelist may be put out of court as a witness ; his testimony may be
regarded as worthless ; but it is not possible to make anything of it but that
"the Word was God." Standing by itself, the statement is quite intelligible.
That "*was*" makes the Word Divine. Whatever is to be affirmed concerning God
is to be affirmed concerning *Him*.

No language could be simpler, clearer, more definite, than the language we
have been considering. Each separate statement—as a statement—is intelligible
to a child. But when we put the statements together, and try to harmonize
them, our intellects are absolutely baffled. He *was with* God ; He *was* God
: how can both statements hold? Unless the name "God" be used in a double
sense, the second statement seems to negative the first. If one is *with*
another, how can he *be* that other? If the Word was *with* God,

"ALL THINGS MADE BY HIM."

how can He be God? The difficulty does not lie in the obscurity of the
statements made to us, but within the Divine nature itself. We shall not clear
it away by supposing an "impartation" of Godhead to Him—as a child inherits
the humanity of his parents, or as believers are "made partakers of Divine
nature." He did not "become"; He "was." And then too, "The same was in the
beginning with God." Nothing that has taken place within the limits of time
can explain the mystery. His Past and God's Past, if such expressions be
permissible, are one and the same. He was with God and was God, all in the
Beginning.

§ 2.

Next, the creation of all things is ascribed to the Word: "All things were
made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made." The first
clause might have sufficed; but, to place the meaning beyond question, the
second is added, which is not a mere redundancy, a mere repetition or
variation of the first clause, after the manner of Hebrew parallelism, but
formally negatives and excludes the supposition that in some corner or far-off
realm of space there may have been some other Being at work independently. The
"all things" (all without exception) must be taken as equivalent to "the
heavens and the earth" of Genesis, or, as we say, the universe: it is
impossible to regard them as equivalent to "the spiritual creation" or "new
moral world" introduced by the teaching of Jesus of Nazareth. What the
Evangelist as a man knew concerning the extent of the universe does not
require to come into consideration, any more than what we know, or what David
knew when he penned the eighth Psalm; but whatever its extent, the whole is
here included—both the things themselves and the laws which rule them.

To an English ear the expression "was made" naturally

THE CREATION.

suggests the idea of work or labour. Not so, however, the term which the
Evangelist employs in the original. That term is simply “became :” “all things
became (came to be) by Him.” It answers to the term which occurs so often in
the first chapter of Genesis, “And it was so” (translated in the Septuagint,
“It became so”). According to the record in Genesis, the heavens and the earth
were not fashioned by a silent volition on the part of God, nor by the action
of His hand, but in this manner : “God said”—“and it became so.” It was by His
Word that the heavens and the earth were finished and all the host of them.
The Evangelist’s statement is the New Testament repetition of the record in
Genesis : in this vast universe which exists before our eyes, there is not
anything which does not owe its being to the Word. “In Him,” as Paul says to
the Colossians, “were all things created that are in heaven and that are in
earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions, or
principalities or powers ; all things have been created by Him and for Him ;
and He is Himself before all things, and in Him all things subsist” (Col. i.
16, 17).

Either the material universe has been called into existence, or it is
eternal—as it seemed to certain ancient theorists and to some moderns, who
find in matter itself “the primeval cause of all being,” “the promise and
potency of every form and quality of life,” so that God is not merely
unnecessary, but is excluded. It is the former view which is presented here.
But what “course” or “process” followed the calling of matter into
existence—what spaces of duration lay between the command and the perfect “*it
was so*”—is left in the dark. For aught that the Evangelist tells us, the
original creative act may have been followed by processes of evolution
extending over unmeasured time—all which processes would be covered by the
word “*became*.”

“When God made the rocks, He made the fossils in

THE FIRST CAUSE.

them," said the old weaver to the boy David Livingstone—but the Evangelist
does not speak after this fashion; though his language is non-scientific, yet
it does not require to be corrected so as to take it out of conflict with
fact, any more than the astronomer forbids us to speak of "sunrise" and
"sunset." All the researches of science go to show that God has set an example
for all workers to follow, by proceeding from the lower to the higher, working
(if one may reverently use such an expression) on one and the same ground-plan
throughout, yet producing ever higher and nobler results. Of such processes,
however, the Evangelist gives no account or even hint, but simply declares
that the universe, in its every realm and minutest detail, owes its being to
the Word. It was made "by" Him, or rather "*through*" Him: He is not (so to
speak) an independent and isolated actor in the case, any more than He is a
mere instrument. The will in which creation stands is the will of God; as it
is written in Genesis, "*Let us make*."

Some men, discarding God as a nightmare or oppressive superstition, and
professing to be guided by science, are looking out for some force that shall
account for what they find in creation. It is becoming more and more manifest
that all things are so related, so kin (*sib*, if one may use an expressive
old Scotticism), as to form a kind of unity; that the present has grown out of
the past; that one form of force may be translated into another, as motion
into heat; but that we can create nothing and annihilate nothing. What is the
prime Force of all—the Force of which all other forces are the outcome? Is it
intelligent or unintelligent? Is it a "potential atom" or a Spirit? Is it a
fate or does it possess a heart and a holy will? Shall we say *it* or *He*?
Science cannot tell. Science knows nothing which does not rest ultimately on
the evidence of sense, and consequently can never take us out of the region of
the material. Its most

PRIMAL FORCE.

ingenious and delicate apparatus is after all but an extension of our senses,
and all its discoveries therefore are of a "sensible" order; however far out
it may go in its researches, and however far back—over spaces measured by
millions of years—it comes up to a boundary-line beyond which is impenetrable
mystery.

The Evangelist announces that the primal force (if that term must be used)
resides in the Word. The creation of a single atom would have been a
revelation of Him; how much more is this great universe! A man is always
greater than his work; no architect, for example, ever put his whole self into
the noblest building he designed; even so the Word is greater than the
universe which He has called into being. Still, so far as it goes, it reveals
Him to us. To the eye of childhood this world into which we are born is
beautiful and strange and marvellous past expression. Not less so to
intelligent and thoughtful manhood. If the romance is gone, as the summer dew
from the grass at noon, the real wonder only becomes overwhelming.

We look around us upon the infinite variety of productions which the earth
brings forth—their use, their goodness, their beauty; we sweep the eye of
imagination over ocean and continent, hill and plain, lake and stream, corn-
land and forest, sahara and paradise; we mark the changes produced by day and
night and the succession of the seasons; we listen to the music of nature—the
boom of ocean dashing on the shore, the wind in the forest, the tinkling of
the hidden moorland rill; we think of the countless tribes of living and
sentient beings that inhabit earth along with us; we think of man with his
marvellous endowments; we think of the treasures of darkness and hidden riches
of secret places; we listen to all that science can tell us of the subtle
agencies that pervade creation and the laws which bind all beings together.

THE STELLAR WORLDS.

Then, standing on earth, as on a promontory that juts out into the infinite,
we look upwards and outwards. Beyond the nether sky, with its cloud-scenery
and its sunrise and sunset hues of beauty, there are illimitable realms of
space, studded with worlds moving harmoniously in close-ravelled maze. These
heavens were vast and glorious to the eye of the old Chaldee gazer thousands
of years ago; how have their vastness and glory grown to us since then! The
globe which is our dwelling place is one of the smallest planets wheeling
round one of the lesser suns. It is conceivable that only our own little world
might have hung solitary in immensity; but the space swept by the telescope
teems with solar systems compared with which ours is insignificant. In the
Milky Way alone are millions of suns, the nearest of which requires years to
dart its light to us, though light travels two hundred thousand miles during a
single vibration of a pendulum. In the presence of that immensity our globe is
but as a grain of sand on the seashore.*

And as is our relation to space, so also to time, according to the teachings
of geology: since our world became the theatre of life, ages on ages have run
their course, for the duration of which we have absolutely no measure.

* "The least of the stars seen in the galactic depths—even though the
telescope which reveals it be the mightiest yet made by man, so that with all
other telescopes that star would be unseen—is a sun like our own. It is a
mighty mass, capable of swaying by its attraction the motions of worlds, like
our earth and her fellow-planets, circling in their stately courses around it.
It is an orb instinct with life (if one may so speak), aglow with fiery
energy, pouring out each moment supplies of life and power to the worlds which
circle around it. It is a mighty engine, working out the purpose of its Great
Creator. . . . . What then must be our thoughts when we see thousands and
thousands of stars, all suns like our own, and many probably far surpassing
him in splendour, passing in stately progress across the telescopic field of
view! The mind sinks appalled before the amazing meaning of the
display."—RICHARD A. PROCTOR, B.A., Cantab.; Hon. Sec. of Royal Astronomical
Society.

THE DIVINE ARCHITECT.

How great must *the Maker* be!—how wise, how good, how glorious! That universe
in its vastness, wonder, and divine beauty, and in all the evolutions through
which it has passed during countless ages, lay first of all in His mind—if one
may say so—as the grand cathedral was in the brain of the architect ere its
foundation-stone was laid: it took all that we see, and all that science
discloses, and all that mystery still hides, to express His creative Idea.

“The works of the Lord are great, sought out of all them that have pleasure
therein.” There is indeed in some minds an unbelieving suspicion that harm
must come to piety through researches into the constitution of nature and the
investigation of its history and laws; and the very name of *science* in some
quarters has a profane sound and awakens an uneasy dread that the next word
will be *scepticism*. In the face of sayings to the effect that an undevout
astronomer is mad, it must be granted that it is possible for a scientific
inquirer to know only the material and deny the Divine, even as it is possible
for a man who is busy making money in a selfish spirit to have no heartfelt
appreciation of the sacrifice of the Redeemer. But there is no feud between
religion and the scientific spirit. On the contrary, religion lifts up her
hands and blesses science in the name of the Lord, and bids her be reverent,
humble, true, and fearless. And when science takes the blessing, she can adopt
the words with which Kepler concludes his work, “On the Harmony of Worlds:”—“I
thank Thee, O my Creator and Lord, that Thou hast given me this joy in Thy
creation—this delight in the works of Thy hands. I have shown the excellency
of Thy works unto men, so far as my finite mind was able to comprehend Thine
infinity. If I have said aught unworthy of Thee, or aught in which I may have
sought my own glory, graciously forgive it.”

"IN HIM WAS LIFE."

§ 3.

Carrying our thoughts forward into a new region, the Evangelist adds, "In Him
was life."

This evidently means more than that He lived—which in this connection were a
mere truism. To have life was His characteristic. Life was that which existed
in Him, and of which He was full. In our case life is derived, is dependent,
is placed under limitations, is continually changing, must be nourished and
sustained by fit supplies: in Him it exists as in its eternal and exhaustless
fountain.

The Evangelist's statement at first glance appears simple in the extreme, and
we are in danger of slipping over it without much thought; but, if we pause
and look, it broadens out and deepens under our gaze all but immeasurably.

Let us, first of all, look into the meaning of the word "life" itself. It is
not to be resolved into "happiness" or "salvation," far less into mere
existence; all such paraphrases are an emptying of it. It is one of the great
words we so often meet in John's writings, which are used without being
defined, and which indeed could not be made intelligible by verbal
explanations. Including its cognate "*live*," it is found more than fifty
times in his Gospel alone, and nearly as often in his Epistles and the Book of
Revelation. It is the antithesis to "death," as is seen, for example, in the
passage, "He that heareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath
everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from
death unto life." Our order usually is *life and death*; we reckon "from the
cradle to the grave;" we begin with life, and trace it from its dawn onwards
throughout its manifold vicissitudes till it ends with the last breath; in
John, on the contrary, the order is *death and life*—answering to which order,
for example, is the name which Jesus takes upon Himself: "I am the
resurrection and the life;" implying that He begins by dealing with death.

THE MYSTERY OF LIFE.

To know the scope of the word, we begin with life in its lowest and simplest
forms, as it is seen in the Arctic moss or the ooze brought up from the sea-
depths by the Challenger. Even in such lower forms the physiologist cannot
tell us what life is, nor the microscopist, nor the chemist, nor the wisest
philosopher. They can tell us the signs of it, and the laws according to which
it is continued or extinguished; but that is about all. From the lowest and
simplest we pass upwards, through one order of being after another, till we
come to man, in whom life reveals itself so much more marvellously, in sense,
intellect, emotion, conscience, will. We mark how different a thing it is in
different cases; to the unlettered peasant and the man of profound and various
culture; to the playful child and to the grey haired saint, ready to enter the
perfect kingdom of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. In this
passage the term "life" is not to be restricted to any single province, wide
or narrow, "physical," "moral," "spiritual," or "eternal," but is to be taken
in the whole breadth of its significance.

Besides the marvel and mystery of life in its nature and infinitely various
forms, there is also its immensity of volume—its quantity—its amazing
amplitude of extent—all that is, all that has been, in air, and earth, and
sea. So far as our comprehension is concerned, the sum of it is absolutely
boundless. As an illustration of the impossibility of dealing with this aspect
of the case, a single fact may be selected from the microscopic researches of
Ehrenberg: one cubic inch of the hardened clay called tripoli he found to
contain between forty and fifty thousand millions of the silicious fossil
shells of infusoria. In presence of such a fact our minds are utterly helpless
to conceive the extent of life even in this little globe that we inhabit.

All the life of creation, so vast in its sum, so wonderful

"THE LIGHT OF MEN."

and glorious, from the life that lasts only a summer evening to that of the
archangel who bows before the eternal throne and adores—all that life, the
Evangelist tells us, “was in Him.” He is the Fount whence it has all
proceeded. Being in Him, the outcome was a necessity. If there is life in the
vine, it comes out in branch, and leaf, and grape cluster. So with the life
that was in the Word: it has come out in the vast and varied life of creation.
Because in Him was life, therefore this is a living world, and not a mere
material and ponderable ball, or a world of automatons, destitute of
understanding and volition. All the life of which we have any knowledge is the
out-blossoming and fruiting of the life that was in Him.

This “Life” the Evangelist proceeds to tell us was “the light of men.” The
order of thought is the same as in Psalm xxxvi. 9: “With Thee is the fountain
of life; in Thy light shall we see light.” Light is another of the great words
of this Evangelist. Its antithesis is darkness. John’s usage as to both words
is shown in such passages as the following: “This is the condemnation, that
light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light because
their deeds were evil;” “He that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but
shall have the light of life;” “I am the light of the world;” “Walk while ye
have the light, lest darkness come upon you.”

The terms belong primarily to the sphere of nature—the light of day and the
darkness of night. But in every instance in which they appear in John’s
writings, they are used as figures of spiritual ideas; they suggest the
element in which the evil life proceeds, and the element in which God is said
to dwell. According to John’s usage, light is not that which enters the bodily
eye, but symbolizes knowledge, wisdom, truth, holiness. Darkness, its
antithesis, he likewise uses symbolically; for example, even when he

LIGHT AND LIFE.

records the going forth of the betrayer from the upper room, and adds, "*It
was night*," we feel that his thought is moving in a symbolic region. Darkness
is not the mere absence or negation of light; it is a positive element,
antagonistic to light, and is synonymous with ignorance, hatred, falsehood,
unrighteousness, sin and misery, implying that man has lost God.

Now the "life" that was in the eternal Word "was the light of men." The
statement seems intended to cover the whole period of human history. It is not
that the life "*became*" the light of men at some definite time, fixed by
chronology—as for example at the incarnation, or the commencement of Christ's
public ministry, when the people who sat in darkness saw great light, and to
them who sat in the region and shadow of death light sprang up: the life
"*was*" the light of men from the beginning.* During that brief period of
innocence, when the ideal and the actual were one and the same, it was so; and
so also, though in a different mode, down the darkest ages that followed: as
matter of fact, the life that was primarily in the Word, and that was divinely
implanted in human souls, was the world's light.

We must not represent the case to ourselves in a mere mechanical way, but
vitally. We are not to find an analogy in the shining of the sun upon the moon
and planets, making them gleam like burnished metal. It was not that the life
emitted rays which beat upon men's eyes *from without*—but as when a lantern
is lighted: the life entering men's souls kindled them, and shone *within*,
and gave light (streaming from within outwardly) to all that were around. When
natural life is quenched, what a blank is occasioned!

* How and in what measure will never be known until the great day of
unveiling; but in the meantime we must not forget that He has all along had
sovran access into the human breast.

LIGHT IN DARKNESS.

how the lustre of the eye is dimmed! how night and darkness settle down upon
the countenance! Rising from the natural to the spiritual, it is life that is
the light of men—the light in which they see, and in which they shine. To the
soul that lies in death, the glories of God are no more than the stars of
heaven to the blind. The Word is the light-giver in that He is the life-giver.
In perfect keeping with this mode of viewing the case is the saying of Jesus,
"If a man walk in the night he stumbleth, because there is no light in him."
The light is inward, or it is nothing to us, either for our own walking, or
for help to others. Milton has embodied the truth in these lines:

"He that has light within his own clear breast,

May sit i' th' centre, and enjoy bright day:

But he that hides a dark soul and foul thoughts,

Boughted walks under the midday sun;

Himself is his own dungeon."

"The light shineth in darkness." Note how "darkness" (symbolizing evil) is
named, and its existence taken for granted, without being explained or in any
way accounted for; nor even is a single hint thrown out to mitigate the awful
oppressiveness of its mystery. Were the question presented to us as an
abstract one, we should pronounce darkness impossible in a universe created by
a holy and almighty Being. But, as a matter of fact, it exists. Is it eternal?
Or had it a beginning? If so, when and how? Is it utterly causeless? Is it the
result of necessity? and is the sinner as little to blame for his sin as the
apple is for obeying the law of gravitation and falling to the ground? Is it
included among the "all things" that were made by the creative Word? Is He its
author, and is the will of God its ground? Is evil not really evil, but only
good in the bud? Is it the stumbling of the child in learning to walk--his
stammering in learning to speak? Is the Fall (as

LIGHT UNCOMPREHENDED.

has been argued) "the most fortunate and greatest event in history," being the
starting-point of man's moral freedom? Is it better to have become a sinner
than to dwell in the bowers of Paradise? Is sin the necessary pathway to the
highest ideal of perfection and felicity? Has God introduced evil in order
that He may work out the highest purpose, and is He (so to speak) playing both
sides of the game, the right hand against the left? Or does it spring from
imperfection in Him? If it be a contradiction of His will, how could it
originate, except He is less than almighty?

The problem to which these and other questions belong—the origin of evil—is
one that has fascinated, perplexed, bewildered, tortured, all who have ever
attempted to deal with it; they could neither let it alone, nor mitigate by a
single shade the blackness of its darkness: the attempt to solve it has proved
as vain as the search for the philosopher's stone or the elixir vitæ; every
solution yet proposed contains within it the very mystery which it attempts to
clear up. The Evangelist has the opportunity of giving some relief to the mind
by throwing light upon the mystery; indeed it appears as if the line of
thought he is pursuing must necessitate some utterance on the subject, it
seems to lie so directly in his way. Yet he says not a single word. There is
the "darkness"—unaccounted for, unexplained, a dread and undeniable fact of
almost infinite magnitude. Is not his silence significant?

"The light shineth" in this darkness. This statement does not refer merely to
the personal ministry of Jesus and the promulgation of His gospel: we are not
to think merely of the rising up of a great Teacher who came to instruct an
ignorant and benighted world; the statement sweeps over all time, and embraces
all the illuminating activities of the Word, both before and since the
Incarnation. It is not

"BEHOLD, I SEND MY MESSENGER!"

merely that the light shone for a period of three or three-and-thirty years;
but from the beginning of human history it has gone on shining, and shineth
still. This world has never been given over to the unchallenged reign of
darkness: there have always been souls wherein the life has been kindled, and
through whom it has shot its rays into the world's gloom--God's candles
lighted and placed according to His own will. In this respect the Father of
lights has never been left without witness.

Have light and darkness then entered into coalition? Do they form a mixture,
neither clear nor dark, like our twilight? Is there a blending of the two (in
our modern civilization, for example) as when two chemical elements combine to
form a new substance? Does the darkness, when penetrated or permeated by the
light, take in something of its nature, and become in a measure assimilated to
it? No; the darkness still retains its own qualities; continues to be
darkness; is essentially the same to the last; does not appropriate the light,
but holds it outside, as something which it cannot understand. As it was when
the Holy One dwelt among men, so it has ever been; the light of a heavenly and
beautiful life has shone before men's eyes, and they have not so much as seen
it. The light shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehendeth it not; so
far from comprehending, not seldom has the darkness formally *denied* it, as
when the Pharisees rejected the Christ of God, and then asked, "Are we blind
also?"

§ 4.

The following verses (6—13) conduct us to a fresh point of view from which to
regard the Word.

There arose a God-sent man, the Evangelist tells us, whose name was John. This
was John the Baptist, the son

BEARING WITNESS OF THE LIGHT.

of Zacharias and Elisabeth. We have glimpses of his story in the Gospels, in
so far as it bears on the life of Jesus, glimpses which exhibit him as a true-
souled and noble man, than whom there had not risen a greater among them that
are born of women. There are those who arrive at just conclusions through
research, intuition, or reasoning, and become leaders of their generation into
farther light; there are others, like Cyrus, whom God raises up and girds for
great service, though they know Him not: this man, the Evangelist announces,
was "sent from God"—a messenger after the example of Moses or Elijah,
fulfilling the prophecy: "Behold, I will send My messenger, and he shall
prepare the way before Me."

Though sent from God, he did no miracle: gave no fresh or farther revelation
of Divine truth. His special function—the scope of his ministry, grasped in
its total significance—was witness-bearing.

In particular, he came to bear witness concerning the light—the light that had
been shining uncomprehended in the darkness, and that was now entering on a
new and more wonderful manifestation. Does the light then need that witness
should be borne to it? Is not light its own evidence? Yes, if men have eyes to
see; but because they lay in the darkness and slumber of sin, it was necessary
to arouse them, and to give testimony to the true light, distinguishing it
from all false lights that could only lure to death. In an obvious sense, "the
law and the prophets" formed a great system of "witness" to the coming One
(Acts x. 43; Rom. iii. 21, 22); but it required completing, and John's
ministry was the completion of it—the grand close of the prophetic symphony.
The morning star, day's harbinger, bears witness of the sun, by shining in his
light; and so also does the mountain-top, kindled with the first rays of
morning, to the dwellers in the deep valley beneath, or the

THE DAY-SPRING FROM ON HIGH.

far-stretching plain. But John's testimony went beyond even this: he not
merely preceded the Messiah, closing the prophetic line, but, having first
aroused the nation by that cry, "*Repent*," he actually introduced and named
Him to Israel. A single example will suffice to show the character and manner
of his testimony. "John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from
heaven like a dove, and it abode upon Him; and I knew Him not: but He that
sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see
the Spirit descending and remaining on Him, the same is He which baptizeth
with the Holy Ghost; and I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God"
(John i. 32—34).

We sometimes speak as if we thought Divine dealing with men intended simply to
render them "without excuse." It is true that God's revelations have left even
the heathen without excuse in their ungodliness, as Paul tells us in the
Epistle to the Romans (i. 20), and this not merely by way of result, but of
Divine purpose. The leaving of men without excuse is not however the complete
account of God's action; He wishes more than merely to keep Himself in the
right in the condemnation of sinners. In the case of the Baptist's ministry
this holds good; his testimony was not given in order that men might be
without excuse, but (answering to the Divine benevolence) "that all men
through him might believe." The very aim of his mission, the reason why God
sent him, was that men might be led into faith—the faith spoken of in such
words as these: "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life;" "These
(things) are written that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son
of God; and that believing, ye might have life in His name."

Zacharias spoke in his prophetic song of "the tender mercy of our God, whereby
the day-spring from on high

"HE WAS IN THE WORLD."

hath visited us, to give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow
of death;" and when afterwards the Baptist began his ministry, "all men mused
in their hearts whether he were the Messiah or not." Doubtless many of his
disciples could say, "He kindled my soul; my intercourse with him was like the
dawn of day." But he was not himself the light: only at most "a burning and
shining lamp;" that was all; and his shining was a testimony to the light that
is unkindled and eternal.

The true light (true in distinction, not only from the false, but also from
the partial and borrowed and dependent) was that "which lighteth every man
that cometh into the world."* The light given by the eternal Word was not a
mere private illumination vouchsafed to a few; but wheresoever there was a
living man, born into the world, light was given to him. This harmonizes with
what Paul says (Rom. i. 19): "That which may be known of God is manifest in
them"—in their very consciousness, in their very hearts (ii. 15)—"for God
*hath showed it unto them*," hath made it lie in their view as in the
daylight. The very life given to man, as a being endowed with understanding,
conscience, and other equally great faculties, and placed in such a world,
carries in it the possession, though of course not necessarily the
appropriation, of light; for there was such a thing as "holding the truth in
unrighteousness." It is not needful to single out men like Socrates, and claim
that light was given to *them*; but take any common man out of the crowd, even
to him was light given, and that

* It makes no substantial difference *in the sense* whether we translate, as
the English version does, "the true light which lighteth every man that cometh
into the world," or, "the true light was coming into the world which lighteth
every man." The latter translation would bring the clause into this group of
passages—John iii. 19; iv. 14; ix. 39; xi. 27; xii. 46. A good deal can be
said on both sides.

"HIS OWN RECEIVED HIM NOT."

light was due to the Word. This holds not merely since the Incarnation, but
from the beginning; and we must read history with the fact in our minds. The
measure of light is very different in different cases; but in all cases light
has been given; and men have been responsible to God in that proportion.

Advancing another stage, the Evangelist tells us, "He was in the world," that
world in which we are at present, which we enter by the gate of birth, and
leave by death. The manner of His presence is in no way explained—whether by
virtue of His omnipresence, or by theophany, or by incarnation—only the fact
is asserted. "And the world was made by Him"—it was His creation; it owed
existence, order, happiness, and well-being to Him; and yet it "knew Him not."
He remained a stranger in His own world, unknown among the works of His own
hand.

This was sad: but there was sadder than this. "He came unto His own," unto His
own possessions, His own heritage, "and His own (covenant people) received Him
not." The manner in which He came, the abasement and self-sacrifice involved
in His coming, the purposes He had in view, the claims He raised, the grace He
proffered—these matters are not yet touched upon; only the fact is declared of
a real and close approach to Israel. But His coming was not met by a welcome;
Israel did not stretch out the hand to Him. It was as if a monarch should
enter one of his own palaces, and none of his servants should recognize him.
Nor was there merely non-recognition; there was rejection; He was repelled as
an intruder: the phrase, "They received Him not," marks a refusal to have Him.
"Though He had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on
Him." "To Israel He saith, All day long I have stretched forth My hands to a
disobedient and gainsaying people." The supreme token of rejection was the

"SONS OF GOD."

cross, when they "denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired that a
murderer should be granted unto them, and killed the Prince of life."

The rejection was not indeed absolutely universal; some *did* receive Him. The
"receiving" carries in it that they admitted His claims, accepted the grace He
held out, trusted in Him as Saviour, with the assent of the understanding, and
the consent of the heart. In itself, the term is somewhat general. When the
Galileans "received" Him after His departure from Judea (John iv. 45), it
marks a certain welcome given to Him. When He says to His disciples, "He that
receiveth you, receiveth Me," He does not speak of mere kindly feeling,
expressed in hospitable entertainment, though even this is not to be
undervalued, but He speaks of a believing welcome given to the messengers on
account of the message they bring, and of Him whom they represent. So here,
the receiving implies that His claims were allowed, and welcome given to Him
accordingly.

The receivers are further described in the clause, "even to them who believe
in His name." These words are to be read in the light of the great gospel
message, as afterwards set forth in the preaching and writings of the
Apostles. His name is the summing up of all that He is as Saviour and Lord,
and faith or believing is the trust of "all that is within us" reposed in
Himself.

Though comparatively few in number, there *were* such receivers of Him when He
came to His own; and to all of them He gave power to become "sons of God"—not
"*disclosed a relationship already existing*," but (vital distinction) gave
power *to become* what they were not before. The paternal and filial
relationship helps us to understand the nature of this sonship. What a son is
to an earthly father, that a receiver of Christ is to the eternal God. It is a
great

THE NATURE OF SONSHIP.

thing to be God's creature, as Adam was in his innocence, the creature of a
God supremely wise, and good, and holy, and mighty; and it is conceivable that
believers might only have obtained forgiveness, and been received back into a
state of favour as creatures; but the grace actually shown goes unspeakably
beyond this—they become "sons."

And it is not sonship in the loose sense in which all men are sons—"for we are
also His offspring"—but, transcending this, after the example of the Son, and
in virtue of union with Him. It is of this sonship that the Apostle Paul says,
"The Spirit witnesseth with our spirit"—not that we are believers—but that we
(being believers) "are children of God; and if children, then heirs; heirs of
God and joint-heirs with Christ;" and again, "Ye are all the children of God,
by faith in Christ Jesus;" and again, "Because ye are sons, God hath sent
forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, Abba Father."

Man could never have claimed such a position as this, taking his stand on any
prerogative of caste or character; no man had native right to it or native
ability to attain it; but to them who received Him, even to them that believe
in His name, He "gave power" to become sons—power whether we regard the legal
aspects of the case or the moral and spiritual, the status or the disposition,
and including the whole capability of obtaining and holding possession.

The sonship is not effected in virtue of a mere act of adoption on the part of
God. A child may be taken out of the family to which he originally belonged
and be planted in another; he may get a new name; he may be trained to forget
that he had other birth; he may be made heir to great estates; he may be as
dearly loved and as tenderly cared for as if he were own child to those who
have adopted him: but the fact remains that he is really the child of

"BORN OF GOD."

another, and nature may prove too strong for the new bonds, and he may pine
for his native home, and at length go back to it. The "sons of God," however,
are *sons by birth*, for such is the significance of the word here used,
having not only a new name and position, but also a new life. It is not simply
that they are *called* sons; they *are* sons, partakers of the Divine nature,
with a filial relationship, and a filial resemblance to the eternal God. The
sonship is already established in fact and in principle, though it awaits its
full manifestation hereafter (1 John iii. 1, 2).

Unfolding the idea conveyed in the very term "*son*," it is added, "Who were
born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but
of God." Born into God's family: full illustration of this is found in the
conversation with Nicodemus, recorded in the third chapter of this Gospel. To
what is the new birth to be traced? Out of what does it spring? It is not "of
blood," blood-relationship, natural descent, transmission from father to son,
even though the pedigree could be traced back clear to Abraham. "Nor of the
will of the flesh," excluding all that pertains to the sensuous nature. "Nor
of the will of man," excluding all that pertains even to the higher manhood.
The origin (*vis originis*) of the new birth is outside human will, outside
humanity altogether, and lies in God. It is due to the good pleasure of His
goodness, to His abundant mercy, to His great love wherewith He loved us. When
we recognize the truth that regeneration is no mere hard and arbitrary
condition, on which entrance into heaven is made dependent, but is the
provision of Divine love, making us meet as sons for the eternal fellowship
and eternal enjoyment of God, the whole aspect of the doctrine is changed, and
it becomes to us a new revelation of grace, and an inspiration of the loftiest
hope.

THE INCARNATION.

§ 5.

"He was in the world"; "He came unto His own." Evident stress has been laid on
these expressions. What do they mean? What was the manner of His coming and
His presence? What was the nature of that manifestation which "the world" did
not recognize, but which was attended with such blessed results to as many as
received Him? The Evangelist answers our questions by telling us, "And the
Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us (and we beheld His glory, the glory as
of the Only begotten of the Father), full of grace and truth."

Hitherto the verb "*was*" has been made use of in speaking about the Word; now
for the first time we meet the verb "*became*"—"The Word was made, or became,
flesh." This statement brings into view one of the deepest mysteries with
which the human mind can deal—the mystery which we sum up as "*the
Incarnation*." We get no help from analogy towards understanding it; the case
is altogether unique and without parallel. While, however, we cannot clear the
mystery, there are some things which we may set down as certain.

It is certain (to begin) that, in becoming "flesh," the eternal Word did not
cease to be what He was before—as "the water that was made wine" ceased to be
water. He continued still to be the Word, the same who was in the beginning
with God and who was God; by whom all things were made, and who throughout
history was the life and light of men. The mode of His being was changed, but
in personal essence He remained the same. This is so obvious that it is
unnecessary to enter into any discussion of it.

Next, it is certain, according to the Evangelist's statement, that, in being
made flesh, the Word "became" what He was not before. Paul's use of the term
"*flesh*" is too

DIVINE DISCLOSURE.

well known to require notice here. John's use of the term is different; he
employs it to denote human nature in its entireness, with all its
sensibilities, capacities, and powers—not the body alone, but all that
constitutes us human beings. To say that the Word was made flesh is the same
thing as to say that He became a true member of the human family. He had a
*body*—material, visible, tangible; so that men heard Him, saw Him with their
eyes, looked upon Him, and their hands handled Him (*1 John i. 1*). But He did
not take a body only, and become the Word embodied, His higher nature
occupying the place of a human soul in a material frame: a body without a soul
is not a man. He could say, "Now is *my soul* troubled;" or again, the
Evangelist could write concerning Him, "He groaned *in the spirit* and was
troubled." He became as really and as fully man as any member of the race. The
*sinlessness* of His manhood is not asserted here—it comes unmistakably into
view elsewhere—but the special thought to grasp is the *reality* and
*wholeness* of that manhood. Hence He grew in knowledge and wisdom, He was
tempted, He sorrowed, He wept, He rejoiced, He wondered, He prayed, as truly
as we do—in all things made like unto His brethren.

We have no parallel to the case; neither have we even an analogy that can help
us to a better understanding of it. A prince in disguise, going about among
his subjects and blessing them, is no illustration. There was no disguise. It
is true that men knew Him not when He came; but the cause of their non-
recognition lay in themselves—in their own moral and spiritual condition—and
not that He wore a mask. I set aside, therefore, as unwarranted, every view of
the Incarnation which regards it as a disguise. Indeed, to represent it so is
not merely unwarranted, but suggests what is untrue. In point of fact, the
Incarnation is not a Divine hiding, but a Divine disclosure. The Divine could
not be

HE "DWELT AMONG US."

revealed perfectly, so far as our needs are concerned, in the geometry, the
mechanism, the chemistry, the life, the order and glorious beauty of the
world—nor in providence and history—nor in the symbols of the law of Moses—nor
in spoken or written words: the highest revelation can be made—to us—only
through the medium of our own nature. The "Word made flesh" is a
revelation—the highest revelation that at present we are capable of
receiving—of the Divine; the glory of God shines forth to us from the face of
Jesus Christ.

How shall we conceive of the union of the two natures in Him? Is humanity
Deified? Is Deity humanized? Is there a blending of the human and the Divine?
Do the two natures run one into the other? or are they simply present together
in Jesus, harmoniously co-operating—sometimes the one coming into view and
sometimes the other? Such things are nowhere said or implied by the
Evangelist. What we do learn is that, at a definite time in history, the
eternal Word, continuing to be the Word and to possess all the attributes of
the Word, assumed our true and full humanity; Godhead in its perfect essence,
and manhood in all its elements, were joined in indivisible and everlasting
union. The thought is wonderful and glorious beyond all conception; we can
only contemplate without comprehending.

Why the Word was made flesh is not here declared; nothing is said about the
holy love of which the Incarnation is an expression, nor about the purpose in
view, namely, to accomplish the work of redemption and restore sinful men to
God; the one thing stated is the amazing fact itself.

Having assumed our nature, He "dwelt," tabernacled, sojourned among us—"us"
His friends and companions. Just as we are strangers and sojourners on earth,
so He

"WE BEHELD HIS GLORY."

became a sojourner likewise. He tabernacled, He took up His abode a pilgrim
among pilgrims, as in a manner He tabernacled in the midst of His people
Israel in the wilderness. It is conceivable that He might have come into the
world to dwell with men throughout successive generations—as the people said,
"We have heard out of the Law that Christ abideth for ever"—or He might have
assumed our humanity and simply made His appearance in it, departing almost as
soon as He had come. But for a period of about three-and-thirty years He
remained as a sojourner on earth, a man among men, God with us. Here is an
answer to Solomon's wondering exclamation: "But will God indeed dwell on the
earth?" Here is fulfilment, higher than had yet been known, of the ancient
word, "I will set my tabernacle among you, and my soul shall not abhor you,"
and anticipation of what shall yet be when "the tabernacle of God is with men,
and He will dwell with them; and they shall be His people, and God Himself
shall be with them—their God."

The line that follows is usually regarded as a parenthesis, out of the fulness
of the Apostle's heart, "And we beheld His glory, the glory as of the Only-
begotten of the Father." If parenthesis it be, it is in its right place, and
is no interruption of the narrative, but rather carries it forward. It is
John's testimony, agreeing with that of his fellow-apostles, to the majesty
that was shown forth in Jesus. We, His fellow-pilgrims, beheld His majesty.
The vision of that majesty began to dawn upon them in the beginning of their
intercourse with Him, though, for a time, it was dim and obscure, owing to
their dulness of spiritual perception; but as they entered more fully into
fellowship with Him, it became more clear and glorious. The majesty was not
that of a mere man, standing however high above his fellow-men; it was not
official, but personal—"as of the

"FULL OF GRACE AND TRUTH."

Only-begotten of the Father;" * it was Divine and not merely human, though
manifested humanly; it was what might have been expected in One who stands for
ever in a relation to the Father which none shares with Him—that of the Only-
Begotten. We are not to limit their vision of this majesty to specific
occasions, such as the Transfiguration, or the great miracle of raising
Lazarus from the dead; it was in process throughout the whole period of their
intercourse with Him, and was completed when the veil was rent and they could
say before Him, "My Lord, and my God!" His glory rose upon them like the
shining light, which shineth more and more unto the perfect day—the glory of
wisdom, power, pity, mercy, patience, righteousness, truth, stainless purity,
and holy love, untainted by any element of selfishness. All this, says the
Evangelist, "we beheld" in the Word made flesh, unobscured by outward
abasement and circumstances of lowliness.

Grammatically, the next clause, "full of grace and truth," is linked on to the
words, "He dwelt among us," and tells what throughout their whole intercourse
with Him the Apostles found Him to be; in thought however, as I cannot help
believing, it finds its right place just where John has written it.

They found in Jesus a strange and unexampled "fulness"—such a fulness as would
require a worldful of books to set forth. It was fulness in presence of the
world's immeasurable need. It was fulness that stood in contrast with the
emptiness of men. The scribe and the Pharisee, the philosopher and the guide
into the paths of pleasure, the bringer forth of things new and the bringer
forth of things old, whatever

* The word of comparison, "as," has now and again caused needless perplexity.
The expression is qualitative. The glory was "as of an only-begotten [who has
come forth] from a father." Through the human we are helped to see the super-
human.

"GRACE" AND "TRUTH."

their pretensions, alike failed to satisfy the cravings of human hearts, so
manifold and deep, and left them sighing, "Who will show us any good?" Even
the sacred ordinances of the Old Covenant, out of which it was designed that
with joy men should draw water as from the wells of salvation, had been turned
very largely into mere outward ceremonies, and the sacred services into mere
"bodily exercise" — reminding one of the process of dropping buckets into
empty wells and drawing nothing up. The Word is made flesh, and sojourns among
men; and they find in Him the very fulness of the Godhead bodily.

Two things are named as belonging to His fulness: He was full of "grace" and
full of "truth."

"Grace" is loving favour; it embraces all that was in His heart, and all that
He did throughout His sojourn on earth, for the restoring of sinful men to God
and making them children in His family. It was not merely that He spoke such
gracious words and did such gracious works, that even the publicans and
sinners, the outcasts of the nation, drew near and gathered around Him: we
must take into account His whole redeeming and saving ministry onwards to His
return to the Father.

Conjoined with grace, in His fulness there was also "truth." It is not enough
to say that there was no falsehood in Him; in the largest scope of the word,
there was TRUTH. In man's graciousness there is oftentimes hollowness and
pretence; and even when it is sincere enough it cannot be depended on: if you
lean your weight upon it in the day of your weakness, it proves as the staff
of a broken reed that goes into your hand and pierces it. Jesus is true in
word and deed and character, and can be depended upon to the uttermost. Under
the Old Testament the sacrifices and other ordinances were only symbolical;
the law had only a shadow of good things to

THE BAPTIST'S TESTIMONY.

come : in Jesus we have the reality—the very truth that God designed.

Here therefore is the Evangelist's testimony to the perfect completeness of
Jesus as Saviour. Those who knew Him on earth proved Him to be full of grace
and truth ; and what He was, that He is—"Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and
to-day, and for ever."

§ 6.

The verse that follows (15) is frequently taken as a parenthesis ; one
commentator even goes the length of saying that it "should be inserted between
the 18th and 19th verses, which appears to be its proper place : thus John's
testimony is properly connected." Such a view however seems to break the chain
of thought.

The coming forth of the incarnate Word among men was not in secrecy and
silence, as a king might go forth *incognito* among his subjects ; but public
attention was directed to Him. This was done through the ministry of John the
Baptist. The place held by this man in the historical unfolding of Divine
grace is altogether unique, differing from that both of apostle and prophet.
The Evangelist has already introduced him (verses 6—8), as a man sent from
God, whose mission it was to bear witness to the True Light, and thereby lead
men into faith ; and now a summary of his testimony is placed before us.

This testimony occupies a place of its own, as well defined and in some
respects as important as that borne by the twelve Apostles, and is worthy of
being singled out and presented by itself, as is done here. In speaking of the
testimony of the Apostles, we use the present tense, as if they were still
engaged in delivering it ; we say, "The Apostles *tell us* such and such
things ;" we take their word, not as designed for the moment of speaking
merely, but for

"GRACE FOR GRACE."

all time; it is still sounding forth. In like manner, the testimony of the
Baptist is to be regarded as abiding testimony, of continuous significance;
and hence it is said (verse 15), "John beareth witness and crieth, saying,
This was He of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me;
for He was before me." He "*beareth witness*" and "*crieth*" to the nineteenth
century, as to the men of his own day.

In entering on his ministry, the Baptist could only say, "There cometh One
mightier than I, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and
unloose:" he could not in the outset name or point out the mightier One. But
when Jesus of Nazareth came to be baptized of him, the promised sign was
given, namely, the descent of the Holy Spirit upon Him in visible
manifestation; and now the abiding testimony of John is this: This Jesus is He
of whom I spake when I announced the coming of One after me who is preferred
before me, because He was before me. He does not simply identify Him, and step
aside that He may have the foremost place; but announces that the coming One,
while following him in time, nevertheless preceded him; "for He *was* before
me,"—as has been already set forth in the profound teaching of the Evangelist.
It is testimony in the line of Christ's own word, "Before Abraham was, I am"
(John viii. 58).

The witness of the Baptist was not merely corroborated, but was carried
forward by the personal experience of the disciples of Jesus, whose testimony
is next presented by the Evangelist: "Of His fulness have all we received, and
grace for grace." The fulness has been already so far described. We have a
picture of it in the four Gospels. It is not to be conceived of after a
mechanical fashion, as a granary may be full of wheat, or a treasury full of
gold. So far as I know, the fulness of Jesus Christ is never set forth

"WE ALL RECEIVED."

in Scripture in this poor, mechanical way: He is nowhere represented as an
"inexhaustible store-house": His fulness is that of a Person. That which is in
my friend, of knowledge, of truth, of wisdom, of tenderness, of noble feeling,
or whatever else may be named, is in him not mechanically, but vitally: and so
with the fulness of Jesus. In Him, personally, was the fulness of grace and
truth.

Hence it came that the disciples did all receive of His fulness, each
according as he could take it in. *What* He gave is not named in express
terms; the words, "grace for grace," point rather to His way of giving, than
to the particular blessings given. When He gave it was not as when one gives
of his possessions; it was not as when a gracious man does gracious deeds, or
a true man deals in truth; it was not merely as when a teacher imparts his
knowledge, or a craftsman his skill: but the mind of Christ became theirs
also; they could say, each in his measure, "Christ liveth in me." Joyfully the
Apostle testifies, in the name of his fellow-disciples, "We all received, and
grace for grace." * The "all" marks that none went empty away. And it was
grace in the stead of grace, or in exchange for grace,— as may be understood
from Rom. v. 3—5. When grace had been given, farther and fuller grace
succeeded, in endless stream. It was no monotonous giving on His part; but
grace, ever fresh and new, took the place of that already imparted.

The experience of the personal attendants and disciples of Jesus was not an
experience that stood by itself, peculiar to those who had personal
acquaintance and intimacy with Him, but was the beginning of what is going on
still: "For

* Literally, *grace instead of or in exchange for grace*. Not grace in room of
that which Adam lost. Not New Testament, instead of Old Testament grace. Not
grace answering to the grace in Christ. But other and fresh grace, in room of
grace already given—in unbroken succession.

"IN THE BOSOM OF THE FATHER."

the law was given by Moses; but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ." The
great name in Israel was the name of Moses; the great distinction of Israel
was the Law. But, whatever its promise, the law carried no grace in it; nor
was it the truth, but only a shadow of the truth. Grace and truth "became" by
Jesus Christ; in and through Him they are realized: He has brought them in, so
that we live under the dispensation of grace and truth. There was first, in
the law, God's claim of right, which man could not meet, and now, in Jesus
Christ, God's gift of salvation.

This great name for the Word made flesh, the Divine manifested humanly--the
name, "JESUS CHRIST" is now written by the Evangelist for the first time. It
is the name that embraces all the revelations of the past, and all the grace
and truth of the future.

The thought rises to its climax in the words that follow: "No man hath seen
God at any time; the Only-begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father, He
hath declared Him."

No man hath seen God at any time--not even Moses when the Lord passed by and
proclaimed His name to him. This is no denial that there had been revelations
of God in the past. There *had been* such revelations, manifold and precious.
There was the revelation of nature, which showed the eternal power and Godhead
of the great Creator. There was the revelation of providence and history.
There was the revelation made within the human breast, to heart and
conscience. There was the revelation made through prophets and seers to whom
God spake, and who were "moved" by His Spirit. But putting all such
revelations together, it held true, "No man hath seen God at any time." It was
not merely that no man saw Him with the seeing of the bodily eye; but take
"seeing" in its most spiritual sense, and the statement holds. "Clouds and

"HE HATH DECLARED HIM."

darkness were round about Him." "Verily Thou art a God that hidest Thyself, O
God of Israel, the Saviour."

But God is now the revealed God. The revealing is accomplished through "the
Only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father." This is another way of
describing Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh, appropriate to the special
purpose which is in the Evangelist's mind. He is the Son of God, His begotten
Son, His Only-begotten—standing in a relation to which no parallel exists. He
is "in the bosom of the Father"—or literally "towards" His bosom—the
expression not a metaphysical one, but marking the most intimate communion,
knowledge, love. We are not to explain the expression from such a fact as the
leaning of John on Jesus' breast at the last supper, though that may be of
some help; we are rather to think of the intimacy and love subsisting between
a father and his son. The relationship indicated under the terms "*who is in
the bosom of the Father*" is eternal and unchangeable, and His sojourn on
earth was no interruption of it.

The Only-begotten Son has "declared" God.* The word indicates "exposition." We
know just as much as Jesus Christ has shown us respecting God, and no more. It
is not that He has "brought" us a fuller revelation of God than the prophets
had done before Him: we are not to think of "the revelation which He came to
communicate:" He Himself is the Revelation. View Him as the Messenger of God,
the Servant of God, the Gift of God, the Lamb of God, the Son of God—the
eternal, unsearchable, infinite Father is shown forth in Him. And now,
whosoever would know that Being who is the first cause and the last end of

* Compare the words of Jesus, reported in Matt. xi. 27, "Neither knoweth any
man the Father save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal Him;"
and the words of the Apostle Peter, referring to Jesus, (1 Peter i. 21), "who
by Him do believe in God."

DIVISIONS OF JOHN'S GOSPEL.

all things, who fills immensity and eternity with His sovereign presence, who
dwells "in light that no man can approach unto, whom no man hath seen nor can
see," let him look to Jesus Christ—for "*He hath declared Him.*" As He Himself
said to Philip, "He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father." Not merely His
teaching but His whole appearance among men was an unceasing Divine
revelation.

The Gospel of John is the forth-setting, by means of selected examples, of
what he has expressed in a condensed form in this Introduction. In his
narrative it is not that he has had the art to conceal his art: there is
really no art to conceal: the current of the narrative is determined by the
historical manifestations of which he was a witness, and not by any *a priori*
metaphysical "idea." If we divide the narrative into sections at all, the
following division seems as natural as any:

First, chapters i. 19—v. 47, concluding with a summary of the "witness" borne
to Jesus as the Messiah;

Second, chapters vi.—xii. 50, concluding with a statement of the reception He
met with from Israel, and a summary or *résumé* of what He "cried and said"
during His public ministry;

Third, chapters xiii.—xvii., giving an account of His private intercourse with
"His own" previously to His last sufferings, from the washing of the
disciples' feet to the High-priestly prayer;

Fourth, chapters xviii., xix., tracing the story from the crossing of "the
brook Cedron" until Joseph and Nicodemus laid Him in the garden-sepulchre;

Fifth, chapters xx., xxi., giving examples of the appearances of the risen
Christ to His disciples.

And the whole is written with this design, "that ye might believe that Jesus
is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing ye might have life in His
name."

![img-11.jpeg](img-11.jpeg)

VII.

========================================================================
  CHAPTER 8: 08. The Father and His Little Children
========================================================================

JOHN'S EPISTLES. CONDITION OF THOSE TO WHOM THE FIRST EPISTLE WAS SENT.
"KNOWLEDGE." OPINIONS AS TO THE PERSON OF THE REDEEMER. THE EPISTLE ITSELF.
THE "ELECT LADY" AND THE SECOND EPISTLE. GAIUS AND THE THIRD EPISTLE.

![img-12.jpeg](img-12.jpeg)

THREE Epistles are attributed to the Apostle John; the first a general
Epistle, the other two addressed to private friends. These two private letters
were not received as apostolic in the early church without opposition. Some
denied their apostolic origin; others doubted it; but on the whole, the
preponderating judgment was that they were the production of John; and
accordingly they took their place among the sacred writings of the New
Covenant. All three letters belong to the period of his old age. They present
a most wonderful combination of simplicity and moral intenseness, and are
marvellously fitted to enkindle and sustain the longing after holiness.

The FIRST EPISTLE (for essentially it is an epistle, though it has neither
introductory greeting nor benediction at the close) as it comes into our
hands, is loosened from all personal and local associations. The Apostle does
not name himself. He does not specify to whom or on what occasion he writes.
Were I to form a conjecture where not only

146 TO WHOM THE FIRST EPISTLE WAS SENT.

the document itself but even tradition is silent, it would be—either that it
was sent forth about the same time with his Gospel, as a companion writing (as
possibly the Second Epistle of Peter may have accompanied the Gospel of Mark),
or that it was a circular letter designed for the churches among whom he had
spent many years, and to whom he had delivered his apostolic testimony, and
that it was written when age and weakness had rendered him unable to visit
them personally.

Either way it presupposes that he had already borne his full testimony to the
great Christian facts. It mediates between the Gospel and the Book of
Revelation, having something in common with each. It exhibits what in a good
sense may be called the philosophy of the Gospel. Its scope is shown forth in
the opening words, which tell us how the Apostles saw the Life Eternal—how
they tasted it, and handled it, and understood what it meant,—and how they
declared it to others, that they also might have communion in it,—not merely
knowing about it, but living therein.

Though we are unable to tell the original destination of the Epistle, we can
form a tolerably clear idea of the condition of those to whom it was sent.
They were believers in the Son of God. Some of them were children; some were
young men; some were fathers. They were surrounded by a heathen population
that still clung to the old immoralities and idolatries. They stood in close
personal relations to the Apostle. Many of them probably “owed their own
selves” to him. A rich and deep spiritual life existed among them. At the same
time certain evils were beginning to appear, and the seeds of other evils were
being sown. False prophets and false apostles were rising up here and there.
An “arrogant licentiousness” was beginning to show itself in some quarters.
There was

"KNOWLEDGE."

danger of the weakening of brotherly love among them, and of its degenerating
into a mere selfish sentimentalism, cherished because it was a luxury. Some
were becoming dissatisfied with the Gospel itself, and were going forth again
to form new fellowships, hostile to Jesus Christ. At the same time the
churches had to maintain a constant and uncompromising conflict with "the
world," whose threatenings, allurements, seductions, and wiles never ceased.

Some things require special notice. Already the word "knowledge" was beginning
to assert itself against the word "faith." Some men within the bosom of the
Church, falling out of sympathy with their brethren, and others outside of it
who had been in some measure attracted to Christ and Christianity (for the
most part cultured and wealthy, if we may judge from a later time), were
becoming dissatisfied with teaching which they deemed common-place, and craved
something more gratifying to the speculative intellect. It was out of this
craving that Gnosticism in the Church grew, which was a fresh attempt to solve
questions respecting the Divine nature, the creation of the universe, the
origin of evil, and so on, that had baffled the keenest intellects of former
ages, and to become as gods in knowledge.

We may understand the craving from what we observe in the present day, in
which under modern conditions we still meet the ancient demand for a
"scientific" religion. Possibly, in those far away days, the cry for
"knowledge" was in part a protest against the indolent credulity and contented
ignorance of many professing believers, whose faith was becoming torpid. In
part it was the expression of a desire which the Gospel itself created. But in
part also it indicated a wrong spiritual condition, a vain curiosity sundered
from moral earnestness, a preference for speculation over holiness, a half-
belief in salvation by knowledge rather than by faith. The men who prided
themselves upon

FALSE LIBERTY.

being "men of knowledge," looked down on simple believers as weak, very much
as the Rationalist does to-day, and had but the slightest perception of the
transcendent beauty of holiness, if indeed they were not altogether blind to
it.

In meeting this tendency, which in process of time made the word "knowledge"
the symbol of a subtle anti-christianism, John casts no slight upon the word,
but, on the contrary, treats it as a very noble one, and uses it with honour.
Thus he writes: "Hereby we do *know* that we *know* Him;" "Hereby we *know*
that we are in Him;" "We have *known* and believed" God's love; and, not to
multiply examples, "We *know* that the Son of God is come, and hath given us
an understanding that we may *know* Him that is true." Just as in his Gospel
he rescues the word *Logos* from antichristian uses, so in this Epistle he
rescues the word "*Know*," and aims at making his "little children" Gnostics
in the Divine sense. Knowledge is excellent, but the path to it is not through
intellectual speculation, however keen and subtle, but through faith in Jesus
Christ and subjection to Him, according to those most Johannine words in the
Gospel of Matthew, "Neither knoweth any man the Father save the Son, and he to
whomsoever the Son will reveal Him."

Side by side with the craving after "knowledge," a tendency in opposition to
moral law was also beginning to show itself. We have nothing to do with
"obeying," they said; if you talk of that, you bring us again under the yoke
of bondage; what have we to do with "Law"? Under the Gospel we are set free
from all restraints. They did not know what this meaneth, "I will put My laws
into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them;" nor did they desire
to say, "I delight to do Thy will, O my God; yea, Thy law is within my heart."

THE PERSON OF CHRIST.

The tendency which showed itself thus is not peculiar to any age or country,
but belongs to human nature. At the same time it specially besets those who
overvalue knowledge, when the head works without aid from the heart and the
moral nature; they unconsciously make their knowledge a substitute for love,
obedience, and holiness—or at least they give knowledge the precedence. Here
lay one of the dangers of John's time, and he warns his "children" against it.
That is not true knowledge, he says, which can let one go on sinning. Knowing
and sinning are in direct antagonism. "He that saith, I know Him, and keepeth
not His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him." Truth cannot be
held by the intellect unless it is also loved by the heart and submitted to by
the will—the proof being that it is practised in the life. No foothold is left
by the Apostle for antinomianism, or turning the grace of God into
licentiousness. It is not merely put in this way, *We ought* to be holy; but,
with the firmest decisiveness, *He that doeth righteousness is the righteous
man; he that committeth sin is of the devil.* It is not knowledge singly and
alone that is to be regarded, then; but knowledge issuing in holy obedience to
the Divine will.

The subject which was coming to engross speculative thought in the Christian
Church, and which did so for generations, was the Person of the Redeemer: as,
in our own day, the battle between faith and unbelief, retreating from other
points, is being waged again round this central Figure. This witness is
true—that there is no spiritual controversy which, "in its deepest roots and
latest issues, may not be traced back to a fundamental difference of opinion
as to the person of Jesus." Looking upon Him as represented in the Evangelic
narrative, men found themselves in the presence of mystery. It did not seem
that they could satisfactorily class Him with themselves; and yet there were
difficulties

CERINTHUS.

in the way of making Him purely Divine : who and what could He be ?

As early as John's time, the heretic Cerinthus led an advance band who solved
the mystery in this way : they accepted the pagan doctrine of *Æons* or
Emanations from the One Eternal Being, the ground of all existence. Being
familiar with heathen ideas, they had no difficulty in conceiving of various
persons sharing less or more a common Divine nature ; they held that Jesus of
Nazareth was the son of Joseph and Mary ; that the Æon Christ was united to
Him at His baptism, and it was this Æon in Jesus of Nazareth that wrought
miracles and taught the true knowledge of God ; that this Æon left Him again
before His crucifixion ; and that it was only the Man—"Jesus"—who was
crucified—not "*Jesus Christ*."

Naturally enough, speculation did not stop here, but advanced to regions
beyond. Following out views that still survive in the Brahminism and Buddhism
of the East—and that linger even in some Christian minds—matter seemed to be
inherently and essentially evil.* The body, being material, was held to be in
itself defiled, and the cause of defilement to its royal prisoner, the soul.
To hold the material in check, or to overpower it, seemed the necessity of
virtue ; as, for a virtuous soul to get rid of the material by death was the
grand felicity. It was not perhaps to be wondered at that such views should
have a charm in a fleshly and brutal age, when noble spirits longed for
deliverance from sensual bonds, or sighed for a lodge in some vast wilderness,
and when weaker souls were many of them inspired with a disgust of life.
Coming to their inquiries

* A tract lies before me in which "original sin" is explained in this way :
God creates the soul pure, and it becomes defiled through its union to
"corrupt matter," or this "vile flesh" (in the sense of *body*).

GNOSTICISM.

however with such ideas, it is easy to understand how they should have erred.
We must not indeed attribute to John's age the developed error; only the germ.
But men's minds were becoming confused and perplexed, and ages of confusion
and perplexity lay in advance.

This world and its things could not have been created (they thought) by the
true God. It must have been the work of an inferior Being, to whom the supreme
God had delegated creative power. Jesus Christ was not what plain people took
Him to be. He did not really come in the flesh. He did indeed *seem* to be one
of us; He took His place alongside of us; He made common cause with us against
the devil; He came to save us; yet His appearing among us was, after all, only
one of those Theophanies with which the Old Testament makes us acquainted.

"A mortal shape, to Him

Was like the vapour dim

Which the orient planet animates with light."

As speculation advanced, the Christian facts one by one disappeared or were
etherealized into something thinner than air; and the Gospel story lost its
meaning, its truth, and its power. If Jesus Christ was not really the Word
made flesh, but a phantasm, certain inevitable consequences followed. For one
thing He stood in no true relation of brotherhood to us; He was not truly
"born a Saviour." Nor were His sufferings real sufferings. When He was tempted
in the wilderness, He sustained no real assault; when He wandered over the
land, He was not really fatigued; when He sat on Jacob's Well, He was not
really weary; when He bowed in Gethsemane, the agony was but in appearance;
the blood-shedding on the cross was only an illusory show.

As an indication how such views took hold on men's minds, a writer, long after
the time of John—described as

CONSEQUENCES.

the Trumpet of the Latin Church—in contention with the Arians, says, “Ye will
not allow that when the nails pierced His palms, He felt no pain;” and the
same writer affirms that “our Saviour’s body was no more susceptible of pain
from a wound than the surface of water from a spear or javelin thrust into
it.” We look out at times from some commanding height over a rich and
beautiful landscape, smiling in the sun, and have difficulty in bringing home
to ourselves that where the husbandman now guides the plough, and the cottage
smoke curls up in the peaceful air, there was once waged a life and death
warfare, in which the fortunes and freedom of a nation were at stake. The
words that I have quoted above are mere rubbish to us now; but they mark where
battle-strife was formerly waged, that has secured for us the peaceful
enjoyment of the truth.

Some very serious consequences result if such views as those ancient
speculators contended for were true. The death of Jesus could be no real
sacrifice for sin. If Bethlehem be explained away, so must Calvary be, and all
that wounding for our transgressions and bruising for our iniquities. Nor
could Jesus really sympathize with us, inasmuch as He did not experience what
we really experience. He would know our frame, because He made us; but we lose
the comfort of believing in One who can be touched with the feeling of our
infirmities, having been in all points tempted like as we are, yet without
sin. And still farther, He ceases to be an example to us. We see Him moving
about without sin—it is a beautiful picture, but it is nothing more; it gives
us no help or encouragement, for He never was (like us) “in chains and fetters
of the flesh.” In this way, though men did not at the outset perceive that it
must be so, the whole Christian system, both in its facts and its truths,
melts away, the only residuum left being a series of

THE APOSTLE'S WARNING.

purely visionary transactions, like what we fancy in our dreams.

The moral consequences were not less deplorable. Virtue indeed would still be
infinitely lovely; right would still be right, and wrong would still be wrong;
but men's search would be directed to seek the key of the universe through
speculation rather than submit like little children, and attain to holiness
through Him who is the Way and the Truth and the Life. Those who led in this
speculative course "laid the axe to the root of all morality: they withered up
the love of God in man's heart." *

It will not therefore surprise any one that the Apostle, discerning the
harvest in the seed, should warn his little children so earnestly that in
embracing such views as were then being introduced they were rejecting Christ;
nor need we wonder at his using words so energetic as "liar," "false
prophets," "antichrists," "children of the devil." While Christianity, dealing
with the mightiest problems that concern human beings, goes down to humanly
unfathomable depths, and up to humanly unreachable altitudes, of thought, yet
in its historical forthcoming it starts from certain facts that true, honest
men could witness to, and that the simplest and least cultured may apprehend.
The facts have value, not merely as they body forth or express certain great
truths—not merely as they form the pitcher in which the Water of Life is
held—but in themselves, as pertaining to Christ's redeeming work. The
Pilgrim's Progress loses nothing—rather gains—when the reader discovers that
the facts never happened; but the facts of the Gospel have inherent and
substantive value, apart from and beyond their fitness for expressing truth.
The death of Christ, for example, does

* Dr. James Donaldson: "Critical History of Christian Literature and
Doctrine."

TEST OF TRUTH.

not merely declare God's righteousness and love, but is a sacrifice for sin,
even as He said, "My blood is shed for the remission of sins." His
resurrection from the dead not only tells of a living God, but is the first
stage in Christ's advancement to supreme dominion. If the facts can be cleared
out of the way, if the supernatural can be resolved into the ideal, there will
be but slight difficulty in turning the Gospel into a theology vapid,
powerless, and comfortless, or making an end of it altogether. If the facts
are accepted, then Christianity is felt to be no mere theory, excogitated in
the closet and to be debated by philosophers, but a Divine institution resting
on a basis solid as a rock, firm as adamant.

Hence it is that John affirms with such clearness that he "heard," "saw,"
"gazed upon," "handled," the manifested Word of Life; and that he makes this
the very test of truth—"Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come
in the flesh is of God; and every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ
is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist
whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the
world." •

The Epistle itself, called forth by the condition and needs of the churches,
is characterized by great simplicity, freshness, and spiritual depth. It has
an inexpressible charm for those to whom the religion of Jesus is a "religion
of the heart." To the mere logician there may appear to be a hopeless
incoherency of thought in it the garrulous repe-

• "Ah! to how many Faith has been

No evidence of things unseen,

But a dim shadow, that recasts

The creed of the Phantasiasts;

For whom no Man of Sorrows died,

For whom the Tragedy Divine

Was but a symbol and a sign,

And Christ -a Phantom crucified!"

*Robert Browning.* titions of a kindly old man, whose memory is beginning to
fail him, and who has lost the thread of his story. This however is the
logician's error. The disorder of ideas is only seeming. In reality they are
linked one to another, in the firmest and most natural spiritual sequence, by
links indeed that are deep out of sight, but that are surely traced by the
contemplative and loving heart. The "simplicities" are the deep and wise and
holy simplicities of the Spirit of God. The Epistle runs as follows, the
variations from the English text being those in regard to which Lachmann,
Tischendorf, and Tregelles are agreed:

"What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our
eyes, what we gazed upon and our hands handled, • concerning the Word of
Life-- (and the Life was manifested, and we have seen and bear witness and
declare unto you the life eternal which was with † the Father, and was
manifested to us)--what we have seen and heard declare we also to you, ‡ that
ye also may have fellowship with us, and our fellowship truly is with the
Father

• The words "seen with our eyes," "gazed upon" and "handled," added to the
word "heard," forbid our thinking of mere dogmas and abstractions, and call up
before us the living Christ. John had known Him in flesh and blood; had talked
with Him; had seen His ways and doings; and hence he testifies with a
positiveness and assurance in which there is no shade of hesitance. He takes
us out of the region of argument and speculation, and uncertainty; bears
witness to what he has seen and known; and reports the message that he had
received from the Son of God.

† "Which was such as was with—the same kind of life that was with—the Father."
He that believeth hath eternal life. What is this "life"? Is it pardon and
deliverance from condemnation? Is it happiness? Or what is it? God has
answered our questions by sending His Son into the world, There, in Jesus, is
the Life I mean; and the Apostles deliver their report, The Life was
manifested, and we have seen it.

‡ Not in this present Epistle, but in our Gospel testimony The Epistle assumes
such testimony, certainly oral, possibly also written in his Gospel.

and with His Son Jesus Christ: and these things write we to you, that our joy
may be made full.

"And this is the message which we have heard of Him and tell over again unto
you, that God is light, and darkness in Him there is none.* If we say that we
have fellowship with Him, and walk in the darkness, we lie, and do not the
truth; but if we walk in the light as He [*Himself*] is in the light, we have
fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanseth us from
all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is
not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us
[*our*] sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we
have not sinned,† we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.

"My little children, I write these things to you in order that ye may not sin:
and if any one sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the
Righteous; and He is [*Himself*] Propitiation ‡ for our sins; yet not for ours
only, but also for the whole world.§

* It is impossible to tell out all that lies in that word "*Light*." As every
one who hath ears to hear is addressed when John testifies concerning "the
Word," so every one who has eyes to see is addressed when it is said that God
is Light. Light reveals Very painful its revelations may be. Very painful
therefore it may be to walk in it. A man who has fallen in the mire gets on
comfortably enough so long as he walks in the dark: nobody sees him; he does
not see himself: but he does not like to be pushed into a brightly-lighted
room. The light shows the state he is in. God's light reveals our sinfulness.
It does not purify, but shows the need of purifying. Then the blood of Jesus
Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from all sin.

† "Not sinned" *since when* † Evidently since we became His. It is
inconceivable that any believer should say he had not sinned *prior* to
conversion. That would be to justify the old life, and to deny the need of the
blood of Christ.

‡ Not, "He *makes* propitiation," but "He *is* the Propitiation."

§ The aim of the writing is, that we may not sin at all; in other words, may
attain complete holiness. The Advocate is not One who persuades the

CHAP. i. 5-ii. 11.

“And herein we know that we have known [know] Him,* if we keep His
commandments. He that saith, I have known [know] Him, and keepeth not His
commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him: but whoso keepeth His
word, in this [man] truly is the love of God perfected;† herein we know that
we are in Him. He that saith he abideth in Him ought himself also so to walk,
even as He [Christ Jesus] walked.

“Beloved, I write no new commandment to you, but an old commandment which ye
had from the beginning: this old commandment is the word which ye heard.
Again, a new commandment I write unto you, which [thing] is true in Him and in
you; because the darkness is passing away, and the true light is already
shining.‡ He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in the
darkness even until now. He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and
there is none occasion of stumbling in him. But he that hateth his brother is
in the darkness, and

Father to wink at our faults; but in whom we have an assured and abiding
standing as God’s sons, so that we may come back when we have erred, and
confess our faults, and obtain His grace. No provision is made for future
sinning, by an arrangement beforehand, of the nature of an indulgence; but a
Divine meeting of our sense of guilt when we think of the irrevocable past.
There is no other advocate or propitiation for any man in the whole world:
none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. The
Apostle by his “we” includes himself among those who need the advocacy. The
struggle against sin is not a hopeless one, in which defeat is inevitable: God
is for us and with us.

* Have attained the knowledge and continue in it. “Him” is not Christ, but the
Father.

† Has really attained its proposed design.

‡ The New and the Old are one and the same. One takes up the Gospel message,
which came forth so freshly and mightily more than eighteen centuries ago. It
seems very old. Possibly it is so familiar to our ear as to have lost its
once-experienced power to gladden. We do not like to confess that it is so;
but we feel about it as if it were a thrice-told tale. An old commandment, we
say; we felt it once, but it does not touch us now. Yet one day, perhaps of
sorrow, perhaps of joy, it suddenly walketh in the darkness, and knoweth not
whither he goeth, because the darkness blinded his eyes.*

"I write to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for His
name's sake. I write to you, fathers, because ye have known† Him [that is]
from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because ye have overcome the
Wicked One. I have written‡ to you, little children, because ye have known
[know] the Father. I have written to you, fathers, because ye have known Him
[that is] from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because ye are
strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the Wicked
One.

"Love not the world, neither the [things that are] in the world. If any [man]
love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all [that is] in the
world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life,
is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world is passing away and
the lust thereof; but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

"Little children, it is the last hour; and as ye heard that antichrist cometh,
even now are there risen many antichrists,§ whence we know that it is the last
hour. They went shines out before us with new light -and the old commandment
which we heard from the beginning becomes a new commandment, as if met with
for the first time. Not outworn, but fresh as yesterday.

* Blinded them in the very entering.

† And continue to know; and so throughout the Epistle.

‡ Epistolary aorist.

§ John recognizes the Antichrist as distinctly as Paul recognizes the Man of
Sin -in whom the Apostasy is concentrated, and whose rise immediately precedes
Christ's glorious appearing. These "many antichrists" are, so to speak, his
forerunners, bearing a moral resemblance to him. They prepare his way. In both
cases there is the retention of the Christian name, with enmity at the heart.
All things have their doubles. There is Christ and Antichrist, the "Harlot"
arrayed in purple and scarlet, tossing her jewelled head, and the Bride, the
Lamb's wife; Babylon, the mock city that sin has built, and the New Jerusalem.

CHAP. ii. 12 24 out from among us, but they were not of us; for if they had
been of us, they would have continued with us; but [*they went out*] that they
might be made manifest that none of them are of us.* And ye [*for your part*]
have an Unction† from the Holy One, and ye know all things.‡ I have not
written to you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it and that
no lie is of the truth.§ Who is the liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the
Christ?[] This is the antichrist, who denieth the Father and the Son. He that
denieth the Son, neither hath he the Father; he that confesseth the Son hath
the Father also.

“You [*for your part*] let that which ye heard from the beginning abide in
you. If that abide in you which ye heard from the beginning, ye also shall
abide in the Son

* Not “*were*” but “*are of us*.” At the time of John’s writing they still
claimed the Christian name which the Apostle refuses to them.

† Chrism: not *the act of anointing*, but *the anointing oil*; here the
Spirit.

‡ The emphasis does not lie on the word “*all*.” They were not omniscient. The
emphasis lies on the word “*know*.” Take the things that God has revealed, and
respecting which He imparts teaching: ye have no longer notions and shifting
opinions: ye *know* the things. This knowing is the result of the “Unction.”
The passage is correlative to the promise of Jesus. *When the Spirit is come,
He shall teach you all things.* Tauler says, “The Holy Ghost will not teach us
all things, so that we shall know whether there will be a good harvest and
vintage, whether bread will be dear or cheap, whether the present war will
come to an end soon; but all things which we can need for a perfect life and
for a knowledge of the hidden truth of God.” The “*all things*” are included
in the next line under the expression “*the truth*.” Bengel remarks that
“Scripture is not wont to say in the plural, *truths*. Truth is one and a
whole.”

§ Then what about all pious frauds? What about all false emphasis laid on one
line of truth so as to lead to the undervaluing of the line beside it? What
about a writer giving forth a work of his own composition, and getting it
accepted as the Gospel of John?

|| He is the liar *per excellence*: he has got hold of the seed-lie, as deadly
a lie as that of the Fool, who hath said in his heart, “*No God*.”

and in the Father. And this is the promise which He Himself promised to us,*
the life eternal. These things have I written to you concerning those who are
deceiving you. And as for you, the Unction which ye have received from Him
abideth in you, and ye have no need that some one teach you: but as the same
Unction teacheth you concerning all things, and is true, and is no lie, and
even as it taught you, abide in Him. And now, little children, abide in Him;
that when [He] shall be manifested, we may have boldness [of speech],† and not
be shamed from Him in His coming.

"If ye know that He is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth
righteousness is begotten of Him. Behold what manner of love the Father hath
bestowed upon us, that we should be called [receive the name] children of
God!‡ And we are: therefore the world knoweth§ us not, because it knew Him
not. Beloved, now are we children of God, and it is not yet manifested what we
are to be: we know that when it shall be manifested, we shall be like Him, for
we shall see Him as He is.

* That is, promised with His own lips.

† Not "courage" in the general, but "free-spokenness," through our sense of
being in Him. It marks that state of mind in which, even when we do not speak,
we might do so with freedom and fearlessness. Its opposite is seen in the man
at the wedding feast, who, when the king challenged him, was speechless. "In
His coming," when He and we shall meet.

‡ Not viol, who might be sons by a mere act of adoption, but vixva, born into
his family by regeneration.

§ Lay emphasis on knoweth, rather than on not or us. A and B are next-door
neighbours, both poor. A prospers in the world, while B, though good and true,
remains in humble circumstances. After long separation, they meet again. B is
going to claim old acquaintance, but A turns superciliously away. "Ah," says
B, "he does not know me now." Not, "he does not know me:" he really does know,
but does not wish to recognize or be recognized. The world did not know the
Son of God; saw nothing Divine in His life: how can the world know us? It is
not every eye that sees an oak in an acorn—or a saint's halo encircling a poor
man's head.

CHAP. ii. 25—iii. 10.

“And every one that hath this hope on Him * purifieth himself, even as He is
pure. Every one that doeth sin doeth also lawlessness; and sin is
lawlessness.† And ye know that He was manifested to take away sins,‡ and in
Him is no sin. Whosoever abideth in Him sinneth not; whosoever sinneth § seeth
Him not, neither knoweth Him. Little children, let no one deceive you: he that
doeth righteousness is righteous, even as He is righteous; he that doeth sin
is of the devil,|| for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this was the
Son of God manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.*
Whosoever is begotten of God doeth not sin, for His seed abideth in him; and
he cannot sin, because he is begotten of God. In this are manifest the
children of God and the children of the devil.

* That is, on Him, whom we shall see as He is Christ Jesus.

† Not the *transgression of the law*: the word goes deeper. In the region of
our Divine relations, “law” is the uttered will of God, whether the uttering
be in secret to the conscience or in the words of a statute-book. Sin involves
the setting of that will aside—ignoring it—refusing it—taking our own way:
*i.e.*, sin is lawlessness. Consider Rom. ii 12-14; iv. 15; v. 13.

‡ More is involved than disposing of our guilt. The expression looks forward
to the teaching that follows, in which we learn that he who is begotten of God
“*sinneth not*.” No doubt his legal standing is all right; but it is his moral
conduct that is brought into view.

§ The description of the man’s life: whosoever liveth the old ungodly life—the
“worker of iniquity”—not to be confounded with the brother overtaken in a
fault.

|| The “fruit” of the one life is *righteousness*; that of the other is *sin*.
On a good tree there may be some worthless or bad apples. Yet the tree is
known by its fruit.

¶ The account of the design of His manifestation is very comprehensive. We are
to note that it was not to reveal duty merely, nor to show what comes of
disobedience; but to undo what the devil has done. He is the Physician who
undertakes an otherwise hopeless case, and expels the poison from the blood.
Hence the life-warmth, freshness, and glory of the gospel; hence the story of
the Advent is “good tidings of great joy” for evermore. Reducing the work of
Christ to mere enlightenment and example, and missing out “salvation,” the
gospel loses all its meaning and power, and Christ becomes a mere teacher of
morals, or doctor of philosophy.

“Whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, and he that loveth not his
brother. For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we
should love one another. Not as Cain was of the Wicked One, and slew his
brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were wicked, but his
brother’s righteous. Marvel not, brethren, if the world hateth you.* We [*for
our part*] know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love
the brethren: he that loveth not abideth in death.† He that hateth his brother
is a murderer; and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.
Herein have we known Love,‡ because He laid down His life for us; and we [*for
our part*] ought to lay down [*our*] lives for the brethren.§ But whoso hath
the world’s goods, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels
[*of compassion*] from him, how abideth the love of God in him? Little
children, let us not love with word, neither with the tongue, but in deed and
in truth.||

“In this shall we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts
before Him. For if [*our*] heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart,
and knoweth

* The world’s hatred is one of the “vouchers” of their belonging to Christ,
and of God’s “Father-love.”

† The state of hatred is thus identified with death—as love is with life.

‡ The words “*of God*” are added in our English version as a supplement. They
are not only unnecessary, but tempt us off the line of thought. If you would
know the very type of Love, to which all true love conforms, it is here,—“*He
laid down His life for us.*” It is silently taken for granted that every
Christian will have in mind for what holy ends that Life was laid down. The
laying down of that Life is the fullest interpretation of the word “*Love*”
ever given to man—perhaps to the universe.

§ To be a Christian involved danger of death *then*. Now it is respectable,
even fashionable. But the truth of the profession is still to be determined by
the existence of self-sacrificing love.

— || It is a “deed” to give a suffering brother five pounds: it is not “in
truth” if the gift would have been only a shilling but for the publicity.

CHAP. iii. 10—iv. 4.

all things.* Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, we have boldness [*of
speech*] with God. And whatsoever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep
His commandments and do the [*things that are*] pleasing in His sight.† And
this is His commandment, that we should believe in the name of His Son Jesus
Christ, and love one another, as He gave us commandment. And he that keepeth
His commandments abideth in Him, and He in him.‡ And herein we know that He
abideth in us, by the Spirit that He gave us.

“Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of
God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.§ In this ye know
the spirit of God: every spirit that confesseth Jesus Christ come in flesh ||
is of God; and every spirit that confesseth not Jesus is not of God; and this
is the [*spirit*] of the Antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it cometh, and
now already is it in the world. Ye [*for your part*], little children, are of
God, and have overcome them; because greater is He [*that is*]

* Obviously there is *awe* in this consideration in so far as the condemnation
of our heart is faint and uncertain, while God speaks according to truth. But
there is also *joy*. Our heart sometimes condemns us wrongfully; we write
bitter things against ourselves; we question whether we are God’s children at
all. What a comfort is the word, “God is greater than our heart, and knoweth
all things!” *He* makes no mistakes of this sort.

† “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.” “Ye ask and
receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.”
(Psalm lxvi. 18; James iv. 3.)

‡ As with two friends, each abides in the other’s heart. The lower fact is a
parable of the higher. Only the higher is above the lower, as heaven is above
the earth.

§ Then there is to be no traffic with any untried spirit. We must first know
if the spirit is “*of God*.” The Apostle fixes upon a Shibboleth for
spirits—the utterance of the heart-truth of Christianity.

|| “Come *in*—not *into*—flesh,” *i.e.*, it was not a Divine Æon that entered
the man at his baptism. It is obvious to me that John is not dealing in this
paragraph with developed Gnosticism. A writer living (say) in the year 150,
must have used different forms of expression.

in you, than he [*that is*] in the world. They* are of the world; therefore
speak they [*what is*] of the world, and the world heareth them: we are of
God; he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth us not. By
this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

“Beloved, let us love one another; for love is of God, and every one that
loveth is begotten of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not never knew God;
for God is love.† In this was manifested the love of God in us, that God hath
sent His Son, the Only begotten, into the world, that we might live through
Him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His
Son [*to be*] a propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we
also ought to love one another. No [*man*] hath seen God at any time. If we
love one another, God abideth in us, and His love is perfected in us. Herein
we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He hath given us of His
Spirit. We also have seen and bear witness that the Father hath sent the Son
[*us*] Saviour of the world.‡ Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of
God, God abideth in him, and he in God. And we have known and believed the
love that God hath in us.§ God is love, and

* The false prophets. They are worldly men; not children of God. Hence their
words belong to the world's level, and please the world's ear. The “Golden
Legend” puts the devil in a pulpit and makes him preach what many would count
a very fine sermon—which indeed it is, as Swift's or Sterne's are fine.

† The term cannot be defined. A definition implies finiteness, and that we
have gone round the finite thing, and drawn the bounding-line. Here this is an
impossibility. Love is God's very essence: it is *Himself*. What we call his
“Attributes,” are but Love in action or manifestation.

‡ Yea, with all its bigness, all its guilt, all its woe. There is none
besides; but there is need of none besides.

§ It is more than “*toward us*.” The love has reached us, and penetrated our
hearts. It is “*in us*,” and hence is called, immediately after, “*love with
us*.” It is the Divine in the human. Winer, from the grammarian's point of
view, finds fault with the interpreters, “who *will* smuggle in the
preposition *to* or *toward*.

CHAP. iv. 5—v. 3.

he that abideth in love abideth in God, and God in him. Herein is love with us
made perfect, that we should have boldness [*of speech*] in the Day of
Judgment; because as He is,\* are we also in this world. There is no fear in
love, but perfect love casteth out fear;† because fear hath torment;‡ but he
that feareth is not made perfect in love.§ We love, because He first loved
us.† If any one say, I love God, and hate his brother, he is a liar;¶ for he
that loveth not his brother, whom he hath seen, cannot love God whom he hath
not seen. And this commandment have we from Him, that he who loveth God love
his brother also.

“Every one who believeth that Jesus is the Christ is a gotten of God; and
every one who loveth Him that begat loveth Him also that is begotten of Him.
Herein we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and do His
commandments. For this is the love of God that we keep His commandments; and
His commandments

\* Not *As He was*, but *As He is*. It is not that His earthly life is probed
as our example, to be reproduced in us. But a blessed *fact* is announced, to
be realized by believers.

† Love that is not perfect—that is not sure of another’s heart—is full of
tremblings and anxieties; as, e.g., in a mother toward her son. And love can
never be perfect until it is sure of another’s heart. That is perfect love
Godward which is sure of God’s heart. The perfectness of God’s love thus
becomes the ground for perfectness in mine.

‡ Strictly, punishment. The torment is the punishment of fear.

§ A trembling, timid soul may have *real* love; yet, real as it is, it is not
perfect. Such love is of the *quality* that the Apostle speaks of, but it has
not the *e-quality*.

¶ Not that we love Him back again—constrained by gratitude, or by a sense of
duty. Even in the case of two human hearts, love kindles love; and the kindled
love can give no farther account of itself than is given here.

¶ To lie is not merely to say “the thing that is not,” for one may do under a
mistaken impression: it is to say “the thing that is not,” *nowing it to be
the thing that is not*. In the light of this, the Christian professor who says
he loves God and hates his brother is a liar. His whole life is a perpetual
lie. He “behaves” a lie.

are not grievous. For whatsoever is begotten of God overcometh the world; and
this is the victory that overcometh * the world [even] our faith. Who is he
that overcometh the world but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?

"This is He that came by water and blood, Jesus the Christ; not in the water
only, but in the water and in the blood;† and it is the Spirit that beareth
witness, because the Spirit is truth. For there are three that bear witness,
the Spirit and the Water and the Blood; and the three agree in one.‡ If we
receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater; for this is the
witness—that He hath borne witness concerning His Son. He that believeth in
the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath
made Him a liar, because he hath not believed in the witness which God hath
witnessed concerning His Son. And this is the witness, that God gave to us
eternal life; and this life is in His Son. He that hath the Son hath the life;
he that hath not the Son of God, hath not the life.

"These things have I written unto you, that ye may know § that ye have eternal
life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God. And this is the
boldness

* That did overcome and that goes on overcoming, just as the world's forces
are brought out against us. *Our faith* is the victorious principle. Compare
with Paul's words, "The weapons of our warfare are not carnal."

† The water (of baptism) and the blood (of the cross) are the two *termini* of
His public ministry—*a quo* and *ad quem*.

‡ That the omitted passage was not written by the Apostle John must
unquestionably be accepted. Here are "three tokens by which Jesus as the Son
of God has revealed Himself; indicating at the same time three combined
relations in which He presents Himself to the Christian consciousness as the
One incarnate Son of God. . . . The Spirit, the Water, and the Blood, all have
reference to one and the same object, and all concur in revealing and
accrediting Jesus as the Son of God."—*Neander*.

§ Not by information *ab extra*, but by consciousness.

CHAP. v. 4-20.

[*of speech*] that we have with Him, that if we ask anything according to His
will, He heareth us:\* and if we know that He heareth us, whatsoever we ask,
we know that we have the petitions that we have asked from Him.† If any one
see his brother sinning a sin not unto death, he shall ask, and shall give
life to him, [*even*] to those who sin not unto death: not concerning that do
I say that he shall pray. All unrighteousness is sin, and there is a sin not
unto death.‡

“We know that whosoever is begotten of God sinneth not; but he that is
begotten of God keepeth himself, and the Wicked One toucheth him not. We know
that we § are of God, and the whole world lieth in the Wicked [One]. But we
know; that the Son of God is come, and hath given us understanding that we may
know the True; and

\* There is no room here for the mistake of those who fancy that they will get
whatever they ask, *if only they work themselves up into the assurance that
God will give it*. A boy would like to possess a pistol. He says to himself,
*I will ask my father for one; and if I am only confident of getting it, my
father will give it*. Is that faith in his father? If his father had given him
reason to expect it—and if his request had been grounded on some intimation of
his father’s will—he would have been right in his confidence, not otherwise.
*The prayer of faith grounds itself on something in God*. That word,
“according to His will,” must never be lost sight of.

† Either in present possession or certain reversion. But there must be
“asking.” The things will not be thrust upon us.

‡ I do not see any warrant here for the distinction between “venial” and
“mortal” sins, in the Roman Catholic sense. There is a region fully known to
God, but not defined to us, within which intercession for others does not
avail. Our prayer is no interference with His sovereign rights. All that is
done is to take the case of some men out of the number for whom intercessory
prayer prevails.

§ There is a temptation for English lips to emphasize this “*we*,” as if the
idea were, “*We, in distinction from others, are of God*.” The word, however,
is unemphatic, not being expressed in the original.

§ Note this thrice-repeated “*We know*.” It is as much as to say, *This—and
this—and this is a settled matter*. The three conclusions may be regarded as a
summing-up of the truths set forth in the Epistle.

THE SECOND EPISTLE.

we are in the True, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and Life
Eternal.

“Little children, keep yourselves from idols.”\*

The remaining two Epistles are “the spillings of the heart;” but it is a heart
of rarest wisdom and grace.

The SECOND EPISTLE is a private letter to a Christian lady—advanced to at
least middle life, her name perhaps Cyria, or Eclecta Cyria—who was widely
loved. Whatever womanly graciousness may have characterized her, that which
won for her this wide love was the dwelling of the truth in her: it was this
which made her what she was.

We know nothing of her personally, beyond what comes out in this short letter.
She does not seem to have been specially eminent in the Church; at all events
her name has not found its way into ecclesiastical history—scarcely (if at
all) into ecclesiastical fable. She was no Sister of Mercy or Nun, but a
Christian wife and mother, with children who had grown up at her knee, and
whom she had taught to love “The Name.” Shortly before writing his letter,
John had met some of them away from home, who showed that they walked in
truth. Like another Lydia, who constrained Paul and his companions to accept
her hospitality, she opened her house and dispensed her bounty to those who
came forth bearing with them the gospel of Jesus Christ. Those whom she thus
received into her house might be fairly represented by the brethren who after
the

\* The commonest justification of images or idols is that they give
definitiveness to our spiritual conceptions, and help us nearer to the True
One. As against idolatry or the worship of false divinities, the manifestation
of God in His Son is the true safeguard. The idols from which they were to
keep themselves were the idols that existed all around.

TO WHOM ADDRESSED.

death of Stephen “went everywhere preaching the word :” or later by such a man
as Justin Martyr, who after his conversion seems to have travelled about from
land to land as an evangelist, proclaiming the truth he had found.

The letter which John writes to this lady is very gracious and beautiful.
There was danger that her hospitality might be taken advantage of for
antichristian purposes, by men who, professing to preach Christ, really denied
Him. She must use holy discrimination. “Many deceivers are entered into the
world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh : this is a
deceiver and an antichrist.” The consequences involved in a denial of the true
humanity of the Lord - or in the mystification of the truth might not at first
be obvious : the Gnostic doctrine indeed might seem to be an exalting of Him,
and a setting of His holiness in clearer light ; but to the Apostle it was
utterly hateful, because utterly false and insidiously deadly. Hence he writes
to this Christian lady, warning her not to give it countenance. He knows that
she loves the Truth, and would do nothing against it : let her not then open
her doors to those who were spreading error disguised under a holy name.

The charge which John gives is an antidote to that so-called “liberality” to
which truth and falsehood are alike, and which generally ends in hating truth
with a murderous hatred. Whatever may be done from Christian compassion or
kindness, let it be done without hesitation or fear ; but let it be done *as*
compassion or kindness — in the spirit of the good Samaritan : John finds no
fault with it, and throws no hindrance in its way. But keep the distinction
clear between doing a deed of Christian beneficence and giving help to
antichristian error. “If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine,
receive him not in your house, neither bid him God-speed : for he that biddeth
him God-

THE SECOND EPISTLE.

speed is partaker of his evil deeds." There is a time for everything; and
there is a time for crucifying mere good nature as well as the lusts of the
flesh. The letter runs:

"The elder to the elect lady and her children, whom I love in truth * and not
I only, but also all that know the truth—for the truth's sake which dwelleth
in us, and will be with us for ever. Grace, mercy, and peace shall be with you
from God the Father, and from Jesus Christ the Son of the Father, in truth and
love.

"I rejoiced greatly that I have found among thy children those who walk in
truth, as we received commandment from the Father. And now I beseech thee,
lady, not as writing to thee a new commandment, but that which we had from the
beginning, that we love one another. And this is love, that we walk according
to His commandments: and this is the commandment, as ye heard from the
beginning, that ye should walk in it.† For many deceivers went out ‡ into the
world, who confess not Jesus Christ coming in flesh: § this is the deceiver
and the antichrist. Look to yourselves, that ye lose not the things which ye
wrought, but that ye receive a full reward.|| Whosoever goeth before ¶ and
abideth not in the teaching of Christ hath not God: whosoever abideth in the
teaching, he hath both the Father and the Son. If there come any one to you,
and he bringeth not this teaching, receive him not into [your]

* Not merely, *whom I love truly*, but whom I love in the same truth in which
I found children of thine walking.

† *In it, i.e.*, not *in the commandment*, but *in love*. The Apostle seems to
be moving in a circle; but experience understands it.

‡ From the Church.

§ They reject or evade the idea of incarnation out and out.

: Wages; the fruit of Christian labour.

¶ As a spiritual leader or guide. The shepherd goes before the sheep.

DEMETRIUS.

house, neither bid him God-speed ; • for bidding him God-speed [*one*] is
partaker of his evil deeds.

“Having many things to write to you, I would not [*write*] with paper and ink
; for I hope to come to you and speak mouth to mouth, that our joy may be
full. The children of thy elect sister greet thee.”

The THIRD EPISTLE is also a private letter, addressed to a Christian gentleman
of the name of Caius or Gaius. We know nothing of him except what we learn
from this letter, though I believe tradition has raised him to a bishopric. We
recognize in him a man of high character, but somewhat weakly in health, and
perhaps standing also on the cold side of the world’s favour. He is one of the
Apostle’s “children,” whom he joys to see walking in truth, and in whose
behalf he prays “that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul
prospereth.” The letter is about the same length as the preceding one, and is
a companion to it. The Christian lady is forewarned against giving countenance
to false teachers : Gaius is commended for showing hospitality to the true.

The story lying behind the letter is a very simple one. Certain Christian
evangelists had gone forth on a missionary tour (“in behalf of The Name they
went forth”), taking nothing of the Gentiles. One of the band, probably a
leading member of it, was Demetrius—one who had good report of all, yea, of
the truth itself—his success in bringing men to Christ being witness in his
behalf. These friends did not wander from place to place unknown, but were
properly accredited. It appears even that they were intro-

• Do not give him greeting. Let not your house be made a base of operations
again Christ. The test of Christian love is the maintenance of Christian
truth.

GAIUS AND DIOTREPHES.

duced by John himself:—"I wrote (he says) unto the Church:" so that, though
personally strangers, they were sufficiently attested as true men.

Diotrephes, however, refused to receive them. I imagine Diotrephes to have
been a church pastor somewhere perhaps wealthy—a somewhat priestly and
overbearing man—with a strong will, a keen scent for heresy, and some
considerable power over the Church; just such a man as is brought into view by
Peter's phrase, "lording it over God's heritage." This man not merely refused
to receive the brethren, but excommunicated those who did. The "elect lady"
may have been too facile and unsuspicious; Diotrephes goes to the opposite
extreme. Very likely he had his list of cases in which unworthy men had come
in under false pretences and done harm—"false brethren"—"wolves in sheep's
clothing"—and so he sets his face against the whole thing.

It would seem that Gaius had come into trouble with Diotrephes in consequence
of befriending some of these evangelists: in John's hearing they had testified
before the Church to the kindness of Gaius; and John expresses his pleasure at
this, and his intention of bringing up, at the proper time, the conduct of
Diotrephes for censure.

The letter has abiding value by reason of its bearing on evangelistic work. We
must be careful what men we back up. But when servants of the Lord, bringing
the Truth, come to us properly accredited, we should help them forward after a
godly sort; for in so doing we help the Truth itself.

Here is the THIRD LETTER also.

"The elder unto the well-beloved Gaius, whom I love in truth.

"Beloved, I wish that in all respects thou mayest

THE THIRD EPISTLE.

prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth. For I rejoiced greatly
when brethren came and testified to thy truth, even as thou walkest in truth.
Greater joy than this I have none, to hear of my children walking in the
truth.

“Beloved, thou doest faithfully * whatsoever thou doest toward the brethren
(and that toward strangers) who bore witness to thy love before the Church; †
whom if thou send forward on their journey after a godly sort, thou shalt do
well; for on behalf of The Name they went forth, taking nothing of the
Gentiles: ‡ we therefore ought to receive § such persons, that we may become
fellow-workers for the truth. I wrote somewhat to the Church; but Diotrephes,
who loveth to have the pre-eminence among them, receiveth us not. Therefore,
if I come, I will bring to remembrance his deeds which he doeth, || prating
against us with wicked words; and not content therewith, neither does he
himself receive the brethren, and those who would he forbiddeth and casteth
them out of the Church. ¶ Beloved, do not thou imitate the evil, but the good.
He that doeth good is of God; he that doeth evil hath not seen God.

* Not in the sense of *conscientiously*, but as a deed of Christian faith. The
meaning is, Thy work which thou hast done is work of faith.

† In open assembly.

‡ Individuals belonging to the nations, as we would say, *heathen men*. There
is an abiding principle in what Jesus said to His disciples when He sent them
forth two and two. They were not to provide gold or silver or brass in their
purses; they were to take no scrip for their journey, neither two coats nor
shoes nor yet staves: in other words, they were not to live on their private
fortunes. How then? “The workman is worthy of his meat:” the Lord will deal
with them on this footing; and will provide for their temporal needs through
means of those whose hearts are opened to receive their message. This was no
false start.

§ The idea is to receive and help on, as we speak of *taking one by the hand*.

|| It is not merely that John will *bear in mind* this man’s deeds, but will
*recal* them, for censure and for the warning of others.

¶ Depriving them of membership.

SPECULATIVE QUESTIONS.

"To Demetrius testimony hath been borne by all, and by the truth itself; yea,
we also bear testimony, and thou knowest that our testimony is true.

"I had many things to write to thee, but I wish not to write to thee with ink
and pen; but I hope immediately to see thee, and we shall speak mouth to
mouth.

"Peace be to thee. The friends greet thee. Greet the friends by name."

Attention is being more and more powerfully drawn to the writings of this
Apostle, and inquiry evoked. I need not point out what possible dangers this
exposes to; they will readily occur to any one who reflects. It is not in our
power, even were it desirable, to draw a line, and say to the spirit of
inquiry, *Thus far shalt thou come, and no farther*. We cannot thus escape
difficulty. Men must and will scan the whole range of truth, and will open up
afresh questions that had been regarded as permanently settled.

If I read rightly, the questions that lie immediately in advance are not
exactly those that have been agitated between Calvinist and Arminian, but
different and quite as vital. To fancy that inquiry can be hushed as
dangerous, or that speculative questions can be evaded, is a profound mistake;
and it is not good for us to keep our eyes shut. Where then is our security
against error? Not, as I believe, in ecclesiastical forms, or in intensifying
our dogmatic utterances. Not in high education and great intellectual
abilities; for "the natural man," however able and highly educated, "receiveth
not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him;
neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." With the
aid of a grammar and lexicon, one may interpret Scripture after a fashion; but
cannot rightly apprehend *the thoughts* unless through a heartfelt sense of
sin, a quickened con-

OUR TRUE SECURITY.

science, and faith in God, as He is manifested in His Only-begotten Son, the
suffering Saviour, who “came into the world to bless it, and was tortured and
slain there, and went out wearing a crown of thorns.” Our true security, as I
believe, lies in our spirituality in our being men and women who are born of
God, reverent and truth-loving, to whom the “Unction from the Holy One” is no
mere figure of speech, but a deep and blessed reality.

![img-13.jpeg](img-13.jpeg)

========================================================================
  CHAPTER 9: 09. The Theologian
========================================================================

THE NEW TESTAMENT WRITINGS. DIFFERENT MODES OF PRESENTING THE SAME TRUTH.
JOHN'S STARTING-POINT. THE WORD. MANIFESTED HUMANLY. SPHERE OF THE
MANIFESTATION. ITS CHARACTER AND PURPOSE. THE HOLY SPIRIT. "FOR JUDGMENT AM I
COME." SINNING AND NOT SINNING. FAITH AND UNBELIEF. STANDING OF BELIEVERS. THE
FUTURE.

![img-14.jpeg](img-14.jpeg)

TAKING up the New Testament and examining it we find that it consists of
twenty-seven separate books, bound together. They were not given all at once,
and to a single church, but came forth (so to speak) by instalments, just as
the writers of them were "moved" and as providential circumstances required.
Probably the writers could no more explain the moving than we can, and had no
more notice of its approach than we have of the approach of a dream. There was
no plan, or concert, or common understanding among them; no intentional
division of labour; no comparing of notes; nor were the separate writings
formed into a single collection till long after the death of the last of the
Apostles. Indeed, it was only by degrees that the true importance of the
writings for the preservation and propagation of the truth came to be
recognized by believers.

Through these writings Christianity gets (so to speak) a root in our human
soil, which keeps it fresh and living down

THE NEW TESTAMENT AND UNITY.

the centuries. As time passed on, the enemies of the Gospel began to perceive
the vital importance of these writings to the life of Christianity; and the
last, the most skilful and the deadliest, of the heathen "persecutions" was
aimed at their extermination. Christian congregations might be scattered to
the four winds—penal enactments against Christianity might be enforced in the
strictest manner; but the progress of the faith (it was perceived) was not
thereby arrested. It became evident that the writings must be extirpated. This
was the aim of the Dioclesian persecution, which extended throughout the
Empire, from east to west, and which utterly failed; as had formerly happened
with the attempt of Antiochus Epiphanes to destroy the Old Testament, and
thereby to annihilate the worship of Jehovah.

As the writings are studied, it becomes evident to the student that they form
a unity. It is not merely that they are bound together within the same boards
and have the same title page, but there is one soul inspiring them. The unity
is a unity of varied life. Having many members, they form one body.

Every reader perceives that they fall into four groups: first, the four
Gospels; second, the Book of Acts, exhibiting the planting of Christianity in
a four-fold soil, "Hebrew, and Greek, and Latin," and Barbarian; third, the
Epistolary writings which exhibit Christian doctrine, and which have also a
fourfold character, represented by the names of James, Peter (with whom Jude
is to be associated), Paul, and John; fourth, the prophetic Book of
Revelation.

In studying them, they should be taken up, as far as possible, each by each in
historic order, and read in the light of the life-experience of their writers,
and of the condition, circumstances, and prospects of the churches or
individuals addressed; the Heart-thought of each should be

WRITINGS OF JAMES AND PETER.

firmly seized, and it should be seen how the other ideas cluster around. When
we have read the New Testament writings thus, ascertaining the drift of the
separate books, we shall be able from the standpoint of each writer, and
finally from a standpoint commanding the field, to perceive the unity of the
truth as it is in Jesus.

In distinguishing the teaching of the New Testament writers, I insinuate no
variance between them—nothing that might grow into a contradiction. But the
Divine Spirit has divided severally to them, as has seemed to Him meet, and it
is our wisdom to observe this Divinely-created difference.

Standing nearest to the old economy appears the Apostle James. His theology is
the least developed of any of the New Testament writers. His Epistle,
addressed to the “twelve tribes” in dispersion, reads like a continuation of
the Sermon on the Mount. I think it belongs to an early period of Christian
history—undoubtedly before Paul had written his Epistle to the Romans.* It is
generally—and indeed naturally—approached from the practical side: I believe
it will richly repay deeper study than it has received from the doctrinal
side. The heart-thought of it seems to be *morality rooted in Christ*.

The heart-thought of Peter’s theology we have in the words, “Blessed be the
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy
hath begotten us again unto a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ
from the dead.”

The doctrinal ideas set forth by Paul are familiar to the great majority of
Christian people. They are the staple of

* I cannot think that James states his doctrine of “justification by works” to
guard Paul’s doctrine of “justification by faith” against licentious abuse.
The utterances of the two apostles are perfectly independent, and—to any
ordinary comprehension, not looking out for contradictions—perfectly
harmonious.

WRITINGS OF PAUL AND JOHN.

what is commonly named Evangelical theology.* Starting from man's sinfulness
in the presence of a Law that is holy and just and good, and uprooting man's
last hope of being his own Saviour, he exhibits God's way of dealing with
guilt, and with an evil heart, in the mediation of Jesus Christ and the work
of the Holy Spirit, leading us on to the final completion of salvation in the
day of Christ, according to God's eternal purpose of grace which He purposed
in Himself.

As soon as we pass from the writings of Paul to those of John, we find
ourselves in fellowship with a mind of a totally different cast—not at all
dialectic, but intensely and profoundly intuitive. While he is equally the
organ of the Spirit of God, and while the truths dealt with are in substance
the same, yet the manner of conceiving and building them together is very
different. The difference shows itself in the great words that are used.
Paul's words are such as these—sin, grace, righteousness, election,
redemption, faith, reconciliation, salvation, the day of Christ: John's words
are such as these—life and death, light and darkness, love and hatred, truth
and a lie, the Son of God and the Wicked One.

Were I to select characteristic and corresponding utterances from Paul and
John, they would be these two:

* The majority of Evangelical believers do not seem very able to conceive of
New Testament doctrine, save as it is represented by this Apostle. A
noticeable fact is, that for one commentary on John, since the time of the
Reformation, we find at least ten on Paul. And even of those commentaries
which deal with John, many take him as if his writings were a continuation of
Paul's, and exhibit the same logical tone and spirit as in dealing with Paul.
The majority also of what are called *Symbolical Books* show no sign (or only
the faintest) of John's impress. I do not point this out by way of fault-
finding, but only as matter of fact. There can be no question of the grandeur
of the Pauline ideas, even in their imperfect apprehension by us. Under God,
the glory of our post-Reformation life and theology is due to them.

. 180

JOHN'S STARTING POINT.

from Paul—“*Just and the Justifier of him who believeth in Jesus*;” from
John—“*This is the true God and eternal life.*” These utterances may suffice
to illustrate how the lines of thought pursued by the two Apostles are
parallel and harmonious, while yet they lie on different planes.

In this chapter I desire to exhibit the character of John’s doctrine as
distinguished from that of the other New Testament writers,—unto each of whom
“is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.” We shall find
that it is no mere theological jelly, soft and luscious, but quite as strong
meat as the doctrine of Paul. It is an exhibition of the elements of Divine
truth, set forth in the simplest and homeliest terms, yet with the utmost
profundity. We shall find also that there is no balancing of probabilities and
nothing of that torturous suspense which is the misery of our age. He is
positive in his testifying with a Yea that is Yea and a Nay that is Nay.

The starting-point for thought is the conception of the Eternal “Word” - “the
Word of life,”—“the Eternal Life* which was with the Father and was manifested
unto us.” We must not attempt simplification by emptying the name, “Word,” of
its profound meaning. We must not resolve it into Voice or Decree or Sentence,
or even into a personification of the “Divine reason,” thus robbing it of its
personalness. It is exceedingly difficult, if not impossible, to give John’s
statements concerning *The Word* logical definiteness; and it seems not
necessary that we should do so. It is enough to recognize a timeless Being
whom he affirms to be Divine, and who expresses all that belongs to the Divine
nature.

Very ingenious and learned inquiries have been prose-

* It is worth while for the student of Scripture to compare the name, “*The
Eternal Life*,” with its parallel, the Old Testament “*Jehovah*,” Does not
“*The Eternal Life*” yield the Jehovah-idea?

THE "LOGOS."

cuted, which trace its use in the school represented by Philo. There is one
essential difference between Philo and John. While both (if I understand
rightly) regard The Word as a Person, the former regards Him as a created
being, although the image and glory of God, or at best a second God; the
latter pronounces Him from "the Beginning," and by inference uncreated and
eternal. He unfolds the Divine idea contained in the name in distinction from
the false notions of men. Just as Paul said at Athens, respecting the Unknown
God—"Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, Him declare I unto you;" so in
effect John says, redeeming the name from its lower use—Whom ye ignorantly
call The Word, Him declare I unto you, in His timeless being; in His
personality; in His Godhead; in His creatorship; in His action in the universe
as light and life; in His manifestation in the flesh, full of grace and truth,
giving of His fulness, and declaring the Father unto men. All Divine
revelations and workings in the universe are (and ever have been) through Him.
Even in the darkness His light shineth, and the darkness comprehended it not.

There is no choice between accepting a universe created by the Divine will,
and Pantheism; no third form of belief is intellectually possible; no rational
foothold exists for the Atheist.

According to the Pantheist, "God" is but a name for the Sum of Being—the
infinite and impersonal All—cause and effect in one. Man is but God thinking,
and man's mind part of the infinite mind. We live and move and have our being
"in Him," in the same sense in which my hand or foot is "in me." As Spinoza
puts it, "A drop rises from the ever-tossing ocean; is for a second (called
seventy years) illuminated and transparent; and then the drop sinks again
whence it came." The universe is not to be conceived of as arising, or
becoming, or beginning to

THE INCARNATION.

exist; it *is*, of necessity and from eternity. Hence the existing order of
things is both necessary and perfect; sin is inconceivable; darkness is but
the less of light; there is no room for confession, or prayer, or forgiveness.

According to the Apostle John, on the other hand, the universe “*became*,” its
things were “*made*,” it is not necessary and eternal—the Word was before it
and called it into existence; light and darkness are not harmonious
manifestations of the One Eternal Substance, but are in conflict; God is
Light, and in Him is no darkness at all; He is to be conceived of personally,
as the Father of the Only-begotten Son and of as many as received Him.*

In due time The Word—who had been operating in history from the beginning—was
manifested humanly in Jesus of Nazareth, so that men heard Him, saw Him,
looked upon Him with their eyes, and their hands handled Him. The
manifestation was made in the village-home, in the carpenter’s workshop, in
the little circle of Nazareth, as truly as when He raised Lazarus from the
dead, or for our offences yielded Himself to the cross.

It was no mere outward and temporal conjunction. Godhead and manhood were
bound into one person,† indissolubly and eternally, in the Only-begotten. It
was not a mere phantom-appearance, as if an angel should become visible to the
eye in human form, (as angels did in the Old Testament;) it was not Deity
wearing a robe or veil of flesh, but having no human heart within: it was a
true Incarnation, so that, being still The Word, He was truly,

* “I have long thought that without an eternal *Logos* you must have an
eternal *Cosmos*; and I therefore suspect that a *mono-personal Theism is
impotent against the Pantheist.*”—*Colloquia Peripatetica*: Dr. John Duncan.

† Not “*blended.*” To use such a word is an attempt, so far, to explain: and
every *explanation* of this union has a seed of error in it—of necessity.

A REVELATION OF GOD.

fully, sinlessly human, as verily human as we ourselves. He became one with
us; bore our infirmities; stood on our level. He is the fullest answer to the
question—*What is man?* as He is also the fullest answer, the only
“apprehendible” answer to the question—*What is God?*

The Absolute and Eternal One had revealed Himself in part otherwise; in the
constitution and order of the universe, in the great laws which rule it, in
the mind and moral nature of man, and in the course of history. But the
supreme revelation is in the incarnate Word. “No man hath seen God at any
time; the Only-begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father, He hath
declared Him.”

Spinoza has said, somewhat superciliously, “If a triangle were gifted with
powers of thought and speech, it would maintain that God is eminently
triangular; as would a circle, similarly endowed, declare that He is eminently
circular; and so of each individual thing.”

This however is but to say that God’s highest revelation of Himself to any
being must be through that being’s own nature. So it is in this case: God
manifests Himself to man through man’s own nature. A visible human life
becomes the medium of showing forth the Divine and eternal life. A human face
shines with the very brightness of the Godhead’s glory. No man sees, knows,
understands God, except as he sees, knows, understands Christ Jesus. Whosoever
sees, knows, understands Christ Jesus, sees, knows, and understands the
Eternal Father—truly, though not fully; for the infinite “ALL” of God cannot
possibly be embraced within human limitations. Wheresoever faith in the Son
vacillates, the image of the Father begins to fade away; indeed, there is
nothing between the world and Pantheism but Jesus Christ. The Gospel of John
is the telling forth of this manifestation by one who saw it on its glorious
side; even as he writes,—“We beheld His glory, the glory as of

SIN.

the Only-begotten of the Father." The *mystery* of the Incarnation is not
cleared away,—indeed, it is rather intensified than abated; but the *fact* is
placed beyond debate.

The sphere within which the manifestation took place was "the world." In
John's speech, "the world" is not the mere globe of earth on which we have our
dwelling, and which gives us our graves, but the whole human region as it is
alienated from God. We all belong to it by birth. In forms and ways and
thoughts it is constantly changing, but coming no nearer to God. John
conceives of it as dominated by sin. To master his conception we must
apprehend the meaning of that word "*Sin*." He who fails to do so, and who
confines his attention to outward acts, is as a physician whose diagnosis
extends only to the running sore, while he takes no account of the corruption
of the blood.

John does not *define*, but simply *uses* the word; unless indeed we take as
definition, "Sin is the transgression of law." We cannot learn its meaning
from a dictionary; we only learn it when we are brought consciously into the
presence of Him who is Light and Love. We learn it most deeply as we grow in
the life of God. No man knows—no man *can* know—how bad badness is till he has
learned in a measure how good goodness is.

Sin is no necessity of our creature-finiteness; it is not man coming to a
consciousness of his moral freedom; it is not the unripe apple that awaits
more sun; it is not the shadow of good, but the antagonist of it. It is not
man going against his own conscience, which is the *regula regulata* and not
the *regula regulans*. It is the creature-will revolting against the Creator-
will. The eye that sees a world in a grain of sand, or a heaven in a wild
flower, will see a hell in the slightest act that means *No* to God.

THE WORLD IN SIN.

Parables revealing its nature are met on every hand. A mother says to her
child playing on the floor beneath her smiles and loving glances, *Bring me
the pin that lies over there*. The child pays no attention. By-and-by the
mother repeats her word, and the child looks up into the mother's face and
answers, *No*. What do men say of such a thing? Do they smile and call it a
trifle, because it is only the lifting or not lifting of a pin that is in
question? Do they not rather say?—*It is the child-will revolting against the
mother-will*. And viewed thus, does not the act of refusal swell out into
dimensions all but immeasurable? So with man's lightest *No* to God: so—with
this difference, that the mother may "provoke" her child to disobedience, or
may foolishly issue her orders when the child's attention is absorbed
otherwise. Taken in its hidden, unconfessed, far-back intent, man's *No*
involves not the mere unthroning of God, but Deicide itself. I do not forget,
in saying this, how bad surroundings, mis-education, the influence of poverty,
and so forth, may be a dead weight on the will. God knows all about this, and
will judge righteously. But the thing to note is, that all sin carries in the
heart of it a *No* to God, and means *Let Him not be!*

Now in John's view "the world" is in sin. Its sinful condition is variously
represented. It is in darkness; it knows not God; it finds His commandments
grievous; it lies in wickedness; it is in death,—not merely exposed to it as a
penalty, but in it as a condition. The "things" of it are such as these,—"the
lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life."

Dark and awful as this is, there is something darker and more awful still.
Lying behind the "seen" is a realm of evil unperceived by any of our senses,
with a personal head—the devil, the slanderer, who misrepresents God to men,
who creates suspicions and false beliefs in their minds, and fans

THE DARK WORLD.

hatred in their hearts, and who is a liar and murderer from the beginning.*
(John viii. 44.)

It is indeed a hard thing in many quarters to admit the existence of such a
being. It appears to involve some gross superstition which the nineteenth
century cannot tolerate. It appears even to be a libel on God that He should
allow such a being room and foothold in His universe. So, the devil is
resolved into our own dark shadow, or the spectre conjured up by our own
guilt, or a bold orientalism for "moral evil." But is it more difficult to
believe in a bad *Spirit* than in a bad *man*? Is it more difficult to believe
in evil influences issuing from a spiritual world, than to believe in such
influences issuing from the material and visible world? The question whether
there are human and other created spirits really opens up the question—or at
all events, is inextricably bound up with it—whether there is a Great Spirit,
who is the *Father of spirits*.

John's doctrine is unmistakable. The dark form of this Evil Being stands
distinctly out as a power working against God and goodness. The world of men
has fallen under his baleful will, in its every province and family. He is
more than our antecedent in evil; he is tempter, and seducer, and tyrant.
Man's sin is his own; he is fully responsible for it; he knows that quite
well; yet it is a work of the devil, in some sense as real as that it is his
own work.

* "From the beginning." The expression is radically different from that which
is used respecting the Word, that He was "in the beginning." There is no
approach to an original dualism of good and evil in John. The devil appears as
the first intelligence that sinned. He was not created as he is; he "abode not
in the truth." The dark mystery of the origin of moral evil lies behind, with
no light thrown on it, probably insoluble to man. The very *continuance* of
evil in a universe presided over by a Being infinite in holiness, love, and
power, baffles speculative thought. Why did He not nip evil in the bud? Why
does he not stamp it out? Daniel Defoe makes his savage ask, Why does God not
kill the devil? Wise men are silent.

ASPECTS OF SIN.

Only, the operations of the Tempter and those of our own hearts are so
interwoven, being carried on simultaneously and within the same dimly-lighted
chamber, that disentanglement is impossible—except for God.

This connection of man's sin with the devil must be studied profoundly by
those who would understand John's doctrine. I am satisfied that unless we
accept what he says so plainly and fully, we shall be caught in the meshes of
fatalism, saying of our sin, *I could not help it; I was born for it; and the
light that led astray was light from heaven*; or we shall be driven to deny
that there is any essential and eternal distinction between good and evil at
all.

Sin, having this twofold origin, is to be conceived of as "lawlessness," and
therefore in antagonism to the revealed Will of God; as "a lie," and therefore
in antagonism to Truth; as "darkness," and therefore in antagonism to Light;
as "hatred," and therefore in antagonism to Love; as "death," and therefore in
antagonism to Life. This manifold antagonism is set forth in some of its
aspects in John's Gospel; in other of its aspects in his Epistles; and in
other aspects still, in his Book of Revelation. He silently takes for granted
throughout, that (however intolerable it may be to human pride) there is no
possibility of self-help for the world; man cannot free himself by his own
power, even if he would, or be his own saviour: apart from Christ, he abideth
in death. This is the sphere of the manifestation of the Son of God—a sphere
wherein evil seemed to be victorious.

The "world" of John's day we know, as to its actual condition, from other
sources. Let any one turn over the pages of Tacitus, Juvenal, Martial, or
Persius, with their often-unconscious disclosures of prevailing licentiousness
and cruelty; and what he learns will put "colour" into

SOCIAL ABYSSES.

John's outlines: nay, one dare not say "*turn over their pages*," for some of
them can scarcely be read without hurt by the saintliest living. The same
"world"—at heart—we still find in the present century, under modern
conditions. It has grown in wealth. It has become civilized and refined. Law
has become a mightier thing. The glory of science was never half so radiant.
But, looking close in, we still find the old facts—a dislike of God and love
of sin, pride and self-sufficiency, a godless and selfish use of things, men
"hating one another," selfishness fighting selfishness—an infinite mass of
misery.

Look beyond the borders of comfort and respectability, and think of what
exists to-day round about us. Think of the unblest poverty that is growing
side by side with enormous wealth and luxury, associated in many cases with
vice and crime, crushing the spirit in ways that comfortable people cannot
understand, and frequently aggravated by the temper in which it is borne, and
by added evils which do not properly belong to it. Think of the ignorance that
has grown to such proportions under the very shadow of our schools and
churches. Think of the savagery that exists among us, as hideous in feature as
in any country that we send missionaries to. Think of the haunts of vice in
our midst, with their open doors—hunger, and brutalism, and drunkenness, and
uncleanness, and lust, going in and out. Think of those abysses of society in
which honesty, purity, and truth, seem all but impossibilities. Think of the
mighty multitude of sufferers, lying on beds of down or writhing on straw,
through "nights that weep and wail," with no expectation of joy in the
morning. Think of the death-beds, mournful beyond all expression, where wasted
lives are dying out, and defiled souls are passing into the awful presence of
infinite Purity and Righteousness. I do not forget that there are other things
in the world besides

CHARACTER OF CHRIST'S MANIFESTATION. 189 these. But *these exist*. And this is
the sphere in which the continued action of the Son of God proceeds.

It is not, however, the misery and degradation that we must think about, but
the *sin*, which may exist (and *does*), in association with birth, culture,
refined and gentle manners, all that is graceful and charming humanly, and yet
to the holy God is “*that abominable thing which I hate*.”

The manifestation of the Eternal Word in the world took place under conditions
of outward lowliness that were an affront to human pride. Jesus was “the
carpenter’s son,” and “the carpenter” himself. His chosen companions were
fishermen and the like. His life was one of poverty. The foxes had holes, and
the birds of the air had nests; *He* had not where to lay His head. And
finally He was put to death on a cross as a malefactor. Such were the outward
conditions of the case—the very reverse of what men would have devised.

The character of the manifestation is variously represented, inasmuch as no
single representation can convey the full truth. Historically, the
manifestation is set forth by John in his Gospel; theologically, in his
Epistles; prophetically—as to its full results and issues—in the Apocalypse.
The words employed in telling of the manifestation are exceedingly simple; the
meaning of them grows and grows upon us as our life deepens. The process that
goes on in Christian experience is the same that goes on every morning, when
the shining light shineth more and more unto the perfect day. So with every
word that tells of the Son of God.

He is manifested as the Eternal Life in a world of death. He is manifested as
the True Light in a world of darkness. He is manifested as the Messenger and
Interpreter of God in a world that was either ignorant of Him, or that
believed falsehoods and lies respecting Him; the message being summed up in
the two kindred expres-

PURPOSE OF THE MANIFESTATION.

sions, which tell what He is yesterday, and to-day, and for ever—*God is
Light*, and *God is Love*.

We are not to take these two expressions as making up the truth between them.
Each is complete in itself, and, rightly understood, can stand alone. Nay,
each word, profoundly understood, carries the other in it. God is Light and
Love Light, not merely as clear intelligence, but as holiness; Love, not
merely as tender affection, but as the purpose of creating goodness; Light
without any mingling of darkness; Love revealing itself in grace and
salvation; Light and Love, the sum of moral perfections. The theology which
misses out either word is fatally defective—indeed, false and cannot but have
evil fruits.

He is manifested as the sinless Lamb, who taketh away the sin of the world. He
did not come merely to lay down the Divine Law afresh, nor to issue a fresh
summons to obedience; He was manifested to take away our sin. He is Saviour;
Propitiation and Advocate; Destroyer of the works of the devil; Giver of
eternal life; Channel of the infinite and everlasting good which the Father
means for us; Sender of the Comforter; Seed that falls into the ground and
dies, that it may not abide alone, but may bring forth much fruit. Cain hated
his brother, and slew him: Christ loved His enemies, and died for them. It was
not a mere pouring forth of life to prove love; it was a pouring of it forth
to accomplish saving ends,—just as Paul tells of “redemption through His
blood, even the forgiveness of sins.” His blood “cleanseth from all sin.” He
“loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood.” “If we confess our
sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from
all unrighteousness.” “Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by Thy
blood.”

Thus are we enabled to lay our sin bare before God, and to say, “Against Thee,
Thee only, have I sinned, and

TO PUT AWAY SIN.

done this evil in Thy sight." Thus are we delivered from the terrible
consciousness of guilt. Thus are we taught to sing,

"Chief of sinners though I be,

Jesus shed His blood for me;

Died that I might live on high,

Lived that I might never die.

As the branch is in the vine,

I am His, and He is mine."

Thus are we preserved from sinning. Thus are we strengthened and inclined to
keep His commandments, and to do the things that are pleasing in His sight.
Thus do we become the captives of His grace. His redemption is not a mere
breaking of bonds in which we were enthralled. It is not as when one comes
upon a wild animal caught in a snare, and undoes the snare, and lets the
panting, struggling thing return to its wild liberty again; it is rather as if
one not only delivered it from the snare, but likewise attached it to himself,
and tamed it to his will, so that it becomes his own. Thus, once more, are we
upheld in the sanctifying assurance that nothing "shall be able to separate us
from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Among all the
trophies of the devil is no soul that has been (so to speak) wrenched out of
the grasp of Christ, and dragged down to perdition. His name is *Saviour*; and
He proves it by saving. His saving energy still continues after His ascension,
even as it preceded His incarnation. There is no break or interruption. "I am
He that liveth and was dead; and behold, I am alive for evermore, and have the
keys of hell and of death."

Necessarily and as a matter of course we meet the supernatural in this
manifestation. If the supernatural could be eliminated, I for one would
surrender my faith in Jesus as the Son of God, and would accept the creed,
"*Physical science the only true religion, and obedience to physical law the
only sound morality.*"

THE HOLY SPIRIT.

Having completed the manifestation on earth and taken His place in the
heavens, He sends forth His Spirit to operate within the human sphere. This
Spirit is the Comforter, that is, the Paraclete or Advocate. The name marks
personality as real as that of Christ Himself. He is charged with Christ's
interests. He is "the Spirit of truth," "the Holy Spirit," "the Spirit of
God." His operations are manifold; He "teaches," "brings all things to
remembrance," "bears witness," "guides into all the truth," "glorifies"
Christ, "receives" and "shows" the things of Christ, "convinces the world of
sin and of righteousness and of judgment." This ministry of the Spirit is to
be regarded as really comprehended within the scope of the manifestation of
the Word. It is through the Spirit that His power is exerted in human hearts
and lives. Hence in the religion of Jesus we find not merely a higher and more
spiritual morality, but the revelation of means by which that morality may be
attained.*

The manifestation of the Word brings in a "judgment," that is to say, a
distinguishing, a separating, so that men take sides either *with* God or
*against* Him. "For judgment am I come into the world"; for separating men
into two classes—the children of light, truth, love, God—and the children of
darkness, falsehood, hate, the devil.

This action pertains not alone to His ministry on earth, but likewise to the
present and the future, through the perpetual energy of His Spirit. Here are
so many human beings related to one another not merely by their common share
of Adam's blood, but in other special and intimate ways. Christ goes in among
them, and at once there is a taking of sides, an arraying of themselves under
different

* See John xiv.—xvi.

THE DIVIDING LINE.

banners. There is not merely the gathering out of some to be on the Lord's
side, the rest remaining as they were; there is a quickening of hostility as
well as a subduing of hearts. In this world men do not indeed always range
themselves outwardly and visibly under their proper colours; there is self-
deception, false profession, the smile of deceit, the traitor's kiss. John
recognizes this when he says, "They went out from us, but they were not of us;
for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us; but
they went out that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us."
None the less real is the division, that it cannot be perfectly discerned by
the eye of man, but only by the Heart-Searcher.

The line that divides the two classes is drawn by the Apostle with the utmost
distinctness and firmness. It is the line that divides obeying from not
obeying, sinning from not sinning, loving from not loving. The man who lives
the old evil life is not of God. "He that saith, *I know Him*, and keepeth not
His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him." "Whosoever abideth
in Him sinneth not; whosoever sinneth"—that being the account of his
life—"seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him." "We know that we have passed from
death unto life, because we love the brethren: he that loveth not his brother
abideth in death." There must be no tampering with this principle; there must
be no saying about a man who is living a life of sin, "*He is a good man; the
root of the matter is in him; he is a child of God.*" "Let no man deceive you:
he that *doeth righteousness* is righteous; he that *committeth sin* is of the
devil:"—in this very thing "the children of God are manifest, and the children
of the devil." In whatever way these words may be explained, there must be no
putting of darkness for light or evil for good; we

SINNING AND NOT SINNING.

must hold firmly by this, that the devil's children are known by their
sinning, and God's by their not sinning.

Shall we say, then, that sin wrought by a child of God—(say *fraud* or
*drunkenness*)—is not sin *in him*? On the contrary: if ever sin is vile, it
is doubly vile in a child of God. Shall we affirm that the child of God, as a
matter of fact, never gives way to what is wrong? This were out of consistency
with such words as these, "*If we confess our sins*," the "*we*" being those
who profess to have entered into Divine fellowship. It were out of consistency
likewise with observation. I do not speak of personal consciousness, because
men play such tricks with themselves. I have known a man who said—no doubt
honestly—that he was not conscious of having sinned for five years; but the
sad thing was that, while he saw no sin in himself, his neighbours did. "If we
say that we have no sin"—(the "*we*" being still the same)—"we deceive
ourselves, and the truth is not in us;" we do not merely speak an untruth in
this particular matter, but the truth is not in us at all. Such words as these
are not to be toned down and accommodated to suit any man's life or any man's
theory.

What then does John affirm? This threefold fact, *at least*. Whatever sin may
exist, while traceable to the "I," is not the deed of the new nature, but of
"the flesh"*—which is not utterly dead. The new nature is a "Divine nature;"
no evil thought, or word, or deed, can have its source there. To refer such
thoughts, words, or deeds to such a source, would be a contradiction of the
deep principle, "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is
born of the Spirit is spirit." Evil cannot be the child of good. Next, while
traceable to the "I," it is not entered against the believer as a charge to be
settled at the

* I use the word here in Paul's sense, as opposed to "the spirit."

UNBELIEF AND FAITH.

Judgment Day. He “confesses” it, and is forgiven. And lastly, as a matter of
fact, the child of God does not practise sin. He does not fall back into the
old, bad life, out of which he has escaped by regeneration, for His seed
remaineth in him. It is one thing to be overtaken in a fault: it is a very
different thing—different as hell is from heaven—to live in it. The life of
the child of God, conscious of his standing of grace, is a life of holiness.
He consents to the rule of God. As to the incursions of sin into his life, he
is warranted to pray, *Avenge me of mine adversary*.

It is in faith or unbelief in the Son of God that the distinction between the
two classes is fundamentally exhibited.

Unbelief is no mere passive condition of mind—the mere negation or absence of
belief—but intensely active. It is the heart’s *No* to the truth and grace of
God, as faith is the heart’s *Yea*. In rejecting Christ, unbelief rejects God
Himself; will not know Him as He is; refuses to leave the soul’s interests in
His hands; dismisses Him afar off into a vague “heaven,” or far back into “the
beginning;” turns Him into a grand Personification of nature; or makes Him an
eternal activity—the sum of the natural forces of the universe—not a holy and
loving Will.

Christian faith, on the other hand, is the unrebelling acceptance of the
revealed truth and will of God unto salvation. It carries in it potentially
all the sublimities of holiness. No deeper, more compressed, or more vital
account is it possible to give of the object of it than that which John
gives—“*that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God*.” At first sight, this looks
a poor dry husk, scarcely worth picking up. In reality everything Christian is
involved in it—all the truth and all the power of the Gospel, yea, and all its
blessedness; just as some of the sublimest truths of astronomy may be wrapt up
in a quiet-looking

ISSUES OF UNBELIEF AND FAITH.

phrase. Whosoever has faith in that pregnant declaration surrenders and
resigns himself to the Redeemer, and enters into eternal communion with Him.

Ere the distinction between the children of God and the children of the devil
exhibits itself in life and action, it exhibits itself to the eye of God and
to men's own consciousness in faith or unbelief. Here is the living root of
heaven or hell. Every man's attitude toward God and goodness is expressed in
his attitude toward Jesus Christ. No one can study John's writings without
seeing that he is as clear as the Apostle Paul in his forthsetting of the
place occupied by faith; that he exalts it as highly; and that he brings it
into the same connection with Christian love, hope, joy, meekness, strength,
patience, victory.

The unbelieving are represented as "under condemnation," "condemned already"
with this condemnation—"that Light is come into the world, and men loved
darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil." They "have not
life." They "shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on them." They
are ripening for judgment. And in the awful Hereafter, "the fearful, and
unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and
sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake
that burneth with fire and brimstone; which is the second death." May God in
His mercy grant that no reader may ever know what these words mean.

Those who believe in the Son of God are "born of God," "overcome the world"
and "the Wicked One," and "have eternal life" as a present possession—not in
consequence of an arbitrary award, but as a natural and vital issue. This new
condition is in contrast at every point to the old condition. They are
children of God, not merely as creatures—"For we are also His offspring"; nor
merely, as it might be, by an act of adoption; but by a new birth-

STANDING OF BELIEVERS.

relationship.* Not merely are they owned as children by God, but the fact of
sonship is realized in their own consciousness. "We know it," is the
reiterated word; and various marks are named by which they know it.

Not only so; but all that belongs to sonship is assured to them. Their sins
are forgiven for His name's sake. They are enabled, in the presence of an evil
world, to keep God's commandments, which are all involved in the one old, yet
ever new commandment, which bids us love even as Christ loved us. They have
fellowship—common sharing, partnership, communion and participation—with the
Father and with His Son Jesus Christ; the fellowship limited only by the
finiteness of our human nature. They have an Unction from the Holy One, and
know all things. The sonship indeed is not yet manifested; but in the day of
its manifestation they shall be like Him, seeing Him as He is. He is the
perfect ideal of all the sons; "as He is, so are we in this world;" His
standing, our standing; the good pleasure of the Father toward Him embracing
us;

* There is a theology—I hope not growing—which gives the "relationship" in the
unqualified New Testament sense, without the "birth." Milton makes the devil
say:

"The Son of God I also am, or was;

And if I was, I am; relation stands:

All men are sons of God."

I think I have met this very reasoning in prose—only not put in the devil's
mouth. If believers are but as Adam was—if creaturehood is all that lies in
John's expression "sons of God," then (to say the least) the expression is
poorer than it looks. As to the doctrine that "humanity was born again in the
Incarnation of the Son of God," I do not find it anywhere in John's writings,
nor do I see proof of it in the world's actual condition. "As many as receive
Him" are "sons,"—however scornfully such a doctrine may be talked out of
"enlightened" and "intellectual" circles. It is a grand thing to be God's
creature—the creature of such a God. But through His mercy I pass out of
merely creaturely, into filial, relationship to Him.

"AS HE IS—SO ARE WE."

His holy Personality the image (if I may use such an expression) of what the
Father sees in us potentially.

To some minds this may seem an unreality. Our first thought rather is, What a
difference—what a vast and mighty contrast—between what “He is” and what “we
are”! He is in glory, clothed with majesty and girt about with might; we are
dwellers in tabernacles of clay. He is in purity, absolute and perfect; we are
sinful. He is in eternal joy, the oil of gladness poured upon Him, and made
most blessed for ever; we are in a world of tears, that sometimes make our
couch to swim. He is in immortal life; we are in a world of sickness and
graves. As He is, we *hope* to be; we *long* to be; we would *die* to be; but
it seems an unreality to say, *As He is, we are*. Yet is it even so. And one
of the problems of Christian experience is to reach the consciousness of the
blessed fact. Once, I remember, in looking through a painter’s portfolio,
which contained a number of unfinished sketches—just as they flashed up before
his inner eye—one little sketch attracted and interested me specially. It was
the sketch of a martyr’s face. Noticing the interest which his sketch excited,
he took me into another room, and showed me the picture finished and almost
living to the eye; and in the finished picture I saw at once the earlier
sketch. Even so—if one may reverently use the parable—Christian men and women
are the unfinished sketch: but God sees the perfect Christ in each of them—the
Christ to whose glorious image they shall one day be perfectly conformed; and
each of them He sees in the perfect Christ.

Through the consciousness of our being in Him, a love takes possession of us
which casteth out fear; and a joyful, unfaltering confidence in God is
inspired within us, which exhibits itself in our prayers, and which we retain
even in the Day of Judgment. Abiding in Him we have confidence,

PRAYER.

and are not ashamed before Him at His coming. We raise no dirge-like, half-
shuddering wail over

"That fearful day, that day of speechless dread."

When "that Day" is conceived of, love does not clothe the Judge with awful
terrors, but thinks of Him as the gracious Saviour who died for us. As the Day
approaches, love is not terrified, but lifts up its head, because redemption
draweth nigh. When the Lord, the Judge, appears, love exults and triumphs:
"Lo, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us." When we
appear in His presence—naked under His eye—love is unfearing still, knowing
that no unsettled charge which we cannot meet hangs over us. "Herein is love
made perfect, that we should have boldness in the Day of Judgment";—that,
instead of being put to silence and covered with shame, we should lift up our
countenance in His presence, and speak with the unfaltering voice of loved and
loving children of God. Fore-token of all this we find abundantly in the
death-beds of believing men—the nearest approach we know to the conditions of
the last day. Thus believers in the Son of God form the family of God; are
"brethren" in the profoundest sense of the word; are *one* in the power of
love.

The culmination of that life of faith, love, and obedience which belongs to
God's children, is in Prayer. No perplexing speculations on the subject of
prayer are introduced in John's writings: the view presented to us is simple
in the highest degree. Prayer is asking: Christian prayer is the children
asking, with fearless yet reverent freedom—asking and receiving. It is one of
our "home-born rights," pertaining to the filial relationship. It is not the
constraining or bending of the Divine will. It grounds itself on the
revelation of that will. It would have nothing but what is according to that
will. Its workings, being under spiritual guidance,

THE CHURCH.

harmonize with the laws of the spiritual realm, “the invisible kingdom of
love.” It is implied by John—what is so clearly stated by Paul—that it is the
result of spiritual operation within our breast. A father, trying to teach his
children to pray, tells them to whom they are to speak and in what name; and
then he utters words which his children repeat after him. He can put words
into his children’s mouths, but cannot put corresponding desires into his
children’s hearts. This is what the Holy Spirit does with the children of God;
He kindles desires in their hearts—such as it will glorify God to grant, and
bless them to receive. And here is the crowning blessing of sonship—that our
will falls in with the Will of God as having entire confidence in it, and our
life becomes unbroken asking and receiving.*

The conception that we obtain from John of “the Church”† is very profound, but
very unecclesiastical. The *root* of the conception is the fellowship of the
Father and the Son—“as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee”—“Thou lovedst
Me before the foundation of the world.” Into this fellowship the Apostles
entered: “Truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son, Jesus
Christ.” And they gave forth their testimony that others might be joined to
them—“that ye also may have fellowship (or common sharing) with us.” And all
who become sharers in the fellowship are bound together in one by that prayer
which ends in these words, “*that the love wherewith Thou hast loved Me may be
in them—and I in them.*” Their oneness

* “It is not the gilded paper and good writing of a petition that prevails
with a king, but the moving sense of it: and to the King that discerns the
heart, heart-sense is the sense of all, and that which He alone regards; He
listens to hear what that speaks, and takes all as nothing where that is
silent. All other excellence in prayer is but the outside and fashion of it:
that is the life of it.”—*Leighton*.

† The ordinary word for “church” is not used by John except to mark some
separate, visible society.

"OUR SAVIOUR-KING."

is "as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee;" and hence could never be
brought about by any fusion of "denominations." This is the Church which is
His body, the fulness of Him that filleth all in all. And in this Church the
Holy Spirit dwells.

Though he does not speak of Law as Paul does, equally the Apostle John asserts
the supremacy of the holy Will in Christian living—clinching what he says ever
and again, with the words, *This is His Commandment*. Hence he can never be
made the minister of that religion of mere taste and feeling - so congenial to
human nature--whose highest triumph is to ravish the worshipper into a half
dreamy, half sensuous elysium, but which unstrings the moral energies, and is
useless, amid the wear and tear of daily life, to make men patient and
righteous and godly. There is moral nerve in his doctrine equally with
loftiness of pitch.

The place which he assigns to Jesus in connection with duty is shown in the
words which he reports, "If ye love Me keep My commandments." In saying so,
Jesus does not speak as a mere lawgiver, having authority and right, and with
power to enforce His will. The laws of states have no preface like this, *If
ye love me*. Obedience is demanded whether the subjects love the lawgiver or
not. These laws are grounded, or supposed to be grounded, on what is
*righteous*, and are enforced by the magistrate's sword. But the Lord Jesus,
in issuing His commandments, makes appeal to our love—our love to Himself
personally.* He has established a claim upon our love, and if our hearts
respond to that claim, then (He says) "keep My commandments." It is not then
as a mere *lawgiver* that Jesus speaks to us.

Nor is it as a mere *friend*. A friend may warn, counsel,

* "Talk they of morals? O thou bleeding Love,

Thou maker of new morals for mankind,

The grand morality is love of Thee."

LOVE.

urge, remonstrate, but he does not issue "commandments." It is the glory of
friendship to stand on the same level with us. But Jesus *commands*.

The relation in which He stands to us is thus altogether unique. We have
analogies to it in actual life, but no perfect parallel. Here is One who has
authority over us, but who does not take His stand on mere authority; who
takes His stand on the claim He has established upon our hearts, and who
issues His commandments to *love*. He is, as the children's hymn calls Him,
"Our *Saviour-King*."

The ethical teaching does not follow the doctrinal in separate chapters, and
as a consequence; but is so interwoven with it that the one cannot be detached
from the other. Being "*in* the Son of God," we are to abide in Him, drawing
our very life from Him. Being children of God, we are to realize our sonship,
to bear it ever in mind, to act it out in all ways, to use its privileges, to
cherish its hopes. Having life, we are to live, reproducing and showing forth
the life of Christ among our fellow-men. *He* is the ideal of the
righteousness, and meekness, and mercifulness, and truth, and patience, and
joy in God, and surrender to His will, that we are to aspire after. Being the
children of light, we are to walk in the light, abiding therein continually.
Supremely (everything being involved in this) we are to love—purely, self-
sacrificingly, lastingly. The word "*Love*" is a summons as lofty and great as
the charge, "*Be ye holy, for I am holy*."

The type of love is the love we have ourselves received. "We ought to lay down
our lives for the brethren." This is not to be the splendid exception, in some
special cases, as when there is need for a Christian Thermopylae; it is the
common rule. Love gives itself, even as Christ Jesus gave Himself for us, not
merely to a bitter and shameful death (over the remembrance of which we may
weep and bewail

THE LOVE OF GOD.

our sins), but to the manifestation of all patience, and gentleness, and
grace. Faith in His love is the death of selfishness in my heart—or at least
the sentence of doom.

One of the common complaints in our day, in Christian societies, is this,
“*There is no love among us.*” Sometimes the complaint is uttered in holy
sorrow. But sometimes it only means, *I am not getting my just share of love
from others; the place feels cold around me.* If this is what the complaint
means, the remedy is that the complainer should love till he warms up the
whole neighbourhood. I am to love when I am not loved. I am to love when I am
suspected. I am to love when men are trying to discover what selfish feeling
moves me, or what my price is. I am to love those who do not care for my love.
I am to love even when I have indignation. I am to love as the sun shines—its
beams going forth on all sides without asking for an object, and “there is
nothing bid from the heat thereof”; the love I show being the love of God in
me.

We speak—we cannot help speaking—of “the love of God.” John however conceives
of the case more simply still. He does not conceive of love as something
*belonging* to God, something *in* God, something that *characterizes* God;
but as *what God is*. He does not speak of God *having* love; he says, “God
*is* love.” When I think of God, I think of love. To say, *I believe in God*,
is the same thing as to say, *I believe in love*. When I know God, I know
love. When I abide in God, I abide in love. When I love God, I love love. Now
the love I know in knowing God, is love that lays hold of my being and
communicates itself. Not as flame, shining through a window, reddens the
surface of a frozen pool without warming it: but as flame seizes upon the wood
it touches, and kindles it, setting it aflame—so the love of God does with me;
it lays hold, flame-like, upon my heart, and kindles it into the

"WALK BEFORE ME."

very ardours of God. My love is not something separate from God's, resembling
it, but having no connection with it; rather it is God's love laying hold upon
me, kindling me, making me in a most real sense a partaker of the Divine
nature. Madame Guyon has just expressed the thought in these simple lines:—

"I love my God, but with no love of mine,

For I have none to give ;

I love Thee, Lord ; but all the love is Thine,

For by Thy love I live.

I am as nothing, and rejoice to be

Emptied and lost and swallowed up in Thee."

Now the very essence and sum of all duty is, that I should *love*. When I have
learned to do so, then does my will learn to stand and wait for the blessed
Will -like an angel continually beholding the face of God: and then too
obedience is no task; but I can say, as the Lord said, "I delight to do Thy
will, O my God; yea, Thy law is within my heart." It is the peculiarity of
this life of love that it may be lived in its utmost grandeur in the humblest
circumstances—as it was by Him who was born in a stable and laid in a manger.

One thing I would specially note with respect to the Apostle's ethical
teaching—the absence of what would stimulate self-consciousness or
consciousness of being in the presence of men. Without thinking what we do, we
often lead new converts into a subtle danger. We are jealous for the honour of
Christ, and we wish to help Christian steadfastness; and so we say to the new
convert, *Now, you must be very careful in your behaviour; and remember that
the eyes of the world are upon you.* It may be well meant; but I doubt if it
is in keeping with the counsel of Scripture. Would it not be better to
say?—*Walk before the Lord; think supremely of His eye; and do not trouble
your-*

THE "LAST THINGS."

*self about the eyes of men.* It seems to me that this is the spirit of the
Apostle John throughout his writings.

As to the "Last Things," there are many weighty and suggestive hints in John's
Epistles—as weighty and suggestive, though not so large as in Paul. There are
also hints—if only mere hints—in his Gospel, such as these: "The hour is
coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear His voice, and
shall come forth; they that have done good unto the resurrection of life, and
they that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation." "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." "In My Father's
house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you: I go to
prepare a place for you; and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come
again and receive you unto Myself, that where I am ye may be also."

In the Gospel of Matthew we find what may be called an Apocalyptic Section,
consisting of two chapters, the twenty-fourth and twenty-fifth; and similarly
in Mark and Luke. Instead of such a section in John's Gospel, the visions of
futurity are broadened out into a separate, prophetic book the Book of
Revelation in which the fullest disclosure is made of the things that are to
be hereafter. The Pierced One is to return to earth again. "Behold, He cometh
with clouds, and every eye shall see Him." There is no real ground for the
assertion, so often and confidently made, that John believed the end of all
things was to take place in his own day. He never says so. But he does most
unmistakably affirm the glorious Appearing, and assures us that the Lord will
lose no time. The Divine fellowship of believers is to be perfect in that day
of Christ. Our present relationship is that between the

JOHN'S THEOLOGY.

betrothed bride and the Bridegroom. At present the Church and her Lord are (in
a sense) divided. There is indeed ceaseless and unbroken communion proceeding;
her prayers and praises and offered love are continually ascending to the high
world where He is; and His gifts and blessings and assurances of undying love
are continually coming down to earth. But not till the day of Christ is the
fulness of the Church's joy and bliss. His Appearing is THE HOPE.

Preceding and leading up to it there is a peculiar course of development,
unfolded at large and with the utmost wealth of imagery in the book of
Revelation. Within the visible society antichristianism develops itself; while
the world, onward to the last, exhibits impenitence and deadly hostility
against God and His Christ. Antichristianism is *really* and *at heart* "the
world;" but it is "the world" assuming the Christian name, professing to
believe in Christian doctrine, assembling in Christian "temples," offering the
show of homage to Christ while inwardly it hates Him. It goes on from age to
age—conspiracy, war, struggle, hate against the Lamb, and all device and
violence to ruin His cause. "To bring Him down," a certain writer says, "from
the throne to which His mistaken followers have exalted Him, *is only a work
of time*." Unbelief again and again begins to sing its paean of victory over a
conquered Christ who shall trouble the world no more. "I pray you," says
Voltaire, "let me never hear that man's name again."

In vain! The "Word of God," who is called Faithful and True, the King of kings
and Lord of lords, followed by the armies of heaven, is victorious; the devil
is bound and shut up in the bottomless pit; the martyr souls live and reign
with Christ a thousand years. At the end of that period the imprisoned foe of
God and man is unloosed for

SUMMED UP IN CHRIST.

a time and returns to his old work; the final victory at length is won, and
the devil is cast into the lake of fire.* The Judgment of the “great white
throne” follows, in which the dead, small and great, stand before God, and are
judged every man according to his works; and the eternal state is introduced,
in which God is “all in all,” and the words from the throne are fulfilled,
“*Behold, I make all things new.*”

From this brief account of the great lines laid down in John’s writings, it
will be seen that in his conception the whole of Christian theology is
involved in the person of Christ, the Eternal Word manifested in the flesh,
and exerting His power throughout human history. It is no metaphysical castle
in the air, but an edifice whose foundations are the immovable primary rocks
of eternal truth. I would only add that, just as the true and the ethical are
vitally connected in his writings—as faith and life are not merely allied, but
*one*—so no man can be a Christian theologian who is not also living a
Christian life.

* Symbolized by the Dead Sea lying in its horrid chasm,—the lake in which sank
the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, “set forth for an example,” suffering the
vengeance of eternal fire.

![img-15.jpeg](img-15.jpeg)

IX.

========================================================================
  CHAPTER 10: 10. His Influence
========================================================================

ON CHRISTIAN THOUGHT. CHRISTIAN PHILOSOPHY. THE ORIGIN AND NURTURE OF THE NEW
LIFE. FAITH, LOVE, HOPE. THE EARLY AGES. THE DARK AGES. MYSTICISM. THE
REFORMATION. THE PRESENT. INFLUENCE OF JOHN'S PERSONALITY. RESULTS OF STUDYING
HIS WRITINGS.

IT is not possible for us to disentangle the influence of John's writings upon
the life and thought of the Christian Church from that of Scripture as a
whole, and to trace and measure it separately—even as we cannot trace to their
separate sources the million rain-drops that descended last summer upon the
earth and refreshed it when it was weary. Very distinctly however can we
discern its presence, combined with countless other influences which have
their origin in God and are administered by His Spirit.

Three almost distinct forms of influence I would specially note, as belonging
under God, to the writings of this Apostle.

FIRST, on Christian Thought, through the special truths which he exhibits.
Certain realms of truth his writings

INFLUENCE ON CHRISTIAN THOUGHT.

illumine as no other portion of Scripture does; certain special truths, which
“*command*” alike in theology and life, he has brought into view almost like a
creator. Were his writings lost, or expunged from the New Testament, the truth
as it is in Jesus would of course remain essentially the same; but, so far as
concerns us, it would be thrown into obscurity; we should feel as if half the
light had been withdrawn from our atmosphere; and some of the greatest
questions pertaining to life and godliness we should have to deal with anew,
from the very foundations.

I refer specially to those truths which cluster round the pre-existence and
Godhead of our Reedemer, His Incarnation, the dwelling of God in us and of us
in Him, and the personality and grace of the Holy Spirit, the Comforter. I
will not say that the essence, but certainly the direction and volume and
force, of our Christian thought—and the character of our Christian
worship—would have been very different from what they are, had the writings of
John not existed.* And on certain vital questions, respecting which the Church
of Christ can now give forth a clear and unhesitant utterance, we should
perhaps have spoken timidly rather than in the tones of men who have attained
to heart-assurance.

It is certainly a unique fact that a fisherman, simply relating what he saw
and heard, in terms that a child may understand, should have brought the
supremest claims of Jesus of Nazareth into view—beyond what even the imperial
Paul has done—so as to compel the most profound and philosophic thinkers of
every age to meet the

* Bunsen says strongly: “If the Gospel of John is not the historical account
of an eye-witness, but a myth, then there is no historic Christ; and without
an historic Christ, all Church-Christian faith is at an end; all Christian
confession is hypocrisy or illusion; all Christian worship mummery; and the
Reformation a crime or a madness.”

A GLINT OF INNER LIFE.

problem, and so as to induce men, to whom sin and helplessness are realities
and not names, to commit themselves into His hands for both worlds, believing
them to be the hands of grace and almightiness.

A SECOND form of influence is seen in what may be called the Apostle's
Christian Philosophy. He apprehends the truths of the Gospel, builds them
together, and presents them to our minds in a way of his own, quite different
from the way of James or Peter or Paul. Two things we observe in him: first,
the revelation of God in Christ has shone with the intensest and purest
brightness before his soul, and he has gazed upon it (as one fascinated) - not
merely until he has penetrated it—but until *it* has penetrated *him*; and
second, he "testifies" or "shows" with the artlessness of a child what he has
thus seen and known. The Western mind, with its logical bent and dialectic
tendencies, does not enter very readily or very sympathetically into his way.
The wise and prudent think him childish; some even profess to find in him only
the aridity of metaphysics, and the darkness of abstract dogmas, in weary
repetition. Now and again a stray thinker follows him perhaps earning for
himself the name of "mystic" or even of "heretic"; but the majority go a
separate path.

Here is a remarkable *glint* of the inner life of a very remarkable and (in
some respects) John-like man. • After telling of his conversion, he says:
"Next day, as I sat down to study, and took my pen in hand, I became suddenly
the passive recipient of all the truths which I had heard and been taught in
my childhood. I sat there unmoving for hours, and they *came and preached
themselves to me*. There was now no investigation such as I had

• The late Dr. John Duncan, Professor of Oriental Languages, Edinburgh.

INFLUENCE OF JOHN'S WRITINGS.

desired, but presentation of the truth to me passive. And I felt, sitting
there, as if in that hour I had got matter for sermons for a life time. Now
the temptation to daily sin was gone. I had not even to fight with it. And I
was in an almost infantile state of mind; so that when I mislaid a paper in my
study, I would kneel down and pray to find it, and then go and seek for it." I
refer to the life throughout as one of the rare illustrations of the influence
of the Apostle John in the direction I am now pointing out.

The thoughts which the Apostle presents are to be seen, with the eyes of the
heart, in the light of the Spirit of God, rather than reasoned about; and the
links that bind them together into a succession lie deep out of common sight.
But though his philosophy, if I may call it so, has not been extensively
followed, it has, nevertheless, had a distinct influence in at least two
directions: it has tended to prevent the logician from tyrannizing over the
seer, and turning Christian teaching into the mere exposition of a system; and
thousands and tens of thousands of lowly people have learnt from it, in a
practical way, that we see with the heart, and that for spiritual vision the
heart must be purified and brought under the power of love.*

A THIRD form of influence is seen in connection with the origination and
nurture of the New Life.

I would place in the very forefront the influence which his writings have had,
under God, in leading souls into the peace of believing, and in enkindling
love toward the Lord Jesus. The Gospel is sometimes set forth, even by well-
meaning men, in a threatening way, as if one should

* "It is most important in these days that all should be convinced that the
pure love of truth cannot be severed from the love of God, nor the perfect
knowledge of truth from the knowledge of God; and that the Spirit of God alone
can purge our intellectual eye from the manifold films which disguise and
distort all objects, and prevent its seeing them."

GRACIOUS WORDS.

offer a gift to another, presenting a loaded and capped revolver at his head
to compel acceptance of it. How far different is John's way! While there is no
holding back of that which is dread-- no extenuating of the consequences of
unbelief-- the Saviour is exhibited in infinite attractiveness and grace, as
well as Divinest majesty, answering to His word, "I, if I be lifted up from
the earth, will draw all men unto Me."

I believe the writings of this Apostle have been blotted by more penitents'
tears, and have won more hearts for the Redeemer, than all the rest put
together. Among the "gracious words" that are set as thick as stars in the
firmament of Scripture, there are none that shine with a clearer lustre than
those which we find in John. Take the following by way of example: "Behold the
Lamb of God!" "Him that cometh unto Me I will in no wise cast out;" "He that
believeth on Me hath everlasting life;" "The blood of Jesus Christ His Son
cleanseth us from all sin;" "The Spirit and the bride say, Come; and let him
that heareth say, Come; and let him that is athirst come: and whosoever will,
let him take the water of life freely." These texts are all the more wonderful
when viewed in their connection. If we were asked to name a verse that might
be called the very pole-star of faith, what would it be but this? "God so
loved the world that He gave His Only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth
in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." How many souls have
entered into the peace of believing through means of this one verse God only
knows; and again, how often dying lips have whispered it and fading eyes have
brightened to hear it spoken.

One example may represent a thousand. Jonas Justus, wiping the cold sweat from
the forehead of the dying Luther, heard him praying and committing his soul
with

AFFECTION FOR THE GOSPEL OF JOHN.

great confidence into the hands of the Heavenly Father; and then, as if he
were grasping hard after the ground of such certain hope, he repeated aloud
this passage (in Latin, as he had learned it when a child), "Sic enim Deus
dilexit mundum, ut Filium suum unigenitum daret, ut omnis qui credit in eum
non pereat, sed habeat vitam æternam." "For God so loved the world that He
gave His Only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish,
but have eternal life."

Equally precious are these writings in connection with the *nurture* of the
new life.

Simple and childlike hearts that have newly entered into the joy of salvation,
ignorant of scientific theology, but hungering and thirsting for God, turn to
them with never-failing desire, and find in them green pastures and living
waters. To a large extent it is the same with those who have reached the most
advanced stages of Christian experience, whose spiritual nature has become
deepened and expanded by the manifold teachings of God. Here the simplicity of
youth and the ripest and holiest wisdom of age agree. I have taken pains to
inquire of many belonging to both classes how they have been guided in their
reading, and what they have found most fruitful of spiritual blessing and
delight; and almost every answer has included—at least—the Gospel of John,
often named in the tone of personal affection, as men name a dear friend. And
I have often thought that those whom the Lord leads hither, and teaches out of
this part of His Word, have a special simplicity and depth of character, and a
holy insight, that others do not attain to. I have thought also that they
learn more of a personal love to Jesus, like that of the bride to the
bridegroom—with fullest abnegation of self and devotion to His will; and that
their lives come to move as if set to the cadence of an unearthly, mystic
melody. While other

SELF-CONSECRATION.

saints believe and love and serve, *they* lose themselves in Him, finding Him
the chiefest among ten thousands and the altogether lovely—just as in that
“love-song”—

“ In darkest shades, if He appear,

My dawning is begun ;

He is my soul's sweet morning star,

And He my rising sun.

“ The opening heavens around me shine

With beams of sacred bliss,

While Jesus shows His heart is mine,

And tells me I am His.

“ My soul would leave this heavy clay

At that transporting word :

Run up with joy the shining way

To embrace my dearest Lord.”

Here is the secret of self-consecration : in our being “possessed” by the love
of Christ ; and feeling— *He* loves *me* more than I love Him. Possessed by
this love, I yield myself wholly and joyfully to Him. My hand, my foot, my
eye, my ear, my tongue, my understanding, my heart— all that is within
me—belong to the Lord, and are to be used according to His loving and holy
will. My hand is His, redeemed by Him, sacred to Him, and cannot do unholy
work ; my foot is His, and cannot go on unholy errands ; my ear is His, and
cannot listen to unholy words ; my eye is His, and cannot look upon unholy
deeds ; my tongue is His, and cannot utter unholy speeches ; my mind is His,
and cannot think unholy thoughts ; my heart is His, and cannot cherish unholy
feelings and desires ; my whole being is His, redeemed by Him, sacred to Him,
and is surrendered to His will.

Not the worse, but the better, will the work of the present life be done that
we are attaining to this condition more fully. Not the worse, but the
better—because, for the eye of the Lord—shall we be able to buy and sell, to
plan

CHRISTIAN HOPE.

and construct, to sow and reap, to subdue the earth and have dominion over it,
not only in outward ways, but in its subtlest and most hidden forces. The most
daring scientific investigator will not feel himself hampered in his
inquiries. He need not be the less a true man of science because he is a true
Christian. Not the worse, but the better, shall we deal with questions of
public economy, social order and morality, poverty, health, education, and
whatsoever else belongs to us by God's appointing as members of an earthly
commonwealth. We shall be better fathers and mothers, better sons and
daughters, better friends, better neighbours, better masters, better servants,
fulfilling better the duties of all our relationships.

So far from being *unpractical*, there is nothing *more* practical—for all
kinds of true work—than this letting the love of Christ get in and about the
roots of our being. In a window this summer there was a flower-pot, containing
a plant whose use it was to be odorous and beautiful. The leaves were just
beginning to curl up. I poured a cupful of water around the roots; and a
child, looking on, asked, *What good will that do? Why did you not rather pour
the water on the leaves?* It was a child that asked—and I answered in the best
way I could, that when God would bring beauty, and fragrance, and
healthfulness into our lives He waters us at the root. And His rain does good
by going down *there*.

Besides faith and love, there is the influence which the Apostle, as the New
Testament prophet, has exerted upon Christian hope. More largely than any
other New Testament writer, he deals with "the things which shall be
hereafter," inspiring the believer to wait patiently and courageously upon
God.

The sphere thus filled is very wide. In God's dealings of grace, throughout
history, there has ever been a call

THE VALUE OF THE BOOK.

addressed to the patience of hope: "Trust in the Lord for ever, for in the
Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength." Thus, when God gave promise to Abraham,
He called him to patient waiting; and, again and again, while he waited on,
the promise seemed destined to fail. That is a type of God's way. During the
course of these eighteen centuries it has seemed again and again as if it were
all over for Jesus Christ and His cause; as if the word, "Ask of Me, and I
shall give Thee the heathen for Thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of
the earth for Thy possession," were coming to nought; as if either He would
not ask, or God could not give; and as if the prediction, "He shall see of the
travail of His soul and shall be satisfied," must fail. Most powerful under
God has John's influence been, in the presence of such a condition of things,
through the Book of Revelation—a book which has not merely had a splendid and
mighty fascination for the imagination, but has kept alive a glorious Hope in
the gloomiest and most fearful times. Even when God's ways have become
unintelligible to His people, and despairing thoughts in dark and dread array
have invaded their souls, there has come in through the ministry of this book
a calm and mighty *fear not*, as if One spake to them not from the far-off
heavens, but close at hand, adding the promise (*thrice*, lest it should be
overlooked), "Surely I come quickly."*

For no book of Scripture has there been a profounder and more imperious need.
Men may play with it in days

* "It has given a foretaste of heaven, and elevated the soul with all the
charms of permitted inspiration. Every Christian poet has drawn from this
source: the best psalms of the middle ages, as used in the Church, are adorned
with flowers from the Apocalypse. Subsequently to this period, we may trace
its hallowed sounds through Dante; Petrarch; Milton; and Petersen, whose
'Songs of Zion' are an echo of the Revelation."—*Herder*.

IN TROUBLOUS TIMES.

of peaceful ease; but looking back over the past, I do not know what could
have been done—how the woes and miseries of ages could have been borne without
it. Let any one read for example the pages of Tacitus, the contemporary of
John, in which the utter wretchedness of society is described, and the
sufferings which the Christians had to endure just answering to these words,
“the fiery trial which is to try you”; and then, with the facts in view, let
him consider how terrible must have been the strain put upon faith and
patience.

Or take such an inscription from the Catacombs, belonging to the reign of
Antoninus: “Oh, sad times; in which, amid sacred rites and prayers, even in
caverns we are not safe! What can be more wretched than such a life!”

Or take the description given by Eusebius of the sufferings of the Christians
under Diocletian (with all allowance for rhetorical exaggerations), when they
were scourged till the flesh came off the bones, when they were torn asunder
limb from limb, when boiling oil was poured along the hollow of the naked
back, when they were hung over slow fires till their very flesh was roasted.

Or take the story told by such a writer as Michelet concerning France between
the thirteenth century and the fifteenth, with its inconceivable horrors and
the growth of a religion of despair.

Terrible has been the temptation, again and again in the course of history,
for even Christian hearts to surrender amidst accumulated woes, giving up all
for lost, and unable to endure their miseries and the sight of the miseries of
their fellow-men.

More than any other book of Scripture has the book of Revelation counterworked
the tendencies to despair, and kept hope alive—if at times only like a wind-
blown flame. In the worst times believing hearts have seen, off in the

INFLUENCE IN EARLY TIMES.

future—victory for the Lamb, and blissful ages when “the tabernacle of God
shall be with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people,
and God Himself shall be with them and be their God; and God shall wipe away
all tears from their eyes: and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow,
nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are
passed away.” Precious beyond all conception has the Hope been; while the
longing has grown almost to a passion, in response to Him who has promised to
come quickly,—“*Amen! Even so, come, Lord Jesus!*”

Looking broadly over history, the general influence of the Apostle is very
distinctly marked in the earlier centuries. I am not prepared to assert that
he gave direction to the first investigations of Christian thinkers; it was
perhaps natural and inevitable that Christian inquiry should take for its
starting-point, as it did, the person of the Redeemer; but unquestionably his
writings were of supremest worth in these investigations, and the earlier
Christian centuries may be called Johannine: they bear his impress and stamp,
with the utmost depth and distinctness,—not indeed in manner of thought, but
certainly in the truths received.

By degrees other subjects came into the foreground of thought; and his
influence was felt in a diminished measure. With Augustine—as a marked
name—attention began to be powerfully directed to subjects on which Paul had
spoken out more largely than John. Such words as sin, grace, predestination,
free will, redemption, indicate the region now to be explored. Also, in course
of time, questions shaped themselves out respecting which John said little or
nothing—questions about ecclesiastical form and organization, sacraments,
relations of Church and State, the supremacy of Peter, the respect due to the
Virgin Mary, the power of the bishop of Rome, and so forth. It is not
necessary to recall

MYSTICISM.

what Church History tells of the flow of thought for many centuries—of the
channels along which it flowed—of the corruptions and absurdities with which
it became mingled—of the philosophies which ruled it—of the bogs in which it
sometimes almost lost itself\*—of the hiding of the personal Christ by the
priesthood and ritual; by the mediation of the Virgin Mary, together with a
host of saints; and by a theological jargon which now appears grotesque and
senseless. Under these conditions, it is not surprising that for hundreds of
years men found little or nothing in John's writings that seemed to be of
value to them.

Down these ages however his influence is exhibited, in connection with that
stream of tendencies known as MYSTICISM. As to mystic doctrines, these varied
widely at different times and in different countries: theologically and
practically mysticism was often in deep and dangerous error; not seldom on the
verge of Pantheism. As to mystic life, it too often placed a false value on
reverie and nervous excitement, and degenerated into the substitution of a
morbid and fantastic saintship for loving obedience to the will of Christ:† at
times associating itself with unbridled licence, at times with the sternest
asceticism, that maimed and tortured the flesh, but left the root of sin
untouched in the heart; while

\* Even during the darkest of the dark ages the Divine fire was always kept
burning in some hearts, and never really went out. Every generation had its
remnant according to the election of grace—consisting perhaps of more
thousands than we might think—who did not bow the knee to Baal. I am not sure
that we are so much in advance of past ages, in point of insight into the
things of God, as we believe. How much of our most intelligent talk is a
"babbling in the dark!" I suspect that the so-called "dark ages" hid many
"hidden ones" who were John-readers.

† Thus it was the prayer of "John of the Cross" that not a day of his life
might pass in which he did not suffer something. "Take pains," he says, "to
give your name an ill savour; burrow deep and deeper under heaped obloquy, and
you are safe." And again: "Whatsoever you find pleasant to body or soul,
abandon: whatsoever is painful, embrace."

THE LIFE OF TRUST.

in other cases it was the expression of holiest desire (enkindled in the heart
by the Spirit of God) to walk with the crucified and risen Christ,— trust,
love, gratitude, awe, devotion, being combined and blended.

Mysticism contained however an assertion, less or more distinctly uttered,
that the things of God can be seen only by the spiritual man—that God reveals
Himself within the secret chamber of the soul—that the activity of the
intellect is less than still and silent contemplation—that the impulses of the
body are to be held in check, and the inward and hidden life cherished—that
the sum of holiness and bliss is the annihilation of self, or “inward death,”
and the conscious union of the soul to God—that thus we do truly enter into
rest, enjoying (as one of them expresses it) “the most calm and peaceful
liberty, being uplifted above all fear and agitation of mind, concerning death
or hell, or any other things which might happen to the soul either in time or
eternity.”* Here was a living protest against rationalism, formalism,
priestcraft, and all self striving of the creature, whether in the realm of
providence or of grace, and a plea for a life of simple trust in God and
acquiescence in His sovereign will.†

* “Christ reveals Himself with an infinite love, sweetness, and richness
flowing forth from the power of the Holy Ghost, overflowing and streaming in a
very flood of richness and sweetness into the heart that is waiting to receive
it; and with this sweetness He not only reveals Himself to the soul, but
unites Himself with her. Through this sweetness, the soul in its essence by
grace flows out with power above all creatures, back into her first origin and
fount. Then is the outward man obedient unto the inward man, even unto death,
and liveth in constant peace in the service of God continually. That the Lord
may thus come into our souls also, overthrowing and casting out all
hindrances, bodily or spiritual that we may become one here on earth, and
hereafter in the kingdom of heaven, may He help us evermore.”—*Tauler*:
1290—1361.

† There is a sublime side to the story—told, I think, by Dr. John Brown, in
his *Hora Subseciva*—of the woman on her death-bed who was

THE REFORMATION TIMES.

In this movement, that has never been quite interrupted, the influence of this
Apostle is distinctly perceptible. It is not that light has been thrown upon
his writings by the mystics, but that the mystics have received an impress
from his peculiar individuality. At the same time, there are profound
differences apparent. Under the mystic's gaze there oftentimes lay no object
whatever; oftentimes he gazed into vacuity, and mistook his own imaginings for
the revelation of God. The Apostle John is not only intensely contemplative,
but at the same time intensely objective; the glory he beholds is not that
which is seen in a trance, but that which shines forth from the face of the
Only-begotten. The mystic sat in still seclusion, with the world of sensible
appearances shut out, and (gazing with closed eyes) supposed that he saw the
invisible: the gaze of John, on the other hand, was fixed upon the Christ, the
image of God, as actually and historically manifested. The result attained by
the mystic was often vague, misty, fantastic, wild, throbbing with a false
emotion; that, on the other hand, which is presented to us in the pages of
John is most thoroughly sober and true.

In the time of the Reformation and onwards—as has been often remarked—PAUL
assumed the paramount place as the leader of Christian thought. Taking the two
mighty questions which were dealt with in Reformation times—our Freedom as
against human authority, wheresoever lodged, and Justification by grace
through the faith of Christ Jesus and not by human merits his writings
furnished the texts which the Reformers mainly handled, and his name, rather
than John's, is the name we oftenest meet with. It may be safely affirmed
that, in and since the Reformation, more asked, "What would you say if, after
all He has done for you, God should let you drop into hell?" "E'en as He
likes," was the reply; "but if He does, He'll lose mair than I'll do."

THE SUPERNATURAL.

study by far has been given to the writings of Paul than to those of John,
even when the fullest allowance has been made for the larger volume of the
former. We seem to feel more at home with Paul; our intellect can more easily
hold its footing with him. There are signs however which appear to indicate
that God is about to use the writings of John more extensively and powerfully
again. The questions which are coming into prominence—or looming in the not
distant future—are questions on which these writings throw special light.

For example: Men are loudly telling us (though, as I believe, without the
warrant of science herself) that the “scientific spirit” cannot possibly admit
the supernatural. Belief in any intromission of the supernatural in history
must, they affirm, be abandoned as a superstition—an affirmation which rests
on the tacit assumption that there is no realm in the universe save that which
lies open to the five senses, or—which is the same thing—to the extension of
the senses in scientific apparatus. The consequence is an uncomfortable sense
of insecurity in many minds in reading the four Gospels—particularly the
fourth; and a starting of the thought, *If Christ be not risen?* There is even
at times what looks like an *apologizing* for the supernatural in the life of
Christ—as if we gained something in proportion as we reduce its dimensions.

How are we to meet this denial of the supernatural in history?—a denial of it
not merely as the actual, but as the possible? Not, as I believe, by argument,
but by re-uttering in simplicity and fulness the testimony of those who saw,
and heard, and handled, the manifested Word of Life, and who “know” that what
they tell us is true; speaking to sinners and not to philosophers, and leaving
God (as of old) to give testimony in *His* own way to the word of His grace.
You may browbeat a man to whose heart the truth

"MY NEW NAME."

has been revealed, and who has seen it; you may perplex him with questions;
you may cover his position with ridicule; but you cannot prevent his looking
up and saying, "Nevertheless I have seen and do testify." In the face of all
denials of the supernatural, I believe our business is to fall back on the
apostolic testimony—as delivered by John and his companions—and trust God
Himself to prove it to men, and to carry it home to their minds and hearts.

Another thing I would refer to. The struggle between faith and unbelief in the
present day, as in the beginning, is concentrating around THE PERSON OF THE
LORD. It is clearly perceived that unless He can be successfully assailed, the
battle of unbelief is lost. The numerous "Lives" of Christ published within
the last thirty years are full of meaning as a sign of the times. He is "set"
in our midst—as of old—"for the fall and rising of many, and for a sign that
shall be spoken against, that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed."

In this struggle, already commenced, the writings of John are invaluable. The
very hostility exhibited against him is tribute to his power. So I interpret
the unsuppressed contemptuousness and scorn with which he is treated, and the
fierce eagerness to put his testimony out of court or to deprive it of force.
And I anticipate that as deeper and more sympathetic study is given to his
writings, the Saviour whom he describes—"the Christ that is to be"—will become
in all ways grander and more majestic to us. We know how the heavens have
become grander and more majestic to advancing science. Every star was there in
the time of the old Chaldee gazers, pursuing its silent march the same as now;
but to the human eye what glory has been kindled since! Even so with "the
glories of the Lamb." I know not what magnificent and blissful revelations of
Himself may be included under that word which

PERSONALITY OF JOHN.

He speaks—"*My New Name*;" but this Apostle will help us to understand. And to
rise to the understanding may well prove what Bacon calls "the Sabbath of
human labours."

There is also an influence still proceeding—such is God's grace—from the MAN
as well as from his WRITINGS, even after the lapse of so many centuries. Truly
has it been said, "The personality of John left far deeper traces of itself in
the Church than that of any other of Christ's disciples. Paul laboured more
abundantly than they all, but John stamped his image the most profoundly."
This applies not merely to John's own age, and the ages immediately following,
but also to the present.

Personally he stands forth to view as one of the noblest instances in history
of Christ's transforming, all-commanding power. He could never, under any
circumstances, have been an ordinary man; if hostile to Christ, he would have
been not less resolute and unshrinking than Saul of Tarsus, even when he
breathed out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the
Lord—though in another way. It is tribute to the power of Christ that He
subdued and dominated such a nature.

A traveller, giving an account of an ancient volcano which he visited, tells
of a verdurous cup-like hollow on the mountain summit, and that, where the
fierce heat had once burned, lay a still, clear pool of water, looking up like
an eye to the beautiful heavens above. It is an apt parable of this man.
Naturally and originally volcanic, capable of profoundest passion and daring,
he is new-made by grace, till in his old age he stands out in calm grandeur of
character, and depth, and largeness of soul, with all the gentlenesses and
graces of Christ adorning him—a man, as I image him to myself, with a face so
noble that kings might do him homage, and so sweet that children would run to
him for his blessing. All readers of the Evangelic narrative must

OUR SHORTCOMINGS.

perceive what fine “keeping” there is between the picture of Jesus and that of
the disciple whom He loved—and what an illustration of the words, “We, with
open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the
same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.”

And so a holy and even sublime influence still comes forth from this
man—because Jesus was so much to him and there was so much of Jesus in him and
enters vitally into hearts and lives, wheresoever the gospel is preached in
all the world.

I am persuaded that one result, under God, of our entering more deeply and
lovingly into the spirit of John, would be the attainment of a nobler type of
Christianhood than prevails among us.

Temptations certainly beset us in this age to be selfish and self-indulgent to
degenerate into sentimentalists or accusers of the brethren, who earn a name
for faithfulness by bitter fault finding to walk according to the course of
the world, getting into “good society,” and doing what is religiously
fashionable—to forget our high calling, and the Lord’s will concerning us—and
to be at the mercy of circumstances and prevailing influences.

How far such temptations have been yielded to, it is not necessary to
pronounce. Sorrowful complaints arise from many quarters that we fall beneath
the level we ought to attain to; that there is too much bustle, and talk, and
vehemence of the flesh, among us—too much faith in machinery—too much faith in
“doing”—too much looking to the outward—too much self-pleasing—too much
religious activity that is irreligious in its spirit, and that tends to
deterioration of character—too much of that

“restless will

That hurries to and fro,

Seeking for some great thing to do,

Or secret thing to know.”

COMMUNION WITH JESUS.

Meditation does not occupy sufficient breadth of space in our lives; it is
crowded out by a multitude of trifles. Many of us scarcely know what “the
hidden life” means. Martha is our model—loving Jesus truly, but her time
filled up with bodily service, and carefulness about many things; while we
have no real sympathy—or only the slightest—with Mary sitting silently at
Jesus’ feet and hearing his words, or anointing Him silently with her precious
ointment—or with John leaning on His breast. I wish there were more of us who
knew not only how to “serve” like Martha, but also how to say from the heart—

“Speak low to me, my Saviour, low and sweet,

From out the hallelujahs, sweet and low.”

I say nothing whatever against “the practical,” truly so called; nothing
against work, and labour, and patience, and cross-bearing, and the enduring of
hardness as good soldiers of Jesus Christ; nothing that would give comfort to
indolence. There is room and need for the most earnest efforts that we can put
forth. But—for sustained and earnest Christian effort—do we not pressingly
need men and women who lead the inner life—who have renounced self—who live
away from the sounds of human applause or blame—who never think whether “the
world is laughing at us” or not—who dispose of all questions about “will” by
proving what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God—who love and
use earthly things for heavenly ends—who, when they come forth among men, are
as if they came forth from the presence-chamber of the Holy One—and whose
hearts are fixed, trusting in the Lord?

These are our saints and our mighty ones, though the religious world (none the
less “world” that it is “religious”) knows them not, or surveys them with
scorn, fine or rude. Did our fellowship consist of such men and women, how new
the condition of matters would become! We should

CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP.

stand aloof from religious rhetoric, from outward noise and the “hoarse
disputes” of the age,\* from the merely intellectual and æsthetic, from that
dread religious sensuousness which lays the soul open to the worst influences
of hell, just as she imagines herself rapt into the borders of Paradise; and
our lives would be a reproducing of the life of Christ. We should learn to
have patience with God in His working out of His mighty purposes, and to
accept His law of growth.

Every one of our churches would then be a meet home for the new life; a place
of freedom, brotherly confidence, joy, finest and truest concords both of
heart and intellect; an earthly type of the Father’s house. People would not
talk hesitatingly about *the duty* of joining the Church, but would regard it
as a high privilege to be admitted. We should gather in young converts among
us, in the ardour of their first love, and not chill it. We should have place
for all the stages of growth, for the winningness of Christian childhood, the
enthusiasm of youth, the strength of manhood, the rich experiences of age. We
should reconcile all classes, thinker and worker, reasoner and seer, impulsive
and cautious, and whatever other classes may be named, melting them into one
brotherhood. We should have room for all varieties of Christian character and
life, according to the diverse yet harmonious operation of the Spirit of God,
with space and sunlight and air for each to grow. We should provide defence
for our members, not only against the grosser forms of evil, but against those
also which are more subtle, such as lukewarmness or covetousness. We should
find ourselves in sympathy with all goodness that

\* “Had I a strong voice, as it is the weakest alive, yea, could I lift it up
as a trumpet, I would sound a retreat from our unnatural contentions and
irreligious strivings for religion.”—*Leighton*.

THE VINE AND THE BRANCHES.

exists around us, and with all good men in whom Christ, the Truth, dwells.

Our spiritual power would be multiplied an hundredfold. Into the great, varied
life of men around us, with its scheming and toiling; its philosophy, science,
and art; its folly, vice, misery, and unshaped fears—we should be enabled to
enter, with the “word of life” as a word which is proven in our own deepest
experience, and which is fashioning our own being; and in a sense most real,
we should put forth the very power of Christ Himself.

We should likewise be guided in our investigations into Divine truth, and
preserved from misleading things—as the spirit of sophistry, pride of heart,
pride of intellect, pride of church, the blinding influence of cherished sin,
and other similar causes of error; and we should be enabled to extend true aid
to those who are unhappily involved in religious doubts and perplexities.

For the attaining of a life that secures such ends, let us joyfully remember
that we are dependent on the Lord. He is the Vine, we are the branches. In our
vital union to Him—as we abide in Him and He in us—lies our hope. Part of the
means He employs for unfolding this life in us—and one of the richest parts—is
the truth which He has disclosed to the Church through the disciple whom He
loved. Therefore would I earnestly plead for the devout and loving study of
these inspired writings, as well as of the life of the man to whom such grace
was given.

NOTE.

![img-16.jpeg](img-16.jpeg)

UMEROUS traditions and legends gather round the name of the Apostle John—some
of them truth-like and with a probable foundation in fact; others wholly
groundless and unworthy of credit. In this

Appendix I give a few of the more notable by way of example. Many of them have
a very monkish flavour, and are intrinsically worthless. They are kin to what
Milton has in view when he speaks of whatsoever “time or the heedless hand of
blind chance hath drawn down from of old to this present, in her huge drag-
net, whether fish or sea-weed, shells or shrubbs, unpickt, unchosen;” and they
indicate what sort of New Testament we should have had, if we had been left to
the mercy of those who gathered and preserved such stuff. A glance at them may
teach us to be more thankful for the New Testament—from which they are
sundered by a chasm so vast—and to take our “firm station” (as Milton puts it)
in our “strong guards and places of safety under the tuition of Holy Writ.”

J. C.

![img-17.jpeg](img-17.jpeg)

========================================================================
  CHAPTER 11: 11. Legends, Traditions, etc
========================================================================

![img-18.jpeg](img-18.jpeg)

FAVOURITE mode of bringing saints to their providential destination, in
legends, is by means of shipwreck. According to one legend, John is cast on
the shores of Ephesus in this way, and arrives just in time to check the
heresies that sprang up after the final departure of Paul. Another legend
tells of the Apostles agreeing together, before they parted to evangelize the
world, on the symbol which they should teach in common—namely, what is now
called “the Apostles’ Creed,” a clause being composed by each of the Twelve
separately. John was detained at Jerusalem for a time in charge of the Lord’s
mother; and after her death he bent his steps eastward to the Euphrates, to
preach among the Parthians. Among them he laboured for a time, but finally he
was led to Asia Minor, and came to Ephesus about the year 65.

The “History of John the Son of Zebedee, Apostle and Evangelist,”* tells with
much minute and often grotesque detail, how, after the Lord’s ascension, the
Apostles being full of the spirit of holiness, conferred together about
preaching the Gospel among all nations, and then went forth to such countries

* Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles. Edited, from Syriac Manuscripts in the
British Museum and other Libraries, by W. Wright, LL.D., Ph. D.

and regions as they were charged by the grace of God. John was led to the
country of the Ephesians, where the head and power of idolatry were dominant.
On his arrival he hired himself to a bath-keeper named Secundus, and fetched
fagots for those who kindled the bath. After a time he spoke to Secundus about
his Master in heaven, and gave an account of Him on to His ascension into
heaven, so that Secundus became a believer. After this the Apostle was
appointed to receive the incomings of the bath, and to have charge of it.

A wonderful story is told, how Menelaus, son of the procurator, sinning in
spite of rebuke, was smitten by the angel of the Lord, at the word of the holy
man, and died on the spot. At the command of the procurator, they seized John
and stript him, to see what he had on; and when they had taken off his coat
and worn-out shirt, they found a cross of wood suspended from his neck, which
had four tongues of fire, and burned the hands of those who came near it. A
great crowd being gathered together, with outcry and tumult, John begged the
procurator to bid the crowd be silent, and then in the name of Jesus the
Messiah he restored the young man to life. The consequence was that a great
multitude believed, to the number of thirty-six thousand seven hundred and
six. The very same night a baptistery was made in the theatre, twelve cubits
in length, twelve cubits in breadth, and two-and-a-half cubits deep, and
amidst many marvels, with angels present, and outspreading their wings, the
procurator was baptized first, and then the nobles, and then the whole crowd,
from the eighth hour of the night until the sun rose; and when it was morning
they brought their children, and the holy man gave them baptism till the fifth
hour. An equally marvellous story is told of the conversion and baptism of the
priesthood of Artemis.

When Nero, the wicked king, heard of these things, he laid hold of John, drove
him into exile, and passed sentence on the city that it should be laid waste.
Believing men took counsel, and collected money, that John might be set at
liberty, and sent ten men with it by ship to Rome. When they entered the city,
the Lord sent an angel to Nero in a flame of fire, and bearing a sword, who
smote the wicked king and took away his speech, so that he could only howl
like a dog, and commanded him to send back to Ephesus the man whom he had cast
into exile. Nero wrote an order accordingly, and they took the Apostle back,
and he dwelt in a hut above the city.

After a long time, when the Apostles had planted the cross over the four
quarters of the world, Peter and Paul came to Ephesus to see John. They
entered Ephesus on a Monday, and for five days they continued persuading him
to compose a Gospel, as had been done by Matthew, Mark, and Luke. On the
Sunday, at night, at the time when our Lord arose from the grave, the Apostles
slumbered and slept; but at that glorious time of the resurrection the Spirit
of holiness descended, and the whole place was in a flame, and those who were
awake awakened their fellows. Then John took paper and wrote his Gospel in one
hour, and delivered it to Paul and Peter; and when the sun arose they went
down to the house of prayer, and read it before the whole city, and prayed,
and partook of the body and blood of the Lord Jesus. And the holy man sat in
the hut summer and winter, until he was a hundred and twenty years of age, and
there his Master buried him in that place, as Moses was buried on Mount Nebo.
So much for the "History of John, the son of Zebedee, Apostle and Evangelist."

Among the sacred objects exhibited on great occasions in the church of S.
Croce at Rome, is the cup in which the Apostle by command of Domitian the
Emperor drank poison without receiving hurt; which being afterwards tasted by
his attendants, they instantly fell down dead. Of this legend there are
several versions.

Tertullian, who is rather apt to credit the marvellous, assuming the
imprisonment of John at Rome in the time of Domitian, records a tradition to
the effect that he was cast into a caldron of boiling oil, which had no power
to hurt him. "Happy church" (of Rome), he exclaims, "to whom the Apostles
poured forth their full teaching with their blood; where Peter is made equal
in suffering to his Lord (*i. e.*, is crucified); where Paul is crowned with a
death like the Baptist's; where the Apostle John, after being plunged into
boiling oil, came forth unhurt, and was banished to the island." A fragment,
wrongly ascribed to Polycarp, repeats the legend, "that the blessed John was
cast into a caldron of boiling oil for the name of Christ." Jerome, founding
on Tertullian, gives it at still greater length: "It is questioned in what
manner the sons of Zebedee, James and John, drank the cup of martyrdom, when
Scripture narrates the death of James only, beheaded by command of Herod,
while John ended his days by a natural death. But if we read ecclesiastical
histories, in which it is reported that he also was cast for martyrdom into a
caldron of boiling oil, and then went forth an athlete to receive the crown of
Christ, being immediately banished to the isle of Patmos, we shall see that in
spirit he too failed not of martyrdom, and that he drank the cup of confession
which the three young men in the fiery furnace also drank, although the
persecutor did not shed his blood." In another passage, he makes this addition
to the story, that the Apostle "came forth more sound and vigorous than when
he was thrown in."

Another tradition (varying according to the teller) records that the elders of
the Asiatic churches were gathered together at Ephesus, solemnly fasting, and
laid before the Apostle the three Gospels already written, desiring to have
his judgment respecting them. He said that the three Evangelists had written
the truth, but that some things were omitted. He said also that it was
necessary to speak of the Lord's divinity, lest some afterwards should deny
it, thinking that He came only in the flesh. Then the elders requested that he
would record those things which had been omitted by the others, and which he
deemed of chiefest importance, which accordingly he did, breaking out, as if
by sudden inspiration, with the utterance, "In the beginning was the Word,"
and so giving forth the Gospel which goes under his name.

In the "*Travels of S. John in Patmos*," professing to be written by one of
his pupils named Prochorus, a different account is presented. The place of
composition is not Ephesus, but Patmos, at a spot called *The Repose*, which
is still held sacred. There the master is found by the pupil standing in
prayer and rapt as in ecstasy. He bids Prochorus take pen and paper; the
mountain is shaken by a flash of lightning and a peal of thunder; and then he
dictates the whole Gospel from first to last to Prochorus, who writes sitting
at his feet.*

Polycrates, bishop of Ephesus in the close of the second century, says that
the Apostle carried a plate of gold on his forehead, as priest of Jesus
Christ. The allusion is to Exod. xxviii. 36–38: “Thou shalt make a plate of
pure gold, and grave upon it like the engravings of a signet, HOLINESS TO THE
LORD; and thou shalt put it on a blue lace, that it may be upon the mitre;
upon the forefront of the mitre it shall be; and it shall be upon Aaron’s
forehead.” The probability is that the words of Polycrates were simply
metaphorical—as when we read of receiving a white stone or eating of the
hidden manna; and if so, we must not think of the Apostle as being arrayed
like the Jewish high-priest, but only of his being from age, character, and
apostleship, the foremost among those who were made kings and priests unto
God. A similar metaphor at a later time represents Christ’s ministers as
clothed “in the priestly garb of the Holy Ghost.”

The well-known story of Cerinthus and the bath comes to us only at third hand.
Irenæus records it on the authority of some who heard it from Polycarp, one of
John’s pupils. In a later edition of it (when dirt had become one of the
badges of saintship), John’s visit to the bath is represented as quite
unusual—his general life being that of one “who used neither bath nor oil, and
ate no animal food.” The account given by Irenæus is, that the Apostle was one
day entering the public bath at Ephesus, when he learned that the heretic
Cerinthus was within. Immediately he sprang from the place, without having
used the bath, exclaiming, “Let us flee, lest the house fall upon us, since

* When an attempt was made under the Emperor Julian to rebuild the Temple at
Jerusalem, as the workmen were busy at the foundations, they lifted (it is
said) a stone which covered the mouth of a cave, cut out square in the rock.
On a pillar lay a book wrapt in clean fine linen, which being opened proved to
be the Gospel of John, the first words writ large so as to attract
attention—“*In the beginning was the Word.*” We are indebted for this legend
to Philostorgius.

Cerinthus, the enemy of truth, is within." Jeremy Taylor pronounces this a
good precedent for us, when the case is equal. St. John could discern the
spirit of Cerinthus, whose heresy was fundamental, and the Apostle was a
person assisted up to infallibility. "And possibly," he adds, "it was done by
the whisper of a prophetic spirit and upon a miraculous design; *for
immediately upon his retreat the bath fell down, and crushed Cerinthus in the
ruins.*" More to the point is the bishop's counsel, that we should not
quickly, nor upon slight grounds, nor unworthy instances, call heretic.

Two young men (another story runs), had sold all their possessions, to cast in
their lot with the Apostle, but afterwards repented. Knowing their thoughts,
he sent them to gather pebbles and faggots, which on their return he changed
into golden ingots, saying to them, "Take back your riches and enjoy them on
earth, since you regret having exchanged them for heaven."

A graceful little story is told by John Cassian,* a "hermit" of the fifth
century, with no faculty of discrimination. Probably he picked it up from
hearsay—as he introduces it with "*It is told.*" In his old age the Apostle
used to find pleasure in the attachment of a bird which he had tamed—a
partridge. One day, as he held it in his bosom and was gently stroking it, a
huntsman suddenly approached, and wondering that one so illustrious should
take to such a trivial amusement, he asked, "Art thou that John whose singular
renown had inspired even me with a great desire to know thee? How then canst
thou occupy thyself with an employment so humble?" The Apostle replied, "What
is that in thy hand?" He answered, "A bow." "And why dost thou not always
carry it bent?" "Because," he answered, "it would in that case lose its
strength; and when it was necessary to shoot, it would fail from the too
continuous strain." "Then let not this slight and brief relaxation of mine, O
young man, perplex thee," answered the Apostle; "since without it the spirit
would flag from the unremitted strain, and

* Collatio xxiv. chap. xxi., with a long note by the Benedictine Editor. The
same story is told, with variations, about St. Anthony and many others.

fail when the call of duty came." One might add the well-known lines,—

"He prayeth best who loveth best

All things both great and small ;

For the dear God who loveth us,

He made and loveth all."

We are indebted to Clement of Alexandria for the story of John and the young
robber. It is to this effect.

Visiting a town not far from Ephesus, and assembling with the brethren, he saw
in the audience a young man, tall of stature and of noble countenance and
ardent spirit. Addressing the pastor of the Church, he said : "I commit that
young man to thy charge, and call Christ and the Church to witness that I do
so." The pastor of the Church undertook, and for a time faithfully fulfilled,
the charge. He instructed the young man in the faith, and by-and-by had the
joy of receiving him into the Church. Subsequently however he somewhat relaxed
his watchfulness, as having set upon him the seal of the Lord. In the meantime
idle and worthless acquaintances took advantage of circumstances to lead him
into temptation. First they enticed him to their sumptuous banquets. Then they
induced him to go out with them, in the dark, on errands of plunder. Finally
they make him accustomed to iniquity ; and having started from the right way,
like a powerful and hard-mouthed horse that seizes the bit between its teeth,
he was hurried into evil all the more violently through the energy of his
nature. At length, believing salvation hopeless, he fully surrendered himself
to evil, and became one of a company of brigands, of whom he was made the
chief, being the most violent and fierce of all.

Some time after this, John revisited the city on some pressing emergency. When
the special business was concluded, for which he had undertaken the journey,
he turned to the pastor of the Church and said, "Restore me now the pledge
which I with the Saviour entrusted to your charge in the presence of the
Church." And when he saw that his words were not understood, he added, "I
reclaim the young man whose soul I entrusted to thee." The pastor said, with
tears, "He is dead." "How?" asked the Apostle : "what death did he die?" "He
is dead to

God," was the answer; "for he has become evil and reprobate; he was forced to
flee for his crimes, and he is now a brigand among our mountains."

Immediately the Apostle, obtaining a horse and guide, rode off even as he was
to the robber hold, and falling into the hands of the sentinels, required to
be led at once to their chief. But when John was led into his presence, he at
once fled, overwhelmed with shame. John, forgetting his years, ran after him,
calling him to stay, and exclaiming, "My son, why dost thou flee from thy
father? I am feeble and advanced in age; have pity on me, my son; fear not.
There is yet hope of salvation for thee. I will stand for thee before the Lord
Christ. If need be, I will gladly die for thee, as He died for us. Stay;
believe; it is Christ who has sent me."

The young man stood still, with eyes bent to the earth; then flung away the
weapons with which he was armed; then trembled and wept; then threw himself
into the embrace of the aged saint, and implored his pardon. The Apostle
raised him up; assured him of forgiveness; prayed and fasted with him; and did
not desist till he had fully restored him to the Church, a glorious testimony
to the new birth, and a token of the hoped-for resurrection.

The story is at least in keeping with the social conditions which then
existed, and is one of the most admirable illustrations to be met with of a
shepherd going after the lost sheep until he finds it.

In his extreme old age, with every faculty becoming numb, when he could no
longer walk to the place of Christian assembly, he caused himself to be borne
thither, that he might address the brethren; and this was his whole
address—"*Little children, love one another.*" The disciples and brethren,
hearing nothing but this from him, asked him why he always spoke the same
thing to them, and nothing else; to which he replied, *That it was the command
of the Lord, and that if this only were done, enough was done.* The story is
not unworthy the name of him who reported the charge of Jesus, "As I have
loved you, that ye also love one another;" and who so largely taught "We have
known and believed the love which God hath to us: God is love; and he that
dwelleth in love dwelleth in God and God in him."

Many legends sprang up in course of time respecting his death. An "*Account of
the Decease of S. John, Apostle and Evangelist,*"\* tells that on a Sunday,
when the brethren were assembled, he addressed them, and then prayed and broke
bread with thanksgiving, and stretched out his hand to them, praying for every
man. Then he said to Byrrhus, "Take with thee two brethren, who have with them
baskets and spades, and come after me;" and so Byrrhus did. John then walked
forth, dismissing many from attending him, and came to the grave of a certain
Christian brother, and said to the youths, "Dig, my sons;" and as they digged,
he urged them, saying, "Let the trench be deep." Then he went on conversing
and edifying those who were present, speaking to them of the majesty of the
Messiah, and praying over each of them. When the trench was finished, he
suddenly stripped off the garments which he wore, and cast them like bed-
clothes into the bottom of the trench; and standing in his mantle only, he
lifted up his hands and prayed to God, in many words—somewhat
rhetorical—"Receive the soul of Thy John." Then he turned to the east and
glorified God, standing full in the light, and said, "Be Thou with me, Jesus
the Messiah our Lord." Then he went down into the trench, where he had spread
his clothes, and saying, "Concord and peace be with you, my brethren," he
rendered up his spirit, rejoicing.

During his life-time the saying went abroad among the brethren (claiming to
rest on the express word of Jesus) that he was not to die, but to form one of
the company who "are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord." If we bear
in mind that many of the early Christians expected the world to end with that
very generation, the currency of the "saying," will not appear extraordinary.
Even his actual passing away, however, did not suffice to eradicate the belief
that had sprung up. Wild assertions in course of time were hazarded; such as,
that

\* *Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles.* Edited by Dr. William Wright.

his remains, though sought for, could not be found. Augustine tells of persons
in his day who professed to have witnessed the gentle heaving of the turf
where he lay, asleep, but not dead, at Ephesus. The notion that he was still
alive became almost an article of popular faith in the middle ages (not unlike
the legend of the Wandering Jew), and in some quarters lingered even later.
The English sect of "*Seekers*," under Cromwell, expected his reappearance as
the forerunner of Christ's glorious return. A trace of the notion is still
partially visible in the Feast of the Translation of the Body of S. John,
observed in the Greek Church. Beza tells of an impostor of his times, burned
at Toulouse, who gave himself out to be the Apostle.

A specimen of a different class of legends is found in the *Chronicle of John
of Brompton*. King Edward the Confessor had, after Christ and the Virgin Mary,
a special veneration for S. John the Evangelist. One day, returning from his
church at Westminster, he was accosted by a pilgrim, who asked of him an alms
for the love of God and S. John. The king, who was ever merciful to the poor,
immediately drew from his finger a ring, and, unknown to any one, gave it to
the beggar. When the king had reigned twenty-four years, it came to pass that
two Englishmen, pilgrims, returning to their own country from the Holy Land,
were met by one in the habit of a pilgrim, who asked of them concerning their
country: and being told they were of England, he said unto them, "When ye
shall have arrived in your own country, go to King Edward, and salute him in
my name: say to him that I thank him for the alms which he bestowed on me in a
certain street in Westminster; for there, on a certain day, as I begged of him
an alms, he bestowed on me this ring, which till now I have preserved, and ye
shall carry it back to him, saying that in six months from this time he shall
quit the world and come and remain with me for ever." The pilgrims, being
astounded, said, "Who art thou? and where is thy dwelling?" And he answered,
saying, "I am John the Evangelist. Edward your king is my friend, and for the
sanctity of his life I hold him dear. Go now therefore, deliver to him this
message and this ring, and I will pray to God that ye may arrive safely in
your country.” When S. John had spoken, he delivered them the ring, and then
vanished out of their sight. The pilgrims, praising and thanking God for this
glorious vision, went on their journey; and being arrived in England, they
repaired to King Edward, and saluted him, and delivered the ring and the
message, relating all truly. And the king received the tidings joyfully and
feasted the messengers royally. Then he set himself to prepare for his
departure out of this world. On the eve of the nativity 1066, he fell sick,
and on the eve of the Epiphany following he died. The ring he gave to the
Abbot of Westminster to be for ever preserved among the relics there.*

Three names are traditionally linked to John’s as those of pupils. The first
is that of *Ignatius*:—“the disciple of John the Apostle,” he is called in the
“*Martyrdom of Ignatius*,” “and a man in all respects of apostolic character.”
It is probably he whom Lucian pillories in his *Peregrinus*. Tradition makes
him out to have been the little child whom Jesus set as an example of humility
amidst the twelve Apostles. Hence he was supposed to derive his name of
Theophorus—Ignatius who is called Theophorus—the “God-carried;” though he
himself interprets it to mean one who carries God in his heart. He was
overseer of the Church of Syrian Antioch, and is said to have suffered
martyrdom under Trajan, at Rome, by being thrown to the lions. A large number
of writings have been attributed to him, respecting which there has been more
controversy than about any ancient Christian writings, if we except the New
Testament itself. Probably not more than three of the whole number are his,
and even these interpolated. In whatever form—the longer or the shorter—they
are examined, they will be found to contain opinions and exhibit modes of
thought entirely unknown to the age to which they are attributed.† Though
called a pupil of John, he had but slight mental sympathy with him, and his
writings rather bear the Pauline stamp.

* Mrs. JAMESON’S *Sacred and Legendary Art*.

† Dr. JAMES DONALDSON: *Critical History of Christian Literature and
Doctrine*.

“His three epistles,” says De Pressensé, “are the farewells of a Christian
hero. It is clear they were written in haste, by a man who desired to put all
his Christianity in the few words hurriedly penned, in moments when the
vigilance of his fierce jailers was relaxed. A strange fire flashes from those
broken words, as from fretted flints.”

Perhaps the most interesting of these epistles is that to the Romans, which he
forwarded, as he was proceeding to Rome for his martyrdom, by some friends who
were taking a shorter route. Thinking it not unlikely that his brethren at
Rome might intercede for his life, he earnestly urged them not to make the
attempt. “Pray do not seek to confer any greater favour upon me than that I be
sacrificed to God. . . . . Only request in my behalf both inward and outward
strength, that I may not only speak but will. . . . . I shall die willingly
for God, unless ye hinder me. I beseech of you not to show an unseasonable
good-will toward me. Suffer me to become food for the wild beasts, through
whose instrumentality it will be granted me to attain to God. . . . . Now I
begin to be a disciple. And let no one, of things visible or invisible, envy
me that I should attain to Jesus Christ. Let fire and the cross, let the
crowds of wild beasts, let tearings, breakings and dislocations of bones, let
cutting-off of members, let shatterings of the whole body, let all the
dreadful torments of the devil come upon me—only let me attain to Jesus
Christ.”

At length (according to *The Martyrdom of Ignatius*), he reached the shores of
Italy, and was hurried on to Rome, just in time for the last day of the games
during the Saturnalia. Kneeling down he entreated the Son of God in behalf of
the churches, that brotherly love might continue, and that persecution might
cease; and then immediately was thrown to the wild beasts and devoured.

The second name is *Polycarp*. Irenæus, who sat at his feet, informs us that
he “was instructed by the Apostles, and was brought into contact with many who
had seen Christ.” In a letter to Florinus, Irenæus says: “While I was yet a
boy, I saw you in Lower Asia with Polycarp, pursuing a brilliant career in the
royal court, and trying to be well-pleasing to him. For I remember the
occurrences of those days better than the more recent (for instructions which
we receive in childhood grow with our soul and become one with it); so that I
can tell even the spot in which the blessed Polycarp sat and conversed, and
his outgoings and incomings, and the character of his life, and the form of
his body, and the conversations which he held with the multitude; and how he
related his familiar intercourse with John and the rest who had seen the Lord;
and how he rehearsed their sayings and what things they were which he had
heard from them with regard to the Lord and His miracles and teaching. All
these things Polycarp related in harmony with the writings, as having received
them from the eye-witnesses of the Word of life." We learn from Irenæus
further that Polycarp was an overseer in the Church at Smyrna by apostolic
appointment.

A short "Epistle of Polycarp to the Philippians" still survives, which,
although poor in thought, breathes a simple and noble Christian spirit.

A letter professing to have been written by the Church at Smyrna to the Church
at Philomelium—but which cannot be trusted in consequence of interpolations,
additions, and internal improbabilities—gives an exceedingly interesting and
graphic account of Polycarp's martyrdom. When called to swear by the fortune
of Cæsar and reproach Christ, that he might save his life, he replied, "Eighty
and six years have I served Him, and He never did me an injury: how can I
blaspheme Him, my King and my Saviour?" From amidst the flames that consumed
him he gave thanks, "because Thou hast counted me worthy to have a part in the
number of Thy martyrs, in the cup of Thy Christ, to the resurrection of
eternal life, both of soul and body, through the incorruption [imparted] by
the Holy Ghost."

The third name is that of Papias, an overseer in the Church at Hierapolis, a
city of Phrygia, the birthplace of Epictetus, the famous Stoic philosopher.
Irenæus speaks of him as an "ancient man," "a hearer of John," and "a
companion of Polycarp."

He was on terms of intercourse with many who had known the Lord and His
Apostles. From them he gathered information which he wove into Five Books,
entitled an *Exposition of the Lord's Sayings*—a work which has not come down
to us, except some fragments preserved in Eusebius and elsewhere.* He seems to
have been a man of small mind, a great reader, but a poor thinker. It is to
him that the report is traced back that Matthew wrote in Hebrew, and that
Mark, in his Gospel, was the mouthpiece of Peter. He too is said to have
suffered martyrdom about the same time with Polycarp.

* Dr. Donaldson (*Crit. Hist.*) suggests that perhaps this work of Papias may
yet be recovered; for some writing under the name of Papias is mentioned
thrice in the catalogue of the library of the Benedictine Monastery of Christ
Church, Canterbury, contained in a Cottonian MS. written in the end of the
thirteenth or beginning of the fourteenth century; and, according to Menard,
the words, "I found the book of Papias on the Words of the Lord," are
contained in an inventory of the property of the Church of Nismes, prepared
about 1218.

![img-19.jpeg](img-19.jpeg)

London: Morgan & Scott, 12, Paternoster Buildings.

========================================================================
  JOHN, WHOM JESUS LOVED
  sermonindex.net
========================================================================