SIP -i' J35Z615 V. \ HOMILISTIC LIBRARY. A RE-PRODUCTION OF ALL DR. THOMAS'S WORKS. THE GENIUS OF THE FOURTH GOSPEL. VL THE ^'\:; GENIUS OF THE FOURTH GOSPEL. THE GOSPEL OF ST. JOHN, ^xrgtticallg anti Prartirallg ConsitinrtJ, CONTAINING '/ ONE HUNDRED AND TWO HOMILETIC SKETCHES FIFTY-ONE GERMS OF THOUGHT. f DAVID THOMAS, D.D. AUTHOR OF 'the GENItrS OF THE FIEST GOSPEL (MATTHEW)," " COMMENTAET ON PSALMS," " PEOBLliMATA MUNDI," " PKACTICAL PHILOSOPHEK," ETC., ETC. VOL. I. EXTENDING FROM CHAPTEK I. TO XIII. LONDON: R. D. DICKINSON, 89 FARRINGDON STREET. 1885. RicHAKD Clay and Sons, Bungay, and £read Street Hill, London. Mmge mU PHnied in Oremt Bi-ttnlm ©oUecf. "Merciful Lord, we beseech Thee to cast Thy bright beams of light upon Thy Church, that it, being enlightened by the doctrine of Thy blessed Apostle and Evangelist St. John, may so walk in the light of Thy truth, that it may at length attain to the light of everlasting life, through Jesus Christ our Lord ! " THE AUTHOR'S CREED AS EVOLVED FROM THE FOURTH GOSPEL. 3fai{I). ^ot in JJncsthoobs, not on QTrceb, Es the Jaitlv tuc nccb, ^oxh ! •^hcsc, mou fragile than the rceb, (tan no rest for souls atforb. ^nman sjistcms, tohat are then ? ^reams of erring men at best; lOisions on In of a iiay, 5Eithout substanrertuithout rest. Jfirmln fix it, |Dorb, on %\\ec, .Strike its roots beep in "^hg lobe ; ©roluiug eber may it be, iHL'ikc the Jfaith of those abobe. ^heu, thongh earthln things be^iart, Jlnb the heabens pass aban, (Strong in ^hee shall rest the heart, SEithout fainting or bcraij. iSopc. <£lot on heaben, not on bliss, / prevalent. 2. It is philosophiccilli/ ahxnrd. 3. It is moralli/ reprehensible. 4. It is spiritually jiernicious. II. The Divinitt of Christianity. 1. God sends His Son to man. 2. God britujs man to His Son. Pages 167 to 172. III. The Pre-eminence of Jesus. 1. All souls tridy infltienced will come to Him. 2. No one but Christ has absolute knowledge of the Father. IV. The Well-being of Humanity. 1. The nature ofman^s well-being. 2. The condition of mans well- being. No. XL. CHRIST AS A DIVINE GIFT TO THE WORLD. CHAP. VI. 48-58 ..... Pages 172 to 175. I. A Special Gift from the Father. 1. He is the greatest Personality in the universe. 2. He is the deares^t Personality to God in the universe. II. A Free Gift of Self. III. An Indispensable Gift for Men. 1. There is no spiritual life with- out it. 2. This spiritual life is identical with that of God and Christ. 3. This spiritual life includes man's well-being for ever. No. XLL GOSPEL REVELATION. CHAP. VI. 59-65 I. Sensuously Interpreted. 1. This iyiterpretation involved men in difficulty. 2. This interj-)retation subjected men to unbelief. 3. This interpretation was offensive to Christ. II. Divinely Explained. Pages 179 to 182. III. Practically Disbelieved. 1. Disbelievers are known to Christ from the commencement. 2. Disbelievers are capable of ini- quitous conduct. 3. Disbelievers maintain a moral distance from Christ. No. XLII. THE TRANSCENDENT WORTH OF CHRISTIANITY. CHAP. VI. 66-71 I. Christianity Provides for the COMPLETE Well-being of Hu- man Nature. II. Christianity Respects the Free- dom OF Human Nature. 1. Christ does not want our service. 2. Christ uill not accept forced service. Pages 183 to 185. III. Christianity takes the strong- est HOLD UPON Human Nature. IV. Christianity Rejects not the Worst Types of Human Nature. ANALYTICAL CONTENTS. XXlll No. XLIII. INFIDELITY, CHAP. VII. 1-10 .... I. It seldom lacks Evidence. II. It is always Vain. Pages 186 to 189. III. It is ever in Agreement with THE World. IV. It never Thwarts the Divine Purpose. No. XLIV. CHRIST'S FIRST TWO DISCOURSES AT THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES. (No. 1.) — great contrasts. CHAP. VII. 11-18 ..... Pages 190 to 192. I. Base Cowardice and Sublime i II. Conventional Scholarship and Courage. Genuine Intelligence. No. XLV. CHRIST'S FIRST TWO DISCOURSES AT THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES. (No. 2.) — MURDER IN DESIRE. CHAP. VII. 19-30 . I. The Desire to kill Christ was Inconsistent with their Ee- ligious Profession. 1. The spirit of their opposition was inconsistent with the moral law of Moses. 2. The proximate cause of their opposition was inconsistent with the moral law of Moses. II. The Desire to kill Christ im- plied great error op Judg- ment. 1. One error was that a mere ordinary peasant had no Divine mis- sion. Pages 193 to 198. 2. Another error was that a ritual- istic religion tvas a religion of righteousness. 3. The other error was that hy killing a teacher they would kill his influence. III. This Desire to kill Christ involved them in Perplexity. 1. Christ knows the Absolute. 2. Christ was a Messoiger from the A bsolute. IV. This Desire to kill Christ_was Divinely Restrained. No. XLVI. CHRIST'S FIRST TWO DISCOURSES AT THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES. (No. 3.) — MEN IN RELATION TO CHRIST. CHAP. VII. 31-36 . I. Those who were Favourably Disposed. 1. Their favourable disposition to- wards Him was grounded upon facts. 2. Their favourable disposition to- wards Him intensified the opposition of His enemies. Pages 200 to 203. II. Those who were Malignantly Opposed. 1. They were to be deprived of the fellowship of Christ. 2. They would vainly seek the help of Christ. 3. They misunderstood the meaning of Christ. XXIV ANALYTICAL CONTENTS. No. XLVII. CHRIST'S FIRST TWO DISCOURSES AT THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES. (Xo. 4.i— THE TRAXSCENDEXT PHILANTHROPIST. CHAP. VII. 37-39 . I. Christ offers Mex the Highest Blessing. 1. A Divinely refreshing injlnence. 2. A Divinehj refreshinrf influence that icould roll throwjh the centre of human nature. 3. A Divinehj refreshiivf influence that onhj came in its plenitude after the ascension of Christ. Pages 203 to 206. II. Christ offers Men the Highest Blessing with Intense Ear- nestness. III. Christ offers Men the High- est Blessing on the Easiest Condition. 1. Faith in a proposition that is obvioushj true is one of the easiest acts of the mind. 2. Faith in a person tJiat is obviously good is easier still. No. XLVIIL CHRIST'S FIRST TWO DISCOURSES AT THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES. (No. 5.) — different impressions produced by Christ's teaching. CHAP. VII. 40-53 . I. It Produced a Vast Variety of Opinions concerning Him. \. The great diversity in the minds of men. 2. The moral p)Grversity in the souls of men. 3. The intellectual freedom which Christ allows men. Pages 206 to 210. II. It Produced a Profound Im- pression AS TO His Tran- scendent Worth. III. It Produced a Deadly Hos- tility towards Him. L Intolerance. 2. Superciliousness. 3. Insolence. 4. Ridicule. 5. Humiliation. No. XLIX. CHRIST AS A RELIGIOUS TEACHER. CHAP. VIII. 1, 2 . I. He was as a Teacher Devoutly Studious. 1. Self-formed convictions of Gospel truth. 2. Unconquerahle love for Gospel truth. 3. A living crpression of Gospel truth. II. He was as a Teacher Sub- limely Courageous. 1. Brute courage is dead to the sacred ness of life. 2. Brute courage is imlifferent to the grand mission of life. Pages 211 to 216. 3. Brute courage is always inspired by mere animal passion. III. He was a Teacher Earnestly Diligent. 1. He felt the transceiulent import- ance of His mission. 2. He felt the brevity of His life. IV. He was as a Teacher Beauti- fully Natural. 1. He was natural in attitude. 2. He was natural in expression. 3. He was natural in tones. ANALYTICAL CONTENTS. XXV No. L. THE WOMAN TAKEN IN ADULTEEY. CHAP. VIII. 3-11 I. The Vilest Sinners are Often THE Greatest Accusers. II. The Severest Judge op Sinners IS THEIR OWN Conscience. 1. Christ's method of awakening conscience. 2. The force of awakened con- sciences. Pages 216 to 220. III. The Greatest Friend op Sin- ners is Jesus Christ. 1. He declines to pronounce a judicial condemnation. 2. He discharges with a merciful admonition. WoN- CHAP. VIII. 12; I. Christ as a Light is DROUSLY Revealing. II. Christ as a Light is HumanitY' GUIDING. No. LI. THE LIGHT' OF THE WOELD. Pages 220 to 222. III. Christ as a Light is Spirit- ually Quickening. No. LII. CHEIST'S SUPEEHUMAN CLAIM. CHAP. VIII. 13-19 . I. Denied by the Pharisees. 1 . The denial was somewhat natural. 2. The reason for the denial was somewhat absurd. II. Vindicated by Christ. 1. His assertion is true, independent of any witness. Pages 222 to 225. 2. Their judgment on the question was carnal. 3. His assertioji was backed by the testimony of the Eternal Father 4. They were in utter ignorance of His Father and Himself. No. LIII. DIVINE PEOVIDENCE. CHAP. VIII. 20 It Exerts a Restraining Power ON Wicked Men. 1. Jt is not always a Tnatter of consciousness. 2.' It interferes not with human free- dom. II. Pages 226 to 228. 3. It is an incalculable advantage to the race. It has Settled Periods for the Development op Events. XXVI ANALYTICAL CONTENTS. No. LIV. CHRIST AND MEN. CHAP. VIII. 21 The Withdrawment of Christ FROM Men. 1. Christ had a " Way." 2. Christ ^J2«?-SMec? His " Way" voluntarily. Pages 228 to 229. II. The Fruitless Seeking ofChrist BY Men. 1. This fruitless seekiiig is possible. 2. This fruitless seeking is lament- able. III. The Eternal separation of Christ from Men. No. LV. ASPECTS OF UNBELIEF CHAP. VIII. 22-24 .... I. The Perversity of Unbelief, II. The Degradation of Unbelief. I. The world in which a man lives is his character. Pages 229 to 231. 2. The character of one man may be so different to another, as to con- stitute different worlds. III. The Disastrousness of Un- belief. No. LVI. CHRIST'S TEACHING. CHAP. VIII. 25-27 I. It is Consistent. 1. Notwithstanding the trying cir- cumstances under which He spoke. 2. Notuithstanding the diversity in- the minds and circumstances of those who reported His utter- ances. Pages 235 to 237. II. It is Progressive. 1. It suj^plies a motive to stimulate human enquiry. 2. It shows His suitability as a Teacher for mankind. III. It is Divine. IV. It is not Always Understood. No. LVII. CHRIST FORECASTING HIS DEATH AND DESTINY. CHAP. VIII. 28, 29 . I. His Sublime Heroism in the Prospect of a Terrible Death. 1. His crucifixion was the culmin- ation of human wickedness. 2. His crucifixion was the culmin- ation of human sufi'ering. II. His Unshaken Faith in the Triumph of His Cause. 1. He was not discoiiraged by ap- parent failure. 2. He did not despair of man's im- jirovability. Pages 237 to 240. 3. He was not doubtful of ultimate success. III. A Principle op Conduct Com- mon in all History. IV. A Consciousness of Peculiar Relationship to the Eternal Father. 1. Christ was His Pupil. 2. Christ was His Companion. 3. Christ was His Servant. ANALYTICAL CONTENTS. xxvu No. LVIII. GENUINE CHRISTIAN DISCIPLESHIP. CHAP. VIII. 30-32 . I. It Grows out of a Practical Continuance in Christ's Word. 1. Some never enter it. 2. Some enter only as passing visitors. ' Pages 240 to 242. II. It Qualifies for a Eight Ap- preciation OF Divine Truth. III. It Ensures the Enjoyment of Perfect Liberty, No. LIX. MORAL BONDAGE. CHAP. VIII. 33-36 . I. The Subjects op it are Un- conscious OF IT. II. The Subjects op it are the Authors op it. Pages 243 to 246. III. The Subjects of it can be Delivered from it. No. LX. THE PRIMAL PARENTS OF MORAL CHARACTER. CHAP. VIII. 37-44 . I. The Ancestry of a Man's Character is more important to him than that op his Corporeal Existence. 1. A man is responsible for his moral parentage, and not for his corporeal. 2. Corporeal existence loitl prove an intolerable curse, if the char- acter is bad. 3. Moral character survives cor- poreal existence. II. In the Ancestry op Character there are two Primal Pro- genitors. 1. Tliey are personal existences. Pages 246 to 250. 2. They are morally antagonistic. III. Every Man's Primal Moral Ancestor is Demonstrated BY HIS Life. 1 . A man of falsehood is a child of the devil, a man of truth a child of God. 2. A man of malice is a child of the devil, a man of love a child of God. 3. A man hating Christ is a child of the devil, a man loving Christ a child of God. No. LXI. THE RATIONALE OF UNBELIEF. CHAP. VIII. 45-48 ..... Pages 250 to 253. III. Estrangement from God. I. Repugnance to the Truth. 1. This reveals man's abnormal condition. 2. This suggests man' s awfid future. II. The Purity op Christ. IV. Pride op Intellect. V. Uncharitablbness op Disposi- tion. XXVlll ANALYTICAL CONTENTS. No. LXII. THE ANTI^DIABOLISM OF CHRIST CHAP. VIII. 48-51 I. Christ Honours the Father, THE Devil does not. 1. By a faithful representation of the Fatlier's character. 2. By a supreme devotion to the Father's will. Pages 253 to 255. II. Christ Seeks not His own Glory, the Devil does. III. Christ Delivers from Death, the Devil cannot. No. LXIII. CHRIST GREATER AND OLDER THAN ABRAHAM. CHAP. VIII. 52-59 . I. Christ is Greater than Abra- ham. 1. The implied denial that Clirist tvas greater than Abraham. 2. T}ie reply of Christ to the im- plied denial. II. Pages 256 to 258. 3. The declaration of Christ's superiority to Abraham. Christ is Older than Abraham. 1. This sounded absurd. 2. TJiis sounded hlasphemr their question ; and this question may be divided into two parts ; one part relating to John's personal history, and the other to his religious authority. The former begins with " Who art thou ? " A very comprehensive question this ; more comprehensive than they intended. " Who ? " What is thy pedigree and pre- tentions, thy character and circumstances, thy principles and prerogatives ? John having denied that he was the Christ, they continued to press the question. " What then ? Art thou Elias?" — the mnn we expect to come down from heaven in person, to anoint the Messiah. Having denied that — for although he was an Elias (Mai. iii. 1), he was not the Elias they referred to, viz, Elijah, whose appearance they felt he resembled — they proceed. "Art thou that proplietf" means, "Art thou that prophet, like unto Moses, that we expect ? " Having received a negative to this appeal, they continue still to press the question. " Who art tliou ? 32 THE GENIUS OF THE GOSPEL. That we may give an answer to them, that sent us. What sayest thou of thyself?" Such is the part of the question referring to John's personal history. The otl)er part of the question refers to John's religious authority. Having told them he was the mere " Voice of one crying in the ivilderncss," and that he was not Christ, nor that prophet, they asked him for his authority in baptizing, " Why hcqjtizest thou then if thou he not that Christ, nor JElias?" As if they had said, if thou art neither Christ, nor EUas, nor that prophet, what right hast thou to use this Jewish ceremony of baptism ? Give us thine authority for presuming to officiate in the ritualistic department of Jewish worship. Such was the question which Jewish society put to this new teacher that rose up in their country, a teacher wlio startled the nation by his eloquence, and commanded a vast popularity. Now, our position is, that this was a very i^roper question. We do not say that the}' put it in a pi'oper spirit, or for proper reasons, but the question itself was undoubtedly right. Society shouki ever inquire well into the pretensions and doctrines of a public religious teaclier. It should do so — First : Because of the influence which religious teaching has upon the conduct and destiny of the community even in this life. Heretical religious principles are not only detrimental to the spiritual and future condition of humanity, but are im- measurably injurious to the temporal well-being of society. France, in all her revolutions, and in the last most of all, thunders out this truth. It behoves, therefore, those who are in authority, the guardians of public peace and order, to inquire into the character of the religious teaching to which the people is subjected. It should do so — Secondly : Because the pernicious in doctrine should be sup- pressed, and the beneficent encouraged. It is said that every man has not only a right to form his own religious opinions, but to promote them ; " that the prophet that hath even a dream should speak it," and that no government has a right by force to infringe on this liberty. Granting this, there is a moral power that is mightier than political force, which those in public can employ, aye, and which we think they are bound to employ ; — the force of argument, the force of example, the force wielded by a pure literature, a sacred eloquence, a noble life. The time has come, we think, when English society should inquire a little concerning its religious teachers. In the name of Christianity, men are constantly rising up amongst us, with and without culture, hooting crudities and absui'dities that insult the human understanding, misrepresent the genius of Christianity, blaspheme Infinite Love, prostrate the weak souls of our community to a miserable superstition, and drive the strong ones into indifferentism and infidelity. ST. JOHN I. 19—28. 33 In the interlocution here recorded between John and the Jews, we have suggested — II. — A SATISFACTORY ANSWER FROM A RELIGIOUS TEACHER TO SOCIETY. How did John stand this investigation ? Did he treat it with a superciUous silence, or did he answer ? If he answered, what kind of answer did he give ? Here it is : — ''And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent the priests and Zevites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou ? " In John's answer, there are three things indicated which show him to be a true teacher, and which should characterize every teacher worthy of public attention : First : Unquestionable sincerity. In answer to their inter- rogatory, he might have said : " I am Elias ; or, I am that prophet like unto Moses. I am the Christ, the Messiah you expect." And saying this, in all probability they would have believed him. Anyhow, tens of thousands would have believed him ; for he had moved the heart of the nation, and men were crowding about him from all parts. Had he been a false man, a charlatan, the temptation would have been irresistible. But with- out a moment's pause, in a most emphatic way, he disclaims all such pretensions. " Jffe confessed, and denied not ; hut confessed, I am not the Christ." A Jewish idiom this, to express in the strongest possible way his negative answer. He " confessed," he openly avowed it, he thundered it loudly from the banks of the Jordan in the ears of the multitude that crowded about him. Surely, here was a proof of his sincerity. He was an incorrupt soul. He could not swerve a hair's-breadth from the path of truth. Crowns and kingdoms were too poor to buy the conscience of a man like him. Sincerity is one of the most cardinal and essential qualifications for a religious teacher. The man who preaches what he does not believe, because it is popular, is often a grand preacher in the estimation of his shallow admirers, but a contemptible charlatan in the eyes of Him who is the Discerner of spirits. In John's answer there is indicated — - Secondly : Profound humility. " He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness." Here he speaks in manifest allusion to the passage (Isa. xl. 8), I am the mere voice of a herald in the Judean desert announcing some one to come. John does not say : — I am the truth ; what I say is infallible ; nor, I am the Word embodying the true thing. I am only a "voice," a mere echo — • nothing more. I don't originate what I say; it comes to me. I am its mere organ ; I voice it, and that is all. " I am the voice!' This humility is another essential qualification for a religious teacher. No man is qualified to teach, who is not well-nigh overwhelmed with a sense of his own insufficiency. How many D 34 THE GENIUS OF THE GOSPEL. religious teachers there are who say, by their manner and mien : " I am the great linguist. I am the original thinker. I am the magnificent orator." Such are destitute of the spirit of a true preacher. " / am the voice'' — nothing more. In John's answer there is indicated — Thirdly : Supreme reverence for his Master. " John answered them, saying, I baptize tvith water: hut there standeth One among you, whom ye kno^o not ; He it is. Who coming after me is pre- ferred before me, vjhose shoe's latchet I am not rvorthy to unloose." His reverence for Christ is here expressed in two ways. (1.) By intimating that his baptism was but a mere symbol of the baptism of Christ. " / baptize with water : but there standeth One among you, wham ye know not ; He will baptize you udth the Holy Ghost." As if he had said : All I do is simply to apply the material element to the bodies of men ; but Christ, of Whom I am the mere herald — my Great Master, my All — He will apply the spiritual element of truth and righteousness to the soul. He Avill bring the very Spirit of God in contact with souls, in order to cleanse them. My ministry is material, symbolic, temporary. His is spirit^ial, real, everlasting. His reverence for Christ is here expressed (2.) By avowing his conscious inferiority to Christ. The people of the East wore only the sole of a shoe bound fast to the foot by strings passed over and round it. In tropic lands this was agreeable. It was the work of the humblest servant in the family to untie this thong. What John means to say is : — I am not worthy of doing even the meanest thing for Him. Christ to him was all, and in all. Thus it is with all true teachers. " God forbid," says Paul, " that I should glory, save in the cross of Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world." Conclusion : Let society look well after its religious teachers, and see that they show that sinceHty in their service, that humility of heart, that reverence for Christ, that came out in the answer of His illustrious Herald, on the banks of the Jordan, to the deputation of the Jewish Sanhedrim. " Would I describe a preacher such as Paul, Were he on earth, would hear, approve, and own, Paul should himself direct me. I would trace His master-strokes, and draw from his design : I would express him simple, grave, sincere : In doctrine uncorrupt, in language plain. And plain in manner : decent, >olenui, chaste, And natural in gesture : much impress'd Himself, as conscious of his awful charge, And anxious mainly that the (lock he feeds May feel it too : affectionate in look, And tender in address, as well becomes A messenger of grace to guilty men." — Cowper. ^-7^. JOHN I. 29-34. 35 No. IX. THE GLORIOUS WORK OF CHRIST AND THE SUPREME MISSION OF THE PREACHER. "The next day (r. v. on the morrow) John seeth Jesns coming unto him, and ?aith, B -hold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. This is He of whom I said. After me cometh a man which is preferred (r. v. become) before me : for He was before me. And I knew Him not : but that He should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come (r. v. for this cause came I) baptizing with water. And John bare record, (r. v. witness) saying, I saw (r. v. have beheld) the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, (r. v. as a dove out op heaven) and it abode upon Him. And I knew Him not : but He that sent me to baptize v/ith water, the same (r. v. he) said unto me, Upon whom (r. v. whomsoever) thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining (r. v. abiding) on Him, the same is He which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost (r. v. spirit). And I saw, and bare record (r. v. have seen and have BORNE witness) that this is the Son of God."— i. 29 — 34. Exegetigal Remarks. Ver. 29. — tender, yet stately aspect, speaks of " The, next day." These words C(mtain Him as the "Lamb." the testimony which John the Baptist Ver. 31. — "And I hnexo Sim not." addressed to his own disciples concern- The reference is to "whom ye know ing Christ. It was delivered, we are not " of ver. 26, and the assertion is told, -'t/i-e nexi day;" that is, the day not therefore inconsistent with the after the deputation from Jerusalem fact that John did know Him on His had visited him, detailed in the pre- approach to Baptism, ceding verses, and which we have Ver. 32. — " I saw the Spirit descend- already noticed ; and it was, perhaps, ing from heaven like a dove, and it abode immediately after the return of Christ ii,pon Him.'" " The Spirit comes down from the wilderness, where He had from heaven — that is, an influence been tempted by the devil. He ap- passed from God to Jesus. It was not pears now on the banks of the Jordan, an influence starting from Jesus, not a after a terrible moral battle, in which mentalexcitement of Jesus, or the like, He became the triumphant victor. but an objective impartation of the "Behold the Lamb of God." This is Spirit of God to Jesus. The 'dove' descriptive of the harmlessness and in the Scriptures is the figure of peace- holiness of Jesus. Andrew calls Him able and pure simplicity. It serves the Messiah ; Philip the One predicted to characterize the New Testament in the Old Testament ; Nathanael, manner of the revelation of God in the Son of God, the King of Israel ; Jesus, perhaps in distinction from the John, here struck, it may be for the fiery zeal of an Elijah." — Luthardt. moment, as he saw Him in His calm, HOMILETIGS. We shall regard these words as illustrating the glorious work of Christ and the sujjreme mission of the preacher. I. THE GLORIOUS WORK OF CHRIST. What is His work ? To appease Divine vengeance ? To give to the Eternal a certain kind and measure of suffering for a certain number of souls ? It is not said so here. It is to " take aioay the sin of the ivorld." Sin is in the world ; this is the dark fact in its history ; this is at once its curse and its ruin. Christ came " to put D 2 36 THE GENIUS OF THE GOSPEL. away sin" — as Paul has it: to put it away, not from a certain clnss or classes, not from particular sections, but from the WORLD. What does it mean? Not burying in oblivion the/rto^ of sin — the dark fact will ever be memorable ia the universe — but it means taking away its painful consciousness, its dominant power, its polluting influences, its damning issues. First : This is the most difficult work. Senators, poets, sages, priests have tried a thousand times, and through a thousand ages, to put away sin; but they have failed — signally failed. Christ has commenced it. He is pursuing it, and He Avill do it. Secondly : This is the most indispensable work. Sin is the fountain of all our intellectual, social, moral, political, and religious suffering. Until this fountain is dried up, the streams of misery will ever roll through the heart of the world. Sin must be taken away from our literature, our governments, our institutions, our hearts, before the world can be made happy. And this is Christ's work : for this He came into the world, suffered, died, rose, ascended into Heaven, and now manages the universe. Notice — II. THE SUPREME MISSION OF THE PREACHER. What is the great work of the preacher ? Propounding theories, battling for theologies ? No; \mX i^ointing men to CJunst, a.s John did, saying, "Behold the Lamb of God!" There is no reason for supposing that John alludes here either to the Paschal lamb or to the lamb of daily sacrifices. His allusion, most probably, is to the 53rd chapter of Isaiah. The metaphor is descriptive, not neces- sarily of suffering or of sacrifices, but of spotless innocency and holy gentleness. John here directs his disciples to Christ — First : As One Who was to deliver the world from sin. "Behold the Lamb of God, which taJceth away the sin of the world ! " Sin is a small word, but big with meaning. It always implies four things — (1.) The existence of law. (2.) The means of hiGtcing law. (3.) The capahility of obeying law. (4.) Actual dcjJarture from law. The preacher's work is to point men to Christ as the Sin-Deliverer. No one else can do it. " There is no other name given under heaven," &c. Secondly: As One Who was greater than himself. "After me Cometh a Man which is "pref erred before me : for He was before me." This expression is tiie same as that in the 27th verse, and it means, as we have seen, the superiority of Christ, John means by it that He Who is after me in time is greater than me in the universe. Every true preacher should be deeply impressed with the transcemlent superiority of Christ. How deeply did Paul feel this ! " I am the least of all saints," &c. Thirdly : As One Who was revealed to him by Heaven. " Aiid I knew Him not: but thai IL should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with water. And John bare ST. JOHN I. 35—40. 37 record, saying, I saio the Sjnrit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon Him." Christ was revealed to John by the Spirit, which descended from heaven like a dove. Up to that time, it would seem, he did not know Him. " / knciu Him not." At the baptism He was revealed to him in all the beauty of His character and the grandeur of His mission. Unless God reveals Christ to us, we cannot preach Him. How can we make Him known to others unless we know Him ourselves ? And God must impart this knowledge ; "flesh and blood" cannot reveal Him to us. Fourthly : As One Who was the true Baptizer of men. "And I knew Him not: hut He that sent me to hajMze with water, the same said unto me, Upon ivhom thou shalt see the Sjnrit descending, and remaining on Him, the so.me is He 'which haptizeth u-ith the Holy Ghost." Deliverance from sin requires a baptism, a spiritual cleansing. This is the o-eal baptism ; other baptisms are but the shadows and symbols. This baptism is done by Christ, He " haptizeth loith the Holy Ghost." Fifthly : As One Who was the Son of God. " And I saw, and lare record that this is the Son of God" In the Synoptic Gospel Christ is termed the "well-beloved Son;" in St. Paul's writings He is called " God's own Son ; " and in this Gospel He is called " the only begotten Son." It is a title expressive of His Divine essence, relationship, and dignity. Every true preacher must declare Christ to be superhuman and all-perfect. " I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God." (See Liddon's " Bampton Lectures," page 246.) Conclusion : Here, then, is our work as preachers : pointing men to Christ as the One Who is to deliver the world from sin, as the One intinitely greater than ourselves, as the One revealed to our souls by the Spirit of God, as the One Who is to dispense the true baptism to our souls, as the One Who is the Son of God. No. X. CHRIST VS^INNING HIS FIRST TWO DISCIPLES. {Jesihs gains Disciples. — John i. 35 — 51.) " Again the next day after (r. v. on the morrow) John stood, (r. v. was standing) and two of his disciples ; and looking (r. v. he looked) upon Jesus as He walked, he (r. v. and) saith, Behold the Lamb of God ! And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. Then (r. v. and) Jesus turned, and saw (r. v. beheld) them following, and .'aith unto them, AVhat seek ye? They said unto Him : Eabbi, (which is to say, being interpreted, Master,) where dwellest (r. v. abidest) Thou ? He saith unto them. Come and see (r. v. ye shall see). They came and saw where He dwelt, (r. v. abode) and abode with Him that day : i'or it was about the tenth hour. One of the two which heard John speak, and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother." — i. 35 — 40. 38 THE GENIUS OF THE GOSPEL. ExEGETlCAL Remarks. — Ver. 35. — them, WJiat seek ye?" This the Great " Again the next day after John stood, Teacher says to every man. and two of his disciples." We need Ver. 39. — ^^ Come and see." "The not suppose that these two were absent usual foriiiuhi addressed by the Rabbi the previous day. Probably the words to his pupil, when he would invite his they heard the day before had so attention to some striking point or interested them that they came to see new doctrine." " They came and saw the Teacher Himself. ivhere He dtveW " It may have been Ver. 36. — '^ And looking upon Jesus a house, a tent, or, as is often the case as He walked, he saith, Behold the in Palestine, a cave." Lamb of God." John, seeing Jesus Ver. 40. — " One of the two toas walking, repeats the expression as in Andrew." Andrew was a native of verse 29. Bethsaida, and the brother of Simon Ver. 37. — ^^ And the two disciples Peter. The Evangelists give us a very heard him speak, and they followed small amount of information concern- Jesus." " Not as disciples leaving all ing him. He was present .at the as yet, but rather going after Him in feeding of the five thousand : he with the w;iy of enquiry." Philip introduced to Jesus certain Ver. 38. — " Then Jesus turned, and Greeks who desired to see Him. auto them following, and saith unto HOMILETICS. These words are memorable, inasmuch as they record the first men won as adherents by Him, Who came to "gather all men unto Himself." The untold millions of men who will complete the great Church at last beg;an with these two whom Je.sus now won to His doctrines, His enterprise, and Himself. Only the name of one is given, "Andrew, Simon Peter's brother," whilst two disciples are referred to. Who was the other — the unnamed one ? Undoubtedly John — the tender, meditative, intuitional John, the " beloved disciple " — the author of this Gospel. He was too modest to mention his own uama; he was one of those rare men who are too great to aspire after worldly fame. Genuinely great men seek goodness not greatness: their great- ness is unknown to themselves, and by themselves undesired and unsought. The text leads us to notice two things concerning them — I. — THEIR CONVERSION TO CHRIST. Here three things are worthy of note — First : It was effected by their old master, John the Baptist. These two men were called John's disciples — " 2'hc next day after John stood, and tiuo of his disci2}les." They had heard the terrible sermons of John, they had submitted to his baptism, but he now turns them to another Master, One "whose slwe laichet" he told them, "he was not worthy to unloose." It is something uniquely grand, in this selfish world, to see a religious teacher turning his disciples to a Master of a higher type. Preachers of little souls are ever studiously anxious to keep their hearers entirely under their own influence, and when greater instructors appear in their ST. JOHN I. 35-40. 39 circle, they rather "warn their people against them, than direct them to their more enlightened ministry. Not so John the Baptist. Secondly : It was effected by their old master through the proclamation of the grandest truth. That truth was this, " Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh avmy the sin of the world ! " The meaning of this sublime expression we have already explained. The expression is tantamount to all that is contained in the cross, and the cross is the converting power. How did he pronounce these words, with what emphasis and tone ! His eyes helped his voice to give effect to the proclamation, " Aiid looking ujjon Jestts as He walhed, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God ! " The eye is a handmaid to oratory ; its flash of feeling often feathers the arrow of a sentence, and bears it home to the heart of the hearer. Thirdly : It was effected by the old master, after they had heard him without effect. "And the next day after John stood, aiul two of his disciples!' The " day after'' — the day referred to in the preceding paragraph, when John before directed his hearers to the " Lamh of God!' These disciples were undoubtedly present on that occasion ; they heard his voice thundering out the same truth ; but they were not then, it would seem, won to Christ. On the day before, there seems to have been a great multitude listening to John, but we have no account of any of the number accepting Christ; but now he speaks to two only, and the two were converted. " Ami the two discijjles heard him speak, and they followed Jesus!' There are two lessons here for preachers — (1.) Do not be discouraged. If you fail to convert sinners by one sermon, you may by the next. " Be instant in season," &c. (2.) Do not be influenced too much by the size of your congrega- tion. John preached to multitudes on the previous day, apparently witliout effect. He preaches to two now, and the two "folloiced Jesus!' The text leads us to notice — II. — THEIR FELLOWSHIP WITH CHRIST. First : Christ BEGAN the fellowship. " Jesus itemed and saw them following, and saith unto them. What seek ye ? " He knew they were seeking Him. He therefore means, What seek ye loith Me ? — not vjho7n seek ye ? By this question He touched their hearts. He showed that He knew they were seeking something. He gives them an opportunity to ask what they wanted. Christ always begins the fellow.ship^with His disciples; He stimulates their inquiries. Secondly : Christ ENCOURAGED the fellowship. He answers their question. "They said unto Him, Rabbi, where dwellcst Thou?" Where art Thou staying ? a question indicating a desire for a close fellowship, — and here is the answer : " He saith unto them, Come 40 THE GENIUS OF THE GOSPEL. and see." He does not say here or yonder, but come with Me. Christ has nothing to conceal. He wishes the world to know all about Him, to follow all the windings of His life, and to peer into all the details of His history. " Coine and see." This is, in truth, the voice of the whole Gospel to men. Do not judge from hearsay, search for yourselves. Thirdly : Christ CONTINUED the fellowship. " They came ajid saw where He dwelt, and abode with Him that day : for it was about the tenth hour!' The "tenth hour" in the Jewish calculation, was about four o'clock in the afternoon. Ever memorable hour to them, that hour when they entered His lodging-place, and sat down to listen to His words; that was the beginning of a fellow- ship that has been going on until this day, and that may go on for millenniums, ever heightening, ever blest. Conclusion : Behold the " day of small things ; " despise it not. Here is the beginning of the Church ; here is that seed that has already spread over many climes and many ages, and yielded unnumbered harvests. Here is the first drop of that fountain that has swollen into a majestic river. No. XL man's work and Christ's work in the reformation of SOULS. "He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Meshiias, (r. v. Messiah) wliich is, bein^ interpreted, tlie Christ. And he brought him to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, (r. v. jesus looked UPON him) He said, Thou art Simon the Son of Jo'.ia : (r. v. john) thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, A stone (r. v. peter)." — i. 41, 42. ExEGETiCAL REMARKS. — Ver. 41. — his brother than this? What better " He first findeth his own brother can any man do for another than this ? Simon." This means that the first ^^ And tohen Jesus belield h'lm, He said, thing Andrew did on the morning Than art Simon tlie Son of Jona." alter visiting Christ at His dwelling, " This is not necessarily a prophetic was to go in search of his brotlier. declaration by Divine knowledge. It Beautifully natural this. The fra- rather means simply, Tiiis is your ternal instinct. " JFe have found the natural name. Some take the jjhrase Messias." What a sublime discovery interrogatively, ' Art thou 1 ' ' 27ioit to make to his brother ! We have sludt be called Cephas.' Hereafter found Him — Him for whom the past thou shalt win the name of Cephas. ages have been looking, and by whom The Aramaic name is found in the future ages will rise. New Testament, elsewhere, only in Ver. 42. — "And he hronght him to 1 Cor. i. 12 ; iii. 22 ; ix. 5; Gal. i. 18 ; Jesus." What better could he do for ii. 9 ; xi. 14." — Jrestcott. HOMILETICS. These words suggest two things — I. — man's work in the conversion OF SOULS. " He first findeth his oivn brother Simon, and saith unto him. We ST. JOHN I. 41, 42. 41 have found the Messias, which is, heing interpreted, the Christ. And he hrought him to Jesus!' " Brotight him to Jesus ; " this is man's part in the great work of converting souls. He has to bring men to Jesus — not to creeds, theologies, sects, churches, but to the Anointed of God. This work of Andrew was — First : Beneficent, What a universe of good was involved in this simple act ! (1.) What a service was rendered to Peter ! His soul was translated into a new world. (2.) What a service to the disciples of Christ ! The introduction into their society of a nature like his, warm, frank, generous, bold, thoroughly inspired with Christian sentiment, must have been a great gain to that little circle. (8.) What a service was rendered to the whole world ! The Infinite alone can tell the good which Peter has accomplished. By his one sermon on the Day of Pentecost he converted three thousand souls. He became the disciple of Christ, and lovingly interested in all that pertained to the great kingdom of truth. Peter preached the Gospel to the Gentiles. The Infinite alone can tell the amount of good which Peter has already accomplished in the universe. All this must be referred to the simple act of Andrew bringing him to Jesus. From one single human act may issue an influence for good that may go widening and deepening through the centuries. The highest service you can do on earth is to bring men to Jesus. The work of Andrew was — Secondly : Natural. Andrew went to Peter, not as an official, but as a man, a brother. " He first findcth his own brother Simon, and saith unto hhn, We have found the Messias." All that is wanted to bring men to Christ is — (1.) The common attributes of a man. It does not require great genius, learning, or high culture, which distinguish only a few, but that which all men have — common sense. (2.) Common love to Christ. Andrew hastened to Simon with a heart touched and inspired with loving sympathies for Christ. What is wanted in this work is not the influence of man as a scholar, philosopher, priest, or bishop, but the influence of man as man. It is the man, not the preacher, who converts. When the man is lost in the preacher he has no power to win souls to Christ. In modern pulpits we want manhood redeemed from the fetters and grimaces of officialism. The work of Andrew was — Thirdly : Honourable. When Andrew went forth to Peter and persuaded him to come to Jesus, he did a work whose grandeur no seraph could transcend. To introduce a man to Christ is to intro- duce him to One Who in philosophy is infinitely greater than a Socrates, in wealth infinitely greater than a Croesus, in royalty infinitely greater than a Csesar. You bring him to One Who is the wisdom of God, One Who has " the unsearchable riches," One Who is " the Prince of the kings of the earth." The work of authors, sages, statesmen, warriors, is contemptible compared 42 THE GENIUS OF THE GOSPEL. with the work of bringing men to Christ. The work of Andrew was — Fourthly: Exemplary. Andrew in bringing Peter to Christ is an example for universal imitation. (1.) It is an cxam2^le that all can imitate. Though a glorious work, it is nevertheless so simple that it may be accomplished by a child. All that is wanted is a Christ-loving heart. (2.) It is an cxamiile that all should imitate. It is the duty of all Christians to bring men to Christ. It is not a work binding on any particular class, it is an obligation pressing on all. All relations — parents, children, brothers and sisters. All social grades, rich and poor. All intellectual types, the weak and the strong, the learned and the rude. The world is perishing with moral hunger. He is the Bread of Life, Our work is not to bring men to our little systems, sects, and churches, but to Christ. Unless we do this, services, however popular, are neither acceptable to Him nor of worth to human souls. Notice here — II. — Christ's work in the conversion of souls. " And he hrought him to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, He said, Thou art Simon the son of Jona : thott shalt he called Cciihas, tvhich is by interpretation, A stone!' All that we can do is to bring man to Christ : Christ must effect the jjreat change. We can brmg men to Christ, Christ brings men to themselves and to God. Christ did two things to Peter now in effecting the change — First : Made him feel that he was personally known to Him. " Thou art Simon, the son of Jona." Peter might have said, " How dost Thou know me ? I have never met Thee before, and yet Tiiou knovvest me." He felt, no doubt, that Christ had read him through and through, knew all within him and about him. Perhaps this is the first step in every conversion, — man is made to feel that God knows him. " God is in this j^lace, and I knew it not," Secondly : Gave him an ideal character to struggle after, (1 ,) He was brought into contact with that type of character of which he was most signally destitute, (a) The type of character which Christ now held forth to Peter was Christian firmness. He said, " Thou art Simon the son of Jona : thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, A stone." "A stone" is the best emblem which the earth furnishes of firmness. Nothing more firm than granite rocks. What is Christian firmness ? Not obstinacy. Ob- stinacy is such a pertinacious adherence to an opinion or a purpose as will yield neither to reason nor persuasion. Firmness is not hardness. It is foreign to the rough and hearsh and insolent. It is allied to the deepest tenderness. He who set His face as "a flint" was tender. Christian firmness involves two things — enlightened convictions of Christian realities, and fixedness of affections upon ST. JOHN /. 41. 42. 43 the Christian's God. It is a rooting and grounding of the soul in truth and God. There is no nobility without firmness ; whilst the obstinate man is despised, and the fickle man untrusted, the firm man commands reverence. Firmness is an essential element in all that is noble and heroic in character. There is no usefulness without firmness. The vacillating man is as " unstable as water," and cannot excel. Instability is failure in every department of life. The firm men do the work of the world. There is no godliness without firmness. Godliness begins in centering the soul upon the Supremely Good : " O God, my heart is fixed, 1 will sing and give praise." (h) This firmness Peter sadly lacked. Constitutionally Peter was a man of strong impulse and surging passion. He was therefore liable to vacillation and instability. This changefulness painfully shows itself even after his conversion. From impulse you may find him rushing to meet Christ, and endeavouring to walk on the sea, and from lack of faith about to sink into the Avhelming waters. No man confessed the Divinity of Christ with more explicitness and intensity than Peter, and yet after he denied Him thrice, and thrice with oaths. He was the first man to receive a Gentile into the Christian Church, and thus brave the opposition of the Jews; and yet, subsequently, we find him re- fusing to sit down at the Lord's table with converted Gentiles, and thus exposing himself to the righteous censures of St. Paul. Now, Christ in holding up to Peter at their first meeting firmness, held up that very phase of character which he most signally lacked. When Christ said, " Thou slialt he called Cephas — a stone," his inmost soul must have responded, " I am not a stone ; rather than a rock, I am a reed shaken by the wind." When souls come to Christ He makes them feel their missing qualities of good, their lacking attributes of virtue. To the dishonest He holds forth righteousness; to the false, faithfulness; to the greedy, generosity; to the unclean, chastity ; to the sceptical, faith ; to the profane, reverence. Thus He touches the soul on its weak and vicious points. (2.) He is brought into contact with a type of character to reach which is his destiny. " Thoto shall he called Cephas!' Christian firmness was the idea now held forth to Peter's soul. It blazed as a Divine light before him. Ever afterwards we have no doubt he struggled earnestly to attain it. And the struggle involved a moral revolution within. In reading his history, his sermons, and his letters, we see his gradual progress towards this firmness, until in his martyrdom it reached its earthly consum- mation. On the day of Pentecost, how firm ! Standing a prisoner before the Sanhedrim, how firm ! How firm in his preaching to the Gentiles ! — how firm in his first epistle ! We first meet with Peter uncertain as a shifting cloud, and as noisy as a tempest ; we leave him as settled as a star, and as serene in soul as a summer's eve. 44 THE GENIUS OF THE GOSPEL. Conclusion. — First: Christ holds out to all His disciples an ideal. You have the ideal — (1.) In His teachings. (2.) In His example. Secondly : This ideal is at variance with our natural disposi- tions. It was so now witli Peter. In his case Christ held forth tlie morally firm to the fickle and the turbulent. Thirdly : Though the ideal is at variance with our natural dis- position, we must struggle after and reach it. What is our grand work in life ? To realize those ideals of character that Jesus of Nazareth holds forth to our souls. Blessed be His name for those ideals, they are the lights of tlie moral world ! No. XII. A GENUINE EVANGELIZER AND A GENUINE TRUTH-SEEKER. "Tlie day foUowinfr Jer^us would (r. v. ox the morrow he was minded to) go torth into Galilee, and findetli Philip, and .'^aitli unto him, Follow Me. Now Philip was of (r. v. from) Bethsaiila, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip Jindeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found Him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, .Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any (r. v. CAN any) good thing come out of Nazareth ? Philip said unto him, Come and see. Jesus saw Nathanael couiing to him, and saith of him. Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile ! Nathanael saith unto him, Whence knowest thou me ? Jesus answered and said unto him, Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast iinder the fig tree, I saw thee. Nathanael answered and saith unto him, Rabbi, Thou art the Son of God ; Thou art the King of Israel. Jesus answered and said unto him, Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under (r. v. underneath) the fig tree, belie vest thou? thou shalt see greater things than these. And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto j'ou, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, (r. v. THE heaven opened) and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man." — i. 43 — 51. ExEGETiCAL Remarks. — Ver. 43. — an introduction to Jesus, and instead " Tlie day followbig." This was the of going to Jesus, he goes to Andrew, next day after Peter was called and to join him in the work (John xii. 22). designated, and the fourth day after We find him also present at the last what is recorded in the nineteenth supper (John xiv. 8). verse. The scene of the events here Ver. 45. — ^^ Philip Jindeth Nathan- recorded we are told was " Bethsaida," aeV We have but very little inform- not the Bethsaida at the head of the ation concerning Nathanael. He is Lake sometimes called Beth.saida- generally supposed to be the same as Julius, but the Bethsaida on the is sometimes called Bartholomew. The wc-^tern side of the lake where Christ fact that in the first three gospels wrought many of His miracles, and Philip and Bartholomew are cora- which shared His denunciation with monly named together, and Nathanael Capernaum on account of its unbelief. is not mentioned, affords ground for '■'■ Findcth Philip" Philip is re- the belief that the two names are the ferred to in three or four places in designation of the same person. We the New Testament. We find him learn that he was a native of Galilee present 'at the miracle of the loaves (John xxi. 2) ; that he was one of the and fi.shes (John vi. 7). We find him twelve Apostles ; that he was one to appealed to by the Greeks, requesting whom our Lord appeared at the Sea ST. JOHN I. 43-51- 45 of Tiberias after His resurrection ; and marked the person of the Israelite that he was also a witness of the witkout guile." — Lm\ge.. Ascension, and returned with the other Ver. 51. — "Verily, verily.'^ "We Apostles to Jerusalem. meet for the first time with the for- Ver. 47. — "Behold an Israelite-, in mula Amen, Amen, which is found whom is no guile." "The word of tAventy-five times in John, and nowhere the Lord, addressed not directly to else in the New Testament. Thence is Nathanael, but to others on his ap- derived the title of Jesus, the Amen." proach. The reason why Nathanael — Godet. " Angels af God." "Angels is called a genuine Israelite is his free- are the instruments of Divine power dom from i'alsehood. In the Jewish in the domain of nature. This saying nature there was much guile." refers therefore to phenomena which, Ver. 49. — ■" When thou wast xmder while passing the domain of nature, the Jig tree." "Jesus must have seen are due to a causality superior to the something in the spiritual posture of laws of nature." Nathanael under the fig tree which HOMILETICS. Here we have — I. — A GENUINE EVANGELIZER. Philip represents this character. We find two things here con- nected witli his history which are essential to every genuine Evangehzer. First : He is called by Christ. " Jesus would go forth into Galilee, and findeth Fhilijy, and saith unto him, Follow Me." " Follow Me ;" what words are these ! (1.) Christ's masterhood is in them. They seemed to rise higher in authority than the words He had uttered just before — " Come and see." Were He onl}^ a man this utterance would be the height of arrogance, but being Divine it is in beautiful accord with His character. " Folloio Me ; " I am your Teacher, your Chieftain, your Lord. (2.) God's law is in them. They are an epitome of the moral code of the universe ; they contain the Decalogue and more. Christ is the Divine law of humanity, the law in human life, experience, and conduct. The whole duty of man is reduced to these two words, " Follotu Me." (3.) Converting force is in them. There went with these words an energy that not only arrested the attention but turned the whole nature of Philip to Christ. He began to follow Him at once, and continued doing so through his mortal life, and has not, I presume, paused in his Divine career through all the ages since. This is the first step a man must take to become a true Evangelizer. Secondly: He calls men to Christ. " Fhilip Jindeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found Him of Whom Moses in the la%o, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph." The same feeling tliat prom])ted Andrew to search out his brother Simon (ver. 41) prompted Philip now to find out Nathanael. He "findeth Nathanael ; " this is Ids first Evangelic effort. No sooner does a man become a crenuine follower of Christ 46 THE GENIUS OF THE GOSPEL. than lie feels at once an earnest solicitude to bring others to a knowledt];e of his blessed Master. Such is the influence which Christ's truth and love has upon the social affections of His disciples, that they feel at once the " necessity laid upon them " to preach the Gospel. Here then is the genuine Evangelizer. He is a man who first follows Christ, and then finds out others to join him in the moral march. The other character which the narrative presents to us is : II. — A GENUINE TRUTH-SEEKER. Who is the truth-seeker ? Nathanael. He puts the question to Philip, " Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth ? " Observe three things in relation to him as a truth-seeker — First, His efforts as a genuine ti-uth-seeker. (1.) l^Q hearkens to information concerning the truth. ''Philip saith to him, we have found Him of u'hom Moses in the law" &c., and Nathanael listens. He listens attentively to the statement that One was found amongst them who was the substance of Him of whom Moses and the prophets did write. Christ is the Bible.S Philip in this language imj^lies the opinion that Christ was the grand theme of the Old Testament writings. So,- indeed, we are everywhere taught to regard Him. The ceremonies of the Mosaic system were shadows of which He was the substance. The pre- dictions of the prophets were but sketches of a portrait of which He was the Original. Christ Himself taught this more than once, and especially to the disciples on the way to Emmaus after His resurrection ; for in that conversation, " Beginning at Moses and all the prophets, He expounded unto them in all the Scrijjtures the things concerning Himself." Christ is the spiritual substance of the Bible. He that believes in Him believes in the Bible, though he may not be able to believe in all the statements contained in the Book. Nathanael hearkened to this wonderful intelligence concerning Christ. (2.) He renounces a prejudice against the truth. " And Nathanael said unto hhn, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth?" Bethlehem was the Messiah's predicted birthplace. Nazareth had no mention in the prophecies concerning Him, still Philip said Nazareth ; and Nathanael felt that if He came from Nazareth He could not be the Messiah. " Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth ? " The ill repute of Nazareth was proverbial. The prejudice that no good thing " could come out of Nazareth" started as the first opposition to the truth that Philip had propounded. This prejudice of Nathanael, hke most prejudices, had but a poor foundation. It implies an exaggerated estimate of the power of social influence. It goes on the assumption that if the great bulk of a population is bad, no individual can be good. ST, JOHN I. 43-51. 47 But man, endowed as lie is, with the power of independent thought and moral action, can break away Irom any social circle, take a path for himself, and make a character of his own. If he could not do so, he would not be responsible ; and more, he has done so ; and more still, he is morally bound to do so. Still, this prejudice was in Nathanael's way, and this prejudice he overcame. (3.) He ])7vsecutes an inquiry in search of truth. "Philip saith unto him, Come and see. Jesus saw Nathanael" &c. Philip does not reason with him concerning the groundlessness of his prejudice, but merely invites him to " Come and see " for him- self. Nathanael takes his advice, and goes with him. Jesus seeing him approaching goes forth to meet him, says of him, " Behold an Israelite indeed." In pursuing his inquiry — [a) He is influenced by the words of Philip, " Come and see." Such a common sense, straightforward, manly appeal as this he could not easily resist. {h) He is greeted by Christ. ''Behold an Israelite indeed." (c) He is struck by conviction. " Whence knowest Thou me ? " He felt that his very heart had been read by Him Who had proclaimed him to be without " guile " — a sincere seeker for the truth. Secondly : His success as a genuine truth-seeker. To his question, " Wlience knowest Thou me ? " Jesus replies, " Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the Jig tree, I saw thee" These words made him feel at once that he had found the Messiah. Nathanael had been under the fig tree, but did not suppose that any one saw him there. It was customary in those places at this period for students to meet their teachers in the morning and sit and study under the shade of the fig-tree. Nathanael had been there perhaps alone, studying the prophecies concerning the Messiah, and in a guileless spirit invoking Heaven for light. The declaration of Christ led him to exclaim at once, " Bahli, Thou art the Son of God; Thou art the King of Israel." Here is a full avowal of His Messiahship, and it shows that what he had been looking out for he now has. {a) A Divine Teacher. " Bahhi, Son of God." (h) A Divine King. " King of Israel." Thirdly : His blessedness as a genuine truth-seeker. " Jesus answered and said unto him. Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, helicvest thou ? thou shall see greater things than these. And He said unto Him, Verily, Verily, I say unto you, Here- after ye shall see heaven open" &c. The language implies two things. (1.) That Nathanael noiv had seen great things. What a revelation was made to his soul at this time ! What a revelation of himself, and of the world, and of Christ i When a man first believes in Christ, great things rise on the horizon of his soul. All things up|;ear in new lights ; old things pass away. (2.) That great as the things were that he now saw,/ar go-eater things would he revealed to him in the future. The key to this great 48 THE GENIUS OF THE GOSPEL. saying is Jacob's vision (Gen. xxxiii. 12). Nathanael had called Christ the " Hon of God," Christ calls Himself the " Son of Man." It is the first time He gives Himself this title, the title that He applies to Himself in almost all the subsequent parts of His history. " The So7i of Man " — thoroughly human. Not the son of a Jew, or Gentile, or any particular tribe or race, but of man, the second Adam, the moral head of humanity. The promise is — (a) That he should see a new universe. " Heaven ojjen." (b) A new class of intelligence. " The angels of God." (c) A new order of ministry. " Ascending and descending " — a ministry between lieaven and earth. (d) A new centre of attraction. Angels ascend and descend on th& " Son of Man." What prospects are open to the genuine truth- seeker ! The heavens of his soul will open wider, and grander visions will charm his existence. No. XIII. THE GLORY OF CHRIST IN HIS FIRST MIRACLE, {The marriage at Cana. — John ii. 1 — 11.) "And the third day there was a marriafce in Cana of Galilee ; and the mother of Jesus was there : And both Jesus was called, (r. v. jesus also was bidden) and His disciples, to the niarriacje. And when they wanted wine, (r. v. THE WINE failed) the mother of Jesus saith unto Him, They have no wine. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee ? Mine hour is not yet come. His mother saith unto the servants, What- soever He saith unto you, do it. And (r. v. now) there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner oF the purifying of the Jews, (r. v. after the jews' manner of purifying) containini^ two or three firkins apiece. Jesus saith unto theui, Fill tlie waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim. And He saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor (r. v. ruler) of the feast. And they bare it. When tlie ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made (r. v. now become) wine, ^nd knew not whence it was : (but the servants which drew (r. v. had drawn) the water knew ;) the governor (r. v. ruler) of the feast called (r. v. calleth) the bridegroom, and saitli unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth (r. v. setteth on fikst) good wine ; and when men have wall drunk (r. v. freely) then thatwhich is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now. This beginning of miracles (r. v. his signs) did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth (r. v. manifested) His glory; and His disciples believed on Hiui." — ii. 1 — 11. Exegetical Remarks. — "Ver. 1. — joined together at this time. Soma ^^ The third day." From what? Un- suppose that St. John himself was doubtedly froui the incident recorded the bridegroom — others, Simon th» in tlie preceding verses. ^^ Cana of Canaanite— and otliers think that it Galilee," not the Cana in Samaria. was the marriage of Mary and Cleo- The place is now called Kana el-Jalib, phas. Tiie last is the opinion most a little town about eight or nine miles probable, and most generally accepted, north-easterly of Nazareth. Nathanael " T/ie mother of Jcsas was there." was of this place. "There was a Her husband Joseph does not seem to marriage." There are several tradi- liave been present. Probably he was tions as to the parties who were dead, and she was a widow. Nothing ST. JOHN II. I— II. 49 has been heard of him for eighteen years, when he was in search of Jesus at the Temple. Ver. 2. — "Jesus was called^ and His disciples." They were " called,'' that is, invited. The twelfth verse gives us to understand that His " brethren " were also there. But it is not said that either they or His mother were " called.'' Being relations, they seemed to have been there as a matter of course, and required no invitation. His disciples at this time were Peter and Andrew, James and John, Philip and Bartholomew, and they were all present. Ver. 3. — '• And tvhen they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto Him, They have no wine." Perhaps this marriage- feast continued longer than the usual time, or more guests attended than were first expected, or provided for. Such feasts as these lasted sometimes seven, or even four- teen days. " Tliey have no wine." Why did Mary go to Jesus with this statement? It is certain from her sublime song called the Magnificat, in Luke i. 46—56, as well as what she had often witnessed in the life of her Son, that she regarded Him as being endowed with Divine power. She might, therefore, have desired on such an,interesting occasion to witness in her Son a striking manifestation of power. Ver. 4. — " Jesus sailh unto her. Woman, what have I to do with thee ? Mine hour is not yet come." " Woman," this sounds to us like the language of disrespect or reproach ; but on the lips of Christ it meant nothing of the kind. Citations from ancient authors show that this was a perfectly respectful address, though to us it sounds harsh. Lange ex])resses the thought thus : — " The Lord answered her, that is my concern, not thine, woman ; or, in other words, let Me alone, leave that to Me; thou'rt troubled, tender-hearted one."* "Mine hour is not yet come." " Whatever our Lord intended by the fulness of these words, there was a present sense in which they were meant and received. My time for this public manifestation is fixed — is ap- proaching ; but it is not yet come." * See " Life of Christ," Christ seems to have had a programme — such a work for such an hour. Ver. 5. — " His mother saith unto the servants, IVhatsoever He saith unto you, do it." His mother evidently under- stands His meaning, feels Hisauthority, and bids the servants attend to His behests. Ver. 6. '^ And there were set there six vxiterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece." Why these six waterpots or urns were there is explained by the words "purifying of the Jews." The Jews were accus- tomed to perform many ablutions, both of their persons and articles of furniture, both before and after meals. These earthenware urns were there for the purpose. The quantity of water in these vessels is supposed to have been about a hundred and twenty English gallons. Ver. 7. "Jesus saith unto them. Fill the ivaterpots with water. And they filed them up to the hrim." Here could be no mistake. Water was not poured into empty or partially empty wine-casks that would give to it a wine flavour, but into common earthen wine- pots. All who were there, and John who records it himself being present, give the fact without any qualification. Ver. 8. — " And He saith unto them, Draw out now, and hear unto the governor of the feast. And they hare it." " The governor." This term is used only in this chapter of the New Testament. It means the person (an honoured guest) who presided at the table. The tables had three sides, and the ruler of the feast sat or reclined at the head, opposite the open space. His was the honoured post. There was usually one on his right and one on his left. At the head the one leaning towards him on his right hand (as they all reclined on the left arm) was said to " bear on his bosom." (Ch. xiii. 23.) There were also three persons actually on each of the other two sides of the table. Vers. 9, 10. — " Hlien the ruler of the feast had tasted the tvatcr that tvas made wine, and knew not whence it was : {hut the ser cants which drew the Lange, vol. ii. p. 202. E 50 THE GENIUS OF THE GOSPEL. water knew;) the governor of the feast mentedjuice of the grape. Tlie present called the bridegroom, and saith unto wines of Jerusalem and Lebanon, as him, Erery man at the heginning doth we tasted tlieui, were commonly boiled set forth good uiine ; and lohen m£n and sweet, without intoxicating qnali- have well dnink, then that which is ties, such as we here get in liquors worse : but thou hast kept the good wine called wines. The boiling prevents the until noio." " It is clear from these fermentation. Those were esteemed words that the ruler of the feast did the bestwines which were least strong, not know the miraculous origin of the We may be sure that our Lord's wine wine, but he thought of its coming in would neither be drugged, nor mixed the f)rilinary way from the grape. with deleterious ingredients, but pttre. Notwithstanding this, he pn)nounced For bread He would give a stone as it better than the wine that tliey had soon as for lome He would give poison." previously taken, and was struck with — Jacobus. the fact because it was contrary to Ver. 11. — " This beginning of general social usage. The general mii'acles did Jesus in Ca)ta of Galilee, custom at feasts, he indicates, was to and manifested forth His glory; and bring forth the best wine at first, His disciples believed on Him." There when the keen tastes of the guests had was no miracle before that. This not been deadened by an abundance, miracle brought out the Divine glory but here the best comes last. "This of Christ. The sun of His Divinity ivine was not that fermented liiiuor which had been hidden by clouds which passes now under that name. now br.)ke forth on the hearts of His All wlio know about the wines then disciples, used will understand rather tue unfer- HOMILETICS. This first miracle is to be taken as an illustration of Christ's GLORY. Wherein does His " glory " appear in this e.xtraordinary incident ? I think in the sociality of His nature, the supernatural- ness of His power, and the principle of His procedure. I. — IN THE SOCIALITY OF HIS NATURE. Christ was a full-orbed Man. He had not a particle of the misanthrope or ascetic in His nature. He was brimful of social love and sympathy. His social nature is here revealed — First : In sanctioning a marriage by His presence. " Marriage," says Jeremy Taylor, "is the mother of the world." Without figure it is a dictate of nature, an ordination of God ; and coeval with the existence of the first human pair. Various sects have maintained the unlawfulness of marriage, from the Marcionites of old to the Shakers of modern times. Romanism even now denies its privileges to the sacerdotal class. There are thousands, too, in all ages who, having no theory as to the impropriety of marriage, are too lean natured to rejoice with those who enjoy matrimonial life. Christ, by attending a bridal feast, showed His interest in the relationship, and gave His sanction to it. His social nature is here revealed — Secondly : In promoting conviviality by His services. The beverage provision had run out, tho.'^e entrusted with the respon- sibility of entertaining the guests had become anxious, and Christ I ST. JOHN II. I— II. 51 interposes by a miracle, not only to meet the emergency, but to heighten the enjoyment. John the Baptist seemed to have been of an ascetic turn. He came " neither eating nor drinking," and some of John's disciples fell into the error of imagining that all the pleasures of life were to be eschewed, and that social festivities were wrong. They foolishly thought that the most effectual way to please God was to torment their bodies and destroy their natural inclinations. Such men have existed in all ages. The presence of Jesus at this feast was a protest against this absurdity and outrage. How the social nature of Christ shone on this occasion ! How His sympathies and services heightened the festive hour ! Christ was ever thus. He was no recluse. He mingled with men. He visited their houses, and He sat at their feasts. Had He not been thus social would He have been an example for us ? Would He have had power to attract, comfort, or redeem ? In this miracle He '' mcmifcsted forth His glory" — II. — IN THE SUPERNATURALNESS OF UIS POWER. Here He exhibits a power over nature in turning water into wine. The fact was so clear that no one doubted it, and the faith of the disciples was strengthened by it. Such power over the material world He often manifested afterwards. There is no way of explaining this result apart from His supernatural energy. When nature deviates from her wonted course, our intuitions and our reason force us to recognize a [supernatural agency. Nature is a vast machine, and when its Maker arrests its progress or causes it to produce an unusual result, we call it a miracle. A result is not a miracle because of the greatness or amount of power involved in its production, for there is a larger amount of power visible in nature every day than in any of the miracles on record. There is infinitely more power seen, as St. Augustine intimates, in the wine that comes from the vine-trees every year through the vast and complicated workings of nature than in the converting this water into wine. The miraculousness consists in its being out of the ordinary course. Three things are noteworthy here in relation to Christ's miracle — First : The ease with which it was performed. There is no excitement, no labour. It came as the result of a calm resolve. Secondly : The timeliness of its occurrence. When Mary spoke to Him first, He said, " My hour is not yet come ; " an ex- pression indicating that in His plan there was a special moment for such a work. Christ had a plan. He did not work by caprice or impulse. " The law — the programme — was written in His heart." Christ keeps the moral time of the universe. Every act of His rings out the hour of heaven's decrees. Thirdly : The spirit of its accomplishment. Here is independency. E 2 52 THE GENIUS OF THE GOSPEL. He did not, like Moses, Elias, and the apostles, look to another for power to achieve the work; the power was in Him. He did it Himself. Here is unostentatioustiess. There is no demonstration, no aim at dramatic effect. Like God in nature, all sublimely quiet. In this miracle " He manifested forth His glory" — III. — IN THE PRINCIPLE OF HIS PROCEDURE. The narrative suggests two thoughts in relation to Christ's procedure with men — First : He improves upon the best they have by nature. This family at Cana had water. Christ turned that water into wine. He gave it a new quality and a new flavour. This wine was letter than water, inasmuch as one belonged to the mineral and the other to the vegetable domain. He turned the water of the human thoughts of the old prophets, historians, and apostles, into the wine of inspiration. Their thoughts were human ; but He gave them a new quality, a new aroma. So it is ever. What are the institu- tions of Churches, the writings of theologians, the thoughts of preachers ? They are mere water until He by His Spirit gives them a higher character. Christ always improves what we have by nature. There are natural virtues, but they are mere water until Christ touches them and changes them into spiritual wine. Secondly : He improves upon the best that they have by attainment. The water which filled the urns was nature's gift, but the wine that they had drunk at the first part of the feast was that which they had obtained by their own ingenuity and work. And what does the " governor of the feast " say to that ? " Tlioii, hast hept the best wine of the feast imtil now." * The wine that Christ made was the hcst wine. It does not imply that their wine was bad, but it expressed the fact that His wine was better. In this the ruler of the feast, like Caiaphas afterwards, uttered an unconscious prophecy concerning Christ. This is the rule in Christ's kingdom of souls — a continuous progress from good to better, and from better to best. How different to worldly pleasures ! They pall upon the taste in the course of time. They get from bad to worse. For the Christian the better is always before him. Better, and better still, is always his motto, his destiny. Conclusion : What think you of Christ, brother ? What a noble Man ! How grandly social ! What a Divine Man. Condescending to deviate from His ordinary procedure in order to gratify the wish and strengthen the faith of a few poor people by turning a little water into wine ! What a beneficent Worker ! Ever improving upon the best we have by nature, and making even the best things we have obtained by labour, better and better still ! * See Germs of Thouglit, p. 53. ST. JOHN 11. 12, 13. 53 GERMS OF THOUGHT. No. 11. THE FIRST MIRACLE, " The third day there was a marriage. . ." " This beginning of miracles did Jesus."— ii. 1—11. This first miracle suggests/o^r lines of thought touching Christ's religion — I. — IT IS SOCIAL IN ITS GENIUS. All the j?re-Christian religions, including the Jewish, were more or less ascetic. Most of the corrupt Christian religions also are. Christ, to show that His was sublimely social, began His miracles at a " marriage feast!' Christianity is anti-ascetic. It is thoroughly human in its sympathies. II, — IT IS ORDERLY IN ITS PROGRESS, " Mine hmtr is not yet come." Christ does not move arbitrarily nor eapriciously. He has a " time for everything," a plan of sequence. Why dost Thou not fulfil Thy prophecies ? " Iline hour is not yet eome." Why dost Thou not put all enemies under Thy feet ? " Mitie hotir is not yet come," &c., &c. III. — IT IS HUMAN IN ITS INSTRUMENTALITY, " Jestis saith vMto them, Fill the water-pots with loater" &c. Christ does His work for man by man. " We have this treasure in earthen vessels," &c, IV. — IT IS IMPROVING IN ITS ENJOYMENTS. " Thou hast kept the good wine until now." The pleasures of the world decrease in their enjoyment as one passes on through years ; but those of jjersonal Christlincss increase. It is from better to better. " The end is better than the besfinnincf," No, XIV. THE SOCIALITY AND RELIGIOUSNESS OF CHRIST, "After this He went down to Capernaum, He, and His mother, and His brethren, and His disciples : and they continued there (r. v. there they abode) not many days. And the Jews' passover (r. v. the passover op THE jews) was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem." — ii. 12, 13. ExEGETiCAL REMARKS.— Ver. 12— resided ; some of His most wonderful " After this." That is, after the break- works were wrought there ; also some ing-up of the marriage party of Cana of His grandest sermons were delivered in Galilee. " He rvent doion to Caper- there. (Mark ii. 1 — 28 ; John vi. 25 naum." Capernaum was a city on — 70.) The neglect of its great privi- the western shore of the Sea of Tiberias, leges woke His most fearful denunci- and about ten hours' journey north of ations, and brought on it a doom which Cana. It was called His own city has blotted almost every trace of it out (Matt. ix. 1), because there He often of existence, " He, and His mother.'' 54 THE GENIUS OF THE GOSPEL. No mention is made of His father ; in was at hand." Tliis was an insti- all probability he liad been " gathered tution ordained to commemorate the to his fathers." '^'' And His brethren." exemption, or passing over, of the Who were they? Were they actual families of the Israelites when the brethren, born of the same mother, or destroying angel smote the firstborn only near relatives, as cousins? or of Egypt; also their departure from were they, as some have supposed, the land of bondage. It was one of sons of Joseph, His reputed father, the greatest religious festivals of the by a previous marriage ? Tliese are nation, and Jesus attended to this, as open (juestions, which the reader must He did to all the others. With Ilis decide for himself. '^'^ And His d is- attendance at this Passover His public ciples." Those whose names are men- miuistry may properly be said to begin, tioned in the previous chapter. "J.)wi '■'' Jesus locnt up to Jerusalem.'" It is the\i continued there not many days.^' said that He went (Zomju to Capernaum, The time was short, because the feast but here He went '■'■up" to Jerusalem, of the Passover was just at hand. The description is true geographically Ver. 13. — '■^ And the Jews' passover and socially. HOMILETiaS. This fragment of Gospel history may be taken as illustrating the two sides of our Lord's life — the social and the religious. Notice — I. — HIS SOCIALITY. He goes down from Cana to Capernaum, which is a considerable distance, with his mother, brethren, and disciples, stays there a few days, and then returns, probably with them and others, up to Jerusalem (a greater distance still), in order to celebrate the Passover. Note here two things — First : The great social advantages of Christ's friends. They are not only loving amongst themselves, as in this case, mother, brothers, and disciples, but they have Him with them. How delightful their journey must have been with " Him walking alonw in their midst ! " We should like to have had a record of their conversation. The remarks which probably He made on the beautiful scenery, on the significance of nature, on the character of the Infinite Father, on the object of His own mission, would surely so charm their spirits as to make them unconscious of distance and fatigue. All His disciples have this privilege ; He is with them always ; He not only talks to them by the way, but comes into them, and makes His abode with them. Note — Secondly : The infinite condescension of Christ's love. What a sight ! God incarnate walking the dusty roads with men ! He seems to have gone to Capernaum on their account; He could have wrought His miracles and propounded His doctrines at Cana of Galilee as well as at Capernaum, so far away. But probably these friends of His had business there. We know that Peter's home was there (Matt. viii. 14). He goes for their sake, not for His own. Anywhere would do for Him. We are made for society, ST. JOHN 11. 13—17. 55 but the best of our fellow-men fail to be companions that fully meet our social requirements, and justify our confidence. In Christ we have the society our social natures want ; it is wise, immaculate, self-sacrificing, and almighty. Would that men would make Him their Friend, &c. Notice — II. — HIS RELIGIOUSNESS. He leaves Capernaum for Jerusalem in order to attend a great religious festival. He makes His way for the Temple : no doubt He meets with crowds who join Him on the way to the national festival, and reveals to them His spirit, doctrines, and glory. Religiousness lay at the root of Christ's spiritual life. It was deeper than His sociality — it inspired it, it ruled it. Men were near to Him, but the Father was infinitely nearer. He loved the former compassionately, because He loved the latter supremely. There is no true social love without religion : a man will never love his fellow-man as he ought until he love the Eternal with all his heart. Love for the Great Father is the only fire that can kindle in the soul true love for men. Genuine philanthropy is but one of the many branches of the majestic tree of piety which fills the glorious universe of the good. " He that saith he is in the light and hateth his brother is in darkness even until now." " If a man say I love God and hateth his brother, he is a liar." Conclusion : Brother, wouldst thou have the lest society, nay, the only society worth having ? Invite Christ into thy circle, make Him the centre and inspiration, and He will journey with thee on the rough road of life. Wouldst thou thyself be a good companion to others, a benediction to thy social sphere ? Let religiousness be thine imperial inspiration. Remember that He who gave a delightful inspiration to a marriage festivity at Cana, hastened His footsteps to a religious festivity at Jerusalem. Re- ligion alone can make our society worth having. It hallows, beatifies, and immortalizes all human friendshijDS. No. XV. THE IDEAL AND THE ACTUAL TEMPLE. {At the Passover. — John ii. 13 — 17.) " And the Jews' passover (r. v. passover of the jews) was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem, and found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting : and when He had made a scourge of small cords, He drove them (r. v. and cast) all out of the temple, and (r. v. both) the sheep, and the oxen ; and poured out the changers' money, and overthrew the (r. v. their) tables ; and said unto them that sold doves, (r. v. to them that sold the doves he SAID,) Take these things hence ; make not My Father's house an house of merchandise. And His disciples remembered that it was written. The zeal of Thine house hath eaten (r. v. shall eat) me up." — ii. 13 — 17. 56 THE GENIUS OF THE GOSPEL. ExEGETiCAL Remaeks. — Ver. 13. — " A^id, the Jetvs' passover ivas at hand, and Jesus tvent up to Jerusalem." That is, went up from Capernraim. This seems to have been His first visit as a public teacher to the Holy City. "And found in the temph those that sold oxen and sheep and doves." " This was the most remarkable act of Jesus in Jerusalem at this time. By this act He entered upon His public ministry in the very centre of the Theocracy. He found in the temple, that is, in the precincts of the sanctuary, in the courts of the Gentiles, the dealers in oxen, sheep, and doves, as well as the money-changers sitting at their tables. These malpractices had gradually arisen from the wants, usages, and notions of the Jewish nation. Those persons who attended the festivals, or generally the Israelites who offered sacrifices, required animals for that purpose, and thus a cattle market was held. Besides that, according toE.xodus XXX. 13, the Jews paid a temple tax, and in the temple coinage, a half shekel, according to the shekel of the sanctuary ; hence the money-changers were nei-ded. Probably this temple market was originally in the neigh- bourhood of the outer court, and gradually brought within it." — Lange. Ver. 15. — '■'■ And when He had made a scourge of small cords, He drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out tlie changers' money, and overthrew the tables." His mode of procedure is remarkable. He makes a scourge of "snudl cords." This scourge He wields, not against men, but against the oxen and sheep, and against these animals naturally, not merely symbolically. It is a mark of His superiority' that He drives the cattle out directly, as they had run of their own accord from the temple. In the same way He overturns the tables of the money- changers. He takes for granted that no tables ought to stand there. Ver. 16. — " And said unto them that sold doves. Take these things hence; make not My Father's house an Iwuse of mercha)idise." He does not deal in the same way with the doves. He commands them to be tiiken hence. Some see leniency here, and assign as the reason that the doves were sold for the poor. But the reason evidently was, that they were in cages, and to overturn them, as He had overturned the tables of the excliangers, would be to injure them, and they could not themselves break forth from their little prisons. Hence the command to their owners, '■'■Take these things lience." "My Father's house.' Thus He an- nounces His Messiahship, bj' claiming a special relation to the Great God. Ver. 17. — "And His disciples re- membered that it ioas written, Tlie zeal of Thine house luith eaten me up." The last clause is a quotation from Psalm Ixix. When did the disciples remember this passage ? Now or after His resurrection ? At the latter period we think, when He Himself opened to them the Scriptures. This cleansing of the temple is very similar to the jjurifying of the temple, as recorded by the other three evangelists. Was it the same event ? Neander and others suppose that it was so. But against that there are many strong objections. HOMILETICS. As the event here recorded is so similar to that narrated (Matt, xxi. 1 — 16), upon Avhich we have, in our "Genius of the Gospel" on Matthew (page 527), discoursed at length, our remarks now will be very brief. The subject of our discourse in the article referred to was the Ideal and Actual icmijle, under which heading we noticed " The Ideal temple, or the temple as it should be on earth ; " " The Actual temple, or the temple as it is on earth ; " and the " Cleansed temple, or the temple as it will one day be realized by Christ on earth." ST. JOHN II. 13—17. 57 We shall now look at the fact in three aspects — I. — AS THE REVELATION OF CHRIST's GOD-HOOD. There is an air of Divinity about the whole of His procedure. Mark- First : His boldness ! What invincible courag-e it required for a poor Jewish peasant to enter the capital of His country, walk into the temple, the most sacred and majestic edifice in the whole city, around which the most tender and powerful associations of His contemporaries gathered, and strike a blow at once against the habits, the interests, and the jDrejudices of the people ! Surely there is something superhuman in this indomitable daring. Mark — Secondly : His power. The irrational creatures fled before Him, and the traders shrunk away at the moral majesty of His looks. The "scourge of small cords" says one, was taken up and formed into a species of whip rather as a symbol of His command than to be used either on man or beast. The mercenary barterers would have their consciences so stricken as to be overcome with fear. Was this clearing of the temple the achievement of a mere man in the aspect of a poor Hebrew peasant ? Mark — Thirdly : His authority. Observe His calmness. There is no perturbation, but the all-serenity of self-command. Observe His influence : The desecrators fled away abashed. Observe His words — words of command : " Take these things hence." This is not the place for them. Remove them at once. Words, too, claiming especial relationship to the Infinite Father: " 31 alee not My Father s house a house of merchandise." Who does not see more tlian man in all this ? Are not the beams of Divinity manifest in all ? Look at the fact — II. — AS AN EMBLEM OF CHRIST's MISSION. This is an emblem of the work which He has to do. To cleanse religion of all that is mercenary and selfish. He is in His temple, and He does what Malachi had prophesied of Him — " He is as a refiner's fire, and as a fuller's soap ; His fan is in His hand, and He is purging His floor," What He did now at Jerusalem is His great work in the world — clearing away all worldliness from the worship of God. Ecclesiastics have filled the modern Church with worldliness. Do not men bring traffic now into churches ? If they drive not the actual cattle into the sanctuary, and set not up the tables of merchandise, do they not carry the schemes of the world in their brain, and the inspiration of the world in their heart ! The great want of Christendom is a work by Christ similar to that which He now wrought in the temple at Jerusalem, We know that He is amongst us, and His object is to cleanse our 58 THE GENIUS OF THE GOSPEL. temples; but as He works by moral means, the process seems depress! ngly slow. Look at the fact — III. — AS AN EXAMPLE FOR CHRIST'S DISCIPLES. What Christ did we all should do — endeavour to drive worldliness from all the " temples " of men. The worldly spirit is antagonistic to the mind of God, and a curse to the human soul. This spirit must be exorcised. " He that loveth the world, the love of the Father is not in him." Let us drive out the world from the temple of our own natures. Let us do it as Christ now cleared the temple at Jerusalem — boldly, authoritatively, with all the might of our manhood, and with a burning " zeal " for the house of our Father. " Welcome, welcome to our hearts, Lord ! here Thou hast a temple too, and full as dear As that in Zion, aiid as full of sin ; How lona shall thieves and robbers dwell therein 1 " No. XVI. THE DEATH AND RESURRECTION OF CHRIST, "Then answered the Jews (r. v. the jews therefore answered) and said unto Him, What sign sliewest Thou unto us, seeing that Thou doest these things ? Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. Then said tlie Jews, Forty and six years was tliis temple in building, and wilt Thou rear (r. v. raise) it up in three days 1 But He spake of the temple of His body. When therefore He was risen (r. v. raised) from the dead. His disciples remembered that He had said this unto them ; (r. v. spake this) and they believed the Scripture, and the word which Jesus had said." — ii. 18 — 22. ExEGETiCAL REMARKS. — Ver. 18. — - Ver. 19." — ^^ Jef'us answered and said " Then answered the Jews and said iinto them, Destroy this temple, and in unto Him, What sign shewest Thou three days I will raise it up." " This u7ito us, seeing that Thou doest these temple." What temple ? The Jewish things?" "This agrees with the de- temple at Jerusalem— that in which mand which tliey afterwards made He had just performed the miracle of upon Him at the second cleansing. cleansing ? No ; the temple of His (See Matt, xxi.) They required to body. '■^ Tlus temple." Some suppose know by miracle His authority for that when he uttered these words He such a proceeding, according to His pointed to His body. His body was claim in ver. 1(3, that the temple was a " temple," inasmuch as it was the His Father's house, and He of course dwelling-place and meeting-place of the Son of God." (See my "Genius the great God. ^^ Destro;/ this temple.' of the Gospel " on Matt, in loco.) What This must not be taken as a command "sign?" Here is the unreasonableness to them to murder Him. The Holy of scepticism. Had these men not been One would not encourage such an visited with the most striking display enormity. It is, I think, liypothetical. of miraculous power in the clearing of If you " de^troii this temple," and you the temple ? Yet these cavillers ask will do it, I will raise it again in three for more; "captious men, they are days. He means to s;iy, I know you like owls that hoot, and ask to see the will destroy this body, and when you sun at noon." do it, in three days after " I will raise ST. JOHN II. 18—22. 59 it up." He repeats this (Matt. xii. (Matt. xxvi. 61), their falsity consisted 39) : And this prophecy has been in- in putting a different sense to His controvertibly fulfilled. In all history words, and really alterin;^ them also, there is no fact better attested than so as to make quite a different mean- the fact of Christ's Resurrection. ing. " I am able to destroy," &c., Ver. 20. — " Then said the Jews, representing Him as an enemy to the Forty and six years ^vas this temple in temple ; and some added that He building, and wilt Thou rear it up in " would raise another built without three days?" This temple restored hands." and beautified, by Herod the Great, Ver. 22. — " When therefore He was from the second temple of Zerubbabel, risen from the dead. His disciples re- was begun in the eighteenth year of m,embered that He had said this imto his reign, reckoning from the death them; and they believed the Scripture, of Antigonus. This would be sixteen and the word which Jesus had said." years before the birth of Christ, or The " Scripture '' here refers to the twenty years before our era. And Old Testament, the Law, the Projjhets, counting thirty years after that, for and the Psalms. " jbid they believed our Lord's age at this time, we have the Scripture, and the ivord tvhich forty-six years. As the temple was Jesus had said." After what Christ not yet finished, the meaning is that had said to them (Matt. xix. 18 ; Luke this structure had already been so xx. 32, 33), they saw that the Old many years in the course of building. Scriptures referred to the Resurrection When this saying was brought up of the Messiah, and they believed, against Him by the false witnesses HOMILETICS. The words point to two of the greatest facts in the wonderful life of the world's Great Redeemer, namely, His death and resur- rection. They are presented here in two aspects. I. — AS EVENTS PREDICTED. " Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I ivill raise it uf)!' The words furnish four remarks in relation to their prediction. First : They are given as an answer to scepticism, " Then ansiDered the Jews and said unto Him, What sign slieivest Thou unto us, seeing that Thou doest these things ? " " What sign ? " Had they not already received a "sign" sufficient to convince them of His Messiahship ? Had He not driven from the temple not only the sheep and the oxen, but the mercenary men who trafficked within the Holy precincts ? Could the poor and despised Nazarene of His own power have thus cleared the Temple as in a moment ? What less than a flash of Divinity could have struck their consciences, and sent profane and sordid traders quailing from His presence ? These events — namely, Christ's death and I'esurrection — are here and elsewhere given as the conclusive, ultimate, and crowning proof of His Messiahship. Another remark the words furnish in relation to the events predicted here, is — Secondly: They are given in a metaphorical garb. "Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days 6o THE GENIUS OF THE GOSPEL. I will raise it wp!' "Destroy this temple" is not, as we have seen, a command, but a prediction. It means you will destroy this temple. Christ's body was a "temple" in many respects. (1.) ])ivinity spcciallt/ built it. Tlie Temple of Jerusalem was built by God (1 (Jhron. xviii. 19). (2.) Divinity dwelt in it. In the Temple of Jerusalem the Shekinah, the symbol of the Divine Presence, majestically shone for ages. Christ's body was the shrine of the Eternal. In Him " dwelt all the fulness of the God- head bodily." (3.) Divinity was revealed through it. The temple at Jerusalem was the scene of Divine manifestations, so was the temple of Christ's body. (4.) Divinity was met in it. The temple at Jerusalem was the place where men met with God, and com- muned with Him "from off the Mercy-seat." Another remark the words furnish in relation to their prediction, is — Thirdly : They are given as suggestive of His Godhood. (1.) He here predicts the fact and authors of His own death. He means to say this temple will be destroyed, and you will do it. As if He had said, " I foresee My end : I know all about it. You are the men who will take away My life." This foresight certainly indicates super-humanity. (2.) He here predicts His own restora- tion. " In three days I will raise it up." Who amongst the untold millions of men who have lived and died have ever been able to raise themselves from the dead ? Christ here declares that He would, and history shows that He did so. Another remark the words furnish in relation to their prediction, is — Fourthly : They are given but were misunderstood. " Then said the Jews, Forty ami six years %oas this temple in huilding, and wilt Thou rear it up in three days ? But He spake of the temple of His body." They now, as ever, put a wrong construction on His words. They were too blinded by prejudice to perceive their spiritual import. These two facts, therefore, in Christ's history, namely, His death and resurrection, were once mere predictions — events looming in the future, seen only by the eye of faith. But they are here presented also in a higher form, namely — II. — AS FACTS ACCOMPLISHED. " When therefore He was risen from, the dead." He did rise. No fact in history is better attested than this. He realized His own predictions. The passage points to two good i^urposes which these important facts answered. First: They threw light on the revelations of the past. "His disciples remembered that He had said this unto tJicm." The facts of Christ's history light up all past Divine revelations. The old is to be understood by the new, not the new by the old. Christ's biography is at once the substance and interpretation of the Bible. ST. JOHN II. 23—25. 61 Secondly : They established confidence in the word of God. " They believed the Scri2)hire, and the word tvhich Jesus had said." (1.) In His word as contained in the Old Testament. Though they held the Old Testament as Divine before, they never saw its meaning so clearly as now in the light of these facts. (2.) In His word, as contained in the teaching of Christ. " And the word which Jesus had said." Observe in conclusion — First : That the genuine religion of humanity rests on FACTS. It does not rest on theories, speculations, or inferences, but on facts. It has, therefore, the same foundation as all true science. Secondly : These facts refer specially to the history of one PERSONALITY. Christ's death and resurrection. These are the pillars. Tlie latter, of course, involves the former. Thirdly : These facts if accepted interpret prophecies, and ESTABLISH FAITH IN GOD, Experience solves enigmas. Christ's history throws light on the dark domain of ancient predictions. No. XVII. Christ's distrust of certain believers and his thorough knowledge of human nature, *'Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, in (r. v. during) the feast day, many believed in (r. v. on) His name, when they saw the miracles (r. v. beholding his signs) which He did. But Jesus did not commit (r. v. trust) Himself unto them, because (r. v. for that) He knew all men, And needed not that any should testify of (r. v. one shoui,d bear witness concerning) man : for He (r. v. himself) knew what was in man."— ii. 23—25. ExEGETiCAL REMARKS, — Ver, 23. — with tokens of Divine power. What ^^ Now when He was in Jerusalem, at "miracles" they were we are not told, the Passover, in the feast day." All the other evangelists do not refer to religions seem to have their feasts. them. We have only a fragment of Amongst the Greeks and Romans Christ's voluminous biography. Pro- these feasts were celebrated at the bably His wondrous deeds animated Olympian and other games. The Jews them with such enthusiasm, that they had three great feasts, the passover, were ready to proclaim Him king. the pentecost, and the feast of taber- They would feel that to fight on their nacles. The first was held before the way to Caesar's throne, under tiie beginning ot harvest. " Many believed banner of a Man who could work in His name, when they saw the miracles such wonders, would be to fight with- which He did." " Miracles,^ ^ whilst out the possibility of defeat, and with they philosophically cannot be con- the certainty of brilliant triumph, sidered a proof of the Divinity either Ver. 24. — '■^ But Jesus did not com- of a messenger or message, were never- m,it Himself unto them,." He read theless designed and suited to promote their motives and properly estimated faith : they arrested attention, roused the value of their enthusiasm. He the embruted soul of the thoughtless, knew the worth of the Hosannas of and thrilled the witnessing multitudes an empty crowd. 62 THE GENIUS OF THE GOSPEL. Ver. 25. —" f?ecai covered, but the risings, , fallings, and change in different direc- tions many times in the day of those | gentle breezes here referred to will I probably ever be a mystery to us ; so will be the operations of the new birth." — Brown. It has been suggested that a sudden blast might have blown at this moment, and given rise to this illustration. Ver. 9.—" Nicodemus answered and said unto Him, How can these things be?" "From this moment," says Stier, " Nicodemus says nothing more, but has sunk into a disciple who has found his true Teacher." Ver. }0.—" Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master (r. v. the teacher) of Israel, and knowest (r. v. understandest) not these things?" The idea is tliat the high standing of Nicodemus as a master of Israel should prevent his amazement at these simple truths. He should have known that the spiritual change in the Jews was spoken of as a new birth.— Jeremiah xxxi. 31—33; Ezekiel xviii. 31; xxxvi. 26. Ver. 11.—" Verily, verily, I say unto thee. We speak that we do know, and testify (r. v. bear witness of) that we have seen ; and ye receive not our witness." Here we have the plural for the singular— "we speak." Here is the personal certitude of Christ meet- ing the ignorance of Nicodemuj. "^e" — John and I, the Eternal Father and I. " We know," we are conscious of what we affirm, " we have seen." Ver. 12.— "If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell yuu of heavenly things ? " " In reference probably to ^ THE GENIUS OF THE GOSPEL. the phrase being bom again, which was in conunon u>e among the Jews, as signifying conversion from heathen- ism lo their religion. Heavenly things, t. e. more advanced and spiritual views, as to the nature of the Messiah's king- dom, and the admission of the Gentiles to its privileges. You stumble in crossing the threshold of my religion, how then can you hope to penetrate its minor glories ? " — Livermare. Ver. 13. — ^^ And no man hath ascended tip to heaven, but He that came down from heaven, even the Son of man ivhich is in heaven^ Local ascent and descent are not to be under- stood here. As a Divine Teacher Christ was in heaven as well as on earth. No mind but His Who came down from heaven ever ascended up to heaven to bring down the heavenly truths. Vc-r. 14. — " Aiid. as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so mtist the Son of man be lifted itp." Here He rises from the earthly thing, regeneration, to the heavenly thing, His own mediation. For the historic fact here used as a symbol, see Num- bers xxi, 9. Ver. 16.— "J<'or God so loved the toorld, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in (r. v. on) Him shoidd not perish, but have everlasting (r. v. eternal) life." No explanation can make these words clearer than they are : you cannot brighten the sun. " The World." Tuv Koafiov. This is to be taken in its widest sense. Here the Evangelist declares the love of God, the great originating cause of Christ's mission — "everlasting life" — the end of His mission. "The nature of the condem- nation consists in rejecting the light and choosing darkness, not in being a Jew or a Gentile. This is the con- demnation. Or it is itself a condem- nation that light is come, &c. Profound disclosures of human nature are here made, which the experience of the whole world confirms. Men shrink from the light which exposes their moral deficiencies or deformities as the diseased eye from the shining of the sun. The images of light and dark- ness have been thought to be suggested by Niiodemus coming to Jesus by night." — Livcrmore. HOMILETICS. This chapter may be regarded as exhibiting a good view of tlie Gospel School. It presents to us three things connected with this School : a distinguished student, a glorious Master, and a character- istic theology. I. — A DISTINGUISHED STUDENT. Notice — First: His religious sect. He was a "Pharisee." Of all religious sects that prevailed amongst the Jews, that of the Pharisees was the most proud, sanctimonious, exclusive and influential. John the Baptist had denounced them as a " Genera- tion of Vipers," &c., Christ had warned His disciples against the leaven of their influence, and thundered at them many tremendous woes. They were the leading antagonists to the Son of God. To this sect Nicodemus belonged, as did Paul also. How interesting it is to see men breaking away from the shackles of old associations and the exclusiveness of a bigoted part3^ Notice — Secondly : His civil position. He was " a rider of the Jews." He was one of the leading men of his age, a magnate in Jerusalem, a member of the Jewish Sanhedrim, the great council of the ST. JOHN III. I— 21. ej nation. A refreshing sight is this. A man, high in the society of his age and country, invested with civil authority, seeking know- ledge at the hands of the reputed son of a carpenter. I see in this a picture of what ever ought to be, and what must be, ere tlie destiny of the race is complete. Ignorance in worldly power and splendour bowing before intelligence in lowliness and poverty. Nicodemus had come to feel that man could not live by bread alone, that he had deeper and more vital wants. Notice — Thirdly : His moral timidity. " The, same came to Jesus ly night." He came " iy night " from fear of the Jews. He was a man that lacked at this stage of his history moral courage. Indeed, this seemed to be the great defect in his character. The questiim which he put in the council on one occasion (John vii. 13), "Doth our Lord judge any man ? " &c., indicates a sad lack of bravery. Why did he not protest in thunder instead of interrogating ? Tlie secret way afterwards in which he came to Pilate to render respect to the crucified body of Christ, shows a craven heart. He loved truth, but he feared men. Still the love of truth was sufficiently strong in him to -bring him to Christ in the night. This feature in his character cannot be admired, nor must it be imitated. We should like to have seen him go in open day before thousands of his countrymen to the poor Galilean in search of truth. Notice — Fourthly : His respectful behaviour. " He said unto Him, Babhi." This title of respect is in some places rendered " Master." He recognized in Christ a moral Lord, and he approached Him with the utmost deference. Worldliness had not so closed his eyes as to prevent him seeing intellectual and moral greatness in the forms of poverty and meanness. As a rule Avisdom has ever dwelt amongst the lowly and unpopular. Notice — Fifthly: His evident sincerity. He acknowledges at once 1,. conviction of the Divinity of Christ's mission. " We knotv UoU' Thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these iniracles except God he with Him." He does not say that no man could perform miracles without God, but he says no man can do stich miracles as Christ had wrought. His miracles were miracles, of mercy. His miracles were the miracles of one Whose character was perfect, and Whose doctrines accorded with all that was morally intuitional in human souls. Such is the distinguished student which we here find in this Gospel School. Here he sits at the feet of Christ. " Nicodemus," says Lange, " is better than his theology ; in theology he is the type of a rationalizing supernaturalism ; in character he is an inquiring child involved in the prejudices of old age." We proceed now to notice — F 2 68 THE GENIUS OF THE GOSPEL. II. — THE TRANSCENDENT TEACHER. Christ, the great Founder of this Gospel School, was now present, and dealt directly with this distinguished inquirer. Concerning Him, we have to notice three things : First: The spirit He exemplifies. (1.) Here is the spirit of faithfulness. In reply to the inquirer there is no circumlocution, no temporizing, no attempt to make truth palatable, but with the abruptness of a spirit fired with truth, He says, " Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a man he horn again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." Words suited to shake his Piiarisaism to its foundation. (2.) Here is the spirit of earnestness. The necessity of the change He repeats thrice in words of fire. (3.) H^re is the spirit of certitude. " We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen."* Here is a consciousness of absolute knowledge. "What I say I know, not by the testimony of otliers, nor by the deduction of a fallible reason, but as a matter of direct vision from My Father." Christ said what He knew to be the truth : His doctrines were as real to Him as His own existence. Another thing indicative of his transcendent greatness is — Secondly : The title He assumes. He calls Himself the Son of Man, and the onl}' begotten Son of God. What does this mean ? f " The Son of Man " — not the Son of Jew, Greek, or Roman. The Son of Man — the ideal Man. The Son of God — the only begotten Son of God. A title this, whose meaning we can never penetrate : a relation whose import we can never fathom. Another thing indicative of His transcendent greatness is — Thirdly : The wonderful mission He claims. He claims a mission from heaven. "No man hath ascended %ip to heaven," % &c. The meaning of tliis apparently paradoxical utterance is, that no man has got the truth by ascending to heaven : He only has got it who came down from heaven, and whose home is in heaven, even the Son of Man Himself. He claims a mission from God, to save the world. " God so loved the woidd, that He gave His only begotten Son," &c. | Such are briefly some of the indications we have here of the transcendent greatness of this Teacher sent from God, from whom Nicodemus was endeavouring to receive religious truth. III. — THE HEAVENLY THEOLOGY. What were the truths inculcated ? They comprehend the two great cardinals of His system, which theology designates regenera- tion and reconciliation; in other words, a change in our moral character and in our moral relations — a subjective and an ob- jective change. The former is developed in the first eleven verses, * See our Nntes on Chapter I. 18, also Germ on p. 71. t See a full discourse at end ol' volume, J See Germs, pp. 72, 73. ST. JOHN III. I— 21. 69 and the latter in the succeeding six. These doctrines are not only similar, but may be regarded as identical. In relation to the points of similarity, we notice three things. (1.) Both are in- dispensable. Without change of character there is no entering into the "kingdom of God." Without change of relation, i. e. reconciliation to God by faith in Christ, there is no life. (2.) Both involve the Divine interposition ; the one the agency of the Spirit, whose operations are as mysterious as the " wind " ; the other the interposition of God's only Son. (3.) Both require faith in Christ, as the Messenger of God's love. This faith is essential both to regenerate and reconcile. But the two are so vitally connected that it is scarcely philosophical to regard them apart. Certainly Christ in this passage does not regard them as distinct, but treats them as one. The subjective change necessarily ensures the objective. Regeneration is reconciliation. The soul being made right in itself is ri^ht with God, and He regards it as such. The truths which Christ taught that night will perhaps come better out by disregarding the classifications and terminologies of theo- logical systems. What then are the general truths which Christ taught Nicodemus ? First : That there is a necessity for a radical moral change in man's character. So thorough is the change that Christ represents it as a " new birth." The change is such a revolution in the governing disposition of the soul as involves a new life, experience, and history. Without it there is no entrance into the "kingdom of God" the kingdom of spiritual truth, love, and blessedness. Christ intimates three things concerning this necessary change. (1.) It requires the agency of the Divine Spirit, which is mysterious, sovereign, and migJdy in its operations. It must be accomplished by "water and the Spirit," and that Spirit is as mysterious as the wind which " bloweth where it listeth," &c. (2.) The non-understanding of it by believers in the Bible is a reprehensible matter. " Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things?"* Thou professest to believe in the Old Scriptures, which are full of it, &c. (3.) The understanding of it is essential to the understanding of the higher aspects of Divine truth. " If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not," &c.* The earthly are those which come within the sphere of human consciousness; the heavenly, those which refer to the wonderful history of Christ, as the Messenger of God's love. Another truth here taught is — Secondly : That the principle of eternal life involved in this change comes to men through the mission of Christ. The new- born life in the soul consists undoubtedly in supreme love to God. This love gives a new experience, a new history to man. * See Germs, pp. 70, 71. ^o THE GENIUS OF THE GOSPEL. It is eternal life. It is everlasting blessedness in embryo. But it conies through Christ. (1.) Through looking at Him as the believing Jew looked upon the brazen serpent in the wilderness. " As Moses lifted iqj" &.c* (2.) Believing on Him as the Messenger of God's love. " Whosoever helicveth on Him," &c. This " eternal life " then comes to the world through Christ. He who ascended to heaven, and came down from heaven, Whose home is heaven, He brought this eternal life to the world. This was the object of His mission. "As Thou hast given Me power over all flesh (mankind), that I should give to all flesh (mankind) that which Thou hast criven Me — Eternal Life." Another truth taught o o here is — Thirdly : That the mission of Christ to the world is to be ascribed to the infinite love of the Father. " God so loved tJic world." Here is an immeasurable ocean, whose depths no intel- lect can fathom. "So loved," &c. Another truth taught here is — Fourthly : That the world's treatment of this manifestation of infinite love determines its moral condition before God. " He that helicveth on Him is not eo7ideriincd : hut he that helicveth not is condemned already," &c.* " This is the eoiulemnation, that light is come into the world," &c. We have only given here the bare outlines of the thoughts suggested by this passage. Every passag-e is a fertile text, and on many of them discourses appear below. GERMS OF THOUGHT. No. III. CULPABLE IGNORANCE. " Nicodemus answered and said unto Him, How can these things be ? Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things?" — iii. 9, 10. The culpability of the ignorance of Nicodemus is seen by two facts. I. — HE HAD GREAT OPPORTUNITIES. He was brought up a Pharisee ; he was trained in the Old Testament Scriptures ; he ought to have known what spiritual renovation meant. The religious ignorance of some people is a misfortune ; this man's ignorance was a crime. II, — HE MADE GREAT PRETENSIONS. He was a " muster of Israel." He professed to teach ; he was, however, a mere letterist; he lived in the verbalities of truth, like many of the ecclesiastics of all ages. The language of Christ * See Germs, pp. 72, 74. ST. JOHN III. I— 21. 71 savours of reproof. " Art thou a master of Israel, and hnowest not these things ? " Shame on thee to be ignorant of the spirit of that system in which thou hast been trained, in which thou hast assumed authority ! No. IV. SPIRITUAL TRUTH. " Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen ; and ye receive not our witness. If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things ? "—iii. 11, 12. I. — SPIRITUAL TRUTH HAS ITS ABSOLUTE TEACHER. " We speak that we do hiorv." As if Christ had said, Truth to Me is not a matter of speculation, theory, or reasoning, it is a matter of absolute certitude. We know it, and so " vje testify that we have seen." Physical truth has no absolute teacher. Spiritual truth has a teacher that sj)eaks from holy consciousness. II. — SPIRITUAL TRUTH HAS ITS UNBELIEVERS. "And ye receive not our ivitness." The Sanhedrim had not admitted the testimony of John nor the manifestations of Christ. Sad that men should accept the dogmas of the fallible and reject the doctrines of the infallible. But so it has been and so it is now. III. — SPIRITUAL TRUTH HAS ITS GRADATIONS. " If I have told you earthly things," &c. ; for "earthly" read "human," for "heavenly" read "Divine." What was the earthly or human thing referred to ? Regeneration. This is a matter of human consciousness. All men must have known something of moral revolution. It is a human thing, a thing that comes within human reasoning, consciousness, experience. What was the heavenly or Divine thing referred to ? Manifestly the interposition of Christ. His advent to the world was the effect and expression of God's infinite love. The facts which He states in the subsequent verses are all beyond human reasoning and consciousness, they are Divine. IV. — SPIRITUAL TRUTH HAS ITS LAWS OF STUDY. He who imderstands it must begin at the beginning. " If I have told you earthly things, and ye helieve not, how shall ye helieve, if I tell you of heavenly things ? " Man must understand its human side before he can appreciate its Divine. In other words, he must know the nature and necessity of a radical moral change in him before he can appreciate the goodness, the wisdom, and the interposition of Christ. 72 THE GENIUS OF THE GOSPEL. No. V. THE UNIQUE LIFE. "And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but He that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven." — iii. 13. I. — CHRIST CAME FROM HEAVEN TO EARTH. " He that came down from heaven." He ha'l a prior existence. He was " set up from everlasting." He was in the bosom of the Father. He came down. How infinite His condescension ! II. — CHRIST WAS IN HEAVEN WHILE ON EARTH. " The Son of man lohich is in heaven." While He tabernacled on this earth He was still in heaven. His thoughts, sympathies, spirit were in heaven. He was in heaven, consciously in heaven, while He preached His sermons, wrought His miracles, offered His prayers, and endured His sufferings. Grand, sublimely grand was His life ! Christ stands alone in the universe, there is no one like •Him. Every true teacher of the Gospel must he in heaven spiritually while he is on the earth. No. VI. THE BRAZEN SERPENT AN EMBLEM OF HEAVEN'S ANTIDOTE FOR SIN. " And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up : that whosoever believeth in Him shoiild not perish, but have eternal life." — iii. 14, 15. From this passage we infer — I. — THAT THE ANTIDOTE PROVIDED IN THE GOSPEL IS FOR A LAMENTABLE EVIL. The affliction from which the Jews, bitten by the serpent, suffered resembled sin in three respects. It was imparted — it was painful — it was mortal. It was unlike sin in three respects. It was material, not spiritual — it was a calamity, not a crime — it was transient, not permanent. II. — THE ANTIDOTE PROVIDED IN THE GOSPEL ORIGINATED IN THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD. The brazen serpent did not originate with Moses, or any of the Jews, but with God ; it is so with the Gospel. There are many points of difference in the antidote. (1.) The one was apparently arbitrary, the other was manifestly adapted. (2.) The one was insensible to the sufferer, the other was filled with sympathy. (3.) The one was local in its aspects, the other was world wide. (4.) The one was temporary in its efficacy, the other was abiding in its influence. ST. JOHN III. I— 21. 73 III. — THE ANTIDOTE PROVIDED BY THE GOSPEL REQUIRES THE PERSONAL APPLICATION OF THE SUFFERERS. (1.) Personal application the most simple. The serpent required looking at — Christ believing in. (2.) Personal application the most unmeritoriotis. There is no merit in either looking or be- lieving. (3.) Personal application the most indispensable. Those who did not look died ; and those who do not believe are damned, (4.) Personal application is ever efficacious. Every Jew that looked was healed ; every soul that believes is saved. No. VII. LOVE. "For God so loved tlie world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life."— iii. 16. Here is love : — I. — IN ITS PRIMAL FOUNTAIN. Where does love originate ? All streams from one fountain — God. God has a heart. He is not all sheer intellect. God's heart is benevolent, not unkind. Here is love : — II. — IN ITS HIGHEST FORM. Love for the good and the true is beautiful, but love for enemies ! — This is amazingly grand I (1.) Here is love for guilty men : — Love for the corrupt, the criminal, the morally repulsive. (2.) Here is love for a world of guilty men : — Love for the world without any limitation. Here is love : — III, — IN ITS MIGHTIEST STRENGTH. Making the greatest conceivable sacrifice. " He gave His only legotten Son." Who shall explain this ? How omnipotent this love I Here is love : — IV. — IN ITS MORAL INFLUENCE, How is this love to influence men ? To influence the guilty so as to absolve them, and the enemies so as to atone them, the lost so as to save them ? Simply by faith. The greatest love in the world can only move a moral being by faith. No. VIII. FUNDAMENTAL FACTS OF EVANGELISM. " For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world ; but that the world through Him might be saved." — iii. 17. Christianity is built on facts. These facts are connected with a person, and this person is the Son of God. There are three facts here : 74 THE GENIUS OF THE GOSPEL. I. — THE FIRST FACT IS THIS, GOD SENT HIS SON INTO THE WORLD. This fact implies two things. (1.) That Christ is in some sense separate from the Father. There is a wonderful unity, but at the same time a distinction, (2 ) Clirist is in some sense subordinate of the Father. He is " sent " by the Father. II. — THE SECOND FACT IS THIS, THAT GOD SENT HIS SON INTO THE WORLD NOT TO CONDEMN IT. This is not what might have been expected. Two things might have led one antecedently to expect that if God had sent His Son into the world it would have been to damn it. (1.) The world's wickedness. (2.) The world's ill-treatment of previous messengers. III. — THE THIRD FACT IS THIS, THAT GOD SENT HIS SON INTO THE WORLD TO SAVE IT. What is salvation ? It consists not in physical, intellectual,, or local changes, but in the restoration in the soul of all that it has lost through sin ; — lost freedom, lost harmony, lost love, lost happiness. No. IX. CHRISTIANITY. " He that believeth on Him is not condemned : bi;t he that believeth not is condemned already, because he liath not believed in the name of the only beL,'otten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved." — iii. 18 — 20. These verses present Christianity to us in several aspects. I. — CHRISTIANITY AS THE GREATEST BLESSING. It is a " light." Life is a great blessing. All feel this. " Skin for skin, all that a man hath," &c. But life without light, were it possible, would be worthless and intolerable. Moral light, light to see the eternal truths, the great God and the spiritual hierarchies, is infinitely more valuable than material light, which reveals but the shadows of the spiritual. II. — CHRISTIANITY AS THE GREATEST BLESSING ENTERING THE WORLD. "Light is come into the world." This redemptive light was not always in the world. The workl was once very dark. There were stars, or at least lunar rays, in heathen and Jewish times, but no true solar rays till Christ came, who is the " Light of the world," — the " Sun of Righteousness." ST. JOHN III. 22—36. 75 III. — CHRISTIANITY AS THE GREATEST BLESSING UNAPPRECIATED BY THE WORLD. " Men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil." Corrupt men never did, and never will, appreciate the light of moral rectitude and holiness. It reveals their loathsomeness, and kindles within them the flames of remorse. As the foul birds of night, they hide themselves from its beams. IV. — CHRISTIANITY AS THE GREATEST BLESSING BECOMING A CURSE TO THE WORLD. " This is the condemnation, that light is come into the zvorld." Before the light came they were condemned and guilty, but now that the licrht is come, the guilt is augmented a thousandfold. " Woe unto thee, Chorazin !" The material sun becomes a curse to the burglar and the assassin when its bright beams lead to their discovery. Sinful men convert blessings into curses — this is what they are always doing. Christianity is a transcendent joy to the good. "But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God." Accept Christianity, brothers ! Reject it, and you act as madly as the drowning mariner who refuses to enter the life-boat which floats on the engulfing billows, touches his very hand, and comes . within his reach. ^/ ^A No. XIX. ^7r^ A TWOFOLD MINISTRY. THE MINISTRY OF CHRIST, AND THE } M MINISTRY OF THE BAPTIST. Ad^^ {Jesus remains in Judcea and baptizes. Further testimony of John the BajMst. John iii. 22—36.) " After these things came Jesus and His disciples into the land of Jud3ea,"&c. — iii. 22—36. ExEGETiCAL REMARKS. — Ver. 22. — with Nicodemus at night (John iii. 1 — " After these timujs came Jesus and His 21). All these things are recorded, disciples into the land of Judaia ; and but how many in His fruitful life are there He tarried vnth them, and unregistered ? " Came Jesus and His baptized." Who knows how many disciples into the land of Judma." He things were included in " these things ' ? was in Judaea when He conversed with We only know some ; such as the Nicodemus, but it was in the city — ■ baptism of Christ by John (Matt. iii. Jerusalem. It means here that He 13 — 17 ; Mark i. 9 — 11 ; Luke iii. 21, came into the territory of Judaea as 22) : His temptation of the devil in distinguished from the metropolis, the wilderness (Matt. iv. 1 — 11; Mark "And there He tarried with them." i. 12, 13 ; Luke iv. 1 — 13) : His return It is supposed that He tarried in this into Galilee, and the call of Pliilip and Judrean district from the month of Nathanael (John i. 43- — 50) : His first March till November or December, at miracle at Cana (John ii. 1^11) : His least half a year. "And baptized." presence at the first Passover, the cleans- He Himself we know baptized no ing of the Temple, and His discourse one (see chap. iv. 2). He baptized, 1^ THE GENIUS OF THE GOSPEL. however, by His disciples. What a king's servants do is often spoken of as done by himself. * Ver. 23. — " And John also was bap- tizing in ^non near to Salim, because there was much water there : atid they came, and were baptized." John, not the Apostle and the writer of this Gospel, but the Baptist. Although he had himself baptized Christ, and knew He had entered on His ministry, he continued his work in '^ JEnon." This word signifies a fountain, " be- cause there was much water there." iidara iroWd, " many waters." A place of many small streams. This circum- stance proves nothing for or against immersion. Ver. 24. — " For John was not yet ca^t into prison." "From the fir.st three evangelists one would naturally conclude that our Lord's ministry only ])egan after the Baptist'simprisonment. But here, about six months probably after our Lord had entered on His public ministry, we find the Baptist still at his work. How much longer this continued cannot be determined with certainty, but probably not very long. This little verse is useful in harmonizing the Gospel and deter- mining the probable duration of our Lord's ministry." — Brown. Ver. 25. — '^ Then there arose (r. v. THERE AROSE THEREFORE) a question, (r. v. questioning) between some (r. v. ON THE PART OF) of John's disciples and the Jews about purifying." The different baptizing of John and our Lord so near together naturally led to a question concerning the two. John's disciples, it would seem, started the inquiry : they were perhaps jealous of the waning reputation of their master. Ver. 26. — "And they came unto John,'andsaid nntohim, Rabbi, He that was with thee beyond Jordan, to wlwm thou barest (r. v. hast borne) idtness, behold, the same baptizeth, and all men come to Him." " ' All men.'< TrdpTiQ for oi iroWol, very many. By an hyper- bole usual in the language of those •who speak under the influence of passion and prejudice." — Bloomfield. The spirit, perhaps, of their language is ; " He whom thou didst honour on the banks of the Jordan, when thou didst point men to Him as the true Messiah, is now requiting thy generosity by drawing away all thy followers ; at this rate thou wilt soon have no disciples at all." — Brown. Perhaps they thought that as Jesus had sought baptism of John, He would become John's disciple, but instead of this He had arisen as a rival. Ver. 27. — " John answered and said, A man can receive nothing, except it be (r. v. HAVE been) given him from heaven." " It is not from man, but from heaven, that the cleansing repre- sented by baptism and gift of the Spirit must come. No one entrusted with a commission must exceed his com- mission:" Ver. 28. — " Ye yourselves bear me witness, that I said, lam not the Clirist, but that I am sunt before Him." Per- haps John never plainly called Jesus, Christ or the Messiah, but his language concerning Him always implied it. Ver. 29. — " He thai hath the bride is the bridegroom : but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice : this my joy there- fore is fulfilled." " The subject is here illustrated by a similitude derived from common life (as in Matt. ix. 15 ; Mark ii. 19), in which the Baptist compares Christ to the bridegroom at a marriage feast, and himself to the Trapdwn hilanthropy. We have here-^ I. RELIGIOUS BIGOTRY. This is iUustrated in the conduct of these Jews in relation to this cured man. Religious bigotry is — First : Always punctilious. It lives in words and rituals, it sacrifices the " spirit " to the " letter." It is very true that there was a law prohibiting the carrying of burdens on the Sabbath, but the spirit of the Sabbatic institution was that of universal benevolence. Christ taught that trvx Sahlath-kecping icas well- doing.'^ He who neglects a work of mercy on the Sabbath violates that holy day. The bigot is always quoting words, defending creeds, and observing rites. Religious bigotry is — Secondly : Always heartless. Instead of rejoicing at seeing the poor man, who had been thirty-eight years a cripple, able to walk and to carry his pallet, they seemed to exult that they had caught a transgressor of their law. Bigotry eats up the humanity of men : nothing is more cruel. Not only has it tortured in all ages the best of men, but it transfixed the Son of Man Himself to a cross. " We have a law, and by our law He is to die." Religious bigotry is — Thirdly : Always inquisitorial. " What man is that which said unto thee, Take up thy led, and waJkV They did not ask, Who healed thee ? — they had not sufficient humanity for that — but. Who bade thee take thy bed ? We want to find the lawless profaner out in order to punish him according to our law. Bigotry always prys into the concerns of others ; it built and sustained for ages the infernal Inquisition. " The bigot theologian — in minute Distinctions skilled, and doctrines nnrednced To practice ; in debate how loud ! how long ! How dexterous ! in Christian lov^e how cold ! His vain conceits were orthodox alone. The immutable and heavenly truth revealed By G(id, was nought to him : he had an art, A kind of hellish cliarm, that made the lips Of truth speak falsehood : to his liking turned The meaning of the text : made trifles seem The marrow of salvation : to a word, A name, a sect, that sounded in the ear And to the eye so many letters showed, But did no more — gave value infinite : Proved still Ids reasoning best, and his belief Though propped on fancies, wild as madmen's dreams Most rational, most scriptural, most sound : Willi mortal heresy denouncing all Wlio in his arguments could see no force." — Bobert Pollok. * See an article on this subject in " Genius of the Gospel on Matthew." ST. JOHN V. 14, 15. 125 We have here — II. — DIVINE PHILANTHROPY. Here in the work of Christ we have a glorious specimen of Divine philanthropy. First : It is healing. It restored this " imiMtcnt " man, who had been lying at the pool of Betbesda for well-nigh forty years. Divine philanthropy does not expend itself in sighs of compassion and expressions of love : it works. It works amongst the suffering, and works with a power to restore the worst of cases. " Christ is able to save to the uttermost," &c. Secondly : It is unrestricted. It is tied down by no letter or ceremony. All days and places are alike to it. Love is above all law ; it is always lawful to do good. There is a thing called philanthropy on earth that is restricted by sects, bound by rules, and operates only through certain organizations : this is not the Divine thing. The Divine thing is as free as the air, and all- encompassing as the heavens. Thirdly : It is commanding. " He that made me lohole, the same said itnto me, TaJxe up thy bed, and walk." The man obeyed, though he knew not Who it was that bade him. The love that restored him became a sovereign within him. No power has such a com- manding influence over us as the power of love. This man knew as he walked forth on the Sabbath-day with his bed on his back that he set at defiance the prejudice of the people around him ; yet love bound him to it and made him invincible. " The love of Christ constraineth us." Fourthly: It is unpretending. "Jesus had coiweycd Himself aumy, a m%iltitude being in that plaee!' Crowds were about Him at this time. The knowledge of the fact would in all probability have evoked their hosannas. All this was distasteful to Christ, hence He glided away; so silently withdrew that the man lost sight of Him at once. Divine philanthropy courts not applause, and seeks no reward but in the good it does. Conclusion. Such is Divine philanthropy, the "new com- mandment " Christ brought into the world. Would that it inspired all who call themselves by His name, and profess to do His work ! No XXIX. ADVANTAGES OF ATTENDING THE TRUE CHURCH. " Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said nnto him, Behold, thou art ninin no more, lest a worse tiling come unto (r. v. BEFALL) thee. Tlie man departed (r. v. went away), and told the Jews that it was Jesus, which had made liim whole." — v, 14, 15. ExEGETiCAL Remarks. — Ver. 14. — dicate that it was at some period " Afterward." The term would in- subsequent to the healing of the 126 THE GENIUS OF THE GOSPEL. impotent man recorded in the pre- fruit of some sin. Intemperance, im- cedmg verses. '■'■ JesMS findeth him in purity, inordinate passions, oi'ten afflict ilie temple." Perliaps the pliysical the body. ^^ Lest a u-orse thing come recovery he had experienced led him unto thee." Worse than thirty-eight to religious reflection and worship. years' suttering ! Thus a moral relapse Tlie temjile must have been a strange is a terrible thing. However great our place to him, forhehadbeenaparalytic sufferin'.'s may be, there is something for thirty-eight long years : there worse if we sin. would be a sublimity in his impres- Ver. 15. " The man departed, and sions and a freshness in his devotions. told the Jews." The idea that some The temple was a fit place for the attach to this, that he went to the expression of a grateful heart. Heze- temple to betray his Benefactor as a kiah hastened to the temple to praise Sabbath-breaker, is far too improbable God for his recovery. Je.-ns resorted to be entertained. His proclamation to the temple, and thus He sanctioned was dictated, no doubt, by a heart the ordinance of public worship. overflowing with gratitude. Atthetime "And said iinto him, Behold, thou art he knew not the Author of his restor- m^ade whole." Christ recognized him, ation. ^' He that was healed tcist not knew tluit his cure was couiplete, and Who it iras." But now he is made declares it for liis encouragement and aware of it, and declares his Restorer, gratitude. ^^ Sin no more" — language He told the Jews that it was Jesus, implying that liis affliction was the which had made him whole. HOMILETICS. We take tliis incident to illustrate the advantages of attending the true Chureh. Whilst millions in this age neglect public worship altogether, those who attend to it are not sufficiently impressed Avith its obligation and advantages. Observe — I. — IX THE TEMPLE THIS MAN MET WITH HIS MERCIFUL DELIVERER. It was because he was in the temple Christ found him. Christ met His disciples in public worship. He has promised to do so. " Where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them." " In all places where I record My name, I will come unto thee and bless thee." This old promise has received millions of realizations in every age, and is still being fulfilled in all the true Churches of Christendom every week. " He likes the tents of Jacob well, But still in Zion loves to dwell." Now is it nothing to meet with the Great Deliverer ; to meet with One Who can dispel all ignorance, correct all errors, chase away all sorrows, forgive all sins, overcome all enemies, and fill the soul with "joy unspeakable and full of glory" ? II — IX THE TEMPLE THIS MAN RECEIVED DIVINE ADMONITIONS. Christ speaks to him and says, " Sin no more, lest a worse thing come tuito thee." What did he learn here ? (1.) That sin was the cause of his affliction. (2.) That he was liahle to fall into sin again. (3.) That if he fell into sin again, he ivould be worse off than ever. These were solemn lessons — lessons of vital moment, lessons which ST. JOHN V. i6, 17. 127 every man needs to learn and ponder well. Such admonitions as these are addressed to congregations in every true Church. Who but God can tell the advantage of having those things proclaimed, enforced, and reiterated, Sunday after Sunday in England ? III. — IN THE TEMPLE THIS MAN LEARNT HIS OBLIGATION TO CHRIST. " The, man de^Mrted, and told the Jews that it was Jesus, lohich had made him whole!' He did not know this until he went to the temple and met with Christ. In the House of God men learn their obligations to Him Who loved them, and gave Himself for them. " Spirit ! whose life-sustaining presence fills An ocean, central depths by man untried. Thou for thy worshippers hast sanctified All place, all time ! The silence of the hills Breathes veneration ; founts and choral rills Of thee are murmurinij; : to its inmost glade The living forest with Thy whisper thrills, And there is holiness on every shade. Yet must the thoughtful soul of man invest With dearer consecration, those pure fanes, Which sever'd from all sounds of earth's unrest, Hear naught but suppliant or adoring strains, Rise heavenwards. Ne'er may rock or cave possess Their claim on human hearts, to solemn tendencies." Wrs. Hemans. No. XXX. Christ's vindication of himself. "And. therefore (r. v. for this cause) did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay Him, (r. v. omits) because He had done (r. v. did) these things on the Sabbath day. But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto (r. v. even until now), and I work." — v. 16, 17. ExEGETiCAL Remarks. — Ver. 16. — 18th verse. '■'■Because He had done " And therefore did the Jews persecute these things on the Sabbath day." Jesus." "For this cause the Jews " What things ? " (1.) The healing of persecuted Jesus." The expression is the invalid on the Sabbath. (2.) The supposed to refer to a judicial arraign- commanding the healed man to carry ment. It would seem that there were his bed. It was directed in the law minor Sanhedrims, exercising juris- of Moses that a Sabbath-breaker should diction in Judaea, consisting some- be put to death. (Exod. xxxi. 15 ; times of twenty, sometimes of seven, xxxv. 2.) But was a work of mercy sometimes of three. Probably one of on the Sabbath a violation of the the smaller Sanhedrims were sitting fourth commandment ? Besides, He in order to determine how best to put was Lord of the Sabbath, this Sabbath-breaker to death. "And Ver. 17. — '■'■ButJesus answered them., sought to slay Him." These words My Father worketh hitherto, and I are struck out by the best critics, worh." " My Father worketh until although they are retained in the now, and I work also." "A difficult 128 THE GENIUS OF THE GOSPEL. answer," says Lange. " It undoiibt- of the working of God to His own edly asserts: — (1.) Christ's exaltation working, as its pattern — ver. 20. (4.) above the S.ibbath hiw, like Mark ii. His working out from (xod and with 28. (2.) The conformity of His work God, wliich makes their charge a charge to tlie law of the Sabbath : in other against God Himself — vcr. 19. The words. His fulfilling of the Sabbath last idea has special emphasis." law— Matt. xii. 12. (.3.) The relation EOMILETIGS. Before studying the way in which the Great Son of God met this charge, it may be well for us to glance a moment at that religious bigotry which we just touched upon a few pages back. We have said that bigotry is heartless, punctilious, inquisitorial. It is further suggested by these words that it is arrogant. Here are a few ignorant men daring to sit in judgment upon One Who had manifested to their eyes the Divine attributes of mercy and power. Ignorance sitting in judgment upon wisdom, vice sitting in judgment upon virtue, human frailty upon superhuman power. Christ met this charge by pleading the examjjle of His Father : " 3Iy Father ^oorketh hitherto, and I work." Observe (1.) God works. He is essentially active, and His activity explains not only the existence but all the operations of the universe. God's works are original, wise, mighty, l)0iindlessly varied, and ever heneficent. (2.) God works on Sahhath days as well as on other days. Were He to pause in His activity the heavenly orbs would stop in their courses, the air become stagnant, the ocean still, and all nature motionless as death itself He never slumbers or sleeps. " He fainteth not, neither is weary." Christ's words imply two things in relation to God's unremitting operation. I. — THAT IT IS RIGHT. Christ pleads it as a justification for what He had just accom- plished on the Sabbath. It is said that God "rested on the seventh day." But inactivity is not rest, non-working is not Sabbath-keeping. God works on the Sabbath, and therefore workin) The Resur- rection fovjcT. " His voice." This is the quickening force, (c) The Resurrection stchjects. " All that arc in the graves." Not a class, not a generation, but "all." (d) The Resurrection issties. " They that have done good, unto the resurrection of life ; and they that have done evil, unto the resunrction of damnation." Character, not creed, determines destiny. Well-doing — heaven : ill-doing — hell. No. XXXII. CHRIST S VIXDICATION OF HIMSELF AGAIXST THE CHARGE OF BLASPHEMY. (2.) THE PROOF OF HIS AUTHORITY. " If I boar witness of Myself, My witness is not true. There is anotlier that beareth witness of Me ; and I know that the witness which He witnesseth of Me is true," &c.— v. 31—47. ExEGETiCAL Rkmarks. — It must be extends from verse 30 to the end of kept in mind that Christ, from the the chapter, and this is the paragrapli 19th verse of tliis chapter, is vindi- we have now to notice, catinjj Himself against the charge of Ver. 32. — " Titer e (n. v. n) is another blasphemy. His defence is logically that heareth witness of Me ; and I know arranged. It consists, first, of the that the tdtness which He witnesseth nature of His authority, ver. 19 — 29 ; of Me is true." Who is tl)is ? None and, secondly, a statement of the jaroo/ other than the Father Himself, as of His authority. This statement appears in the sequel. He was well * See Homily on these words at end of volume. ST. JOHN V. 31—47- 135 assured that the witness of His Father was true. Ver. 33.—" Ye, sent (r. v. have sent) unto John, and he bare (r. v. HE HATH borne) tcitness unto the truth." In all probability Christ here refers to the dei3utation which the rulers sent to the Baptist, chap. iii. 26, and from whom they received a testimony concerning Christ. Ver. 34. — ^^ But I receive not testi- mony from man" (r. v. the witness WHICH I receive is NOT FROM MAN). This does not mean that Christ re- jected or undervalued the testimony of John, but that He did not need it. He was independent of it. '■'■But (r. v. howbeit) these things I say, that ye might be saved." He referred to John's testimony, not for His own sake, but for theirs. They believed in John, and his testimony would tend to their salvation. Ver. 35. — "ife was a burning and a shining light " (r. v. the lamp that burneth and shineth). " He was a lamp burning and shining. Christ is never called by the humble word here applied to John — a light-bearer, studi- ously used to distinguish him from his Master, but ever The Light (ro^we) in the most absolute sense." — Brown. The Bapti.st was a lamp kindled by another antithetical to ^wq. '■'■And ye were willing for a season to rejoice in his light." There is a play of irony here referring to the hollow delight with which his testimony excited them. Ver. 36. — " But I have greater wit- ness (r. v. the witness that i have is greater) than that of John : for the works which the Father hath given Me to finish," &c. He means the testimony of His miracles was the testimony of His Father Himself Who had sent Him. Ver. 37.— "And the Father Him- self, which hath sent Me, hath borne witness of Me." AVhether the refer- ence is here to the testimony of His Father independent of His works or not, it is certain that Christ had a more direct testimony than that from the Father, as on the occasion of His baptism, when there came a voice from heaven, saying, " This is My beloved Son, iu whom I am well pleased." " Ye have neither heard His voice at any time, nor seen His shape " (r. v. form). So deaf are your spiritual ears, and so sealed your eyes, that you neither hear nor see the Eternal Father. Ver. 38. — '■'And ye have not His ivord abiding in you." "You lack permanent inward ajapreciation of His words," the true Messianic idea is not in you. "For ivhom He hath sent. Him ye believe not." This is an effect and evidence of your not having the true idea within. Vers. 39, AO.—" Search the Scrip- tures (r. v. ye search the scrip- tures) ; for in them ye think (r. v. because ye think that in them) ye have eternal life." You search the Scriptures expecting to find " eternal life" in them, that is in the mere letter of truth, but there is no life in the letter. " They are they which testify (r. v. bear witness) of Me. And ye tcill not come to Me, that ye might have life." Dr. Brown expresses the idea in the following words : — " With disregarding the Scriptures I charge you not : ye do indeed busy yourselves about them (He was ad- dressing, it will be remembered, the rulers, ver. 16) ; rightly deeming them your charter of eternal life. But ye miss the great burden of them ; of ]\Ie it is they testify : and yet to Me ye will not come for that eternal life which ye profess to find there, and of which they proclaim Me the ordained Dispenser." Ver. 41. — "J receive not honour (r. v. glory) from men." " Honour" that is, applause, glory. This was a fact. They did not honour Him, among other reasons because He had not that royal pomp and pageantry with which they associated their Messiah. Ver. 42. — "But I know you, that ye have not the love of God in you." He read their hearts, and discovered at once the cause of their spiritual blindness and depravity. They lacked love, love for God. Ver. 43. — " J am come in My Father's name, and yereceive Me not: if another shall come in his owm name, him, ye will receive." How strikingly has this 136 THE GENIUS OF THE GOSPEL. been verified in the history of the Jews. " From the time of the true Christ to our time," says Beiifjel, "sixty -four false Clirists have been reckoned, by whom the Jews have been deceived." Ver. 44. — "How can ye believe, which receive hoiwur (r. v. glory) oite of another, and seek not the honour that Cometh from God only ? " (r. v. THE ONLY GOD YE SEEK NOT.) The idea is, So long as you set a high value upon the opinions of your fellow-men, you cannot honour Me with that virtuous honour that comes from God. Ver. 45. — "Do not think (r. v. THINK not) that I will accuse you to the Father: there is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust." " Referring, no doubt, to the accusations which they brought against Him, and the human trial which they put upon Him. Before the court He has assumed more and more the mien of a majestic judge. He has finally represented them as contradicting the testimony of God, as antichrists, pagans. They are dis- armed by the authority and power of His words, and discharge Him. Now so far as He is concerned, He pro- poses to discharge them. He will not accuse them to the Father : but another, says He, will accuse you, even Moses, in whom ye hope. This is the last, the mightiest stroke. That very Moses on whom they set their hope will accuse them, and put their hope to shame. Not exactly the Holy Scriptures, but Moses himself, in his spirit as the representative of the legal basis of the Holy Scriptures. If they rightly searched the Scriptures they would find Christ, and only Christ, in the Old Testament, even in the books of ]\Ioses alone. But they find Moses in them, and only Moses, only law even in the prophets ; and on this omnipresent Moses, whose all the Scriptures are in their view, that is on the legal element of the Holy Scriptures, they placed their self- righteous con fidence." — Lange. Ver. 46. — " For luul (r. v. if i) ye believed Moses, ye woidd have believed Me : for he xo-rote of Me." If you believe Moses, you would believe Me. Aa important testimony, as Alford says, to the subject of the whole Pentateuch. Ver. 47. — " But if ye believe not his writings, hoiv shall ye believe My words?" "A remarkable contrast, not absolutely putting Old Testament Scripture below His own words, but pointing to the office of those vener- able documents to prepare Christ's way to the necessity universally felt for documentary testimony in revealed religion, and perhaps, as Stier adds, to the relation which the comparative 'letter' of the Old Testament holds to the more flowing words of 'spirit and life ' which characterize the New Testament." EOMILETICS. The subject is, as we have stated, Christ's vindication of Himself against the charge of hlasjjhcmy. This subject extends from the 19th verse to the end of the chapter. In His vindication He makes a very full statetnent of His Divine authority. First : He discloses its nature ; and Secondly : He states its loroofs. Our attention has been occupied with the former in our preceding discourse on verses 19 to 29. We have now to consider the latter, viz. — THE PROOFS OF HIS AUTHORITY. The proofs may be grouped under two general heads. First : His absolute devotion to the Eternal Will. " / can of Mine ovm self do nothing : " as I hear — that is, as I hear the actual, the sentence of God — " / judge, and 3Iy judgment is just." * I can do * See Homily on these words at end of volume. ST. JOHN V. 31-47. 137 nothing ; I feel Myself to be the mere organ of the Infinite Father. Love for Him is the inspiration of My being, His will is the absolute law that governs all My activities. But how is this absolute consecration of Christ to the Divine Will, which He here asserts, an authentication of His Divine ixuthority ? Because such a life is the highest ]TOof of the power and presence of Divinity. The diviner the life a man lives, the more manifest is God in his history. Secondly : His authentication from the Eternal Himself. " Tlurc is another that leareth witness of Me." Here the reference is undoubtedly to God the Father, He bore ample and mighty testimony to the Divine authority of Christ. And in these verses Christ refers to the means by which that testimony was expressed. How ? (1 .) By John the Baptist. " Ye sent unto John, and he lare vAtness unto the trutlt!' Three things are here referred to concerning John, {a) His testimony. Where is that to be found ? " John bare witness of Him, and cried, saying. This is He of whom I spake ; He that cometh after me is preferred before me, for He Avas before me." " And this is the record of John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him. Who art thou ? He it is Who, coming after me, is preferred before me, Whose shoe's latchet I am not worthy to unloose." "And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit tlescending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon Him." (b) His influence. " / receive not testimony froin man : hut these things I say, that ye might he saved." The idea is, I do not require the testimony of John or of any man, but I quote John because you believe in him. He has influence with you, and his testimony may induce you to believe in Me, in order that you may be saved. You must believe in My Divine authority to be saved. John has borne testimony to that. You believe in John, and therefore I point you to him as a witness, (c) His character. " Jle tvas a hurning and a shining light." He was a " light " that attracted to the Jordan all Judsea and the regions round about. He was a "light" that all regarded as Divine. "All hold John as a prophet." He was a " light " which even Herod the king reverenced. " He feared John, knowing that he was a just man and holy." He was a brilliant light, "for amongst those that are born of woman, there has not appeared a greater than John the Baptist." Surely such a man's testimony was to be taken. Again, His Father authenticated His authority ,^ — ■ (2.) By miracles. "But I have greater ivitness tha,n that of John: for the worhs which the Father hath given Me to finish, the same loorhs that I do, hear witness of Me, that the Father hath sent Me'.' The miracles of Christ were confessedly great and numerous. " If all His mighty works had been written in a book," &c. &c. Three facts are to be noticed here, {a) That those miracles were wrought 138 THE GENIUS OF THE GOSPEL. of God. They were Divine, not human productions. How can this be proved ? 1. Man instinctively ascribes all miracles to God. Anything approaching the miraculous in nature, men everywhere — the savage and the civilized — involuntarily conclude to be products of Divine interposition. Though tlicir logic would not perhaps take them to this point, their intuition always does. 2. Men must logically conclude that miracles of such a moral description, and wrought by such a high moral character as that of Jesus of Nazareth, are Divine. Had His miracles breathed malevolence, and tended to immorality and un happiness, the logic of human nature would have denied their Divinity. Reason would have pro- tested against the conclusions of instinct. But in the case of Jesus the moral character of the Miracle- worker was so sublimely pure and loving, and His mighty works so benign and virtuous, that you are bound to ascribe them to the primal Source of all power and goodness. Well might Christ say that " the same works that I do, hear vntness of Me, that the Father hath sent Me!' Another fact to be noticed here is — (/>) That the God, who wrought the miracles, they practically ignored. " Ye have neither heard His voice nor seen His shajjc." These theoretic theists were j^ractically atheists : they were without God in the world. The other fact to be noticed here is — (c) That they practically ignored this God because His word was not in their hearts. " Ye have not His word ahiding in you." If the word — the truth of God — had been in them as an all- animating power, they would have heard and seen God everywhere. If there is no God within, there is no God without. Men in whose hearts the Divine word is not, have no ears to hear the Infinite, though He speak in thunder, no eyes to see Him, though He fills up their horizon. Again His Father authenticated His authority — (3) By Scripture. " Search the Scriptnres ; for in them ye think ye have eternal life : and they arc they which testify of Me." * The Scriptures did testify of Christ; Moses and the prophets were full of Him. These Jews did "search the Scriptures," they made a habit, a conscience of this. " Ye search the Scriptures," says Christ. They searched the Scriptures, thinking that thereby they should have " eternal life," but they had no life ; they had not found Christ, Who is The Life. Two things are suggested here, {a) There are men Avho search the Scriptures who never go to Christ. The Jews did so ; and hundreds are to be found in this age who live in the study of the Scriptures, who have never gone to Christ. They find sometimes a theological Christ, or an ecclesiastical Christ, but not the Christ of God, the living, loving, personal Saviour of the world. Ye search the Scriptures " and ye will not come to Me." The Scriptures, which are designed to bring men to Christ, often keep them away. {l>) The reason men do not go to Christ is * See Germ, p. 140. ST. JOHN V. 31-47. 139 because tliey are more in sympathy with the human than with the Divine. "/ linow you, that ye have not the love of God in yoti." You have no sympathy with His character, His works and aims ; on the contrary, your sympathies are all with the thoughts and doings of man. Worldly honours and worldly 23leasures so occupy your minds that you cannot see the Divine. " How can ye believe, which receive honour one of another, and seek oiot the honour that Cometh from God only ? " How solemnly true this is ! Conventional ideas of honour and happiness blind the eyes of men to the honour and blessedness that come '^ from God only!' The world's heroes are evermore the incarnations of the world's thoughts, and those thoughts are, alas ! far away from the immutable realities. He whose character and statvis are most in keeping with the popular sentiment will ever be the greatest magnate for the time. His Father authenticated His authority — (4.) By Moses. " Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father : there is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust," &c. (a) They professed the utmost confidence in Moses. Moses was their lawgiver, their prophet, their moral master ; they said. We are Moses' disciples, and " we know that God spake unto IMoses." (b) Moses testified to the Divine authority of Christ. " Had ye helievcd Moses, ye loould have believed Me, for he wrote of Me!' He spoke of Me as the " seed of the woman," as the " Shiloh," as a " star out of Jacob," as a prophet that should be "raised from amongst His brethren." You believe in Moses, and Moses testified of Me. What then? If you reject Me: (1.) Moses himself will condemn you. " Do not think that I ivill accuse you to the Father : there is one that accuseth you, even Moses!' I need pronounce no judgment upon your conduct, I leave you with Moses. The man in whom you trust, he shall condemn you. (2.) My words will not be credited by you. " If you believe not his writings, how shall yc believe My words .? " After all your professions you believe not Moses, or else you would believe Me. Conclusion. " This discourse of our Saviour presents some of the highest subjects for human thought, and some of the most impressive reasons why we, as well as the Jews, should believe in Him as the Messiah, tlie Son of God. The testimony of John the Baptist, the sublime miracles which Christ performed, the witness which God repeatedly gave Him, and the prophetic declarations of the Mosaic dispensation, still speak to us through the living page of the book of inspiration ; and can any man innocently reject such various and overwhelming evidence ? Or, if any one is too hardened to be convinced by these arguments, though strong and conclusive, oh, let him not resist the pleadings of compassion and the merciful intercessions which broke forth from the quivering lips of the Divine Sufferer on the Cross. Let love persuade where reason cannot convince." I40 THE GENIUS OF THE GOSPEL. GERMS OF THOUGHT. RUINOUS SEARCHING OF THE SCRIPTURES. No. XXII. " Search (r. v. ye search) the Scriptures ; for (r. v. because) in them ye think ye have Eternal Life : and they (r. v. these) are they which testify (r. v. bear witness) of Me. And ye will not coiue to Me." — v. 39, 40. Christ, I take it, is not here commanding the Jews to " Search the Scri2Jtures," but stating the fact that they did so. The mood is to be taken as in the indicative, not in the imperative. This is according to the Revised Version, which reads, " Ye search the Scriptures, because ye think that in them ye have eternal life, and these are they which bear witness of Me." I. — HERE ARE MEN SEARCHING FOR THE HIGHEST OBJECT. The object they were in quest of was " eternal life," which of course they considered to be something more than endless existence. Whatever it was, it was their sumnmm honum, their chief good. Christ's language implies that the good they sought would only be found in Him, and He was in the Scriptures : they testified or bore witness of Him. II. — HERE ARE MEN SEARCHING FOR THE HIGHEST OBJECT IN THE RIGHT PLACE. " Ye search the Scriptures." Observe — (1.) The highest search of man is for the chief good. (2.) The chief good is only found in Christ. (3.) Christ is to he found in the Scriptures. The Scriptures are not Christ, any more than the casket is the jewel, the field the pearl of great price, the palace the sovereign. Where is Christ to be found ? In the Gospel. III. — HERE ARE MEN SEARCHING FOR THE HIGHEST OBJECT IN THE RIGHT PLACE, AND UTTERLY FAILING. These men did not find Christ. Instead of the Messiah, they found one whom they regarded as an impostor and a blasphemer, unfit to live. Ah, me ! Thousands in every age " search the Scrip- tures" but they do not find the true Christ there. They find their little creeds, their tawdry rites, and arguments to buttress their sects and their systems. They do not find the living, loving, personal Son of God, the Saviour of the World. Why is this? Because their searching is — (1.) Technical, and not spiritual; (2.) Speculative, and not practical ; (3.) Desultory, and not p)crsistent ; (4.) Perfunctory, and not earnest ; (5.) Irreverent, and not devoid. Men ol'ten find in the Bible what they do not seek, — they find a demon instead of a Christ, a curse ST. JOHN VI. I— 14. 141 instead of a blessing, damnation instead of salvation. The Scriptures have proved the ruin of thousands. No. XXIII. THE SETTLED CONDITION OF A SINNER's WELL-BEING. "Ye will not come to Me, that ye might have life," — v. 40. Man's well-being here, and in various other places in the New Testament, is represented as " life." And what is the life ? Supreme love to God. This man had at first; he lost it; and in its loss is spiritual death. The man who has this_is truly alive, and he only. Observe two things in relation to it — I. — THE SETTLED CONDITION PEOPOUNDED. How is it to be obtained ? Only by coming to Christ. Christ alone can generate this supreme love to the Eternal Father in the human heart. He does it — First : By furnishing the strongest demonstrations of God's love to the sinner. Secondly : By furnishing the highest manifestation of the lovablc- ness of God's character. They must come to Him ; come to His teaching, as loyal pupils come to the teaching of their master ; come to His life, as hero- worshippers come to the life of a great hero. II. — THE SETTLED CONDITION NEGLECTED. " Ye vnll not come!' Why won't they come ? Is it because the condition is too difficult ? No ; it is simple enough. They will go to their Shakspeare, their Cromwell, and their Luther. Are not Christ's thoughts more simple and more sublime than any of these ? Is not His history more romantic and more heroic ? Is it because they have discovered any other way to true well-being ? No ; no other way exists. All philosophy and experience show this. Why then ? First: They are too engrossed in other subjects. Secondly : The^/ are too prone to presume upon the advent of a better opportunity. Thirdly : They are too much under the influence of the god of this world. No. XXXIII. '' - - THE BENEFICENCE OF CHRIST. (27ie twelve return. Jesus retires with them across the lake. Five thousand are /ed.— Matt. xiv. 13—21 ; Mark vi. 30—44 ; Luke ix. 10—17 ; John vi. 1—14.) After these things Jesus went over the Sea of Galilee, which is the sea of Tiberias," &c.— vi. 1—14. ExEGETiCAL REMARKS. — There are miracle. They beautifully agree in four independent accounts of this substance, though they differ in style, 142 THE GENIUS OF THE GOSPEL. according to the peculiarities of each writer. Matthew shows that our Lord's retirement to the wilderness was immediately after the death of John the Baptist. Mark and Luke also speak of this. John adds the circumstance that the passover was at hand, wliich accounts for the great multitudes which were streaming to Jesus on their way to Jerusalem. For the other accounts see Matt. xiv. 13—21 ; Mark vi. 30—44 ; Luke ix. 10—17. Ver. 1.—" After these things." This does not mean, after the charge of blasphemy against Christ and His defence, as recorded in the preceding chapter ; but after the death of John the Baptist, &c., as recorded by Mat- thew. Upwards of a year had elajjsed between this miracle and the things recorded in the jireceding chapter. The third passover was at hand, and another year would bring the life of Jesus to a close. " Jesus went over (r. v. away to the other side of) the sea of Galilee, ivhich is the sea of Tiberias;" called after the name of an ancient city on the west side. The present name is Tabariyeh. It is so called by John for the benefit of those who are unacquainted with the geography of Palestine. Its shape is oval, thirteen miles long, nnd six broad. In the neighbourhood of the sea our Lord spent the greater portion of His public life. Nine cities stood on its shores, amongst wliich was Capernaum, " His own city." It was the most densely populated place in all Palestine. Ver. 2. — " J.)i,d a great multitude followed Him, because they saw His miracles (r. v. beheld the signs) which He did on them that ivere dis- eased" (r. V. sick). The mere wonders in themselves would not necessarily attract many. Otherwise had they been malignant and destructive, they would have repelled ; but being bene- ficent they attracted, they drew men after Hira. Ver. 3. — " Aud Jesus ivent up info a (r. v. the) mountain, and there He sat with His disciples." The whole sea is skirted by a chain of hills on both sides, and the particular moun- tain cannot be ascertained. He as- cended the moftntain, probably to avoid the crowd and to enjoy the elevated delights of quiet and holy devotion. Ver. 4. — " And (r. v. now) the Pass- over, a (r. v. the) feast of the Jews, wa^- nigh" (r. v. at hand). This is probably the third passover of our Lord's ministry. A great Jewish festival, causing at this time perhaps the gathering of the great multitudes. John alone states this. Ver. 5. — " When Jesus then lifted (r. v. lifting) u^ His eyes, and saw (r. v. seeing) a great company come unto Him (r. v. multitude cometh unto uui),Hesaith unto Philip, Whence shall (r. v. are we to) we hiy bread, that these may eat ? " Being now in the region of Bethsaida Julius, of which Philip was a native, the question was naturally addressed to him concerning provisions for the famishing multi- tudes. " TI'7ieHce.^" The object was to call attention to the great quantity that would be required. The question is put, not because He felt any diffi- culty, but because He sought to awaken their interest and their thoughts. Ver. 6. — •" And this He said toprove him : for He Himself knew what He woidd do." By the question He wished to test and strengthen Philip's faith. " This gives us a glimpse into the edu- cational method of the great Teacher." — Watkin. Ver. 7. — "Philip answered Him, Two hundred pennyioorth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little." Tlie money here amounts to about £7 of our cur- rency. This, it would seem, was all the money they had ; and he felt its utter insufficiency. Vers. 8, 9. — " One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon, Peter's brother, saith unto Him, There is a lad here, which hath Jive barley loaves, and tico smull (r. v. om its) ^s/ies; but tvhat are they (r. v. these) amonrj so many?'' Andrew was one of the first of our Lord's disciples, but he seemed to have no more faith tlian Philip. Al- though both of them, in all probability, had seen Christ healiui^ the nobleman's son (John iv. 4G), giving the draught ST. JOHN VL I— 14. 143 of fishes (Luke v. 1), healing the demoniac, the paralytic, and the leper (Mark i. 21 ; Matt. viii. 2 ; Lnke v. 19), restoring the man at Bethesda pool (John V. 5), healing the withered hand (Matt. xii. 9), and the centurion's servant (Luke ii. 7), and raising the widow's son at Nain (Luke vii. 11), they did not seem to realize the fact that He who put the question — their Master — was fully able to meet the difficulty. Ver. 10. — "And Jesus said, Make the men (r. v. people) sit down." According to Mark and Luke, they sat down in ranks or companies. " Now there was much grass in the place.'' The ancient Hebrews were in the habit of sitting on skins on the ground to eat their food. Tliese five tliousand sat down now on the fresh grass that had sprung up through the fertile rains of the season. Ver. 11. — '■'■And Jesus took the loaves; and when He had (r. v. having) given thanks, He distributed to the disciples, (r. v. omits) and the disciples to them that were set down." Bread and fish in this miracle proved Him Master both of earth and sea ; and His giving thanks to His Father pointed their minds to Him from " Whom all blessings flow." Ver. 12. — " Wlien they ivere filled. He said unto His disciples. Gather up the fragments (r. v. broken pieces) that remain, that nothing be lost." " The Lord," says one, " is lavish of His bounties, at the same time careful of His gifts." HOMILETIGS. As we have elsewhere * made remarks on this mn^acle as recorded by Matthew, our observations now will be brief. We take the miracle as suggesting certain remarks concerning the Beneficence of Christ. Christ was not only benevolent, disposed to do good, but beneficent, always doing good. Ver. 13. — " Therefore (r. v. so) they gathered them together, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of (r. v. BROKEN PIECES FROM) the five barley loaves, which remained over and above unto them that had eaten." " Li the synoptic Gospels, the disciples gather up the fragments of their own accord. In this Gospel the order to do so originated with Jesus. This was His triumphant answer to the calculation of Andrew and Philip." — Godet. Here is a stupendous miracle, but such a one as is going on in nature constantly. A miracle not of creation, but of mul- tiplication. Nature gives back to the husbandman in harvest manifold more than he committed to the earth in sj^ring. Ver. 14. — " Then those men, when they had seen the miracle (r. v. when THEREFORE THE PEOPLE SAW THE sign) thcot Jesus did, said. This is of a truth that (r. v. the) prophet that should come (r. v. that cometh) into the world." John alone records this effect of the miracle. It falls in with his design, to show the Divinity of our Lord. Here therefore he gives the testimony of those who saw it wrought. " That prophet." The prophet like unto Moses ; they meant undoubtedly the Messiah. Is this narrative a myth? Luthardt says no. "The idea of a myth is opposed by the fact that this very event maintained its position in the consciousness of the early Christians as we perceive by the four evangelical accounts." ' He went about doing good." I. — HIS BENEFICENCE IS A POWERFUL ELEMENT OF ATTRACTION IN HIS CHARACTER. "A great multitude followed Him,hecause they saw His oniracles which He did on them that were diseased." And then in the fifth verse it is said, that " He lifted up His eyes, and saw a great company." * See " Genius of the Gospel on Matthew," page 337. 144 THE GENIUS OF THE GOSPEL. What attracted these multitudes ? Not, as we have said, His wonders ; for although wonders will ever arrest attention and excite curiosity, they will not attract unless they are beneficent. Had His miracles been works of wrath, devastation, death, and teiTor, they would have driven the multitudes in panic from His presence. The terrible wonders on the brow of Sinai did not tempt the millions at the base to climb to the summit ; on the contrary, they were terrified exceedingly. It was the beneficence in Christ's miracles that drew after Him the multitudes. All His miracles Avere works of love. And this in His character is the gi-eat moral magnet that will one day draw all men unto Him. Beneficence always attracts. With what beauty and stirring force Job describes the influence of his own beneficence upon the men of his age amongst whom he lived. "The young men saw me, and hid themselves," etc. (Job xxix. 8 — 25). Ah ! if what is called the Church of Christ on earth had, instead of indulging in acrimonious controversies cradling morbid and sanctimonious sentiments, and childishly attending to trumpery rites and ceremonies, exhibited Christly beneficence, how great the multitudes who would have foUoAved after her ! The captives would have looked to her for liberty, the poor for bread, the afflicted for healing, the naked for clothing, the opj^ressed for justice, and the sad everywhere for comfort and consolation. Why do not the mviltitudes follow the Church ? ' Nay, why do they turn from her ? This is a question that grows more pressing every day. II. — HIS BENEFICENCE WAS EVER INSPIRED BY THE TENDEREST COMPASSION. It is said in the other records of this miracle, that He " liad com- passion on the multitudes." This multitude was famishing for hunger. Though Christ crossed the sea in a vessel, they had to walk round on foot. It is probable they had journeyed all night, and when they reached Him on the other side they would be famishing for food. His compassion was moved as He beheld them. There are what are called beneficent acts that are done from vanity. The doers seek applause in their work. Such seek their gifts to be chronicled in records and trumpeted on platforms. Such acts are sometimes done from avarice. The doer seeks to win clients, patients, customers that will enrich his coffers, and administer to his greed. A large donation to a popular institution is one of the best commercial advertisements. And indeed such acts are not unfrequently stimulated by superstition. The doer seeks to win heaven and avoid hell by his benevolent deeds. In sublime contrast to all this stands the beneficence of Christ. He was full of compassion — full, free, boundless compassion. Alas ! how little of this compassion man has for man. In most cases man treats his brother with heartless indifierence, and indeed in ST. JOHN VI. I— 14. 145 many cases with a ruthless and savage cruelty. There is a fact recorded of Napoleon which may be taken as typical of that cruel class of men that abound in all ages. Flushed with his victories, he sailed with a numerous fleet and army to the East. Everywhere the enemy fell before his triumphant troops. He came to Jaffa — the ancient Joppa — a town in Palestine. On the fourth of March, 1799, he assailed it : two days after, it was taken. Terrible was the carnage that took place. In the midst of the slaughter 4000 men took shelter in an old caravanserai, and called out from the windows that they would surrender on condition that their lives were spared. Napoleon's aides-de-camp agreed to this, and led them before their general. The ruthless demon in human form received them with a stern and relentless air. He decreed that all should die, and signed the fatal order, which was executed on March 10th. Four thousand men, firmly fettered, were marched to the sand-hills on the sea-coast, and mowed down by the musketry amid shrieks that rent the heavens. In vain they prayed for mercy : every man was put to death. The bones of the vast multitude lie there to this day; it is a field of blood — a sad scene of Christian atrocity from which the Arab turns away in horror and disgust. Alas ! Christendom calls the Napoleons, the con- querors, great and glorious. Bishops make prayers for their success, and mock Heaven by thanks for their triumphs. How infinitely antagonistic to the spirit of Him Whom Christendom calls Lord and Master, Who when He " beheld the multitudes, had compassion on them, and fed them ! " III. — HIS BENEFICENCE TRANSCENDS BOTH THE FAITH AND NEEDS OF MEN. First : It transcends their faith. Philip said, " Whence, shall we buy bread?" and Andrew, another disciple, when he heard of the "Jive barley loaves and fishes," said, " Whcd are they cmiong so many?" Their faith .went not beyond the means they had in actual possession. For the time they seem to have had no idea that Christ was equal to the occasion ; when He said, " Malce the men sit down," perhaps they thought it was little less than mockery. How could starving men sit down and rest ? Secondly : It transcends their needs. Jesus not only fed them, but after doing so, " twelve baskcifuls of fragments " remained. Christ always gives more than is needed. In nature we have redundancy of light, and air, and water, and fruit, and beauty. Nature that has fed the generations that are gone, has as much, if not more, for the generations yet to come. The fragments that remain are greater than the stock that has been used. " He is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think," etc. His resources are exhaustless. His "riches unsearchable." L 146 THE GENIUS OF THE GOSPEL. His blessings seem to increase by appropriation : the more they are used, the more they seem to multiply and grow ; thus God's great universe becomes more affluent every day. IV. — HIS BENEFICENCE ALLOWS NO ENCOURAGEMENT TO WASTEFULNESS. " Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing may he lost." * Use all, abuse nothing. In one sense nothing can be lost, not an atom of matter, not a thought of mind. Frugality is the duty of man both in his temporal and spiritual concerns. V. — HIS BENEFICENCE IS A CONVINCING TESTIMONY OF HIS MESSIAHSHIP. " Then those men, luhen they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said. This is of a truth that prophet that should come into the loorld." f First : Mere miracles would not be a sufficient proof of His Divinity. Other beings besides God might perform that which man would regard as miraculous. Who can prove that no being but the Almighty ct^uld produce results that in the judgment of feeble man would be universally regarded as miraculous ? In truth, if the miracle was effected to enforce a doctrine repugnant to human reason and conscience, it would be spurned as undivine and devilish. Secondly : Miracles that are beneficent are proofs of Divinity. These proofs were now felt by the people, and they said, " This is of a truth that prop)!^^!' This was the evidence that Christ gave to the deputation that John sent to Him from prison. " Go and show John again those things which ye do hear and see : the blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the Gospel preached unto them." GERMS OF THOUGHT. No. XXIV. CHRIST FEEDING THE FIVE THOUSAND : HIS COMPASSION. "When Jesus then lifted up His eyes," &c. — vi. 5—14. This beautiful incident is fraught with glorious suggestions, and pulsates with the compiissionate heart of Christ. Amongst the many subjects it illustrates, the chief is the benevolent interest of Christ in humanity. We learn — I. — THAT HIS COMPASSION EXTENDS TO MAN'S PHYSICAL WANTS. His love for souls, free, boundless, ever working, and ever- conquering, is the spirit of Ilis gloriov.s history; but here we learn that He is practically alive to the necessity of men's hodics. Here * See Homily on these words at end of Volume. t See Germ below. ST. JOHN VI. IS— 21. 147 was a great company that required food. His interest in man's jihysical wants is seen — First : In the provision He has made for them in the constitution of nature. The world which He has made abounds with everything we want physically. His interest is seen — Secondly : In the wonderful facts of His life. How He attended to their bodies while here ! The interest Christ has shown in men's bodies is a reproof to the Church for neglecting the material exigencies of the population, and is an indication of what His disciples must do before they rightly manifest Him. IT. — THAT HIS COMPASSION IS CONNECTED WITH AMPLE ABILITY TO SUPPLY. "Five thousand" were now fed. His ample power [of supplying appears — First : In the operation of ordinary laws. How abundant are the provisions of the earth ! All come from Christ's liberal hand. Secondly : In extraordinary incidents. Thus it apj)ears not only in the case before us, but in innumerable instances besides. III. — THAT HIS COMPASSION IS EXERCISED IN CONNECTION WITH A DEVOUT SPIRIT. " When He had given thanks," &c. The lesson taught by this is, that all temporal good comes from God. This fact, practically realized, would sweeten for us the blessings of Providence, and give us an abiding impression of the presence and agency of God. IV. — THAT HIS COMPASSION IS EVER EXERCISED FOR MORAL ENDS. " Then those men ivhen they had seen the miracles that Jesus did, said, This is of a truth," &c. Christ blessed the bodies of men in order that He might bless their souls. So should we. He showed more favours than they could appreciate in order to prepare them to receive from His hands the higher blessing: of eternal life. No. XXXIV. MAN AND CHRIST. (Jesus walks upon the water. — Matt. xiv. 22 — 36 ; Mark vi. 45 — 54 ; John vi. 15—21.) "When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take Him by fi-trce, to make Him a king, He departed again into a mountain Himself alone," &c.— vi. 15—21. ExEGETiCAL REMARKS. — Ver. 15, — He departed (r. v. withdrew) again " When .Jesus therefore perceived (r. v. into a mountain Himself alone." The perceiving) that they would come and facts recorded in these verses are also take Him by force, to make Him a king, recorded with slight variation in Matt. L 2 148 THE GENIUS OF THE GOSPEL. xiv. 22—36 ; Mark vi. 45— 54 * The desire of the people to make Him a kin<; was purely selfish and worldly. They wished it, not because of His pre- eminent intellectual and moral com- petency for ruling the nation righte- ously and usefully, but because of the material good which they expected from His reign. Jesus read their hearts, shrunk from their vulgar and gross ideas of power, and departed into a mountain alone. There, alone on the mountain, with His eye upon all the principles at work in society. He was infinitely more royal than all the Caesars of the world. " Matthew and Mark add that He went to the moun- tain to proy. This juncture evidently coincides with the close of the 15th verse, and hence only a portion of the multitude, undoubtedly the more en- thufiiastic, remained upon the spot." Godet. Ver. 16. — ^^ And when even was now come (r. v. evening came), His dis- ciples went down unto the sea." Even- ing, with its deep shadows gathering on the little skilf, was not the most auspicious time to embark on the treacherous lake. Ver. 17. — "And entered into a ship (r. V, boat), and went over the sea toward (r. v. were going over the SEA unto) Capernaum. And it was now dark, and Jesus ivas not come to them." In Matthew and Mark it is said that Jesus "constrained" His disciples to go into the ship, and to go before Him. So they went forth by His will, and they might have ex- pected a prosperous voyage. The ex- pression that it " was now dark, and Jesus icas not come to them," gives us to understand that they expected He would overtake them tm the voyage, and join them on the way. Probably Christ promised He w'ould do so, when He constrained them to depart ; but night came on, and a storm was evi- dently brooding, but Christ had not come. Ver. 18. — ^^And the sea arose (r. V. WAS rising) bii reason of a great ivind that blew." The lake, surrounded by hills and mountains, was always liable to sudden storms. Ver. 19. — '■'■So ivhen they had rowed about Jive and twenty or thirty fur- lonrjs." ]\Iark says, " And He saw them toiling {l3aaavtKonkvovQ) in rowing ; for the wind was contrary unto them." "Five and twenty or thirty furlongs." This is about fjur miles, according to our measurement ; the vessel was therefore about half-way on its journey, and in the midst of the sea. " They see (r. v. behold) Jesus ivalking on the sea, and drawing nigh unto the ship (r. v. boat) : and they were afraid." Mark's account is more full tiian this. He says : " And about the fourth watch of the night He cometh unto them, walking upon the sea, and would have passed by them. But when they saw Him walking upon the sea, they supposed it had been a spirit {(pavTacfia), and cried out : for they all saw Him, and were troubled." Ver. 20. — " But He saith unto them. It is I ; be not afraid." tlni, literally, " I am." Who ? Whosoever you re- quire to help you. Wliat? Whatso- ever you require to make you glorious, useful, and blessed here and yonder. Ver. 21. — " TJien they willingly re- ceived (r. v. they were willing therefore to receive) Him into the ship (r. v. boat) : and immediately (r. v. straightway) the ship (r. v. boat) was at the land ivhither they went " (r. v. were going). " They re- ceived Him vnUingly." Literally, they were willing to receive Hiui into the ship, as they had not been at first, on account of their fear ; and imme- diately, by the calming of the sea, &c., through H's providential favouring, the boat was at the land. Both Mat- thew and Mark proceed further with the history of this event. HOMILETICS. Our subject is Man and Christ. Here we see man manifesting various states of mind in relation to Christ. Here we have — * See " Genius of the Gospel," Matthew, p. 343. ST. JOHN VI. 15—21. 149 I. — MEN VULGARLY ESTIMATING CHRIST. " Tluy would come and take Him Inj force, to make Him a king." They estimated Him according to their own views and feelings. Because they regarded worldly wealth as the highest position, worldly authority as the highest dignity, worldly pomp and pageantry as the highest glory, they thought that Christ would accept the office of a worldly monarch. Perhaps, as they approached Him with the offer of a worldly kingdom, they expected He would hail with enthusiasm the opportunity, and bound at once into regal splendour and power. Bat they were mistaken. " He departed again into a mountain Himself alone!' * His pure spirit recoiled from the grossness of the thought: hence He sends them away, and retires to the solitude and silence of the hills, to commune with the Infinite. The millions in all ages have always formed these worldly estimates of Christ. They are unable to form a correct idea of that kingdom which " consisteth not in meat and drink." but in "righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost " — a kingdom that " cometh not with observation ; " a kingdom whose foundation is immutable rectitude ; which legislates for thoughts and moral motives ; whose authority is enforced, not by cannons, swords, or bayonets, but by love and truth. Oh, speed the day when men shall form a true estimate of Christ ! Here we have — II. — MEN CONSCIOUSLY NEEDING CHRIST. " It ivas now dark, and Jesus was not come to them. And the sea arose by reason of a great ivind that blew." It was night — dark, bewildering, oppressive night ; and they, in a frail bark in the midst of the sea, were being beaten by the winds and dashed by the waves. Their perils were imminent and thickening. Who shall guide them safely to their destined haven ? They are painfully conscious of their own inability. Their strength is exhausted, and they are at their wits' end. They all feel that if Christ — He who had just fed five thousand with a few loaves and fishes — would come to them, He could rescue them, and He only. We may fancy how anxiously they looked out for Him. It is seldom so dark at sea but that you can see some distance. How they would strain their eyes, hoping for a glance at Him : how they would bend the ear, hoping to catch the echo of His voice ! The time hastens when every man will feel painfully conscious of his need of Christ. We are all on a treacherous sea. The nitjht is comino; on, and with the night, the storm. Be Thou my Guide on life's tempestuous sea, Be Thou my Guide ; * See Germ, p. 151. ISO THE GENIUS OF THE GOSPEL. The waves run hif^h and all seems dark to me, Be Thou my Guide. Take Thou the helm, and steer me safely o'er Lite's surging sea to the celestial shore. Here we have — III. — MEN IGNORANTLY DREADING CHRIST. " They see Jesus walking on the sea, and drawing nigh unto the ship : and they were afraid." He needed no skiff to bear Him over the billows. " The Lord is mightier than the mighty waves of the sea." But why were they " afraid " ? Matthew and Mark say they thought He was a spirit. Observe three things — First : Man has a tendency to dread visitants from the spirit- world. Even Peter — bold Peter, who with his sword smote Malchus — trembles before an imaginary spirit. The vision of a supjiosed ghost never fails to strike terror into the heart of the spectator. Why should men be afi'aid of spirits ? Are they not themselves spirits, and members of the great spiritual system ? Is not their Father God Spirit ? Why afraid ? Consciousness of guilt : this is the philosophy of all the terror. Secondly : This tendency to dread the supernatural is a great evil. It is the source of all superstition ; and superstition has been, and still is, one of the greatest curses of the race. Super- stitious fear is eternally opposed to all true spiritual knowledge, virtue, and progress. Thirdly : Ciirist's mission is to eradicate from the human soul this dread of the supernatural. "It is I ; he not afraid." It is I ; do not be afraid of anything in the universe, either spiritual or material, for I am absolute Master of all. Do not be afraid of God, for He has sent Me to demonstrate to you by My teaching, My life, and My death the unconquerableness and tenderness of His love to you. "It is I; he not afraid" of Me, for I am come, not to destroy, but to save. "It is I ; he not afraid." Thank God for this Ego eimi ! Here we have — IV. — men cordially welcoming CHRIST. " Then they willingly received Him into the ship." To receive Him was what they wished above all things. Because they had painfully felt their need of Him, they hailed Him with enthusiasm on board their little skitf. It is ever so. When once men have, by a deep conviction of their guilt, been overwhelmed by a sense of their moral danger, they will stretch out their arms widely to receive Him, crying, "Come, Lord Jesus; come quickly." It is when the soul feels itself sinking into the abysses of moral misery it will look to heaven, and say, " Saviour, take the helm and ST. JOHN VI. 15—21. 151 pilot me." With Him on board they soon and safely reached port. "Immediately," &c. &c. Brother, take Him on board thy bark, give Him the rudder, &c. GERMS OF THOUGHT. No. XXV. CHRIST REJECTING POPULARITY, AND SEEKING SOLITUDE. "He departed again into a mountain Himself alone." — vi. 15. There are two things in the text concerning Christ remarkably significant. I. — HIS REJECTION OF POPULARITY. The j)opularity of Christ was now at its zenith. The feeding of the five thousand by the miracle He had just wrought, struck the populace for the hour with an enthusiastic admiration. " They would tahe Him hy force, to make Him a Idng!' They would bear Him in their arms to Jerusalem, there to enthrone Him as the Monarch of their country. The world has nothing higher to give a man than a crown, and this the people of Judsea were anxious to confer on Jesus now. But how does He feel amidst all this thunder of popular Hosannas ? 'Does He seize the offer made ? No ; He seems to recoil, with an ineffable disgust, both from their laudations and their proffered honours. Two things are suggested here — First : The moral worthlessness of popularity. Christ peered into the souls of the multitude, and saw there nothing but worldly thoughts, corrupt feelings, and unvirtuous aims. "Jesus 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." All their notions of glory were grossly material. The ideas of spiritual sovereignty and spiritual honour which He inculcated had not touched their carnal souls. So long as the world is what it is, popularity is a worthless thing, a thing which only charlatans will pursue. Another thing suggested here is — Secondly : The spiritual superiority of Christ; Whilst a few great men in every age may despise popularity, the millions prize it. Small men, both in Church and State, struggle after it as a prize, and worship it as a god. Why did Christ refuse the crown now offered to Him by enthusiastic admirers, and which His Almighty power would have enabled Him to wear with safety and splendour ? Why ? Because He was infinitely above such a worthless toy. Another thing in the text concerning Christ, remarkably significant, is — 152 THE GENIUS OF THE GOSPEL. II. — HIS WITHDRAWMENT INTO SOLITUDE. " He departed again into a mountain Himself alone." Christ often sought solitude. The stillness and secrecy of the hills at night would be thrice welcome to Him after the tumult of the day. In this Christ has left us an example, for we need solitude as well as society, to train our natures into Ciirist-like goodness. First : Solitude is the best scene for self-communion. Secondly : Solitude is the best scene for fellowship with the Eternal. Thirdly : Solitude is the best scene for the formation of holy resolutions. " Enter into your closet, and shut your door, and the Father which seeth in secret will openly reward you." The soul resembles a tree in this, it requires the publicity of the open heavens, and the secrecy of the hidden depths, in order to grow to perfection. The spirit of the tree must go down into the dark quiet chambers of the earth to drink nourishment into its roots, and up into the lofty branches to be shone on by the sun, and tossed by the tempest. No. XXXV. MAN WRONGLY SEEKING CHRIST, AND CHRIST RIGHTLY DIRECTING MAN. {Our Lord's discourse in the sif)uigogue at Capernaum. Many disciples turn back. Peter's profession of faith. — John vi. 22 — 71 ; vii. 1.) "The day following, when the people which stood," &c. — vi. 22 — 27. ExEGETiCAL Eemarks. — Ver. 22. — where they did eat (r. v. ate the) bread, " The day following (r. v. on the after that the Lord had given tJuinks." liORROVf) when the people (r.v.mvlti- "These boats, perhaps, were driven tude) which stood on the other side of by the contrary wind across the lake. the sea saio that there was -none other Their coming probably explains the boat there, save that one whereinto His reference to the disciples in ver. 24. disciples were entered (r. v. save one, At first the multitude might have sup- AND THAT JESUS ENTERED), and that poscd that they had returned in one of Jesus went not with His disciples into tliem from some brief mission to the the boat, but that His disciples trere other side." — TVestcott. gone (r. v. went) away alone." "Tiie Ver. 24. — " When the pcoph thcre- Evangelist here relates what the mul- fore (r. v. multitude) saw that Jesm titude had noticed as to the facts of was not there, neither His disciples, Christ's dei^arture — viz. that there was they also took shipping (r. v. got into but one boat ; that this they saw go the boats), and came to Capernaum, away without Christ : and hence, that seeking for Jesus." These people had as they found Him next day at Caper- witnessed, we understand from the naum, He must have gone across in twenty-second verse, that Jesus did some unexplained manner. This state- not go with His disciples into the mentisgiven toshovv howtheirobserv- boat, but that they went alone ; and ation of the facts correspond with the tliey now felt anxious to find out the miracle." placewhere Jesus actually was. ^^TJiey Ver. 23. — " Howbeit there came otlier also took shipping." It is not neces- boatsfrom Tiberias nigh unto the place sary to suppose that the whole five ST. JOHN VI. 22—27. 153 thousand "/oofcs/ii^Migr; "for altliongli Joseplius informs us there were about 230 vessels always crowding that sea, they would not have been sufficient to have conveyed such a vast multitude. Ver. 25. — '■'■And when they had found Him on the other side of the sea, they said unto Him, Rabbi, when earnest Thoic hither?" They were astoni.-hed at finding Him in that spot, and wondered how He could have gained the place, whether by land or water. They could not see how, unless He had travelled all night round the head of the lake alone. He could have reached Capernaum before they themselves arrived. They liad no idea that He had walked on the waves of the sea, and hence they ask, " When earnest Thou hither ? " " When ? " Here Thou art ; but how couldst Thou reach this city so speedily ? Ver. 26. — " Jesus answered them and said. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek Me, not because ye saw the miracles (r. v. signs), but because ye did eat (r. v. ate) of the loaves, and were filled." He does not answer their question. He does not tell them how, in the might and majesty of the God- head, He had trod the waters ; nor does He even take notice of their question, but hits at once the miserable spirit that animated them — flippant, inquisitive, greedy. Ver. 27. — "Labour (r. v. work) not for the meat xohich perisheth, but for that (r. v. the) meat which endureth (r. v. abideth) unto everlasting (R. v. eternal) life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for Him hath God, the Father (r. v. the father, EVEN GOD, hath) seeded." What meaneth the last clause l rovrov ydp 6 Trari'ip t)fiipi}.. Does Paul refer to this, when he says : "Then cometh the end wlien He shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father, wlien He shall have put down all rule and all author- ity and power." " Raise it " — not them — " lip again at the last day." On the last day there will be many resurrec- ST. JOHN VI. 37—40. 163 tions besides the resurrection of men. lieveth on Him, may (r. v. should) The resurrections of buried truth, dead have everlasting (r. v. eternal) life: consciences, abused mercies, etc. and I will raise him vp at the last Ver. 40. — " And (r. v. for) this is day." Here is the condition of ever- the \vill of Him that sent Me (r. v. lasting happiness. Seeing the Son, MY father), that every one ivhich seeth and believing on Him. (r. v. beholdeth) the Son, and be- HOMILETICS. The subject of these words is, Christ in o-dation to the absolute will. The words teach, concerning the Father, the Great Head of the universe — (1.) He has a Will. He is not unintelligent force, blind and resistless; He is a free mind. He wills. (2). He has a Will in relation to humanity. He has not left men to chance or fate, but taken them into His purpose and plan. (3.) That Christ is the great Interpreter and Administrator of this Will. He came down from heaven to do it. Of all who ever trod this earth. He alone knows the whole will of the Father. He was in the bosom of the Father. He knows the inmost purpose of the Eternal fountain of life. The verses lead us to consider two things in relation to Christ and the Divine will. I. — CHRIST REVEALS HIMSELF TO MAN IN RELATION TO THE DIVINE WILL. The words teach, — First : That He had a thorough knowledge of it. He speaks of it as a subject with which He was perfectly acquainted ; He knew it in all its relations and bearings upon humanity through the ages. Secondly : That He had unbounded confidence in it. " All that the Father giveth Me, shall come to Me." * He knew that that will would never break down, but would be realized on every point. He knew that the Father intended Him to have power, and He would have it ; success in His mission, and He would have it ; genuine disciples, and He would have them; a spiritual kingdom, and He would have it. Thirdly : He cordially acquiesced in it. " Him that cometh to Me, J vnll in no wise cast o%tt." It is His will that men should come to Me as their Teacher, Example, Redeemer, and I am willing to receive all. I will on no account " cast " any man away. I will not cast him away on account of the greatness of his age, or the number and enormity of his sins. When I come into possession of all that My Father wills Me to have, instead of using it to crush the sinner I will receive him, " I loill in no wise cast out." Fourthly : He absolutely obeyed it. " / came down from heaven, not to do Mine own will, but the will of Him that sent Me." f He was influenced by no personal consideration ; He committed * See Homil)' on these words at end of volume. | See Germ, p. 165. M 2 1 64 THE GENIUS OF THE GOSPEL. Himself absolutely to the working out of the Divine will. His meat and His drink was to do the will of His Father. II. — CHRIST REVEALS TO THE WORLD THE DIVINE WILL IN RELATION TO HUMANITY. He taught that it was the will of God — First : That they should be everlastingly hai^'py through Him. " This is the vnll of Him that sent Me, that every one which seeth the Son, and hclicicth on Hiin,may have everlasting life."^ Here is the true ground for belief in the immortality of the soul. Some men ground their faith in the immortality of the soul upon what they call its immateriality. But as no science can inform me what matter is : how can I predicate concerning immateriality ? Some ground their faith on the undeveloped powers of the soul at death. But do we not find everywhere, in the vegetable and animal kingdoms, millions of existences dying with undeveloped powers ? Some ground their faith on the instinctive longings of the human soul for a future state. Bvit have not men on all hands instinctive longings here for things they can never have, and were never intended to have — such as long life, wealth, fame, dominion ? Some ground their faith on the idea that men have not justice done them here ; that the Divine government here makes no distinction between the righteous and the wicked. But does not the greatest sufferer feel in his conscience he has less punishment than he deserves ? I rest my faith in immortality on the revealed will of the Absolute.One. All existences are either contingent or absolute, dependent or independent. There is but One Absolute Existence, and that is God ; and all others depend upon His "ivill." The only way in which I can ascertain the duration of any creature's existence, is to ascertain the Creator's will concerning him. If the Creator has willed that he shall go out of existence in a few years, or days, or hours ; then, however strong or robust in constitution, his being shall terminate for ever. But if He has willed that he shaH continue for ever; then, however fragile his constitution, he Avill run on through ages without end. Now, here I have the will of God on this question, stated by One who knew it thoroughly, and in language too unambiguous to misunderstand. " This is the will of Him that sent Me, that every one which seeth the Son, and helieveth on Him, may have everlasting life." Secondly : That they should recover everything that was lost through Him. What do men lose here ? Their virtue, their freedom, their rights. Christ here says, that it is the will of His Father that He should " raise it 2ip at the last day," f whatever it be. They lose more. They leave the bodies through which they received their impressions and wrought out their character to * See Germ, p. 165. + Ibid. p. 166. / ST. JOHN VI. 37—40. 165 moulder in the dust. Christ says, in relation to every man who sees Him, that it is the will of His Father that He should " revise, him up at the last day!' He will have a " restitution of all things." GERMS OF THOUGHT. No. XXVI. THE DIVINE WILL. "The Father's Will."— vi. 39. I. — HERE IS AN EXPRESSED OBJECT OF THE DIVINE WILL. What is it ? That nothing of all that has heen entrusted to Christ shall he lost. It is not His will that " one of the least of the little ones " shall perish. Destruction seems repugnant to the Divine mind. Matter seems indestructible ; since the beginning of the world not an atom has been lost. II. — HERE IS A GLORIOUS DELEGATE OF THE DIVINE WILL. Who is He ? Christ. (1.) He is the Father's Messenger. (2.) He is the Father's Steioard. " All which He hath given Me." Something has been entrusted to Him. What ? " Power over all flesh " has been given to Him, Universal authority has been given to Him. " All power is given Me in heaven, and in earth." All who believe in Him as their Saviour are given Him. "All that Thou hast given Me I have kept." All truth has been given to Him. " I have given unto them the word which Thou gavest Me." III. — HERE IS AN ULTIMATE REALIZATION OF THE DIVINE WILL. Nothing that has been entrusted to Him shall be lost, but shall be raised up again at the last day. Christ will take care of every- thing that has been entrusted to Him, preserve all intact, and render up all at last to the great God. (1.) Not a soul entrusted to His care will he lost. (2.) Every soul entrusted to His care will be exalted in the last day. In this last day God's will con- cerning the redemption of the world will be fully realized. No. XXVII. god's UNALTERABLE DECREE IN RELATION TO MAN. " And this is the will of Him that sent Me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on Him, may have everlasting life : and I will raise him up at the last day." — vi. 40. Much has been said and written about God's decrees. The dogmatism of narrow-minded theologians concerning them has made them somethinof terrible to the common mind. But what 1 66 THE GENIUS OF THE GOSPEL. are His decrees but the resolves of Infinite love ? The text leads us to make two renaarks concerning them. I. — GOD DECREES THE WELL-BEING OF MANKIND. It is His " will " that we should have " everlasting life." What does this mean ? Is it merely an existence without an end ? All, perhaps, will have that. But it means an endless existence in the absence of all evil and in i^osscssion of all good — physical, intellectual, social, religious. n. — GOD DECREES A SETTLED CONDITION FOR MAN'S WELL-BEING. The condition is faith in Christ. " This is the toill of Him that sent Me, that every one which seeth the Son, and helieveth on Him," &c. In the days of His flesh thousands saw Him who did not believe on Him ; and now multitudes intellectually see Him who do not believe on Him. Faith in Him is God's condition. Faith in Him — First : As the Divine Redeemer. One sent of God for the work of effecting the spiritual restoration of the world. Faith in Him — Secondly : As the all-sufficient Redeemer ; — " One that is mighty to save." Faith in Him — Thirdly : As the only Redeemer. " There is no other name given under heaven whereby ye may be saved." God's decree then is that man's well-being should be obtained through faith in Christ. God does not desire the misery of any man, but tlie happiness of all ; and as He has decreed that light shall come to the earth through the sun. He has decreed that true happiness shall come to humanity through faith in Christ. No. XXVIII. THE LAST DAY. "Thelastday."— vi. 40. There is the last day in everything in this life. I. — THERE IS THE "LAST DAY " IN BUSINESS. The last day comes to the tradesman in his shop, to the mer- chant on the Exchange, to the lawyer in his office, to the clerk at his desk, &c. &c. II. — THERE IS THE " LAST DAY " IN CHURCH. The last sermon heard, the last hymn sung, the last service attended, and the pew left for ever. III. — THERE IS THE "LAST DAY" IN LIFE. The whole of life dwindled down to one day in a certain year, month, week. The last refreshment taken, the last word spoken, the last breath drawn. The " last duT/." ST. JOHN VI. 41—47. 167 No. XXXIX. THE TENDENCY OF UNBELIEF. " The Jews then murmured at Him, because He said, I am the bread which came down from heaven," &c. — vi. 41 — 47. EXEGETICAL REMARKS. — Ver. 41. — " 27ie Je.us then murmured at (r. V. concerning) Him." " A new sec- tion of tlie affair, occasioned by the Jews taking decisive offence at the preceding discourse. The oiv is again very definitive. The verb yoyyv'i,(ii, of itself, denotes neither, on the one hand, a whispering, nor, on the other, a grumbling or fault-finding ; but the murmuring is here the expression of fault-finding, and is made by the con- text (' among yourselves ') and by the antagonism ('at Him') synonymous with it." — Lange. "Because He said, I am the bread tchich came doivn from (r. v. OUT of) heaven." His claim here to have come down from heaven roused their rebellious spirits. His claim to be very God was insufferable to them. Ver. 42. — '■^ And they said, Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know?" "Is not this Jesus," — who thus arrogates Divinity, represents Himself as com- ing down from heaven, — "the son of Joseph," of Nazareth, a poor carpenter ? What does He mean '] ' ' How is it then that He saith, I came down from (R. v. how doth he now say I CAME DOWN OUT of) heaven ? " His claim is false and impious. Vers. 43, 44. — "Jesus therefore an- swered and said unto them. Murmur not among yourselves. No m,an can come to Me, except the Father which hath sent Me drato him: and I will raise him up at (r. v. in) the last day." "'EXfciiHv denotes all sorts of drawing, from violence to persuasion or invita- tion. But persons can be drawn only according to the laws of personal life. . . . Hence this is not to be taken in a high predestinarian sense." "The point of our Saviour's reply is, that all dispute about His person is fruit- less, until the internal sense of want is experienced. In what this consists we are told in the forty-fifth and forty- sixth verses." Luther: — "You wish to subject Me to measure and square, and judge My word by your reason ; but I say to you, that is not the right way and path. You will not come to Him till the Father opens to you His great mercy, and Himself teaches you that from His Fatherly love He sent Christ into the world. [For] the drawing is not as a hangman draws a thief to the gallows, but It is a friendly alluring and drawing to Himself." Tholuck: — "Jesus therefore virtually says, Except the Divine works which the Father hath empowered Me to do, and the doctrines He has ordered Me to preach, induce men to believe in Me as a Teacher, commissioned by God to instruct them in heavenly truths, they cannot in any other way or by any other arguments do so." Ver. 45. — "It is written in the prophets. And they shall be all taught of God" The particular reference is here to Isaiah liv. 13 ; but the sense of the statement runs through the prophets. (See Isaiah xi. ; Jeremiah xxxi. 33 ; Joel iii. 1.) It points to the gospel dispensation, when "all" are to be taught of God. " Every man (r. v. one) therefore that hath heard (r. v. of the father), and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto Me." Here is a universal truth, every one that is in sympathy with the Father will come to the Son. All that pay attention to what the Father teaches, will not fail to be drawn with a loving interest to His Son. Like attracts like. Ver. 46. — " Not that any ma.n hath seen the Father, save He which is of (r. v. from) God, He hath seen the Father." Some suppose that Christ in this verse contrasts His seeing God with that of Moses ; others, that He means the inward manifestation of God supersedes the historical Christ ; others, that He indicates a difference in kind and degree of revelation ; others, that He indicates His trans- cendent nature in relation to the 1 68 THE GENIUS OF THE GOSPEL. Father. He only "hath seen the Divine redeeming Messenger from Father." Not Moses, not even the heaven. "Hath everhisi'mcj (r. v. angels, have seen the Absolute Divinity. eternal) life." "Hath" — not shall Ver. 47. — "Verily, verily, I say unto have. Genuine faith in Christ puts you." A species of oath. " Believeth man noiv and here in possession of on Me." (R. v. omits on me.) The everlasting goodness and blessedness. HOMILETICS. In these verses there are several subjects which arrest attention and are worthy of serious meditation. I. — THE TENDENCY OF UNBELIEF. " The Jews then murmured at Him, hecause He said, I am the bread which came down from heaven. And they said, Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, vjhose father and mother vje know ? ho^v is it then that He saith, I came doivn from heaven ? " " The Jews then murmured " — murmured in their own hearts, murmured to one another, and in all against Christ. Why did they murmur ? Because of their reluctance to identify the Divine with the common. How could One whom they knew was from Nazareth be from heaven, One whose father and mother they knew as poor people be the Son of God ? Had they not known the obscure scene of His nativity and the social lowliness of His parents, then, — had He performed such wonders as they witnessed, proclaimed such doctrines as they had heard, — they might have been disposed to have identified Him with the Divine, This feeling, which the Jews here displayed, is the tendency of unbelief, a tendency — First : Fearfully prevalent. You may see it in the conduct of man in relation to the phenomena of material nature. Men may connect the idea of God with some majestic tree, but not with the daisy ; with the lion, but not with the insect ; with the thunder- storm, but not with the whispering zephyr. You may see it in the conduct of men in relation to their contemporaries. They are quick to catch what they consider glimpses of Divinity in the great of the land — in the high titled ecclesiastics, the bedizened nobles, the renowned orators and authors ; but not a ray of the Divine can they see in humble life — in the devotion of parents, the innocent love of children, the streams of genuine sympathy that run through every sphere. Who does not recognize this tendency ? Who does not feel it ? It is a tendency — Secondly : Fhilosoj^ihically ahsurd. Right reason assures us that Divinity, if anywhere, must be everywhere — as truly in the atom as in the globe, in the blade as in the forest, in the cahn as in the tempest, in the fly as in the eagle ; as truly with the poorest rnen as with the greatest, and that morally it flashes out in the life ST. JOHN VI. 41—47- 165 of the godly pauper more than in all the magnificent doings of mere worldly dignitaries. This tendency is — Thirdly : Morally reprehensible. It is the duty of every man to see God everywhere, hear His voice in every sound, and behold His presence in every form, His energy in every motion. " Do not I fill heaven and earth ? saith the Lord." " The earth is His temple." "God is a Spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth." This tendency is — Fourthly : Spiritually pernicious. It lessens our appreciation of nature, checks the growth of the sentiment in the heart of what is due to all men, shuts out God from the largest sphere of our activity, and reduces life to that of practical atheism. Let us seek to crush this tendency in our own hearts by a devout cultivation of the sense of God's universal presence. Another subject which we find in these verses demanding our attention is — II. — THE DIVINITY OF CHRISTIANITY. " Jesus therefore answered and said unto them, Micrmur not among yourselves. No man can come to Me, except the Farther ivhich hath sent Me draw him : and I vnll raise him up at the last day." In these verses you have God doing two things — First : Sending His Sou to man. " The Father which hath sent Me." Christ was "sent" not by any secondary authorities. He came forth as a Messenger of the Eternal, came as the Result, the Revelation, and the Minister of God's free and boundless love to the world. He was sent, not contrary to His own will. He came as no reluctant Messenger. His heart was in full sympathy with that of the Eternal Father. His " delight was in the law of the Lord." His "meat and His drink" was to do the Divine will. He was " sent" and He demonstrated the Divinity of His com- mission. " No man can do these miracles that Thou doest, except God be with Him," so said Nicodemus, and so says impartial and enlightened reason through all ages. In these verses you have God doing another thing — Secondly : Bringing man to His Son. " No man can come to Me, except the Father which hath sent Me draw him." Man's well-being consists in being brought into a faithful, loving fellowship with Christ. Though Christ came, men stood aloof from Him. " He came to His own, and His own received Him not." Hence the Infinite Father draws men to Him. What meaneth this ? (1.) Coercion is not meant here. The great Creator treats all creatures according to the natures He has given them. He has endowed man with freedom, and He never has and never will infringe the principles of his liberty. He does not draw the soul 170 THE GENIUS OF THE GOSPEL. as the constable draws the prisoner into his cell, but as a loving mother draws her children to her arms. (2.) Partiality is not meant here. It does not mean that He influences some to the exclusion of others. He shows no favouritism. All souls are His. (3.) Miracle is not meant here. He draws souls by means and agencies in harmony with the laws of their nature, by the influences of events, material and spiritual, by the suggestions of thought, the workings of conscience, and the ministry of the gospel. (4.) Siiperjiuity is not meant here. This work is not unnecessary work. So destitute of sympathy with Christ is unregenerate humanity, and so potent and active are the influences of the flesh, the world, and the devil in drawing souls away from the Divine, that His drawing is indispensable. The human soul in this life is subject to two drawings — the one is a^vay from Christ, the other is to Christ. The latter is Divine. Another subject which we find in these verses demanding our attention is — III. THE PRE-EMINENCE OF JESUS. " It is loritten in the pro])kcts, And they shall he all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, Cometh tmto Me. Not that any man hath seen the Father, save He which is of God, He hath seen the Father." These verses teach two things illustrating the pre-eminence of Christ- First : That all souls truly influenced by the Divine, will come to Him. " Every man" etc. Christ gets the true men of every age, gets them as His disciples, His loyal servants, His devoted friends. Who are those that keep aloof from Him ? Not the best authors, statesmen, kings, citizens, fathers, mothers, husbands, wives, children, &c. No ; but the worst. The best come to Christ. And they will all come one day. " It is ■written in the ^jrophcts. And they shall he all taught of God!' " All men shall be drawn to Him, all nations shall call Him blessed." Another thing taught in these verses concerning the pre-eminence of Christ is — ■ Secondly : That no one but Christ has any absolute knowledge of the Father. " Not that any man hath seen the Father, save He vjhich is of God, He hath seen the Father." God is the Mystery to all creatures, and will continue to be so for ever, after the study of millenniums. The most capacious intellect and the most diligent and successful student in the universe is ever ready to exclaim, " Who by searching can find out God ? " We cannot find Thee out, Lord, For infinite Thou art, ST. JOHN VL 41—47. 171 Thy wondrous works and word, Lord, Eeveal Thee but in part. The drops that swell the ocean, The sands that girt the shore, To measure Thy duration Their numbers have no power. Thy nature is the mystery ' In which all thoughts are lost, Archangels wonder at Thee Through heaven's unnumbered host ; Unbounded is Thine essence. All space is full of Thee, And 'tis Thy Blessed presence That suns immensity. But Christ understands Him, and He alone. He was in the bosom of the Father. He knows Him, knows His nature, fathoms His thoughts, and comprehends His infinite purposes. He then is the Teacher of mankind, the Image of the Invisible God. There is one more subject here demanding our attention, and that is — IV. THE WELL-BEING OF HUMANITY. " Verily, verily, I say %into you, He that helievcth on Me hath everlasting life." Observe — First : The nature of man's well-being. " Everlasting life." Life is esteemed- by all as the transcendent blessing. " All that a man hath will he give in exchange for his life." But this transcendent blessing may, and often does, become an intolerable curse ; hence suicides. Aye, " everlasting life" — taking life in the sense of existence, — may be an everlasting curse. But life here means happiness, well-being. It means everlasting well-being, living for ever in virtue, liberty, intelligence, dignity, progress. Secondly : The condition of man's well-being. " He that helieveth on Me." Me ; not what men say about Me ; not My doctrines and history, but Myself."^ Conclusion. From this subject two things may be inferred — First : That the true religion of man is essentially connected with the existence of Christ. There may be other intelligent creatures in the universe whose genuine religion has no connection with Jesus of Nazareth. In their case, it may be, that supreme sympathy with the Infinitely Good which was planted in their nature at first, has been nourished and developed under the in- fluences of nature. This would have been the religion of man, had he not fallen ; but now, all that is true in the religion of humanity has a vital relation to the character of Jesus Christ. He is its Example, Standard, and Inspiration. Secondly : That the true religion of man is generated in the soul * This subject has come under our attention in previous portions of this Gospel. 172 THE GENIUS OF THE GOSPEL. by the special agency of God. He sent Christ to man, and brings man to Christ for this purpose. The religion of unfallen intelli- gences requires no such sj)ecial agency. In them it is but the development of their spiritual nature. Not so with man. By sin, he has quenched within him the true religion ; and God's special effort is required to resuscitate, strengthen, and mature it. Hence in the Holy Scripture it is spoken of as a spiritual regeneration, resurrection, creation. He creates them " anew in Christ Jesus unto good works." Thus, in fact, the true religion of man is the life of Christ in the soul, the life produced by the special agency of the Eternal Father. They are one with Christ, " And in their souls His image bear, Rejoicing in the likeness. As the sun Doth spread his radiance through the fields of air, And kindle in revolving stars his blaze, He pours upon their hearts the splendour of His rays." Thomas C. Upham. No. XL. CHRIST AS A DIVINE GIFT TO THE WORLD. " I am that bread of life. Your fathers are dead," &c. ExEGETICAL REMARKS. — Ver. 48. — " I am that (r. v. the) bread of life." This refers back to the previous an- nouncement (ver. 35). " Unit " bread which came down from heaven, and which is necessary to the spiritual life of the world. Vers. 49, 50. — " Your fathers did eat mamia in the loilderness, and are dead (r. v. they died). Tliis is the bread which cometh down from (r. v. out of) heaven, that a vian may eat thereof, and not die." Here is a contrast be- tween the life which the manna of Moses sustained and the spiritual life which is nourished by Christ, the living bread. All who ate the manna in the wiklerness are dead centuries ago. None who partake of this true bread have or will ever die. Ver. 51. — "J am the living bread ivhich came doion from (r. v. out of) heaven : if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever." Christ in this discourse repeats the same idea in different connections or phrases, in order to increase its force and intensify its emphasis. " Living breail;" what did eat manna in the wilderness, and — vi. 48—58. an expression ! Bread living ! Not only does it give life, but it is life. "And (r. v. yea and) the bread that I will give is My flesh, which I will give fur the life of the xoorld." " The word '■flesh' here must be taken as standing for Himself. It was often used in Scripture, sometimes without the word blood, to represent the whole man. What Christ means to say, there- fore, is this, — ' The bread that I give is Myself.' The flesh and blood of Christ are the historical Christ." — Lange. Ver. 52. — " Tlie Jews therefore strove among themselves (r. v. one with another), saying. How can this^Man give us His flesh to eat?" The Jews were scandalized that a mere man should put forth such pretensions. " Hoio can thi^ Man give ns His flesh to cat ? " The language to them seemed to be to the last degree absurd, and if it had a meaning, it meant blasphemy. Ver. 53. — " Then Jesus said (r. v. therefore) unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye cat the flesh of the "S'yn of rnan, and drink His blood, ST. JOHN VI. 48—58. 173 ye have no life in you " (r. v. your- selves). " The Divine Teacher uses these violent figures and bold para- doxes powerfully to excite their atten- tion, and to implant a seed of truth which might afterwards germinate. At present, He does not care to retain among His disciples such mercenary and earthly-minded followers. Hence, instead of softening or explaining expressions so offensive to their feel- ings and prejudices, He indulges in others still more strange and para- doxical. He thus tested the faith of His disciples, sifted His hearers, the good from the bad, and inculcated lessons of truth of inestimable value to all ages." Vers. 54, 55, 56. — " Whoso (r. v. he that) eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, hath eternal life ; and I tvill raise him up at the last day. For My flesh is meat indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. He that eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, dwelleth (r. v. abideth) in Me, and I in him." Now, the all-important question which one has to determine here is. What does our Saviour mean by '■'■flesh and blood ? " He does not mean, of course, literally the materials out of which His body was built up, nor does He mean any- thing like what Papists hold, that the bread and the wine employed at the Lord's Supper become, after the invo- cation of the priests, transmuted into the flesh and blood of Christ. He means, I imagine, simplythis — Myself, my life. " Flesh and blood " are em- ployed in a large variety of passages in the Bible to represent the life of man. (See Psalm xiv. 4 ; Ixv. 2 ; Isaiah xl. 5, 6 ; Jeremiah xii. 12 ; Luke iii. 6.) Again, we have such expressions as these, " Flesh and blood hath not revealed it" (Matt. xvi. 17) ; " They twain shall be one flesh " (Matt. xix. 5, 6)"; " No flesh shall glory " (1 Cor. i. 29); "I conferred' not with flesh and blood " (Gal. i. 16) ; " The children are partakers of flesh and blood "( Heb. ii. 14) ; " Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom" (1 Cor. XV. 50). In all these passages both the words "flesh and blood," sometimes separately and sometimes together, stand for human life. Hence, to ascer- tain the real meaning the words have in His language, is to ascertain what His life really was. What was the ani- mating, ruling principle of His being, that which marked Him off from all other men, that in fact made Him Christ? There is but one answer to this, namely, Self-sacrificing love. The meaning therefore I take to be this, that unless you take into yourself My life, — My self sacrificing love, — you cannot live. Ver. 57. — " As the living Father hath sent Me, and I live by (r. v. because of) the Father : so he that eateth Me, even he (r. v. he also) shall live by (r. v. because of) Me." Christ here asserts, not only that the living Father had sent Him, but that the life of the Father was in Him ; that i«, the same spiritual life — the life of disinterested love that was in the Father — was in Him, and that that life was the privi- lege of all who would participate of His Spirit. The real life of a moral intelligence is self-sacrificing love, that life is the life of God, the life of Christ, and, through Christ, is the life of mankind. Ver. 58. — " This is that bread which came dotvn from (r. v. out of) heaven : not as your (r. v. the) fathers did eat manna, and are dead (r . v. did eat AND died) : he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever." A repetition, this, of former utterances. HOMILETIGS. These words present to us Christ as a Divine gift to the world, and they lead us to look upon Christ in three aspects. I. — AS A SPECIAL GIFT FROM THE FATHER. Christ here speaks of Himself as " the Living Bread which came down from heaven" as sent by the living Father. He gives His 174 THE GENIUS OF THE GOSPEL. hearers to understand that He was the gift of God to the world, and this He taught elsewhere in various places and forms of ex- pression. " God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son," But are not all things the gifts of God — life, the universe, and every element that ministers to the well-being of sentient creatures ? Yes ; " every good and perfect gift cometh down from above." But Christ is a S2}ecial Gift. First : He is the greatest Personality in the universe. The whole material system is not to be compared in value to that of one intelligent, free, responsible, undying personality. The poorest child of man is greater than stars and systems. But some personalities are greater than others. An angel may be greater than a man. Christ is greater, infinitely greater than all. " He is the image of the invisible God, in Him dwells all the fulness of the Godhead bodily." The Father, in giving Him, gave a greater treasure than if He had given all He had beside. Secondly : He is the dearest Personality to God in the universe. He is His " beloved Son in whom He is well pleased," the special object, channel, and minister of His love. What a gift is this ! A gift the transcendent value of which no created intellect through eternal ages will ever be able fully to appreciate. Another aspect in which the passage leads us to look at Christ is — II.-— AS A FREE GIFT OF SELF. Christ was not given as a slave, either without His will or against His will ; but in the gift of the Father He gives Himself. " The bread that I will give is My ficsh, for the life of the world." Between the will of His father and Himself, there was a vital and inviolable harmony. The one gift is the free gift of both. " I lay down My life for the sheep, no man taketh it from Me " (John X, 15 — 18). "He gave Himself a Ransom for all " (1 Tim. ii. 6). " Who loved me, and gave Himself for me," says Paul, Christ is at once the Gift, and the Giver of the gift. This may transcend our reason, but it shocks it not. Children often willingly and lovingly give themselves to a work to which their parents devote them. The passage presents to us Christ in yet another aspect — III. — AS AN INDISPENSABLE GIFT FOR MEN, It is " the Bread of life." First : There is no spiritual life without it, " Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, ye Jiave no life in you." * The life of Christ, as we have seen, was that of free, disinterested, self-sacrificing love. Unless man takes this into him, he has no life. Love is the only true spiritual life. The loss of this is man's * See Germ, p. 175. ST. JOHN VI. 48—58. 175 damnation, its restoration is man's salvation. Christ came to restore it. Secondly : This spiritual life is identical with that of God and Christ. " He that eatetli My fiesh, and drinhcth My hlood* dwcUcth in Me, and I in him. As the living Father hath sent Me, and I live hy the Father : so he that eateth Me, even he shall live by Me." In the moral universe there is but one true life, and that is the life of love. "He that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him." The living Father is its perennial fountain. The Blessed Son incarnated it, and supplies it to all who are willing to receive it. Love is the hxad of life. Thirdly : This spiritual life includes man's well-being for ever. Mark the words : " A man may eat thereof, and not die. If a man cat of this hread, he shall live for ever. He that eateth My flesh and drinketh My blood, shall live for ever, and I will raise him up for ever." Yes ; in this our eternal well-being consists. Conclusion. Oh, ye hungry, starving souls, " Wherefore do ye spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labour for that which satisfieth not ? Hearken diligently unto Me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness." The bread of the soul, believe me, is not animal pleasure, not intellectual knowledge, not gold, not power, not fame. It is love — love as flowing from the heart of the Living Father, as embodied in the life and inculcated in the teachino; of Jesus of Nazareth. He who lives in Christ, to use the language of another, stands at the focus of rejuvenation. "Why, man, pursue thy weary calling, And wring thy hard life from the sky, While happiness unseen is falling Down from God's bosom silently ? " GERMS OF THOUGHT. No. XXIX. SPIRITUAL CANNIBALISM. "Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, ye have no life in you." — vi. 53. Taking the expression flesh and blood as representing life, the subject here is participation in the life of Christ. Two remarks may give a meaning to this much misunderstood and misinterpreted expression. I. — THAT IT IS POSSIBLE FOR ONE MAN TO PARTICIPATE IN THE LIFE OF ANOTHER. What is the real life of a man ? Not his corporeal organization, * See Germ, p. 176. 176 THE GENIUS OF THE GOSPEL. but the S2nrit that animates and controls him — his governing dis- position. Throughout all society men are spiritually living on one another. S^nrihial cannibalism is universal. Every man is under the control of some disposition. It may be vanity, greed, ambition. Whatever it be, it is his life. On the productions of this life others feed and fatten. Notice — II. — THAT IT IS NECESSARY FOR EVERY MAN TO PARTICIPATE IN THE LIFE OF CHRIST. What was the life of Christ, — His governing disposition, that which marked Him off from all other men ? Self-sacrificing love for mankind. This was in fact His flesh and blood — His very life. Had He not had this He would not have been Christ. Now this spirit, this life, is the food essential to human souls. "Except ye cat the fleshy It fulfils the twofold function of food. First : It satisfies. Food allays the cravings of appetite, &c. No act that a man can perform can yield soul-satisfaction unless inspired by this self-sacrificing love. Conscience will not pro- nounce " well done " to any other, though it may awaken the hosannas of the crowd. If I want soul-satisfaction I must drink in the spirit, the self-sacrificing love of Christ. Secondly : It strengthens. The other function of food is to strengthen. Food invigorates the frame, recuperates lost energy, and generates new force. It is only as a man gets within him this self-sacrificing love that he gets true moral force — force to endure magnanimously — and to battle invincibly. These thoughts show that there is no difficulty in reaching the practical mean- ing of these wonderful words. The words have no reference to the Lord's Supper or to any institution. Men of superstitious feeling and superficial thought, have in all ages expended many a valuable hour on discussions on transubstantiation,consubstantiation, and other miserable superstitions in connection with these words. But they have nothing lo do with such fancies. The idea is, that unless a man takes into him the moral Sj^irit of Christ which is His life — His "flesh and blood " — he himself can neither grow or live. No. XXX. THE UNIQUENESS OF CHRIST'S BLOOD, OR HIS SACRIFICED LIFE. " Whoso drinketli My blood hath eternal life." — vi. 54. The expression "Blood of Christ," is used by millions who have DO accurate idea concerning its import. Blood is life ; and the essential idea is Christ's self-sacriflced life. The expression is frequently used in the New Testament (see Col. i. 20; 1 John ST. JOHN VI. 48—58. 177 i. 7 ; Rev. v. 9 ; vii. 14 ; xii. 11 ; Eph. ii. 13; Acts xx. 28). Two general remarks are suggested. I. — THAT IT IS SOMETHING SUBLIMELY UNIQUE IN ITS NATURE. Things are said of it here that could not possibly be said with propriety of the blood of any other man, in any age or time, who has sacrificed his life. Millions of men have been sacrificed, they have lost their life, but not in the way in which Christ was sacri- ficed. Some have been sacrificed by assassination, some by war, some by capital punishment, some by accident ; most against their will, although some voluntarily, either by suicide or superstitious fanaticism. But in the case of Christ's sacrificed life there was nothing like this. Two facts especially marked off His sacrificed life from that of any other sacrificed life. First: It was in accordance with the eternal plan of God. He was the " Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." There was nothing accidental about it, nothing out of keeping with the eternal order of things. Secondly : It was voluntary in the sense in which no other man's death was voluntary. Amongst the millions of men who have died most freely, not one has felt that he need not die at all if he choose, that he could continue here for ever. But this Christ felt. There was no law in heaven or earth to force Him to the fate. " I have power to lay down My life, and power to take it up again." Thirdly : It was absolutely free from all imperfection. Not one of all the teeming myriads who have departed this life has been entirely free from sin. All have had on them, to a greater or lesser extent, the common stain. But Christ was immaculate. His greatest enemies could not convince Him of sin ; Pilate and all His judges could find no fault with Him. He was " holy, harmless, and separate from sinners." Another remark suggested concerning the Blood of Christ is — II. — THAT IT IS SOMETHING SUBLIMELY UNIQUE IN ITS EFFECTS. Results are ascribed to this blood which could not with any propriety, or the slightest approach to truth, be ascribed to the blood of any other man. First : These effects are variously represented. His blood is some- times represented as reconciliation. His sacrificed life was the atone- ment. It is represented as pttrification. " It cleanseth from all sin," and through it men are made white. "Unto Him that loved us, and washed us," &c. It is represented as an essential element of soul-life. " Whoso drinlceth My Mood hath eternal life : " something that has not only to be applied to the soul, but taken into it. It is represented as a raiisom. " Redeemed us to God by His blood," 178 THE GENIUS OF THE GOSPEL. " purchased by His blood." It is the power to deliver from the guilt and dominion of sin. It is represented as a conquering force. " Overcame by the blood of the Lamb." Of whose blood have these results ever been predicated or can ever be ? Secondly : These effects are universal in their influence. His blood "cleanseth from all sin," it makes the great "multitudes that no man can number" " white." How extensive has been its bene- ficent influence on humanity already ! But its present area of influence, as compared with its future, is less than a little lake to the ocean. Thirdly : These effects are eternal in their blessings. " IVJioso drinketh My blood hath eternal life." " Dear dying Lamb, Thy precious blood Shall never lose its power, Till all the ransomed Church of God Be saved, to sin no more." Conclusion. The subject — First : Serves to explain both the essence of the Gospel and the essence of personal holiness. Christ's sacrificed life is the Gospel, and hence the very effects that are ascribed to His blood are also ascribed to the Gospel, to the truth of the Gospel, to the grace of the Gospel, to the word of the Gospel : all these are said to cleanse, to redeem, to conquer, to make white, &c. Not only does it serve to explain the essence of the Gospel, but the essence of 2JC')"sonal holiness. That principle of love which led Christ to sacrifice His life, must be appropriated by us as a vital ruling element if we would be holy. His sacrifice upon the cross Avill be worthless to us unless we sacrifice ourselves in love, hence we must become " conformable unto His death." The subject — Secondly : Serves to correct the mischievous way in which the Blood of Christ is popularly represented. Men talk of Christ's Blood as if it was the crimson fluid that coursed through His veins that saves, washes, cleanses, &c., or at any rate that it was His blood which qualified Him to be a Saviour. It was not His Blood. The Blood Avas nothing, only as it expressed His self- sacrificing love. Supposing that the criminal law of Rome at the time in which Christ lived had required that capital offenders should be put to death by hanging or strangling, or suffocating, or by taking poison like Socrates. Had Christ been sacrificed in any of these ways, would the power of His self-sacrifice to save humanity be one whit the less ? Not so. It was His self-sacri- ficing love, not the form of His mortal agonies, that made Him the Saviour of the world. ST. JOHN VI. 59—65. 179 No. XLI. GOSPEL REVELATION. " These things said He in the synagogue, as He taught in Capernaum," &c. — vi. 59—65. EXEGETICAL REMARKS. — Ver. 59. — " T/iese things said He in the synagogue, as He taught in Capernaum." The discourse recorded in the preceding verses was delivered in all probability on the Sabbath-day. The congregation was now broken or breaking up, and the incidents related in these last verses of the chapter occurred perhaps else- where and in private. The synagogue here perhaps was the building erected by the grateful centurion as an ex- pression of his love for the Jewish nation. Ver. 60. — ^^ Many therefore of His disciples, tohen they had heard this, said. This is an hard sayhig ; who can hear it?" The '^disciples" here do not mean exclusively the twelve, but include those who generally attended His ministry in Capernaum. '■^ Hard saying." They regarded the words of oiir Saviour referring to the eating of His body and the drinking of His blood literally, and they could not understand them. " IVIio catt hear it ? " The thing is past comprehension. Ver. 61. — " When (r. v. but) Jesus kneio (r. v. knowing) in Himself that His disciples murmured at it (r. v. this), He said unto them. Doth this offend you?" (r. v. cause you to STUMBLE.) (jKavSaXiKei, axavdaXov. " A snare laid for an enemy. In New Testament a stumbling-block, a scandal." — Liddell and Scott. Ver. 62. — " What and if ye shall see (r. v. then if ye should behold) the Son of man ascend (r. v. ascend- ing) U2) where He was before ? " If ye are stumbled at what I have said, how will ye bear what I now say ? Not tliat His ascension itself would stumble them more than His death ; but that after recoiling from tlie mention of the one, they would not be in a state of mind to take in the other. Ver. 63. — "Ji is the spirit that quickeneth ; the flesh profiteth nothing : the tvords that I speak (r. v. have spoken) unto you, they are spirit, and they are life " (r. v. are spirit and are life). This verse is the key to unlock the meaning of the whole pre- ceding discourse. He explains His seemingly violent expressions by telling them that they must under- stand Him figuratively, not literally ; and that what was spiritual in His religion quickened men, and gave them life, not the literal flesh, which availed nothing to such an end. " The words " — " He proceeds to declare what He means by spirit and by life. It was His instruciions, doctrines, truths, that would summon into action and progress man's spiritual life, and lead him onward to eternal blessedness." — Livermore. Ver. 64. — " Biit there are some of you, that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they ivere that believed not, and who (r. v. it WAS that) shotdd betray Him." Jesus meant to say. It does not matter to some of you in what sense I speak, for ye will not believe Me. " Jesus knew from the begi')t.ni)i,g." He read them through and through. His omniscience is elsewhere asserted (Rev. ii. 23 ; John ii. 24 ; Matt. ix. 4 ; xii. 25 ; Luke v. 22 ; vi. 8 ; ix. 47). He knew what Judas would do ; his conduct did not take Him by surprise. Ver. 65. — '^ And He said, Therefore (r. v. for this cause have i) said I unto you,, that no man can come unto Me, except it ivere given urdo Him, of My (r. v. the) Father." "To be given of the Father," says Whitby, "is to be ciinvinced by the miracles which God hath wrought by Him ; to testify the truth of His mission, that He was the Messiah ; and to be willing on these testimonies to own Him as such, laying aside all those unreasonable prejudices and carnal affections which obstructed their coming to Him." N 2 I So THE GENIUS OF THE GOSPEL. HOMILETICS. The passage now under notice may be regarded as presenting to us Gosjjcl Revelation in three aspects. I. — AS SENSUOUSLY INTERPRETED. These hearers of Christ gave a sensuous interpretation of His words concerning the eating of His flesh and the drinking of His blood. They considered that He meant a species of cannibalism. They did not penetrate into the spiritual meaning of the figure, and reach the grand principle of self-sacrificing love. This sensuous interpretation — First : Involved them in difficulty. " Tliis is a hard saying ; ivho can hear it?" As if they had said, It is beyond belief, it is an insult to our understanding. So in truth His language is, if literally interpreted. It is the sensuous or literal interpretation of Scripture that always makes it a "hard saying" to men. The literal interpretation of the metaphorical representations of God, as a Being possessing human jJossions, is a " hard saying." The literal interpretation of the metaphorical representations of the millennium, in which Christ is represented as coming in person to reign on the earth, and to accomplish by miracles what had not been done by moral ministries, is a "hard saying." The literal interpretation of the metaphorical resurrcetio7i of the race, in which every son of Adam is spoken of as coming forth from his grave in exactly the same body he had previous to his death, is also a " hard saying" The literal interpretation of the metaphorical representation of hell, in which the wicked are represented as burning in material flames for ever, is a " hard saying." In truth, no man Avho, like these hearers of Christ, givesa literal or sensuousinterpretationof a book like the Bible, which is pre-eminently 7iietaphorical, can fail to feel it a " hard saying." This sensuous interpretation — Secondly : Subjected them to unbelief " JF7to can hear it ? " Who can accept it, who can give it credence ? Yes, who ? To believe intelligently in the literal representations of the Bible is an utter impossibility. No class of men do more, perhaps, to promote infidelity amongst the people, than those writers and preachers who are proclaiming and urging sensuous interpretations of a highly figurative Book. I have sat in churches and chapels, and have heard such gross and material views of God, Christ, heaven, hell, set forth, as have led me to feel not only that they were a " hard saying," I could not " hear " them, but that they were an outrage on reason, a calumny on the Book, and a libel on the Infinite. This sensuous interpretation — Thirdly : Was offensive to Christ. " Ulien Jesus knew in Him- self that His disciples murmured at it, He said unto them, Doth this ST. JOHN VI. 59—65. 181 offend you ? JVhat and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where He ivas before ? " " Doth this offend you ? " It need not ; it only shows the carnality of your minds in putting a gross inter- pretation on My words. What makes it hard for you to understand, is the wrong in your own hearts, not the absurdity of My words. You are prejudiced, you are sensual, you "judge after the flesh," you do not understand Me although I am with you. How will you understand Me when I am gone ? " What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up ? " God deliver us from carnalizing the Holy Gospel ! This has made Popery, this makes Ritualism, this fosters Infidelity. " The natural man 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." The passage now under notice may be regarded as presenting to us Gospel Revelation — II. — AS DIVINELY EXPLAINED. " It is the sjjirit that q^iicJceneth ; the flesh profitcth nothiyig : the words that I sjJcak unto you, tliey are spirit, and they are life." The spiritual subject of My discourse is that which giveth life ; the material form " profiteth nothing." The real subject of My discourse is spirit, not flesh or matter, true spiritual life, not carnal animal life. Paul expresses a similar idea when he says, " The letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life." What do " spirit " and " letter " mean here ? Simply the word and the thought, the sentence and the sentiment. Christianity has letter and spirit. If it had no letter, it would be unrevealed to men, a thought shut up in the mind of God ; and if it had mere letter and no spirit, it w^ould be hollow sound, empty jargon. All essences, principles, spirits, are invisible to us ; they are only revealed through letters or forms. The spirit of a nation expresses itself in its institutions ; the spirit of the creation expresses itself in its phenomena ; the spirit of Jesus in His wonderful biography. By letter, therefore, I understand the^form of a thing in contradistinction to its essence; the word in contradistinction to its meaning; the institution in contradistinction to its genius. " The flesh profitcth nothing" says Christ. By which He means to express the general idea that the mere forms and symbols of truth are worthless, if they fail to convey the ideas intended. But the " spirit giveth life!' As the spirit of man vitalizes every part of his flesh during his life, — makes it warm, sensitive, and active, — so the spirit of truth and love and Christ quickens the human soul. Christ's words haxe spirit in them. They are not mere facts and theories, but spirit itself. The words of some have nothing in them ; of others, mere facts ; of others, cold abstractions : not so with the words of Christ: they are "spirit." They throb with 1 82 THE GENIUS OF THE GOSPEL. spirit. Christ's words are quickening. " It is the spirit that quickeneth." What quickening work in intellect, conscience, soiil tliey have accomplished ere now ! May we all so study the Holy Gospel that we may reach its " spirit," and feel its quickening energy ! The passage now under notice may be regarded as presenting to us Gospel Revelation — III. — AS PRACTICALLY DISBELIEVED. " Bid there are some of yo^o that hclicvc not." Three remarks are suggested here. First : Disbelievers are known to Christ from the commencement. " For JesiLS hieiu from the hcginninr/ who they were that believed not." Infidelity does not strike Him with surprise. No infidel, in any age or land, has ever appeared or will ever appear, whom He did not foreknow. His foreknowledge of their infidelity, however, interferes not with their freedom, intiuences not their character, and lessens not, in the slightest degree, their guilt. Infidels, Christ knows all about you ! Secondly : Disbelievers are capable of the most iniquitous con- duct. Christ not only knew who would not believe, but also who amongst the unbelievers ''should betray Him." One of the greatest crimes ever perpetrated on the earth was the betrayal of Christ, and that betrayal was the result of unbelief. No crime is too enormous for those to perpetrate who practically reject Christianity. Thirdly : Disbelievers maintain a moral distance from Christ. " And He said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto He, except it were given unto him of My Father." Observe — (1.) That to believe in Christ's spiritual teaching, is to come to Him. The man who enters with all the love of his heart anil the con- fidence of his being into the spiritual import of Christ's teaching, will feel himself brought into conscious contact with Him. He will "come to Him." (2.) That the influence of the Father is necessary to enable him to believe. " Ejxcjjt it were given unto him of My Father." Who but the Father can incline the depraved heart to look at the " truth as it is in Jesus," and to feel its quick- ening and saving power ? This is the Father's work with all. By the influences of nature, by the events of Providence, by the dis- coveries of reason, by the workings of conscience, and by the ministry of truth, the great Father is ever workinfj to brinsr His sons to Christ; and because His efforts are moral, they may be resisted. "We drive tlie furrow with tlie share of faith Through the waste fields of life, and our own hands Sow thick tlie seeds that spring to weeds or flowers. And never strong necessity nor fate Trammels the soul that firmly says, I will ! Else are we playthings, and 'tis Satan's mock To preach to us repentance and belief," ST. JOHN VI. 66—71. No. XLII. THE TRANSCENDENT WORTH OF CHRISTIANITY. From that time many of His disciples went back, and walked no more with Him," &c.— vi. 66—71. ExEGETiCAL Reiiarks. — Ver. 66.— ^^ From that time (r. v. upon this) many of His disciples went back, and walked no more with Him." " Upon this " — that is, on account of the dis- course He had just delivered, which they by their carnal interpretations made absurd and abhorrent, they with- drew from His ministry. Ver. 67. — " Then said Jesus (r. v. therefore) tmto the tivelve, Will (r. v. would) ye also go away ? " How many of His hearers now went away, we are not told — perhaps hundreds ; and Christ, to test the twelve, turns to them and says,. Do you also wish to go away ? Some see sadness in this question, and render the words, " Ye will not go away, will ye 1 " Ver. 68. — '■'■Then Simon Peter an- swered Him, Lord, to whom shall we go ? Thou hast the words of eternal life." Here is warm-hearted, impetuous Peter true to his nature again. " Eternal life " means eternal goodness, which is eternal blessedness. Ver. 69. — '^ And we believe (r. v. HAVE believed) and are sure (r. v. know) that Thou art that Christ, the Son (r. v. holy one) of the living God." Instead of the '■'■Son of the living God " it should be, the Holy One of God, the One consecrated by and for the most Holy One. Ver. 70. — " Jesus answered them, Have not I chosen you twelve ? " (r. v. DID I NOT CHOOSE YOU THE TWELVE 1) A more definite exposition of the words of verse 67. " Not the language of reflection, but of sudden pain over the tragic result, in contrast with that joyful confession which Peter was con- vinced he could give in the name of all." — Meyer. " It probably refers, not to the tragic result, but to the moral alienation, the germ of apostasy, which from this time forth developed itself in Judas. The distribution of the emphasis is very significant — ' / ' is first, then ' Yoii,' then the ' twelve.^ I, as the Holy One of God, have chosen you to the highest honours." — Lange. '■'■One of you is a devil." The words of Dr. Farrar on this subject deserve quota- tion. " The English version is unfor- tunate because it does not maintain the distinction between SidjioXog, the word here used, and SainSviov, which it usually renders 'devil,' e. g. in 'He has a devil.' Euthymius here explains ' devil ' by either ' servant of the devil ' or ' conspirator,' and the latter meaning seems very probable ; indeed, this very word i-TrijSovXoQ is used by the LXX to render the Hebrew Satan in 1 Kings V. 4 ; 1 Sam. xxix. 4. I have already noticed how much more lightly the Jews, and indeed all Orientals to this day, used the word Satan than we do ; this indeed may be almost called a modus loquendi among them ; and if Jesus spoke in Aramaic, and used the word SDlOD, then the reproach is not one-tenth part so fearful as it sounds to us. Thus, the sons of Zeruiah are called a Satan to David (2 Sam. xix. 22), and Hadad is called a Satan to King Solomon (Kings xi. 23), where it is merely rendered ' adversary,' and in Matt. xvi. 23 the word is applied to Peter Himself. 'When the ungodly curseth Satan' (i. e. an enemy), says the Son of Sirach (xxi. 27), ' he curseth his own soul.' All this is important in many ways. Further, we may observe that Sidj3o\oc occurs by no means fre- quently in the New Testament." Ver. 71. — "-He (r. v. now he) spake of Judas Iscariot the son of Simon." (r. v. ISCARIOT.) There was another Judas, the son of James ; but this was the son of Simon Iscariot. " For he it was that shotdd betray Him." About to betray Him. ^^ Being one of the txoelve." In the three lists of the apostles it is added that he was the betrayer. 1 84 THE GENIUS OF THE GOSPEL. HOMILETICS. We may take these words as a whole to illustrate the transcendent worth of Christianity, and we remark — I. — THAT CHRISTIANITY PROVIDES FOR THE COMPLETE WELL- BEING OF HUMAN NATURE. " Thou haM the words of eternal life." Life here does not mean mere existence ; for existence itself may be a curse, and endless existence an eternal calamity. But it means, as we have said, eternal goodness, or holiness, which is happiness. It means an eternal existence, not only apart from all moral and natural evil, but in inseparable connection with all natural and moral good. It involves the totality of all that man requires to consummate his bliss. It is the true sunimum honum. Now, Christianity has the " words of eternal life" It has the means to generate, sustain, develop, and perfect in man this eternal goodness. Nothing else can do it. Science, literature, art, law, none nor all of those can effect it. Peter means to say, We want eternal life ; and Thou hast it, and Thou alone. Yes, it is the want, the deep eternal want, of human nature. Now this Christianity provides for : it has " the loords of eternal life." First : Its " loords " revoke the sentence of self-condemnation to eternal death. The guilty conscience when awakened dooms man to a terrible future. Christ's words revoke in man this condemnation. " There is therefore now no condemnation," &c. Secondly : Its "words" remove the moral disease which insures eternal death. The Bible teaches — (1.) That men are infected with the mortal malady. And (2.) That the Gospel removes it, and implants the seeds of eternal life. Another fact here is — II. — THAT CHRISTIANITY RESPECTS THE FREEDOM OF HUMAN NATURE. " Will ye also go away ? " Christ uses no coercion ; He does not dragoon men into His service ; He treats them according to their nature : men are made to act freely, and they never can act as men only as they are free. Hence Christ says, " Will ye ? " First : Christ does not want our service. He can do without us. He could destroy the old creation, and create a new universe. Do not stay with Me from the idea that I want you. Secondly : Christ will not accept forced service. (1.) Because there could be no moral virtue in such service. He requires us to serve Him because by doing so we become morally good. (2.) Because there could be no happiness in such service. He wishes ST. JOHN VI. 66—71. 185 our happiness. The gloomy looks and sepulchral tones of religious serfs are an abomination to Him. Be free then. Another fact here is — III. — THAT CHRISTIANITY TAKES THE STEONGEST MORAL HOLD UPON HUMAN NATURE. " To whom can we go ? " Though free, we are bound. What are its binding forces ? First : The gratitude it inspires. Gratitude ever binds to the benefactor. Secondly : The love it enkindles. Love always binds the heart to its object, and the more excellences the object displays the stronger the tie becomes. Thirdly : The hope it awakens. Hope binds the heart to the object promised. Christ makes wonderful promises. Fourthly : The congeniality it produces. Christianity suits man in every respect — heart, conscience, intellect, — all. To whom, then, can the man " go " who has really secured Christianity ? How can he extricate himself ? To whom can you go ? Will you go to Rationalism, — to Romanism, — to Paganism, — to Secular- ism ? There is nowhere else you can go to, if you would. Another fact here is — IV. — THAT CHRISTIANITY REJECTS NOT THE WORSE TYPES OF HUMAN NATURE. Christ had chosen Judas, who was a devil, and who betrayed Him. Christ gave Judas an opportunity of reaching " eternal life." For three years He ministered to Judas. Judas heard His sermons, witnessed His miracles, sat at His feasts, and even had his feet washed by His hands. Observe — First : The power of man to misrepresent himself. Judas for years appeared as a disciple, spoke as a disciple, prayed as a disciple ; behaved in every way and appeared externally as a disciple, and yet the devil was in his heart. " One of yoiL is a devil." A bad man, like the devil, can transform himself into an angel of light. Observe — Secondly : The power of man to act against circumstances. Circumstances more powerfully adapted to make a bad man good, you can scarcely imagine than those which acted upon Judas during the three past years. Notwithstanding this, he became a greater devil, became worse every day. No circumstances can make a man better or worse, irrespective of his own will.' " Our bodies," says Shakspeare, " are our gardens ; to the which our wills are gardeners : so that if we will plant nettles, or sow lettuce ; set hyssop, and weed up thyme ; supply it with one gender of herbs, or distract it with many ; either to have it sterile 1 86 THE GENIUS OF THE GOSPEL. with idleness, or manured with industry ; why, the power and corrigible authority of this lies in our wills." No. XLIIL INFIDELITY. (Jesits goes up to the Feast of Tabernacles — His final departure from Galilee — Incidents in Samaria. — Luke ix. 51 — 56 ; John vii. 2 — 10.) "After these things Jesus walked in Galilee : for He would not walk in Jewry, because the Jews sought to kill Him," &c. — vii. 1 — 10. ExEGETicAL Eemarks. — Ver. 1. — "After these tilings." It will be ob- served from the harmony, that the year between the second and third passovers of our Lord is opened by John (chap, v.) and closed with this announcement ; so that John has only two chapters of his narrative falling within this second year of our Lord's ministry. The other evangelists have related the chief events of this year, embracing various important miracles. There are several parables, and also the sermon on the Mount, which are not given by John. "Jesus walked in Galilee." He continued to prosecute His labours in Galilee for a consider- able time. " In this period of Galilean itineracy," says Dr. Lange, "fall the charges of heresy against Jesus in Galilee, and His contests with the hostile Pharisees there (Matt, xii.) ; most of His parables or sermons on the sea (Matt, xiii.) ; His interview with the deputation from Jerusalem, and the great gathering on the moun- tain wliich followed (Matt, xv.) ; the last contest with Pharisean power in Galilee ; the retirement of the Lord ; and His transfiguration (Matt. xvi. and xvii. 21)." "He wuxdd not walk in Jewry (r. v. jud^ea), because the Jews sought to kill Him." The reason why He would not go into Jewry, or Judoea, is here stated, and also in chap. V. 18. Ver. 2. — " Nmo the Jews' feast of tabernacles (r. v. the feast of the JEWS, the feast of tarernacles) teas at hand." The feast of taber- nacles was the last of the three annual festivals, celebrated on the 15th of the 7th month, i.e. September. It was a celebration of the sojourn of Israel in the wilderness, when they dwelt in tents. It continued seven or eight days, and the last day became the great day of the feast. Ver. 3. — "His brethren therefore said unto Him, Depart hence, and go into Judiea, that Tliy disciples also may see the (r. v. behold thy) wurks that (r. v. which) Tlion doest." These brethren were undoubtedly the sons of Joseph and Mary, and their names were James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas. As Jesus was the eldest, the others must have been in fresh young manhood. The reason why His brethren rerpiested Him to depart into Judaja and to do " tvorks "' there, was in all proljability family vanity. Tliey wished their lirother to avail Himself of a grand national occasion to impress their countrymen with His signal greatness. They became dis- satisfied with His unostentatious life in Galilee. Ver. 4. — " For there is no man that doeth (r. v. no man doeth) any thing in secret, and he himself seeketh to be known openhj. If TItou do (r. v. doest) these thimjs, shew (r. v. manifest) Tliyself to the world." Though they must be regarded as unbelievers, they seem to have had some kind of faith in His Messiah- ship, and they wished Him to be publicly recognized as such, by ap- pearing at once on the open stage ; and they seemed to say, If Thou liast power of working miracles, do so on a large scale : let our nation recognize tlie fact. Ver. 5. — "For neither (r. v. even) did (r. v. did not) His brethren believe in (r. v. on) Him." Althouj^h ST. JOHN VII. I— 10. 187 afterwards they were numbered amongst His disciples (Acts i. 14), np to tliis point they had no true faith ; they were infidels so far as His Messiahship was concerned. Ver. 6. — " Then Jesus (r. v. there- fore) said unto them, My time is not yet come." ^^ My time" — there is no reason to believe that there is here any reference to His death. He had fixed upon a time when He should go to the feast, but it had not exactly arrived. The time He purjjosed chal- lenging the nation and the metropolis with the fact of His Messiahship, His first public entrance into Jerusalem, was the entrance in the procession with palms. " Your time is alway ready." Your time is your own, you have no plan in life, you acknow- ledge no Divinely-regulated law ; you can go where you please. Ver. 7. — " The world cannot hate you ; but Me it hateth, because I testify of it, that the (R. v. its) ivorks thereof are evil." The world can have no reason to hate you. Not that they were particularly sinful, or complied wickedly with the practices and pas- sions of the world ; but that they had done nothing to merit the resentment of the Jewish rulers, and call down the imprecations of the people. " Be- cause I testify of it." It was the freedom and honesty with which Jesus dealt with the bad, and probed their moral wounds, that awoke their fiery anger. His rebukes of the Scribes and Pharisees made them His unrelenting enemies till death. So always : " There is no surer way to involve one's self in the flames of persecution, than to reprove men for their sins, and advocate with unbend- ing rectitude the great principles of the Christian code of morals and faith.'' — Livermore. Ver. 8. — "■Go ye up unto this feast: I go not up yet unto this feast ; for My time is not yet full come" (r. v. fulfilled). Some omit the word " yet " as it is not found in many of the ancient MSS. All that is meant is, I go not up at present to this feast, I am not ready. Ver. 9. — " When He had (r. v. and having) said these words (r. v. things) unto them. He abode still in Galilee." This verse suggests that the convers- ation took place some days before the departure of His brothers for the feast. Ver. 10. — ^^ But when His brethren were gone up, then went He also up unto the feast, not openly (r. t, publicly), but as it were in secret." He went, but He did not go with them, nor with the crowd in caravans, nor perhaps until nearly the close of the feast, which lasted seven days. He went up quietly and alone. " Some think to find a contradiction here, since, saying, ' I go not up to this feast,' He afterwards went." One solu- tion makes Him to have had no in- tention at this time to go ; but after- wards He changed His mind and went. Another lays weight upon the use of the present tense, " I go not," which means, " I go not now, or yet ; " or, as given by Alford, " I am not at present going up." Another lays weight upon " this feast," which it is said He did not in fact attend except in its last days. Still another thus defines His words — " I go not up with you, or in public with the company of pilgrims," or " I go not up in such a way as you think or advise." The matter, to one who considers the scope of Christ's reply to His brethren, pre- sents no real difficulty. They had said, " Go up to this feast, and manifest Thyself. Show Thyself to the world, and work Thy miracles in Judaea." He replied : " My time to manifest Myself is not yet come. I go not up to this feast with such intent. At some subsequent feast I shall manifest Myself." "As He had said, so He acted, going up to Jerusalem in a secret way, avoiding all publicity, nor arriving there till the feast was partially past. At the following pass- over He acted in substance as His brethren had advised, showing Him- self to the world, and entering the holy city as a king, amid the shouts of the multitude." — Andrews. 188 THE GENIUS OF THE GOSPEL. HOMILETICS. These verses, thus explained, may be fairly taken to illustrate some phases of infidelity. It is said, that " neither did His hrcthrcn believe in Him." They had no enlightened and genuine faith in His Divine Messiahship. The following remarks are suggested concerning infidelity — I. — THAT IT SELDOM LACKS EVIDENCE. These " brethren " must have had ample evidence to convince them of the Messiahship of Christ. As boys in their home at Nazareth, they must have seen every day a something that would sufficiently convince them that their Brother Jesus had elements of character transcending the human. Often, no doubt, had their mother and father pointed out to them extraordinary phases of His birth and His life ; and now, having come out into public life, they had been with Him in Galilee for a considerable period. In the first verse it is said, " After these things Jesus walked in Galilee." He had travelled from the borders of Tyre and Sidon to the coasts of Decapolis, every^vhere preaching sublime discourses and performing wondrous deeds. Infidels do not need evidence, they have plenty of it. Men who do not believe in God, do not lack evidence ; all nature is full of proof Men who do not believe in the Divinity of Christi- anity do not need evidence. The congruity of Christ's biography with contemporaneous history, the congruity of His system with the conscience, reason, and deep-felt wants of humanity, and the immense and gi'owing influence of His Gospel upon the sentiment, spirit, and character of mankind are certainly evidence enough. The cause of the infidelity is in the heart, rather than in the intellect, in all cases. Another remark here suggested concerning infidelity is — II. — THAT IT IS ALWAYS VAIN. These brethren of His, mainly from vanity, counsel Him to depart from Galilee, and go on a grand national occasion to Judaea, in order to make a display. " Shoio Thyself to the world." Do not continue in such obscurity, do not be so unostentatious in Thy works, do something that will bring honour to Thee and to us. Let us be grand ! Infidelity is always vain ; the vainest speakers on platforms, the vainest authors in literature, the vainest members in society, are those who profess infidel opinions. They are vain of their imaginary intellectual independency, of their superior mental insight and grasp, of their superiority to current creeds. It must be so. The man who believes in nothing greater and sublimer than himself, will have both space and aliments in his mind in which his egotism can grow to the most offensive propor- tions. Faith in the infinitely great and good can alone burn out the ST. JOHN VIL I— lo. 189 native vanity of the corrupt heart. Infidelity is a negation. " Light empty minds," says Leighton, " are like bladders blown up with anything." Another remark suggested is — III. — THAT IT IS EVER IN AGREEMENT WITH THE WORLD. " Then Jesus said unto them, My time is not yet come : lut your time is ahvay ready. The world cannot hate yotb ; lut Me it hateth, l)ecause I testify of it, that the worhs thereof are evil." By the "world " is meant the prevailing ideas, spirit, and aims of cornipt humanity. And the mind of His brethren was in accord with this, but it was dead against Him. What is the spirit of the world ? (1.) Material- ism. — The body is everything. (2.) Practical atheism. — God is ignored. (3.) Kegnant selfishness. — Self is supreme. Infidelity agrees with all this ; there is no moral discrepancy, no reason for mutual antipathies and battling. Another remark suggested is — IV. — THAT IT NEVER THWARTS THE DIVINE PURPOSE. " But when His brethren were gone up, then ivent He also up unto the feast, not openly, hut as it were in secret." Christ's plan was, not to go up to Jerusalem at the time they requested Him to go ; but He went up in His own time. Their counselling influenced Him not. He pursued His own course amidst their opinions and wishes, steady and majestic as the moon through opposing clouds. So it ever is. Infidelity can never modify, check, or retard the decrees of heaven. Infidels may in countless numbers combine together to arrest the progi'ess of truth ; but He who sitteth in heaven and seeth the end from the beginning, hath said His " purposes shall stand," and He will " do all His pleasure." Conclusion. Such is infidelity in some of its phases. It is a wretched thing. Enrich it with learning, energize it with the strongest logic, embellish it with the highest culture and genius, it is still a wretched thing. " I seem," says H%ime, " affrighted and confounded with the sohtude in which I am placed by my philosophy. When I look abroad on every side, I see dispute, contradiction, and distraction. When I turn my eye inward, I find nothing but doubt and ignorance. Where am I ? or what am I ? From what cause do I derive my existence ? To what condition shall I return ? I am confoimded with questions, I begin to fancy myself in a very deplorable condition, surrounded with darkness on every side." IQO THE GENIUS OF THE GOSPEL. No. XLIV. Christ's first two discourses at the feast of tabernacles* I. great contrasts. {Jesus at the Feast of Tabernacles. His viii. «' Then the Jews," EXEGETICAL REMARKS. — Ver. 11. — " Then the Jews (r. v. therefore) sought Him at the feast." By the " Jeivs " a heretic nation is meant, as headed by the rulers. " IVliere is He'/" Where is that man? They had been waiting; for Him at tiie least in order to kill Him ; but He had not come. Crowds from all parts of the country had arrived ; but He was not to be seen. All looked out for Him. Ver. 12. — ^^ And there teas much murmuring among the people (r. v. multitudes) concerning Him: for some sa id, He is a good man : others said, Nay; (r. v. not so) but He deceiveth (r. v. leadeth) the people." (r. v. multitude astray.) The people, including perhaps all classes, those who were friendly disposed and those who were hostile, all began to murmur or to whisper amongst them- selves concerning Him. Some in an undertone daring to express their opinion that He was a " good man,'''' others declaring that "JHe deceived the people." Ver. 13. — " Howbeit no man spake opmdy of Him for fear of the Je>os." That is, none of His friends were bold enough to declare their faith in Him. All this time the mutterings and whisperings about Him go on, per- haps for three days after the feast had begun, then Clnist appeared. Ver. 14.—''Noiv about (r. v. but WHEN IT WAS now) tlie midst of the feast Jesus loent vp into the temple, and taught." ^'^ Midst of the feast," that is, at the close of the third, or beginning of the fourth day, probably the Sabbath. This would seem to have been His first public teaching at Jerusalem. Where in the temple did He take His stand 1 Probably in the great colonnade which surrounded the space before the courts, where the Sanhedrims had their chamber, and Public Teaching. — John vii. 11 — 53 ; 1-) &c.— vii. 11—18. where there was a synagogue in which Rabbis discussed their points of doctrine and of duty. Ver. 15. — "And the Jews (r. v. the JEWS therefore) marvelled, saying. How knoweth this man letters, having never learned ? " That is, having never learned in any Rabbinical school, like Paul under Gamaliel. Christ's dis- course in the temple on this occasion is not given. No doubt it was, like that Sermon on the Mount, so original, so elevated, and so true to reason and consciousness, as to strike them with astonishment ; and captiously they inquire \vhere He got His knowledge from, since He had not been technically trained. Ver. 16. — "Jesus answered them, and said, M\i doctnne (r. v. teach- ing) is not Mine, but His that sent Me." Our Lord takes up their chal- lenge and indicates the vast diti'erence between His "doctrine" and teaching and that of the Rabbis. He virtually says, I derive My " doctrine " from no human school, nor do I proclaim it on My own authority ; My Teacher is the Father. I teach under a Divine commission. Ver 17. — "If any man will (r. v. willeth to) do liis loill, he shall knoio of the doctrine (r. v. teaching), ichether it be of God, or ivhethcr I speak of (r. v. from) Myself." Alford renders the verse, " If any man be willing to do His will, he shall know concerning the teaching, whether it is of God, or whether I speak from Myself." The idea is, he who has the genuine desire to do the Avill of God, will have in him the test of the true " doctrine." Ver. 18. — "He that speaketh of (r. v. from) himself sceketh his owm glory : but He that setketh His glory that sent Him, the same is true, and no im- righteousness is in Him." "He that ST. JOHN VII. II— 18. 191 speaheth of himself" not concerning, the promulgation of Christianity, but from himself — a^' Lavrov. Christ furnishes an unanswerable proof of in this verse proposes another test of its Divine origin. " No unrighteous- the truth of His claims, viz. : His ness is in Him." Or no deceit is in freedom from the desire of self- Him. A contrast is drawn between aggrandisement, and His constant the true prophet and a selfish im- reference to the will of God in His postor. " Some suppose Jesus to have ministry. The disinterestedness both met with an interruption between of our Saviour and His Apostles in this and the following verse." HOMILETICS. In these verses two striking contrasts are worthy of attention. I. — BASE COWARDICE AND SUBLIME COURAGE. Here is base cowardice ! " The Jeios " [i. c. in all probability the leaders of the Sanhedrim, and not of the people) " sought Him at the feast, and said, Where is He ? Atid there was tnuch mur- muring among the people concerning Him : for some said, He is a good man : others said. Nay ; hut He deceiveth the people. Howleit no man spake openly of Him for fear of the Jews'.' Here is cowardice. It was cowardice — (1.) For these chief men of the nation to be in cunning search for the life of one lonely man. " Where is He ? " We want Him. What for ? To listen to His doctrines ? honestly to test His merits ? to do honour to His person or His mission ? No ; but to kill Him. Here are a number of influential men banded together to crush one humble peasant ! How cowardly this ! It was cowardice — (2.) In the people meeting together in secrecy, and talking about Him. Why did they not speak their opinions openly, for or against ? They were afraid. Sin is always cowardly, virtue alone is courageous. Sin, it is true, puts on the form of courage. Its talk is swaggering, and its attitude often defiant ; but it is essentially craven-hearted. " Thou wear a lion's hide ! Doff it for shame, and hang a calf s-skin on those recreant limbs." — Shakespeare. In contrast with this, we have the sublimest courage. "Now about the midst of the feast Jesus went up into the temple, and taught!' When the festival was at the height; when its concourse had swollen to the greatest number ; when national enthusiasm for the old ceremonies and traditions blazed with the greatest intensity, this poor peasant Reformer appeared, stood up in their midst, and pro- claimed doctrines that struck directly and mightily against the prejudices and spirit of the nation. He confronted public sentiment when its billows were thvmdering at high tide. Where in all history have you an example of courage comparable to this ? Truly " He set His face as a flint," — He did not "fiil, nor was He discouraged." The other contrast which we have in these verses is — 192 THE GENIUS OF THE GOSPEL. II.— CONVENTIONAL SCHOLARSHIP AND GENUINE INTELLIGENCE. First : Conventional scholarship. " And the Jews marvelled, saying How knoiueth this man letters, having never learned ? " The question breathes contempt. The idea is, He has never been to our seats of learning, never studied under our Rabbis, Avhat can He know ? He IS an uneducated man, and yet He forsooth presumes to teach There has ever been much of this spirit amongst men. There are those who still hold the prejudice that a man cannot know much unless he has graduated at some University ; that he is unfit to teach unless he has sat at the feet of some Gamaliel. This is a great fallacy; some of the most educated men the world has ever had, have never passed the college curriculum, and never won a university degree. This idea fills society with pedants, and often supplies our pulpits with men who have neither the kind of lore, faculty, or genius to preach the gospel of universal truth and love. In contrast with this we have — Secondly : Genuine intelligence. " Jesus answered them, and said My doctrine is not Mine, hut His that sent Me. If any man will do His will, he shall hiow of the doctrine, ivhether it he of God, or whether I speak of Myself" Three things are worthy of remark— (1.) God is the sole Teacher of the highest doctrine. " My doctrine is not Mine, ha His that sent jMc." Although I have not studied under you, Rabbis, I have studied under the Infinite Father. I have crot My knowledge directly from the Primal Source of all true inteTli- gence. Yes; God is the only True Teacher of Divine truth. Brother preacher, do not content yourself with sippin<^ at the streams of conventional teaching, go to the fountain-head. (2.) Obedience is the qualification for obtaining the highest knowledo-e " If any man will do His will, he shall know of the doctrine." Philosophy and experience show the truth of this. "Pars magna honitatis est velle fieri honum " (" The essence of goodness consists in teachin^r to be good" ), says Seoieca. And well too has Pascal said, that "a man must know earthly things in order to love them, but that he must love heavenly things in order to knoAV them." (:J.) Entire devotion of self to tiie Divine is necessary in order to communicate the highest knowledge. " He that siJcaketh of himself seeheth his own glory : but he that seeheth His glory that sent Him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in Him." It is only as a man becomes self-obhvious, and lost in the love and thoughts of God, that he can reflect the bright rays of Divine intelligence upon his fellow- men. We must allow ourselves to become mere channels through which the Divine will flow.* ° * See a Homily on the True Theology, at the end of tliis vohime. ST. JOHN VII. 19—30. 193 No. XLV. Christ's first two discourses at the feast of tabernacles. (No. 2.) — MURDER IN DESIRE. "Did not Moses give you the law?" &c. — vii. 19- -30. ExEGETiCAL Eemarks. — Ver. 19. — ''''Did not Moses give you the law, and yet none of you keepeth (r. v. doeth) the law ? JVhy go ye about (r. v. SEEK ye) to kill Me ? " They profess lo believe Moses. The law of Moses ]irnhibited murder. "Thou shalt not kill" was one of its salient sovereitjn edicts, hence Christ's question, " Wh/y go ye about to kill Me?" Where is your consistency ? Ver. 20. — " The people (r. v. multi- tude) ansivercd and said, Thou hast a devil : ivho qoeth about (r. v. seeketh) to kill Thee ? " " The people,^' not the rulers, biit the mixed multi- tude. These by implication deny any desire to kill Him, and charge Him with madness for supposing it. " Thou hast a devil." Probably this was a proverbial expression, denoting gloom- iness, melancholy, brooding, suspici- ousness. Perhaps they meant to say, " If Thou wert not mentally diseased, Thou wouldest not suppose that we intended to kill Thee." Mayhap these mixed multitudes had no intention to kill Him, and were ignorant of the malicious purpose of their rulers. As a rule it is not the people of the world that desire the slaughtering of men, but the rulers who have an interest in rapine and blood. Ver. 21. — "iTesHs answered and said unto them, I have done (r. v. did) one work, and ye all marvel." Christ dis- regards the interruption, and proceeds to show that there was no reason for them, as believers in Moses, to be indignant with Him for the miracle He wrought on the Sabbath day. The "one work" at which they did ^'■marvel" was undoubledly the miracle He performed on the Sabbath at Bethesda, as recorded in chap. v. vers. 1 — 9. Why should this ^^one work " oft'end them, for He had done many works ? The reason was be- cause it was wrought on the Sabbath dav. Vers. 22, 23.— "ilfoses therefore (r. V. FOR THIS cause) gave unto you circumcision ; (not because (r. v. that) it is of Moses, but of the fathers ;) and ye on the Sabbath day circumcise a man. If a man on the Sabbath day receive (r. v. receiveth) circumcision, that the law of Moses shoidd (r. v. may) not be broken; are ye angry at (r. v. wroth with) Me, because I have made a man every whit wh